Videos, DVD, LD - different versions and languages

[schlock_kork]

Okay, I don't wanna mess around in our "who is there" thread, so I start this one. It's all about EH videos, dvd, ld you can buy.

Annett: I've heard of a GERMAN dubbed version of the OAV series (and possibly TV series); do these exist and do you own copies?

Yep, it's right. We got the first OVA dubbed here but that's all. The first TV series came out subbed and OVA 2 / TV 2 never showed up here.

They really messed up El Hazard here: the dub is horrible, sometimes not even lip-sync and their way of talking is just unnatural. They sound like doing the dub was boring or they just stress some words too much or not at all. One of the worst dubs I know.

Therefore I never bought the OVA tapes (it's not yet out on dvd). The TV tapes are messed up, too. The subtitles were done by an anime company from the French-speaking part of Switzerland... well, and that's exactly how they look. The grammar is messed up, some sentences are totally wrong and you have to read them over and over again to find out what they could mean. They changed the spelling of the names from time to time and even added real stupid translation errors. (Like Katsuhiko Jinnai being Makotos brother... erm )

They didn't correct any of those mistakes for the dvd version which just came out some weeks ago. I've been waiting for it and never bought the US dvds but now I changed my mind. I used to own 2 vhs of the TV series but sold them some time ago (still have one of the dvds).

@Neil: but if you want to know anything about the German versions I can tell you anyway. Would be nice if you could tell me more about the ones that were released in England. (Since I'm always looking for more informations for my own page...)

[Neil Lafrenais]

Thanks for the information, Annett! I laughed at the bit about Makoto being mistaken as Jinnai's brother by the German translators. :D

Yes, it was very useful, indeed! I'm sure me and Rob will find a home for the information somewhere (that is if you don't mind, of course).

@Neil: but if you want to know anything about the German versions I can tell you anyway.

If you have any spare time on you, you could scan the cover of the Geman DVD that you kept. It would definitely be quite interesting to see.

Would be nice if you could tell me more about the ones that were released in England.

Certainly!

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Well, back in 1996/1997, "Anime Pioneer UK" aquired the rights to sell the first OAV in England and the rest of the United Kingdom.

We got the same English dubbed version as the Americans did. However, unlike the Americans, we did not get the option of a subtitled alternative (which didn't really matter to me).

Money wise though, we got a better deal than the US. The US only got an episode to one tape, where as we got 2 or 3. A much cheaper price, especially with the tapes with the 3 episodes.

The first OAV was released in 3 volumes with varying colour codes:

Volume 1: Episodes 1 and 2. (Green/Blue with Makoto, Nanami and Jinnai on the front)
Volume 2: Episodes 3, 4 and 5. (Light Blue with Galus, Nahato and Fatora on the front)
Volume 3: Episodes 6 and 7. (Orange/Red with Ifurita on the front)

The following year, "UK Anime Pioneer" aquired the rights to the sequel OAV (El-Hazard 2). The first tape was released with a special edition CD, "Best of El-Hazard". This CD contained a lot of tracks from previous Japanese Original Soundtracks. Plus, the El-Hazard 2 theme.

Again, we got more episodes-per-tape than America:

Volume 1 special edition: Episodes 1 and 2, plus Bonus CD. (Picture of Ifurita's eye on the front cover)
Volume 1 regular edition: Episodes 1 and 2. (With Makoto and Ifurita on the front)
Volume 2: Episodes 3 and 4. (With Shayla Shayla on the front)

Just a few years after El-Hazard 2 was released in 1998, UK Anime Pioneer shut down because of "low sales" and all their anime range was withdrawn (including El-Hazard and Tenchi :|). So, since then, I've had to import or savenge for my Pioneer goodness.
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I hope that helped!

I have also scanned my video of El-Hazard: Volume 2, for you all to see. I hope it is satisfactory:

http://www.el-hazardonline.net/El-Hazard/temp/neil/tapeuk1.jpg - Click here to see it (200k or so).

never bought the US dvds but now I changed my mind.

Trust me, the US DVDs are a bit expensive, but they are the best of quality. Especially the visuals in the OAV1 DVD. They really are quite impressive.

[schlock_kork]

Thanks a lot for your information. It also helps me out a lot.

First of all... believe it or not, I even pay less money if I import US dvds than buying the local ones, sad but true. In fact TV 1 series came out on 5 (yep f-i-v-e) dvd for 25 - 30 Euro each. (125 - 150 all together) Well, if I buy the American ones I pay 25 Euro for 4 dvds... So I wouldn't really call them "expensive".

For the covers, I'm sorry but I don't have a scanner... broke it some time ago and never bought a new one. So all I can offer you is some little cover images I took from an online shop. (I still hope one of my friends will scan his dvds for me...)

http://www.jinnai.de/ElHazard/Cover/dvddt/index.html dvd cover - klick to get a larger image

http://www.jinnai.de/ElHazard/Cover/videodt/index.html vhs cover

Let's just say I don't like the dvd covers at all. They're ugly and have strange colors.

For the soundtrack that came along as a bonus for the UK tape... it was also sold separately, wasn't it? I was lucky enough to buy it from someone and I liked the idea of the lyrics being translated into different languages.