Collectr's Blog

No, not the famous, and famously butchered, 1924 Erich von Stroheim film, but an hour-long OVA from 1985. Greed is kind of a swordfighting fantasy and sci-fi hybrid. It was released on video tape and laserdisc and then never seen again. I don't know why it ended up on Orphan's list of projects; I think it was discussed in BakaBT's topic on "Old Anime for Subbing" and caught my eye.

Greed tells the story of Lid Kyle, a young man living in 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 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.

It's all rather weird. Lid fights with a sword, which doesn't do much good against mechanical monsters. The longest section, in Mimua's kingdom, is full of rambling explanations that make little sense. (They reminds me of the pseudo-scientific explanations that used to show up in sci-fi movies.) And the ending seems to come out of left field. Well, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes it just rains.

The voice cast includes many familiar actors:

Horiuchi Kenyuu (Lid) has an extensive resume, including the title role in Guin Saga, as well as Jin Akira in Wolf Guy and Nest in Eien no Filena (both Orphan releases). He is currently appearing in Sirius the Jaeger.
Minaguchi Yuko (Kii), with her unmistakable nasal delivery, starred as the eponymous heroine in Yawara!, among numerous other roles. She also played Felicia in Oz, an Orphan release.
Baguda (Gendo Tesshou) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman, and "Oyaji" in this year's Mitsuboshi Colors, as well as Dog McCoy in Dallos and Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, both Orphan releases.
Tanaka Hideyuki (Rongun) has had a long career, including featured roles as Terryman in the Kinnikuman franchise and Rayearth in Magic Knight Rayearth, as well as Sammy in Bavi Stock, Sawamura in Nozomi Witches, and Katze in Ai no Kusabi, all Orphan releases.
Sakakibara Yoshiko (Mimau) played Sir Integral Hellsing in both versions of Hellsing,as well as Melinda in Dallos and Paula in Condition Green, both Orphan releases.

The director, Tomonori Kogawa, also wrote the story outline and co-authored the screenplay. He must have known what everything was supposed to mean. The rest of us are kind of in the dark.

Moho translated the show. In checking the script, laalg noted that many of the lines didn't make sense in Japanese, so it's not surprising that the English doesn't either. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset (very little to do there). Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. M74 encoded from a laserdisc rip donated by an anonymous source. As with the rip of Twinkle Twinkle Nora Rock Me, which came from the same source, the last minute or so of the disc is irretrievably damaged. I've used order chapters to stop the end credits before things get out of hand and provided a complete version of the ending song from a VHS source (at lower resolution, unfortunately).

So here's Greed. It's not the best OVA I've ever seen, and it goes a long way towards explaining why sword-and-scifi hybrids are rare. You can get it from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news in irc.rizon.net.

Leiji Matsumoto is one of the great names in Japanese manga. His numerous projects include The Cockpit, Space Battleship Yamato (with Yoshinobu Nishizaki), Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999, Galaxy Railways, Space Symphony Maetel, Ozuma, Queen Esmeraldas, and Queen Millennia. Virtually all of his manga have been adapted to anime, and the shows are very popular in Japan. However, treatment in the West has not been so kind. Harmony Gold mashed together Captain Harlock and Queen Millennia into a show called Captain Harlock and the Queen of a Thousand Years. It sank without a trace and is now considered lost. Captain Harlock was eventually released to streaming media and licensed by Discotek. Queen Millennia remained unavailable... until now. After 13 years, Live-eviL has finished its fansub of this incredible series, releasing the last four episodes yesterday. It's now possible to binge-watch this show in its entirety.

Despite the long duration of the project, Live-eviL's treatment has been remarkably consistent, despite changes in every department - translation, checking, timing, editing, typesetting, and QC. (The last episode contains a credit roll of all the people who worked on the show; it's huge.) There are subtle changes over the years. The Live-eviL IRC channel moved from EnterTheGame to Rizon. The fansub credits during the opening were replaced with the Japanese production credits; the fansub credits moved to the ending. The romaji font for the opening was updated to be more readable. Consistency may be hobgoblin of small minds, but it certainly helps the viewer if there are no jarring changes in fonts, names, and terminology as a long series progresses.

The voice actors were icons of 1980s anime but are probably not well known to current audiences:

Han Keiko (Yukino Yayoi, the "Queen Millennia" of the title) 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 the numerous Millennia spinoffs and sequels, as well as Luna in the Sailor Moon franchise.
Toda Keiko (Amamori Hajime, Yukino's helper) starred as Kitarou in the 1980's versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou, as Anpanman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and as Hitomi, one of the leads, in Cats Eye. She also appeared in Hi-Speed Jecy, Oz, Bavi Stock, and Hoshi Neko Full House (all Orphan releases).
The late Nagai Ichirou (Professor Hajime) appeared as Konaki-jiji in the 1980's versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou and as Happosai in the Ranma 1/2 franchise.. He also provided the off-the-wall narration in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and Maroko. He played Tezuka Ryousan in Hidamari no Ki, Professor Doherty in Nora, Togo in Yamata 2520, and the Hong Kong mafia leader in Yuukan Club (all Orphan releases).

So if you are a fan of Leiji Matsumoto, run, don't walk, to your favorite torrent sites or to the Live-eviL IRC channel and get Queen Millennia now. The file sizes are small (as they tended to be when the project started), so it won't take very long to download the whole thing from today's fast seeders and bots using today's fast broadband links. Then enjoy this seminal series, now available in English for the very first time.

Here's the second Sangokushi OVA, from 1986: Orphan's 125th release. It starts after the Battle of Red Cliffs and charts the ups and downs of Liu Bei Xuande's attempt to create a viable state in Shu Han to balance Cao Cao's Wei and Sun Quan's Eastern Wu. It is considerably darker than the first OVA. The alliance between Lui Bei and Sun Quan falls apart. Several more main characters, including audience favorites, bite the dust. The ending is inconclusive, at best, and tragic, at worst.

Like the first OVA, and like The Romance of the Three Kingdoms from which it draws inspiration, Sangokushi 2 plays fast and loose with history. It portrays Liu Bei as supremely virtuous and Cao Cao as a megalomaniac villain. Neither view is supported by historical records. Although Liu Bei adhered more closely to Confucianism than his rivals, he was still an unscrupulous warlord, starting as an ally of Cao Cao and then betraying him. Cao Cao was a capable ruler in many ways but consumed by his ambition, universal to warlords of that period, to become supreme warlord and then emperor of a united China. Cao Cao's origin story - that his blonde hair is not an anime convention but the result of his mother being raped by invaders - is fiction. The romance between Liu Bei and Princess Lihua (Lady Sun) is likewise an invention. (He was married four times. Lady Sun returned to Wu after the break between Liu Bei and Sun Quan.) Still, the power of great fiction to overshadow fact cannot be denied; in China, the equivalent of the English idiom "speak of the devil" is "Speak of Cao Cao, and he appears." Attempts to rehabilitate Cao Cao's reputation in the Communist era have been only moderately successful.

The cast and staff of the second OVA are basically the same as the first, so I won't repeat my comments from the earlier blog post. Iri translated, Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset, bananadoyouwanna and VigorousJammer QCed, and Skr provided the raw. bananadoyouwanna styled the insert/ending song, "Miss Dreamer," which is very good.

You can get Sangokushi 2 from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

To this day, Japan retains a strong bias against foreigners. However, a small number of anime movies have been made about foreigners who loved Japan and helped rebuild it in the aftermath of the Second World War. Orphan has already translated and released the 2010 anime documentary Junod, which focused on Dr. Marcel Junod, the first foreign doctor to reach Hiroshima after the atomic bombing. Now, Orphan presents 2002's Yume Kakeru Kougen: Kiyosato no Chichi Paul Rusch (Dreams on the Plateau: Kiyosato's Father Paul Rusch). It tells the story of Paul Rusch, an Episcopalian (American Anglican) lay missionary who dedicated his life to improving life in rural Japan and fostering friendship between the two countries.

Rusch came to Japan in 1925, to help with rebuilding the Tokyo/Yokohama YMCA, which had burned down during the great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. He stayed on to become a professor of economics at Rikkyo University, a fundraiser for Dr. Rudolf Teusler's efforts to expand St. Luke's Hospital, and a lay evangelist for the Anglican Church in Japan. In 1938, he opened Seisen Ryo, a camp on the slopes of Mt. Yatsugatake in the village of Kiyosato. This was the start of a life-long association with the village and its people.

