Collectr's Blog

Orphan has a lot of Tezuka Osamu fans, me included. The team has provided quality (I hope) subs for many of his neglected works, including Hidamari no Ki, the Lion Book OVAs, Cleopatra, and Senya Ichiya Monogatari. We've also done high-definition versions of all of his NTV "Love Will Save the Earth" specials. So when Skr saw a limited-edition DVD box set of Tezuka Osamu no Kyuuyaku Seisho Monogatari: In the Beginning (Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament: In the Beginning), he jumped at it, despite the rather exorbitant cost.I wasn't planning on another long series so soon after Hidamari no Ki and Stop!! Hibari-kun, but Tezuka Osamu is impossible to resist. Orphan will be releasing the 26-episode series a DVD at a time, so eight minibatches of three episodes, and a final minibatch of two, on a leisurely release schedule.

According to the official Tezuka Osamu website, in the late 1980s the Italian National Broadcasting Network forwarded an urgent request from the Vatican to Tezuka Osamu, asking him to depict the Bible in animated form. Tezuka accepted the request and spent two years working on a pilot film about Noah's ark (episode 3). He not only wrote the scenario but also drew for it himself. Unfortunately, he passed away during production. Director Dezaki Osamu took over the project, and it was completed it in 1992. The series was shown in Italy, Spain, and Germany. It was finally shown in Japan in 1997. It was also dubbed into English and shown on religious TV in the US, in cut form.

The episodes are, in many ways, vintage Tezuka Osamu. There are cute animals (Rocco the fox appears throughout). There is comedy. There is fanservice. In general, though, the stories are respectful of the original, adding filler when the Biblical text is too short for the required 20 minutes. Still, some of the add-ons were too much for religious TV, and both Rocco the fox and the boobs were deleted from the English release.

The first DVD covers well-known episodes from Genesis:

Creation. The creation story is filled out with montages of Adam and Eve romping in the Garden before the fall and coping with hardship afterward. Rocco the fox is one of the many creatures that enjoys the Garden's bounty.
Cain and Abel. Cain's murderous rage against Abel is given a backstory. Cain is jealous of his younger brother, and his unfilial anger leads God to reject Cain's sacrifice. Rocco appears as the first family's sort-of dog.
Noah's Ark. The wickedness of man, cited as justification for the flood, is given a rather tame treatment, especially compared to what Tezuka Osamu showed in Kanashimi no Belladonna or even the time travel sequence of Bander Book. Rocco has a substantial side-story as a sly creature who sneaks on board the ark in hopes of feasting on the small herbivores.

None of the additions really distract from the stories.

As an episodic show, Tales from the Old Testament has an enormous cast of industry veterans. Episodes 1-3 include:

Shibata Hidekatsu (voice of God) is is best known for Baron Ashura in Mazinger Z, Kenzou Kabuto in Great Mazinger, King Bradley in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Third Hokage in Naruto. He played the hero's father in Dragon Fist, an Orphan release.
Tanaka Mayumi (Rocco the fox) made her debut at age 10 in Kimba the White Lion. She's probably best known for her roles as Pazu in Castle in the Sky, Giovanni in Night on the Galactic Railway, and of course, Monkey D. Luffy in every incarnation of One Piece. She also played Mit-sah in White Fang and Son Gokuu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, both Orphan projects.
Arimoto Kinryuu (Adam) may be best known for the roles of Whitebeard in One Piece and Chief Karazuka in Elfen Lied. He played Dr. Ogata in Hidamari no Ki, an Orphan release.
Terauchi Yorie (Eve) has played Fune in Sazae-san, the longest running anime ever, since 2015.
Fujimoto Yuzuru (Noah) played Hiyoshi in both reasons of Moyashimon. He voiced the nameless Aoba gang boss in Kasei Yakyoku and the nameless police chief in Twinkle Nora Rock Me, both Orphan releases.

The series was directed by the late Dezaki Osamu, younger brother of Dezaki Satoshi. Fittingly enough, Osamu got his start at Tezuka Osamu's Mushi productions and went on to direct many famous shows, including Ashita no Joe and its sequel, Ace wo Nerae and its sequel, the Black Jack OVAs and movie, half a dozen Lupin III TV specials, and Kasei Yakyoku, an Orphan release. The music is by Hattori Katsuhisa, a classical composer who created some well known anime soundtracks, include Argentosoma, Crest of the Stars and its sequels, and Infinite Ryvius. It is portentous, in the Hollywood Bibilical epic vein.

Skr is taking the leading role in this project. He is doing translation, timing, typesetting, and encoding. I edited this minibatch; Nemesis and Topper3000 did QC. There are no staff credits in the scripts themselves. The English dub has been included, although the Japanese audio and the English subtitles are the default.

You can get the first DVD of Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament: In the Beginning from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

After issuing v2's for two of the first three releases this year (Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho!, Majo demo Steady), I began to wonder if there was a systemic flaw in Orphan's processes. So I've done what I used to do at the conclusion of a large engineering project - analyzed all the "bugs" in Orphan's releases that led to v2's, to see if there were causal commonalities.

Orphan has released 149 official projects as of today. 15 have received v2's, a detected error rate of around 10%. (What's the undetected error rate? Probably much higher.) Sorting into descending numerical order:

New sources: Tokimeki Tonight, A-Girl, Sei Michael Gakuen, Kakyuusei 1995, Dragon Fist. This isn't really a bug. Orphan will almost always reissue a show if a better source becomes available. Additional shows (the Kindaichi movies, Ultra Nyan, Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, etc.) have received multiple releases as different sources (laserdisc, streaming release, DVD, Blu-ray) are found or purchased.
Credit mistakes: Alice in Dreamland, Mahoutsukai Tai vs Shamanic Princess, Yousei-Ou. I often forget who timed a show, particularly if the subbing process takes a long time. I understand now why most fansub groups have stopped putting in credits.
Batch fixes: Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Hidamari no Ki. Long series often accumulate defects of process or consistency along the way, as later episodes change the translation or interpretation of earlier episodes.
Source problems: Tomoe ga Yuko, Majo demo Steady. Tomoe was a 29.97 fps avi source. Aegisub and mkvmerge calculate timing at this frame rate slightly differently; one must supply an explicit timecodes track during muxing. Majo demo Steady was missing an audio channel, a problem I can't hear on my tiny computer speakers spaced eight inches apart.
Subtitle issues: Space Neko Theater,Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho!. Space Neko Theater received a new translation to replace a suspect v1. EHnNND was so repulsive that all the checking, including mine, was too superficial.
Typesetting issues: Shirokuma Cafe. Fonts were compressed mid-series, causing issues.

So what has been learned?

Use reliable translators. Space Neko Theater v1 was a paid translation, and it was wrong.
29.97 fps sources should be avoided; if used, they require special handling. As far as I know, the discrepancy between Aegisub and mkvmerge has not been fixed.
If using compressed fonts, compress them all upfront. This newbie's typesetting error accounted for most of the v2's in Shirokuma Cafe.
Test the audio. AniDB is not totally reliable. For example, it identified the missing channel in many ARR VHS tape encodes but did not in Macross2012's laserdisc encode.
Track the contributors. I now use a spreadsheet to fill in who's done what. Dropping credits altogether would be simpler, but I'm old-fashioned about that.
Use primary media. Probably the biggest change in the last five years in that Orphan has gone from using mostly second-hand sources to using most primary source media. This has proved expensive at times, and the team's ability to pay for media out-of-pocket is finite.

These lessons will make Orphan's releases better, but as the projects so far this year, illustrate, to err is human. Or to paraphrase Savielly Tartakower's aphorism about chess,
the mistakes are all there, waiting to be made.

I've been fairly clear in this blog about my lack of enthusiasm for shounen shows in general and shounen sports shows in particular. I've never had much interest even in exemplars of the genre like Ace of the Diamond, Yowamusha Pedal, or Kuroko's Basketball, to name just a few recent monster hits. Yet Orphan is now releasing the three-episode soccer OVA DAYS: Touin Gakuensen (DAYS: Touin Academy Battle). Accordingly, you're entitled to ask "Why?" The answer is, Sunachan loved the show, bought the DVDs, and translated them, and at Orphan Fansubs (and every other original-translation fansubbing group I've worked with), translators rule.

If you're not familiar with DAYS, it was a 24-episode series broadcast in 2016 and streamed by CrunchyRoll. It told the story of the Seiseki High School team in general and of Tsukamoto Tsukushi in particular. Tsukushi is weak and shy, a target for bullies, but he falls in with eccentric soccer genius Kazama Jin and decides to join the Seiseki soccer team. Despite his lack of talent, his dogged determination and overwhelming energy help propel the team to a winning season. Following the TV series, there have been two sets of OVAs. The 2017 OVAs were side stories.2018's Touin Gakuensen continues the main storyline, presenting Seiseki's match against the favored Touin Academy in the finals of the National Tournament preliminaries.

The cast is a who's who of contemporary voice actors:

