The Sound of Waves

Seishun Anime Zenshuu (translated as Animated Classics of Japanese Literature for its English release) is a 1986 anthology series that retold well-known stories from modern Japanese literature. It's very much in the mold of its contemporaries, the World Masterpiece Theater series. Most of the 34 episodes were standalone, although there were a few two- and three-parters. The show was licensed by Central Park Media, but the English version was left incomplete when CPM went bankrupt. Only twelve episodes were released on DVD:

• Episode 1: The Izu Dancer by Kawabata Yasunari. 
• Episodes 2,3: The Sound of Waves by Mishima Yukio.
• Episodes 7,8: Botchan by Souseki Natsume.
• Episode 10: The Dancing Girl by Ougai Mori.
• Episode 14: Growing Up by Higuchi Ichiyou.
• Episode 16: Kaidan: The Song of Hoichi by Lafcadio Heran.
• Episode 20: Season of the Sun by Ishihara Shintarou.
• Episodes 25,26: The Harp of Burma by Takeyama Michio.
• Episode S1 (33): Student Days by Kume Masao.

The second story is a two-parter, The Sound of Waves. It's based on a 1954 novel by Mishima Yukio. Like The Izu Dancer, it's very popular and has been filmed at least five times. The protagonist, Kubo Shinji, is a young fisherman, living at home with his mother and his younger brother Ryuji. He's been working on Oyama Jukichi's boat since his father's death in the war.

He meets and falls in love with Hatsue, the daughter of Miyata Terukichi, a wealthy ship owner, and the feeling is mutual. 

However, Chiyoko, daughter of the local lighthouse keeper, is jealous and spreads false rumors that Shinji and Hatsue are sleeping together.

This prompts sneaky local Kawamoto Yasuo to try to take advantage of the opening by wooing (raping) Hatsue, but she wards him off.

Hatsue's father Terukichi to forbid Hatsue from seeing Shinji, but he has a plan. He sets up a secret competition between Shinji and Yasuo to determine which is the more suitable husband for Hatsue. 

No points for guessing who wins.

The voice cast includes:

• Koyama Mami (Miyata Hatsue) starred as the title character in the Minky Momo franchise, Paris no Isabelle, Princess Himetsu, and Nils no Fushigi na Tabi. She played Kei in Akira, Arale in Dr. Slump, Lunch in Dragon Ball, and Mendou Ryouko in Urusei Yatsura. She also played the title role in Maris the Choujo, Mimiru in Bander Book, and the female lead in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Gokuu, all Orphan releases.
• Shimada Bin (Kubo Shinji) played Ken Nakajima in the You're Under Arrest franchise and numerous other roles, as well as Konaki Jijii and Wally Wall in the most recent version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. He appeared in Hoshizora no Violin, Bride of Deimos, Okama Report, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Fukyukayama Gekijou, Tomoe's Run!, Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, Princess Army, and Sangokushi, all Orphan releases.
• Koiso Katsuya (Kubo Hiroshi) was a TV/film actor.
• Hiroshi Masuoka (Oyama Jukichi) played Taro in Ashita no Joe, Ushigara in Haikara-san ga Tooru, Fuguta Masuo in Sazae-san for 41 years (!), Uncle Jam in Soreike! Anpanman, and King in Magical Princess Minky Momo. He appeared in Tokimeki Tonight, Fumoon, Bremen 4, Nine, and Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I am Son Gokuu, all Orphan releases.
• Nakao Ryusei (Kawamoto Yasuo) played the lead in Igano Kabamaru, King Falke in ACCA, Hephaestion in Alexander's Decision, and Freeza/Cooler in Dragon Ball. He also played Chou of Benten in Usagi-chan de Cue!, Roger Rogers in Plastic Little, Akio in Chameleon, Peat Cullen in AWOL Compression Remix, and Puu in Captain Bal, all Orphan releases.
• Inaba Minoru (Takashima lighthouse keeper) played Neptune in One Piece Log: Fish Man Island Saga, Dr. Garaki in Boku no Hero Academia, Bart Bagley in The Faraway Paladin, Tatsuma in The Morose Mononokean, Ham in Tezuka Osamu's In the Beginning: Stories from the Old Testament, Miyoshi Tatsuje in Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu, and the High Priest in Izumo (1991), among numerous featured roles. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Shouji Miyoko (Lightkeeper's wife had featured roles in Chihayafuru, NANA, and The Three Musketeers.
• Midori Junko (Kubo Tomi, Shinji's mother) played Sara in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, an Orphan release.
• Fujimoto Yuzuru (Miyata Terukichi) played Hiyoshi in both reasons of Moyashimon. He voiced the nameless Aoba gang boss in Kasei Yakyoku, the nameless police chief in Twinkle Nora Rock Me, and Noah in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, all Orphan releses.
• Tatsuta Naoki (Hamada Ryuji) played Oolong in the Dragonball franchise, the Cat Bus in My Neighbor Totoro, and Beta in New Dream Hunter Rem. He appeared in every GeGeGe no Kitarou series since 1985 and in Amon Saga, One Pound Gospel, and Wolf Guy, all Orphan releases. 
• Iizuka Shouzou (Captain) appeared in Yamato 2025, the What's Michael? OVAs, Neko no Midori, Rain Boy, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases. He played Lestrade in Sherlock Hound, Jumba in the Stitch! franchise, the wizard in The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz, and Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland.

