Collectr's Blog

Another sterling example of why it's dangerous not to finish a project I was invited to work on.

One of FFF's last projects was a Blu-ray version of the Suisei no Gargantia series, using UTW-Vivid's subtitles. FFF released all the TV episodes, but the specials, the Petit Gargantia shorts, were left unfinished. I was tasked with QCing and cleaning up the shorts, which had been "blown up" from UTW-Vivid's 360p scripts. This involved adapting the typesetting to the larger canvas and dealing with the different color palette in the Blu-rays: no biggie.

However, the Blu-rays included an extra short, Petit Gargantia 14. It had been translated but not typeset. Because it had a lot of signs, no one was interested in typesetting it. FFF was shutting down, and the original typesetter from UTW had moved on. So it languished for two years. Finally, I got fed up and decided to typeset it myself. It's done, and I'm releasing the Petit Gargantia shorts under the FFF label. I thought seriously about releasing number 14 as Orphan, because the typesetting is frankly substandard for FFF, but I feel that FFF did the bulk of the work on the episode, in particular, encoding and translating, plus all the signs I managed to steal from the first thirteen episodes. And I'm a member of FFF... at least until now.

Petit Gargantia is a series of deadpan dialogs among chibi versions of Chamber, Ensign Ledo, Amy, Ridget, and the other girls in Ledo's orbit. It comments peripherally on the main series until the last episode, which is an excuse to think about Gargantia-based parodies of other famous series and to skirt the edges of copyright laws. It's all silly, and you can watch all 14 episodes in under half an hour.

The specials have been included in other Blu-ray releases of the main series, but the PGS subtitles in those rips don't do Petit Gargantia justice. Enjoy.

In 1888, Jules Verne published his only novel for children, Deux ans de vacances(Two Years' Vacation). It tells the story of 15 schoolboys from Auckland, New Zealand, who are cast adrift in an ocean-going sailing yacht and end up stranded on a desert island for two years. There, they face many adventures and must work together to survive before they are rescued. It had already been used for multiple movies and an anime before Nippon Animation produced its version in 1987, the TV special Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki (The Boy in My Eye: 15 Boys Adrift).

The anime sticks pretty closely to the plot of the novel. Fifteen boys from the Chairman Boarding School in Auckland, New Zealand, are spending the night on a sailing yacht that will take them on a two-week vacation. Someone unties the mooring line, and the yacht drifts out to sea, with no captain or crew on board. After getting caught in a storm, the yacht runs aground on a desert island.

The boys must organize themselves functionally, as builders, hunters, cooks, log keepers, etc., in order to survive. There's a great deal of squabbling, particularly as food runs short, but they're able to build adequate shelter, forage for fish, birds, and edible wild plants, and maintain social order. After a year, they find another castaway, an adult woman who has escaped from mutineers. The boys must now overcome a gang of violent adults who are intent on covering up all evidence of their crimes. With ingenious tactics seemingly copied by the later Home Alone, the boys defeat the villains, just in time to be rescued.

Except for the lead hunter, Donovan, and the youngest castaway, Jacques, none of the boys get enough screen time or dialog to make a distinct impression, so they are characterized with a few character traits. Gordon always dresses in his school uniform, complete with tie. Briant, Jacques older brother, is the peacemaker. Dole cries a lot, until he's given responsibility for keeping a rhea that they find. (The rhea is a clue that the boys are stranded off the coast of South America.) Wilcox and Web are always squabbling. Costar is fat and always hungry. I had a hard time telling most of them apart, even with a montage that provides their names and assigned roles early in the show.

The cast is very large - 15 boys plus Kate, anxious parents, and villainous mutineers - and includes many names that should be familiar to readers of this blog.

Aoki Kazuyo (Baxter) played Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer no Bouken, Hanae in Maison Ikkoku, and Gouda Yuriko (the protagonist's mother) in Ore Monogatari.
Ikura Kazue (Briant) played Makimura Kaori in City Hunter, Toraou in Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru, Natsume Ryuunosuke in the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku properties, Leni Milchstrasse in Sakura Wars, and Tootles in Peter Pan no Bouken. She also appeared in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, an Orphan release.
Nozawa Masako (Costar) 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 the current version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. She won a lifetime achievement award in 1997. She played the title role in Manxmouse, an Orphan release.
Utsumi Kenji (Cross) is best known for his roles as Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, and Senbei Norimaki in the Dr. Slump and Arale-chan franchise. He was also the official dub-over artist for Steve McQueen, Sammy Davis, Jr., Victor Mature, and Robert Shaw.
Takano Urara (Donovan) played Mowgli in Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli, Tiger in Saber Marionette, and Maria Tachibana in Sakura Wars. She also voiced Sister Yumiko in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Sushi Neko in Let's Nupu Nupu, and Ken in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, all Orphan releases.
Fujita Toshiko (Gordon) played the title role in Ikkyu-san, Rui in Cat's Eye, and Yawara's mother in Yawara! She played Sharaku in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, Cyborg 1019 in Oz, and Takao, Usugumo's friendly rival, in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases.
Namikama Daisuke (Jacques) played Takeru in the Freedom OVAs, Tokunaga in the just-completed Gurazeni, Tooru in Haikyuu!!, Italy in the Hetalia franchise, Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter (2011), and my personal favorite, the demon-summoning detective Akutabe in the Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san franchise. He also appeared in the DAYS OVAs, Sangokushi 2, and Cosprayers, all Orphan releases.
Hazama Michio (Jacques's father) began his career in 1963 with Astro Boy. He has appeared in numerous anime, including his role as Senator Dan Foster in Oishinbo: Japan-America Rice Wars, an Orphan release. His most recent role was in Onihei.
Kamamura Maria (Kate) played Melmo in Fushigi no Melmo, Eluza in Gall Force, Lachesis in Five Star Stories, Tiger Lily in Peter Pan no Bouken, as well as the title roles in Fujiko Fumio A no Mumako and Cinderella Monogatari, Interpreter in Compiler, Gracia in Slayers, and Shirin in Haruka Naru Toki de Naka de 1/2/3.
Shirakawa Sumiko (Service) played Andre in Dog of Flanders, Sidney in Tom Sawyer no Bouken, and Gino in Pinnochio.
Sakimoto Chika (Garnett) starred as Mei in My Neighbor Totoro, Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railway, the title role in Tsuruhime, Nonoko in Tobira wo Akete, Tendonman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and Agumon in the Digimon franchise. She appeared as Yasuda Yumiki in Nine and as Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, both Orphan releases.
Maruyama Hiroko (Moko) played Peter in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Mokku in Kashi no Ki Mokku, Kenta's mother in My Neighbor Totoro, and Baby Panda in Panda! Gopanda, as well as the title role in Robotan.
Kenichi Ogata (Rock the mutineer) 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 Lord of Kaga and narrator in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, the governor in Akuemon, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, Jiro's father in Karuizawa Syndrome, 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.
Hamura Kyouko (Webb) played John in Peter Pan no Bouken and appeared in Starship Troopers, an Orphan release.
Maruo Tomiko/Chico (Wilcox) played Ohana in Rail of the Star and appeared in Hi-Speed Jecy and What's Michael OVA 2, both Orphan release.
Mita Yuko (Jenkins) played the title role in Akuma-kun, Neko Musume in Gegege no Kitarou (1985), Akemi in Maison Ikkoku, Shinza Hattori in Ninja Hattori-kun, Charlotte in One Piece, title role in Ultra B, and Benten in Urusei Yatsura.

The director, Kuroda Yoshio, also helmed Peter Pan no Bouken (a common theme in the credits), Flone/Swiss Family Robinson, and other Nippon Animation projects. Hittori Katsuhisa, who wrote the musical score, also composed the music for the Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars series, Argentosama, Infinite Ryvius, and Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament.

Iri found the VHS tape, translated, and did preliminary timing. ninjacloud fine timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee, Nemesis, and Topper3000 all QCed. Our intrepid raw hunter did an uncompressed rip on his state-of-2005-art All-in-Wonder setup and encoded the result. It looks pretty good for a VHS source.

So if you're in the mood for some shipwreck adventure a la Swiss Family Robinson (and not, thank goodness, a la Lord of the Flies), you'll find 15 Boys Adrift provides just the right balance of comedy and G-rated thrills. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net.

Anime offerings involving real rock-and-roll bands are pretty rare; and when they're made, the plots always seem to be slightly batshit. Perhaps it's the influence of Yellow Submarine, which placed the Beatles in a psychedelic fantasy world with a flower-people-versus-Blue-Meanies plot. In Seikimatsu: Humane Society, the titular band was portrayed as demons from another plane trying to conquer the world. And in 1991's Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band (Go Ziggy! R&R Band), the real-life Japanese band Ziggy is portrayed as falling afoul of evil neo-Nazis who want to yet again Conquer The World™, this time through rock music.

I'm not sure who dreams up these plots, or who pays them to do it, but in greater detail: The Japanese band Ziggy, consisting or Morishige, Sounin, Oichan, and Ooyama, are in London for a recording session. Their producer, Bernie, is suddenly killed, and the band is framed for the crime. Pursued by both Scotland Yard and the true villains, the band members flee into the backstreets of London and take refuge in the local rock scene, led by Carrie and Sonia. The villains, directed by a right-wing big shot named Stronburg, track them down and steal a guitar Bernie left behind. But the real prize is in the guitar case: a mysterious song score that has the power to brainwash audiences. The bad guys kidnap Carrie and demand the score in exchange for her life. The trade is going badly when Scotland Yard intervenes and gives chase. It all ends at a rock concert in Liverpool, where Ziggy must decide whether to play the brainwashing song to save Carrie, or to stay true to the spirit of rock music. You can guess how it ends.