Yoshinaga Takuto (Tsukushi) starred in Beatless and is currently appearing as Kariya in Hinomaru Sumo.
Matsuoka Ysohtsugu (Jin) starred as Souma in all the Shokugeki no Souma franchise, the hero Bell in the Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru properties, the male lead Sorato in Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo, and numerous other leading roles.
Namikawa Daisuke (Mizuki, the Seiseki captain) played Takeru in the Freedom OVAs, Tokunaga in the just-completed Gurazeni, Tooru in Haikyuu!!, Italy in the Hetalia franchise, Hisokain Hunter x Hunter (2011), and my personal favorite, the demon-summoning detective Akutabe in the Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san franchise. He also appeared in Sangokushi 2 and Cosprayers, both Orphan releases.
Ise Mariya (Ubukata, the Seiseki manager and strategist) started as Killua in Hunter x Hunter (2011), Reg in Made in Abyss, Stocking in Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, and Eco the dragon girl in Dragonar Academy, among many other leading roles.
Nakamura Yuichi (Hoshina, Touin's captain) starred as Shinkaku in the just-completed Bakumatsu, Tada in Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai, Kyousuke in Ore no Imouto, Hotarou in Hyouka, and Okitsu in DIVE!!, to name just a few of his star turns. He showed his comedic flair as Grizzly-san in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release.
Ono Daisuke (Kimishita, a Seiseki midfielder) is one of the most famous current seiyuu. He has starred as Erwin in the Shingeki no Kyoujin franchise, Handa in Barakomon, the demonic butler Sebastian in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, Kyouma in Dimension W, Midorima in the Kuroko's Basketball properties, Sinbad in the Magi properties, and too many other roles to mention. He was wonderful as Llama in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release; you should listen to his ending song, Lamambo (Llama Mambo).
Miyano Mamoru (Ooshiba, the goofy Seiseki forward) seems to be everywhere in modern anime. He starred as Light in Death Note, Kei in Ajin, Eiji in Antique Bakery, Osamu Dazai in Bungou Stray Dogs, Rin in the Free! franchise, Reinhard von Lohengramm in the recent TV version of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Shotaro in Skip Beat, the hero Riku in Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~, and many more. And he played Crested Porcupine and Alpaca in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release.
Sakurai Takahiro (Usui, Seiseki's co-captain) starred as Mitsuya in the marvelous Fune wo Amu, the unfortunate Kazuhito in Inu to Hasami wa Tsukaiyou, Misaski in the Junjou Romantica franchise, Reigen in Mob Psycho 100, and of course, Polar Bear himself in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release. (His ending song is also not to be missed). He played Atsumu in AnoHana, Suzaku in the Code Geass franchise, Yu Kanda in D.grayman, Guice in the Zero no Tsukaima properties, Bernhard in Maria the Virgin Witch, and many other great roles.
Yasumoto Hiroki (Inohora, Seiseki's goalkeeper) starred as Hoozuki in the Hoozuki no Reitetsu series, Germany in the Hetalia franchise, and the bear in Kumamiko. He played the hero's wingman Bonba in the Himouto shows, the antagonist Yuuri in Megalo Box, Kinjo in the Yowamushi Pedal franchise, among many other roles.
Oosaka Ryota (Isurugi, Touin's goalkeeper) starred as Eijun in the Ace of the Diamond franchise, Mutsumi in All Out!, Staz in Blood Lad, Satan in Hataraku Maou-sama!, Lucifier in the High School DxD shows, Montmorcey in the just completed Ulysses, and other roles too numerous to list.
Konishi Katsuyuki (Nakazawa, Seiseki's coach) is an industry veteran. He starred as Kamina in Tengen Toppan Gurren Lagann and Ren Tsuruga in Skip Beat. He played America in the Hetalia franchise, Haji in Blood+, Beelzebub in Hoozuki no Reitetsu, and many other featured roles. He played Full Time Panda (and Adélie Penguin) in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release.

It's almost as if the casting director said, "I need voices for a dozen bishounen; round up the usual suspects!" The director, Uda Kounosuke, helmed another soccer series, Ginga e Kickoff, and is currently directing Hinomaru Sumo, which is about as canonical a shounen sports show as you can imagine.

Sunachan bought the DVDs and translated the show. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset (typesetting is minimal, except for the damned whiteboard diagrams). BeeBee and Topper3000 QCed. bananadoyouwanna encoded from Sunachan's DVDs. I must give a special shout-out to my editing colleague, FD. He did a thorough technical check on the soccer jargon in the episodes; without his help, the show would sound like basketball rather than soccer. However, I must emphasize that any remaining errors are my own.

So if you liked DAYS, or if you like shows about soccer, or if you like sports anime in general, then DAYS: Touin Gakuensen is for you. You can get the OVAs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

As dedicated readers of the blog know, I'm a fan of the Maze Megaburst Space series. It's dumb, ecchi fun. It's also becoming harder and harder to find. The original bonus episode ("the fanservice episode") was never released on laserdisc or DVD. The movie was never released on home video at all. And now, the TV series and OVAs are no longer available on home video.

There's no real explanation for Maze's gradual disappearance. The US license has been allowed to lapse, and the R1 DVDs used the censored VHS version of the show anyway. There never was a Japanese DVD release; the master source material is probably lost. As for the movie, a YouTube video hypothesizes that after it bombed at the box office, the franchise was declared dead, and the master source was thrown away.. We will probably never know for sure, and we will probably never see a home video release of the movie. So Orphan is happy to bring you the only currently available fragment: a teaser for the movie that was included in the laserdisc release of Maze.

With a running time of less than a minute, the promo can't convey very much about the movie. There are comments from Akahori promising that the movie will be very naughty, and the brief included scenes, though brief, bear that out.

The movie was released in April, 1998 (for Golden Week, apparently) and had a running time of 42 minutes, on a twin bill with the aggregated omake from Record of the Lodoss War. That's really all we can learn, beyond the title - Maze Bakunetsu Jikuu: Tenpen Kyoui no Giant (Maze Megaburst Space: The Calamitous Giant).

convexity, who translated the Maze bonus episode, translated this as well. I timed, edited, and typeset. Nemesis QCed. The raw is from DmonHiro's laserdisc release, which is by far the best (that is, least censored) subtitled version available.

So here's a little amuse-bouche to tide you over until the next Orphan release: the teaser trailer for the Maze movie. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Here's a lost charmer from 1990, the all-ages OVA Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu (Fukuyama Theater - Summer Secret). It's based on manga by Fukuyama Keiko, who also wrote Apfelland Monogatari. This is the first release with English subtitles, and it's a delight.

Fukuyama Gekijou is an anthology of short stories and animated music videos. It uses a framing device of a mouse family looking at bedtime stories to prepare for sleep. The eight chapters are:

The Rabbit's Siblings. A large clan of rabbits sing about the joys of eating carrots and outwitting a silly wolf.
Summer Secret. A young girl at the beach saves a miniature mermaid from a hungry fish and receives a secret reward.
The Mysterious Fairy. Miss Strawberry and her fairy perform a song about the desert.
Henoheno. The longest segment. It tells the story of Henoheno, a struggling caveman artist, who makes a breakthrough thanks to his friends and the accidental intervention of a prehistoric ramen chef.
Kuro. A black dog sings of his wish to be loved.
The Punk Rabbit's Dance. Entertainment at a kindergarten class talent show.
End-of-Semester Cleaning Contest. A slacker grade-school boy is coerced into doing his classroom cleaning chores by a gang of know-it-all mice, with unexpected results.
The Origami Princess. A folded-paper princess floats downstream on a leaf in order to reach the sea, accompanied by a telescope goldfish.

Some of the segments are very silly, like Henoheno, and some are very poignant, like The Origami Princess, but they're all quite entertaining and totally family friendly.

The voice cast consists of veteran seiyuu from the era. In alphabetical order:

Amano Yuri played the title role in The Legend of Snow White, Julia in Daddy Long Legs, Kiyone in the Tenchi Muyo franchise, and Moemi in Video Girl Ai. She appeared as Kuzunoha in Akuemon, Angie in Condition Green, Elthena in Eien no Filena, Kitagawa in Nozomi Witches, Noriko in Singles, and Yuko in St. Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, all Orphan releases.
Fujieda Nariko played featured roles in Miracle Girls and one of the GeGeGe no Kitarou movies. She appeared as the young Lihua in Sangokushi 2 (1986), an Orphan release.
Futamata Issei is best known for his roles as Godai Yuusaku in Maison Ikkoku, Akira (Chibi) in Urusei Yatsura, and Saburo in Sazae-san. He played the main character, Yoshio, in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou and the psychopathic brother, Cross, in Hi-Speed Jecy, both Orphan releases.
Hara Eriko starred as Ranze Etou in Tokimeki Tonight, an Orphan release. She also played numerous featured roles, including Pyonkichi in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise and Hikaru in the Kimagure Orange Road properties.
Kikuchi Masami played the okama JonJon in Otaku no Seiza. He went on to star as the male leads in the Tenchi Muyo, Aa! Megami-sama!, and Comic Party franchises. He played the male lead, Makoto, in Doukyuusei 2, an Orphan release.
Matsumoto Yasunori starred as Johnny in Starship Troopers, Kaname in Singles, and Tooru in Every Day Is Sunday, all Orphan releases. He was in numerous OVAs in the 1990s, including Seikimatsu: Humane Society and Al Caral no Isan, both Orphan releases. Among his notable roles were Wataru Akiyama in Initial D, Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist, Gourry Gabriev in Slayers, Ryou in Sonic Soldier Borgman, and a personal favorite, Dick Saucer in Dragon Half.
Matsuno Tatsuya played the lead role in the second Kindaichi movie (an Orphan release) and every subsequent show in the franchise.
Shimada Bin played Asatori Kurou in Tomoe ga Yuko and also appeared in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou and Sangokushi, all Orphan releases. He played Ken Nakajima in the You're Under Arrest franchise and numerous other roles.
Takamori Yoshino played the arch oujo-sama Sayaka in Yawara! and the twin roles of Juliet Douglas and Sloth in Full Metal Alchemist. She also appeared as the romantic rival Shouko in POPS, and in Yousei Ou and the What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
Totani Kouji has played hundreds of roles. He appeared in Bavi Stock, Haguregumo, Nora, and Mitsume ga Tooru, all Orphan releases.
Touma Yumi played the title roles in Emma: A Victorian Romance and Baby Felix. She has appeared in numerous shows, including Boyfriend, Condition Green, and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Nareudesho, all Orphan releases.

The director, Sakurai Michiyo, also did the storyboards, character design, and some key animation.

Moho Kareshi translated. laalg translation checked and redid some of the songs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. The encode is from Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions, ripped from a Japanese laserdisc that Iri acquired in Japan.

So if you need a break from this dreary world of ours, I highly recommend Fukuyama Gekijou. It's mostly light and airy, with just a touch of Japanese mono no aware. You can find the show on the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Orphan gets its original media from both digital and analog sources. Digital media - DVDs, Blu-rays, streaming - are straightforward but rare for our sorts of shows. Most of our sources are analog - VHS tapes or LaserDiscs. Both present knotty problems. This blog entry provides a snapshot of the "state of play" in Orphan's media processing.

LaserDiscs

Until quite recently, all our LaserDiscs came were ripped by private collectors. The most prolific and helpful has been Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions. Erik has an extensive collection, an excellent capture capability, and deep knowledge of the encoding issues in LaserDiscs. ics- has also contributed some captures, which M74 has encoded. And finally, an anonymous friend of a friend has provided a few rare discs.

All the LaserDiscs collectors are at the mercy of the analog electronics in their players and in their capture cards. This can introduce some pretty ugly problems. LaserDisc players have been out of production for twenty years, and their electronics are, well, old. Most capture cards introduce some form of compression, which complicates software filtering of the many artifacts in the sources. Lossless capture has required insanely expensive (professional) equipment or insanely arcane (Windows XP era) hardware and software... until now.

