I don't say this very often, but Samurai Troopers - aka Ronin Warriors - is my personal favorite anime TV series of all-time. The biggest factor being because of the personal impact it had on me as a child. Near the summer of 1995 when it first aired on syndicated television, I got a chance to watch it starting from the 3rd episode, and I was hooked on it every day since. It made me want to give a damn about anime and its more complex methods of storytelling, and was offering more than the same old same old I've been seeing on almost every other cartoon.
Since then, this 39-episode god-armor series had made its run on the Sci-Fi Channel the following year on weekday mornings (now called SyFy) and the popular and acclaimed Toonami programming block on Cartoon Network every weekday afternoon in September 1999 through mid/late 2001, helping spearhead Toonami's popularity.
On April 23, 2002, Samurai Troopers finally made its first release on DVD in the U.S. thanks to Bandai Entertainment and the relentless clamoring of hungry, dedicated fans, staying on the radar for many anime enthusiasts and collectors for quite some time and consistently releasing volumes every month until March 2003, ending with the final piece of the DVD collection, the 5-part OVA "Message".
However, when directly compared to the Region 2 DVDs in Japan, something felt missing in the stateside DVDs for many a great purist. For example, even though Bandai advertised that the original Japanese version was uncut, each episode was in fact cut. Bandai's release not only omitted one-half of the back-to-back commercial bumpers (which becomes very noticeable to hardcore fans in episodes 25-29), but also every episode preview. The picture quality was also more noticeably crisp and clean, whereas the Region 1 DVDs showed signs of grain in picture quality (and in the first OVA series's case, LOTS of ghosting). In addition, the first 15 episodes had some major cases of "dub-titles", poor translations of certain names and attacks, and other phrases lost in translation.
After reading all this, you're probably wondering, "Why am I bringing up all these differences in content?" Glad you asked, because after months (and months) of Discotek constantly delaying the DVD re-release of the entire series in the hopes they may be doing something different from what Bandai did, I want to inform you - the consumer - what Discotek Media has in store for us fans who waited 13 years to get the same justice done as Japan did... and I'll narrow it down to three simple subjects:
The good.
The bad.
And what's BS.
First...
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The BS: You would think that after Discotek Media so proudly announced a re-release of Samurai Troopers on DVD and delaying it (not once, but TWICE,) that the least they can do to differentiate itself from Bandai and learn from their mistakes with the first 16 episodes would be to fix the translations. Sounds reasonable, right? Well, I just opened this cool-looking box set, popped the first disc in watching episode after episode... BS.
The next disc after that... BS.
And the third disc containing the remaining 4 episodes with translation mistakes... BS.
Just... BS.
No fixes, no changes, everything is exactly the same as the Bandai release. If they had no intention of fixing the subs or even adding the dad-gummed episode previews and the other missing commercial bumpers, they should've just stopped beating around the bush and just brought it out on their original intended date (which was sometime in February) while at the same time securing the rights for the separate Ronin Warriors dub.
WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?
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The Bad: As far as the picture quality of the episodes go, it isn't bad. It's slightly better than the Bandai release, but it's still not as good as the Region 2 DVD masters. There's still some noticeable grain and lack of color correction, but that could be owed to the aging of the actual masters given. Other than that, Episode 2 still remains to this day the one episode I consider truly bad. Much of what happened here was redundant and could've happened on Episode 1. But that's a story for another time.
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The good: Now with all my gripes and negatives out of the way, it's time to look at the positive Discotek Media offered on the forefront. Discotek has gained quite the positive reputation for re-releasing past retro franchises lost in license limbo at an affordable, fair price, and this, my friends and consumers, is where the company truly shines.
Even if you missed out on buying the initial Bandai DVD collection from way back in 2002, this is essentially the best, most affordable way to catch up... especially if you're a fan of the original Japanese version. Granted, it doesn't include the Ronin Warriors dub on the other side of the DVD, but for $40 or less, this is quite generous compared to what you'd be paying for the now out-of-print former, which could range from $200 or more.
As far as the episodes go, what matters is that the core footage of the actual episodes have remained intact, and in their native resolution as intended when it first aired on TV. No cropping, no pan-and-scan, no bull. It's still the same ol' Samurai Troopers we know and love, even if it is a gimped "port" of the Bandai release from 13 years ago.
In conclusion...
Buy if:
1) You never owned the series on DVD before (especially in Japanese) and have fond memories of watching it on TV.
2) You like god-armor shows like Saint Seiya or Shurato, and you wanna complete the collection of greats in the genre.
3) Your old DVD collection got scratched beyond repair and you need a good, much more affordable replacement.
4) You're a die-hard fan like me and will buy it anyway for the sake of collecting, even if you already own the previous Bandai DVD collection.
Don't buy if:
1) You already own the series on DVD and all your discs still play fine.
2) You already own the Region 2 DVDs.
3) You're a cheapskate.
All this said, have fun, be safe, and take care of yourselves.
Hardcore Samurai Troopers fan out.