Ziggy Sore Yuke feels like a bizarre cross between Hellsing, with neo-Nazis in a Zeppelin, and a rock music video. There are plenty of songs, but there's also plenty of plot, including murder, kidnapping, foot chases, car chases, and aerial chases, all leading to a climactic battle in which a bunch of punk rockers defeat gun-toting villains by using drumsticks and bare fists. It makes for a pretty strange experience. Maybe it all depends whether you like the music, or what mushrooms you've eaten lately.

As in Yellow Submarine, the band members in Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band are played by professional voice actors; only the songs feature the voices of the band itself. The cast includes:

Tsujitani Kouji (Morishige) played the title role in the Captain Tylor franchise and the lead role in the 3x3 Eyes OVAs. He also played Takuto in Boyfriend, Guy in Ai no Kusabi, Shou in Condition Green, and Seishirou in Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases.
Matsumoto Yasunori (Sounin) 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, Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu, and Al Caral no Isan, also 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.
Nakahara Shigeru (Oichin) played the title role in Arion and Fujiwara no Takamichi in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3. He had featured roles in Ai no Kusabi, Dragon Fist, Dokushin Apartment Doukudami-sou, and Neko Neko Fantasia, all Orphan releases.
Tobita Nobuo (Ooyama) played Lumial in the Angelique franchise, Ken Wakashimazu in the Captain Tsubasa franchise, Randy in Fake, Sinistra in Kiddy Grade, the title role in Locke the Superman, and Dayon in Osomatsu-san. He appeared in Condition Green and Eien no Filena, both Orphan releases.
Osamu Kobayashi (Stronburg) played the title role in Ogon Bat and Ulysses 31. He also appeared in Miyuki.
Orikasa Ai (Carrie) made her debut in Shoukoushi Cedie. She played the title role in Romeo no Aoi Sora, Fee in Planetes, Seguchi Touma (the record company president) in Gravitation, Quatre in Gundam Wing, and Ryouko in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She also played Sara in Eien no Filena, Toryune in Al Caral no Isan, and young Mars in Fire Emblem, all Orphan releases.
Hisakawa Aya (Sonia) 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, Shana in Al Caral no Isan, and Koneko in Ear of the Golden Dragon, all Orphan projects.

The OVA was directed by Mori Kazuhiro, who did storyboards and episode direction for Idol Densetsu Eriko and Yawara!, among other credits.

One translation note: the credits at the end are in English and reflect the usual problems with transliterating, in both directions. I've chosen to use actual English names for the western characters and modern romanization for the Japanese ones:

Bernie instead of Burny
Carrie instead of Carry
Sounin instead of Sownin
Ooyama instead of Ohyama

Of course, some of the western names can't be untangled. Inspector Nerigun? No idea what that was supposed to mean.

This project is Iri's brainchild. He bought the DVD and did the translation. tenkenX6 and Sunachan filled in a couple of difficult-to-hear lines. ninjacloud timed, I edited and typeset, and Nemesis and Topper3000 QCed. The encode is by M74. The source is a mess, unfortunately: badly interlaced, with plenty of blended frames.

So if you'd like to rock out, late 80s style, and watch some rockers versus villains shenanigans, you can get Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Party on, dudes!

Another purrfect adventure from Orphan Fansubs, the 1992 OVA Mikeneko Holmes no Yuurei Joushu (Calico Cat Holmes and the Lord of the Haunted Castle). It has mystery, adventure, hints of perverse doings, and, of course, a problem-solving calico cat. What more could you want?

Mikeneko Holmes is based on Akagawa Jirou's popular book series about a hapless detective named Katayama Yoshitarou. He lives with his sister Harumi, an aspiring actress, and their cat Holmes, which has a sixth sense when it comes to solving mysteries. Harumi has just appeared in a lurid melodrama about an incestuous brother and sister who come to a tragic end. At the after party, the acting troupe's vamp, Minako, turns up dead. Whodunit? Was it the director, Yasaka Yukari, or her imperious brother and troupe underwriter, Yasaka Seiichi? Was it the lead actor, Udagawa Kazuto, or the seemingly naive friend, Mizuta Mako? Could it even have been Yoshitarou's colleague (and Harumi's wannabe boyfriend), Ishizu? No one seems to be able to unravel the mystery until Holmes takes matters into his own paws and leads Yoshitarou and Harumi to the solution.

Like most mystery short stories, characterization takes a back seat to plot mechanics. The major players are briefly sketched, but there's no serious character development or exploration. Overly devoted brothers and sisters are a recurring theme, but that's mostly for atmospherics. The explanation doesn't hold water, but then again, neither can Holmes.

The voice cast includes:

Seki Toshihiko (Yoshitarou) was one of theleading male seiyuu in this period. He played the title role in Izumo, Riki in Ai no Kusabi, the hero Seitarou in Hoshi Neko Full House, the gang leader Hiba in Wild 7, Miroku in Yuukan Club, Chuuta in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, the fighter Nagase Jun in Akai Hayate, the unnamed protagonist of Oruorane the Cat Player, and Sara's younger brother Junichiro in Kasei Yakyoku, all Orphan releases. He also played Matsuda in the Yawara! properties, Sanzo in the Saiyuuki TV series, and the title roles in Alexander (Reign the Conqueror) and Kaiketsu Zorro.
Hidaka Noriko (Harumi) 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 also played Yuuki in Boyfriendand Noriko in Yuukan Club, both Orphan releases.
Nakamura Daiki (Udagawa) played Keith Winter in Condition Green and Chris Sheldon in AWOL Compression Remix, both Orphan releases. He also played the title roles in Dangerous Jii-san Ja and Demon Beast Resurrection, Dayakka in Gurren Lagann, Seiji Date in Ronin Warriors, and Liu Bei in Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi.
Ebara Masashi (Ishizu) played Might Guy in Naruto, Bolt Crank in Eat-Man, Alastor in Shakugan no Shana, Sebastian Viera in Nodame Cantabile, and Hamegg in Metropolis. He also played the referee in Blazing Transfer Student and Tanzou in Akai Hayate, both Orphan releases.
Hayami Shou (Seiichi) starred as Nanjou in Zetsuai: 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989, and Kushinige Hodaka in Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru. He also played an angel in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Iason's friend Raoul in Ai no Kusabi, Hojo in Sanctuary, Pat Leivy in Starship Troopers, and Junoichi in Blazing Transfer Student. All these shows are Orphan release.
Doi Mika (Yukari) played the title roles in Angel Cop and Explorer Woman Ray, Hayase Misa in the Macross franchise, the empress (Lafiel's grandmother) in the Crest of the Stars saga, Tabitha in the Zero no Tsukaima properties, Eclipse in Kiddy Grade, the narrator in Mushishi, and Nanase in Natsume Yuujinchou. She appeared as Rosa in Seikima II Humane Society, Captain Deladrier in Starship Troopers, and multiple roles in Kage, all Orphan releases.
Adachi Shinobu (Mako) played Rabi in Madou King Granzort, the title roles in Calimero and Jagainu, Tom (Sawyer) in Huckleberry Finn, Kayra Su in Mobile Suit Gundam: Char's Counterattack, and Chou of Benten in Usagi-chan de Cue. She also played Amanda Kessler in AWOL Compression Remix, an Orphan release.

The director, Kitajima Noboyuki, had a long career at AIC as a character designer and animation director.

Once again, Mikeneko Holmes is Iri's brainchild. He found a VHS tape on the second-hand market and translated the show. Yogicat (of course) did the timing. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and BeeBee QCed. Our intrepid raw hunter make an uncompressed rip of the tape and encoded the result. It looks quite decent. Special thanks to Puto, who translated the last verse of the ending song, which was in Portuguese. I took a bit of editorial license with his wording, to make it fit the Japanese verses better, but I hope he'll forgive m.

So here's a diversion for all you ailurophiles in these dark times, Mikeneko Holmes no Yuurei Joushu. You can find it on the usual torrent source or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Update: I missed an obvious typo during release checking. There will be a v2 release, but in the meantime, you can get a patch here.

I've mentioned in the past that the fansub groups working on back catalog shows aren't all that distinct. They're more like an interlocking keiretsu than distinct teams. Orphan, Saizen, Soldado, Live-eviL, and others all share staff. Nowhere is this better illustrated than in Saizen's recent release of the 1988 OVA Watt Poe to Bokura no Ohanashi (The Legend of Watt Poe). The project leader, Ayanami-, is part of Saizen, so it's a Saizen release, but the staff comes from across the keiretsu:

Translation - Ayanami- (Saizen)
Timing - ninjacloud (Orphan and Saizen)
Editing - Collectr (Orphan)
QC - Kuro Nemesis (Orphan), BeeBee (Orphan and Saizen), sangofe (Saizen)
Encoding - tyroz (Anime Fanrips)
Raw Acquisition and ripping - Intrepid raw hunter (Orphan)

Yawara! and Laughing Salesman also have staff from Saizen, Live-eviL, Soldado, and Orphan. I guess you could say we're group-fluid.

Watt Poe is a very old-school fantasy set in a post-apocalyptic world. Struggling villagers at the base of a mountain live in fear of the "Birdos", flying armored creatures that live at the top of the mountain. The Birdos have kidnapped a magical narwhal named Watt Poe, whom the villagers worship as a god, and now the villagers' sources of food are drying up. Intrepid youngster Jam decides to climb the mountain and release Watt Poe. He finds the Birdos are actually technologically advanced humans, but their society is dying out. He teams up with the only Birdos child born in the last twenty years, a girl named Selene, to free Watt Poe and prevent a war between the villagers and the Birdos. As Ayanami- wrote, "This is what happens when Free Willy and Lassie join forces in a Japanese anime." And as every old-school Hollywood actor knew, the dog steals the show.