The Domesday86 project, which I've written about before, seeks to bypass the main sources of introduced error in LaserDisc rips by capturing the RF output of the laser directly and post-processing the results entirely in software. This sounds so promising that Orphan has created a Domesday Duplicator setup in Japan - LaserDisc player, special hardware, and software. It's been a long, frustrating, and expensive saga. Japanese anime LaserDiscs had many attributes that the Domesday project team had never seen. It's taken months to get the decoding software into usable shape. With the release of v4 of ld-decode, the project is just about there and produces usable lossless captures. ld-decode still can't handle the digital audio tracks, but those can be captured directly.

The first LaserDisc to be processed through Orphan's Domesday Duplicator will be Boyfriend. The Duplicator lossless decode still needs to be encoded down to reasonable size, but at least that's a tractable problem. Further, as ld-decode improves, the RF captures can be processed again, if the improvement in quality is sufficient.

Props to gamnark for championing the project, assembling the hardware, and doing all the hard work of capturing and decoding numerous test cases both for Orphan and for the ld-decode team. The team provided financial support for the equipment.

VHS Tapes

Tapes have been an even more frustrating story than LaserDiscs. The initial attempt at capture in Japan involved an inexpensive USB capture device and a standard S-VHS deck. The results were hit or miss, mostly miss, with dropped frames and video/audio sync problems galore. The cause of the problems varied, but one might be the presence of copy protection on some tapes. LaserDiscs couldn't be duplicated easily and had no copy protection. VHS tapes could be duped (with significant quality loss, of course), and copy protection was sometimes employed.

The next attempt was to buy a much better deck, a D-VHS deck with a built-in Time Base Correction (TBC) and digital (Firewire) output. This produced better results, but the digital output had MPEG2 compression that couldn't be bypassed. The compression tended to blend frames and muck up deinterlacing. The TBC handles only part of the dropped frame and lost sync problems, so the results were still hit or miss.

The current plan is to do lossless capture of the standard S-video output and try to clean up the results in software. This requires an ancient, XP-era AGP PC and specific versions of old ATI All in Wonder cards. The first card gamnark bought was damaged in shipment and didn't work. The second one lost its heat sink within five minutes and may be burned out. I'm acquiring some additional cards right now. Whether this approach will work is tbd. An external TBC might still be needed.

Ultimately, we'd like to see something like a Domesday-for-tapes: a way to capture the output of the helical scan read head directly, bypassing everything else in the VHS deck. However, that's a complex problem, both in hardware and in software, and it's not clear that VHS decks have a maintenance access point for capturing the data.

gamnark is once again doing all the heavy lifting on this project, with financial support from the team and its anonymous benefactor.

Tl;dr

Orphan's Domesday Duplicator for LaserDiscs is up and running, and the first encodes will show up in projects this year. VHS tapes remain a work-in-progress, and the light at the end of the tunnel is still fairly dim.

The Margaret video series was a set of six shoujo OVAs released at monthly intervals in 1993. They were based on manga published in Margaret magazine and animated by Madhouse. In chronological order, they were:

Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru (April)
Singles(May)
POPS(June)
Oedo wa Nemurenai! (July)
Kiss wa Me ni Shite (August)
A-Girl(September)

Orphan has released A-Girl, Kisa wa Me ni Shite, POPS, Singles, and Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru. We're pleased to bring you the last of the six, Oedo wa Nemurenai! (Oedo Never Sleeps!). It's based on Honda Keiko's five-volume manga, which has been completely scanlated into English.

All the Margaret OVAs until now have focused on the romantic tribulations of young women in modern settings. Oedo wa Nemurenai! is a departure. It's set in historical Edo (old Tokyo) during the 18th century. It borrows a character and some of its style from a famous kabuki play. It contains supernatural elements. And finally, the heroine is a young courtesan in the Yoshiwara red-light district. It's shoujo, for sure, but not the routine shoujo of the other five OVAs.

The story focuses on three principal characters: Usugumo, the "number one girl" at Miura-ya, a Yoshiwara brothel, and still a virgin at 14; Aoto Touichirou, nominally a western doctor but really a secret agent; and Bentenkozou Kikunosuke, a chivalrous thief. Usugumo is actually the daughter of the Shogun and a Christian courtesan; Aoto has been assigned to protect her. Usugomo attracts the unwanted attention of the heir to the Kaga clan, who wants to ravish her, and of court assassins, who want to bury the Shogun's secret forever. The two men in her life must protect her life and future.

The voice cast has many well-known seiyuu of the era:

Hidaka Noriko (Usugumo) played Satsuke in My Neighbor Totoro, Akane (the female lead) in Ranma 1/2, Peter in Peter Pan no Bouken, Mrs. Yamada (the mother) in the first two Chi anime series, Near in Death Note, and Kikyo in the Inuyasha franchise. She played Yuuki in Boyfriend and Noriko in Yuukan Club, both Orphan releases. She is still active and recently appeared in Little Witch Academia.
Tanaka Hideyuki (Aoto) has had a long career, including featured roles as Terryman in the Kinnikuman franchise and Rayearth in Magic Knight Rayearth, as well as Harmer in Al Caral no Isan, Sammy in Bavi Stock, Sawamura in Nozomi Witches, Ronron in Greed, and Katze in Ai no Kusabi, all Orphan releases.
Yamadera Kouichi (Benten) played many leading roles, including Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Sukeroku in Shouwa Ginroku Rakugo Shinju, Ryouga in all the Ranma 1/2 properties, the nameless hero of Otaku no Seiza, Melos in Hashire Melos!, Happyaku in Wild 7, and of course, Ryouan in Hidamari no Ki. The last three are Orphan releases.
Kobayashi Yuuko (Benten in female guise) played Washu in the Tenchi Muyo franchise, Rapier in the Maze properties, and Rin in Otaku no Seiza.
Fujita Toshiko (Takao, Usugumo's friendly rival) played the title role in Ikkyu-san, Rui in Cat's Eye, and Yawara's mother in Yawara! She also starred as Sharaku in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru and played Cyborg 1019 in Oz, both Orphan releases.
Miyuki Sanae (Usugumo's cat Kotetsu) starred as Lynn in Lady Lady! and played the Star Cat in Hoshi Neko Full House, an Orphan release. She had a recurring role as Botan in the Yu Yu Hakusho franchise.
The peerless Ogata Kenichi (lord of Kaga, narrator) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai! and Maroko, as well as Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and, most recently, Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. He played the governor in Akuemon, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, and the ruthless rival cyborg in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, all Orphan releases. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums. He recently appeared in Radiant.

The director, Chigira Koichi, is an industry veteran who has worked as director, key animator, and storyboarder on numerous shows.

Because of its historical setting, Oedo wa Nemurenai! actually requires a few context and translation notes:

Bentenkozou Kikunosuke is one of five thieves in the nineteenth century Kabuki play
白浪五人男. Here, he is portrayed as a chivalrous thief, robbing the rich to give to the poor. In the play, he's a devious villain, who kills without compunction. The opening scene, in which the three main characters remove their masks and reveal their identities, is styled after Act IV of the play.
Usugumo is a tayuu, the highest official rank for a courtesan. A tayuu was more of an entertainer than a prostitute, and she had the right to refuse to serve clients, as Usugumo does at the Kaga mansion. The rank was retired in 1761.
Usugumo describes herself as "strong against evil but weak about emotions." These were said to be the traits of the typical Edokko or citizen of old Edo.
Usugumo's outburst at the Kaga heir is reminiscent of a stage performance, and the spectators respond with Nipponchi! (Best in Japan!), as they would for a good show.
Yoshiwara was the official red-light district of Edo. When Benten disguises himself as a courtesan, he says he is from Shimabara, the official red-light district of Kyoto.
The Shogun was usually referred to as "the Lord of Edo Castle" or just "the Lord."
The closing remarks by the narrator do not, alas, point to a sequel but are typical of the conventions of a stage play.

Sunachan translated the show, finally giving in to my persistent whining about finishing the Margaret OVAs. M74 timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. M74 encoded from gamnark's VHS rip. There are a lot of interlacing problems, but this version has better detail (and both audio channels) compared to the other available raw. Note that ordered chapters are used to chop off nine seconds of initial black leader. If your player doesn't support ordered chapters, just be a little bit patient at the start.

This completes Orphan's work on the Margaret video series. If gamnark can improve the VHS ripping setup, we'll probably re-release some of them, but unless or until, we're done. We hope you've enjoyed them.

You can get Oedo wa Nemurenai! from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

It's been not quite two years since Orphan's initial release of the wonderful 1991 OVA, Tsuki ga Noboru made ni (By the Time the Moon Rises). That version used a VHS source. At the time, I wrote, "If we manage to find [the laserdisc version], we'll release a v2 with a new encode." We did, and we are.

Tsuki ga Noboru made ni was and is one of the best OVAs Orphan has released - a deceptively simple and very moving story about the power of stories, compassion, and forgiveness in our lives. I won't repeat everything I wrote about the original release; see the original blog entry for more details about the show.

The visual differences between the original version (VHS) and this one (laserdisc) are fairly obvious: less blurring, more vivid colors. The audio differences are equally striking. The VHS rip is noticeably longer, and its audio is a bit deeper in tone than the laserdisc rip. So either the original VHS rip was done on a slow machine, or the new laserdisc rip was done on a fast machine. With analog sources, it's hard to say, unless the players used have been precisely calibrated.

The audio differences completely gummed up the automated retiming tool called sushi (the first time that's ever happened), so the show was retimed by hand. Yogicat did both the original timing and the revised timing. The more vibrant colors required me to redo the typesetting. BeeBee did a release check on the new version. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions encoded from a laserdisc I bought off Ebay. Iri's original translation, my edit, and Calyrica's and Nemesis' QC are pretty much unchanged, except for a few added line breaks and a timing fix.

In the original release note, I neglected to discuss the voice cast, other than Takeda Tetsuya, who created the show and played the nameless old man who narrates the inner story. Some of the other actors were:

Miyauchi Kouhei (grandfather in the inner story) usually played elderly men or authority figures. He appeared in many Orphan releases, including Condition Green, Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori (King Kaiser), Nozomi Witches (Eddie), Sangokushi 2 (1986), Stop!! Hibari-kun, and Techno Police 21C (Brigadier Hamilton). He had a recurring role as Kame Sennin in the Dragon Ball franchise.
Suzuki Reiko (grandmother in the inner story) usually played elderly women. She appeared as Matsuda's mother in Yawara!, Megabaa in Dennou Coil, Jakotsu-baba in the 2007 version of GeGeGe no Kitarou, Kyousuke's grandmother in the Kimagure Orange Road franchise, and old lady Honke in My Neighbor Totoro. She also appeared in Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho!, an Orphan release.
Matsuoka Youko (boy in the inner story) played the title role in the 1990's incarnation of GeGeGe no Kitarou, among many other roles. She played Ralph in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, an Orphan release.
Michihiro Ikemizu (father in the framing story) had many featured roles, appearing in Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, Gunsmith Cats, Judo Sanka, Justy, and Urusei Yatsura.

