#from the new blu ray release

[exdeputysonso]

Death Machine (1994) Behind the Scenes

[street-corner-felines]

Zero Day Director commentary - With actor Andre Keuck

[shadowblade8192]

collecting things is so cool

like having something to work towards and that moment when you finally spot a good deal on one or a listing actually pop up for a rarer item

its great i recommend everyone having something cool to collect

[trans-poppy]

actually its a lil funny that toei would send cease and desist letters to fansubbers a few years ago because not only 1) did that not deter them & forced them to be more discreet when it comes to their fansubs, but 2) toei has been slowly dripping full subs for kamen rider projects. i applaud them for making the first two episodes of each kamen rider show (up to revice) available on their western toku channel available, as well as official subs for their newest anniversary projects (like fuuto pi, black sun, or 2023's shin film),

but at the same time, the actual shows have only ever gotten official subs by shout studios, which isnt bad at first, but it clearly seems like shout has a priority for super sentai subs over kamen rider subs. and i get that translating & subbing is a lot of work & takes time & patience, but that isnt gonna stop fansubbers from still. translating and subbing the newer shows you haven't made available on official grounds yet. people will still reach out to the fansubs first, especially now that they're discreetly made & the latest subs for each franchise has been dekaranger or geats

[flanaganfilm]

Mr. Flanagan, I’d like to ask a question and I deeply hope that it does not offend or upset you. I am strongly considering canceling my Netflix subscription due to their new password sharing policy. However, Midnight Mass is one of my favorite shows of all time and I know it isn’t available on DVD, and I’m also profoundly anticipating your take on my favorite Edgar Allen Poe story. So I wanted to ask your take on people accessing your work through, uh, other means. If it’s something that’s offensive to you or will harm you or the other people who work so hard on these shows, I’ll happily keep my Netflix just so that I can keep supporting your work. I respect you far too much as an artist to do otherwise.

Again, I really hope I’m not upsetting you by asking this question. Thank you for everything, and I hope you’re having a great day!

(NOTE 6/4/2024: I'm editing this entry because, well over a year since it was posted, some journalists dug this up and used it to create click-bait headlines that are misleading, out of context and artificially combative. While I was of course disappointed over the years that Netflix opted not to release my work on physical media, I never experienced any hostility or aggression in those discussions, and I sincerely regret the manner in which this post was used in the press this week.)

Hi there - no offense taken whatsoever, in fact I think this is a very interesting and important question.

So. If you asked me this a few years ago, I would have said "I hate piracy and it is hurting creators, especially in the independent space." I used to get in Facebook arguments with fans early in my career when people would post about seeing my work on torrent sites, especially when that work was readily available for rent and purchase on VOD.

Back in 2014, my movie Before I Wake was pirated and leaked prior to any domestic release, and that was devastating to the project. It actually made it harder to find distribution for the film. By the time we were able to get distribution in the US, the film had already been so exposed online that the best we could hope for was a Netflix release. Netflix stepped in and saved that movie, and for that I will always be grateful to them.

However...

Working in streaming for the past few years has made me reconsider my position on piracy.

In the years I worked at Netflix, I tried very hard to get them to release my work on blu-ray and DVD.

It became clear very fast that their priority was subscriptions, and that they were not particularly interested in physical media releases of their originals, with a few exceptions.

While companies like Netflix pride themselves on being disruptors, and have proven that they can affect great change in the industry, they sometimes fail to see the difference between disruption and damage. So much that they can find themselves, intentionally or not, doing harm to the concept of film preservation.

The danger comes when a title is only available on one platform, and then - for whatever reason - is removed.

We have already seen this happen. And it is only going to happen more and more. Titles exclusively available on streaming services have essentially been erased from the world. If those titles existed on the marketplace on physical media, like HBO's Westworld, the loss is somewhat mitigated (though only somewhat.) But when titles do not exist elsewhere, they are potentially gone forever.

The list of titles that have been removed from streaming services is growing.

I still believe that where we put our dollars matters. Renting or buying a piece of work that you like is essential. It is casting a vote, encouraging studios - who only speak the language of money - to invest more effort into similar work. If we show up to support distinct, unique, exciting work, it encourages them to make more of it. It's as simple as that. If we don't show up, or if they can't hear our voice because we are casing our vote "silently" through torrent sites or other means - it makes it unlikely that they will take a chance to create that kind of work again.

Which is why I typically suggest that if you like a movie you've seen through - uh - other means, throw a few dollars at that title on a legitimate platform. Rent it. Purchase it. Support it.

But if some studios offer no avenue for that kind of support, and can (and will) remove content from their platform forever... frankly, I think that changes the rules.

Netflix will likely never release the work I created for them on physical media, though I'll always hold out hope.

Some of you may say "wait, aren't The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor available on blu-ray and DVD?" Yes, they are, because they were co-produced with Paramount, and I'm grateful that Paramount was able to release and protect those titles. (I'm also grateful that those releases include extended cuts, deleted scenes, and commentary tracks. There are a number of fantastic benefits to physical media releases.)

But a lot of the other work I did there are Netflix originals, without any other studio involvement. Those titles - like Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, and the upcoming Fall of the House of Usher - along with my Netflix exclusive and/or original movies Before I Wake and Gerald's Game - have no such protections. The physical media releases of those titles are entirely at Netflix's discretion, and don't appear to be priority for the studio at this time.

