Orphan is delighted to release the first installment of Tezuka Osamu's 1993 OVAs, Magma Taishi (Ambassador Magma). We'll be doing a second mini-batch of four, and a final mini-batch of five, episodes to complete the series. Magma Taishi is more an homage than an actual Tezuka Osamu show; he had passed away by 1993. It uses his md-1960s manga and tokustatsu (live-action special effects) TV show as jumping off points for a new story, utilizing more or less the same characters. It preserves the "boys adventure" flavor of the original while adding more modern and cynical elements, such as government conspiracies. This is Orphan's first new Tezuka Osamu project since finishing Tales from the Old Testament more than two years ago.
Magma Taishi posits an ancient conflict between Goa, evil Emperor of the Cosmos, and the spirit of the Earth (confusingly called Earth), over the fate of our planet.
To defeat Goa, Earth-the-spirit creates a giant robot/rocket man called Magma.
After a titanic struggle, Magma shatters Goa's body, and the precursors of the Atsuka clan seal way both Goa's soul and Magma's body. Fast forward a few zillion years.
In the present, Goa's minions have collected the scattered fragments of his former body, and they intend to retrieve his soul from where it was sealed away. Asuka Fumiaki, descendant of the clan of sealers, calls a journalist friend, Murakami Atsushi, to warn that Goa's return is imminent. Atsushi rushes to his friend's aid, only to find Fumiaki killed by aliens and his daughter, Miki, nearly unconscious. Goa's spirit reunites with his former body and revives, appearing as an apparition to Miki and to Atsushi's son Mamoru.
He sends an alien disguised as Fumiaki (a "pseudo-human"; they're really tentacled monsters) to kidnap Miki. She escapes, and her deceased father's spirit informs her of her purpose: to awaken Magma. Miki sacrifices herself to revive Magma, and the burden of fighting Goa falls on Mamoru (whose name means "protect" in Japanese). But with Goa's minions lurking everywhere,
and elements of Japanese Intelligence in league with the aliens (thereby bringing about the Japanese economic miracle), how can Mamoru hope to fight back, even with Magma's help?
The voice cast includes:
- Ohtsuka Akio (Magma) played the title roles in most of the Black Jack properties, Magma Taishi, Blade, and Montana Jones. He also played 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 Gale in Dragon Slayer Eiyuu Densetsu, Kenneth Guildford in Nana Toshi Monogatari, George in Condition Green, the narrator in Fire Emblem, Nobunaga the boss crow in Ultra Nyan 2, Zilu in Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den, and Black Jack in Tezuka Osamu Disappears, all Orphan releases.
- Kikuchi Masami (Murakami Mamoru) starred as the male leads in the Tenchi Muyo, Aa! Megami-sama!, and Comic Party franchises. He played Iwayma Genzaburo in Princess Army, Terayama Suekichi in Asatte Dance, Makoto in Doukyuusei 2, Yukino Hiro in Houkago no Tinker Bell, and Taira no Kiyomori the younger in Genji, Part 1, and he appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou, all Orphan releases. His "Magma Taishiiiii!" at the end of each preview is unmistakable.
- Fukami Rika (Murakami Tomoko, Mol) played Spoor in the Crest of the Stars franchise, Myung Fang in Macross Plus, and Sailor Venus in the Sailor Moon franchise. She played Kuni in Tobira no Akete and Miss Toshiko in Raiyantsuuri no Uta and appeared in Majo demo Stead, and Ear of the Golden Dragon, all Orphan releases.
- Kosugi Jurouta (Murakami Atsushi) played Mochizuki Rokurou in the Sanada 10 special, Utsubushi in Amatsuki, Aizman in Bavi Stock, Takanesawa in Hiatari Ryouko, Daisuke in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Gisuke in Shadow, Dr. Bayfam in Joker, and a bit part in Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases, as well as Krest in Ariel, Fernand in Gankuutsou, Hertz in Marie and Gali, and Touji in Ninku.