Yamamoto Eiichi's direction continues to impress me with its simplicity and assuredness. The music, by Watanabe Toshiyuki, is unobtrusive and complements the show well. Watanable also wrote the scores for two other Orphan releases, Fukuyama Gekijou and The Girl from Phantasia.

Some translation notes.

The sign over the mine is fokoku kyouhei (Enrich the state, strengthen the military). It was adopted as the state slogan in the Meiji era to replace sonnou joui (Revere the Emperor, expel the barbarians). Both are yojijukugo: phrases or memes consisting of four kanji characters. In Meiji times, the slogan was a rallying cry for the new regime. In the OVA, it carries a more sinister connotation, like Arbeit Macht Frei over the gates of Nazi concentration camps.
The Emperor's surrender rescript, broadcast on August 15, is known as the Jewel Voice Recording, because the Emperor spoke in classical Japanese that few could understand. He never said explicitly than Japan was surrendering, and a radio announcer had to add a clarification to that effect.

If you've already watched Tsuki ga Noboru made ni, here's a chance to renew your acquaintance with this excellent show. If you haven't, you're in for a treat. You can get the OVA from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

This release is a double pleasure: it completes an orphan series, and it allows me to revisit one of my favorite shows of all time, Akatsuki no Yona (Yona of the Dawn). I'm really pleased to announce the completion of the Akatsuki no Yona OADs (original animation discs). This project started in FFF (a terrific fansubbing group) but was shelved when the group went semi-comatose, with the first episode released, the second episode QC-ready, and the third fully translated. I was really unhappy about this because I had edited both the series and the OADs, and I had bought the OADs themselves out of pocket. When more than a year had passed with no activity, I asked the former leader of FFF for permission to finish the OADs in Orphan and release them. He graciously agreed, so now here they are, at last.

If you're not familiar with Akatsuki no Yona, then go watch the series first, because the OADs assume you know the characters and the story. (You can read my blog post on the original series as a cheat, but it's really not sufficient). The first OAD is a side story adapted from a pair of chapters in volume 12 of the manga, "On That Back" and "Ki-ja." It tells some of the backstory for Ki-ja, the current White Dragon. The second and third OAD are a summary of volumes 21 and 22 of the manga and tell the backstory of Zeno, the Yellow Dragon, who was only introduced in the last episode of the TV series. The first is humorous and shows off the camaraderie of Yona's little band, but the second and third epitomize the traits that made the series itself such a standout: complex characters, power politics, and an overarching, compassionate humanity.

A brief note on staffing.

Translation: deltakei (all)
Timing: Naine (ep1, ep2), Yogicat (ep3)
Editing: Collectr (all)
Typesetting: Eien (ep1), kme (ep2), kme and Collectr (ep3 - kme did the hard stuff)
QC: FFF (ep1), BeeBee (all), Nemesis (ep2, ep3)
Encoding: Eien (all)
Raw acquisition: Skr (all)

Ep1 is basically the original FFF release with a few minor tweaks; ep2 was QCed in Orphan; ep3 was finished in Orphan from timing onward. Apportioning credit (or blame) is too complicated, so all three are joint FFF and Orphan releases. I want to thank everyone involved from both groups for bringing the project to fruition.

In the OADs, the core voice actors all have their moments to shine.

Saito Chiwa (Yona) played leads roles in the Aria franchise, the Broken Blade franchise, Kokoro Toshokon, Read or Die (TV), Dears, Midori no Hibi, Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase, Sunabouzu, Brave Story, and the -monogatari properties, among numerous other roles.
Maeno Tomoaki (Hak) played Abeno in both seasons of Fukijen no Mononokean, Saku in Sora no Manimani, Junichi in the Amagami SS properties, Touya in White Album, and Camus in the Uta no Prince-sama franchise. He appeared in Super Lovers, Sousei no Onmyouji, ACCA, Gakuen Babysitters, and many other recent series.
Suwabe Junichi (Jae-ha, the Green Dragon) played Fuuma in the later X properties, Archer in the Fate Stay/Night franchise, Ren in the Uta no Prince-sama franchise, the titles roles in Cuticle Detective Inaba and Space Dandy, Yaichirou in Uchouten Kazoku, Worick in Gangsta, Hayama in the Shokugeki no Souma franchise, and Bonten in Amatsuki (an Orphan release), among many appearances.
Morita Masakazu (Ki-ja, the White Dragon) played Ryuuji in the Ring ni Kakero properties, Keiji Maeda in the Sangoku Basara franchise, Barnaby in Tiger and Bunny, Tennouji in Rewrite, Satou in the Major franchise, and many other roles.
Okamoto Nobuhiko (Sin-ha, the Blue Dragon) played the male lead in Persona: Trinity Soul, Asu no Yoichi, Yumekui Merry, Mayo Neko Overrun, Sekaichi Hatsukoi, the Ao no Exorcist franchise, Acchi Kochi, Hagure Yuusha no Aesthetica, Code: Breaker, and many other shows.
Shimono Hiro (Zero, the Yellow Dragon) starred as Hiro in ef: A Tale of Memories, Jin in Kannagi, Tetsu in Cencoroll, Haruka in Yosuga no Sora, Ryuuji in Dragon Crisis, Hayao in 30-sai no Hoken Taiiku, You in Ben-tou, Seki in Tonari no Seki-kun, Jirou in DAYS, Jean in ACCA, Popuko in Pop Team Epic, and numerous other show.
Minagawa Junko (Yun) starred as Shingo in Uninhabited Planet Survive, Thoma in Fantastic Children, Ritsuka in Loveless, Ryouma in the Prince of Tennis franchise, Ren in Super Lovers, and lots of other roles.
Kobayashi Yuusuke (Su-won) only appears briefly in the epilogue. He starred in Selector Infected WIXOSS, Nozo x Kimi, Shimoneta to Iu Gainen, Comet Lucifer, Witch Craft Works, Arslan Senki (2016), Bubuki Buranki, Imouto sea Ireba Ii, Re: Zero, Gundam Build Divers, and many other recent series.

The director, Yoneda Kazuhiro, also directed the most recent Hoozuki no Reitetsu series. The spare and sometimes haunting background music is by Ryou Kunihiko, who wrote the scores for other fantasy epics, including The Twelve Kingdoms, Saiunkoku Monogatari, and Tegami Bachi.

One translation note: the ending song in episode 2 includes a brief prelude, first heard in episode 24 of the TV series. It is not in Japanese. Some online sources believe it is Chinese and have provided a translation on that basis, but Mandarin speakers I've consulted are uncertain. So the prelude has been left untranslated, just as in the TV series.

Is this the (anime) end for Yona and her merry band? I'm very much afraid that it is. There's more than enough manga material for another 24 episodes, but there's no sign of a sequel. Shoujo epics are out of fashion, I guess. Meanwhile, you can get the Akatsuki no Yona OADs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Al Caral no Isan (The Legacy of Al Caral) is a 1992 science-fiction OVA. It is based on a one-volume manga by Michihara Katsumi, who also wrote Joker: Marginal City. Orphan released the first English version of the OVA in 2017. At that time, I wrote "The raw is from the Internet and could be better. If anyone has an original Japanese laserdisc (Al Caral was never released on DVD), please let us know." Eventually, the laserdisc turned up on the second hand market in Japan. I bought it, and after a series of lengthy delays, it reached Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions. He made a new encode, and Orphan is now releasing an updated version based on his encode.

As usual, I won't rehash my comments from the original blog post. Back then, I thought Al Caral no Isan was an interesting take on the First Contact theme. Watching it again, I enjoyed it even more. I particularly like the way it steers clear of both the alien superiority and the human triumphalism tropes. Instead, it shows how arrogance, misunderstandings, and lack of empathy can come fatally close to undermining the best of intentions.

As I said in the original post, the voice cast is stellar.

Hisakawa Aya (Shana) has had a prolific career. She played the title roles in Mamono Hunter Youko, Voogie's Angel, and Iria: Zeiram, Skuld in the Ah! My Goddess franchise, Cerberus in Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon franchise, Yuki in Fruits Basket, Haruka in RahXephon, Youko in The Twelve Kingdoms,and Storm in X-Men. She starred as Mishima Misako in Yume Tsukai and Koneko in Ear of the Golden Dragon, both Orphan projects.
Tanaka Hideyuki (Harmer) has also had a long career, including featured roles as Jarvis in Daddy Long Legs, Terryman in the Kinnikuman franchise, and Rayearth in Magic Knight Rayearth. He also played Sammy in Bavi Stock, Katze in Ai no Kusabi, and Sawamura in Nozomi Witches, all Orphan projects. He will be appearing in the forthcoming Ultraman series.
Orikasa Ai (Toryune) made her debut in Shoukoushi Cedie. She played the title role in Romeo no Aoi Sora, Sara in Eien no Filena (an Orphan project), Fee in Planetes, Seguchi Touma (the record company president) in Gravitation, Quatre in Gundam Wing, and Ryouko in the Tenchi Muyo franchise.
Hori Hideyuki (Zach Isedo) played Sid in Ai no Kusabi, Falk Green in Hi-Speed Jecy, and Baraba in Eien no Filena, all Orphan projects. He played the title role in Baoh, Phoenix in the Saint Seiya franchise, and the Tezuka Osamu himself in the Black Jack TV series.
Satou Masaharu (the villainous Prof Jason) played numerous features roles in the Dragonball, Dr. Slump, and Transformers franchises. He recently appeared in the current version of GeGeGe no Kitarou.
Fujimoto Yuzuru (the sympathetic Prof Hanagi) played numerous featured roles over a career that spanned 50 years.
Yamada Eiko (Vee) played Tarou in the Captain Tsubasa franchise as well as numerous other featured roles.

The music, by synthesizer player Kotaki Mitsuru, is repetitive and hypnotic.

Sunachan, the original translator, used this opportunity to punch up a few lines, and I fixed a few errors. Yogicat tweaked the timing for the new raw. I reset the signs and avoided editor's remorse as much as I could. BeeBee did QC for this version. The raw, encoded by Erik of Piyo Piyo productions from a Japanese laserdisc, is a significant improvement over the original, which had been given too much gamma correction and was washed out in bright scenes.

If you've already downloaded and watched Al Caral no Isan, this version is the one to archive. If not, I urge you to get to get it and immerse yourself in the story of the fateful first encounter between humankind and the Saanan. You can get Al Caral no Isan v2 from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net.