At the moment, Netflix seems content to leave Before I Wake, Gerald's Game, Midnight Mass, and The Midnight Club on the service, where they still draw audiences. I don't think there is a plan to remove any of them anytime soon. But plans change, the industry changes.

The point is things change, and each of those titles - should they be removed from the service for any reason - are not available anywhere else. If that day comes - if Netflix's servers are destroyed, if a meteor hits the building, if they are bought out by a competitor and their library is liquidated - I don't know what the circumstances might be, I just know that if that day comes, some of the work that means the most to me in the world would be entirely erased.

Or, what if we aren't so catastrophic in our thinking? What if it the change isn't so total? What if Netflix simply bumps into an issue with the license they paid for music (like the Neil Diamond songs that play such a crucial role in Midnight Mass), and decide to leave the show up but replace the songs?

This has happened before as well - fans of Northern Exposure can get the show on DVD and blu-ray, but the music they heard when the series aired has been replaced due to the licensing issues. And the replacements - chosen for their low cost, not for creative reasons - are not improvements. What if the shows are just changed, and not by creatives, but by business affairs executives?

All to say that physical media is critically important. Having redundancy in the marketplace is critically important. The more platforms a piece of work is available on, the more likely it is to survive and grow its audience.

As for Netflix, I hope sincerely that their thinking on this issue evolves, and that they value the content they spend so much money creating enough to protect it for posterity. That's up to them, it's their studio, it's their rules. But I like to think they may see that light eventually, and realize that exclusivity in a certain window is very cool... but exclusivity in perpetuity could potentially limit the audience and endanger the work itself.

[dunmeshistash]

Dungeon Meshi Information Sources

Dungeon Meshi has several worldbuilding details and extra comics in different publications and I think they get pretty hard to keep track of so I wanted to make a guide and explain what is what for people that maybe want to look into it themselves!

The Main Information sources are:

Daydream Hour 2-5: Sketch compilations and extra comics by Ryoko Kui with commentary, which can be found on EH Scans blog translated, and also in mangadex in between the manga chapters (The first daydream hour isn't dungeon meshi related)

The Complete Daydream Hour: Or more specifically "Ryoko Kui Doodle Book Daydream Hour" Released in january 2024 it still hasn't been fully translated into english. This version compiles extras and sketches from daydream hour 1-5 along with new content. Some of the exclusive comics have been translated and can be found on reddit and bato.to but the full thing is yet to be translated.

Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: The Adventurer's Bible (2021): A guide by Ryoko Kui that compiles information about the characters, monsters and the world. An official english version is available. It was released in february 2021 and has information pertinent for up to chapter 71 from the manga. It contains extra comics for all the main characters and for all the human/demi human races. The extras that talk about side character's backstories are from this book and the characters section has been translated by EH Scans (Also on mangadex)

Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: Adventurer's Bible Complete Edition (2024): Released in february 2024 and still untranslated, this version of the Adventurer's Bible has information updated for the end of the manga, there's even more extras and lots of comics about post-canon. Some of them are being translated and posted into reddit but I haven't seen them anywhere else. The raw is available on bato.to

Manga and Ryoko Kui's Blog: Some of it are from the manga itself, like Monster Tidbits and other Harta Magazine Extras (Where dungeon meshi is published) and also from the author's own personal blog. Lots of the drawings in her blog were deleted with the publishing of the complete daydream hour but you can still see what was unpublished using the wayback machine.

Blu-ray: With the release of the second bluray its clear that there will be extra content with each new one, there's "what if" extras and cover art by Ryoko Kui, you can check it the cover and info in the tag here.

I hope this helps somehow! It was pretty confusing for myself when I first started looking for more extras after finishing the manga.

The things I post here are all based on one of these and I try to put in the tags what the source is!

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

HELP - Good Omens Season 2 DVD - HELP 🥺❤📀

It's been more than half a year since the S2 of Good Omens came out and there are still no news of the DVD. I think it's time to let Amazon and BBC know that there is the market for it!!! :)

UPDATE! - BBC does not own the rights, so the one to write/call is Amazon!

I deleted the BBC parts from the post.

The plan 📋:

Please help - let's use multiple ways ❤ 🐍😊:

We need to tell BBC and Amazon that we want the DVDs - after S1 DVD was announced with no commentaries we wrote to BBC and it worked and they made commentaries! :)

Classical post - physical letter

If you can spare a coin for the post stamp please write them physical letter, physical letters are very good :).

Amazon Studios address:  AMAZON STUDIOS, 1620 26TH STREET SUITE 4000N, SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA, 90404

2. Phone

This is the option for those comfortable with calling :) <3. Call them and let them know we want the DVD (with commentaries)

Amazon customer service: 1-888-280-4331

3. E-mail

With amazon this is a bit tricky since I am not sure what are the proper emails to use, for amazon the customer service one is cs-reply@amazon.com, also there are emails on the amazon studios page but those seems more for media enquires ? amazon-pr@amazon.com, aws-pr@amazon.com.

Edit: on insta alexis.frykman.smith said: While talking with Amazon customer service several months ago, I was told that the correct email address for requesting the show be released on disc is primevideo-catalogsupport@amazon.com They do not actually reply to emails sent, from my experience, but it’s worth sending the plea.