- Ishida Akira (Gam, son of Magma and Mol) 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 Abe no Yasuaki in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de: Hachyoushou, Gaara in the Naruto franchise, Shinichi in Nana, Athrun Zala in the Gundam Seed Destiny properties, Cho Hokkai in the Saiyuki 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, Gordon in Fire Emblem, Takumi in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Abe no Yasutsugu in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, and Ridvan in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3, all Orphan releases.
- Miyauchi Kouhei (Earth) played Aaron in Dragon Slayer Eiyuu Densetu, Jack Goldman in Condition Green, King Kaiser in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Eddie in Nozomi Witches, Kogorou Shirachi in Stop!! Hibari-kun, the grandfather in Tsuki ga Noboru made ni, the judge in A Penguin's Memories, and Brigadier Hamilton in Techno Police 21C, and he appeared in the first two Sangokushi movies, all Orphan releases. He had a recurring role as Kame Sennin in the Dragon Ball franchise and played the mayor of Birdos in Watt Poe.
- Oohira Tooru (Goa) starred as Moguro Fuzuko in The Laughing Salesman! 'Nuff said!
- Sasaoka Shigezou (Jakov, Goa's sidekick) played the title role in God Mazinger, King Aleph in Magical Hat, and the villain Mr. X in Scoopers. He appeared in Dragon Slayer Eiyuu Densetsu, Sanctuary, Sugata Sanshiro, and Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, all Orphan releases.
- Takagi Wataru (Sekita Junya, Atsushi's assistant) played the title role in Great Teacher Onizuka, Nezumi in the 1996 and 2007 versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou, his namesake, as well as other recurring roles, in the Detective Conan franchise, old man Gorou in the recent Godzilla S.P., and Takeshi in Kakyuusei (1995), an Orphan release.
- Nakamura Hidetoshi (Asuka Fumiaki) appeared in Star Dust, Ai no Kusabi,Nana Toshi Monogatari, and Exper Zenon, all Orphan releases.
- Itou Miki (Asuka Miki) played Annie in Adachigahara, young Yamataro in Yamataro Comes Back, Rie in Chameleon, Colon in Cool Cool Bye, Yuumi in Every Day Is Sunday, and an Innocent in Greed, all Orphan releases. She also played Fujimura Taiga in the Fate franchise, Eiko "A-ko" Magami in the Project A-ko franchise, and appeared in most of the Happy Science movies.
- Kanao Tetsuo (Kunisaki, Deputy Director of National Intelligence) played Daishi in Concrete Revolutio, Kokuyo in Dr. Stone, Chad in Gangsta., Kouhei in The Great Passage, and Yamazaki in Ghost Talker's Daydream.
- Inaba Minoru (Kuwabara, an intelligence agent) appeared in Izumo, Hiatari Ryouko, Majo demo Steady, Adachigahara, and Sangokushi 2, all Orphan releases. He played Bart Bagley in The Faraway Paladin, Tatsuma in The Morose Mononokean, Dr Garaki in My Hero Academia, and Ootsuka in Tetsujin 28.
Oohira Tooru's villainous posturing as Goa is worth the price of admission alone. I can imagine him as Captain Hook in Peter Pan, twirling his mustache and uttering his final line: "Pan, words cannot express me utter contempt for you."
The director, Uedo Hidehito, also directed Every Day Is Sunday, H2, A.D. Police, and the Fuuma no Kojirou OVAs. The OP is a typical overwrought ballad, but the ED is a throwback march, song by a massed male chorus and illustrated with shots from the original manga.
This series has been on my wish list basically forever, but Orphan's translators were unable to help. Eventually, I got purpleparrotkin to translate the first four episode (Yume did the rest of the series). ImAWasteOfHair timed. I edited and typeset; the typesetting is minimal. ImAWasteOfHair and Uchuu QCed. The raws were encoded from R2J DVDs by an anonymous friend. This is a dual-audio release; there's a signs only track to accompany the English dub. In the dub, the OP and ED are wordless.
Magma Taishi is definitely a shounen adventure. Normally, it would be outside my wheelhouse, but... it's Tezuka Osamu. So I'm prepared to forgive its trespasses and to enjoy its often preposterous antics. You can get these four episodes from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.