Megazone 23 was so ahead of its time, not only did they anticipate the themes in The Matrix, but they released a trilogy of films and divided the last film into two parts. It's just like nowadays!
Watched Mega Zone after seeing this and I like it, I totally approve of the Thundercats and Silver Hawks references and the animation actually really reminds of Angel Cop.
I love all these old school anime shows like Detonator Orgun, Macross, Megazone 23 and many others. Discovering new shows and trying to get hold of comics pre internet was a big part of my early teens. Great video!
Thanks for sharing your story with us Johnny. Megazone 23 is a great ova series as well as it being an important part of the 80's era of Anime. Especially since it had a great soundtrack as well as it's usage of American 80's films and pop culture throughout the trilogy.
I like anime, but 80s~90s anime was just visually better, imo. Today, everything looks too clean, ESPECIALLY in mecha anime. I'm loving Gundam-Orphan, but for a gundam that's suppose to be 100 years old, it's pretty clean. Mecha animation like Zeorymer or even Bubblegum crisis, had a very dirty look to them and I loved it. That dirt added to the graphic scenes, making it just all look fantastic and magical. 80s anime style (Macross character design style) is something I'd want to master.
As a complete Anime noob, I find your enthusiasm for the genre highly infectious/interesting. Maybe you could do a 'beginners guide' to the genre? Keep up the good work Sir!
It's true you didn't have access to anime at your local grocery store like you do now, at nearly every store across the country selling videogames, at every major bookstore and every major video retailer across the nation. If you wanted to see more than what was being licensed for television syndication there were still ways to get virtually anything. You found that book in a local comic store and here's is one way. The little independent comic stores even back then, nearly every one that I visited during this period, almost always had at least a shelf somewhere with some imported art books or anime comics or sometimes even videos. There were also a handful of mail order outfits specializing in the import of books, videos and toys (really, really expensive but you could get a lot of stuff, even back then). Books Nippan, Alpha Sector, Pony Toy Go-Round, these were possibly the top three mail order retailers at the time. Fantasy and gaming conventions back then often had 24hr anime screening rooms and imported toys, books and videos in the dealer rooms. My local little South Texas independent comic store and a visit to a small, independent fantasy convention during this time introduced me to a whole world of people who were also into anime and who weren't satisfied with the few programs that were showing on television. One of the major sources of reference information on anime and manga, besides the Fred L. Schodt book, was copies of the BayCon program materials which were sold and traded beyond the duration of the convention itself. More importantly, these places as well as mentions in mainstream scifi and comic magazines back then informed me of nationwide clubs that were chapters of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, which was a group first formed in the late 1970s, which, pre-public internet, distributed information and gave access to people with access to virtually any film, OVA or TV program in Japan. You didn't have to know someone in Japan if you knew, through club association and paid dues, someone who did.
I love Megazone 23... or at least the first two anyway! Even with the art switch in the second one I was gripped. Something tells me the Wachowski's love it too. Even the designs on the spotter robots in Megazone pt. 2 show up in The Matrix.
You were spot on this series and is one of my all time favorite anime movies ever and part 2 was my favorite as well. I've watched it so many times. I bought it on VHS (copied from Laser Disc) and now I own the Blu-ray copy that is the exact replica of the Laser Disc version. I actually didn't know some of the details of Megazone 23, thanks to your video, now I know more which is even cooler... 80's were the best time of my life.
I was introduced to many Japanese animes back in my college days '88-'91 and Megazone 23 was one of them. I loved this anime and especially the music. After I graduated, I had a chance to work in Japan for several years but when I was there I didn’t really get into anime. I was busy with other things going on with my life there. Fast forward to present and back in US, just by chance, reunited with Megazone 23 part 1 and 2 when I was doing some search on the UA-cam. I went back to my closet and sure enough I found the original music CD’s part 1 and 2 I bought back then. Boy I forgot how great the music were. I wanted to watch the videos again but it seems like some videos were taken down. Probably due to copyright. It’s a shame. There aren’t lot of videos related to Megazone 23. I hope someone will upload more videos in HD anything related to Megazone 23.
+Kevin De Bondt it's on HULU (or was). It's dead easy to see all three original seasons now. I saw the first two when they were in first-run syndication here in the US.
I watched Megazone 23 last year because of your recommendation and it was awesome, it really had everything that makes retro anime so great. I actually preferred the art style and character design of part 1 but part 2 did a great job with the story. I absolutely love Eve's music too and I'd love to get it on vinyl, it's really the perfect nostalgic 80s music.
love how artstyle changed. Firstly we got character drawn in cuter way resembling those from Ranma or Saint Seiya. Then in OVA 2 we saw characters maturity and arstyle became heavy realistic.
