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The Aim for the Top! Gunbuster Thread v2.0


Noriko Takaya

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So you don't have to memorize the subs.

So you have it as a single complete package.

So you can show it to friends who've never seen it correctly.

Because you'll be fixin somethin thast sholdn't be broken.

Because it's really not all that hard.

The list goes on....

Quoted for truth!

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So you don't have to memorize the subs.

I usually view subtitles once or twice, then never use them again cos i find them ruin my viewing experience, once I've read them, I've got a pretty good idea of what there saying without subs.

So you have it as a single complete package.

Good point

So you can show it to friends who've never seen it correctly.

You can show your friend the R1 version co they won't notice the change if its new to them

Because you'll be fixin somethin thast sholdn't be broken.

I don't see it as broken, more like mended

Because it's really not all that hard.

It you got the right tools then yeah, go ahead.

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Either way, I'm glad Gunbuster is coming out on dvd, it may not be the best version but at least its got english subtitles, its more complete than my UK version, and I'll be looking forward to die-buster and the movies. Kieth if you watched the movies can you tell us whats new in them please. :)

Bah, amongst all this editing crap, I completely forgot! This is going to be spoiler heavy, so anyone who hasn't seen Gunbuster & or Diebuster might as well skip this post right now.

Gunbuster - Zero content wise new. Apparently all of the dialogue has been re-recorded by the original Seiyuu though, so that's cool in and of itself. But since there are no subtitles (yet) I don't know what dialogue changes there are. The first 3 episdoes content are discarded pretty heavily. Almost all early fanservice is gone to boot. The new cut starts with the fall of the Luxion to the uchuu kaiju, then cuts directly to Noriko entering the academy & flopping out on her movement drills. After being scolded, it goes to coach catching Noriko watching Amano train, and telling her that she can become a pilot with hard work & guts, etc. The intro kicks in, and then it skips right to Noriko, Amano, & Coach all launching to catch up with the ship detected in warp (actually, this scene starts with the Excellion detecting the ship). After that scenario has played out, the next big event was Noriko meeting smith while reading in the intership train, catching a soda, etc. After Noriko overhears Amano & Coach talking about her lack of pilotting skill, we go to her first official sortie while paired up with Smith. After those events, Noriko goes into training to become a better pilot, and the next big battle with the uchuu kaiju occurs with Norko being told to sit it out. Naturally she launches in Gunbuster when things don't go well, after which Noriko & Amano return to Earth for their graduation. Most of episode 5 is left intact, complete with mission to turn the Exellion into a black hole, and I believe all of episode 6 is left intact. The basic spread is the first 65 minutes are episode 1-5, last half hour is episode 6.

-Diebuster - The editing choices in this one I wasn't as big on. Most of the first episode is intact, though a lot of my favorite bits, like Nono's Inazuma kick are gone (and just about anything overtly fanservicy, complete with Norko becoming "topless"). Though I suppose for those who found the first episode too silly, this would be a preferable version. It literally goes from the intro, to Nono working in the bar & mopping up while talking about becoming a pilot with the patrons, to Larc rescuing her, following Larc, getting attacked by the Uchuu Kaiju (the scene finding of which was stripped of its humor), to rescuing the bar owner, then launcihng into space. The major story difference here was that instead of Dix Neuf hesitating to attack the uchuu kaiju, Larc just buster beams it once in space, takes it out, and then notices Nono is still alive. Episodes 2-3 are reduced to a few seconds each clips as told in new animation by Nono writing a letter to the old man while taking a shuttle trip with Fraternity to Titan. This as far as I can tell is pretty much all the new animation comprised in the film. Episode 4 is streamlined down somewhat so that now Casio just directly takes Nono to I think Pluto (honestly can't remember right now) instead of just meeting up there. After those events, episode 5 has a lot of Nono back on Mars trimmed out, including the attempted rape, and focuses more on Nono visiting Larc in the hospitol, then going out on the mission to take out Variable Gravity Well Exellio. The whole scene with Casio telling Larc about Dix Neuf's secrets is also cut out (which I found kind of an important thing to cut out considering what happnes later, but oh well). And as with the firs tmovie, nearly all of episode 6 is left intact.