4. Social media

Not sure how much this will help, but #GoodOmensS2DVD could be a nice tag + tagging amazon studios, and prime video on the social media of your choise :) <3

What to write/say ✍️

I am writing something along the lines:

Hello,

I am a big fan of the BBC+Amazon series Good Omens. I have bought several pieces of merchandise including the Good Omens Season 1 DVD and Blu-ray but there is no announced Good Omens Season 2 DVD. Please make Good Omens Season 2 DVD/Blu-ray for this wonderful series and put commentaries on each episode (ideally by Neil Gaiman, David Tennant and Michael Sheen).

(apologies if this is the route to say this, please redirect to the correct hands)

Thank you and have a wonderful day.

To summarize :)

Write emails

If you can, send physical letters

If you can, call

Tag social media for Amazon with #GoodOmensS2DVD hashtag

[thenightling]

For those keeping score here are all the TV shows based on the work of Neil Gaiman from the last ten years. Lucifer - Loosely based on the version of Lucifer who quits ruling Hell and opens a piano bar, from The Sandman comics by Neil Gaiman. Originally aired on Fox and then moved to Netflix for seasons 4 through 6. Neil Gaiman also got to play God in a bonus episode for season 3. The full series can be watched on Netflix. And is available on DVD. The plot deals with Lucifer, the ruler of Hell, up and quitting and moving to Earth where he opens a night club called Lux and takes up playing piano. In the TV series he befriends (and eventually falls in love with) a woman homicide detective named Chloe Decker.

_______________________ American Gods - Based on the novel by Neil Gaiman. Aired on Starz. The plot deals with a man called Shadow Moon who gets dragged into the strange world of Old and New Gods vying for power.

________________ Anansi Boys - Originally written by Neil Gaiman as a spin-off of American Gods, the TV series version was filmed for Amazon Prime and is currently in post-production (Not yet released.) The plot deals with the sons of Anansi, the African trickster Spider-God.

__________________ Good Omens - Showrun by Neil Gaiman and based on the novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Also Neil Gaiman has a small cameo in the first season. Available now on Amazon Prime. Seasons 1 and 2 are complete. Season 3 has not yet started filming and will very likely be the final season. Season 1 is currently available on DVD. The plot deals with two "differently competent" entities, an Angel and a Demon, who have come to love life on Earth and each other. And now must work together to prevent the apocalypse.

______________________________ The Sandman - First episode was co-written by Neil Gaiman, based on the stories and original characters created by Neil Gaiman with a few borrowed DC comics characters. Currently on Netflix. Season 2 is in production now. Neil Gaiman also voiced a ghostly bird in the bonus episode segment Dream of a Thousand Cats. Season 1 will be available on DVD and Blu Ray at the end of this month. The plot deals with Morpheus, the King of Dreams, who accidentally gets summoned and captured by occultists who had been trying to capture The Grim Reaper. After over a hundred and six years in captivity Morpheus finally escapes and has to track down his tools which had been taken from him when he was captured. He also comes to realize he had made many terrible mistakes in the past and struggles to set those wrongs right.

_________________________________________ The Dead Boy Detectives - First official spin-off of The Sandman. The Dead Boy Detectives were originally planned as an HBO Max series (now just Max) but moved to Netflix after the success of the first season of The Sandman. Based on characters who first appeared in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman is involved in the production. The plot is a pair of ghost teenagers decide to become detectives and are really bad at it. These two characters made a previous appearance in Doom Patrol on Max (Formerly HBO Max) but had been played by different actors.

[yumeka-sxf]

Spy x Family miscellaneous collab scans - part 5

I'm back with new scans from recent merch I bought! (another merch post coming soon as well 🙂) I bought these two adorable postcards specifically to scan ❤️

Such cute "before/after the family outing" illustrations~ Did Loid rent that green truck specifically for the occasion? 😅 Judging by the basket that Yor has, maybe they're going on a picnic? Also, carrying sleeping Anya back to the house after a long day of fun 🥰 And I noticed that there's an extra bag on top of the truck in the first picture but not in the second one. I'm assuming it moved to inside the truck, lol.

I also recently got the deluxe version of the movie on Blu-ray/DVD. The casing has nice scannable images, including the below one which I believe was made specifically for the home video release.

I love the design and colors of this pic! It's cool that the main four locations from the movie are in the background: the train, the restaurant, the ferris wheel, and the airship (but they should have included a toilet too 😂)

And lastly, the below two movie images were used on some of the marketing, but the disc case had them without the usual movie text.

[nuka]

Call me delulu, but I woke up with hope in my heart today.

It's only been 2 months since the show was cancelled. WBD is run by an incompetent fool. WBD previously said they'd sell Coyote vs. Acme, but then made it impossible for anyone to buy it. All streaming services are struggling financially at the moment.

Daddy Jenkins had to tell us we've reached the end of the road, because that's the reality right now. Either WBD made it impossible for anyone to buy the show, or the actual realistic price was just too high for other streamers at the moment even if they wanted to buy it. “Many complimentary meetings, conversations, etc” sounds like someone was interested.