Great to see another enthusiastic Megazone 23 addict. Fun video! I was also collecting all the LaserDiscs, CDs, art books, etc. back then. I was about ten years older than you were, so I was able to afford importing items from Japan. And of course I still check out anything else that shows up...Like this video! (^_^) Anyway, here's a little known fact about the aliens in Megazone 23. The anime doesn't show them a lot or go into where they were from at all, however the art books do. The art books also talk about some of the other Megazones, like Big Apple, the New York City simulation ship where folks think they are living in the 1950s. The aliens were actually genetically modified humans created to live on and colonize Mars. They found that Mars really sucked and wanted to return to the Earth, but that wasn't allowed and these two human races fought. And that's the basis of the war in Part 1 and 2. These events have been going on for centuries. The aliens were called the "Diezalg".
The aliens were named after the scientist that did the genetics research for human modification to live on Mars. Let's hope we see more Megazone some day! I'm looking forward to seeing the Blu Ray release.
My parents basically encouraged me to watch anime. I'm second generation Japanese American. They wanted me to learn Japanese. I used to go to a Japanese language school every Saturday. I didn't study much because i thought i would never use the language except with my parents or older family members. Then i joined the Navy. One day, my command sent me on temporary duty to our detachment site...in Atsugi, Japan!!! I had a blast there. I didn't missy of my pay on anime LaserDiscs! I got Megazone 23 Part III and Macross Do you remember Love?!!! I thanked my parents for ditching me too go to Japanese Language School 😀
Awesome review man! Japan had the best hardcore science fiction. The early anime pretty much blew everything else I had ever seen away. My memory of Megazone was on a tape that had been dubbed over 5 times, but I watched it over and over and you just "get the story." Of course I was drawn to Eve and the MOSPEADA style bikes. Freaking hardcore man. You pretty much nailed it!
Preach it brother! Saw the HG dub of Megazone 23 Part II as a n00b fan so many years ago. The entire series been a favorite ever since. Keep an eye out for the reboot in a year or two!
Great video! Really cool showing off those early art books. One thing I just wanted to say though, was it's not actually aliens who are attacking the characters, but rather other humans. EVE explains that the initial war on Earth was caused by humans and they made their own planet uninhabitable, and the UN decided to send off the ships to preserve the race. The tentacle monsters are actually a different human nation's ship attacking them. BD knows this, but the whole thing is just a giant commentary on cold war policy back in the 80s of the 'destroy them before they destroy us' mentality. Great vid though, keep it up!
The memories you have show why anime from the 80's is so awesome. It can really has the tendency to build some really good memories for yourself. I never even heard of this anime, and its kind of unfortunate but this anime isn't on any of the sites that I watch anime as well. I'll have to keep an eye out for this especially since I'm particularly fond of anime from the 1980's.
I have 2 books/guides? One is the Megazone 23 postcard book. And the other is a 15 or 18 page Megazone 23 Part II full color, high quality "leaflet"? Absolutely beautiful to look at. If anything of the series, like your part II is one of my top 5 anime. Sadly, there are a few scenes, and details that I can't believe how low quality they are compared to the rest of the film...(and was allowed to be set so low, in the film) but when it kicks on the detail, absolutely breath taking! I wish the was more content/history about the other mechs, and the enemy (delzag?/ Gorig) For me, the perfect version of Part II, is the original English " to teach japanese students English." version. Where most caracters didn't sound like actors, but real people, having real conversation. ( for the most part.) Anyways I am rambling...time to go watch Part II again...
I only watched part 1 years ago. When the blu-ray is released at the end of the month and if there's rips shortly after I'll watch it all. I never knew part 2 was so well liked, I passed on it because it looked so different but I regret that now.
Part 3 is one of my favourites but I've never seen the first 2. I started getting into anime in the early 90s when BBC and Channel 4 (UK TV), the BBC showing movies and Channel 4 showing series. Being a kid I was blown away by part 3 I probably watched it 200 times haha
Loved this vid Johnny. I really wanna watch your Madox vid on Finalbosses too but for some reason I can't get the damn thing to load properly. Despite enjoying a lot of new anime the 70's-90's era is definitely my fave. Mostly 80's. Many of the shows, OVAs and movies from that era hold up ridiculously well today.