The director, Ueda Hidehito, also directed all of the original Time Bokkan series.

The original subtitles are from CPM's R1 release. Perevodildo translation checked. ninjacloud fixed the miserable original timing. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and Nemesis QCed. The encoder for the series wishes to remain anonymous. CPM's mastering includes hardsubbed translations for some of the Japanese credits. They are incorrectly timed and don't line up with the Japanese credits, but as hardsubs, they can't be fixed.

The translation is mostly sound, but it's off in a few places. For example, in part 1, "During the war, this was a military firing base. They used to gauge the flight path of the cannonballs." World War II artillery pieces didn't fire cannonballs, they fired shells.

The Sound of Waves is a straightforward coming of age story, and the ending is happy, unlike many of stores in this series. It has a small amount of nudity, not atypical for an 80s OVA.

(The strategic placement of the branch in this shot and following ones reminds me of the ending skit in Austin Powers.) You can get the show from the usual torrent site.

P.S. Today is the anniversary of the passing of our late colleague, CP, QC extraordinaire for many groups. Friend, we miss you.

 

It Rained Fire

Orphan has already released an anime movie about the firebombing of Japanese cities, 2005's Ashita Genki ni Naare! Although that film began with the firebombing of Tokyo, it was really about the conditions that prevailed in postwar Japan, and the terrible plight of orphans and war victims. This release is an earlier film, 1988's Hi no Ame ga Furu (It Rained Fire, sometimes translated as Rain of Fire). It is a more unflinching look at the firebombing itself, focusing on Fukuoka, a mid-sized city on the northern shore of Kyushu.

This movie is exceedingly rare. Before this release, only tiny, undersized raws, derived from ancient VHS rips, had been available. This release uses a 16mm print of the movie. Kineko Video purchased the print and scanned it, in full HD. As a well-used print, it's full of scratches and defects, but it has far more detail than any previous raw. This is the first time the film can really be seen.

It Rained Fire starts with a look at everyday life in Fukuoa the early summer of 1945. Air raids have been happening for months, but Fukuoka seems too insignificant to justify the enemy's attention. Sixth graders Nozawa Yuji and Fujii Nobuo are friends. They and their coterie go to school, play at soldiers, and grumble about the cancellation of the traditional Hakata Gion Yamakasa festival. 

Yuji's father makes Hakata dolls, Fukuoka's traditional clay figures, but the authorities want him to work in a munitions factory. 

Yuji and his older brother Yuichiro, inspired by wartime propaganda and arms drills at school, want to join the military.

Into their everyday lives comes a cold splash of reality in the form of Shinagawa Yoriko, a sixth grader evacuated from Tokyo after the great firebombings of March, 1945.

She tells the boys that their bravado and the mindless propaganda about a "divine wind" are no match for the horror of the new American weapons.

Infuriated, they challenge her to an arm-wrestling duel, which she wins.

In spite of himself, Yuji is impressed and a bit smitten. 

When Nobuo's home is torn down to create a fire lane, and he must evacuate to the countryside, Yuji finds himself drawing closer to Yoriko.

He shares viewing spots of the city and the coast. But the fiery setting sun reminds Yoriko of the terrors of the firebombing.