After Pearl Harbor, Rusch was interned and then deported in a prisoner exchange. He worked at the Military Intelligence Language School in the US and returned to Japan for the occupation as part of General MacArthur's staff. Eventually, he returned to Kiyosato and rededicated Seisen Ryo as the Kiyosato Educational Experiment Project (KEEP). He worked on improving farming practices, introducing innovations like cold-resistant crop strains and high-altitude dairy farming. KEEP expanded to include an experimental farm, a nursery, a library, and most importantly for the health of the community, a rural clinic. For his work, the Japanese government awarded Rusch the Third Order of the Sacred Treasure in 1956, a rare honor for a foreigner. He continued to work in Japan until his death in 1979. Among his numerous achievements, he introduced American football to Japan. To this day, the Paul Rusch Cup is given annually to the best American football player in the country.

While Paul Rusch's life is an uplifting story, it's not necessarily a dramatic one. The anime has little conflict and no villains. (The real villains, like the Japanese military, are kept offstage.) The most suspenseful event is whether the first Jersey cow in Kiyosato - brought in to seed the idea of dairy farming - will survive the harsh winter there. If some Japanese and some Americans act embittered by the war, many more reach out across the cultural divide to help one another. In particular, the Anglican (Episcopal) Church is shown in a uniformly positive light, which is uncommon in anime presentations of Christianity.

In his trailblazing book Schindler's List, Thomas Keneally wrote about how difficult it was to write a story of good. "When you chronicle the predictable and measurable success evil generally achieves, it is easy to be wise, wry, piercing, to avoid bathos... Fatal human malice is the staple of narrators, original sin the mother-fluid of historians. But it is a risky enterprise to have to write of virtue." The same applies to anime. Villains, bloodshed, and desperation make for vivid stories. Simple goodness does not. Yume Kakeru Kougen is the story of a good man who worked hard for others and left the world better than he found it. It's hard to imagine a story more out of step with current times. That's why we need it.

A few notes, some from Elizabeth Hemphill's book The Road to KEEP, and some from Wikipedia:

The movie deviates from the known facts of Paul Rusch's life significantly. Examples: Rusch never learned Japanese. He did not abandon a fiance to stay in Japan.
Dr. Rudolf Teusler's motto was, in fact, "If you are going to do something in Japan, make it first class." The addition of "in God" seems to be an invention of the scriptwriter.
Rusch's students sing him the opening verse of Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home," complete with its original racist language. The song is the official state song of Kentucky. When another Japanese choir sang it to the state legislature in 1967, it triggered a motion to officially amend the lyrics, replacing "darkies" with "people." Today, the song is generally regarded as nostalgia for the slave-holding, antebellum South. In fact, it was an anti-slavery song and was promoted by leading abolitionists, including Frederick Douglass.
Lonely Bull is loosely based on a real incident. Rusch brought back a single Jersey bull to see if the breed could survive winter in Kiyosato. However, the bull never became sick, and its nickname was "Designed for St. Andrew."
Psalm 121, which is quoted frequently throughout the movie, is probably more familiar to viewers in the King James version:

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber.
Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.
The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

The voice cast includes:

The deep-voiced Genda Tesshou (Paul Rusch) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman, "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors, as well as the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate, and Dog McCoy in Dallos, all Orphan releases.
Orikasa Ai (Koichi, the boy who narrates the story) made her debut in Shoukoushi Cedie. She played Seguchi Touma (the record company president) in Gravitation, Quatre in Gundam Wing, and Ryouko in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She also played Toryune in Al Caral no Isan, Sara in Eien no Filena, and Malet in Oruorane the Cat Player, all Orphan releases.
Mizutani Yuuko (Dr. Uematsu Kikue, the Kiyasato clinic physician) has many credits, including Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties, as well as Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki and Lila in Eien no Filena, both Orphan projects.
Toriumi Katsumi (Shigeru, a young man in Kiyosato) played the male lead, Wakamatsu Masato, in Miyuki, as well as numerous featured roles in other shows.

The director, Dezaki Satoshi, is an industry veteran. His other projects include the Tezuka Osamu specials Marine Express and Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose (both Orphan releases), the Urusei Yatsura OVAs, Tobira wo Akete, Kasei Yakyoku, Boyfriend, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, and many more.

Iri found the DVD for this movie and did the translation. Yogicat did the detailed timing. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and VigorusJammer QCed. M74 encoded. The release includes the English dub track (and a songs/signs track to go with it), as well as Japanese closed captions, and thus is one of the very few multi-audio, multi-subtitle releases Orphan has ever done. The DVD is wide-screen the old-fashioned way, with black bars at the top and bottom of the screen, instead of via an anamorphic presentation.

You can get Yume Kakeru Kougen from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

A lot of OVAs, particularly those that were promotions for other media (manga, video games, novels), were one-and-done affairs, such as Sanctuary, Meisou Ou Border, Cosmic Fantasy, and Joker: Marginal City. Much rarer are OVAs that were planned as multi-episode - even had animation for a second episode - and simply stopped. That's the case with 1996's Alice in Cyberland. The first episode has a preview for a second episode - it even has a release date for it (Feb 25, 1997) - but the second episode never appeared. It's quite a mystery.

Alice in Cyberland was a tie-in to a "gal adventure game" (to quote the English loan words in the game promo) of the same name. It tells the story of Alice and her two friends, Rena and Julie, who go "diving" into cyberspace to hunt for "Eastern European cyber-anarchists" that threaten the world-wide network. (Sounds kind of prescient, doesn't it?) A mysterious network entity named Lucie gives Alice powers to enter cyberspace and to combat the villains there. She and her friends dispatch the bad guys and return to their normal existence. And that's it. The second episode promised another adventure in Cyberland, but it's lost out there in the ether.

The voice cast includes:

Asada Yoko (Alice) has an extensive resume in both regular and hentai anime. She played the title role in two of the Angelique series and one of the leads in Refrain Blue. She also appeared in Doukyuusei 2 Special: Sotsugyousei and D4 Princess, both Orphan releases.
Araki Kae (Rena) played lead roles in all the Sailor Moon properties, Yuki Miaka in the Fushigi Yuugi franchise, and Ann, the female lead, in Juliet. She also played Marceau, Yawara's unexpected challenger, in Yawara! The Atlanta Special.
Miyamura Yuuko (Julie) played the title roles in NieA Under 7 and Akane's High Kick. She also had lead roles in Starship Girl Yamamato Yohko and Those Who Hunt Elves, and she has an ongoing role in the Detective Conan franchise.
Inoue Kikuko (Lucie) starred as Belldandy in the Aa! Megami-sama franchise, Kazami in Please! Teacher, and Doris in D4 Princess, an Orphan release. She has numerous other credits, including Cyberdoll Mami in Hand Maid May and Short(cake) in The Girl from Phantasia, both Orphan releases. She remains active and has recently appeared in Amanchu! and its sequel, The Ancient Magus' Bride, Darling in the FranXX, and FLCL Progressive.
Nakata Kazuhiro (Information Inspector Omata) played Chiaki, one of the two leads, in Sanctuary, an Orphan release, and has numerous featured roles in his resume.
Suyama Akio (the Cyberland monster Wolf) played Hatsuharu in Fruits Basket and Hige in Wolf's Rain. He had a cameo as Crested Serpent Eagle in Polar Bear Cafe, an Orphan release.

The director was the late Yokota Kazuyoshi, who worked on many World Masterpiece Theater series before Alice and on Maetel Legend afterwards.

Moho Kareshi translated the dialog and the songs, and laalg checked it. Yogicat timed; I edited and typeset. Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. The encode is a laserdisc rip by Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions; it looks really good. The disc includes several promos: a preview for the non-existent second episode; ads for related CDs and PlayStation games; anda series of stills from the game. The promos beyond the preview have not been translated or typeset.