DJ and everyone else who worked on the show need to be able to move on, so they can make a living from other projects. They’ve all been holding their breath just in case they can start filming after all. The fans need to move on in the sense that we can't expect a renewal "any day now", like we did for 2 months. We can still hope that we'll see season 3 one day, but now we can be realistic about the chances of it happening in the immediate future.

Everyone who worked on this show has loved it so dearly that I'm certain that if season 3 gets greenlit in the future, they'll all want to work on it again. As long as DJ is in, the others are too. The Revenge can be rebuilt. The time that has passed can be explained in the story, if it needs explaining at all. If some actors won't be able to return, we'll get new characters added to our family, and we'll embrace them just like we embraced all the new characters in season 2.

Depending on what the problem for the pick up was, things might change very quickly, or they might take a few years. Who knows, if we continue being loud, a streaming service that quickly passed on the show in January might take interest in it later. A streaming service that offered too little might make a better offer, and WBD might accept just to get rid of us (because we're back to calling Max out on this bullshit and it's not a good look for them). Or, once the industry recovers a bit, a streaming service might be willing to reconsider spending a big amount of money on this show. And if WBD set an impossible price for the show this time, they might shop it around for a more reasonable price once Zaslav is out (or even greenlight season 3 themselves, but that’s delulu level 200). Even if we don't get a season 3, we might still get a movie, or a comic book, or a script book, or a blu-ray release, or the Jenkins Cut. And honestly, if someone was to announce they've picked up the show in a year or two... that's not a long time at all.

Pirate Daddy said that our campaign was noticed across the industry. They hear and see our love for this show. They know we're here for the show if it's ever to return. They know this show has potential.

So let’s keep having fun in the fandom. Keep being loud about Our Flag Means Death. Keep using the hashtags. Keep making fanart. Keep shouting about how unfair this cancellation was. We don’t have to do it with the same intensity as during the campaign (I know we’re all tired and it’s completely okay to step away if you need/want to), but as long as we as a fandom are consistent, they’ll see there’s a demand that just won’t go away.

There is always hope. It’s not the same kind of hope we had before January 9th, and it’s not the kind we had until March 7th. But there are so many variables, and so little time has passed. Who knows what the industry will look like in a year or two. I’d rather believe in a future that might just hold a pleasant surprise for us than throw in the towel completely.

[sean-gaffney]

What's Left of the Looney Tunes?

So you’re a Looney Tunes fan, and you’re waiting with baited breath (Greetings, Bait!) for the cartoon list for the next Collector’s Choice Blu-Ray.  And as you wait to see if they add that 1953 Friz Freleng or 1958 Robert McKimson cartoon, you must be thinking:  Surely they’ve released every single cartoon at SOME point since the 1980s, right?  Well, except for the really racist ones.  Right?

Nah.  There’s 129 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies that have never been officially released, restored or unrestored, on home video at all.  And, to be honest, most of them are unlikely to be on the Collector’s Choice sets.  Let’s take a look at the last bastions against having all 1000 LT/MM cartoons available.

Bosko.  Now, there are a few Bosko cartoons available.  There’s 38 Bosko cartoons from 1930-1933, not counting the weird ones like the Talk-ink Kid pilot or whatever Bosko and Honey was.  Of those, 11 have been released officially.  This leaves 27 in limbo.  This is a shame, there are some really good Bosko cartoons.

Buddy.  Even worse, to be honest.  23 Buddy cartoons were made, 5 have had some official release.  That leaves 18.  Now, there’s a reason for that.  They’re awful.  (Also, two of those 18, Buddy of the Apes and Buddy in Africa, also fall under one of the later categories we’ll get to.)

Seven B&W Merrie Melodies.  Two of these, Hittin’ the Trail for Hallelujah Land and Goin’ to Heaven on a Mule, are basically banned for content.  Those Were Wonderful Days, Why Do I Dream Those Dreams, The Girl at the Ironing Board, The Miller’s Daughter, and Rhythm in the Bow, are simply not available, possibly as they’re dull.  However, they have been restored.  (As has HtTfHL.)

Seven B&W Looney Tunes.  Mostly the same as above.  The Daffy Duckaroo and Tokio Jokio are banned for content, though we may see Duckaroo someday (Native American caricatures have traditionally been less banned than Black and Asian caricatures).  Saps in Chaps also has some Native American gags, I think.  As for The Fire Alarm, Joe Glow the Firefly, Gopher Goofy and Nutty News, they’ve been restored but never released.

The rest of the “Censored 11”, of which Hittin’ the Trail for Hallelujah Land was the first.  As most cartoon fans know, this is not a catch all of all racist WB cartoons, it’s just the ones that were owned by Associated Artists productions.  So yeah, Sunday Go to Meetin’ Time, Clean Pastures, Uncle Tom’s Bungalow, Jungle Jitters, The Isle of Pingo Pongo, All This and Rabbit Stew (a Bugs Bunny cartoon), Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, Tin Pan Alley Cats, Angel Puss and Goldilocks and the Jivin’ Bears.  They’ve all been restored.

The dog cartoons.  There are a bunch of one-shots that have no regular characters but all involve dogs, and (likely as they don’t have a “star” and aren’t really great) they’ve never come out.  Pappy’s Puppy, Mixed Master, A Waggily Tale, Dog Tales.  All but Pappy’s Puppy are restored.

