The Big O International Box

Release Date: April 25th
Region: 2
Audio Tracks: Dolby Digital Stereo Japanese and English
Subtitles: Japanese
Number of Discs: 6
Disc Type: Dual-Layer Disc
Where to Order:
Play-Asia.com [$349.90]
CD Japan [$292.06] (Changes due to currency rates)
Amazon Japan [about $217] (Limited Price Offer)

Note that these prices do not include shipping costs.

Current Info -

There will a new box set of The Big O out in Japan. This special box contains both the English (with Japanese subtitles) and Japanese audio and all 26 episodes on six discs. This is not the same international box set that was released years ago (that one was only for the first season). If you were not happy with Bandai's US release, or haven't bought the series yet, this DVD box set is an option for you.

Bandai Visual's Product Page

Extras (subject to change) -

16 Page Liner Notes Booklet
12 Page Illustrations Booklet
Textless OP/ED, other unknown features

Hmm.... might consider it if... A. I had that kind of money to spend on such things and B. if it contains some cool stuff.

[stunned]

That comes very close to making me wish I hadn't spent my money on a Wii.

I may consider buying this set, if only because the second season box set wasn't all that great in the US. I have until April to decide, though, but if I do buy it, I'll be sure to inform the members about what exactly is included in the box set.

In the meantime, I'll keep an eye on Amazon and other sites to see if there are any updates concerning the box set.

Well... if I'm to buy that, it'll only be if I get a good job over the summer.

Still need to think about that one...

Awesome, I gotta pick this up. There should'nt be a worry about "Respect" being excluded. It was only removed from the horrible Bandai release.

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I have until April to decide, though

Actually, if this is limited release there's a chance it may be OOP before the release date.

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Originally posted by Umino There should'nt be a worry about "Respect" being excluded. It was only removed from the horrible Bandai release.

That's true. Since the Japanese company will be handling the release and not the US company, I shouldn't have to worry. That said, the box set seems to be selling well on Amazon Japan. If you want the low price, I would preorder it soon, as the discount will expire by the time it comes out.

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Actually, if this is limited release there's a chance it may be OOP before the release date.

Oh, don't worry. It's already on pre-order at the time I wrote that post. I'm just saying that things can change from now until April, so if it's not worth the order in the end (kind of like what happened with the AIR BD set), I'll cancel it, though the Japanese DVD box set is already impressive from what we know about it so far. If it's going to be like the first season's International box set, it should be an awesome release.

Here's another thing to consider: it's becoming increasingly difficult to find the two complete collections of The Big O in the US. Not a lot of stores have them anymore.

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Originally posted by Umino Awesome, I gotta pick this up. There should'nt be a worry about "Respect" being excluded. It was only removed from the horrible Bandai release.....

Sorry to sound ignorant, but what do you mean?

If this were to have a new dubbing, then perhaps they would say 'Megadeus.' Though, when I watch the series again, I suspect it will be in Japanese with the subtitles.

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Originally posted by Malkhos Sorry to sound ignorant, but what do you mean?

In the US, the second opening theme "Respect" didn't make it to the DVD release (due to legal reasons, although that is debatable), though it is heard throughout the second season. It was replaced with the first opening theme instead. Adult Swim also aired one episode with this opening intact. Some of the fans got really upset at this fact, and wanted to know why Bandai removed the opening, but didn't remove the background music that contained the song.

You can view the second opening here. (Click on opening #3)

Damn! I have the US Release box sets of Big O, (seasons 1 & 2)...if I would have known they were going to do this, I would have waited! I don't want to spend a few hundred dollars to buy the set again, just for extras!! If anyone does buy it, let us know how it compares!

What's the point of this release? It looks cool, but I thought Big-O was a horrible flop in Japan and largely unknown by the public. This is a pretty expensive release for a series with such an allegedly small market. Could there be any ulterior motive, or is it just a stab in the dark to fans who did like it?