Totally agree with you about Part II: it is awesome. Part III apparently was so bland that I literally forgot all about it. As a matter of fact, I don't even know if I was able to finish it when I sat down to watch it way back whenever that was. I recently got really nostalgic thanks to you, and found Megazone 23 Part II broken up into parts and uploaded to UA-cam by somebody, and so sat down to watch that amazing first alien attack scene... You know the one (one commenter called it the last stand of Captain Kangaroo LOL). Turns out the upload was from a horribly censored version of the film that came with the PS3 video game. I was crushed. Now that scene is what I call tentacles done right ;) On another note, I have a small nitpick about something you did in this video as well as your Macross one: You say a couple times that these art books have all the cels, when you presumably mean that they contain cels from all the scenes in the films. It's a small difference in wording, but really a rather large one in meaning. I've seen all those art books, and I assure you that all the cels are not printed inside. Just try to bear that in mind for your future videos. Thanks for the crazy nostalgia trips.
+HappyConsoleGamer Hey Johnny, I was born in 1986 but I have a lot of the same anime influences such as Macross, Gundam, Bubblegum Crisis, and several others from that era. if I may suggest a new currently running series that you may like check out Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans. The main characters may be in their teens but the show is gritty as duck and means business. in the second episode the main character Mikazuki just non-chalantly blows his former C/O's brains out on to the wall. It doesn't pull it's punches. It might restore your faith in contemporary anime.
Everything you have is in such great shape for when you got it. Wow. I have not seen Megazone but if its anything like Robotech then I am sold. Especially the old school animation. Thanks for sharing.
Just finished part 2 after watchting part 1 yesterday. The Blu Rays do look fantastic. I personally thought part 2 was a massive upgrade in every way. Even the same characters designs. Thank you for all the videos that you have posted about classic anime. You have gotten me into some really amazing stuff. So far, my favorite is Arion.
Just ordered parts 1 and 2 off amazon because of this video. Part 3 is $70 on DVD holllly. Lol. Really looking forward to seeing this, sounds amazing. Love these types of videos you do, love being made aware of awesome stuff I would have otherwise never known about. Thanks!
Just found your video and dude, I have the exact appreciation for Megazone 23! I also knew about it the same way through those small cel books and then read about the original story from Anime-Zine. Part II is also my favorite because of the art style and increased realism of the mechanical designs. Merch wise, we pretty much have the same books and DVDs. I might have bought a few more Garland toys though =) and am going to plunk down money for the upcoming blu-ray set. Can't wait! Cheers and thanks for sharing!
Ichiro Itano is a god. (I love Violence Jack: Evil Town and Angel Cop.) I agree part 2 is REALLY where it's at. The gore, sex, insane story and animation, those rugged Yasuomi Umetsu character designs... I only saw M23 on DVD recently but it blew me away. Part 3 is definitely weak, but it has Hardon 2 and that's pretty hysterical. I'd buy the Blu-ray if it had English subs. Hopefully AnimEigo or Discotek or somebody does pick it up for Blu-ray locally.
Man I need to check this series out eventually, your enthusiasm for it got me more interested in it, even though it's already in my plan to watch list lol.
Dude I saw on eBay some cool Megazone 23 stuff!! Apperently there is also a Megazone 23 PS3 game!! Maybe it got released in China too (they usually do a English dub on their games)
+KAZ yes, however robotech is NOT macross, its a made up tv show of three different Japanese cartoons. Macross tv series is its own separate show. the next season they had a different one. like Super Dimension Century Orguss. they used similar charichter and mecha designs but the storys were totally different.
+Mark Plott Thats so weird on every single movie box it says "Robotech the macross saga" and i think it even says that on the toys i had back in the mid 80s. I do know its based of 3 other series but it still says Robotech the macross saga. Anyway and anyhow i love both no matter what the name is xD
@ Mattias - sure, Robotech was my first exposure to new anime, but then like the host, I discovered MZ23 and Macross and many other anime in comic book stores and Japanese book stores. I felt that the series was strong enough on its own without having to apply fake connections to them.
Having seen all of Megazone 23, I gotta admit I laughed when you said "Part III is.. Part III." haha. I know a lot of people that hate it. Megazone 23 rules. I've got the soundtracks as well! I'd loove to have that new Garland toy they put out.
+Count Mecha Great to see comment on here. I've never seen MegaZone 23 but I do want to someday. I hope Discotek or Anime Limited can get it, since HD Remasters of classic anime are cool by me.
***** Yes, fingers crossed Discoteck picks up the show remastered, though in North America it may also be possible Section23/Sentai would do something with it since they previously put it out on DVD about 10 years ago.