The voice cast includes:

Fujita Toshiko (Jam) played the title roles in the Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken properties, Fujiko Fujio no Kiteretsu Daihyakka, Ikkyuu-san, Tomcat's Big Adventure, and Ganbare Genki. She starred as Rui in Cat's Eye and Ryoko in Goku: Midnight Eye. She also played Lulu in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Takao in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, Cyborg 1019 in Oz, Gordon in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki, Sharaku in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, and Princess Iron Fan in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Goku, all Orphan releases.
Hara Eriko (Selene) played Patty in the Gall Force properties, Fana in Gldeen, Hiyami Hikaru in the Kimagure Orange Road properties, and Pyonkichi in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise. She starred as Ranze in Tokimeki Tonight and appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu, both Orphan releases.
Kawashima Chiyoko (Eva, a villager) played Okiyo in Haguregumo, Fujiko (Yawara's best friend in college) in Yawara!, and Ikou in Greed, an Orphan release.
Yara Yuusaku (Regio, a villager) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
Utsumi Kenji (Village chief) is best known for his roles as Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, and Senbei Norimaki in the Dr. Slump and Arale-chan franchise. He appeared in Bavi Stock and 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, both Orphan releases.
Miyauchi Kouhei (Birdos mayor) usually played elderly men or authority figures. He appeared in many Orphan releases, including the first two Sangokushi movies, Condition Green (Jack Goldman), Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori (King Kaiser), Nozomi Witches (Eddie), Stop!! Hibari-kun (Kogorou Shirachi), Tsuki ga Noboru made ni (Grandfather), A Penguin's Memories (the judge), and Techno Police 21C (Brigadier Hamilton). He had a recurring role as Kame Sennin in the Dragon Ball franchise.

The director, Kageyama Shigenori, also directed Bavi Stock I, Hi-Speed Jecy, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases, as well as the Himawari! series. Under the pseudonym Morino Yousei, he directed numerous h-anime shows, including Doukyuusei 2 (an Orphan release), the BL classic Boku no Sexual Harassment, and recent Queen's Blade releases.

It was fun, and not too demanding, to work on an "all ages" OVA, and I always like to build up chits I can call in later (heh heh). If you haven't watched Watt Poe yet, then you can find it on the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Saizen|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

Does the world really need another version of Exper Zenon, a 1991 one-shot science fiction OVA? Probably not, but here it is anyway.

Piyo Piyo Productions did a first version in 2011 - one of Erik's relatively few ventures into subtitled anime. DOMO modified the script and release its own version, basically uncommenting the interjections. Now, Erik has revisited the show with the Domesday Duplicator and modern encoding techniques. Orphan's version is based on PPP-Raw's new encode and a modified version of the original PPP-Sub scripts.

Exper Zenon tells the story of high school game whiz Zenno Hiroshima. One day, he receives a mysterious offer on his PC to participate in a 3D virtual simulation game, EXPERS. Thanks to a Cat on Keyboard incident, he inadvertently order an Exper suit, which shows up at his school along with a beautiful naked girl named Atover. Before he can be beaten to a pulp by his jealous male friends and outraged female classmates, a kaiju appears outside the school. Atover tells Zenno, now known as Exper Zenon, that he is inside a game and, as the main character, must fight the kaiju. With Atover by his side, Zenon confronts and fights an increasingly strong set of opponents, until he finally faces off with the time-traveling Final Boss who set the whole game in motion.

Exper Zenon seems to lie squarely within the "trapped inside a virtual reality game" genre, but it has other sources as well. For example, the time travelers who use the past for their own selfish ends and cut off any timelines that don't suit them is straight out of Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity. Still, it's an entertaining 90s blend, with lots of action, some shiny explosions, and the occasional glimpse of Atover's bare bod.

The voice actors include:

Matsuno Taiki (Zenno Hiroshi) played the lead role in the second Kindaichi movie (an Orphan release) and every subsequent show in the franchise. He appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou, also an Orphan release. He played Kouga in Inuyasha and the title role in The Adventures of the Little Prince.
Takada Yumi (Atover) played Yoshinaga-sensei in many of the Crayon Shin-chan movies and Ayeka in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She appeared as Saya and Monmo in Cosmic Fantasy, Purinpurin in Hoshi Neko Full House, and Yumi the barkeep in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, all Orphan releases.
Hayami Shou (Exper Kain) starred as Nanjou in Zetsuai: 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989, and Kushinige Hodaka in Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru. He also played an angel in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Iason's friend Raoul in Ai no Kusabi, Hojo in Sanctuary, Pat Leivy in Starship Troopers, Junoichi in Blazing Transfer Student, and Seichii in Mikoneko Holmes. All of these shows are Orphan releases.
Sasaki Yuko (Exper Shiff) played Sayoko in Aoko Honoo, Yuki in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, and Akiko in Wolf Guy, all Orphan releases. She also played Gilbert in Kaze to Ki no Uta SANTCUS and Hitomi Nomura in Piano.
Yanada Kiyoki (Exper Venom) played Kuroda in Akai Hayate and Ooniwa in Nozomi Witches, both Orphan releases. He also played Black Bear Cat in Chii's Sweet Home.

The director, Moriyami Yuuji, did the character design as well. He filled the same two roles on Project A-ko 2, 3, and 4 and the first All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku OVAs. He has done animation direction on numerous shows.

For this release, the original PPP-sub script was retimed, given some modest amount of checking, and augmented with signs and the ending song. Iri translated the signs; convexity translated the ending song. Yogicat did the fine timing. I edited and typeset. (There's substantial frame-blending, which throws off the motion tracking in spots.) Nemesis and Topper3000 did QC. The encode, like the translation, is from Piyo Piyo Productions. This is a joint release.

So fasten your seat belts, sit back, and enjoy the ride. You can find Exper Zenon at the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

It's been more than a year since the previous release, but here at last are the next three episodes of Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament. These episodes tell the stories of the descendants of Abraham.

Episode 7 ("Isaac and Ishmael") touches on one of the important themes of the Patriarchal era - the question of succession. Do the father's land, goods, and spiritual inheritance go to the eldest son or the most deserving son? (It was always a son; this was called the Patriarchal era for a reason.) Was the succession determined by God or by more human factors, like schemes and plans? Isaac succeeds Abraham because Isaac's mother Sarah arranges for older brother Ishmael and Ishmael's mother Hagar to be banished. Jacob succeeds Isaac because his mother Rebecca arranges for Isaac to steal his father's blessing from Esau. And Joseph is set on his path to glory because his jealous brothers sell him into slavery.

Although this episode relates the facts of Ishmael's banishment, there's not much tension about or insight into the events. Ishmael's a good and dutiful son; Isaac is still an infant. Sarah is jealous of the younger and prettier Hagar and wants her gone. Abraham agrees because God tells him that everything will work out. Ishmael and Hagar agree to leave for the same reason. Hagar and Ishmael almost perish in the desert but are saved by God' intervention. Ishmael becomes the legendary founder of the Arabs. Rocco the fox puts in his usual cameo. It's all rather anodyne; Bible stories for children.

Episode 8 ("The Sacrifice of Isaac") retells one of the most profound and confounding stories in Genesis, the Binding of Isaac. God commands Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham submits. Father and son set off to a distant mountain. When Isaac asks, "Where is the lamb for the burnt offering?", Abraham only replies, "God himself will provide the lamb." Abraham binds his son and prepares to kill him. At the last minute, God stays Abraham's hand and provides a ram to be sacrificed in place of the boy.

The account in Genesis is terse, ambiguous, and terrifying. Isaac's feelings about the matter can be surmised from the fact that he never speaks directly to his father again. Here, Isaac is shown as submitting to God's will. In fact, Genesis says nothing about Isaac submitting; that's a later interpolation in Christian and Islamic traditions. Rocco again makes multiple appearances for comic relief. They feel more out of place than usual.

The Binding of Isaac has inspired great art, including some of the greatest paintings of the Renaissance:

In contrast, the artwork here is anime-standard; Isaac seems asleep:

The story has inspired poets and singers, such as Leonard Cohen's haunting Story of Isaac. Here there is pathos, but no poetry.

Scholars of all the western religions have argued about the Binding of Isaac for centuries: Was it a sham? Was it real? Was it a test of Abraham's faith? Of Isaac's submission to God? Here, it's just another anecdote, on par with Rocco's pursuit of a rabbit. One translation note: the episode title is literally "Abraham Sacrifices/Offers/Dedicates Isaac," but I've used the more familiar Western name for the story.

Episode 9 ("Joseph's Dreams") seems more comfortable terrain for the series. Joseph and his brothers has been a staple children's story for years (for example, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat), and the series is very comfortable telling it at that level. All the discordant details, such as Potiphar's wife and her attempted seduction, are omitted. Joseph is sold into slavery, becomes known for his dream interpretations, shows Pharoah what the future holds in store for Egypt, and is rewarded with a position of prominence. The stage is set for the story of Moses, the Exodus from Egypt, and the giving of the Ten Commandments, which will occupy the next six episodes.

