Info Wanted: on Old Japanese VHS Videocassette and VHD Dealers? — Page 2

I'd need to buy a video converter to use that in North America, wouldn't I? That also raises the question of how this crazy setup would work with my Dazzle...

According to http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9C%E3%83%83%E3%83%84 , Mighty Orbots was re-broadcast in Japan on Animax (a basic cable/satellite channel), although it looks like Animax took down their page for it that's linked in the article.

Have you tried looking for it on Japanese P2P?  Digital recordings from the re-airings would probably look better.

Perhaps a DVD release might also be released in Japan someday, or a non-upscaled Blu-ray if we're really lucky.

Buster D said:

According to http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%9E%E3%82%A4%E3%83%86%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BB%E3%82%AA%E3%83%BC%E3%83%9C%E3%83%83%E3%83%84 , Mighty Orbots was re-broadcast in Japan on Animax (a basic cable/satellite channel), although it looks like Animax took down their page for it that's linked in the article.

Have you tried looking for it on Japanese P2P?  Digital recordings from the re-airings would probably look better.

Perhaps a DVD release might also be released in Japan someday, or a non-upscaled Blu-ray if we're really lucky.

Thanks for the link. I did actually hear that it was supposedly rebroadcast on Animax, but I've never been able to verify it and have had a lot of trouble accessing Japanese P2P servers. Need to get some help with that.

It's possible it never did actually re-air, I can't seem to find anything in a quick Google search in Japanese (other than the Wikipedia article and other websites copying the article).

Buster D said:

It's possible it never did actually re-air, I can't seem to find anything in a quick Google search in Japanese (other than the Wikipedia article and other websites copying the article).

Just to be clear: I appreciate your attempt to help and am not trying to call you a liar or discourage you or something. :)

The problem with Mighty Orbots is that, based on my own intense research over the last two years, there's a lot of inaccurate information out there that's being repeated as fact even though it's not true. I think the most persistent claim that's been made all over the Internet is that it was released on Laserdisc in Japan. This is 100%  false; it actually came out on VHD (Video High Density), an obscure digital disc format that was the Betamax to Laserdisc's VHS and became a popular release format for anime and karaoke. Heck, I even have the product numbers that were assigned to the releases by Victor (a.k.a. JVC):

Videocassettes
Mighty Orbots - Volume 1 (VTG-136)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 2 (VTG-137)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 3 (VTG-152)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 4 (VTG-153)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 5 (VTG-155)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 6 (VTG-156)

VHDs
Mighty Orbots - Volume 1 (ODG-1029)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 2 (ODG-1035)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 3 (ODG-1038)
Mighty Orbots - Volume 4 (ODG-1039)

I've also run across some extremely bizarre things whose veracity I can't verify. For example, thanks to a library director in Austin, Texas, I discovered that the WorldCat database indicated that two U.S. libraries, one in New York state and another in Minnesota, claimed to have copies of all thirteen episodes in their media archives...even though only six episodes were ever released on home video in North America. Unfortunately, both libraries have since disposed of their copies and the representatives couldn't provide me with any additional information, so we'll never know whether the listing was indeed accurate or they were simply mistaken (which one of the people I spoke to indicated was possible).

And even I end up being thrown for a loop sometimes. Until recently, I thought that the United Kingdom home video market only ever got the same six episodes that we did, which was what all my research indicated was the fact. But then I ran across someone who discovered a copy of the seventh episode, "The Jewel of Targon", which was never released in North America, in a thrift shop in England.

I more than anyone want the Animax thing to be true, but it's difficult to weed out what's true and what isn't about this series a lot of the time.

Right, I didn't think you were calling me a liar or anything, I just didn't think to doubt the ja.wikipedia article until you mentioned that you hadn't yet confirmed the re-broadcasts.

One possible bit of good news is that God Mars has been re-airing on a local TV station (TV Kanagawa, I think). Perhaps they'll air Mighty Orbots afterward as a sort of tie in. A long shot, but you never know.

Buster D said:

Right, I didn't think you were calling me a liar or anything, I just didn't think to doubt the ja.wikipedia article until you mentioned that you hadn't yet confirmed the re-broadcasts.

One possible bit of good news is that God Mars has been re-airing on a local TV station (TV Kanagawa, I think). Perhaps they'll air Mighty Orbots afterward as a sort of tie in. A long shot, but you never know.

Well, it's better to clear up any misunderstandings early on this board. :)

You're right, I haven't been able to confirm the rebroadcast myself, though since I don't really speak Japanese, it's kind of hard for me to do that directly. But you'd think that a rebroadcast would mean that someone, somewhere would have more information on it, like air dates and times.

Since my last post here, some additional news has surfaced that's actually slightly more encouraging and effectively doubles my chances of finding the missing episodes that I need. Turns out that I was completely wrong about the United Kingdom and North American releases, but in a good way.

There were thirteen episodes of Mighty Orbots made:

Episode 1: "Magnetic Menace"
Episode 2: "The Wish World"
Episode 3: "Trapped on the Prehistoric Planet"
Episode 4: "Devil's Asteroid"
Episode 5: "The Dremloks"
Episode 6: "Raid on the Stellar Queen"
Episode 7: "The Jewel of Targon"
Episode 8: "The Phoenix Factor"
Episode 9: "Leviathan"
Episode 10: "The Cosmic Circus"
Episode 11: "A Tale of Two Thieves"
Episode 12: "Operation Eclipse"
Episode 13: "Invasion of the Shadow Star"

In North America, the first six episodes were released on home video with one episode per tape and a total running time of 23 minutes per videocassette:

Mighty Orbots - Volume 1: Magnetic Menace
Mighty Orbots - Volume 2: The Wish World
Mighty Orbots - Volume 3: Trapped on the Prehistoric Planet
Mighty Orbots - Volume 4: Devil's Asteroid
Mighty Orbots - Volume 5: The Dremloks
Mighty Orbots - Volume 6: Raid on the Stellar Queen

I've been speaking with a videocassette collector in England via e-mail, and he was able to dig up the names of the UK releases here:

Mighty Orbots - Volume 1: Magnetic Menace
Mighty Orbots - Volume 2: Devil's Asteroid
Mighty Orbots - Volume 3: The Jewel of Targon
Mighty Orbots - Volume 4: The Phoenix Factor
Mighty Orbots - Volume 5: Leviathan

Now, here's where things get interesting.

Several years ago, a UK website known as Anime Video Games did a review of the first volume. But they mentioned that there were three episodes on one cassette, with a total running time of 70 minutes. Based on this, it would appear that the entire series was released on home video in the UK, but in non-chronological order and with two to three episodes per tape, with running times of between 47 and 70 minutes per videocassette. UK Volume 1 is confirmed as having Episodes 1 to 3 on it. No idea what the distribution is for the remaining ones, though. But at least it's a start. :)

Thanks for the information, ScruffyNerfHerder. I'll have a look. :)