By itself, Alice in Cyberland is a frothy little bauble that comes and goes quickly, with no lingering aftertaste. But the mystery of the second episode... that lingers. What happened? As Fats Waller used to say, "One never knows, do one?" Meanwhile, you can get Alice in Cyberland from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Here is the final installment of Hidamari no Ki: episodes 20 to 25. The chaos of the Bakumatsu reaches its climax with the overthrow of the Shogunate, an event that has decisive consequences for Manjirou, Ryouan, and the men and women in their lives. In particular, Manjirou confronts the ronin who have dogged his steps throughout the series: the assassins Toubei and Otojirou. If the first half of the series belonged to Ryouan, the second half, and the last five episodes in particular, are Manjirou's.

If these concluding episodes seem rushed, it's partly due to the headlong pace of events that take place in the background. By the early 1860s, the relationship between the Shogunate bureaucracy and the Imperial Court was openly antagonistic. Various clans used the banner of Sonnou Joui to further their interests at the expense of the ruling Tokugawa. In the Kimon incident, the Choushuu clan raised the banner of revolt in Kyoto. This led the Shogunate to dispatch punitive expeditions against Choushuu. The first, in 1864, ended inconclusively. By the time a second expedition was dispatched two years later, the Choushuu forces had modernized with Western weapons. The Shogunate army was decisively defeated, fatally weakening its prestige. Shortly thereafter, the Shogunate regime fell, without much of a fight.

Hidamari no Ki is, of course, the story of Ryouan and Manjirou, and they are the only two characters whose fate the show spells out. The historical characters mentioned in these last five episodes met various ends:

Katsu Kaishuu remained loyal to the Shogunate but survived to serve the new Imperial regime. He eventually became a count.
Saigo Takamori led the Imperial forces in the war against the last rebellious remnants of the Shogunate. In 1873, he left the Imperial government and later ended up leading a rebellion of disaffected samurai against the new regime, during which he was killed.
Sakamoto Ryouma was assassinated in 1867 by members of the Mimawarigumi, another of the special samurai squads formed by the Shogunate.
Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the last Shogun, disassociated himself from any efforts to restore the Shogunate regime and lived a quiet life in retirement. In 1902, he was named a prince of the empire.

This group of episodes introduces one last significant character, Aya, sister of the ronin Otojirou. She was played by Neya Michiko, who has had featured roles in many shows. She's probably best known for Melissa Mayo in the Full Metal Panic franchise and Riza Hawkeye in the original Fullmetal Alchemist. She also played Lena in Fire Emblem, an Orphan release.

In preparing this last group of episodes, certain aspects of the show have really stood out. The opening credit sequence, which I've seen perhaps a hundred times now, is a masterpiece of music and composition. It starts out tranquilly, as a solo piano piece, surveying the massive camphor tree that stands as a symbol for the Shogunate. It takes an ominous turn, as images of Ryouan's battle against the cholera epidemic, and Manjirou's numerous sword fights, are played over the tree. Then, the three principal women characters - Oseki with a serious expression, Oshina with a melancholy look, and Okon with her enigmatic smile - are shown against the trunk. They give way to the banners of armies, which fall over and fade away to foreshadow to ultimate fate of the Shogunate. This sequence never gets stale.

Another noteworthy aspect is the different way Ryouan and Manjirou interact with the women in the show. Superficially, Manjirou seems the better man. He treats women with respect and reserve, putting them on a pedestal, while Ryouan is a womanizer, a patron of geishas, and an unfaithful husband. Yet Manjirou's stubborn honesty inflicts unhappiness on all the women with whom he becomes involved (Oseki, Oshina, and Aya). Ryouan may be a playboy, but he genuinely likes women, and he helps the nighthawk Okon achieve the only truly happy outcome in the series.

As a bonus, this set of episodes also includes a short special on the real locations used in the first two episodes.

The staff for the show remains the same. Sunachan translated the dialog, songs, and signs. Yogicat did the timing. I edited and typeset. banandoyouwanna, Nemesis, and VigorousJammer did QC. Skr encoded the workraws, and M74 the final raws. An anonymous benefactor bought the R2J DVDs, an essential foundation for making the project feasible.

We're not quite done yet. There's a batch torrent in the works. It will incorporate minor fixes in the first handful of episodes, mostly terminology that needs to be made consistent. I doubt there will ever be a Blu-ray release. Hidamari no Ki was made with digital animation long before HDTV. It's simply not that popular in Japan, and of course, it is virtually unknown in the English-speaking world.

You can get the fourth installment of Hidamari no Ki from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Watch it, please, and then tell your friends about it. This show is not to be missed.

It's been more than four years since FroZen-EviL finished the standard-definition Yawara! project by releasing Yawara! The Atlanta Special, more formally known as Yawara! Ever Since I Met You... The Blu-ray version of Yawara! has been proceeding by fits and starts, so the team has leaped ahead to the end to bring you the conclusion, in high-definition.

The climax of Yawara! was supposed to be set at the1992 Barcelona Olympics, but the series didn't finish until after those Olympics were over. There was a four-year gap before a project was started to provide an actual conclusion to the series, so the setting was moved to the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and all the signs in the TV show about "xyz days until Barcelona" were removed in the Blu-ray releases.

Yawara! The Atlanta Special wraps up all the story lines of the show: Yawara's less-than-enthusiastic pursuit of Olympic glory; the subsurface romance between Yawara and the "third-rate reporter" Matsuda; Kazamatsuri's increasingly desperate attempts to evade the grasp of Honami Sayaka. Most of the subordinate characters put in an appearance: Fujiko and Hanazono, now married with an infant; Jody Rockwell, now bigger and stronger than ever; Kuniko, Matsuda's colleage and wannabe love interest; Kamoda, Matsuda's much put-upon photographer; and of course, Master Jigoro, ever ready to steal a scene, a medal, or a massive plate of food. Despite romantic mixups and the problems imposed by Japanese reticence, all ends happily. Or rather, the main characters all get what they deserve.

In all my blogs on Yawara!, I've never talked about the voice cast, which is just wonderful.

For Minaguchi Yuuko (Inokuma Yawara), Yawara! was her breakout and defining role. She made her debut as Kii in Greed, an Orphan release, and appeared in numerous other shows, including Dragon Ball Z and GT, Sailor Moon, and One Piece. She played Roxanne in Alexander (Reign: The Conqueror) and Felicia in Oz (another Orphan release).
The late Nagai Ichirou (Yawara's grandfather Jigoro) appeared in numerous shows, including Gosenzosama Banbanzai!, Nora, and Hidamari no Ki (the last two are Orphan releases). He also dubbed Albus Dumbledore in the Japanese versions of the Harry Potter movies.
Okabe Masaki (Yawara's absentee father Kojiro) played Shinichi, the conniving and lecherous politician brought down by Hojo and Chiaki in Sanctuary, an Orphan release.
Seki Toshihiko (Matsuda) should be quite familiar to readers of this blog. He appeared as Riki in Ai no Kusabi, the hero Seitarou in Hoshi Neko Full House, Miroku in Yuukan Club, Chuuta in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, the fighter Nagase Jun in Akai Hayate, and the unnamed protagonist of Oruorane the Cat Player, all Orphan releases. He also played Sanzo in all the Saiyuuki TV series and the title roles in Alexander (Reign the Conqueror) and Kaiketsu Zorro.
Chafuurin (Kamoda) played Inspector Maguro in the Detective Conan franchise. He also appeared as the Tera leader in Next Senki Ehrgeiz and Jog in Yamata 2520, both Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in Basilisk, Baki, and Pop Team Epic in 2018.
Kamiya Akira (Kazamatsuri) is best known for the title roles in the City Hunter properties and the Kinnikuman franchise. He also played Sergeant Zim in Starship Troopers and stole the show as the lecherous robot Chiraku in Hoshi Neko Full House, both Orphan releases.
Takamori Yoshino (Sayaka) played the twin roles of Juliet Douglas and Sloth in Full Metal Alchemist. She also appeared in the What's Michael? OVAs and Yousei Ou, Orphan releases.
Kawashima Chiyoko (Fujiko) played Clair in Galaxy Express 999, Sailor Pluto in the Sailor Moon franchise, Okiyo in Haguregumo, and Iko in Greed, an Orphan release. She retired in 2001.

The director, Asaka Morio, did not work on the original TV series. After this special, he went on to direct many well-known and well-regarded shows, including Cardcaptor Sakura (and its recent revival), Galaxy Angels, Chobits, Nana, Chihayafuru (both series), and Ore Monogatari.