Miscellaneous “banned for content” cartoons.  Which is Witch (a Bugs Bunny cartoon), Tom Tom Tomcat (a Tweety and Sylvester cartoon), and two REALLY late cartoons, Hocus Pocus Pow Wow and Injun Trouble.  None of these have been restored.

Random missing 50s stuff.  A Bone for a Bone (Goofy Gophers), Sock a Doodle Doo (Foghorn Leghorn), Easy Peckin’s, Quack Shot (Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd), Trick or Tweet (Tweety).

60s stuff that’s still actually Warner Brothers.  There’s about 10 or 12 early 60s cartoons that just aren’t very good, and that’s why they’re not out.  They’ve all been restored except Unnatural History and What’s My Lion, which are two of the worst LT/MM shorts that ever came out – not for content, they’re simply pathetically unfunny.

All the post-64 stuff.  There’s a pile, I won’t break them down one by one.  Mostly Daffy/Speedy cartoons, the nadir of both characters.  A few of the Roadrunner cartoons that weren’t stuffed onto that one DVD a while back.  They’re here as no one wants to watch them.

The post-67 stuff, aka the nightmare years.  Cool Cat, Merlin the Magic Mouse, Bunny and Claude… those.  (Though actually, both Bunny and Claude shorts HAVE been released.)  They’re here for the same reason – unpopularity.

Note this doesn’t even get into the cartoons which were fine to release in the 1980s on VHS but *aren’t* fine to release now (all the Merrie Melodies that weren’t banned but have racial stereotypes, such as the Inki cartoons, a huge number of cowboy and Indian cartoons, and Bugs Bunny’s unfortunate wartime cartoon).  Or all the stuff that’s restored and out on Max, but has never hit a DVD or Blu-Ray (half of the 30s Merrie Melodies).  Or the stuff that’s unrestored, not on Max and has never hit a DVD or Blu-Ray (the other half of the 1930s Merrie Melodies).  Or Holiday for Drumsticks, what’s up with that?

In any case, when they announce the cartoons for the 4th set in a week or so, you can look at this list and see if it has any of those.

[museqmeg]

Nightow's thoughts on Roberto as an original character in Trigun Stampede:

"The time of Milly's appearance was determined at the beginning of the project, so I knew Meryl's growth was going to be a pillar. That helped me understand why Roberto was there. A lot happened, but it was tough staying silent about Milly since talking about her would doom Roberto to death (laughs)."

Nightow's "pillar" comment clearly shows his feelings about his character, Meryl. She is so important to the story of Trigun. She is the hero. Vash is the protagonist. I appreciate how Muto highlighted this by creating an all-new original character to highlight Meryl.

from the Bernardelli Times Limited English Blu-Ray release of Trigun Stampede

[biomic]

Hi! Which subs groups do you recommend for Super Sentai, old and new?

over-time subs - boonboomger / king-ohger / donbrothers / zenkaiger / kiramager / ryusoulger / super sentai strongest battle / lupinranger vs patranger / kyuranger / zyuohger / ninninger / toqger / kyoryuger / akibaranger / go-busters / gokaiger / shinkenger / dekaranger

millionfold curiosity subs - goseiger / gingaman / megaranger / ohranger

earthly subs - go-onger / gekiranger / boukenger

tinyhenshin subs - magiranger

imagination station subs - abaranger / gogov

shushutto scrubs - hurricaneger

gao soul forever - gaoranger / sun vulcan

tv-nihon - timeranger (again, not usually a fan but they had a different translator on this release and i thought they did good work)

harorangers - carranger

grown ups in spandex (GUIS) - kakuranger / zyuranger / jetman / liveman / maskman / bioman

hikari-senshi - dairanger (likely harder to find this one nowadays tho, the shout release is probably fine)

XIG - fiveman

wandering moonbeams - turboranger

metallic fansubs - flashman / dynaman / goggle v / JAKQ

thunder king productions - changeman / goranger

berndadelta subs - denziman / battle fever j

also groups like zichz scrubs, ocz-live, pocket universe, and nonactionablefansubs often take existing subs (like from over-time) and patch them onto blu-ray releases, if you're interested in digging for the Highest Quality™, but otherwise not necessary

[kaleen-art]

Lupin Movie Marathon Analysis #1

The Mystery of Mamo (Lupin VS. The Clone)

Lupin III: The Mystery of Mamo has been a long standing favorite Lupin movie of mine. When I originally watched it, I couldn’t stand it due to its adult content, but since then, I have not only grown to like it, but I think it’s one of my favorite pieces of Lupin media, period. However, it had been a long time since I watched the full movie by myself, so I decided to put on the Blu-ray and watch it again.

Mamo has always been a movie with a lot of complex themes I like to explore, but I noticed something new this time, as well as coming to new conclusions about previous realizations. So join me in my lengthy analysis/report on Mamo, the most insane masterpiece of a film ever made.

At face value Mamo is just a stupid silly Part 2-like romp. Released in 1978, it reflects a trend amongst Lupin media at the time to be closer to the original manga and Masaaki Osumi’s Part 1 work in tone. For this movie, they even got back a significant portion of the early Part 1 staff in order to bring back this grittier, less bubbly Lupin. His characterization here is notably close to the original manga. But where Mamo succeeds (and Part 2 fails, in my opinion) is the fact that there is depth to Lupin’s character. Unlike Part 2 which has very little stakes, we see Lupin pushed to his absolute limit as the film breaks him down as a person. In a way, the movie is a sort of character study on him. But in order to study Lupin as a person, we have to see how the people around him are affected by, and affect him. Primarily, Fujiko Mine.