New voice actors include:

Toriumi Katsumi (Ishmael) played the male lead, Wakamatsu, in Miyuki. He appeared as Shigeru in Yume Kakeru Kougen, an Orphan release.
Doi Mika (Hagar) played the title roles in Angel Cop and Explorer Woman Ray, Hayase Misa in the Macross franchise, the empress (Lafiel's grandmother) in the Crest of the Stars saga, Tabitha in the Zero no Tsukaima properties, Eclipse in Kiddy Grade, the narrator in Mushishi, and Nanase in Natsume Yuujinchou. She appeared as Yukari in Mikeneko Holmes no Yuurei Joushu, Rosa in Seikima II Humane Society, Captain Deladrier in Starship Troopers, and multiple roles in Kage, all Orphan releases.
Iwanaga Tetsuya (Isaac) played the male lead, Mizuhara, in the El Hazard franchise, as well as Aida in the Evangelion franchise. He appeared in Yamato 2520, an Orphan release.
Yanaka Hiroshi (Joseph) played Shiba in the recent revival of Piano and Gorou in the Free! franchise. He played Yuurakutei in Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinji and appeared in Noragami, Nanbaka, Terraformars, Wild 7, and Hidamari no Ki. The last two are Orphan releases.
Okabe Masaaki (Pharoah) had featured roles in Legend of the Galactic Heroes and Sanctuary, an Orphan release.

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

I hope it won't be a year until the next set of episodes, but I can understand why Skr is more motivated to work on Crayon Shin-chan than this series: Shin-chan has a lot more laughs. In any case, you can get these three episodes from the usual torrent site or IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

The uncompressed VHS ripping setup that Orphan's Intrepid Raw Hunter™ uses has been down for a couple of months. A couple of capacitors on the vintage 2004 motherboard went up in smoke (literally), and the unit wouldn't boot. He finally got a soldering iron and some replacement capacitors, and after board-level surgery, the setup is operational again. So Intrepid is now systematically revisiting Orphan's early VHS encodes with the repaired setup and improved encoding techniques. And there are few shows we've released that I'm as happy to revisit as the 1992 shoujo OVA Oedo wa Nemurenai! (Edo Never Sleeps!).

Oedo wa Nemurenai! was the last of the Margaret shoujo OVAs to be finished, and the only one that wasn't a routine modern shoujo romance. Oedo is set in 18th century Edo (old Tokyo), during the prime years of the Tokugawa Shogunate. 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. For more information on the show and the cast, as well as translation notes, see the original blog entry.

For the original release, Sunachan translated, ninjacloud timed, I edited and typeset, and Nemesis and Topper3000 QCed. For this release, Intrepid ripped and encoded the VHS tape and time-shifted the script. The original rip was done on a D-VHS deck; that produced a compressed result. This rip used a vintage All-in-Wonder card to capture the video without compression. Uncompressed capture allows for better software post-processing. The resulting encode was many fewer blended frames, so I was able to add a bit more typesetting. I also cleaned up the timing and a few lines and did a release check.

If you watched the original release of Oedo wa Nemurenai!, then you'll want to archive this version for its improved video. If you missed it the first time around, you're in for a treat. And after you watch the OVA, you can read the complete manga, in English, to get the rest of the story. Oedo wa Nemurenai! is available from the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Here's another VHS release that needed a new encode: the 1997 OVA Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call (Business Fighter Yamazaki: Long Distance Call). Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki was a successful manga by Tomizaki Jun. It ran from 1992 to 2000 and was collected in twelve tankoban volumes

Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call is based on volume 3 of the manga. It tells the story of Yamazaki Takurou, a workaholic salesman whose job eventually kills him. A temp staffing agency (!) rebuilds him as a cyborg business consultant. At the start of the OVA, Yamazaki meets a runaway delinquent teenage girl, Kashima Rinko, and saves her from trouble with the police. Despite his determination to have no human connections, Rinko attaches herself to him as sidekick and observer. Yamazaki's assignment is to help Itsutsuba Electrics develop a new telephone product. The market is already crowded with cell phones, cordless handsets, answering machines, and so on; the planners at Itsutsuba despair of finding a new and compelling product concept. Yamazaki, of course, finds a niche and proposes a wall-mounted LCD panel that acts as a voice-operated telephone. This seems remarkably silly in today's age of smartphones, but then again... hello, Alexa? Before he can finish his work, Rinko runs afoul of another cyborg named Suzuki. Yamazaki then finds that his studiously cultivated emotional detachment is not quite as ironclad as he thought.

I'm not sure quite what to make of Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki. It feels like a satire at times, but I rather suspect it isn't. Yamazaki is portrayed as a hero (and a rather tragic one at that), not as an object of ridicule. Japan's insane workaholic culture is held up as something to emulate, not as a crippling burden on the young leading the country to demographic disaster. And these days, Yamazaki's aphorisms are quoted by business motivational speakers in Japan.

The voice cast includes:

Chiba Shigeru (Yamazaki) played Megane in the Urusei Yatsura franchise and Nezumi in later GeGeGe no Kitarou movies. He appeared in Ai no Kusabi, Akai Hayate, Bagi, Condition Green, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in the recent Overlord series.
Kawakami Tomoko (Rinko) starred as Akane in the Harukanaru Toki no Naka de: Hachiyou properties and as the title roles in Hikaru no Go and Revolutionary Girl Utena. She also did a marvelous comic turn as Elise, the hard-as-nails assistant to the lecherous ojii-san Stresemann in Nodame Cantabile.
The peerless Ogata Kenichi (Suzuki) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and Maroko, as well as Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai! (an Orphan release), the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club (also an Orphan release), and, most recently, Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. 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.
Katsuki Masako (Kirika, Yamazaki's maintenance engineer) played Maroko in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and its movie version, Maroko, Mira in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Queen Bee in Golgo 13: Queen Bee, and Tsunade (Fifth Hokage) in the Naruto franchise. She also played Kenbishi Yuuri in Yuukan Club and Hojo's lover in Sanctuary, both Orphan releases.

Iri picked up a VHS tape of Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki as part of his regular survey of secondhand media sources in Japan. Sunachan translated the dialog, signs, and songs. M74 timed. I edited and typeset (the repeated shots of the wall phone account for the bulk of the script). VigorousJammer and banandoyouwanna QCed; bananadoyouwanna also styled the songs. The original encode, based on a compressed D-VHS tape rip, had lots of blended frames. For this release, our Intrepid Raw Hunter™ made an uncompressed rip with his vintage All-in-Wonder card and then encoded it. It looks considerably better, although the colors are more muted, and the lines haven't been sharpened. For this release, I redid all the typesetting and reparsed a few awkward lines. Nemesis did a release check.

Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki is an interesting show with interesting characters. If you watched it before, you will want to archive this version. If you haven't, I recommend it. You can download the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channel #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

My colleague Eternal-Blizzard has just released the last two episodes of Ninku, thus completing a fansub odyssey that began back in 2004. Ninku was started and dropped by no less than six fansub groups, which must be close to a record among orphan series. The English-speaking anime community owes Eternal-Blizzard a debt of gratitude for persevering and finishing the series - from Blu-rays, no less.

Ninku is a fairly standard shounen story set in a fantasy world. "Ninku" is a martial art combining ninja and karate techniques. Ninku masters are the strongest warriors imaginable. However, in the recent past, the evil forces of the Empire have defeated and dispersed the Ninku and now rule tyrannically over the land. Only former Ninku captain Fuusuke and his tiny band of surviving Ninku warriors now oppose the might of the Empire.

It sort of sounds like a fantasy version of Star Wars, with Ninku power substituting for the Force, but it's not taken anywhere near as seriously. Fuusuke is a total goofball, a chibi who looks even younger than his 12 years. His tongue is always hanging out, and he's interested as much in a good meal as the pursuit of justice. His companions include Touji, who likes to fight in just a fundoshi; Aichou, who pilots a rickety biplane that crashes at the start of many episodes; Rihoko, Touji's sister, who is infatuated with Aichou; and Hiroyuki, a penguin whose explosive farts provide propulsion at critical moments. Together, they meander around the countryside, supposedly in order to rescue Fuusuke's mother from the villains, but mostly as an excuse to have single- or short-arc adventures.

The voice cast includes many well-known seiyuu:

Matsumoto Rika (Fuusuke) played Satoshi in the Pokemon franchise, Jim Hawking in Outlaw Star, Satoshi in the Pokemon franchise, Jinno in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Kei in Dirty Pair Flash, Sushi Tori in Let's Nupu Nupu, and Okon in Hidimari no Ki. The last two are Orphan releases.
Madono Mitsuaki (Aichou) played Prince Touma in the Ranma 1/2 movie Nihao My Concubine, the hero Takeru in the Dragon Knight h-OVA series, and Marron Glace in the Bakuretsu Hunters series.
Kosugi Juurouta (Touji) made his debut at the villainous Eyesman in Bavi Stock I, an Orphan release. He playedLantis in Magic Knight Rayearth, Tooyami in Tales of Seduction, and de Morcerf in Gankuutsuou. He also played Oguma in Fire Emblem, Dr. Bayfarm in Joker: Marginal City, Utsubushi in Amatsuki, Kannou in Okane ga Nai!, and Gisuke in Kage, all Orphan release.
Hayashibara Megumi (Rihoko) was arguably the most famous seiyuu of the 1990s. She starred as Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop, Ayanami Rei in Evangelion, Rune Balot in the Mardock Scramble movies, Rebecca in One Piece, Lina in the Slayers franchise, female Ranma in Ranma 1/2, and Miyokichi in Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. She also played a number of feline roles, including including the title roles in the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku and Hello Kitty franchises, as well as "lead cat" Iruinedo in Oruorane the Cat Player, an Orphan release. She played Navi in Izumo (1991) and Clair in Hashire Melos!, also Orphan releases.
Suzuki Katsume (Hiroyuki) played numerous featured roles, most recently in Brand New Animal.
Taniguchi Takashi (Kouchin, the final boss) played God in the Yondemasu Yo, Azazel-san series, among other roles.
Hiramatsu Akiko (Mekira an antagonist) played Nene Romanova in Bubblegum Crisis and Bubblegum Crash, Tom Kusanagi in Mikan Enikki, Konoe (the security maid) in Hanaukyo Maid Tai, and Miyuki in the You're Under Arrest franchise. She played Ninomiya, the police chief's reckless daughter, in Every Day Is Sunday, an Orphan release.
Ishida Akira (Sekirei) has had a storied career. He starred as Sasuke in Samurai Deeper Kyou, Chrno in Chrno Crusade, Howard in Uninhabited Planet Survive, Rion in Galerians: Rion, Komugi in Hen Zemi, and Arima in Princess Lover. He played Gaara in the Naruto franchise, Shinichi in Nana, Athrun Zala in the Gundam Seed Destiny properties, Cho Hokkai in the Saiyuuki franchise, Xellos in the Slayers franchise, Natori in the Natsume Yuujinchou franchise, Tsukasa in the Shokugei no Souma franchise, and Kuchiki in the Genshiken series. He played brother Oomori in Let's Nupu Nupu and Gordon in Fire Emblem, both Orphan releases.