Paul Gallico was an American-born author who lived in England (and other parts of the world) and wrote popular fiction for both adults and children. His best known works include Mrs. 'arris Goes to Paris and its sequels, The Snow Goose, Love of Seven Dolls, and The Poseidon Adventure. The last two were adapted into smash movies, namely, Lili (1953) and The Poseidon Adventure (1972). He wrote several very popular stories about cats, including The Silent Miaow and Thomasina, The Cat Who Thought She Was God, which was also made into a a movie. His 1968 children's novel, Manxmouse, was a childhood favorite of J. K. Rowling. It was adapted in 1979 as a Nippon Animation TV special with the title Tondemo Nezumi Daikatsuyaku (The Great Adventures of an Outlandish Mouse), or more simply, Manxmouse. It was dubbed into English, with different songs and a somewhat altered script. This is the first subtitled version in English.

Manxmouse tells the story of a ceramic mouse created by a tipsy potter. The mouse has no tail, long ears, and powerful hindquarters. Hence, its creator calls it a Manx Mouse, by analogy with a Manx Cat. At some point, the mouse comes to life. Because it was created rather than born, it has no mouse-like instincts; in particular, it has no fear. During its travels, the mouse meets many creatures and people, including a shape-shifting ghost that is baffled by a creature without fear; a hawk that thinks it's an airplane pilot; a young schoolgirl, who gives the mouse a formal name (Harrison G. Manxmouse); a runaway circus tiger named Burra Khan; an unscrupulous pet shop owner, who wants to sell Manxmouse for a fortune; and finally the legendary Manx Cat himself, which, according to the Book of Doom, is destined to eat Manxmouse in a single bite.

Needless to say, all ends happily, as is only proper in a G-rated children's cartoon.

Manxmouse presented unusual translation issues, most of which can be summed up in a single question: where the Japanese dialog and the original English text differ, which should be followed? For better or worse, most of the Japanese dialog is translated as is, with one significant exception: the name of the main character. In Japanese, the mouse is called Tondemo Nezumi (Outrageous Mouse). I've stuck with Manxmouse; the Japanese localization obscures the main joke (a tailless mouse is a Manx Mouse). Otherwise, the Japanese dialog prevails.

In the book, the mouse starts life in the village of Buntingdowndale. In the movie, this became Tanizoko-don, translated as Gorgebottom. (The dub uses Dondowndale.)
In the book, the shape-shifting ghost is called a Clutterbumph. In the movie, it has a name, Dororon, simply transliterated.
In the book, neither the potter nor Burra Khan's trainer have names, and the greedy pet shop proprietor is Smeaton rather than Benten.

When the mouse is being referenced as an instance of the mythical breed or species of tailless mice, it is called a Manx Mouse. When it is addressed by name, it is Manxmouse. On the other hand, a Manx Cat is always Manx Cat, whether general or the specific individual Thomas R. Manx Cat. That's how the book does it; go figure.

The voice actors mostly predate current anime.

Masako Nozawa (Manxmouse) is a legend. She played the leads in 30000 Miles Under the Sea, The Adventures of Gamba, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry no Bouken, Billy Inu nan demo Shoukai, and Hey! Bumboo. She was Enma-kun in the original Dororon Enma-kun, Son Goku in the original Dragonball, and Kitarou in the original 1968 and 1971 versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou as well as Hakaba Kitarou. Even though her first role was in 1965, she is still active, appearing as Obaba in Ping Pong the Animation, Madame Curie in Marie & Gali, and of course, Medama Oyaji in current the version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. She won a lifetime achievement award in 1997.
Ryuji Saikachi (Meyer the tipsy potter) played Nurarihyon in the 1968 and 1971 versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou. He also appeared in Sangokushi 2 (1986), an Orphan release.
Nagai Ichirou (Dororon) starred in numerous shows, playing grandfather Jigoro in Yawara!, the off-the-wall narrator in Gosenzosama Banbanzai!, Professor Hajime in Queen Millennia, and Happosai in the Ranma 1/2 franchise.He appeared in Nora,Hidamari no Ki, Yuukan Club, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases.
Kazuko Sugiyama (the school girl, Wendy H. Troy) played Heidi in Heidi, Girl of the Alps, Akane in the Dr. Slump franchise, Maria in The Royal Tutor, and Ten in Urusei Yatsura.
Teiji Oomiya (the tiger, Burra Khan) appeared in both Speed Racer and the original Doraemon.
Kihara Shoujirou (Captain Hawk) had featured roles in Perrine, Space Runaway Ideon, and the City Hunter franchise.
Kazuo Kumakura (Thomas R. Manx Cat) appeared in both the 1963 and 1980 versions of Astro Boy. He played Papa Panda in Panda Gopanda, Oz in The Wizard of Oz movie, Sima Hui in Sangokushi, and Inspector Unmei in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru; the last two are Orphan releases.
Ishizaka Kouji (Narrator) also provided the narration for Gallery Fake.

The director, Saitou Hiroshi, directed many World Masterpiece Theater series, including Heidi, Girls of the Alps, Katry, the Cow Girl, Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow, and the first half of Perrine. The music and songs are forgettable faux-Disney.

Moho Kareshi did the original translation. laalg checked the dialog and translated the songs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset (very little to do there). BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions encoded from a Japanese laserdisc that Iri purchased in Japan. The source isn't great, but it seems fairly unlikely that Manxmouse will get a digital release.

Manxmouse is episodic and doesn't have much in the way of dramatic tension, but it is competently made and far less twee than the original book. You can pass a pleasant afternoon with Harrison G. Manxmouse and his friends, knowing that there will be lots of good company as well as tea and cookies. You can get Manxmouse from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

This is the last of our "creature features" for a while; no dogs, cats, or other critters in the backlog at the moment. You'll just have to make do with people.

As readers of my blog (or my comments on BakaBT) know, I have been highly skeptical of the seemingly endless "one-upping" of digital media encodes. Each new release claims to have better this or less that, when all I see is ever increasing bloat. Thus, it gives me a queasy feeling to find that Orphan may be doing something similar with its analog encodes, with v2s and maybe v3s and v4s.

Some of this is understandable. Orphan started off using Internet sources for almost everything. As the team got access to original media, it was natural to encode the new media and release a new version (for example, Kage, Kakyuusei 1995, A Girl, Tsuki ga Noboru made ni). Sometimes, a title was released in higher definition on streaming media or even Blu-ray (for example, Dallos, I am Son Goku, Techno Police 21C, the Animerama titles). However, technology improvements in capturing and encoding analog sources provide endless opportunities for releasing better raws - the encoding equivalent of Editor's Remorse.

For Orphan's laserdisc projects, the evolution has been from good lossy capture to fully lossless capture of the RF output - an enormous leap forward.

Good lossy capture was done with a high-quality, near professional setup.
Encoding has been improved by using color calibration discs to set color levels.
The Domesday Duplicator allows for capture of the RF output - as close to an archival level transcription as possible.

The first results from the Duplicator are pretty impressive, although the processing software is still rough around the edges. There are now Duplicator setups in both the US and Japan.

For Orphan's VHS projects, the evolution has been from bad lossy capture to better lossy capture to lossless capture:

Bad lossy capture was done with an S-VHS recorder into an el-cheapo USB capture device. It frequently lost sync and could not cope with copy protection.
Better lossy capture was done with a D-VHS recorder that produced a digital output on Firewire. However, the built-in compression seemed to play havoc with scene transitions, which appeared to smear over multiple frames.
Fully lossless capture is done with an ancient All in Wonder card on an equally ancient XP system. It throws the entire burden of cleaning up the capture on software, which has a much wider array of filters and fixers available than the hardware would.

The first trials of lossless capture are out for encoding now. If it produces significant results, we could be redoing almost all of our VHS releases.

So where does the possibility (or threat) of endless versions come from? The Duplicator hardware appears to be the definitive answer for capturing laserdiscs and is quite stable. However, the Duplicator software has endless possibilities for improvement. Some of the roadmap is already known - decoding digital audio, decoding analog audio with noise reduction, implementing a 3D-comb filter, implementing IVTC. After that, who knows? Oil companies have reprocessed their seismic shot data from the 1950s almost every decade, as computers and algorithms have improved, and they keep finding new features of interest. I think (or fear) this may be this case with the Duplicator laserdisc captures.

For VHS tapes, the promise (or threat) is something like the Duplicator for VHS tapes - that is, a device that would capture the output of the helical scan read head directly. Because tape reading is a contact sport, the quality of the capture would still depend on the quality of the deck (and the tape, of course). However, this technique would bypass the analog electronics in the VHS deck and allow for advanced signal processing techniques to be applied. This has already been demonstrated with computer tapes, where oversampling using modern read heads and application of advanced signal processing techniques has allowed data to be recovered despite print through, tape stretch, and other physical blemishes.

For me and the other members of the Orphan team, the dilemma posed by all these opportunities is where to draw the line and make a new release. The laserdisc Duplicator software is almost there - all it really needs is reasonable audio decoding. Old captures that were done with the wrong frame rates (like Tomoe ga Yuko) or uncalibrated color compensation are prime candidates for new captures and encodes. The VHS situation is more fluid. We still don't know whether lossless capture really improves the results enough to matter. It's certainly better than the Internet VHS raws we've used (like Meisou-ou Border).

So I must beg our faithful followers - all ten of you - for forbearance as Orphan revisits its sins of the past and tries to make amends. The digital side of the equation is straightforward. The team now has DVD ISOs for Amatsuki (the DmzJ raws are at the wrong frame rate) and Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2 (the aF raws are corrupt and R2E to boot), and at some point we'll make new encodes and re-release. The analog side, though... the sky's the limit. Unfortunately.

I'm a sucker for slice-of-life shows about children and parents (or parental figures), like Usagi Drop and Udon no Kuni no Kiniro Kemari. So when Godless Fansubs asked me to edit and typeset the Blu-ray version of their Amaama to Inazuma release, I jumped at it. I ripped through all twelve episodes in two months, and Godless released the first six episodes at the beginning of 2017. After that... silence. It's been more than two years since the last release. Today, Orphan is releasing the rest of the series, including revised versions of the first six episodes.

Amaama to Inazuma (Sweetness and Lightning) is the story of a widowed high-school math teacher, Inuzaka Kouhei, trying to raise his kindergarten-age daughter, Tsumugi, as a single parent. In addition to the constant demands on his time, as a professional and a parent, he lacks certain basic life skills; in particular, he doesn't know how to cook. By accident, he meets one of his students Iida Kotori, the shy daughter of a famous restaurateur, Iida Megami. Kotori doesn't know much about cooking either, but the two team up to master the basics of Japanese cooking and liberate Tsugami from a life of convenience store bentos and precooked meals.