Fujiko’s characterization in this movie is perfect. This movie captures something I find a majority of Lupin fails to understand. Fujiko is exactly like Lupin. She is just as calculated and manipulative as him, Lupin just has more practical skill in place of where Fujiko utilizes her beauty to get the things she wants. They don’t even listen to their partners in crime (Lupin with Jigen and Goemon, Fujiko with Mamo) as they lust after each other (while secretly planning to deceive them). They are both horrible people, and therefore are made for each other. The movie drives this point home when Lupin even says him and Fujiko are bound together and can’t be separated, to Mamo. But there’s another character Lupin is bound to.

Zenigata, as he usually does, serves as Lupin’s foil. While Mamo is the actual villain of the movie, Zenigata is always there behind Lupin. In a way, he’s kind of a parallel to Fujiko, because he’s the only other one who never leaves Lupin’s side. And as Delaney Jordan denotes in her amazing video essay on Mamo, in Lupin’s subconscious, the only people who appear are Zenigata and Fujiko. They are the only ones who truly stand to challenge him in comparison to his other partners, which is why he subconsciously holds them in such high esteem. To analogize it, Jigen and Goemon are there to catch Lupin when he falls, while Fujiko and Zenigata are the ones who pushed him off.

On the topic of Jigen and Goemon, they are also very important characters to Lupin in this movie, but in a way, they both serve the same plot purpose. They both act as a sort of conscience to Lupin, keeping him in check throughout the movie, and judging his actions. That is up until they leave (which is very unexpected, especially at the time when the movie came out. If you had been watching the weekly Part 2, it was common to hear Jigen and Goemon bitch about Fujiko, but to see them pushed so far to the limit that they abandon Lupin? It was plain unusual to see.) It’s not until they’re both away from Lupin that we get to see the true side of Lupin. One without refrain. And that’s a good thing for him, because that’s the only Lupin that could go against Mamo.

Mamo is a particularly interesting villain because he’s almost like the anti-Lupin. As one of my friends (@curleyclown) described it, Mamo is an unstoppable force to Lupin’s immovable object. While Mamo is constantly growing more and more intelligent and trying to change time itself, Lupin is a stubborn person opposed to change. And that might be Mamo’s most prevalent theme. The main cast’s refusal to change. The characters don’t grow or change as people, they don’t mature, they end the movie the exact same people they were when it started. And though Mamo tried to influence them through his actions, likely knowing Fujiko would pull Lupin, Jigen and Goemon apart, he was unsuccessful because these characters just aren’t capable of growth. Lupin even remarks this himself about Jigen when twice in the movie, once in the beginning and once near the end, he calls Jigen a unchanging classic. Even a line that seems just like a throwaway joke has depth in this film.

Another thing I love is the movie’s emphasis on Lupin’s subconscious. When Mamo enters the mind of Lupin, he’s stunned by Lupin not dreaming, but later on in the film, when Jigen is arguing with Lupin, Lupin says he had his dream stolen from him, and Jigen asks if he's referring to Fujiko. This is genius. The reason Mamo couldn’t see Lupin’s dream was because Mamo had taken it from him. This might be one of my favorite parts in the whole movie.

My favorite part about the theming in the movie though are the biblical parts. Mamo’s claim to be God isn’t just said through dialogue, the movie continually showcases this visually. Behind Mamo in this shot (see first image below paragraph) is Michelangelo’s “The Creation of Man”, which showcases God creating Adam, the first man. Many people have remarked that you can see the silhouette of a brain in the background shapes behind God (see second image below paragraph), and when Mamo reveals his true form at the end of the movie– (see third image below paragraph) Do you see what I’m getting at? It’s brilliant foreshadowing.

Furthermore, Mamo compares him and Fujiko to Adam and Eve many times which, as said in the Streamline dub, makes Lupin the snake.

Overall, The Mystery of Mamo has a really engaging plot with really good character writing and themimg. But it’s not just that I love about Mamo. The art is gorgeous, and in my opinion, is better than Cagliostro. While Cagliostro has smoother animation, Mamo’s limited animation works really well with the manga inspired artstyle, making it more distinctive, and because they saved time and money by using less character animation, they were able to put more into other aspects of the movie. The movie’s camera shots are really well done and always have a really interesting perspective to them. Additionally the meshing-together of live action materials and animation (such as the scene with Fujiko overlaid on top of a ton of breasts) is really unique, especially for its time. My final note is about the scene where Goemon chops Flinch’s head in 3 and the frame literally gets chopped. It is jaw-droppingly awesome and always impresses my friends when I show them the movie.

The music is also really good. It’s nothing too remarkable as a lot of the music is in Part 2, but its placement in the movie is very nice and I especially love some of the timed cues. The music cue in the scene where Lupin clicks on Fujiko’s nipple (that’s a sentence, alright) is hilarious to me. 

Now we get to another really long section. The voice acting. The voice acting in the Japanese version is absolutely fantastic, all the voice actors deliver a really great performance and you can just hear the psychoticness in Yasuo Yamada’s Lupin. Kou Nishimura’s Mamo is very distinctive and very fitting for the character. And of course the rest of the cast, as usual, deliver a great performance. But of course, I can’t mention Mamo and voice acting while not discussing the 4 English dubs.