The director, Abe Noriyuki, is best known for directing Yuu Yuu Hakusho and Flame of Recca.

Eternal-Blizzard and his Soldado-Saizen crew picked up from where Dattebaiyo broke off more than a decade ago. They re-released the DB episodes on a new Blu-ray source and continued on to finish the series. As usual, the staff list draws from across the "back catalog kairetsu" - Soldado, Saizen, Orphan, and more. I got roped into doing QC back around episode 30. Shounen's not my favorite genre, but Eternal-Blizzard has helped Orphan a lot, and I was happy to repay the favor.

The project isn't quite done. There will be batch torrent, to fix up whatever issues have turned up over 55 episodes. The batch will also include a drama CD. Still, the main story is over - in fact, it finished at episode 50 - so you can watch Ninku through and get the whole story. Fuusuke and friends will be waiting for you.

Here is exactly what the world doesn't need at this critical moment, a revised version of the 1985 candidate for Worst Anime of All Time™, Twinkle Nora Rock Me! From the excruciatingly awful animation to the idiotic plot to the moronic music, this is an OVA with no redeeming social importance or qualities. So what is heaven's name possessed Orphan to do this show again? And no, "It seemed like a good idea at the time" won't cut it.

Actually, Twinkle Nora Rock Me!, Greed, and Majo Demo Steady are on a list of Orphan laserdisc releases with source problems. Twinkle and Greed are missing part of the ending credits. Majo is missing an audio channel. By sheer coincidence, all three were offered in a bundle of eleven laserdiscs on Yahoo Auctions Japan. I snapped them up in the hope of releasing better versions. And then, all three proved to have serious bit rot issues. Our Intrepid Media Maven managed to get the digital audio track off Majo, but the video was unusable. Twinkle and Greed had their own issues ("cloud rot" and "green rot"), but Intrepid did manage to extract usable encodes with the Domesday Duplicator. And after he put in all that effort to encode the discs, how could I not support his work by putting the old subtitles on the new raws?

I don't want to rehash my original blog post about this wretched show; the less time I spend thinking about it, the better. However, I should mention the voice actors, whose careers somehow survived this debacle:

Yamamoto Yuriko (Nora) played Iczer 1 in the Iczer OVAs, Rumy in the Gall Force OVAs, Sally in Mahou Tsukai Sally 2, Sandybell in Hello! Sandybell, Georgie in Lady Georgie, Tomoe in Tomoe's Run!, Rihabi and Sayuri in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, and Telenne in High Speed Jecy. The last three are Orphan releases.
Nojima Akio (Max) played Aramis in Dogtanion and the Three Muskehounds, Richard Jones in the Emma properties, and Bernard in The Rose of Versailles.
Nagai Ichirou (Fucherou) 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, Manxmouse, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases.
Watabe Takeshi (Touchino) had featured roles in numerous shows, including Condition Green (an Orphan release), Gunparade Orchestra, Maze, Ninku, Oishinbo, Sanctuary (another Orphan release), Wrath of the Ninja, and You're Under Arrest.

Almost all the work involved in this release was squeezing a usable encode out of the rotted source. Our Intrepid Media Maven did yeoman's work on the video, trying out every combination of filters he could think of to deal with the noise. He also had to work through a series of bugs in the Domesday Duplicator software's newly implemented Automatic Gain Control (AGC). Still, it turned out pretty well; as he said, "It's like a well-polished turd." However, the bit rot really distorted the analog audio. I took the audio track from the original release, equalized the volume between original and new audio tracks, and spliced the initial bumper and concluding song into the original track from the new one. Now, Twinkle Nora Rock Me! can be seen and heard in all its glory. As I said about the original release, don't all rush to thank us at once.

Except for the encoding, the staff credits are the same as the original release. In order to spare the staff another immersion in this ordure, I did the retiming and QC myself. There's almost no typesetting; the built-in Engrish signs are more than sufficient:

Of course, it could be a dedicated entrance for Robby the Robot, but... probably not.

So here is Twinkle Nora Rock Me!, complete at last. We're not releasing a revised encode of the accompanying special; the first encode was good enough. You can get this OVA, if you dare, from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

The 1985 OVA Greed was always an odd duck, an amalgam of sword-and-sorcery fantasy with hard sci-fi. I was rather negative about it in my blog post about Orphan's first release, but it's grown on me (a bit) with time. It's not the best OVA I've ever watched, but it's not Twinkle Nora Rock Me! either. It's competent, if not exactly coherent.

This second release of Greed stems from problems with the first: it was encoded from a damaged laserdisc, and part of the ending was cut off. The source for this new release is also damaged, with serious bit rot, but that mostly affects the audio track. The release is complete.

Greed tells the story of Lid Kyle, a young man living in a dank jungle forest inhabited by ferocious monsters. His dying father tells him to undertake a journey north in order to fix the "distortion" that has twisted reality. Lid leaves the jungle and immediately encounters a desert area. There he meets a young woman, Kii Mi, and her small sentient pets, known as Weakies. They're attacked by mechanical monsters and saved by a large man called Baguda, who can transform, briefly, into a dragon. After fighting off giants, they enter a land of mushrooms and light gravity, where they encounter a mute warrior named Rongun. They journey through the land of the Innocents, fairy-like creatures, and end up in a kingdom dominated by machines that have gone mad. Its ruler, Mimau, completes their company. Together, they go to confront the ultimate evil in the universe, the reality-twisting demon Vailly.

Greed is episodic and at times incoherent - the translation checker, a Japanese native, said that some of the lines made no sense in Japanese - but the individual sections are interesting and at times original. The ending made no sense to me when I was first editing the show, but I see how it might work now. (Of course, I could be wrong.) And the voice cast is very good.

[Spoiler alert!] So what actually happens? Lid and his comrades discover that their world is a dome Vailly made from the greed and selfish desires of people in the universe. Individually, Lid's band can't defeat Vailly, so they combine their powers to form a super-creature. The creature does indeed defeat Vailly, but the dome doesn't disappear, because the band's greed to defeat Vailly makes it just as much a monster:

(Shades of Dr. Morbius in Forbidden Planet: "Guilty! Guilty! My evil self is at that door, and I have no power to stop it! ") Fortunately, the tears of the Innocents break through their greedy egos and liberate them to be individuals again. The dome disappears, and its inhabitants fly off to his or her home world. [End spoiler.]

A lot of the work on Greed v2 was done by Orphan's Intrepid Media Maven, who wrestled for quite a while to get a workable encode out of the Domesday Duplicator rip of the rotted source. It looks reasonable. What couldn't be corrected was the analog audio track. It was clipped, with a strong background hum. I put it through Audacity's noise reduction filter twice and deliberately reduced the amplification to tame the clipping, but it still wasn't great. So I went back to the original release and extracted its audio tracks. I equalized the volume levels between the two audio tracks. Then I copied the initial bumper and the concluding song from the new audio track into the original audio track. I also had to insert a small split, to account for some extra frames at the side change. Finally, the initial bumper still sounded bad, so I used the bumper from another Pony Canyon disc with a working digital audio track. As a result, this release is a hybrid: new video and mostly old audio.

For the original release, Moho translated, laalg checked the translation, ninjacloud timed, I edited and typeset (very little to do there), and Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. For this release, Intrepid encoded and shifted the script, and I did the audio editing and cleanup, fine timing, and release checks. Aside from timing and resetting the signs, and a few tweaks to chapter boundaries, the script is essentially unchanged.

Despite the bit rot, this version replaces the first. It's complete. It has better color fidelity. So this release of Greed is the one to archive, even if you don't intend to watch it again. You can get Greed v2 from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channel #nibl or #news on irc.riczon.net

Shin Dousei Jidai: Hawaiian Breeze (New Era of Cohabitation: Hawaiian Breeze) is a 1992 OVA based on a manga by Saimon Fumi. It's an unusual project, even for the era: a seinen domestic drama, with a very limited cast (three characters) and a less-than-happy ending. It was only released on VHS tape.

Hawaiian Breeze follows two twenty-something adults, Peter Honda, an illustrator, and Eri Todani, a planner, who have been living together for two years since meeting on vacation in Hawaii. They seem reasonably happy, but there's an underlying conflict. Peter really loves children. He wants to get married and start a family. Eri doesn't want children and sees no reason to get married. Their happiness gradually erodes, and eventually Eri leaves to "think about things." Peter's editor, Reiko, who wonders if she'd be a better match for Peter, unravels the underlying reason for Eri's reluctance. Peter must then make a choice. Will he give Eri up, in order to have a family, or will he accede to her feelings, in order to be with her? There's no easy answer.