I knew of the show for a long time hcg.Beside the fact it's footage was used for the robotech movie.I missed out on it's laserdisc and vhs release.It wasn't until the release on dvd,i finally got to watch it.It does have a interesting premise but it's weird by part two how the animation changed.
Megazone 23 Part 3 is classic for sure. Didn't care much for the first two though (mostly because of animation style). Clearly an inspiration for The Matrix (Sion, and garden of Eden scene with oracle at the end), and also Hackers (Arcade 'hard-on' scene). Still have it on tape somewhere, along with Cyber City and Wicked City (which was inspiring for End of Days).
Awesome Review. I have and always have been the greatest Megazone fan as well. I have *every* Megazone item that you have just showed us and some not seen. I have the all 4 of the manga books that you just showed(the 3rd and 4th book is still factory sealed). :) I even have an Autograph from Megazones' Creator Noburu Isiguro-san!!
hello, having lived in los angeles during the 80's, i was fortunate enough to have access to anime through little tokyo, namely a series of stores called pony toy go round. it was there and another store called books nippon that gave me access to anime. it would take about two weeks to get a tape over from japan. megazone, macross and what became to me, the greatest gundam, ZETA GUNDAM, opened my eyes. i wound up having all of the soundtracks except for one record from megazone. i think you visited my chanel, before the youtube overlords took it down.
Megazone 23 was so ahead of its time, not only did they anticipate the themes in The Matrix, but they released a trilogy of films and divided the last film into two parts. It's just like nowadays!
Literally!!!
Megazone 23, Space Cobra, Mobile Suit Gundam 0080, Bubblegum Crisis... the Golden Age of sci-fi anime!
I'm watching Megazone 23 for the first time and I can see why you hold such a fond memory of this OVA.
Thank you for sharing your lives with us.
Watched Mega Zone after seeing this and I like it, I totally approve of the Thundercats and Silver Hawks references and the animation actually really reminds of Angel Cop.
is it just me ... or when johnny says 'i could talk for hours about this', im like 'yes, yes please, please go ahead!'
I love all these old school anime shows like Detonator Orgun, Macross, Megazone 23 and many others. Discovering new shows and trying to get hold of comics pre internet was a big part of my early teens. Great video!
Megazone 23 really had an amazing soundtrack. Every song in the movie was perfect for the moment.
And it really holds up over time.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Johnny. Megazone 23 is a great ova series as well as it being an important part of the 80's era of Anime. Especially since it had a great soundtrack as well as it's usage of American 80's films and pop culture throughout the trilogy.
Megazone 23 is one of loves. I first watched it when I was 10 back in 1996. The nostalgia is real.
Megazone 23 is available to watch on UA-cam all 3 parts for free
I love the old school anime more than today's anime. Few of my favorites are Macross, Slayers, legend of the galactic heroes Lupin III.
I like anime, but 80s~90s anime was just visually better, imo. Today, everything looks too clean, ESPECIALLY in mecha anime.
I'm loving Gundam-Orphan, but for a gundam that's suppose to be 100 years old, it's pretty clean. Mecha animation like Zeorymer or even Bubblegum
crisis, had a very dirty look to them and I loved it. That dirt added to the graphic scenes, making it just all look fantastic and magical. 80s anime style (Macross character design style) is something I'd want to master.
+RockmanV Yay were proud that we saw your OWN opinion on stuff on the internet when no one will care.
PATRiCKFBi MetalHead bro your rude people can express there opinion if they want to.
He don't even understand that HE is making an opinion about someones opinion xD
Opinionception
RockmanV I agree on how 80's/90's Anime being visually better compared to today's stuff.
As a complete Anime noob, I find your enthusiasm for the genre highly infectious/interesting. Maybe you could do a 'beginners guide' to the genre? Keep up the good work Sir!
It's true you didn't have access to anime at your local grocery store like you do now, at nearly every store across the country selling videogames, at every major bookstore and every major video retailer across the nation. If you wanted to see more than what was being licensed for television syndication there were still ways to get virtually anything.
You found that book in a local comic store and here's is one way. The little independent comic stores even back then, nearly every one that I visited during this period, almost always had at least a shelf somewhere with some imported art books or anime comics or sometimes even videos. There were also a handful of mail order outfits specializing in the import of books, videos and toys (really, really expensive but you could get a lot of stuff, even back then). Books Nippan, Alpha Sector, Pony Toy Go-Round, these were possibly the top three mail order retailers at the time.
