Ulysses 31 ... @ H-E-B Grocery Store!

Okay you fellow anime nutcases and nostalgic mutha fucka's, it's time to STEP with Telemachus and the Ulysses himself as I just found out that this mostly forgotten show... Ulysses 31 has been released in the USA! *I found it on VHS with the first 3 episodes for $5.00, but apparently as seen in the link, the series is also on DVD, with volume 1 at 4 episodes vs. the 3 on VHS. The company releasing this is Sterling Entertainment. Now it apparently is being aimed at children, which is odd because for the short time that it ran in the USA on Saturday mornings in 1983... I didn't get the gist of it, even more confusing was when I tried watching in on TELEMUNDO dubbed in Spanish. *Since it is aimed at kids, I'm just hoping the distributor actually releases the whole darned series and not just 2 or 3 tapes the way Fries Home Video did with Saber Rider & The Star Sheriffs and I.T.C. Animation did with only 4 volumes of the almost impossible to find Thunderbirds 2086.

Those who never saw this series might not understand why I'm giddy... but for those who remember it, it's a big deal indeed. It's a mish mash of mythology and technology in the 31st Century focusing on the adventures of ULYSSES, and is character driven much the way a Matsumoto anime is with Captain Halock. But don't sell it short, this anime doesn't have a "Cult" following for no reason.

MERCENARY X99

dude it's H-E-B they have everything, watch no other store in the US carry it except for the old H-E-B. you know it's the third largest grocery chain in the US and it's only in texas? that says something my friend.

OMG this was one of my fav 80's anime shows brought here. i wonder how the dvd quality is? it could be scary if they didn't restore anything.... i might get them if someone did a review.

believe it or not the series is only 26 episodes in japan, and all 26 were broadcast here.

this show always reminded me of saint seya

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I have never watched the show myself, but my wife use to watch it in Cuba dubbed into Spanish. She has always tried to find the Spanish version with no success. She knows the damn theme song by memory LOL.

X said:

I have never watched the show myself, but my wife use to watch it in Cuba dubbed into Spanish. She has always tried to find the Spanish version with no success. She knows the damn theme song by memory LOL.

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Funny thing is I still remember the theme song in spanish to this day as well, and literally started singing it at H-E-B, much to the chagrin of my wife who just shook her head and said. "Here's the man who only speaks a little spanish, but he's..." and went to the bread section.

MERCENARY X99

The show was great, I used to watch it everyday before dinner... man its already been 20 years.

France was a little ahead regarding Anime

Howdoin said:

The show was great, I used to watch it everyday before dinner... man its already been 20 years.

France was a little ahead regarding Anime

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Yes I know... You guys got ALBATOR! (i.e. Captain Harlock) and it wasn't nearly as ripped to shit as it was in the United States, and as far as I know is the only nation to ever release the entire 42 episodes of that original 1978 TV show on VHS/BETA format. I don't think even Japan wants to re-release the original because Matsumoto-san is redoing that show with Rin Taro 25 years later as Captain Herlock: The Legend Returns. You guys are also one of the few nations to realize the greatness of U.F.O. ROBOT GRENDIZER called GOLDRAK if I'm not mistaken. Over here it was chopped up into Grandizer and was apart of the "Force Five" shows. *I guess there's more that I love about France than I thought. Sometimes I think I'd have a blast over there, though my best friend who took my Camcorder with him around the world didn't have a good experience. *When I think of it, he's got this "I don't belong" attitutde though, and like my father and my grand father, teh Mercenary knows he doesn't belong in a lot of places, but goes anyway with the attitude he does, then gets accepted by people who probably wouldn't like him in most cases, and then everyone else is pissed off because: "Hey I never saw that when I was there, they wouldn't let me in!" and such and such... to which all MINTER men just say... "Yeah, but you're not me!

If your in France why does your flag say OKAY U.S.A.!

MERCENARY X99

Mercenary X99 said:

Yes I know... You guys got ALBATOR! (i.e. Captain Harlock) and it wasn't nearly as ripped to shit as it was in the United States, and as far as I know is the only nation to ever release the entire 42 episodes of that original 1978 TV show on VHS/BETA format. I don't think even Japan wants to re-release the original because Matsumoto-san is redoing that show with Rin Taro 25 years later as Captain Herlock: The Legend Returns. You guys are also one of the few nations to realize the greatness of U.F.O. ROBOT GRENDIZER called GOLDRAK if I'm not mistaken. Over here it was chopped up into Grandizer and was apart of the "Force Five" shows. *I guess there's more that I love about France than I thought. Sometimes I think I'd have a blast over there, though my best friend who took my Camcorder with him around the world didn't have a good experience. *When I think of it, he's got this "I don't belong" attitutde though, and like my father and my grand father, teh Mercenary knows he doesn't belong in a lot of places, but goes anyway with the attitude he does, then gets accepted by people who probably wouldn't like him in most cases, and then everyone else is pissed off because: "Hey I never saw that when I was there, they wouldn't let me in!" and such and such... to which all MINTER men just say... "Yeah, but you're not me!

If your in France why does your flag say OKAY U.S.A.!