Toho’s dub’s script is actually quite decent and it’s a competent dub given it was made in 1979 but the voice acting is rough and because it hasn’t been well preserved, the audio quality isn’t great. Overall, it’s a 5/10.

I adore Streamline’s dub. The script is accurate while simultaneously maintaining really good flow. The voice actors are also amazing and I love Bob Bergen’s performance as Lupin, as well as Edie Mirman’s Fujiko. They both have that perfect energy for their characters and I love their performances. Steve Bulen’s Jigen is also great, my friend (@theshmeepking) always describes him as sounding like a “weed dealer”. Ardwight Chamberlain’s Goemon and David Povall’s Zenigata are also fantastic. Overall, my favorite dub of the movie, 9/10. I just wish it maintained Lupin’s line about Fujiko being his dream. 

Manga’s dub is overall forgettable and the script is littered with out of place cursing. It’s an adult movie, sure, but it just feels tonally inappropriate in my opinion. Voice acting is decent, though I find Bill Dufris’s Lupin a little grating. Audio quality is better than Toho but still rough. Overall, I give it a Dyslexic Zenigata/10 (Zenigata actually says he’s dyslexic, I’m not kidding.)

And then we have the ever-popular Geneon dub. I don’t particularly care for the modern Tony Oliver cast, but I will say, their performances in this aren’t bad even if I don’t personally care for the voices. I find Michelle Ruff’s Fujiko a little unfitting for her depiction in Mamo though. My main problem is the script that deviates way too much from the Japanese original and adds in a ton of unfitting jokes. It’s a fine dub if you’re watching the movie as a fun “turn your brain off” romp, but personally, I don’t think it’s a good adaptation of the original Japanese version.

On that note, that’s about all my collected thoughts on The Mystery of Mamo. This is definitely one of my favorite Lupin films, and maybe just films in general. I don’t have much more to say, but overall I give it a solid 9.5/10. I'd like to give a special shoutout to Delaney Jordan, whose video essay on Mamo was a huge inspiration not only for this, but for my passion for Lupin analyses in general. I'd also like to thank @curleyclown and @eva-of-the-sea for reading my WIPs for this essay. And finally, join Cagliostro Central, the Lupin server I co-own. I usually post the WIPs in question there.

I hope you enjoyed reading this ramble-analysis! I’m doing a Lupin movie marathon, so next up is The Castle of Cagliostro! Stay tuned.

[crawlthesky]

DIGIMON ADVENTURE  Screencaps

source: Blu-ray rip resolution: 1440x1080 file type: .jpg (batch-converted from .png) image count / file size: Overall: 39,184 screencaps / 28.1GB Individual: see the read more Bonus: Blu-ray Extras ♥ zip Digivices ♥ zip Tags/Crests ♥ zip Other ♥ zip

♥ Recapped entirely from the US Discotek release. (The Japanese blu-ray was done way back here.) ♥ Movie 1 / Digimon Adventure Movie can be found here. ♥ Movie 2 / Bokura no War Game can be found here. ♥ Previous season posts: Adventure 02, Tamers, Frontier, Savers, Xros Wars, Xros Wars: 7 Death Generals, Xros Wars: Young Hunters, Appmon, Adventure (2020), Ghost Game. Franchise master post over here. ♥ If you have any problems with the download links, let me know, and I'll toss you an alternate link or split them smaller or something. ♥ Have fun making a buttload of icons or edits or whatever.

Creditless Opening → 262 screencaps / 192MB Creditless Ending 1 → 79 screencaps / 68MB Creditless Ending 2 → 99 screencaps / 79MB Digimon Analyzer → 358 screencaps / 286MB Evolution Sequences → 1,012 screencaps / 647MB Eyecatch → 23 screencaps / 19MB Title Cards → 180 screencaps / 134MB

01: Adrift? The Island of Adventure! → 936 screencaps / 719MB 02: Explosive Evolution! Greymon → 656 screencaps / 500MB 03: The Blue Wolf! Garurumon → 800 screencaps / 619MB 04: Scorching Heat! Birdramon → 599 screencaps / 463MB 05: Electric Shock! Kabuterimon → 675 screencaps / 500MB 06: Palmon's Furious Evolution! → 952 screencaps / 693MB 07: Roar! Ikkakumon → 678 screencaps / 503MB 08: Devimon, Emissary of Darkness! → 678 screencaps / 478MB 09: Clash! The Freezing Digimon → 813 screencaps / 601MB 10: Centarumon the Protector! → 716 screencaps / 553MB 11: The Dancing Ghosts! Bakemon → 838 screencaps / 595MB 12: Adventure! Patamon and Me → 618 screencaps / 469MB 13: Angemon Awakens! → 677 screencaps / 496MB 14: Departure to a New Continent! → 544 screencaps / 404MB 15: Etemon's Grand Entrance of Evil → 708 screencaps / 534MB 16: Dark Evolution! SkullGreymon → 681 screencaps / 507MB 17: Cockatrimon, Ship Captain of Illusions! → 610 screencaps / 462MB 18: The Fairy! Piccolomon → 606 screencaps / 449MB 19: Nanomon of the Labyrinth! → 486 screencaps / 373MB 20: Perfect Evolution! MetalGreymon → 663 screencaps / 491MB 21: Koromon and the Great Clash in Tokyo! → 572 screencaps / 384MB 22: The Whispering Little Devil, PicoDevimon → 687 screencaps / 523MB 23: My Friend! WereGarurumon → 688 screencaps / 508MB 24: Break Through! AtlurKabuterimon → 791 screencaps / 556MB 25: The Sleeping Tyrant! TonosomaGekomon → 654 screencaps / 490MB 26: Shining Wings! Garudamon → 606 screencaps / 453MB 27: Vamdemon and the Castle of Darkness → 710 screencaps / 507MB