The voice cast has just three featured roles:

Hori Hideyuki (Peter) played Zach Isedo in Al Carl 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.
Yamamoto Eriko (Eri) played Iczer 1 in the Iczer OVAs, Rumy in the Gall Force OVAs, Sally in Mahou Tsukai Sally 2, Sandybell in Hello! Sandybell, Georgie in Lady Georgie, Tomoe in Tomoe's Run!, Nora Scholar in Nora, Rihabi and Sayuri in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, and Telenne in Hi-Speed Jecy. The last four are Orphan releases.
Nagahori Miho (Reiko) is best known as Lebia in Silent Mobius.

The director, Futukomi Hiroshi, was an industry veteran. Other shows include Kaibutsu-kun series and movies, Galactic Patrol Lensman, High School! Kimengumi, and Captain Tsubasa J. He also directed both Sei Michaela h-OVAs.

Iri translated the show and did initial timing. Yogicat fine-timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and VigorousJammer QCed. Our Intrepid Media Maven™ encoded from a VHS tape ripped on his All-in-Wonder capture setup. The colors are very muted, which seems appropriate for the tone of the show.

The audio track is also muted, with long periods of silence as the unanswered (and unasked) questions grow into a barrier between Peter and Eri.

Shin Dousei Jidai: Hawaiian Breeze is easy to summarize but less easy to categorize. It's challenging, and its challenges resonate even today. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

I'm shelving an increasing number of projects because the fansub or R1 translation base is suspect. This didn't used to be a problem, but now I've learned enough Japanese to sense when a translation is off, although not, alas, enough to fix the translation myself.

Fansubs and R1 subs tend to have different issues. For fansubs, the problem is accuracy: lines that were misheard or not understood. For R1 subs, the problem is laxity: serious liberties that were taken to make the lines shorter or more appealing to Western viewers. Both bother the living daylights out of me. Oh, for the glorious days of blissful ignorance, when I wouldn't have known or cared!

Anyway, that's a long-winded way of appealing for translation checkers. Orphan has a raft of scripts that need translation checking before they can be used:

Adesugata Mahou no Sannin Musume
Bakumatsu no Spasibo
Blue Sonnet
Cool Cool Bye
DAYS OADs
Genji Part 1
Hakujaden
Kaitei Daisensu
Maris the Choujo
Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve
Nayuta

If you're a translator, and any of these ring your chimes, please get in touch with us on irc.rizon.net.

Here's a wonderful TV special from 1984: Chiisana Koi no Monogatari: Chitchi to Sally Hatsukoi no Shiki (Little Love Story: Chitchi and Sally, Four Seasons of First Love). Adapted from a manga by Mitsuhashi Chikako, this a charming and gentle comedy about the trials of first love. Ogawa Chiiko (Chitchi to her friends) is a vertically-challenged high school student. She's only 132 cm tall (4' 4"), and she's frequently teased by her classmates, except for her loyal friend Tonko. Chitchi's problems are compounded when she falls hopelessly in love with one of the most popular boys in her school, the 6-foot-tall Murakami Satoshi (Sally to his friends).

Chitchi succeeds in becoming Sally's friend - he thinks of her as a kind of mascot - but she aspires to be something more. She follows him to his clubs, arranges similar vacations, and pursues her quest from the opening of school in the spring to spring of the following year. She experiences the joys and agonies of first love, while all too keenly aware that she is stuck, despite Tonko's encouragement and help, in Sally's "friend zone."

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari is a slice of life comedy. Chitchi's romantic longings are treated with respect, but her pursuit of a boy more than 50 cm (18 inches) taller produces one awkward situation after another. Sally is treated respectfully too. He's kind to Chitchi - kind enough to keep her on tenterhooks but not to provide any real romantic encouragement. Tonko provides loyal support, but she has her own romantic relationship, with Sally's sidekick Yamashita, to think about as well. There's a supporting cast of friends, teachers, and parents to provide more comedy throughout.

The voice cast includes:

Furukawa Toshio (Sally) played Moroboshi Ataru in Urusei Yatsura, Kagege in Keroro Gunsou, Kai Shiden in Mobile Suit Gundam, Shin in Fist of the North Star, Shinohara Asuma in Mobile Police Patlabor, and Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z.
Itou Tsukasa (Chitchi) played the heroine in the anime adaptation of the popular shoujo manga Hikari no Densetsu, for which she also sang the opening and ending songs.
Yoshida Rihoko (Tonko) played Megu-chan in Majokko Megu-chan, Monsley in Future Boy Conan, Maria Grace Fleed in UFO Robo Grendizer, Michiru in Getter Robo, Clara Sesemann in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Rosalie Lamorliere in The Rose of Versailles, Kurama in Urusei Yatsura, and Machiko in Maicchingu Machiko-sensei.
Suzuoki Hirotaka (Yamashita) played Bright Noa in Mobile Suit Gundam, Huga Koijiro in Captain Tsubasa, Dragon Shiryu in Saint Seiya, Tenshinhan in Dragon Ball, Kuno in Ranma ½, and Saito in Rurouni Kenshin. He appeared in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, as Karino Daisuke in Sei Michaela Gakuen, and as Abriel Nei Debrusc Larth Kryb Debeus in the Crest of the Stars franchise.
Suzuki Reiko (Chitchi's mother) 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 Tsuki ga Noboru made ni and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho!, both Orphan releases.
Ogata Kenichi (Chitchi's father, Egnlish teacher) played the put-upon father in Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. 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.
Hara Eriko (Mayumi, a classmate) played Selene in Watt Poe, Patty in the Gall Force properties, Fana in Gldeen, Hiyami Hikaru in the Kimagure Orange Road properties, and Pyonkichi in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise. She starred as Ranze in Tokimeki Tonight and appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu, both Orphan releases.
Horiuchi Kenyuu (drama teacher) has an extensive resume, including the title role in Guin Saga as well as Kubota in Meisou ou Border, Jin Akira in Wolf Guy, Lid in Greed, Nest in Eien no Filena, and the refined son in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show. The last five are Orphan releases.

The director, Hirata Toshio, was an anime pioneer. He joined Toei Douga in 1960 as an "in between" animator, graduated to key animation at Mushi Productions with Senya Ichiya Monogatari (an Orphan release), and took his first directing job on Tanpen Unico. Other directing credits include Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori (also an Orphan release), Barefoot Gen II, and Ohoshi-sama no Rail (Rail of the Star). Kazato Shinsuke's background music suits the gentle and whimsical mood of the story. He also composed the scores for Jarinko Chie, Urusei Yatsura, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Karuizawa Syndrome (an Orphan release).

Iri picked up a laserdisc of Chiisana Koi no Monogatari in a random sweep through Yahoo Auctions and sent it to our Intrepid Media Maven™ for ripping and encoding. Unfortunately, like a lot of discs Orphan has bought lately, it was badly rotted. Once again, it has required a lot of Intrepid's time to extract a usable encode. Despite extensive filtering, the video has visible dropouts, and the audio is quite distorted, particularly around 45 minutes in. To provide an alternative audio track, Intrepid synced up the audio from Gutsy-Raws' VHS release. It lacks base and has a lot of clicks and pops, but it is less distorted. (Pick your poison.) Once the show was encoded, Iri translated, Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset, and Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. If a better laserdisc shows up, we'll probably do a new encode. In the meantime, this version is what we have.

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari will lift your mood and make you smile, just the tonic we need in today's troubled times. It's available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Occasionally, I come across an OVA that is utterly baffling, because it requires too much context from the game, manga, or novel it is promoting. That's the case with 1996's Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa (Time and Space Adventure Nuumamonjaa), familiarly known as the Chrono Trigger OVA. It's short, face-paced, and entertaining, but it makes no sense whatsoever, because it requires the viewer to be familiar with the insanely popular Chrono Trigger game... which I had never played, or even heard of, before this project.

I'll expand the ANN summary. A town in the Kingdom of Guardia celebrates the millennial anniversary of the kingdom's founding by throwing a a festival for monsters. Two rather harmless monsters - the genki, fur-covered Momo and the round, dim-witted Nuu - try their best to recruit people into their little group, Nuumamonjaa. Eventually, they give up and go off to enjoy the festival. On a trip to pee in the woods, they run into a giant robot cat named Gonzalez that sings about beating him up and getting silver points. When the robot runs out of energy, Mamo and Nuu cover it with graffiti:

(Right arm: moron. Belly: outtie. White circle: idiot. Throat: tone-deaf.) Their taunting provokes the robot into chasing them around the countryside. They end up in the festival's climactic race, pursued and pursuing a motorcycle monster named Johnny. After the expected catastrophic climax, a few familiar faces show up.

Um... wtf? Even after reading the Wikipedia article on Chrono Trigger and the Chrono universe fan wiki, it doesn't make much sense. The OVA is apparently set just before the start of the game, which begins at the same millennial fair in Guardia. Momo, Nuu, Johnny, and Gonzales are non-player characters (NPCs) from the game. Mamo is a Kilwala. Nuu is an instance of creatures called Nuu. Johnny is a cyborg that can transform into a motorcycle. Gonzales (Gato) is a training robot. The Kilwala and Nuu are minor enemies in the game, but they've become comic figures in the OVA. The main characters of the game are only seen from the back in the very last scene and have no lines.