All in all not bad for movie compilation films. At least not as bad as the Gundam SEED attempt, but not as good as the 0079 attempt. Overall servicable as a version of the story, but in both cases, the OVA's are very much preferable. It should be noted that the training scene in Gunbuster with the music replaced is entirely gone in the movie version, so it's no longer an issue for the film version. I had heard rumors that there was supposed to be a new scene in the Diebuster movie with Larc meeting Nonoriri, but it appears that either doesn't exist at all, or is perhaps part of the audio drama extra's which I can't really comment on, since I've no means of translated them.

Edited by Keith
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I usually view subtitles once or twice, then never use them again cos i find them ruin my viewing experience, once I've read them, I've got a pretty good idea of what there saying without subs.

I've never been bothered by subtitles. I like knowing what's being said. Though I could watch Gunbuster raw, I have no problem with it subbed.

You can show your friend the R1 version co they won't notice the change if its new to them

No they won't, but I will. I could not, in good conscience, expose my friends to my favorite anime with such an omission. I want to share the series with them as I know it, not as they think it shoud be due to copyrights.

I don't see it as broken, more like mended

No, it's broken. The wrong song is in a key place. The new music is trying to "mend" the broken scene, but it's not as it should be. Hence, it's still broken.

It you got the right tools then yeah, go ahead.

I'm sure I will, provided I don't get lazy about it. That, and pick up a copy. That's kind of important.

Wow, Keith. It almost sounds like that cut out Jung while they're at it. :o:ph34r:

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Sadly, not yet. She doesn't come out until Febuary, and no one had her early. I did get some other nice figures though, like a Yurika Misumaru, and such.

I haven't even spotted a SOC to drool over. I'm going to have to pay through the nose for that one by now.

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Sadly, not yet. She doesn't come out until Febuary, and no one had her early. I did get some other nice figures though, like a Yurika Misumaru, and such.

I haven't even spotted a SOC to drool over. I'm going to have to pay through the nose for that one by now.

Is that the bikini version of Yurika?, I was thinking of getting that one, then change my mind to get the Blanceniege bikini figure from the shining tears game

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Indeed it was.

Yeah, completed Yurika figures are almost non existent, the bikini version and there was one of her in full uniform are the ones i know of. I prefer the full uniform one though i can't find it in any shops or ebay. Probably sold out cos it was released a few years back.

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Jung is almost completely non-existent until the end unfortunately, what they were thinking on that I have no idea.

The last episode of gunbuster was black & white, did they leave it like that in the movie version as well. That would be kind of wierd if the movie was in colour then black & white.

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Ugh, I'm now beginning to wish I'd never registered at AOD again. Fencedude is really starting to try my patience. If he doesn't give a damn, he should go to threads where he does. He's almost a damn troll. <_<

Edited by Mercurial Morpheus
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I stopped posting at AOD a while back ago because some of those guys are trolls. As for the issue with Gunbuster's soundtrack, I sent an email to Bandai Visual USA noting my displeasure in a very polite manner. I suggest that those of you out there who are true Top! fans do the same thing. If I recall correctly, it was a massive out pouring of the fan base which got ADV Films to re-release disc one of Neon Genesis Evangelion when they had tinkered with it. If someone could start an on-line petition or something like that, maybe we can get Bandai, Gainax, or whoever to release the first episode the way it was meant to be watched. After all the years of listening to Manga Entertainment's lies about releasing the series on DVD, we finally get some closure from Bandai, only to be bent over to receive the proverbial shaft up our derriere. And without warning also. Shame on you, Bandai! Yeah, I realize I'm being a purist, but just imagine if George Lucas changed the music to the climactic Battle of Yavin in Star Wars. You'd be pissed too. The fans deserve better, especially those of us who have been waiting patiently for this since DVD became available.

