Search - Phoenix, Vol. 1: Persistence of Time on DVD

Tezuka Phoenix fans rejoyce!

Margaret Kunz | Buffalo, NY USA | 11/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I ordered this blindly despite the fact that Amazon doesn't really give you any information on what exactly this Phoenix vol is based on.

Fans of the manga series will be glad to know that this is in fact the more recent TV series adaptation and not the "Phoenix 2772" movie from 1980 (which is based on the tone of the manga rather than any actual story arc).

If you're not familiar with these stories you may want to read up on the Phoenix series before committing to this. The message in Phoenix is as simple as it is far reaching. Life, Love, Death, Power, Resurrection, Redemption, Renewal.

The first 4 episodes contain story arcs from Dawn with Nagi and Saruta and Queen Himiko. Episode 5 starts the Resurrection storyline with Leon and Chichiro. If you are familiar with the Phoenix series or even Tezuka you will find some of the scenes (especially the growing bond between Nagi and Saruta) really effective in this format. Dawn is frought with battles and death, and while it's not gory, seeing Tezuka's doe eyed Disneylike animals slump over in death could be disturbing to some. Same with human deaths.

Quality is consistent with an animated TV show not as smooth as movie quality animation but computer effects do make things look sooooo much better then an anime TV show of even 10 years ago. Sometimes however, it seems a bit out of place and distracting. I also wish the they could have edited the commercial cuts somehow.

While I will continue to buy these subsequent volumes as they become available I wonder why they didn't release what I believe is a 15 episode series as a box set. Maybe because they are testing the waters?

Extras include a textless opening and closing credit sequence....and that's it. Seems a shame with the Phoenix series having such a rich history. You'd think they could have at least found one Tezuka geek to do a documentary or commentary track. Or a booklet. Or a color postcard of Osamu to frame and put in my shrine. Or a coupon for 20% off Tezukaworld.

But no matter, I am very happy to have this in my collection and would guess that most any Tezuka fan would feel the same"

Lovely

M | I wait behind the wall, gnawing away at your reali | 10/13/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Overall, this animated version is a fairly faithful retelling of the 'Yamato' storyline in the Phoenix manga, with the addition of the first episode of the next story. I love the animation. It was a bit sloppy at times, but not often, and was very smooth and clean in its simpleness, and I liked the character designs. While the writing is a bit cheesy at times (especially with the quintuplet babies) this DVD is a solid piece of work and is a must for any Phoenix fan. While it wasn't as good as it could have been, I wasn't disappointed - animated or movie versions are never exactly the same as their printed versions. overall a solid 4/5 stars."