28: The Chase! Hurry to Japan → 694 screencaps / 500MB 29: Mammon and the Great Clash at Hikarigaoka! → 607 screencaps / 457MB 30: The Digimon's Great Tokyo Crossing!! → 668 screencaps / 512MB 31: Raremon! Attack on Tokyo Bay → 777 screencaps / 538MB 32: Tokyo Tower is Hot! DeathMeramon → 703 screencaps / 507MB 33: Pump and Gotsu are Shibuya-style Digimon → 595 screencaps / 421MB 34: The Bond of Destiny! Tailmon → 693 screencaps / 474MB 35: The Fairy of Odaiba! Lilimon Blooms → 602 screencaps / 427MB 36: Break Through the Barrier! Zudomon Spark! → 867 screencaps / 613MB 37: Perfect Levels' All-Out Strike! Sparkling Angewomon → 718 screencaps / 508MB 38: Revival! The Demon Lord, VenomVamdemon → 647 screencaps / 483MB 39: Two Ultimate Evolutions! Banish the Darkness!! → 663 screencaps / 492MB 40: The Four Kings of the Evil Mountain! The Dark Masters → 682 screencaps / 497MB 41: The Savage King of the Sea! MetalSeadramon → 618 screencaps / 469MB 42: Whamon and the Silent Sea Bottom → 598 screencaps / 436MB 43: A Dangerous Game! Pinocchimon → 756 screencaps / 595MB 44: Jyureimon and the Forest of Doubts → 633 screencaps / 501MB 45: Clash of the Ultimates! WarGreymon VS MetalGarurumon → 828 screencaps / 645MB 46: MetalEtemon's Payback → 676 screencaps / 541MB 47: Oh Wind! Oh Light! SaberLeomon → 725 screencaps / 557MB 48: Orders to Bomb! Mugendramon → 594 screencaps / 436MB 49: Farewell, Numemon → 655 screencaps / 477/MB 50: Battle Between Women! LadyDevimon → 552 screencaps / 401MB 51: Piemon, The Clown From Hell → 688 screencaps / 483MB 52: The Holy Swordsman! HolyAngemon → 814 screencaps / 585MB 53: The Final Dark Digimon → 622 screencaps / 415MB 54: A New World → 569 screencaps / 409MB

[wheels-of-despair]

A Quiet Place: Day One's bonus content "varies by retailer", so here's what I can confirm without buying anything:

Apple has a few featurettes, which you can watch for free.

Update: Bonus content becomes available after purchase.

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Amazon/Prime Video also shows a few free featurettes.

Update: It's just these three.

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Fandango at Home / Vudu has bonus features with purchase.

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YouTube and Google Movies do not mention any bonus content at all. Update: Because there isn't any.

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Microsoft has bonus content with purchase.

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xfinity won't tell you anything unless you're signed in, which I am not.

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50 minutes of Bonus Content will be on the physical releases (4K and Blu-Ray; not DVD) coming on October 8.

Day Zero: Beginnings and Endings—Hear from John Krasinski, cast, and crew as director Michael Sarnoski takes the reins for this character-driven prequel. (7 minutes)

In the City: Chaos in Chinatown—See how the production crew recreated Manhattan from scratch in order to destroy it. Plus, hear from some new and familiar faces from the franchise. (7 minutes)

The Exodus: Against the Tide—Go behind-the-scenes of the exodus sequence that employed over a hundred extras and a clever mix of practical and visual effects. (6 minutes)

The Long Walk: Monsters in Midtown—Meet Frodo the cat and the animal trainers behind the fantastic feline performance. Plus, filmmakers detail Sam, Eric, and Frodo's long walk through the city. (7 minutes)

Pizza at the End of the World—Hear from cast and crew about why a quest for pizza when the world is under attack poignantly speaks to our humanity. (7 minutes)

Deleted and Extended Scenes -The Back of the Bus—Sam returns to the bus disappointed after the show, but notices something peculiar happening in the back. (extended, 2 minutes) -Take Off Your Shoes—Sam notices a stranger following her and tells him to remove his shoes in order to make less noise. (extended, 1 minute) -Finding the Farm—Eric is returning with Sam's meds, but takes a detour to the creature feeding grounds to find Frodo. (extended, 2 minutes) -New Shoes—Sam and Eric try on new shoes. (deleted, 1 minute) -Poetry at Patsy's—Sam and Eric have a heart-to-heart out in front of Patsy's Pizzeria. (deleted, 8 minutes)

If you purchase any of the digital versions and bonus content becomes available to you, please share with the class!