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Yeah, I realize I'm being a purist, but just imagine if George Lucas changed the music to the climactic Battle of Yavin in Star Wars. You'd be pissed too.

Actually, he did. The DVD messed with the volume level of the start of it, vastly changing the impact.

Though I'd say all the digital crap is far worse, so bad example, as it's not even a "what if", it's already happened. :ph34r:;)

I will indeed be writing off a letter. Though Keith already got one. THey sugesst purists like us buy the R0. It was rather rudely phrased. Care to post it here, Keith?

fencedude calmed down, thankfully.

Edited by Mercurial Morpheus
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I have to say, as a long time anime fan, I'm pretty sickened by the constant whining of anime fans about how things are released here. I can recall complaints about AnimEigo's Macross because they threw in some Star Trek references. I can recall the complaining about the Orange Road OPs. And of course, I can recall (and was affected by) the issues with Zeta Gundam. No one likes it when changes are made. Zeta Gundam is one of my top favorites, so I certainly wasn't happy with the musical changes or the initial problem with the dubtitles. But you know what? You have to live with it. Releases won't always be handled the way you like.

Honestly, isn't some of the sentiment here extremely overdramatic? It's a short piece of music. Changing it doesn't have the apocalyptic effect of ruining the scene, the show, the world, etc. There's an old cliche about picking your battles, and this is one of those cases. Complaining about the butchering of a show like One Piece is one thing, but this is another. If suddenly Bandai Visual is so thoroughly evil for doing this, no one is forcing anyone to buy this DVD. If perfectionism supersedes the ability to sit back and enjoy a show, what's the point of watching anything?

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The short answer is no, it's not being overdramatic. They're unnecessary changes made by people who think they're cleverly pulling a fast one over the R1 market. Then when they get caught, which they always do, they try to play it off as someone elses mistake.

As for the letter, totally forgot to post it here, but you've gotta love the "sensativity" used in it.

Thank you for your inquiry about our forthcoming Gunbuster DVD.

Bandai Visual USA Inc. is committed to bringing you anime in its most authentic, and high-quality form. We always appreciate your input as to how we should release titles, especially for such long-standing titles as Gunbuster.

With regards to the change in a music track in Episode 1, however, this was the one thing that the Japanese producers thought they needed to do for the US release. It was implemented with full consent of the director and the composer, the change itself on the master also made in Japan by the hands of the original producers.

The producers believe that the change does not take away from the experience of Gunbuster as a whole and would appreciate it if you could respect this decision.

If you are a die-hard stickler for the “original version†who must have-it-the-way-it-was, the only thing we can do at this time is to direct your attention to the availability, for a limited time only, of the earlier Japanese box set release of Gunbuster Remaster Edition (though without English subtitles) which is offered at Kinokuniya bookstores in the U.S. until Feb. 20.

Once again, we thank you for your writing to us to let us know your thoughts, so that we can be ever more ever more vigilant about serving the needs and preferences of the anime fans, and we appreciate your continued support.

Sincerely,

Takenari Maeda

Bandai Visual USA Inc.

I've since sent in a response explaining to them that not only did I purchased the R2 LE box 2 years ago, but that I'd like them to pass along our fan sentiment to those "producers" who made the changes, and that it's quite surprising that Gainax, a company formed by fans, would let such a thing occur.

Edited by Keith
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Honestly, isn't some of the sentiment here extremely overdramatic? It's a short piece of music. Changing it

Yeah, i agree with you on that point, I do think its not worth going through all the trouble of buying another "perfect version" and ripping subtitles. To me it looks like a waste of money and effort. But if the "purist" have the money and time, then why not?

