When I think of all the TV shows I loved as a kid it amazes me how so much went unnoticed (then again I was very innocent as a child...and still am if you ask my mum :)

It seems kids today are told that Bert and Ernie are gay, Road Runner cartoons are too violent and you'll kill your sister with an anvil if you watch it (you don't need to watch cartoons to want to try that one :) and Monkey causes Children to develop a peech inspedament..err speech impediment........(okay so WAAY back when, I had no idea that MONKEY was a dubbed TV show and I was totally devastated when I discovered this)....this could explain my obsessive compulsion with audio Sync problems on DVD :)

Oh the joys of watching Monkey on the ABC...followed by Astroboy..those where the days weren't they?  Back then I don't think I  watched as many repeat views of a TV show more as I now do with the Simpsons.

And so begins the adventures of the Monkey(Masaaki Sakai), Pigsy(Toshiyuki Nishidi), Sandy(Shiro Kibhibe) and the seemingly genderless Tripitaka(Masako Natsume) as they head for India in search of the Holy Scriptures  meeting many a villains and demons along the way.  

Volume 1 appropriately contains the very first 3 episodes of Monkey. 
1. "Monkey goes Wild about Heaven" 2. "Monkey Turns Nursemaid", 3. "The Great Journey Begins"

So how does this transfer hold up?

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VIDEO
Well I wasn't expecting any great restoration miracles with this TV series and I wasn't thrilled or disappointed accordingly.  Each episode is framed at 1.33 to 1 and is of average quality.
The source print looks to have been riddled with dirty marks and grit, and that the video transfer has been over tweaked to rid some of these problems.  Colour Saturation is okay, and can at times be quite pleasing, but is generally a little muted.   Sharpness is so-so but does show enough detail.
As great as it would be for Monkey to receive a full on restoration, I don't think it'll be happening soon.  You might even say the lacklustre treatment of the source material adds to the charm of the TV show (like how low budget 16mm horror films have a more realistic feel about them :)

ALL  3 episodes of monkey have been squeezed onto a single layer DVD and doesn't appear to have suffered from the high compression.  Just the same I would have thought a Dual Layer DVD9 would have been the best way to present over 2 hours of Monkey Shenanigans.

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AUDIO
Yeah same goes here.  it's mono and it's bad.  but in a good way.  I didn't notice any audio clicks or pops and the level of hiss is very low.  Dynamic range is extremely limited, but at least the dialogue is very intellegable, even if it's English dubbed over Japanese.
It's a pity this DVD didn't carry the original Japanese language track with English subtitles, but then again the number of English speaking persons to have even heard the original dub would be few and far between..... it'd probably sound too weird anyway seeing as Monkey watchers are so familiar with the English dubbers vocals :)
While on the subject of Audio, did you know that every even numbered episode of Monkey has English music over the closing credits?  (only the odd numbered episodes closing credits are sung in Japanese)

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EXTRAS
As great as a comm track, deleted scenes and behind the scenes footage would be, I certainly wasn't expecting any of that on this DVD. 

Let me start by saying these menus are just terrible.   The icons are too small and its impossible to tell what has been selected...and when it is..what the hell does the selection do?  These menus really need an overhaul..sorry to bag someone's work, but they're so NOT user friendly.

One thing I did like about the menus, or at least a "feature" of the menus is the randomly displayed Episode Synopsis from all 39 episodes.  You select the box to the lower right of the screen (it displays the episode number in the top left of the box) when you go into another menu and back to the main menu, the selectable episode changes...nice

And there's also Cast Bios.

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I loved watching monkey as a kid and I STILL love watching monkey as an even bigger kid. 
The quality may not be the best, but don't that let you stop buying this on DVD. (and it ain't even  available overseas either, so it's kind of a Region 4 Collector's Item)

Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717  (using RGB outputs)
Receiver : Denon AVC-A1SE THX Ultra (Dolby Surround EX, DTS-ES Discrete)
Speakers:-
     Mains: Quadral Phonolgue Gold Amun
     Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
     Surrounds Left/Right: B&W 602
     Surrounds Back : Jamo Magic 14
     Subby: M&K V125 

- Reviewed 1st May 2001

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