The setup - a high-school teacher meeting his student at home while raising an adorable moppet - sounds like it could go disastrously wrong, but Amaama to Inazuma sidesteps all the traps. There's no romance between Kouhei and Kotori, or even a hint of one. Tsumugi is a sweet, happy child, but she's also a real one - she can be moody, throw tantrums, or get upset about childish misunderstandings. The show is filled with the minor crises of parenthood, not the major manufactured incidents of anime, and most of the issues are resolved around the kitchen counter at Kotori's mother's restaurant. The show will make you hungry.

It's a good thing that the subject matter is engrossing, because the animation is nothing to write home about. Much of it is done at 8 frames per second (some of the OP is at 6, perhaps as a stylistic choice), and there are lots of signs to cover up the essentially static nature of the backgrounds. In contrast, the voice cast is very good:

Nakamura Yuuichi brings a strong presence to the role of Kouhei. His love for Tsumugi is palpable, as is his reticence about expressing emotion and his sadness over his limits as a parent. Yuuichi starred as Shinkaku in the two Bakumatsu series, Tada in Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai, Kyousuke in Ore no Imouto, Hotarou in Hyouka, and Okitsu in DIVE!!, to name just a few of his star turns. He showed his comedic flair as Grizzly-san in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release. He also played Hoshina, Touin's captain in DAYS: Touin Gakuensen, another Orphan release.
Hayami Soari makes Kotori's shyness and love of food believable. She starred as Saki in the Eden of the East properties, Chiriko in the AnoHana franchise, Ikaros in the Sora no Otoshimono franchise, Leviathan in Leviathan: The Last Defense, Ayase in the OreImo franchise, Shirayuki in Akagami no Shirayuki-hime, and many other roles.
Endou Rina endows Tsugumi with realism and charm, perhaps because she's a child actress (she was 10 when the show was made). She also starred as the scene-stealing Hina in Barakomon.
Tomatsu Haruka gives the role of Shinobu, Kotori's genki wingman, the upbeat energy it needs. She starred as Anjo in the AnoHana franchise, Manami in Asobi ni Ikuyo!, Nagi in Kannagi, Corticart in Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica and its sequel, Lala in the To Love-ru Franchise, Haruka in Mitsudomoe, Mayu in Nekogame Yaoyorozu, Ichika in Ano Natsu de Matteru, Shiho in Zettai Karen Children, and numerous other roles.
Seki Tomokazu nails the role of Yagi, Kouhei's morose wingman, conveying a deep attachment to Tsumagi concealed under a gruff exterior. He starred as the title roles in Maze and Keniichi, Kyou in the original Fruits Basket, Yotaro in Showa Genroku Rakugo, Dee in Fake, Rentarou in Futakoi: Alternative, Ryuuiki in Saiunkoku Monogatari, Shuichi in Gravitation, Nobu in Nana, and my personal favorite, Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile. He appeared in Sanctuary and Haruka Naru Toki de Naka de 2, both Orphan releases.

The director, Iwasaki Tarou, also directed the tug-on-the-heartstrings Ishuukan Friends. The OP is a relentlessly genki Japanese earworm; you have been warned.

Godless Fansubs was responsible for the initial TV scripts, the encodes, and the timing of the first four episodes. Yogicat timed the last eight. I edited and typeset all of them. BeeBee QCed. The revisions to the first six episodes are numerous - typos, more signs, consistency fixes. Patches are available if you have the original release.

Although this is labeled as a Godless-Orphan release (a great name for a joint, don't you think?), the Godless team has not participated in finishing the series. I don't have the Godless 1080p raws, so this release is 720p only. If anyone wants to fit these scripts to a different 1080p encode, feel free. You can get Amaama to Inazuma from the usual torrent site or IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Orphan has had a marvelous run for the past three years thanks to new additions to the staff, particularly translators and QCs. But lately, staff members have been reclaimed by Real Life (the true Final Boss of fansubbing), and the number of new projects has dwindled. This is particularly aggravating because the availability of excellent raw material has never been greater, due to gamnark's and Erik's work on buying and ripping analog material.

The group desperately needs the following, more or less in order:

Encoder(s). Orphan needs one or more encoders who can work with "thorny" sources. We have lossless capture for both laserdiscs and VHS tapes, but the original sources are imperfect. Consequently, the filtering and encoding has to be handcrafted for each project individually. Even our digital sources (like Sanada 10) tend to have issues - interlacing, 30fps segments, etc. Right now, there's a substantial backlog of captures needing encoding, with more on the way. You must like encoding challenges, and you must have experience in solving them.
Translator(s). Orphan needs one or more translators/translation checkers. Almost all of our projects are properties that has never been subbed; but even resubs require translation checking. Right now, we have a substantial backlog - more than a dozen properties - waiting for translation or checking. Experience is essential. These shows are not for novices.
QCs. Orphan needs one or more QCs. See this blog entry for an overview of the QC process. Experience required.

Here are just some of the titles stalled for lack of resources:

Need encoding: Meisou-Ou Border v2 (lossless VHS capture); Oedo wa Nemurenai v2 (lossless VHS capture); Singles v2(lossless VHS capture); Shin Dousei Jidai Hawaiian Breeze (lossless VHS capture); Okama Report (lossless VHS capture); Let's Nupu Nupu (LD capture); Yume kara Samenai (lossless LD capture); Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2 v2 (R2J DVD); Amatsuki v2 (R2J DVD); Sanada 10 (R2J DVD).There are even more lossless VHS and LD captures queued up behind these, including a lossless LD capture of MAPS: Densetsu no Samayoeru Seijin-tachi.
Need translation: Bocchan; Ambassador Magma; Mellow; Raiyantsuuri no Uta; Sanada 10 ep10-12; Tengai Makyou; Ziggy Sore Yuke: R&R Band; Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken; Tezuka Osamu Works: Kyoto Animation Theater.
Need translation checking: Blue Sonnet; Bakumatsu no Spasibo; Genji Pt 1; Karuizawa Syndrome; Mother: Saigo no Shoujo Eve; Nayuto; Genji Monogatari movie; Kashou no Tsuki.

With such a huge backlog, you might rightfully ask, which projects are actually moving forward? The answer is, just a handful:

Sangokushi movies. Movies 1 and 2 in release checking. Movie 3 in QC.
Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament. Episode 4 in release checking. Episodes 5 and 6 in QC.
Boyfriend, OVA version, from laserdisc. Waiting for translation of added scenes and song verses.

Under current constraints, Orphan can only consider projects where translation and encoding are already done. Even most re-releases are stalled at encoding.

So if you like the work Orphan does, or you're intrigued by some of the titles in the backlog, and you have experience and are willing to work, please get in touch. I hang around on IRC (irc.rizon.net) pretty much all time, or you can leave contact information in the comments.

As I've noted before, the Japanese are fascinated with chaotic historical eras, like their own Warring States and Bakumatsu periods, and China's Three Kingdoms era. The latter was the subject of a 60-volume manga epic, Sangokushi, by Yokuyama Mitsutera, which has been animated at least four times:

A 1982 TV special, Sangokushi, for which no raw is available.
Two movie-length TV specials, Sangokushi (1985) and Sangokushi 2 (1986), already subbed by Orphan.
A 47-episode TV series, Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi, already subbed by Crossfade.
Three theatrical movies, released in 1992, 1993, and 1994, currently not subbed.

Orphan will be releasing the first English-subtitled version of all three theatrical movies.

The first movie is Sangokushi Daiichibu Eiyuu-tachi no Yoake (Sangokushi: Dawn of the Heroes), released in 1992. It starts further back in time than the Sangokushi OVAs, with the Yellow Turban rebellion that initiated the downfall of the ruling Han dynasty. At the start of the story, both Liu Bei, its eventual protagonist, and Cao Cao, its eventual antagonist, are minor players. Liu Bei is striving to find a way to bring order to a chaotic world. As he puzzles he way toward the correct course of action, he befriends two powerful warriors, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. Together, they take the Oath of the Peach Garden, to live and die together as warriors for justice. Meanwhile, Cao Cao is pondering how to fulfill his destiny as "a hero in a chaotic world or a villain in a peaceful one."

Initially, power seems to belong to usurping warlord Dong Zhuo and his right-hand man, the hero Lu Bu. But the two soon fall out over a woman, and the resulting power vacuum gives Cao Cao his chance. Even though Lu Bu is the stronger warrior, Cao Cao has the devil's own luck on the battlefield. Liu Bei tries to stick to the right course, but he is just a minor piece on the giant chessboard of China's warring states. War rages up and down the country, with inconclusive result, thus setting the stage for the next two movies in the series.

The voice cast includes:

Aoi Teruhiko (Liu Bei) played relatively few roles, but they were all star turns, including the title roles in all the Ashita no Joe properties and the first Hashire Melos special.
Han Keiko (Lihua, Liu Bei's future wife) starred in numerous World Masterpiece Theater adaptations, playing Becky in Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Annette in Alps Story: My Annette, Meg in Little Women, and Nancy in Pollyanna. She played Queen Promethium in Queen Millennia and its numerous spinoffs and sequels, as well as Luna in the Sailor Moon franchise.
The late Aono Takeshi (Guan Yu) played Masaki Katsuhiko in the Techni Muyo franchise and Bookman in the original D.grayman. He appeared in Techno Police 21C, Grim Douwa - Kin no Tori, Fire Emblem, and Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
The late Ishida Tarou (Zhang Fei) played Duke Red in Metropolis and appeared in numerous other movies and TV shows.
Tsukayame Masane (Lu Bu) had many featured credits and is still active.
The late Takiguchi Junpei (Dong Zhuo) brought his distinctive voice to the roles of Scratch in Techno Police 21C, the villainous king of Kanemacchi Castle in Grim Douwa: Kin no Tori, and the Mouse Thief in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
Watari Tetsuya (Cao Cao) is primarily a film and TV actor. Sangokushi is his only listed anime role.

The director, Katsumata Tomoharu, is a veteran with many credits to his name, including Danguard Ace, Captain Future, the first few Yamato movies, Rokudenashi Blues, Odin, and the Saint Seiya Hades OVAs.

This project is Iri's brainchild, and he translated all three movies. They are inordinately long; the dialog in each movie is equivalent to six or seven anime TV episodes. It is also quite formal and deliberately a bit stilted, to convey the formulaic nature of many of the interchanges. Sunachan, who speaks Chinese as well as Japanese, checked the names and the signs. Yogicat went into overdrive to do the timing. I edited and typeset. The typesetting was a PITA, because of the large number of maps that are overlaid across action scenes and scale against the background. BeeBee and Topper3000 did QC. M74 encoded from a Japanese DVD.