The music change may be weird at first, but you will probably get use to it, it may not even sound all that bad. For what ever reason that certain piece of music had to be cut wither legal or technical issues. The fact that Bandai Visual replaced it shows they put some effort to solve this problem.

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I have to say, as a long time anime fan, I'm pretty sickened by the constant whining of anime fans about how things are released here. I can recall complaints about AnimEigo's Macross because they threw in some Star Trek references. I can recall the complaining about the Orange Road OPs. And of course, I can recall (and was affected by) the issues with Zeta Gundam. No one likes it when changes are made. Zeta Gundam is one of my top favorites, so I certainly wasn't happy with the musical changes or the initial problem with the dubtitles. But you know what? You have to live with it. Releases won't always be handled the way you like.

Honestly, isn't some of the sentiment here extremely overdramatic? It's a short piece of music. Changing it doesn't have the apocalyptic effect of ruining the scene, the show, the world, etc. There's an old cliche about picking your battles, and this is one of those cases. Complaining about the butchering of a show like One Piece is one thing, but this is another. If suddenly Bandai Visual is so thoroughly evil for doing this, no one is forcing anyone to buy this DVD. If perfectionism supersedes the ability to sit back and enjoy a show, what's the point of watching anything?

And I'm tired of your whining already. Why the hell are you reading this thread?

I've never seen Gunbuster and I was looking forward to buying this release. Now I'm pissed. I don't know if I even want it now.

I think someone should burn copies of the untainted version for people who buy the R1.

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And I'm tired of your whining already. Why the hell are you reading this thread?

I've never seen Gunbuster and I was looking forward to buying this release. Now I'm pissed. I don't know if I even want it now.

I think someone should burn copies of the untainted version for people who buy the R1.

Oh boo hoo, woe is you. You've never even seen Gunbuster, yet you're so righteously offended. And great, use a perfectly legitimate anime release as an excuse to engage in piracy so you can stick it to the man at Bandai. Do you seriously have any idea how ridiculous you sound?

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How is burning copies of the unaltered version for those who buy the R1 piracy? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?

To be honest, those who've never seen it unaltered probably have even more reason to be upset about it. This isn't a case of "ignorence is bliss" (though I'm sure that's a slogan to those who think these things are no biggie and seem to think we're still in the age where we should be thankful for any release no matter what they mess up, lest we not be that even so untangible "true anime fan", despite the fact that anime is becoming more and more mainstream, with more licenses than ever so there really is no excuse for this kind of bull anymore B)) ), it's a case of never seeing ther scene as intended. Wouldn't you be peeved if you knew a scene was changed and had no way of seeing it how it should be? Not to mention that your first viewing is of it altered. I like experiencing things as originally intended whenever possible. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Though I suppose we should just roll over and turn a blind eye, as it's "only 90 or so seconds". Why not. That way we'll be "good little fans", from your point of view. "I don't care what you do to it, change tiny things for no reason, loosen the translation-it doesn't matter. Heck, mutilate it for all I care. Just give me that shiny, DVD Goodness! Anime is so scarce!" Yes, let's project an image to companies saying we are so starved for anything in R1 that they can make any "creative" changes they please and we'll lap it up. That's certainly the best way to make sure the Streamline days don't come back. :rolleyes: Descent is a good thing for crying out loud!

It's something we love. We have every right to call a company on the mishandling of it, no matter how inconsequential it is to you. Did you honestly expect a bunch of people posting in a thread called "The Official Aim for the Top! Gunbuster Thread v2.0" to give BV a hearty slap on the back and say "Good job, I never liked that song anyway. It's good you tried to sneak it by us"? It's something of a stab in the back, and a foolish move by a distributor that was making all the right ones until now. If you don't want to hear it, it's a great big forum, full of stuff you'll find infinately more interesting.

We respect your opinion, please respect ours. No hard feelings. We're all friends here. ^_^

On a more upbeat note, BV launched the Diebuster site. Also, Newtype USA is giving away 5 copies of this anticipated, if now flawed, release. No details as to how, and I don't read ADV's sad magazine.