Fantasy and gaming conventions back then often had 24hr anime screening rooms and imported toys, books and videos in the dealer rooms. My local little South Texas independent comic store and a visit to a small, independent fantasy convention during this time introduced me to a whole world of people who were also into anime and who weren't satisfied with the few programs that were showing on television. One of the major sources of reference information on anime and manga, besides the Fred L. Schodt book, was copies of the BayCon program materials which were sold and traded beyond the duration of the convention itself.
More importantly, these places as well as mentions in mainstream scifi and comic magazines back then informed me of nationwide clubs that were chapters of the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization, which was a group first formed in the late 1970s, which, pre-public internet, distributed information and gave access to people with access to virtually any film, OVA or TV program in Japan. You didn't have to know someone in Japan if you knew, through club association and paid dues, someone who did.
I love Megazone 23... or at least the first two anyway! Even with the art switch in the second one I was gripped. Something tells me the Wachowski's love it too. Even the designs on the spotter robots in Megazone pt. 2 show up in The Matrix.
You were spot on this series and is one of my all time favorite anime movies ever and part 2 was my favorite as well. I've watched it so many times. I bought it on VHS (copied from Laser Disc) and now I own the Blu-ray copy that is the exact replica of the Laser Disc version. I actually didn't know some of the details of Megazone 23, thanks to your video, now I know more which is even cooler... 80's were the best time of my life.
I was introduced to many Japanese animes back in my college days '88-'91 and Megazone 23 was one of them. I loved this anime and especially the music. After I graduated, I had a chance to work in Japan for several years but when I was there I didn’t really get into anime. I was busy with other things going on with my life there. Fast forward to present and back in US, just by chance, reunited with Megazone 23 part 1 and 2 when I was doing some search on the UA-cam. I went back to my closet and sure enough I found the original music CD’s part 1 and 2 I bought back then. Boy I forgot how great the music were. I wanted to watch the videos again but it seems like some videos were taken down. Probably due to copyright. It’s a shame. There aren’t lot of videos related to Megazone 23. I hope someone will upload more videos in HD anything related to Megazone 23.
The anime the Matrix 'borrowed' large parts of.
Starblazers was the first anime series I saw. Never saw it full because we were never able to find the missing VHS episodes in stores.. :(
+Kevin De Bondt it's on HULU (or was). It's dead easy to see all three original seasons now. I saw the first two when they were in first-run syndication here in the US.
Magazone 23 Blu-ray collection coming soon
Part 3 is pretty boring, but I had to rewatch the first two right after watching this.
Thx Johnny more reasons to rewatch Megazone.
I watched Megazone 23 last year because of your recommendation and it was awesome, it really had everything that makes retro anime so great. I actually preferred the art style and character design of part 1 but part 2 did a great job with the story. I absolutely love Eve's music too and I'd love to get it on vinyl, it's really the perfect nostalgic 80s music.
love how artstyle changed.
Firstly we got character drawn in cuter way resembling those from Ranma or Saint Seiya.
Then in OVA 2 we saw characters maturity and arstyle became heavy realistic.
Great to see another enthusiastic Megazone 23 addict. Fun video! I was also collecting all the LaserDiscs, CDs, art books, etc. back then. I was about ten years older than you were, so I was able to afford importing items from Japan. And of course I still check out anything else that shows up...Like this video! (^_^) Anyway, here's a little known fact about the aliens in Megazone 23. The anime doesn't show them a lot or go into where they were from at all, however the art books do. The art books also talk about some of the other Megazones, like Big Apple, the New York City simulation ship where folks think they are living in the 1950s. The aliens were actually genetically modified humans created to live on and colonize Mars. They found that Mars really sucked and wanted to return to the Earth, but that wasn't allowed and these two human races fought. And that's the basis of the war in Part 1 and 2. These events have been going on for centuries. The aliens were called the "Diezalg".
The aliens were named after the scientist that did the genetics research for human modification to live on Mars. Let's hope we see more Megazone some day! I'm looking forward to seeing the Blu Ray release.
My parents basically encouraged me to watch anime. I'm second generation Japanese American. They wanted me to learn Japanese. I used to go to a Japanese language school every Saturday. I didn't study much because i thought i would never use the language except with my parents or older family members. Then i joined the Navy. One day, my command sent me on temporary duty to our detachment site...in Atsugi, Japan!!! I had a blast there. I didn't missy of my pay on anime LaserDiscs! I got Megazone 23 Part III and Macross Do you remember Love?!!! I thanked my parents for ditching me too go to Japanese Language School 😀
Awesome review man! Japan had the best hardcore science fiction. The early anime pretty much blew everything else I had ever seen away. My memory of Megazone was on a tape that had been dubbed over 5 times, but I watched it over and over and you just "get the story." Of course I was drawn to Eve and the MOSPEADA style bikes. Freaking hardcore man. You pretty much nailed it!
