New Jungle Emperor CDs in October

[KimbaWLion]

Jungle Emperor Symphonic Poem--2009 Revised Edition:
A new recording of the Symphonic Poem, in a two-disk set consisting of a CD and a DVD. The DVD has a 5.1-channel surround sound version of the recording, plus the 16 pictures Tezuka drew for the original LP release. For this recording, the orchestration has been "expanded" and Isao Tomita has chosen the jazz singer Satoshi (??--I can't get the full name) to narrate the opening section where the themes are introduced. The DVD will include subtitles, but whether these will be in English is not clear. It does not appear that the animated film will be on the DVD.

Reissue of the Soundtrack CD for Jungle Emperor Leo (1997 movie):
Apparently this is a straight reissue of the 1997 CD.

A 5-CD set of music written by Isao Tomita for various Tezuka shows:
Includes Jungle Emperor (1965), Jungle Emperor the movie (1966), Onward Leo (New Jungle Emperor, 1966) as well as Princess Knight, Big X, and others.

And I can't believe what I think I see here: Tezuka theme songs played by a Ukulele quartet???

[Jeffbert]

They can sing along with a record of Tiny Tim singing Tiptoe through the tulips.

[KimbaWLion]

Today I received the re-recording of Tomita's Symphonic Poem based on themes from the original Jungle Emperor -- CD and DVD in one set (Columbia COZX 411-2).

The CD is, unfortunately, unlistenable IMO because of someone (a Japanese singer whose name I'm not sure of) talking over the music almost constantly. This is a significant departure from the original recording of this music, which had a narration track before the music, which was then entirely in the clear.

The DVD, however, can be set to play the new recording without any narration. The visuals that go with the music are the drawings Tezuka created for the LP release of the original recording. It's not exactly compelling viewing, because it was only a 20-page book with that LP, and the music lasts for nearly an hour. There are English subtitles to take the place of the narration.

The same pictures are reproduced in the book that comes with the set. It's no replacement for the 12"x12" book that came with the LP.

The new recording is very lush and sounds almost suspiciously like the soundtrack for Jungle Emperor Leo (1997) in places. If you have a home theater system, the new recording was designed to be played in 5.1 surround mode. I just have a Dolby Surround system, but it still sounded very nice.

CD Japan has more info on their page for the new set . Here is a machine translation of most of the text there:

CD release from classic anime series "Jungle Emperor Leo" originally written by Osamu Tezuka commemorating 80th anniversary of his birth. Includes bonus DVD with 16 stills. DVD is Region 2, and has English subtitles.

80: Osamu Tezuka's birth anniversary!

[KimbaWLion]

[cmoon]

Speaking of stuff on Play-Asia (sorry, I don't have any real answers for you KWLion), why the heck did the Japanese version of Kimba get this incredibly awesome box? (and we didn't... )

[KimbaWLion]

[cmoon]

[KimbaWLion]

[Huscheli]

[KimbaWLion]

[cmoon]

[KimbaWLion]

[Huscheli]