EDIT: I'll put out an optimistic, very wild guess: Maybe SUNRISE is trying to gauge the Japanese market? In recent months, I've come to think more that SUNRISE will be the ones who'll make BIG-O 3 happen or not through their own internal decisions. (quoting myself--IE: "I don't think anyone saw the continuation of Dangaioh coming FOURTEEN YEARS after it had begun. And you see series like Trigun now making a showing for a movie, and Raideen's coming back after some 30 years since the original, too. Given this trend, I think SUNRISE will eventually dig back into their archives.") So, yeah, anime companies often go back to the well after a number of years. If we get a Season 3 out of this, more power to the box set. It does look better than the sets in the US.

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Originally posted by Paradigm Dog This is a pretty expensive release for a series with such an allegedly small market. Could there be any ulterior motive, or is it just a stab in the dark to fans who did like it?

If you think about it, this is a bargain compared to the normal releases the Japanese had to go through. For us, it's expensive as hell, but for them, it's cheaper than buying 14 DVDs (or 11 DVDs if you only buy the first season International Box Set + Season Two), at about $40 dollars each. I spent more than $300 dollars buying 9 DVDs of AIR, and the new Blu-ray release is less than $200 dollars with brand new features.

The DVDs are also starting to go out of print, so this is a good way for new and old fans to buy the entire series at a lower price (if you shop Amazon). The first season box set in Japan is currently going for $200 dollars at Yahoo! Auctions. Plus, the new box set comes with the English audio, which isn't included in the normal Japanese release.

EDIT - I just checked Bandai Visual's website. If you want to have a copy of the box set, the final date to preorder your copy is March 16.

This thing looks and sounds awesome, the only bad thing is the price.

Chiaki J. Konaka, head writer for The BIG-O anime, has put up The BIG-O's English/Japanese logo and the words "DVD Complete Box??" (Translation EDIT: "Internationl Box sale") beneath it on the left bar of his front page. It shows that Konaka-san is still aware of The Big-O.

FEB 10th EDIT: Konaka.com now has an exclusive BIG-O image up by Keiichi Sato with commentary beneath it. Babelfish translates the text into very broken English as: "It becomes sale in April, the "the big o International Box", jacket art first announcement. With it is the & ?; drawing lowering which it receives and is good. After all, with the umbrella which is said evolving, and we would like to make the touch of the person who is questioned with this picture how." Additionally, both the image and the previously reported logo on the left bar now link to the DVDs. EDIT END

LINK: http://konaka.com/

So this picture on the main page is going to be the new box art for the international box set? Looks good.

Eep! I hope that's not the final product. Roger looks horribly off model. Dorothy looks alright, though I'm not digging her expression or the new hair color. It's a pretty cool image, but the actual art looks like crap.

Hah drawn by Keiichi Sato himself.

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Originally posted by Zopwx2 Hah drawn by Keiichi Sato himself.

That's what makes me so upset. This is really the best he can come up with? He did such a great job with the original DVD covers...

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Originally posted by Asirt quote: Originally posted by Paradigm Dog This is a pretty expensive release for a series with such an allegedly small market. Could there be any ulterior motive, or is it just a stab in the dark to fans who did like it? If you think about it, this is a bargain compared to the normal releases the Japanese had to go through. For us, it's expensive as hell, but for them, it's cheaper than buying 14 DVDs (or 11 DVDs if you only buy the first season International Box Set + Season Two), at about $45 dollars each. I spent more than $300 dollars buying 9 DVDs of AIR, and the new Blu-ray release is less than $200 dollars with brand new features. The DVDs are also starting to go out of print, so this is a good way for new and old fans to buy the entire series at a lower price (if you shop Amazon). The first season box set in Japan is currently going for $200 dollars at Yahoo! Auctions. Plus, the new box set comes with the English audio, which isn't included in the normal Japanese release. EDIT - I just checked Bandai Visual's website. If you want to have a copy of the box set, the final date to preorder your copy is March 16.

Whats the link to the preorder for this International Box

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Originally posted by Ltwhipporwill Whats the link to the preorder for this International Box

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Originally posted by Asirt Where to Order: Play-Asia.com [$349.90] CD Japan [$292.06] Amazon Japan [about $217] (Limited Price Offer)

Everything you want to know is in the first post.