1995 I discover Lupin the 3rd and dragon ball.
Preach it brother! Saw the HG dub of Megazone 23 Part II as a n00b fan so many years ago. The entire series been a favorite ever since. Keep an eye out for the reboot in a year or two!
Great video! Really cool showing off those early art books. One thing I just wanted to say though, was it's not actually aliens who are attacking the characters, but rather other humans. EVE explains that the initial war on Earth was caused by humans and they made their own planet uninhabitable, and the UN decided to send off the ships to preserve the race. The tentacle monsters are actually a different human nation's ship attacking them. BD knows this, but the whole thing is just a giant commentary on cold war policy back in the 80s of the 'destroy them before they destroy us' mentality.
Great vid though, keep it up!
Came to the comments to say this. It's also an interesting choice that you never see them.
This is the best anime of all time
Awesome vid. Magazine 23 is a classic. AnimEigo is actually releasing a blu-ray on Kickstarter.
this brings back so many childhood memories.
Megazone 23 Part 1 one of my favorite OVA`s to rewatch
Thanks Johnny for your video. It warms up my heart to see your stuff after what happened in France recently.
The world isn't so bad after all :)
This video was a great experience, Megazone 23 is amazing!
The memories you have show why anime from the 80's is so awesome. It can really has the tendency to build some really good memories for yourself. I never even heard of this anime, and its kind of unfortunate but this anime isn't on any of the sites that I watch anime as well. I'll have to keep an eye out for this especially since I'm particularly fond of anime from the 1980's.
I have 2 books/guides? One is the Megazone 23 postcard book. And the other is a 15 or 18 page Megazone 23 Part II full color, high quality "leaflet"? Absolutely beautiful to look at. If anything of the series, like your part II is one of my top 5 anime. Sadly, there are a few scenes, and details that I can't believe how low quality they are compared to the rest of the film...(and was allowed to be set so low, in the film) but when it kicks on the detail, absolutely breath taking! I wish the was more content/history about the other mechs, and the enemy (delzag?/ Gorig) For me, the perfect version of Part II, is the original English " to teach japanese students English." version. Where most caracters didn't sound like actors, but real people, having real conversation. ( for the most part.) Anyways I am rambling...time to go watch Part II again...
The real discussion here is who did the red motorcycle first, Megazone23, Akira, or Bubblegum Crisis?
I only watched part 1 years ago. When the blu-ray is released at the end of the month and if there's rips shortly after I'll watch it all. I never knew part 2 was so well liked, I passed on it because it looked so different but I regret that now.
Part 3 is one of my favourites but I've never seen the first 2. I started getting into anime in the early 90s when BBC and Channel 4 (UK TV), the BBC showing movies and Channel 4 showing series.
Being a kid I was blown away by part 3 I probably watched it 200 times haha
Sounds pretty cool. I'm going to have to check this out. 80s anime is the best.
It hard to find online I saw it back on the Anime Network it wasn't bad the storyline was on point and the animation was intense.
Always leave wanting to check out your passions! :D
Loved this vid Johnny. I really wanna watch your Madox vid on Finalbosses too but for some reason I can't get the damn thing to load properly. Despite enjoying a lot of new anime the 70's-90's era is definitely my fave. Mostly 80's. Many of the shows, OVAs and movies from that era hold up ridiculously well today.
The bike on the right look nearly exactly like the main red bike from Akira...
Damn, your passion for this got me wanting to check it out, thanx.
@HappyConsoleGamer Dude, the story of how you discovered Magazine 23 is EXACTLY THE WAY I DISCOVERED IT! Brothers under the skin!
my first anime was macross plus. such nostalgia
Totally agree with you about Part II: it is awesome. Part III apparently was so bland that I literally forgot all about it. As a matter of fact, I don't even know if I was able to finish it when I sat down to watch it way back whenever that was.
I recently got really nostalgic thanks to you, and found Megazone 23 Part II broken up into parts and uploaded to UA-cam by somebody, and so sat down to watch that amazing first alien attack scene... You know the one (one commenter called it the last stand of Captain Kangaroo LOL). Turns out the upload was from a horribly censored version of the film that came with the PS3 video game. I was crushed. Now that scene is what I call tentacles done right ;)
On another note, I have a small nitpick about something you did in this video as well as your Macross one: You say a couple times that these art books have all the cels, when you presumably mean that they contain cels from all the scenes in the films. It's a small difference in wording, but really a rather large one in meaning. I've seen all those art books, and I assure you that all the cels are not printed inside. Just try to bear that in mind for your future videos.