So if you're ready for another plunge into the complex world of the Three Kingdoms, this time with a much more detailed and complex story line, you can get Sangokushi Daiichibu Eiyuu-tachi no Yoake on the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Here are the next three episodes from Tezuka Osamu no Kyuuyaku Seisho Monogatari: In the Beginning (Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament: In the Beginning). For general background on the series, see the blog post for the first three episodes.

The second DVD includes the last of the mythical stories from Genesis - the Tower of Babel - and the beginning of the history of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob).

The Tower of Babel. The Genesis portion is very short, basically the verses where God "confuses" the tongues of men as punishment for their hubris in trying to build a tower to heaven. The episode is told from the perspective of a non-Biblical character, a boy named Asaph, who runs away from his desert home to see the wonders of the "town of stone" and is nearly killed in the destruction of the tower. Rocco the fox plays the role of Asaph's dog.
Father Abraham. This episodes tells the story of Abraham's summons from God, his departure from his homeland with his family for parts unknown, and the miracle of the birth of his son Isaac despite his wife Sarah's advanced years. Rocco functions as Sarah's pet and comfort for her barrenness.
Sodom and Gomorrah. This episode relates the story of the decadent towns of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham's nephew Lot and his family have settled. God is determined to destroy the towns for their wickedness, but in a remarkable sequence, Abraham argues with God not to destroy the righteous with the wicked. Rocco provides comic relief.

The story of the Patriarchs begins in Genesis 12, with God's command to Abram, as he was originally known, "Go forth..." (In Hebrew, "Lech lekha...") This passage is a turning point in the tone of the text, from mythical to historical, and is a watershed moment in the Old Testament. (It has been commemorated in a beautiful children's song by the late Debbie Friedman, Lechi Lach.) But the story of Abraham and Sarah is not without its controversies; for example, Sarah's laugh. When God informs Abraham that he and Sarah will have a son, he laughs. When the heavenly messengers repeat the same thing in Sarah's hearing, she too laughs. Centuries of censorious (male) commentary interpreted Abram's laughter as joy and Sarah's as disrespect, even though the Hebrew word used in both places is the same. Yet the messengers seem unperturbed by Sarah's laughter, even after she denies it, and tell the couple that their son will be named Yitzhak (Isaac), "the laughing one."

The episode order is a bit strange. Episode 6 really occurs in the middle of episode 5, when Abraham leaves the land of Haran and Isaac has not yet been born. It also omits the many seamy details included in the original text:

When Abraham and Sarah are in Egypt, he passes her off as his sister, and she ends up in Pharoah's harem for a while.
When the angels come to Lot to announce the imminent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, the townspeople demand that he bring them out. Instead, he offers them his virgin daughters to do with "as they like."
When Lot and his daughters are living in a cave after the destruction, the daughters get their father drunk and sleep with him, to guarantee the continuation of his line.

In the anime, the principal "sin" of Sodom and Gomorrah seems to be that the women wear fox furs. Well, the series was intended for all ages.

The new additions to the voice cast were veteran seiyuu.

Sakaguchi Daisuke (Asaph, episode 4) starred as Shimura in the Ginpachi franchise, Kousuke in Kamen no Maid Guy, Tadayashu in Moyashimon, Manabu in Tokimeki Memorial 4, Kaoru in Welcome to the NHK, Kenji in Yoiko, Shikimori in Maburaho, and Jin in Aoyama-kun.
Hirao Jin (leader, episode 4) had featured roles in many shows.
Katou Seizou (Abraham) played Putyatin in Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Oz in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz TV series, Okaa-san in Tokyo Godfathers, and Aran in Freedom. He appeared in Kage and Perrine Monogatari, both Orphan releases.
Midori Junko (Sarah) had featured roles, mostly as aged women.
Hayami Shou (Angel) starred as Nanjou in Zetsuai: 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989, and Kushinige Hodaka in Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru, all Orphan releases. He has had many featured roles, including Iason's friend Raoul in Ai no Kusabi, Hojo in Sanctuary, Pat Leivy in Starship Troopers, and Junoichi in Blazing Transfer Student, also all Orphan releases.
Nakagi Ryuji (Lot) appeared as Coach Yuutenji in Yawara! and in other featured roles.

The Orphan staff credits are the same. Skr did the heavy lifting: translation, timing, typesetting, and encoding. I edited. Nemesis and Topper3000 QCed.

You can get this batch of episodes from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

In the bad old days, like the mid-00s, getting subtitled anime to play properly was an exercise in frustration. The new Matroska (MKV) format was barely supported. There were many players, each with its own idiosyncrasies. Every codec was standalone and had to be installed separately. Codecs often stole each other's identities or registry entries, producing chaos. It was every subber for him/herself, and God against all.

Then a group of fansubbers got fed up and decided to set a de facto standard. They created the mischievously-named Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP, the Cyrillic acronym for the USSR) to dictate how fansubs should be decoded. They assembled a player, a set of filters, and a subtitle renderer into a coherent package, and it basically all worked. Peace and stability returned, to Windows at least. But in 2016, the CCCP project disbanded.

Personally, I barely noticed. True, the last CCCP didn't handle PGS subs correctly; I didn't care much. PGS subs are for (lazy) BD rips, not fansubs. However, Commie recently released its batch of Chihayafuru S1, and it didn't play. When I complained about this, I was peremptorily told that CCCP was "really old" (3 1/2 years!), and I should upgrade to the latest and greatest version of MPC-HC or MPC-BE or mplayer or some other playback gadget. So I did. Chihayafuru played correctly. PGS subs played correctly. Victory!

...until I started my release check on the second Sangokushi movie. To my horror, signs that I had set in Aegisub and that had played correctly before no longer looked right. Correct in VLC and CCCP; incorrect in MPC-HC and -BE. After some digging, I traced it to a bug (feature?) in the internal subtitle renderer in MPC-HC. Sangokushi is encoded anamorphically. The correct display aspect ratio is set during Matroska muxing. The subtitle renderer is ignoring the Matroska aspect ratio and using the encode aspect ratio. CCCP overrode the default MPC-HC renderer setting and forced use of an external package called vsfilter. Viewers using later versions of MPC-HC/BE must do that as well.

So, if you have abandoned CCCP and want to use MPC-HC/BE, then you must first install xy-vsfilter separately (look it up on Google). Then, in MPC-HC/BE, override the default internal subtitle renderer and choose xyfilter instead. The option to do this is in different places, so you'll need to poke around. Once you've changed the subtitle renderer, Orphan's anamorphically encoded videos will play properly. Chaos tamed, at least temporarily, and at least on Windows. Everyone else will have to use VLC unless/until the internal renderer starts to respect the Matroska aspect ratio.

In the longer term, Orphan will stop making anamorphic encodes. They're only an issue for DVDs anyway, not VHS tapes, laserdiscs, or Blu-rays. They're an incredible PITA for typesetting, as well as a fruitful source of playback errors. In the meantime, here's a list of affected releases:

Alice in Dreamland
Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989
Cosprayers
Code Breakers OVAs
DAYS OVAs
Hidamari no Ki
Okane ga nai!
Sangokushi movie 1
Seikima II: Humane Society
Stop!! Hibari-kun!
Ultra Nyan 2
Wild 7
Yume Tsukai

It is, unfortunately, very unlikely that we'll ever re-encode these shows. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The second movie of the Sangokushi trilogy is 1993's Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! (Sangokushi: The Yangtze Is Burning!). It covers roughly 13 years, from Cao Cao's victory over Lu Bu in 198 CE, through the Battle of Red Cliffs in 208 CE, and the aftermath up until 211 BCE. As other players are swept from the board, the story focuses on Liu Bei and his increasingly desperate attempts to prevent Cao Cao from seizing all of China. The turning point is Liu Bei's recruitment of the best strategic mind of that generation, Zhuge Kongming, the Crouching Dragon. Kongming orchestrates an alliance of convenience between Liu Bei and Sun Quan, the ruler of the emerging southern kingdom of Wu, as they seek to stop Cao Cao's "million man army" from rolling over all of China. Their victory over Cao Cao at Red Cliffs and Liu Bei's seizure of the southwest as his realm create the Three Kingdoms that give the era its name.

However, reaching that point is not easy. Liu Bei experiences setback after setback, even after recruiting Kongming. At more than one point in the story, with his fortunes at a low ebb, he describes himself as a failure. Still, he is able to retain the loyalty of his core set of warriors and even expand their number, when the mighty Zhao Yun enlists to serve the cause. Kongming first has to engineer multiple escapes from Cao Cao's hordes, but then he is able to seize the initiative and pull together the coalition that would finally check Cao Cao's ambitions... and create the opening for Liu Bei's ambitions to rule.

Like the Sangokushi television specials, the movies are based on the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms rather than the actual historical records themselves. This makes Liu Bei and his retainers more prominent than perhaps they were in history. It also allows the creators to pick and choose the story they want to show for Liu Bei's wife, named Lihua here. The TV specials modeled Lihua after Liu Bei's third wife, Lady Sun, sister to Sun Quan of Wu. However, the real Lady Sun did not meet the tragic fate depicted in Sangokushi 2; she simply went back to her brother in Wu. The movies' Lihua is based on Liu Bei's second wife, Lady Mi. Again, her tragic fate is not historical; she simply disappeared from the historical record after Cao Cao captured her in 200 CE. But Romance of the Three Kingdoms is a novel, not history, and its authors took considerable liberties with actual events, just as modern historical romances do.

Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! retains the same actors for Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Zhang Fei, and Guan Yu as the first movie. The major new seiyuu are:

Yamaguchi Takashi (Kongming) was primarily an actor and a presenter. The Sangokushi movies are his only anime roles.
Shibata Hidekatsu (Sun Quan) played Baron Ashura in Mazinger Z, Kenzou Kabuto in Great Mazinger, King Bradley in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Third Hokage in Naruto. He played the hero's father in Dragon Fist and the voice of God in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, both Orphan releases.
Hori Hideyuki (Zhao Yun) played Zach Isedo in Al Caral no Isan, Sid in Ai no Kusabi, Falk Green in Hi-Speed Jecy, and Baraba in Eien no Filena, all Orphan projects. He played the title role in Baoh, Phoenix in the Saint Seiya franchise, and Tezuka Osamu himself in the Black Jack TV series.
Sugiyama Kazuko (Xiulan, Kongming's housekeeper and eventual wife) played Heidi in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Ganmo in Gu-Gu Ganmo, Ten-chan in Urusei Yatsura, Akane Kimidori in Dr. Slump and Arale-chan, and Korosuke in Kiteretsu Daihyakka.
Yara Yuusaku (Zhou Yu, Wu's commander-in-chief) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho, NextSenki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.

