Scoopers Part 1 (1987 3D VHD High-Quality JVC Victor & Monkey Punch Anime OVA for VR)

This is part 1 of “Scoopers“ (V3D-10001) which was one of the few full-color, true 3D discs released for the Japan-market-only Victor VHD video format. The VHD format was the only analog consumer format to natively support 3-D video. By taking advantage of the interlaced analog 480i video system (Each 60Hz frame provides an 30Hz image to each eye), the VHD 3-D format was compatible with any standard analog TV with the use of synchronized LCD shutter glasses. Various game systems, such as the Nintendo Famicom/NES & Sega Master System/MARK III, also used the same 3D system for their 3D expansions. In fact, the LCD glasses are interchangeable between VHD systems and compatible game systems. “Scoopers“ is an hour-long action anime OVA directed by Jun Hirabayashi (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam) & Hideo Watanabe (Fist of the North Star 2 & Voltron). The story and character design was done by the late great Kazuhiko Kato, better known as MONKEY PUNCH, who’s Lupin III influences clearly appear throughout the OVA. Yoko & Beat are two investigative journalists who are enlisted to get the “scoop“ on multiple gruesome unsolved murders and the destruction of the space shuttle by the so-called “Mister X“. Who is the mysterious “Mister X“ & why is he causing all this destruction? An unknown caller beckons Yoko & Beat with the promise of information on “Mister X“. What will they find will they meet a unicorn and scantily-clad magical fem-creatures on their journey? Watch to find out! This anime was quite obviously designed to show off the VHD 3-D system. Unlike modern 3D animations and movies, this anime was made with minimal computer intervention. Besides the CG at the very end of the OVA, most of the 3D frames required manual alignment & separate drawings to be made for each angle. It was, without doubt, a tedious process and likely made this OVA take twice as long to develop compared to a standard 2D anime. While the effects may not hold up to today’s 3D videos, let’s take a moment to recognize the hard work & commitment these pioneers had put into creating this! This video was converted to be native 3D for YouTube which means it should be able to watched using any standard 3D or VR device such as any Oculus/VIVE products, PS VR, 3D smart TVs, Google Cardboard, or even standard red-blue anaglyph glasses. NOTE: Some devices may not support 4:3 3D video. If you’d rather watch in 2D, just hit the gear and change to 2D mode. This video was uploaded in high enough resolution to ensure clarity in either 3D or 2D. In addition, please watch in 60FPS for proper time alignment of each eye; the left eye should appear with a 1/ second delay from the right eye. While a standard 2D VHS was released and made available on the internet, there are no readily available 3D releases of this anime besides the original 1987 3-D now! Enjoy! Fun fact: The cover art features a floating artist’s rendition of the cover itself (“artwork-ception“). While this rendition almost exactly matches the real box art, it shows the catalog number of the disc as “V3D-2001“ while the actual catalog number for this release is “V3D-10001.“ xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subs by M47 group. They were slightly modified & simplified for this presentation. This was played using a Victor HD-9500 VHD player and converted from interlaced 3D to standard SBS 3D. NOTE: A portion of the disc had mold and slowly degraded after multiple plays. As a result, a small portion of the recording around 27:00 was replaced with an earlier, lower quality capture that retained as much of the original picture quality as possible. A couple seconds were lost, but the dialog was retained in the captions. Be sure to check out part 2 here: For more rare vintage 3D video, please see my 3D video playlist here: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx If you want to follow me for updates or want to help me afford a trip to Tecnoland, please click the link below: