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Anime Movie Rewind: Flying Phantom Ship
As I’ve watched my way back through a small yet personal selection of anime movies heading for “sixty years since Mighty Atom got on TV” (and plans to watch my way forward from there using the different environment of TV episodes), I’ve been aware of where to leave off, and how I could leave off there with one more freshly opened Blu-Ray thanks to Discotek. When I’d been pointed to an hour-long production (meant as part of a “theatrical anthology for kids”) from the end of the 1960s I’d stepped into the murky water of “fansubs.” Having enjoyed the movie, its relative brevity helped me to watch it again simply tossed into a trip forward through anime movies. Flying Phantom Ship being officially licensed had surprised me for all that Discotek had already made a point of releasing a movie from some of the same people made a year before, but I was glad other people would have a more upright chance to get to see it too.
The new disc promised to include a new English dub. Having listened to two dubs in two weeks and come through them all right, I did have a slight temptation to change things up for this third viewing in rapid succession so far as I go. Still, I also started wondered if, without realising it before, I’d been “forgiving towards those two dubs because they’d been made decades ago”; Discotek’s dub was just supposed to “sound like it had been recorded fifty years ago.” Once I’d got into it, though, I seemed all right again. The one wrinkle might have been enough mild bad language that I was left wondering if this was a dub of a “kids’ movie” suitable for kids; of course, I’m not that familiar with what kids watch these days. One thing the dub did do was clearly establish the name of the spunky girl nurse who shows up well into the story as Ruriko; the first time I’d watched the movie “fansubbed” I’d appreciated her presence and character but been left wondering if I’d noticed her having a name. As ever I enjoyed the rapid pace and shifting fantastic action of the movie, although this time around I did pick up on the contrast between an explanation that “we can’t just rush in at the enemy stronghold” and, after sudden catastrophe leaving just two youths in shape for the crew, a decision to just rush in at the enemy stronghold.
I managed to take the additional time to listen to the commentary by Mike Toole and Dave Merrill. Since the days when Dave had contributed to Mike’s “Anime Jump” web site Mike has gone on to work for Discotek; Dave remains an enthusiastic promoter of this particular film. The commentary showed that enthusiasm and offered bits of explanation putting the movie in the context of anime of its time and afterwards, although I did get to thinking Mike’s deeper voice was more noticeable than Dave’s. With that I’ve finished my trip back through new Blu-Rays; as ever I’ve kept thinking ahead to next year and getting started on TV episodes from a more eclectic yet dodgy mix of sources.
The new disc promised to include a new English dub. Having listened to two dubs in two weeks and come through them all right, I did have a slight temptation to change things up for this third viewing in rapid succession so far as I go. Still, I also started wondered if, without realising it before, I’d been “forgiving towards those two dubs because they’d been made decades ago”; Discotek’s dub was just supposed to “sound like it had been recorded fifty years ago.” Once I’d got into it, though, I seemed all right again. The one wrinkle might have been enough mild bad language that I was left wondering if this was a dub of a “kids’ movie” suitable for kids; of course, I’m not that familiar with what kids watch these days. One thing the dub did do was clearly establish the name of the spunky girl nurse who shows up well into the story as Ruriko; the first time I’d watched the movie “fansubbed” I’d appreciated her presence and character but been left wondering if I’d noticed her having a name. As ever I enjoyed the rapid pace and shifting fantastic action of the movie, although this time around I did pick up on the contrast between an explanation that “we can’t just rush in at the enemy stronghold” and, after sudden catastrophe leaving just two youths in shape for the crew, a decision to just rush in at the enemy stronghold.
I managed to take the additional time to listen to the commentary by Mike Toole and Dave Merrill. Since the days when Dave had contributed to Mike’s “Anime Jump” web site Mike has gone on to work for Discotek; Dave remains an enthusiastic promoter of this particular film. The commentary showed that enthusiasm and offered bits of explanation putting the movie in the context of anime of its time and afterwards, although I did get to thinking Mike’s deeper voice was more noticeable than Dave’s. With that I’ve finished my trip back through new Blu-Rays; as ever I’ve kept thinking ahead to next year and getting started on TV episodes from a more eclectic yet dodgy mix of sources.