In 1983, young Hideki Anno had just completed a masterpiece promo for the 22nd DAICON Nihon SF Taikai, an event centered on anime and SF.
That work went on to be known as the DAICON IV video.
This, and the preceding DAICON III, were the first works done by a new and talented group of animators who would go on to become Gainax Studios.
Now the feature can be enjoyed in HD remastered goodness:
If one were to have purchased a Laserdisc copy of the films when they were released for sale in 1988, it would have cost approximately $200, but is now valued at over $1,500 or more (admittedly not the best of such investments, but good nonetheless).
Because of brand use infringements (most notably the DAICON girl’s Playboy bunny outfit) and the unauthorized soundtrack featuring music by Electric Light Orchestra, Gainax was not actually allowed to sell the video disc, so it was bundled as a free bonus with a book, featuring line-art from the making of the videos and other behind-the-scenes material.
This art is visible below:
The Laserdisc also contained a short animatic from the DAICON III film, featured in the video above.
While the A-side of the disc featured the animations, the reverse side had an additional film shot in live action by the Gainax crew. The film, Revenge of Yamata Orochi: the Eight-Headed Serpent, was screened as an opening video in one of the earlier conventions.
Alongside Laserdisc, the film also was released in Betamax, both of which were quite popular video formats in late eighties Japan.
Laserdisc and Betamax via here.
The DAICON IV movie has been mentioned, parodied, or alluded to in a number of different ways since its release two decades ago:
- In the infamous Otaku no Video, DAICON IVis mentioned as a major event in anime history.
- In episode five of FLCL, the character Haruko rides a guitar through the sky in a bunny-costume, and even yells out, “DAICON V!”
- In the recent Japanese dorama, Densha Otoko, the anime character Mina, created for the series, is a direct parody of the main character of the DAICON film. The opening theme is also a modern remake of the film.
In case you were wondering, a daikon is a Japanese radish, hence the reason for the taproot-inspired design for the spaceship featured in the videos and drawings…
Lol, even the Enterprise was included 😀
Thanks for sharing. The Daicon films are possibly some of the most influential anime ever made (Gainax and products would not have existed without it).
I have a discussion in my own forum, too:
http://www.snowbuni.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1106245394
Mantears…
impact #?
Grammar Nazi nitpick: the DAICON III video is not a prequel to the DAICON IV video. The proper use of “prequel” is for a LATER-produced volume that is SET earlier in the time-line of the series – it is NOT simply the opposite of sequel (in fact, a prequel is a TYPE of sequel). The Star Wars prequels, for instance, are true prequels. To use “prequel” to mean an antecedent volume is incorrect, though a fairly common mistake.
For the sake of brevity.
“The film which preceded…” is neither quite as snappy or makes as much sense.
But it is not correct.
FUCKTAAAAAAAAAAARD!
This should be the minimum standard of AMV’s. If you can’t make something that good. Don’t bother at all.
wow,brings back the memories.If i remember,they used ordinary plastic laminations for the cels and waaaaay too expensive to produce that time.
ELO – Twilight – best song ever
The visions dancing in my mind
The early dawn, the shades of time
Twilight crawling through my windowpane
Am I awake or do I dream?
The strangest pictures I have seen
Night is day and twilights gone away
With your head held high and your scarlet lies
You came down to me from the open skies
Its either real or its a dream
Theres nothing that is in between…
Twilight, I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight, I gave you time to steal my mind
Away from me.
Across the night I saw your face
You disappeared without a trace
You brought me here, but can you take me back?
Inside the image of your light
That now is day and once was night
You lead me here and then you go away.
Its either real or its a dream
Theres nothing that is in between…
Twilight, I gave you time to steal my mind
Away from me.
(you brought me here, but can you take me back again? )
With your head held high and your scarlet lies
You came down to me from the open skies
Its either real or its a dream
Theres nothing that is in between…
Twilight, I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight, I gave you time to steal my mind
Twilight, I only meant to stay awhile
Twilight, twilight, twilight, twilight.
Worst remastering job ever. Seriously. It looks like shit. The crappy old mpeg version I have looks better.
That said, the Daicon IV animation is some of my all-time favorite animation. Especially the city scene. Those explosion effects were ridiculously detailed.
The Bunny Girl: Truly one of mankind’s greatest accomplishments.
Heh, thanks for this post. It is teh awesome.
>most notably the DAICON girl’s Playboy bunny outfit
and then I see Darth Vader, the Death Star, and what looks like Optimus Prime.
I love DaiconIV, I remember seeing it for the first time around 3 years ago. All I could think was “WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN ALL MY LIFE!?” XD
Then I went and doodled fanart for it. 😀 http://neobunny.deviantart.com/art/Daicon-IV-43277345
Legendary Epic~
XD she is fighting Darth Vader.
+1
Ah…history. Styles look so different from the current mainstream ones.
sweet, i didnt know nihon sf taikai until now, i have more events i want to attend in japan now.
also, i find it inspiring that a group of students can form such a high quality and respected studio. makes me want to form 1 of my own too.
“Starship Radish”.
Waaawsomeness.
Now we know what Strike Witches would have looked like if it was made in 1984!
Seriously there’re Anons who didn’t even know about this Gainax first jewel?! The Anonymous here knew it more 10 years ago.
I don’t exactly understand, but this is interesting… maybe.
playboy actually owns rights to “the bunny costume”??
wtf..
They sure think they do.
I remember this coming up in discussions online when people were guessing at which publishing companies would license Haruhi for US distribution, too. ^^;
THE VISIONS DANCING IN MY MIND
THE EARLY DAWN THE SHADES OF TIME
TWILIGHT CRAWLING THOUGH MY WINDOW PANE
so epic…
HOLY SHIT!
i’ve always loved Anno’s key animations.
That version’s not so HD.
It’s exactly the same as the version I found 3 years ago, just with slightly adjusted saturation and a black border to avoid scaling by youtube.
Agreed. I prefer the original tbh; a little washed out, but the “remastered” one is horribly over-saturated… a poor effort imo.
Today was the first time I noticed the bunny girl sweats after she throws Dynaman up and over her head, the first time I could really see pick people out of the montage at the end…
It’s not perfect, but it is a stunning improvement in most areas. I suspect the artifacts and grain that is left is probably lasting from the quality of the source material. I still applaud the effort.
Go click the video open.
It has a higher aspect played at YouTube proper.
This video has been cleaned up and the audio has been retouched with copies of the songs.
I was blown away, especially by the improved quality of the third part of the video.
Neat! I imagine they’re making enough bank that they could buy whatever rights stood between them and a DVD re-release today, what with Yoko from Gurren Lagann having her own single. And the merchandise from Neon Something-Or-Other.
That “Neon Something-Or-Other” earned them more money than all their other anime combined. :>
I would rather prefer a delicous Laserdisc release for my LD player.
I approve of this
Interesting
Probably one of my favorite videos to watch ever since I found out about it a few years ago.
Legendary !
I’ve nutted my pants with historical significance.
DENSHA~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BENOIST!!!!!!
Otaku 1’s opening w0000t!!!!!!
Otaku no video, nice