MERCENARY X99

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GOLDORAK (MAZINGER), ULYSSE 31, Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque (SAINT SEYA), Dragon Ball, Nadia, The Mysterious Cities of Gold... and many other shows that I loved to watch when I was a kid as well as the early versions of Bioman, X-Or (Kinda like Power Rangers but with Jap. people and dubbed in french... hilarious).

A friend of mine just bought the entire series of Saint Seya on DVD. They are coming out with all these DVD boxset in France right now so if you have an all zone DVD player with some understanding of French you know where to get your anime fix

> Mercenary X99 : I am marrying an American and joined her here in the US... Ahahah Oui, oui !!!

Howdoin said:

GOLDORAK (MAZINGER), ULYSSE 31, Les Chevaliers du Zodiaque (SAINT SEYA), Dragon Ball, Nadia, The Mysterious Cities of Gold... and many other shows that I loved to watch when I was a kid as well as the early versions of Bioman, X-Or (Kinda like Power Rangers but with Jap. people and dubbed in french... hilarious).

A friend of mine just bought the entire series of Saint Seya on DVD. They are coming out with all these DVD boxset in France right now so if you have an all zone DVD player with some understanding of French you know where to get your anime fix

> Mercenary X99 : I am marrying an American and joined her here in the US... Ahahah Oui, oui !!!

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Hmm... strange, I always thought "Goldorak" was UFO Grendizer all this time over there. Oh well, guess I'm corrected. *Sounds like FRANCE had all the fun with those early animes indeed. I had forgotten about the 7 cities of gold, that was one of my favorites back in the mid 80's that I'd tune into the Nickelodeon channel to watch along with Belle & Sebestian, Thunderbirds 2086 and Inspector Gadget. ***So you married American then, COOL. It's the reverse spin on usually a man wanting to marry the French woman while serving in the military. Hope you like this odd-needs-some-work-but-is-still-the-coolest-nation-on-Earth, US of A where, where we're all balls no brains go to midnight... everynight!

MERCENARY X99

Mercenary X99 said:

Hmm... strange, I always thought "Goldorak" was UFO Grendizer all this time over there. Oh well, guess I'm corrected. *Sounds like FRANCE had all the fun with those early animes indeed. I had forgotten about the 7 cities of gold, that was one of my favorites back in the mid 80's that I'd tune into the Nickelodeon channel to watch along with Belle & Sebestian, Thunderbirds 2086 and Inspector Gadget. ***So you married American then, COOL. It's the reverse spin on usually a man wanting to marry the French woman while serving in the military. Hope you like this odd-needs-some-work-but-is-still-the-coolest-nation-on-Earth, US of A where, where we're all balls no brains go to midnight... everynight!

MERCENARY X99

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Well I am not sure about Goldorak = Mazinger. I think the translation fromt he Japanese title is Great Mazinger. Its that cartoon with Prince Actarus piloting this huge bot coming out from under the waterfalls in the mountains and trying to stop the Vegans and their Golgos to invade the earth... I know its confusing but for someone who knows Goldorak it should be understandable.

So the "mysterious cities of gold" where called the "7 cities of gold" here... interesting. It was definietely one of my favorites, I wish they would do a real good film adaptation of it.

Howdoin said:

Well I am not sure about Goldorak = Mazinger. I think the translation fromt he Japanese title is Great Mazinger. Its that cartoon with Prince Actarus piloting this huge bot coming out from under the waterfalls in the mountains and trying to stop the Vegans and their Golgos to invade the earth... I know its confusing but for someone who knows Goldorak it should be understandable.

So the "mysterious cities of gold" where called the "7 cities of gold" here... interesting. It was definietely one of my favorites, I wish they would do a real good film adaptation of it.

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NOPE then I was right. You just described U.F.O. ROBOT GRENDIZER not "Great" Mazinger Z. The original character was named Duke Fleed who came from the planet Antares that was destroyed by the Vegan Empire. Before leaving his home world he stole the Super Robot GRENDIZER. **When it made the jump to the USA on the USA Network back in the early 80's it was simply called Grandizer and was apart of the FORCE FIVE series of unrelated Giant ROBOT TV shows from Japan's late 70's. Here Duke Fleed was renamed simply "Johnny" and when he transformed by jumping off a cliff and yelling out his name... he became ORION QUEST!. Then he'd enter the secret labratory set up by a scientist and enter the Grendizer UFO module (the Robot itself lies down in it)... and he'd exit out a water fall in the mountains, or from the base of the dam where the science lab was at.

Goldorak AKA: Goldrake = UFO ROBOT GRENDIZER ...that's from an Italian site where the name was different, and here's a pic from an actual Japanese Advert. If this is the ROBOT you're thinking of it's not Great Mazinger, although the two super robots DID in fact have a "Versus" battle in one episode or in a *Special TV movie if I remember correctly. I don't believe America got the full series, just pieces of it.



...either way, France along with a lot of other Euro nations were a lot more ahead of the curve than what the U.S. was in terms of "Early" Japanimation / Anime. It wasn't until the ROBOTECH boom that things truly got kick started, even though horrible dubbs of Ginga Tetsudo 999 and some other Matsumoto shows likeSpace Battleship Yamato / STAR BLAZERS had been out for some time.

MERCENARY X99

Yeah ! That's him Goldorak ! He came to protect us from the evil Vegans (Told you to eat your meat ).