Where have you been Noriko? I feel like I've taken over this thread? :ph34r:

Edited by Mercurial Morpheus
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Thank you for your inquiry about our forthcoming Gunbuster DVD.

Bandai Visual USA Inc. is committed to bringing you anime in its most authentic, and high-quality form. We always appreciate your input as to how we should release titles, especially for such long-standing titles as Gunbuster.

With regards to the change in a music track in Episode 1, however, this was the one thing that the Japanese producers thought they needed to do for the US release. It was implemented with full consent of the director and the composer, the change itself on the master also made in Japan by the hands of the original producers.

The producers believe that the change does not take away from the experience of Gunbuster as a whole and would appreciate it if you could respect this decision.

If you are a die-hard stickler for the original version who must have-it-the-way-it-was, the only thing we can do at this time is to direct your attention to the availability, for a limited time only, of the earlier Japanese box set release of Gunbuster Remaster Edition (though without English subtitles) which is offered at Kinokuniya bookstores in the U.S. until Feb. 20.

Once again, we thank you for your writing to us to let us know your thoughts, so that we can be ever more ever more vigilant about serving the needs and preferences of the anime fans, and we appreciate your continued support.

Sincerely,

Takenari Maeda

Bandai Visual USA Inc.

Whatever Bandai's reasoning for changing the music and leaving out the screen text, there is a definite condescending slant in that 4th paragraph which is utterly unprofessional and uncalled for. Having worked in customer service, I would never approve the use of "die-hard stickler" and "who must have-it-the-way-it was" phraseology towards our customers, especially in written correspondence. After seeing how rudely Bandai treats its customers, I couldn't blame anyone for boycotting this release and sticking with the fansubs.

Edited by TheLoneWolf
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With regards to the change in a music track in Episode 1, however, this was the one thing that the Japanese producers thought they needed to do for the US release. It was implemented with full consent of the director and the composer, the change itself on the master also made in Japan by the hands of the original producers.

"the change itself on the master also made in Japan by the hands of the original producers" does this mean the current version out in Japan is also altered.

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I have to say, as a long time anime fan, I'm pretty sickened by the constant whining of anime fans about how things are released here. I can recall complaints about AnimEigo's Macross because they threw in some Star Trek references. I can recall the complaining about the Orange Road OPs. And of course, I can recall (and was affected by) the issues with Zeta Gundam. No one likes it when changes are made. Zeta Gundam is one of my top favorites, so I certainly wasn't happy with the musical changes or the initial problem with the dubtitles. But you know what? You have to live with it. Releases won't always be handled the way you like.

Honestly, isn't some of the sentiment here extremely overdramatic? It's a short piece of music. Changing it doesn't have the apocalyptic effect of ruining the scene, the show, the world, etc. There's an old cliche about picking your battles, and this is one of those cases. Complaining about the butchering of a show like One Piece is one thing, but this is another. If suddenly Bandai Visual is so thoroughly evil for doing this, no one is forcing anyone to buy this DVD. If perfectionism supersedes the ability to sit back and enjoy a show, what's the point of watching anything?

In the case of Zeta, it was somewhat understandable for the soundtrack changes to the opening and closing credits, but its turning out that some of these Japanese companies and producers are real douche bags. Remember when the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series was released here in the US over 5 years ago? It was bad enough already that we were getting it as an English dub already, but Tomino in his infinite wisdom thought the US market was "too good" to have the "Doan's Island" episode as part of the release. Then on top of that after the third DVD release, they replaced the original opening and closing credits with what was used on Cartoon Network's run of Gundam. The huge majority of people who would have been interested in seeing the original Gundam TV series would be "purists" and old school fanboys; all that Bandai Japan caused to happen with this release more then went out of the way to tourque these fans.