The staff credits are basically the same as for the standard-definition release. kokujin-kun translated and typeset; Juggen timed; I edited; CP, Saji, Juggen, Mamo-chan, and Skr all worked on QC. Suzaku encoded from the BDMV box set, which CP purchased.

Today is the anniversary of CP's passing. His presence has been, and continues to be, sorely missed by all his friends and colleagues.

So here's Orphan's last word on Hidamari no Ki - the batch torrent. There are minor fixes in eleven episodes, for nomenclature inconsistencies and typos. If you don't want to download the v2 files, or can't apply the patches, you won't be missing anything.

Hidamari no Ki is brilliant TV anime. If I hesitate to use the word "masterpiece," it's only because I'm aware of the gap between an excellent TV anime and the works of auteurs like Miyazaki and Takahata. Tezuka Osamu was a popular entertainer, and Hidamari no Ki is among the finest examples of his work. I think it will stand comparison with the TV series viewers have loved the most.

That begs two questions, of course:

Why do I think it's so good?
If it is so good, why was it never fansubbed or licensed before this?

Now, I must admit to certain biases that work in favor of Hidamari no Ki. It's a seinen show, about and for adults. As a (fairly senior) adult, I like series that show people I might recognize, rather than the endlessly popular high-school students. It's a historical show, set against real events. As a historian by training, and a lover of historical fiction, it definitely hits my sweet spot. The artwork is distinctive and interesting. Tezuka Osamu's characters have real features and rarely resemble anime archetypes. And it's complex. The characters have multiple facets and are rarely black-and-white. Good things and bad things happen, and happy endings are rare - just as in real life.

So if Hidamari no Ki is so good, why has it remained untranslated (or more properly, an orphan) for so many years? First, it aired just before the flowering of the fansubbing. By the time the first group looked at it, it had been off the air for four years. Most shows released from DVDs used the R1 subs. Second, it's rather technical. There's a lot of medical lingo and historical Japanese terms. The translator needs a thorough grounding in medicine, Japanese history, and old terminology, or the show will prove impenetrable.

That leads me to an appreciation of the improbable series of events that made it possible for Orphan to do Hidamari no Ki. Sunachan, the translator, simply showed up one day. She's a professional interpreter with a background in medical translation. It would be hard to image a better fit to the task. Then, after years of futile quests for decent raws, Skr found a reasonable set of streaming raws in Japan. That permitted the translation and timing work to get underway. And finally, an anonymous benefactor wrote to asking if he could help purchase any rare materials for Orphan's work. That allowed us to buy the Japanese DVDs and to create definitive encodes. Everything followed from those three events.

In closing, I'll recapitulate the staff credits for the show:

Translation - Sunachan
Timing - Eternal_Blizzard and Yogicat
Editing and Typesetting - Collectr
Karaokes - Juggen
QC - bananadoyouwanna, Nemesis, VigorousJammer
Workraws - Skr
Encoding - M74
DVD provider - anonymous

It's been almost a year's work, but I think everyone on the staff would agree that it's been worth it.

Could there be a high-definition release someday? Eternal_Blizzard points out that Madhouse (the animators) were among the last holdouts for cel-based drawing and didn't move to digital animatin until 2002, after Hidamari no Ki was released, so it's possible. Could there be an R1 release someday? Smaller DVD outfits have been reviving items from the back catalog, so it's possible. So this "last word" may not be the "final word." I certainly hope so.

In closing, I'll repeat what I've said in every release post: this show is a masterwork. Please, put aside all the trope-y junk that makes up most of modern anime and give Hidamari no Ki a chance to cast its spell. You won't regret it. Meanwhile, you can get the batch from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. A direct download link for the patch and for the DVD booklets is included in the batch torrent release.

After a rather lengthy delay, here's the second Oishinbo special, Japan-America Rice War (Nichibei Kome Sensou). Although I have no firm evidence, I suspect that this delay resulted from a simple fact: Japan-America Rice War is one of the most boring anime movies I have ever seen. Ninety minutes about the pros and cons of liberalizing Japanese rice imports, with a side order about the dangers of agricultural chemicals? Most of the team would rather have a root canal. (I just had one, so I prefer the anime.)

If you don't know the background for the Oishinbo series, Kaibara Yuuzan and Yamaoka Shirou are estranged father and son, respectively. Kaibara is an icon of Japanese national culture, famous for his pottery, his cooking, and his traditional dress and outlook. Yamaoka is a slacker cultural reporter at a newspaper. He started a recurring feature on cooking, called Ultimate Menu, for his paper. In retaliation, his father created Supreme Menu for a competing paper. The two cooking teams compete for supremacy in matches organized around a single theme.

The plot of Japan-America Rice War centers around the visit of California Senator Dan Foster to Japan. He is determined to make Japan lower barriers to rice imports, because California is a major rice grower. His sister, Ann, is engaged to Misawa at Touzai News, home of Yamaoka's Ultimate Menu team. Ann crosses paths with, and is insulted by, Tsuchida Gisuke, an obnoxious agriculture bigwig turned politician, who is determined to block liberalization of rice imports. She relates this to her brother the Senator, who turns up the heat on the Japanese government by threatening massive tariffs against Japanese goods. While the government dithers, the two Menu teams have to work together to save the situation and, of course, Ann and Misawa's impending marriage.

The tone of the anime is a bit odd. At first, the scales seem tipped in favor of the Japanese viewpoint. Kaibara Yuuzan argues for strict limits on imports in order to preserve the Japanese tradition of rice farming, which yields treasures in art, culture, and food. On the other hand, the American negotiators are presented as rational and forceful, while the Japanese government is presented as hapless ditherers who only want to cover their behinds. In the end, the author's real passion, as represented by Yamaoka Shirou, is not about rice imports but about the overuse of chemicals in farming, and the threat that pesticides and other chemical residues in the food chain pose to human health. It's rather dull, except for the opening set piece, an Ultimate vs Supreme match about "side dishes for rice," and a later set piece, a dinner that Kaibara throws for the visiting Senator to teach him about the importance of rice in Japan.

The main voice cast is the same as in Ultimate vs Supreme:

Inoue Kazuhiko (Yamaoka Shirou) played Yuki 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. He is still active, appearing recently in ACCA and Isekai Shokudou.
Shou Mayumi (Kurita Yuuko) appeared in Aoki Honoo, Hoshi Neko Full House, A Penguin's Memories, and Katte ni Shirokuma, all Orphan releases.
Otsukua Chikao (Kaibara Yuuzan) has had a lengthy career, starting back in 1963 in Astro Boy. He played Nezumi in the original GeGeGe no Kitarou series and Tora in the original Ushio & Tora OVAs. He appeared in several Tezuka Osamu specials (all released by Orphan) and played Captain Hook in Peter Pan no Bouken, among numerous other roles.

Some of the voice cast is unique to this special, of course:

Hazama Michio (Senator Dan Foster) also began his career in 1963 with Astro Boy. He has appeared in numerous anime but has also been the preferred dubbing voice for Dean Martin, Steve Martin, and Sylvester Stallone. His most recent role was in Onihei.
Yamada Eiko (Ann Foster) played the title roles in Anne of Green Gables and Legend of Lemnear, as well as Jo in Little Women. She also played Yu Jin, Cao Cao's stalwart woman warrior, in the Sangokushi OVAs and appeared in What's Michael? and Chameleon, all Orphan releases.
Ootaki Shinya (Misawa) played Pete, the male lead in Scoopers. He also appeared in Aoki Honou, Hi-Speed Jecy, and Wolf Guy, all Orphan releases.
Tanaka Nobuo (Tsuchida Gisuke) played Dio in the original JoJo's Bizarre Adventures OVAs and its sequel. He has had recurring roles in Detective Conan and One Piece.

Orphan again used the Yoroshiku subs with some tweaks. laalg did the original translation; izam translated the OP and ED. Yogicat retimed the subs for the Blu-ray encode; the original OP/ED timing, by sangofe, was retained. neo2001 styled the original; I edited and typeset both the original release and this new one. Saji and Oracle did QC on the original, Calyrica on the new one. Skr did the encode, from a BDMV.

Time has not been kind to Japan-America Rice War. The anime dates from 1993, when American paranoia about, and Japanese confidence in, Japan's technological and economic might was at its height (see, for example, Michael Crichton's 1992 scare novel, Rising Sun). Shortly thereafter, the U.S. began the longest sustained technological and economic boom in its history to that point, fueled by innovations in the Internet, biotechnology, and other fields, while Japan entered a multi-decade period of economic stagnation, rendering most of the arguments in the anime moot.