And then, on June 19, 1945, the bombers arrive for real.

Unlike many movies about the war that skip quickly through destruction and focus on the aftermath, It Rained Fire shows the bombing for a full 20 minutes. It's terrifying.

There's no place of safety. Napalm is jellied gasoline, and it flows fire into shelters and basements that would work against high explosives. 

More than 20% of the city is destroyed and almost a thousand people killed. Yuji and Yoriko survive, by the skin of their teeth.

A few translation notes:

• "Come on! This is the temple of Kushida-sama!" Kushida is the guardian deity of Fukuoka.
• "It's been protected by the divine wind  since ancient times." Fukuoka was directly in the path of 13th century Mongol invasion, after Tsushima.
• "They've designated the Fifteenth Bank building as the evacuation site for our district." According to Wikipedia, the basement of the former Juugo Bank Fukuoka branch... which served as an evacuation shelter, was blocked by a power outage, trapping evacuees inside. Furthermore, the intense heat from the air raid caused water pipes to burst, causing boiling water to flow into the basement, resulting in the deaths of 62 people.
• "If all of you, fully prepared to die, become united in your will like a ball of fire..." The slogan and song of the National Spiritual Mobilization Movement of the Empire of Japan. 
• "And Dad's happi coat was just the right size for me." 
• Statue at 21:47 and later at 1:07:00 inscribed "Surrender of the enemy nation." This is the Hakozakigu Shrine.

Except for Mayumi Shou, playing Tokyo girl Yoriko, most of the seiyuu were from Fukuoka city or prefecture or surrounding prefectures. Some were recruited specially for this project and had no other anime credits.

• Shou Mayumi (Shinagawa Yoriko) played Kaizu Misao, Ryuuichi's little sister, in Aoki Honoo, Minako in Bride of Deimos, Ayako in Kimami ni Idol, Gannet in Hoshi Neko Full House, Peggy in A Penguin's Memories, Yuko Kurita in the Oishinbo movie-length specials, and Baby Boar in Katte ni Shirokuma, all Orphan releases.
• Shu Kawaguchi (Nozawa Yuji) had no other anime roles.
• Kaori Mineo (Fujii Nobuo) had no other anime roles.
• Ohara Ken (Nozawa Yuichiro, Yuji's older brother) had no other anime roles.
• Asou Miyoko (Nozawa Mitsuko, Yuji's mother) played Pinako Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist (both series), Machiko's aunt in Miss Machiko, Cologne in Ranma 1/2,  Fune Isono in Sazae-san through 2015, and the store owner in Yamatarou Comes Back, an Orphan release.
• Yara Yusaku (Matsuo Sensei) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Tooyamazakura Uchuuchou: Yatsu no Na wa Gold, Kimu no Juujika, Kimama ni Idol, Hayou no Tsurugi, Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, the second Sangokushi movie, Heavy, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
• Sawada Toshiko (Matsuo Yuki) has played teachers, mothers, or grandmothers in numerous shows, including Maison Ikkoku,The Big O, Usagi Drop, the Magi franchise, Hinako Note, Laughing Target, Hello WeGo!, and The Girl from Phantasia. The last three are Orphan releases. 
• Kanemoto Shingo (Ishii) appeared in the original Tetsuwan Atom and Tiger Mask. He played Ryuu the horned owl in the Gatchaman franchise, Franken in the Kaibutsu-kun franchise, Housaku in the Kyojin no Hoshi franchise, and Pang Tong (the fat strategist) in Sangokushi movie 2, an Orphan release.
• Ogata Kenichi (Yamada) played a paper merchant in The Izu Dancer, the put-upon father in Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, Chichi's father in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, the business chief in Okama Hakusho, Tadinori Tachimi, the Terayama family lawyer, in Asatte Dance, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
• Imai Kazuko (Otatsu) played Calpurnia in Cleopatra, an Orphan release
• Masayuki Kato (Vice Principal) played Papa in  the Doraemon franchise through 1992 and appeared in Minky Momo and Princess Persia.
• Noriko Uemura (Tanaka, Yuji and Yoriko's homeroom teacher) played the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, Takeshi in the Captain Tsubasa franchise, Hisae, Shin-chan's mother, in Crayon Shin-chan, and Noda's mother in Nodame Cantabile. She appeared in the first Sangokushi movie, an Orphan release.