About 4 years ago I had the opportuinty to swap some e-mails with Keith Rhee who was the original founder of the Gundam Project and was working for Bandai at that time. He pretty much told me that Bandai Visual there in Japan and a lot of these other anime producers in Japan are totally in the dark about what it is that the anime fan base outside of Japan (especially the US) want. Because of the lack of a complete Gundam TV series on DVD outside of Japan, fans have had to go the bootleg route. Bandai Japan was so incredulous about the subject matter that reps from Bandai USA actually went out and snatched up a bunch of bootleg Gundam DVD's and dumped them in Bandai Japan's lap to prove a point! Still 5 years later, we have yet to see the original MSG the way it was meant to be saw and heard.

As someone who has only watched a few minutes of Gunbuster from clips off of the Internet, the apparent changes that have been done to part of Gunbuster's soundtrack obviously won't effect me hardly at all. But to those like Macross World's own Noriko Takaya who has been a die hard fan for a very long time, he has every right to be unhappy with the changes since has to do with the tampering of something he really likes - the total production - audio and video - of Gunbuster. Anime is an enthusiast based industry and a lot of these companies, either in the US or Japan, need to relaize that. Though I have not seen Gunbuster in its entirity, I myself am a bit of a prefectionist and a purist and when I get my Gunbuster DVD set in a few weeks, I would prefer to see, and hear, exactly the show as it was originally meant to be seen and heard. (If this revised soundtrack was an optional track on the DVD in conjunction with the original, I would have no problem with that).

Edited by Apollo Leader
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When it comes to gundam i'm a bit of a "purist" my self, but if changes are not that extensive then i would just live with it. The reason i'm so laid back about changes is probably because there isn't that much anime in my country and the fanbase is probably quite small compared to the USA, so i'm happy with what i get and settle for 2nd best because theres little chance of it coming out in Scotland officially, so i import from US and Hong Kong or where ever. Out of all my friends, I'm the only anime fan, they don't even know what it is, most assume its porn, thats how popular anime is in my country.

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Look, I don't subscribe to the notion of "be happy the anime companies release anything." If I put down my money for a product, I want it to be as close to the original as possible. But we have to realize there's no such thing as a perfect release. With directors like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas tinkering with their films, we can't even get perfect releases of American products, let alone Japanese ones. American TV shows have their music changed constantly when released on DVD because of rights issues. It's just the way it is. Do the Japanese producers understand the American market? Probably not. Do they care about what we what? No, they probably don't. But for these changes that are dictated by the Japanese, they call the shots, so there's little we can do on this side of the Pacific.

As for the complaining, let me elaborate. It's counterproductive. The popular stereotype of hardcore American anime fans is that we are never satisfied with anything and will complain about everything. Whatever a company does with a title, they're damned if they do and damned if they don't. If they know we will complain about something on every single release, where is their commitment to release quality products? They can pass off any garbage, because whether it's an A or F level release, someone will find something at fault with it.

Going back to Zeta Gundam for a moment....was I angered by the changes? Sure, I felt lied to. Was I disappointed with Bandai? Definitely. But it wasn't a substantial enough change that I would let my anger over it prevent me from enjoying the show. Anime fans have to develop a reasonable margin of what changes they can live with and what they can't. Seriously, does this change ruin the release? Hardly. Now, if they went and changed the ENTIRE soundtrack because they wanted to make it more modern/hip for American audiences, that'd be a different story entirely. I would happily launch a complaint about that. But in the grand scheme of things, one song change in Gunbuster doesn't compare to the butchering of shows like Cardcaptor Sakura, One Piece, etc. Those are the real battles that are important, not this.

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I've got to side with ChrisG on this one. It is unfortunate that there's changes, even mostly unexplained changes like the music, but it's hardly the end of the world. I'm not a big enough Gunbuster fan to own multiple sets, and since having some english content is a must for me, I'll gladly buy this set as opposed to an import. It's still leagues better than my current copy, consisting of some fansubs I found online a couple of years back.

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