Japan maintained an effective ban on imported rice until 1995. At that time, Japan agreed to import a set amount at market prices, while raising subsidies to domestic rice farmers substantially. Most of the imported rice was designated for snacks and processed food; very little was earmarked for direct consumption. Even though the subsidies impacted the competitiveness of imported rice, by 1998 Japan accounted for about half of California's rice exports, or 20% of the state's total rice crop.

Japanese direct consumption of imported rice varies with economic conditions, with fast food restaurants leading the way in using it. However, both per-capita consumption of rice, and domestic production, are declining, as eating habits change, and the farming population ages out.

The issue of food safety remains unresolved. Recent testing has shown that rice from around the world, including so-called organic products, contain dangerous amounts of arsenic and other toxic chemicals.

So if you want to relive the passions of the early 1990s, as opposed to the ones that roil our politics today, you can get Oishinbo - Japan-America Rice War from the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

So why, after swearing off R1-licensed anime, is Orphan releasing Okane ga Nai? Call it conservation of momentum. The project got started yonks ago, when M74 and I were plotting to redo some of the early BL OVAs. M74 had the Okane ga Nai DVDs, and we used them to release the four omake with softsubs and proper typesetting. That led us to look at the OVAs proper. aarinfantasy's release was hardsubbed and marred by video artifacts, while Nosmas' release was upscaled, had the usual awful R1 subtitle timing, and lacked typesetting. So in for a penny, in for a pound...

If you're not familiar with Okane ga nai! (No Money!), it's a borderline hentai BL OVA about a college student (Ayase) forced to pay off his debt to a loan shark (Kanou) with his body. That's probably enough information for most people. If you need more, read the Wikipedia article.

The OVAs cover the first two volumes of the manga, which relate how Kanou "acquires" Ayase and then defends him against crooked a casino boss and then a corrupt politicians. It includes a lot og (too much, in fact) non-consensual sex, occasional violence, and some humor. Because the two leads spend most of their time in angst-ridden conversation and introspection, the humor comes from the side characters: Kanou's baka "younger brother" Gion, who wants to use the pair for the ultimate porn movie; Someya Kaoruko, Kanou's transgender childhood friend and client, who runs an okami bar; and Kanou's twin assistants, Homare and Masao, who observe their employers' moods, ranging from furious anger to anxious jealousy, with deadpan humor and not a small touch of dread.

The voice cast includes a cross-section of the industry.

The incomparable Fukyuma Jun (Ayase) starred as Panda in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release, Geass in Code Geass, Yukio in Ao no Exorcist, Keita in Inukami!, Kuro-sensei in Assassination Classroom, and Tokidoki in Amtsuki (an Orphan release), among numerous other major roles. He is one of the major seiyuu in current anime.
Kosugi Juurouta (Kanou) made his debut at the villainous Eyesman in Bavi Stock I, an Orphan release. He played Touji in Ninku and de Morcerf in Gankuutsuou. He also played Oguma in Fire Emblem, Dr. Bayfarm in Joker: Marginal City, Utsubushi in Amatsuki, and Gisuke in Kage, all Orphan releases. He is still active.
Okiayu Ryoutarou (Gion). His 30-year career recently included the lead roles in Keppeki Danshi Aoyama-kun and Recorder and Randsell. He played Gorgeous in Maze and Ebisu in Noragami. He appeared in Fire Emblem and Yamato 2520, both Orphan releases.
Tobita Nobuo (Someya) is best known for the roles of Kamille Bidan (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam), Albert Heinrich/004 (Cyborg 009 (2001)), and Sueo Maruo (Chibi Maruko-chan). He appeared in Condition Green and Eien no Filena, both Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in the recent Darling in the FranXX and Sirius the Jaeger.
Tsujitani Kouji (Homare) 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.
Hatano Wataru (Misao) played the hapless zookeeper Handa-kun in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release, Kajii in Bungo Stray Dogs, and Nobunaga in Nobunaga no Shinobi. He is still very active, appearing in a dozen shows this year.
Ogata Kenichi (the crooked casino boss Hayashida) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and Maroko, as well as Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken, rival cyborg Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club (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.

The director, Sokuza Makoto, has a few other credits, notably the original (excellent) Kyou no Go no Ni OVAs.

The subtitles are basically from the R1 DVD, but I've interpolated from the aarinfantasy scripts in places, because the R1 subs are rather prissy and indirect sometimes - an odd choice for BL OVAs. M74 and Yogicat time, I edited and typeset, Calyrica and I QCed, and M74 encoded. This is an Orphan and M74 joint release.

We've packaged the Okane ga Nai extras with this torrent, to make a complete offering. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on Irc.rizon.net.

Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki Long Distance Call (Business Fighter Yamazaki: Long Distance Call) was a successful manga by Tomizaki Jun. It ran from 1992 to 2000 and was collected in twelve tankoban volumes. This OVA, from 1997, was released about three-quarters of the way through the manga's run, probably as a promotion. Despite the success of the manga, the OVA was only released on VHS tape; it never appeared on either laserdisc or DVD.

Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki 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. In his new, semi-robotic form, Yamazaki is sent into troubled companies to consult on new products and, occasionally, to fight other cyborgs who have been similarly revived.

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 Itsusuba 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.

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 current 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. She died prematurely in 2011, at the age of 41.
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.

The director, Tominaga Tsuneo, also directed the first four Initial D properties, Juliet, Lime-iro Ryuukitan Cross, and Wind: A Breath of Heart. He did the storyboards for Sanctuary and the screenplay for Tenkousei, 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. gamnark ripped the tape, and eventually, M74 encoded it. The source is mercifully free of tape stretch and tracking loss, but it is a VHS tape, so it's rather blurry, with a lot of blended frames. 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.

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. Regardless of its intent, you can find the show as the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

For a society as orderly and law-abiding as Japan, the anime-watching public seems to love shows where society in the grip of criminal "carnage" (to quote a recent so-called leader). The only solution seems to be a vigilante individual or special squad that acts as judge, jury, and executioner all at once. A.D. Police, Dominion Tank Police, Techno Police 21C, Joker: Marginal City... the list goes on and on. And here's another: the 1994 two-episode OVA Wild 7.

The setting is a Japan overrun by well-armed, politically-connected criminals who commit crimes and massacres with impunity. To counter them, a prosecutor and a police captain recruit seven death-row criminals, commission them as inspectors, provide them with motorcycles and a hell of a lot of lethal weapons, and use them as assassins against culprits who are seemingly "above the law."

Wild 7 is based on a successful, long-running shounen manga by Mochizuki Mikiya. It ran from 1969 to 1979 and reflects the turbulence of late 60s Japan. The OVA tells the story of the Wild 7's fight to expose and exterminate a "great boss," who plans nothing less than an effective takeover of Japan. In the first OVA, they target the leader of a terrorist organization, only to find out that he is merely the "lizard's tail" of the shadowy boss behind the scenes. In the second OVA, they face down a rival gang formed by the enemy, as well as political machinations that threaten their very existence. Both episodes are filled with slam-bang action sequences, great motorcycle chases, shiny explosions, and lots of graphic violence. If you turn your mind off from considering the numerous holes in the underlying premise and the actual plot, it's quite a ride.

Each member of the Wild 7 has a unique background and skill.

Hiba, the defacto leader, is a juvenile escapee from a reformatory and general hard case.
Happyaku is a former pro baseball player who graduated to embezzlement and fraud.
Ryougaku is an explosives expert and convicted bomber.
Sekai is a former wild animal trainer.
Chaashuu is a former professional chef who also cooked up drugs on the side.
Oyabun is a former yakuza gang leader and convicted murderer.
Hebopi is a former student protester who graduated to bombing and murder.