The voice cast includes:

Tanaka Mayumi (Mamo) 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, Mao in Cooking Master Boy, and of course, Monkey D. Luffy in almost every incarnation of One Piece. She also played Mit-sah in White Fang, Son Gokuu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, and Rocco the fox in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, all Orphan projects.
Chafuurin (Nuu) played title role in Barbapapa Around the World, Inspector Megure in the Detective Conan franchise, Scotch Jii-san in the Hello Kitty franchise, Isono in Sazae-san (since 2014), and Kamoda in Yawara! He also appeared in Yamato 2520 and Izumo (1991), both Orphan releases.
Tachiki Fumihiko (Gonzales) played Taizou in Gintama, the narrator in Golden Kamuy, Ddraig in the High School DxD franchise, Ginpei in Nana, Gendou Ikari in the Evangelion franchise, and Daisuke in Oreimo.
Miki Shinichirou (Johnny) played Kojiro in Pokemon, Fujiwara Takumi in Initial D, Urahara Kisuke in Bleach, Minamoto no Yorihisa in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de, Shintarou in Lime-iro Senkitan, Bruce Wayne in Batman: Gotham Knight, Roy Mustang in Full Metal Alchemist (2009), Katze in Ai no Kusabi (2012), Gintarou in Gingitstune, John Bishop (the sharpshooter) in AWOL Compression Remix, and Cyber-X in Hand Maid May. The last two are Orphan releases.

This OVA was Kawasaki Itsurou's first directing assignment. He went on to direct many more well-known shows, including Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989 (an Orphan release), Arc the Lad, Licensed by Royalty, Rental Magica, Sengoku Basara, and the entire Cardfight franchise.

Despite the immense popularity of Chrono Trigger and its successors, Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonja is its only anime incarnation, and the OVA was only released on VHS tape. Nemesis spotted a copy on a Japanese used media site, bought it, set the project in motion, and kept it moving. The original translation was done in 2003 by Jasconius of HnK (Hikari no Kiseki), one of the earliest fansub groups. Nemesis transcribed, timed, and checked the subtitles. I edited and typeset (I didn't do all the PITA graffiti). Nemesis QCed. Intrepid ripped and encoded the tape. There's evidence of wear and tape stretch in places, but it's passable.

So here's an improved version of Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonja. It's enjoyable as an absurd gag comedy, even if you, like me, know nothing about the game. You can get the OVA from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net

Another "Orphan-raw" release, the 1990 summary movie of the 1978 World Masterpiece Theater series, Perrine Monogatari. This show was started in C1 and finished in KiteSeekers-Wasurenai-Licca. I worked on it, as QC and editor, for both groups.

Originally, I wanted Orphan to sub the summary movie, as Orphan did for the Dallos summary special. I even bought the laserdisc when it came up for auction in Japan. However, the thought of grovelling through 53 episodes to find the relevant scenes was not an enticing thought, particularly because I hadn't like the show all that much to begin with. WMT series are best left to groups that specialize in G-rated shows. Personally, I prefer a grungy 90s OVA, preferably with a modicum of sex and violence, or at least a sense of humor.

Orphan's Intrepid Media Maven™ encoded from a laserdisc rip done with the Domesday Duplicator. The Duplicator software still doesn't handle CX-compressed analog audio all that well, so Intrepid also captured the audio conventionally and synchronized it to the encode. It's available as a separate file, in FLAC for, well, Reasons. And no, I don't know the reasons.

For the do-it-yourself-ers, the torrent includes a link to the script archives, so I'd encourage anyone who's interested to piece together a script for the movie by finding the relevant scenes in the 53 TV episodes. Or you could just watch the grass grow instead.

Gekijouban Perrine Monogatari can be found on the usual torrent site or downloaded from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Sensou Douwa (War Tales or War Fables) was a series of TV specials by Shin-Ei Animation that ran annually from 2002 to 2009. In chronological order:

2002 Umigame to Shounen (The Sea Turtle and the Boy)
2003 Tako ni Natta Okaasan (Mother Flying a Kite)
2004 Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi wo Shita Dekasugira Kojira no Hanashi (The Story of a Whale That Fell in Love with a Small Submarine)
2005 Boku no Boukuugou (My Bomb Shelter)
2006 Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins)
2007 Futatsu no Kurumi (Two Walnuts)
2008 Kiku-chan to Ookami (Kiku-chan and the Wolf)
2009 Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu (The Girl with Blue Eyes)

Except for Two Walnuts, which has been subbed by Saizen, the series has not been translated into English before.

Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins) in set in an unnamed town in 1945. Taichi is an elementary school student and the leader of a group that includes his little sister, Misako, and classmates Jirou, Tsuyoshi, and Yoshio. The boys play at soldiers, mindlessly echoing the nationalistic jingoism drilled into them during the war. Only Tacihi's friend Haruo stands apart. He is too sickly to join the militaristic games, and he spends most of his time reading. Food is scarce, but otherwise, the children haven't been affected much by the war.

This changes suddenly when their town is firebombed by American forces. In one horrific night, Taichi and his gang lose their homes and their school. Forced to eke out an existence by begging or stealing food, they retreat to a "secret fort" in a cave. Haruo's house still stands, and his mother does her best to protect him, going to great lengths to buy the last baumkuchen (tree cake) from the local German bakery. Then, all the children are orphaned and injured in further raids. [Spoiler alert.] Haruo dies of smoke inhalation. In a hallucinatory afterlife, he plants the last of the cake in hopes of creating a true cake tree. The other children reach the ruins of his house and collapse against a tree. One by one, they succumb to their wounds or malnutrition, starting with Misako. Eventually, only Taichi is left. Suddenly, the spirits of the other children reappear, partaking of the miraculous sweetness of the tree. Haruo's spirit shows Taichi that this is a true cake tree. But then, it's Taichi's turn.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins is based on a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki, who also penned Grave of the Fireflies. He grew up during World War II as part of "the generation of the ashes" - the children who experienced the bombing and destruction of much of urban Japan. Like Taichi in the story, many in Akiyuki's family died in the Kobe firebombings, and his younger sister died of starvation. These events haunted his life and informed his writing. Six of the eight Sensou Douwa specials are based on his short stories, which are available in English as a collection called The Cake Tree in the Ruins. Sagara Masae's music evokes the innocence of children's lives. She also scored five other Sensou Douwa specials.

The children are played by noted female seiyuu:

Tonguu Kyouko (Taichi) played Kei in Dirty Pair, Leo in Saint Seiya, Kikunosuke in The Abashira Family, Jouhouya in the Akuma-kun movies and TV, and Nakamura in Black Magic M-66. She also appeared in Kuroi Ame ni Utarete, Kuro ga Ita Natsu, and the first Sangokushi special, all Orphan releases.
Hidaka Noriko (Haruo) played Satsuke in My Neighbor Totoro, Minami (the female lead) in Touch, Akane (the female lead) in Ranma 1/2, Peter in Peter Pan no Bouken, Mrs. Yamada (the mother) in the first two Chii anime series, Near in Death Note, and Kikyo in the Inuyasha franchise. She also played Yuuki in Boyfriend, Noriko in Yuukan Club, and Harumi in Mikeneko Holmes, all Orphan releases.
Oomae Akane (Misako, Taichi's little sister) played Shiina in the Negima franchise.
Matsumoto Sachi (Jirou) played Watari in Fushigi na Melmo, Shinatuhiko in the Yozakura Quartet franchise, Houjou in the Ao no Exorcist franchise, and Ousaka in Chihayafuru 2 and 3.
Kondou Reiko (Tsuyoshi) played Kosuke in Ultra Nyan, an Orphan release, and appeared in Lupin III part 3 and Ninku.
Yukiji (Yoshio) played Michael in Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san and Gonzales in Yawara!

The director, Yasumi Tetsuo, was one of the stalwarts of Shin-ei animation, directing six of the eight Sensou Douwa specials and numerous lengthy series, including Obocchama-kun, Dororonpa!, Bonobono, Kochira Katsushikaku, Atashinchi, and Kuromajo-san ga Tooru, as well as several children's movies.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins marks kokujin-kun's return to translating for Orphan. He hopes to do the rest of the Sensou Douwa specials as time permits. Yogicat timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and BeeBee did QC. The raw is a 1080p webrip from UNEXT and is, unfortunately, badly upscaled and rather bit-starved. This show was the first of the Sensou Douwa specials broadcast in high-definition; the first four are standard definition.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins hit me (and others on the project) really hard. Stories of the deaths of children are always upsetting, and the last segment is particularly difficult to watch. Nonetheless, I recommend it strongly, for the simplicity of its storytelling and the impact of its message. You can find The Cake Tree in the Ruins at the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Sensou Douwa (War Tales or War Fables) was a series of TV specials by Shin-Ei Animation that ran annually from 2002 to 2009. In chronological order:

2002 Umigame to Shounen (The Sea Turtle and the Boy)
2003 Tako ni Natta Okaasan (Mother Flying a Kite)
2004 Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi wo Shita Dekasugira Kojira no Hanashi (The Story of a Whale That Fell in Love with a Small Submarine)
2005 Boku no Boukuugou (My Bomb Shelter)
2006 Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins)
2007 Futatsu no Kurumi (Two Walnuts)
2008 Kiku-chan to Ookami (Kiku-chan and the Wolf)
2009 Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu (The Girl with Blue Eyes)

Except for Two Walnuts, which has been subbed by Saizen, the series has not been translated into English before.