As with the first movie, the supporting cast is vast, but most are onscreen only for a short time. The musical score for all three movies is by Yokoyama Seiji, a prolific composer of anime scores, including the Saint Seiya franchise and Magical Taruruuto-kun.

The Orphan staff is the same as for the first movie. Iriliane translated, Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset, and BeeBee and Topper3000 QCed. M74 encoded from an R2J DVD. Because of the length and complexity of the movie, it was a mammoth effort by all concerned. Unfortunately, the third movie is even more complicated. And as with the first movie, you may need to fiddle with your player to get the signs to display correctly.

So gird your loins, pad your bottom, and go watch Sangokushi Dai Ni Bu Choukou Moyu! in its full 148-minute glory. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

As I mentioned in my original release post, the 1992 OVA/TV special Boyfriend had a complicated release history. It was released as a 110-minute OVA on two VHS tapes or one laserdisc. It was also released as an abridged, 94-minute TV special, on one VHS tape.

TOVA-1117 - TV special version 94 minutes
TOVA-1118 - OVA first half "The Encounter" 59 minutes
TOVA-1119 - OVA second half "The Promise" 51 minutes
TOLA-1131 - OVA first and second half, 110 minutes (laserdisc)

Orphan's original release used the abridged TV version, as encoded from VHS tape by ARR. After a long delay, a team member was able to buy the laserdisc version. Accordingly, we're rereleasing Boyfriend, now a two-part OVA: The Encounter and The Promise.

As I wrote last year, Boyfriend is a fairly routine shoujo romance crossed with a sports anime. Yuuki, a girl with a weak heart, falls for Takatou, a rebellious but talented basketball player. Complicating matters, her childhood friend and quasi-fiancee, Nakatsugawa, is the coach of Takatou's basketball team. A player on the girls' basketball team, Mami, has a crush on Takatou. A rival from another basketball team, Akira, wants to best Takatou in both basketball and love. As the climactic championship game between Takatou's and Akira's teams approaches, Yuuki must undergo risky heart surgery to save her life. Will she survive her ordeal? Will the lovers be united? No points for guessing the right answers.

The OVA version has a bit of additional content - a cold open and an additional scene between Yuuki and Takatou in each episode, as well as an additional verse for the ending song. They help with the continuity, particularly the added scene in the second episode, but their removal wasn't a deal-breaker. The real problem with the ARR VHS rip was the video and audio. The tape was stretched, or the player had wobble; in any case, the video occasionally lost tracking, and the audio had terrible pitch issues. The laserdisc is an enormous improvement. The video is a direct capture with the Domesday duplicator; the audio in an AAC encoding of the digital audio output.

The voice cast consists of well-known seiyuu of the era:

Tsujitani Kouji (Takatou) played the title role in the Captain Tylor franchise and the lead role in the 3x3 Eyes OVAs. He also played Guy in Ai no Kusabi, Shou in Condition Green, and Seishirou in Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases. His most recent role was in Kokkoku, which just finished.
Hidaka Noriko (Yuuki) played Satsuke in My Neighbor Totoro, Akane (the female lead) in Ranma 1/2, Peter in Peter Pan no Bouken, Mrs. Yamada (the mother) in the first two Chi anime series, Near in Death Note, Kikyo in the Inuyasha franchise, and Noriko in Yuukan Club, an Orphan release. She is still active and recently appeared in Little Witch Academia.
Inoue Kazuhiko (Nakatsugawa) played Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo andYuki Eiri in Gravitation, but I know and love him best as the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou properties. He also played Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, and Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi OVAs, all Orphan releases.
Yao Kazuki (Sofue) is best known for his lead role as Dark Schneider in Bastard!! and his recurring role as Franky in One Piece. He also played Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, an Orphan release.
Mizutani Yuuko (Yuuki's friend Aki) has many credits, including Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties, as well as Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Lila in Eien no Filena, and Dr. Uematsu Kikue in Yume Kakeru Kougen, all Orphan projects.
Yamaguchi Kappei (Takatou's teammate Ougi) has played the lead character in the Detective Conan franchise, Ranma in the Ranma 1/2 franchise, Inuyasha in all the Inuyasha properties, Kudou Shinichi in the Conan franchise, Usopp in the One Piece franchise, Sakuma Ryuichi in Gravitation, Arslan in the first OVA series, the title role in Mouse, and Shibuya in Zetsuai 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989 (both Orphan releases), among many others.
Yokoyama Chisa (Mami) played the title roles in Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, Iron Virgin Jun, and the Sakura Taisen franchise, as well as Sasami/Pretty Sammy in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She played Hu Si, the were-tiger, in Wolf Guy, an Orphan release.
Touma Yumi (Hanyuu, the captain of the girls' basketball team) played the title roles in Emma: A Victorian Romance and Baby Felix. She has appeared in numerous shows, including Boyfriend, Condition Green, Fukuyama Gekijou, and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Nareudesho, all Orphan releases.

Moho did the original translation, and laalg the original translation check. For the new version, Sunachan translated the additional dialog, ending verse, and signs. ninjacloud did the original timing and the fine timing on the new version. I edited and typeset throughout; the improved stability of the laserdisc version allowed for additional typesetting. BeeBee and VigorousJammer QCed the original release. Topper3000 checked the new version. Our intrepid raw hunter captured the laserdisc RF output with the Domesday Duplicator and decoded it. He also captured the digital audio as FLAC, because the audio decoding software is still a work in progress. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions encoded the video, and I transcoded the FLAC audio to AAC. (No, we're not releasing FLAC audio for laserdiscs. Get real, dude.) This version is probably not definitive. The decoding software and encoding process has improved over the last few months, and it will continue to improve in the future.

You can get the Boyfriend OVAs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

Although Orphan is a fansubbing group, the 'completionist' impulse that runs through the group's charter sometimes extends into other media. In particular, the team has acquired and released a number of soundtracks for its projects or prospective projects. Other enthusiasts have done a lot more, but finding and ripping soundtracks has become a notable sideline to Orphan's main fansubbing mission. For one thing, it's a lot easier to capture and encode audio, and it doesn't require translators or video encoders.

Most of the music has come from CDs, but there are other sources as well, including records and "dual track" laserdiscs. Here's a list of the ones I can remember.

Alice in Cyberland OP-ED single. CD source.
Boyfriend OP-ED single. CD source.
Capricorn image album. CD source.
Eien no Filena soundtrack. CD source.
Fukuyama Gekijou soundtrack. CD source.
Genji Pt 1 soundtracks and image album. CD source.
Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori OP-ED single. CD source.
Hidamari no Ki ED1 and ED2 singles. CD source.
High Speed Jecy soundtrack. CD source.
Kakyuusei (1999) soundtrack. CD source.
Kiss wa Me ni Shite soundtrack. CD source.
Majo demo Steady image album. CD source.
Next Senki Ehrgeiz OP and ED singles. CD source.
Nozomi Witches soundtrack. CD source.
Oedo ga Nemurenai! soundtrack. CD source.
Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru soundtrack. CD source.
Project A-Ko 2 extended soundtrack. Laserdisc source.
Singles soundtrack. CD source.
Stop!! Hibari-kun Songbook. LP source.
Yuukan Club ED1 single. CD source.

Most of the work has been done in the material's country of origin, but Stop!! Hibari-kun! was done in the US, because none of the team's overseas members has a turntable. Sometimes it pays to be old.

Soundtracks are also available for many of Orphan's other projects as well:

A-Girl soundtrack. CD source.
Ai no Kusabimusic collection. CD source.
Akatsuki no Yona music collection. CD source.
Amatsuki music collection. CD source.
Condition Green song collection. CD source.
Cosprayers soundtrack. CD source.
D4 Princess music collection. CD source.
Dallos soundtrack. CD source.
Ear of the Golden Dragon music collection. CD source.
Hand Maid Mai music collection. CD source.
Hidamari no Ki soundtrack. CD source.
Izumo (1991) soundtrack. CD source.
Joker: Marginal City music collection. CD source.
Nagasarete Airantou music collection. CD source.
Nora soundtrack. LP source.
Purple Eyes in the Dark. All songs from Purple Eyes in the Dark image albums 1 and 2. CD source. (Image album 1 has not surfaced.)
Rainbow Signal: Hi-Fi Set. All songs from Hi-Fi Set albums Pasadena Park and Indigo. CD source.
Sanctuary original soundtrack. CD source.
Sangokushi TV specials soundtracks. CD source.
Sangokushi movies 1 and 2 soundtracks. CD source. (No OST for movie 3.)
Shirokuma Cafe music collection. CD source.
Smash Hit! soundtrack. CD source.
Sonic Soldier Borgman 2058 soundtrack. CD source.
Sonic Solder Borgman: Madnight Gigs. All songs from Sonic Solder Borgman: The Last Gig of the World. CD source.
Starship Troopers soundtrack. CD source.
The Tale of Princess Kaguya music collection. CD source.
Tokimeki Tonight background music. CD source.
Yume Tsukai music collection. CD source.
Zetsuai, Bronze, and Cathexis music collections. CD source.

These can be hard to find, because they're scattered among public and private trackers, forums, and IRC bots.

Orphan's wish list isn't very long. The top item is the Majo demo Steady soundtrack, because it's on the digital tracks of the laserdisc, and with that we could get a better source for the video. An alternative is Miki Takahashi's Dress-Up, which at least has the rest of the songs from the OVA. Soundtracks for POPS and A Penguin's Memory are available on CD but are quite expensive. Purple Eyes in the Dark image album 1 has some of the best songs in the music video. The Kindaichi movie soundtracks were available online in the past, but the links are now dead. If you can help with any of these albums, please let me know.

Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Ep 1-3

To Err Is Human

DAYS: Touin Gakuensen

Bonbon

Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu

Media: The State of Play

Oedo wa Nemurenai!

Tsuki ga Noboru made ni v2 (Laserdisc)

Akatsuki no Yona OADs

Al Caral no Isan v2

Manxmouse

The Relentless Pursuit of (Analog) Perfection

Amaama to Inazuma (Blu-ray)

Doldrums (Recruiting)

Sangokushi movie 1

Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Ep 4-6

No Safe Harbor

Sangokushi movie 2

Boyfriend OVA (Boyfriend v2)

The Audio Side