The voice actors for the Wild 7 were:

Seki Toshihiko (Hiba) played Riki in Ai no Kusabi, the hero Seitarou in Hoshi Neko Full House, Miroku in Yuukan Club, Chuuta in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, the fighter Nagase Jun in Akai Hayate, and the unnamed protagonist of Oruorane the Cat Player, all Orphan releases. He also played Matsuda in all the Yawara! properties, Sanzo in all the Saiyuuki TV series, and the title roles in Alexander (Reign the Conqueror) and Kaiketsu Zorro.
Yamadera Kouichi (Happyaku) played many starring 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!, and of course, Ryouan in Hidamari no Ki (the last two are Orphan releases).
Yao Kazuki (Ryougaku) is best known for his lead role as Dark Schneider in Bastard!!, the love rival Sofue in Boyfriend, and his recurring role as Franky in One Piece. He also played Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, an Orphan release.
Kobayashi Kiyoshi (Sekai) is best known for playing Jigen in the Lupin the Third TV shows and specials since the inception of the franchise.
Anzai Masahiro (Chaashuu) debuted in White Fang (an Orphan release). He has had numerous featured roles since, including Cherenkov in Starship Troopers, also an Orphan release.
Konto Yamaguchi-kun (Oyabun) is a comedian by trade. Wild 7 is his only anime credit.
Genda Tesshou (Hebopi) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman, "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors, as well as Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate, and Dog McCoy in Dallos, all Orphan releases.

Other featured roles include:

Terada Minori (Kusanami, supervising captain of the Wild 7) played the villain Muska in Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky.
Nishimura Tomomichi (Ooiwa, the villain of episode one) appeared in Aoki Honoo, Bremen 4, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Fumoon, Starship Troopers, and Zetsuai: 1989, all Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing recently in Onihei, Fune wo Amu, and Koi wa Ameagari no You ni.
Yanaka Hiroshi (Kuromatsu, the villain of episode two) is playing Shiba in the current revival of Piano and Gorou in the Free! franchise. He played Yuurakutei in Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinji and appeared in Noragami, Nanbaka, Terraformars, and Hidamari no Ki, the last an Orphan release.

The director, Egami Kiyoshi, has done other fine action series, including City Hunter '91 and Weiss Kreuz.

Sunachan translated the show. M74 timed it. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. M74 encoded from some truly terrible DVDs. The source is a mess of blended frames and interlacing. As a result, the typesetting ranged from annoying to impossible. In some places, I've had to resort to the {\an8}Sign: methodology. Please be kind.

So if you like special police death-squads on the rampage against satanic criminals running amok, Wild 7 is probably your shot of rotgut. 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.

There's a saying: "Once in happenstance; twice is coincidence; three times is enemy action". If that's true, then Something's Going On, because the Blu-ray release of Techno Police 21C is the third time a high-definition source has appeared just after Orphan released a version based on laserdiscs (the other two were the Kindaichi movies).

Of course, I'm actually thrilled when one of our analog projects gets a digital release, whether it's a web stream, a DVD, or a Blu-ray. VHS tapes and laserdiscs both have finite lifetimes. Physically copying a VHS tape, if even possible these days, always results in degradation. Physically copying a laserdisc is impossible. A digital source, on the other hand, can be dispersed and preserved in multiple locations, providing better guarantees of longevity.

In past blogs, I've speculated on why anime properties are allowed to rot on analog media. Tangled intellectual property rights are one reason; loss of film masters is another. But the biggest reason, of course, is that remastering old anime costs money, and there is little prospect for most of the analog projects that Orphan has worked on making money in digital form. When a digital release happens, there's usually a fairly obvious reason. Kindaichi is a beloved detective series; Blazing Transfer Student is considered a classic of its kind; etc.

And that brings me to Techno Police 21C. I'm was a bit baffled that a Japanese company went to the expense of creating a Blu-ray release, complete with Blader action figure:

Techno Police 21C is not exactly well known, and it's certainly not considered a classic. The director's resume is very thin. There doesn't appear to be a compelling reason for a Blu-ray release, but then I saw it was from Bandai, the toy (and media) company. So here's a new one: a Blu-ray release to promote an action figure.

I won't go over the specifics of Techno Police 21C here; see the blog entry about the laserdisc release for details. It's a fun ride, and the Blu-ray certainly looks better than the laserdisc. The script is little changed from the previous version. The timing has been shifted and adjusted, the signs have been tweaked to match the Blu-ray's colors and dimensions, and a few lines have been fixed because of the wider screen. Jarly, a new team member, bought the Blu-ray and did the encode, which is an all-singing, all-dancing 1080p FLAC extravaganza. After I did the initial shifting, ninjacloud did the fine timing. I did all the typesetting and dialog adjustments, as well as the release check, so you can blame me for any errors.

You can get the Blu-ray release of Techno Police 21C from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's... Ultra Nyan! Yes, Orphan Fansubs once again delves into its feline obsession to bring you the first of two OVAs about Ultra Nyan, the interstellar cat come to Earth from planet Felis to spread a message of interspecies peace and harmony. First up is 1997's Ultra Nyan: Hoshizora kara Maiorita Fushigi Neko (Ultra Nyan: The Mysterious Cat that Descended from the Starry Sky, or something like that). It's labeled a movie, even though it's only 30 minutes long, because it was released theatrically, as part of a twin bill with Ultraman Zeas 2 Superman Great War: Light and Shadow.

Ultra Nyan is a kodomo (all ages) tale about a young girl named Haruka and the cats in her neighborhood: the Professor, an elderly gray cat; Momo, a lovely Persian; Anko, a plump calico mama-cat with two kittens, and Kosuke, a greenish Siamese. Haruka doesn't have a cat, because she lives in an apartment complex that forbids them. One day, she finds a stray and names it Nyan (the Japanese onomatopoeia for a cat's meow).

Little does she know that her stray is actually Ultra Nyan, who has come from outer space with mysterious powers to share happiness with Earth... well, with Earth's cats, actually. Together with her friends and the town's cats, Haruka and Ultra Nyan must foil the plans of a couple of dastardly cat-nappers. Everything ends happily, of course, as G-rated cartoons generally do.

The voice cast includes:

Kamei Yoshiko (Nyan) is probably best known for playing the title role inRerere no Tensai Bakabon and Gema in the Di Gi Charat franchise. She has had featured roles in Magical Meow Meow Taruto and Tiger and Bunny.
Oshitani Mei (Haruka) appeared in only a few other shows, including Junkers Come Here.
The late Kondou Reiko (Kosuke) also had relatively few credits, including Lupin III Part 3 and Ninku. She died in 2007.
The late Kitamura Koichi (Professor) played Paolon, the intelligent spaceship in Hi-Speed Jecy, and appeared in Hidamari no Ki and Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou; all are Orphan releases. He also died in 2007.
Sadaoka Sayuri (Anko) appeared in many shows, including Wolf's Rain, Detective Conan, Tiger and Bunny, Kuroshitsuji, and Usagi Drop.
Hikami Kyoko (Momo) played the title role in Hello Kitty, the female lead in Sakura Diaries, and one of the three leads in Wedding Peach. She also played Cyberdoll Sara in Hand Maid Mai, one of Orphan's first releases.

The director, Tokita Hiroko, has numerous other directing credits, including Hiatari Ryouko, Yawara!, Miracle Girls, Mizuiro Jidai, and Yami no Mitsui.

This project was a bit of a bluebird, triggered by finding second-hand media for both Ultra Nyan movies on Yahoo Auctions. For this first one, though, we're using ARR's release as a base while we wait for a laserdisc of the show to be shipped from Japan. Sunachan checked and corrected ARR's translation, ninjacat (well, ninjacloud) fixed up the timing, I edited and typeset, and VigorousJammer and new staffer Topper3000 did QC. We'll release a second version when Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions receives and encodes the laserdisc.

So here's a lightweight bonbon for all the cat fanciers in Orphan's audience (and on its staff). You can get Ultra Nyan: Hoshizora kara Maiorita Fushigi Neko from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Nyan, Haruka, and the whole human and feline gang return for a second adventure in 1998's Ultra Nyan 2: Happy Daisakuse (Ultra Nyan 2: Great Happy Operation or Happy Battle). Like the first Ultra Nyan, this is technically a movie, because it was shown on a twin-bill with yet another Ultraman movie, Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna Light Star Warriors. And in a somewhat surprising development, this installment is wittier (and better) than the first.

This time around, Nyan, Momo, Anko, Kosuke, and the Professor are challenged for control of their territory by a flock of angry crows, led by boss crow Nobunaga.