Umigame to Shounen (The Boy and the Sea Turtle) is set during the Battle of Okinawa, the most horrific battle between Japan and the United States in World War II. Almost the entire Japanese garrison of 77,000 men perished. American forces suffered more than 75,000 killed, wounded, or missing. Up to 30% (or more) of the civilian population of 300,000 were also killed - by bombardment, by starvation, by the retreating Japanese army, or - influenced by Japanese propaganda about the likelihood of American atrocities - by mass suicide.

The Boy and the Sea Turtle shows the war from the point of view of children.The central character is Tetsuo, a boy who escapes from the firebombing of Naha and goes to live in the countryside with his grandmother. He puts up a brave front with the other children and joins in their patriotic war bluster, but inside, he is lonely and terrified. A boy in his new class, Norio, sees him as an instinctive rival, but eventually their faux-macho competitiveness yields to friendship. Tetsuo also makes friends with a girl in his class, Hanako.

Norio show Tetsuo a beach where sea turtles return annually to lay their eggs. The three friends roam the countryside, scrounge for food, and help with the harvest. And then the invasion begins.

Like The Cake Tree in the Ruins, The Boy and the Sea Turtle is based on a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki. And like The Cake Tree in the Ruins, this special shows the ruinous effects that war has on children - physically and mentally. Ultimately, Tetsuo must make a terrible choice, between honoring his friends' beliefs and starving, or abandoning those beliefs and surviving. The ending is ambiguous and poetic... and deeply, deeply sad.

The artwork is simple and beautiful, with Okinawa depicted as almost a fairy-tale setting of quaint houses, lush fields, and beautiful beaches. The show makes effective use of child-like drawings to portray the horrors of war and the deep terror it causes for children.

As the first special in the series, The Boy and the Sea Turtle has a fairly modest voice cast, mostly consisting of veterans from Shin-Ei's "repertory company" who appeared in Shuukan Storyland:

Tokiwa Yuuki (Tetsuo) appeared in Shuukan Storyland and dubbed Ron Weasley in the Harry Potter movies.
Satou Ai (narrator) has played many maternal roles, including Light's mother in Death Note, Masami's mother in Wedding Peach, Misaki's mother in Dear Brother, Ban's mother in Getbackers, Shigeru's mother in Noramimi, and the unnamed mothers in Cinderella Express, Ai Monogatari, Guyver: Out of Control, and Kristin Adams in Yawara. Other roles include the refined mother in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Ibuki's mother in Kiss wa Me ni Shite, Taichi in The Cake Tree in the Ruins, and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind, all Orphan releases.
Mitsuhara Rin (Tetsuo's aunt) played Irma in Birdy the Mighty, Yaobikuni in Blade of the Immortal (2019), and Torogai in Seirei no Moribito. She also played Miki in Wolf Guy, an Orphan release.
Hisamatsu Yuuko (Tetsuo's grandmother) has just two other credits.
Namatame Kento (Norio) and Takuya Ishihara (Haruo) only appeared in this show.
Mimura Yuuno (Hanako) appeared in Hanebado, Kemurikusa, Hachi-nantte, and Aikatsu.

The director is again Yasumi Tetsuo.

kokujin-kun translated, Yogicat timed, and I edited and typeset. Nemesis and BeeBee did QC. The raw is a 480p webrip from UNEXT and looks pretty good. This show was broadcast in standard definition, and no attempt has been made to upscale it, fortunately.

The Boy and the Sea Turtle is again rather upsetting, but I recommend it strongly, for the simplicity of its storytelling and the impact of its message. You can findthe showat the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

This one is a bit odd: a new release of the 1986 sword-and-sorcery movie Amon Saga, based on a laserdisc rip. Amon Saga has already been released, based on the R1 DVD. So why go back to the laserdisc? Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions wrote, "[The DVD licensor] just took the VHS master, (badly) upscaled it, and dumped it onto a DVD." A Domesday Duplicator rip of the laserdisc ought to look better. Does it? You'll have to be the judge of that. It still has a lot of blended frames, to my eye, but the interlacing artifacts are gone.

Amon Saga traverses well-worn fantasy-genre territory. Amon is a young warrior, seeking to avenge the death of his mother at the hands of the Emperor Valhiss. He decides to join the Imperial army to bore from within. Once inside the Emperor's fortified city, Amon unexpectedly encounters the beautiful daughter of King Darai Sem, Princess Lichia, whom Valhiss is holding as a hostage. The Emperor says he'll exchange the princess for a map in the King's possession, but he'd rather like to possess the princess too. Will Amon succeed in saving the princess (and her virtue) while achieving his revenge? That's a question I'm sure you can answer without any hints from me. Still, it's a good ride, with lots of colorful characters, including Amon's fellow "volunteers" in the Imperial Army, Gaius (the combative one), Alcan (the wily one), Vikin (the comic one), and Ho (the mysterious one), and the Emperor's evil henchman, the ambitious swordsman Denon and the scheming sorcerer Mabo.

The voice cast includes a host of familiar names from the 1980s:

Horiuchi Kenyuu (Amon) played the title role in Guin Saga and Oscar in the Angelique franchise. He also played Ryuuichi in Aoko Honoo, Nest in Eien no Filena, Kubota in Meisou Ou Border, Jin Akira in Wolf Guy, Lid in Greed, and the refined son in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases. He recently appeared in Sirius the Jaeger.
Takamori Yoshino (Lichia) 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.
Kobiyashi Kihosti (Valhiss) is best known as Jigen in the Lupin III franchise. He played Sekai in Wild 7, an Orphan release.
Mugihito Amachi (Gaius) played the alien wombat in Cute Defense Club, Matsumoto in The Great Passage, Keiichiro in Princess Jellyfish, and Abe no Seimei (senior) in Shounen Onmyouji. He also appeared as Lin Shilong in Wolf Guy and Lu Su in the two Sangokushi specials, all Orphan releases.
Wakamoto Norio (Denon) played the title role in The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, Vicious in Cowboy Bebop, Cell in the Dragonball franchise, Katakuriko in the Gintama franchise, Oda NObunaga in Sengoku Basara franchise, Sakakibara in Sanada 10, Guren in Ushio to Tora TV, Shining Saotome in the Uta no Prince-sama franchise, and Oskar von Reuenthal in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He also appeared as Major Thrauza in Yamato 2520 and the Narrator in Joker: Marginal City,both Orphan releases.
Totani Kouji (Ho) has played hundreds of roles. He appeared in Bavi Stock, Haguregumo, Nora, Fukiyama Gekijou, andAkuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, all Orphan releases.
Ginga Banjou (Ekuna) is a veteran voice actor. He played the title role in 80 Days Around the World with Willy Fog, Baloo in The Jungle Book, and Tohtsuki chairman Nakiri Senzaemon in the Shokugeki no Souma franchise. He played the title role in Oruorane the Cat Player and appeared in the two What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
Nagai Ichiro (Mabo) 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 Manxmouse, Nora, Hidamari no Ki, Yuukan Club, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases.
Tatsuta Naoki (Vikin) played Oolong in the Dragonball franchise, the Cat Bus in My Neighbor Totoro, and Beta in New Dream Hunter Rem. He appeared in every GeGeGe no Kitarou series since 1985 and also in Wolf Guy, an Orphan release.
Ooki Tamio (Darai Sem) played Dr. Tenma in Tezuka Osamu Disappears, an Orphan release, as well as the 1980 version of Astro Boy, Ibuya in Hidamari no Ki (also an Orphan release), Aramaki in the GITS movies, and the title role in Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito.
Katsuji Mori (Alcan) played Tanguin in Cool Cool Bye, Atlas in the 1980 Astro Boy, Seiji Hayama in Cutie Honey, Wolfgang Mittermeyer in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Haru in Real Drive, and Robespierre in The Rose of Versailles. He also played Shiina in Stop!! Hibari-kun and Cemen Bond in Bagi, both Orphan releases.
Ginga Banjou (Ekuna, Amon's mentor) played Souther in the Hokuto no Ken franchise, the chief in Peter Pan no Bouken, Sascher Torte in Bakuretsu Hunter, Babbo in MAR, Nakiri in the Shokugeki no Souma franchise, and quite recently, Nanashi in GeGeGe no Kitarou (2018).

The director, Ooga Shunji, has many other credits to his name, including Majuu Sensen, Bounty Hunter: The Hard, several Sore Ike! Anpanman movies, and the Golgo 13 TV series.

I originally OCRed the subs from an R1 DVD release. The subs have been extensively corrected by tenkenX6 and Nemesis. ninjacloud timed, I edited and typeset, and BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. Erik encoded from a Domesday Duplicator rip of his own laserdisc.

Amon Saga doesn't break any new ground, but it's a competent fantasy flick, and it will keep you entertained for its modest 74 minute running time. You can get this release from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

Late breaking news: there's a busted frame at 62934. Some sort of data dropout caused a problem in the Domesday Duplicator decoding software, ld-decode, and by now, the intermediate files have been discarded. If anyone knows how to patch an H.265 file without re-encoding it, 62934 should be the same as 62933. Otherwise, we'll have to wait until Erik can rip the laserdisc again.

Petit Gargantia (Blu-ray)

Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki

Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band

Mikeneko Holmes no Yuurei Joushu

Watt Poe

Exper Zenon

Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Ep 7-9

Oedo wa Nemurenai! v2

Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call v2

Ninku Ninku!

Polishing a POS: Twinkle Nora Rock Me v2

Greed v2

Shin Dousei Jidai: Hawaiian Breeze

Wanted: Translation Checker(s)

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari

Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa (Chrono Trigger OVA)

Gekijouban Perrine Monogatari

Sensou Douwa: The Cake Tree in the Ruins

Sensou Douwa: The Boy and the Sea Turtle

Amon Saga