Thanks for the crazy nostalgia trips.
The osts for the first two megazones are on iTunes
I just watched the part 2 today, best scene is 38:00 if you know what I mean!
i love to see your enthusiasm johnny :) thank you for teaching me about this series. you really did sell me on this ^-^
Great vid man,love the intro theme to Megazone 23.
I love the anime centric videos really introduced me to good old school animes
Oh god yes I love Megazone 23, the epitome of 80's anime.
Great retro view man on this series, I need to find it, I got never have the chance to see it and after heard about the story now I completely sold.
Johnny thank you for this , I had
such a similar experience
+nuketowncity haha awesome this video was for all 10 of us who did :)
+HappyConsoleGamer Have you played the Megazone 23 game on PS3? The fanboy side of me wants to buy it haha
+HappyConsoleGamer Hey Johnny, I was born in 1986 but I have a lot of the same anime influences such as Macross, Gundam, Bubblegum Crisis, and several others from that era. if I may suggest a new currently running series that you may like check out Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans. The main characters may be in their teens but the show is gritty as duck and means business. in the second episode the main character Mikazuki just non-chalantly blows his former C/O's brains out on to the wall. It doesn't pull it's punches. It might restore your faith in contemporary anime.
+Anime - Mun Will look into it! and also never played the Megazone game yet!
Everything you have is in such great shape for when you got it. Wow. I have not seen Megazone but if its anything like Robotech then I am sold. Especially the old school animation. Thanks for sharing.
You got some neat stuff!! Especially those Garlands.
Just finished part 2 after watchting part 1 yesterday. The Blu Rays do look fantastic. I personally thought part 2 was a massive upgrade in every way. Even the same characters designs. Thank you for all the videos that you have posted about classic anime. You have gotten me into some really amazing stuff. So far, my favorite is Arion.
Just ordered parts 1 and 2 off amazon because of this video. Part 3 is $70 on DVD holllly. Lol. Really looking forward to seeing this, sounds amazing. Love these types of videos you do, love being made aware of awesome stuff I would have otherwise never known about. Thanks!
Just found your video and dude, I have the exact appreciation for Megazone 23! I also knew about it the same way through those small cel books and then read about the original story from Anime-Zine. Part II is also my favorite because of the art style and increased realism of the mechanical designs. Merch wise, we pretty much have the same books and DVDs. I might have bought a few more Garland toys though =) and am going to plunk down money for the upcoming blu-ray set. Can't wait! Cheers and thanks for sharing!
There's a hard scifi anime style game with tons of FMV's coming out in 2016. can't tell you much more but you will be happy :)
Nice shirt Johnny.
Have you attended a recent MacrossWorld convention?
+pinoi78 Someone sent me it! it is my current fav shirt!
Just bought and received a Garland die-cast for 200$; such a cool-looking bike.
Ichiro Itano is a god. (I love Violence Jack: Evil Town and Angel Cop.) I agree part 2 is REALLY where it's at. The gore, sex, insane story and animation, those rugged Yasuomi Umetsu character designs... I only saw M23 on DVD recently but it blew me away. Part 3 is definitely weak, but it has Hardon 2 and that's pretty hysterical.
I'd buy the Blu-ray if it had English subs. Hopefully AnimEigo or Discotek or somebody does pick it up for Blu-ray locally.
Man I need to check this series out eventually, your enthusiasm for it got me more interested in it, even though it's already in my plan to watch list lol.
Just wondering, am I the only man, who decided to learn how to ride a bike and who's dreaming of buying Yahagi's Suzuki Katana 650?
+Edward Mass No. Painted in the silver/red scheme as well!
Did you back the Kickstarter?
Always enjoy your videos John! I did not know about this anime i will give it a try!
So have you been taking part in the crowdfunding for the megazone 23 remake and sequel?
I just won the Laserdisc box set ( just because megazone part 2 has an English dub ).
Dude I saw on eBay some cool Megazone 23 stuff!! Apperently there is also a Megazone 23 PS3 game!! Maybe it got released in China too (they usually do a English dub on their games)
My first anime was Robotech from the 80s, i still love all of them. Macross Saga is special tho :D
Isn't Robotech American? Like it's a seperate franchise from Macross and we get our own series exclusive to America.
+KAZ yes, however robotech is NOT macross, its a made up tv show of three different Japanese cartoons. Macross tv series is its own separate show. the next season they had a different one. like Super Dimension Century Orguss. they used similar charichter and mecha designs but the storys were totally different.
+Mark Plott Thats so weird on every single movie box it says "Robotech the macross saga" and i think it even says that on the toys i had back in the mid 80s. I do know its based of 3 other series but it still says Robotech the macross saga. Anyway and anyhow i love both no matter what the name is xD
@ Mattias - sure, Robotech was my first exposure to new anime, but then like the host, I discovered MZ23 and Macross and many other anime in comic book stores and Japanese book stores. I felt that the series was strong enough on its own without having to apply fake connections to them.
Hell yea!
That's one hell of a story!
I've never heard of this before but it sounds awesome
time to find the anime
On Amazon Prime right now. English dub, but still MZ23.
The full version on Final Bosses has been unavailable for a while now.
oh yeah got part 2 import vhs. great anime and memories .
Having seen all of Megazone 23, I gotta admit I laughed when you said "Part III is.. Part III." haha. I know a lot of people that hate it.
Megazone 23 rules. I've got the soundtracks as well!
I'd loove to have that new Garland toy they put out.
+Count Mecha I always loved III. But I did see it before the other two so maybe that's why? Captured my imagination back when I was kid in the 90's.
+Count Mecha Great to see comment on here. I've never seen MegaZone 23 but I do want to someday. I hope Discotek or Anime Limited can get it, since HD Remasters of classic anime are cool by me.
***** Yes, fingers crossed Discoteck picks up the show remastered, though in North America it may also be possible Section23/Sentai would do something with it since they previously put it out on DVD about 10 years ago.
For you to understand Megazone 23 part 3 you must first watch Macross 2, Tells you about the war with the Gore emulators.
great episode!
ah damn... it seems the final bosses version of this video is down now. Thank you for recommending this anime, I'm thoroughly enjoying it!
YESSS it rocks indeed !!!!!!!!
Blu-ray boxset preorder is up on www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/LXAICT-409 on November 27, 2015 US $218
Just found part one and two on tubi story sounds amazing definitely going to binge this
I haven't seen it since the 80's...
I knew of the show for a long time hcg.Beside the fact it's footage was used for the robotech movie.I missed out on it's laserdisc and vhs release.It wasn't until the release on dvd,i finally got to watch it.It does have a interesting premise but it's weird by part two how the animation changed.
Hey HCG, ever see the ADV trailer for Megazone23??? GET IN THE ZONE. MEGAZONE
Megazone 23 Part 3 is classic for sure. Didn't care much for the first two though (mostly because of animation style). Clearly an inspiration for The Matrix (Sion, and garden of Eden scene with oracle at the end), and also Hackers (Arcade 'hard-on' scene). Still have it on tape somewhere, along with Cyber City and Wicked City (which was inspiring for End of Days).
Megazone 23 recommendation: RAHXEPHON
Such an underrated anime, and I honestly think better than it's other comparison Neon Genesis Evangelion.
What is the name of the long song sung by eve at the 4 minute mark of the ova. during the beginning before all hell broke lose in the ova.
まさか外国の人でこんなにメガゾーン23好きな人がいたとは…
A robot named eve humans stuck on a spaceship in mindless happiness waiting for the planet earth to be habitable again sounds like WALL-E
I'm so glad I'm not the only one who loses his shit over this series! The character designs and music are top notch!
While i was whacthing a Yogi Bear, Flintsones and Jetsons in an eternal loop reprisal, the japanese kids had animes like that. That was unfair
Damn Johnny, you got me interested in this
Awesome Review. I have and always have been the greatest Megazone fan as well. I have *every* Megazone item that you have just showed us and some not seen. I have the all 4 of the manga books that you just showed(the 3rd and 4th book is still factory sealed). :)
I even have an Autograph from Megazones' Creator Noburu Isiguro-san!!
hello, having lived in los angeles during the 80's, i was fortunate enough to have access to anime through little tokyo, namely a series of stores called pony toy go round. it was there and another store called books nippon that gave me access to anime. it would take about two weeks to get a tape over from japan. megazone, macross and what became to me, the greatest gundam, ZETA GUNDAM, opened my eyes. i wound up having all of the soundtracks except for one record from megazone. i think you visited my chanel, before the youtube overlords took it down.
+em23 Ohh yeah? what was on your channel? Anime music?
yes. megazone tracks.
em23 Ahh yes! i remember!, why did they take it down
?
japanese music conglomerates are not starting to ask yt to take them down for infringement.
Hey Johnny! Did you ever watched Casshan? What do you think of the series?