The crows have been driven from the countryside by habitat loss and moved to the city, where Nobunaga has become enamored of discarded lunches from Haruka's cram school. However, he becomes more and more irritable and itchy, just as the students at the school start suffering from allergies, eczema, and other ailments. He leads his crows into battle against the cats, and their aerial attacks are difficult to withstand, even though the local cats get help from Ryuuji the wandering minstrel cat, who is the newly returned father of Anko's kittens, and even from some friendly Dobermans.

It turns out that in pursuit of "building brains from the inside," the cram school has been adding more than a hundred "nutrients" (i.e., chemicals) to its lunches, afflicting humans and crows alike with allergic reactions. Fortunately, Haruka decides to emulate Nyan and go on a mostly fish diet; this cures her. With the help of a violence-averse crow named Goemon, Ultra Nyan, Haruka, and friends must find a way to cure the crows of their allergies and prevent the outbreak of an interspecies war. Not surprisingly, it ends well, but it's unusual to see a kodomo anime that mentions both habitat destruction and food adulteration.

The core cast is unchanged, but this episode has at least one distinguished newcomer:

Ootsuki Akio (Nobunaga) starred as Black Jack in all of the Black Jack properties. He played the title roles in Ambassador Magma, Blade, and Montana Jones, Gozo in the Aika franchise, Batou in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, the villain All for One in Boku no Hero Academia, and Nyanko Big in one memorable episode of Tada Never Falls in Love. He played George in Condition Green and the narrator in Fire Emblem, both Orphan releases. He is currently appearing in both Golden Kamuy and Karakuri Circus.
The late Naya Rokurou (Ryuuji) had featured roles in Batman: Gotham Knight, Eureka Seven AO, Fake, and Zatch Bell. He played Masato in Neko Neko Fantasia, an Orphan release. He died in 2014.
Bandou Nyoki (Goemon) has had numerous features roles, including Captain Tsubasa, Madlax, Monster, and Rescue Wings. His most recent appearance was in the fifth Natsume Yuujinchou series.
Kouda Naoko (Ramnmaru, Nobunaga's right hand crow) had featured roles in Hidamari no Ki, an Orphan release, Monster, and Shigofumi.

Sunachan translated the show, and ninjacloud timed it. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and Topper3000 QCed. banandoyouwanna encoded from an R2J DVD. (It's a bit big, but I'll rail about the topic of encode bloat some other time.) It's odd that Ultra Nyan 2 was released on DVD but Ultra Nyan, released only a year earlier, was not.

You can get Ultra Nyan 2 from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

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 Nemurai! (July)
Kiss wa Me ni Shite (August)
A-Girl(September)

Orphan released a finished version of A-Girl in December, 2017, after three tries.

As I noted in my blog on A-Girl, the Margaret OVAs were not very successful from a commercial viewpoint, and none of the OVAs were released on laserdisc, let alone in digital form. Nonetheless, after the problems finding a decent raw for A-Girl, the team began trying to collect raws for all the other OVAs. ARR had done some of them, but their encodes were often missing one channel of audio. After establishing a VHS ripping capability in Japan, we were able to obtain used tapes from the series. We'll be releasing more of the OVAs, starting with Kiss wa Me ni Shite (Kiss Me on My Eye).

Perhaps one reason for the series lack of success is that the OVAs are very standard shoujo fare, even for the time. In Kiss wa Me ni Shite, high school student Morisato Ibuki has a startling dream about kissing a prince on a white horse.

The next day, the prince from her dream, Ebisu Naoto, shows up as a transfer student at her school and a guest at her house. He had indeed kissed her, in an attempt to wake her up in the morning, although he claims that she kissed him. Ibuki is smitten with Naoto, but he seems to have other commitments, to American football and to a mysterious girl called Kawahara Izumi. Meanwhile, Nitta, a shy boy in Ibuki's class, has a crush on her. Will true love eventually find a way?

The voice cast includes some very distinguished seiyuu:

Hayashibara Megumi (Ibuki) was arguably the most famous seiyuu of the 1990s. She's 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.
Seki Toshihiko (Naoto) was one of theleading male seiyuu in this period. He played 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, and the unnamed protagonist of Oruorane the Cat Player, 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.
Ootani Ikue (Ibuki's friend Sumire) stars as Pikachu in the Japanese, English, Spanish, and German versions of the Pokemon shows. She also plays Mitsuhiko in the Detective Conan franchise and Tony Tony Chopper in the One Piece franchise. She appeared as Ann in Next Senki Ehrgeiz and Misono in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2, both Orphan releases.
Koyasu Takehito (Nitta) is reputed to be the most prolific voice actor currently active, with more than 365 roles under his belt. He played Doujima Gin in Shokugeki no Souma, Thirteen in Grimoire of Zero, Dio in Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, the title role in Master of Mosquitron, and Fool in Elegant Yokai Apartment Life. He starred as Izumi in Zetsuai and Bronze and appeared in Yamato 2520 and Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases.
Satou Ai (Ibuki's mother) 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, and Guyver: Out of Control. Other roles include Kristin Adams in Yawara! and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind, an Orphan release.

The two leads also also starred in the 1991 OVA Izumo, an Orphan release. The director, Ookubo Tomihiko, has mostly done storyboarding and key animation. The songs, by a group called The 5 TEARDROPS, are bouncy, idiosyncratic, and fun.

One translation note. The show is sometimes referred to as Kiss wa Hitomi ni Shite, because the kanji 瞳 (eye) in the title is usually rendered as hitomi, and 目 is used for me. However, me is an alternate, somewhat rare reading for 瞳. The manga cover includes the furigana め (me), indicating that Kiss wa Me ni Shite is the correct reading.

Sunachan translated the show as part of a break between more serious assignments. (She noted, "Shoujo is not complicated.") M74 timed and encoded the raw. I edited and typeset, and bananadoyouwanna styled the songs. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. gamnark ripped the VHS tape, which was purchased second-hand in Japan.

There's nothing groundbreaking about Kiss wa Me ni Shite, even for its day, but it's not a disgrace either. If you like shoujo, you should give it a try. You can find it at the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. And stay tuned for more shoujo releases.

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

Orphan has released A-Girl and Kisa wa Me ni Shite. Now, our shoujo spree continues with POPS.

As with the others in the series, POPS has a rather standard shoujo plot. Harada Kusuko is a high school girl with a secret crush on the class playboy, Mishima Takeshi.

After breaking up with his most recent girlfriend, Mishima asks Kusuko to be his date for the class trip to Kyoto. She's over the moon, but in fact, Mishima is hung up on Shouko, his middle school teacher. Despite the age gap (and general inappropriateness of the relationship), Mishima still sees Shouko, whose marriage is disintegrating. His friend and loyal wingman, Kotaro, openly disapproves of this connection. As the emotional tensions mount, Mishima becomes involved in fights with other boys, and eventually, he's expelled from school. Feeling like he's been a complete jerk, Mishima breaks up with Kusuko and drops out of her life. Will true love find a way?

If the plot sounds familiar, it should - it has almost the same structure as Kiss wa Me ni Shite: the besotted heroine, the handsome protagonist guarding his secrets, his older love interest, and the other boy, perhaps secretly in love with the heroine. Come to think of it, A-Girl had a similar story. Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is... enemy action? rote storytelling? You be the judge.

The seiyuu in POPS are less well known that the ones in Kiss wa Me ni Shite.

Yuuki Nae (Kusuko) has only one other anime credit besides POPS.
Miyazaki Issei (Mishima) made his debut as Gen in the Barefoot Gen movies. He had featured roles in Azuki-chan, Bomber Man & Bidaman Bakugaiden, and X the Movie.
Kobayashi Hidetoshi (Kotaro) only appeared in POPS.
Takamori Yoshino (Shouko) played the arch oujo-sama Sayaka in Yawara! and
the twin roles of Juliet Douglas and Sloth in Full Metal Alchemist. She also appeared in the What's Michael? OVAs and Yousei Ou, all Orphan releases.

The director, Asaka Morio, has done many famous shows, including Cardcaptor Sakura and its recent reboot, Galaxy Angel, Gunslinger Girl, Yawara! Atlanta Special, Nana, Chihayafuru and its sequel, and Ore Monogatari.

The staff credits for POPS are the same as for Kiss wa Me ni Shite. Sunachan translated, M74 timed, I edited and typeset, BeeBee and Nemesis QCed, and M74 encoded gamnark's VHS tape rip.

As usual, you can get POPS from the usual torrent site or IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. We have at least one more Margaret OVA in the works, so you're not out of the woods yet.

This blog has mostly been descriptive, providing introductions to Orphan's releases. The thought and opinion pieces that peppered the early years of the blog have by and large disappeared. It's time to tick some people off again, so here's a column on encode bloat.

Orphan's offerings have been growing in size lately. Techno Police 21C (BD 1080p) was 6GB in size. Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo movie 1 (web 720p) was also 6GB in size. The Usagi Drop live action movie (BD 720p) was almost 8GB in size. This is a far cry from the ~300MB for Orphan's typical 30 minute 480p DVD or laserdisc encode.

However, the size of our encodes pales in comparison to what I see elsewhere. On BakaBT, the first Urusei Yatsura movie (BD 1080p) comes in at 10.5GB. The first two Tenchi Muyo movies (BD 1080p) come in at 14.5GB and 15.7GB. The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl (BD 1080p) comes in at 12.4GB. On nyaa, Redline (BD 1080p) came in at 16.2GB. And on and on.

Back in 2011, when Hi10P encoding was just coming in, and encoders were again claiming it would allow for superior quality at reduced file sizes, I predicted that any reductions in file size would be short-lived, and file sizes would continue to rise inexorably. So it has proved. Partly this is driven by the demise of 720p/AAC as an intermediate encoding point. These days, encoders want to do everything at 1080p with FLAC audio, even for TV broadcasts, whether justified or not (it usually isn't). But mostly this is driven by the use of higher bit rates in the name of preserving detail. Every grain must be reproduced, or some other encoder will release an allegedly better (and certainly bigger) encode.

I was baffled by this seven years ago, and I'm baffled by it now. To me, film grain is usually a defect of bad or aging film stock. I'm pretty sure that the original animators didn't have film grain in their cels and drawings, and they certainly don't in today's digital files (with rare exceptions, like the paper effect in this year's Angolmois). So when an encoder tells me that the bit rate must be higher to preserve the grain, I feel they're throwing bits at preserving the grime of time. We restore paintings (and films) for a reason - to remove the grime and let the original shine through.

I recognize that others - including several of the encoders in Orphan - disagree, and as a result, some of Orphan's encodes are rather large. But I have a hard and fast rule - no single Orphan file can be bigger than a DVD9 (7.8GB). That's why there's no 1080p version of the Usagi Drop live action movie. The 720p version is 7.8GB; a 1080p would be around 15GB - not happening.

My rule is as baffling to others as the size of present encodes is to me. Optical media are dead, they say. Just store those mammoth files on hard drives! That's fine for a small number of individual files, but with an anime collection exceeding 16TB (my nick is Collectr for a reason), a file server of requisite capacity is neither cheap nor reliable. Optical discs will last out my lifetime, and they don't require RAID6, system management, software updates, protection from viruses, or power.

I don't expect this diatribe to hold back the rising tide of big encodes. What I would like to see is a return of quality 720p/AAC encodes. I don't watch anime on a big screen TV; I watch it on my computer monitor and listen to it through my computer speakers. 720p is, for me, the sweet spot for comfortable viewing. AAC is just as good as FLAC for the tiny speakers nestled behind my monitor (or the reference monitors in my stereo system, for that matter). A few encoders (Atsui, DmonHiro) still work at 720p. Almost everyone else has moved up. More is better, right? Well, not always.

Of course, the next wave will probably be 4K encodes with 5.1 or 7.1 FLAC audio, at even bigger file sizes. So I'll be down at the shore, railing against the rising tide, for a loooong time.

Boyfriend is a 1992 OVA/TV special based on an award-winning shoujo manga. I'd describe it as 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 for Takatou's basketball team. 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? Does a bear shit in the woods?

Boyfriend has had a long and winding road to release. Moho Kareshi translated it almost three years ago, before going off on his odyssey to translate all 136 episodes of the Oishinbo TV series. And there it sat. First, I couldn't find a translation checker. Then, when it was checked, I couldn't find lyrics for the opening and ending songs. Finally, after a few small purchases on Yahoo Auctions, it was ready for the back end - editing, typesetting, and QC.

Boyfriend also 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 - movie 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)

At the moment, the only raw (by ARR) is for the TV special. Orphan was able to buy the "The Encounter" on VHS tape but just missed buying the laserdisc. We'd like to get the full show, so if you have access to the OVA version, either laserdisc or video tape, please let me know.

The voice cast includes many familiar names:

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.

The director, Dezaki Satoshi, is an industry veteran. Among his other projects are the Tezuka Osamu specials Marine Express and Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose, as well as Yume Kakeru Kougen (all Orphan releases), the Urusei Yatsura OVAs, Tobira wo Akete, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, and many more.

Moho Kareshi translated the dialog and the songs. laalg did translation checking. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset (a painful process because of the raw). VigorousJammer and BeeBee, a new staff member, did QC. bananadoyouwanna styled the songs. The raw is from ARR. It's terrible - marred by tracking losses, audio distortion and wobble, and pitch variation. One of the audio channels has very reduced volume and is badly distorted. (I've remixed the audio to include just the good channel.) Orphan bought a new VHS tape of Boyfriend, but it's only the first half of the OVA version. If anyone has a tape of the second half - or better yet, the laserdisc - we'll do another release. Help, please!

As I said, Boyfriend is a mid-tier show: not outstanding but watchable. It's available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

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

Orphan has released A-Girl, Kisa wa Me ni Shite, and POPS. Now, our October shoujo spree comes to a temporary end with Singles.

Singles varies the Margaret OVA template a little, by moving the setting from high school to college, but the structure is pretty much the same. Graduating senior Sakisaka Saki is secretly in love with her older sister Noriko's boyfriend, Kazame Kaname, unaware that Noriko and Kaname have broken up. Saki hopes to escape her dilemma when she goes to college, but she ends up attending the same college as Kaname. During orientation, she is recruited to Kaname's video club. He wants to film her, but so does another boy, Tachibana Daichi, who is secretly in love with her. Can the knots be untangled and true love find its true course? Well, duh...

The voice cast includes several familiar seiyuu.

Minaguchi Yuko (Saki) is best known for Yawara!, her breakout and defining role. She debuted as Kii in Greed, an Orphan release, and appeared in numerous other shows, including Dragon Ball Z and GT, Sailor Moon, and One Piece. She played Roxanne in Alexander (Reign: The Conqueror) and Felicia in Oz (another Orphan release).
Matsumoto Yasunori (Kaname) starred as Johnny in Starship Troopers and Tooru in Every Day Is Sunday, both 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. He is still active, appearing in Violet Evergarden in 2018.
Kusao Takeshi (Daichi) played the lead roles in Junk Boy and Fujilog, the title role in Babel II, Trunks in the Dragon Ball Z franchise, the teenaged Tezuka Osamu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, and the icy director Kurume Kenjirou in Smash Hit!; the last two are Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in the recently concluded Major 2nd.
Amano Yuri (Noriko) 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, and Yuko in St. Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, all Orphan releases.

The director, Abe Tsukasa, is better known as an animator.

Credits are pretty much the same as the other Margaret OVAs. Sunachan translated, M74 timed, I edited and typeset, bananadoyouwanna styled the songs, and BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. The raw is a VHS tape rip from ARR. It is missing one of the stereo audio tracks; I've remixed the audio to mono. Orphan bought a video tape of our own, but it has problems; if the encoders can extract a usable raw, we'll do another release.

So at the two-thirds point in the Margaret OVAs, we'll pause for a while. Sunachan has moved on to more interesting projects (sports anime!), and the team is a bit shoujo-ed out. Meanwhile, you can get Singles from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Greed

Queen Millennia TV

Sangokushi 2 (1986)

Yume Kakeru Kougen

Alice in Cyberland

Hidamari no Ki, Part 4

Yawara Atlanta Special (HD)

Hidamari no Ki (Batch)

Oishinbo Special: Japan-America Rice War

Okane ga Nai!

Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call

Wild 7

Techno Police 21C (Blu-ray)

Ultra Nyan: Hoshizora kara Maiorita Fushigi Neko

Ultra Nyan 2: Happy Daisakuse

Kiss wa Me ni Shite

POPS

Bloat

Boyfriend

Singles