The director, Arihara Seiji, directed several other World War II-themed projects, all of them vehemently anti-war, including Ushiro no Shoumen Daare? (Who's Left Behind?), Tsuru ni Notte, Raiyantsuuri no Uta, and Nagasaki 1945: Angelus no Kane. The last two are Orphan releases.

The project started with Kineko Video's purchase of a 16mm film print of the movie. They then scanned it. Without their initiative and financial generosity, this project would not have happened. Perevodildo translated and timed. Paul Geromini edited. I typeset and QCed. The typesetting was difficult, because flat typesetting looks wrong against the grainy film, but I'm not experienced enough to add realistic grain to sign lettering. Uchuu also QCed. Everyone liked the film. Perevodildo called it "the kino of kino," which I guess means topnotch.

It Rained Fire is engaging and wistful, enraging and horrifying. I enjoyed the glimpses of family life and childhood friendships at the start. I wanted to throw things at the screen when the children were being brainwashed with mindless propaganda about the superiority of the Japanese military, even though the war had been well and truly lost by then. And I wanted to run away during firebombing itself, as the prospects of escape and survival relentlessly dwindled. But I stayed to the end, and you should too. This is a really fine movie. You can get It Rained Fire from the usual torrent site.

Late breaking news: The fansub credits incorrectly credit MartyMcflies with acquiring the film. In fact, both purchase and scanning were done by Kineko Video. My sincere apologies to that team.

 

On the Malleability of H-anime: The ProxyMan Project

The handle ProxyMan has cropped up several times in this blog as a source of rare anime, both mainstream (Shibuya Honky Tonk, Dragon Slayer Eiyuu Densetsu: Ouji no Tabidachi) and hentai (Kakyuusei 1995, Lunatic Night 3). The scope of his work is far larger than the tiny fragment that has been released by Orphan (or Okizari). He has been systematically collecting hentai anime from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. His analyses show that material created in Japan is often substantially altered for Western markets, and not always in the ways one might expect.

Now, it's no secret that commercial media like anime has never been treated as sacrosanct in the West. Japanese cartoons were not merely dubbed for American audiences; they were often folded, spindled and mutilated, with the Japanese original being viewed merely as visual source material. Thus, Toei's 1960 Saiyuuki was redone as Alakazam the Great, 1961's Anju to Zushio Maru as The Littlest Warrior, and so on. Macross was dubbed, edited, and rewritten into Robotech. Tezuka Osamu's Tetsuwan Atom became Astro Boy, with deletions and changes that greatly upset the author. Even Miyazaki's revered 1984 Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind was chopped to pieces to create the mid-80s Warriors of the Wind, which remained in circulation until a faithful dub appeared in 2005. After that, Miyazaki put a no-edit clause in his overseas licenses, but that did not stop Miramax from "adapting" rather than translating Princess Mononoke. (Hint: watch it with Japanese audio and English subs to get Miyazaki's original intent.)

Other changes would be done in the name of localization or catering to local market requirements. Some series basically received new scripts. The R1 release of Crayon Shin-chan is crude, raunchy comedy, but as the dedicated work of my colleague Skr at BuriBuri has demonstrated, the US scripts translate the Japanese scripts only by happenstance. In other cases, the artwork was changed to match target demographics. The original Japanese version of Maze is an ecchi boob-fest, with lots of topless girls. In the North American version, aiming at a PG rather than R rating, the bare breasts are all covered up. Because the North American version was the only version to get a DVD release, and the original series masters are considered lost, how Maze was meant to look was not known in the West until the Japanese laserdiscs were found and ripped.

The cavalier stance of overseas licensors toward originals is even more obvious with hentai (or borderline hentai) releases. Most people think that the distinction between Japanese hentai and Western versions is removal of censorship, but that's only part of the story. Japanese R- and X-rated anime receive all sorts of alterations, not just decensoring. In some cases, explicit material has been removed to turn a hentai release into softcore. In other cases, explicit material has been added to make a softcore release into hardcore. Scenes or even whole episodes have been removed because of sensitivities in target markets. As a result, some titles that the R1 market knows in one guise looked very different in Japan. This is where ProxyMan's work in collecting and comparing editions has proved its worth. Some examples follow.

1. Turning softcore material into hardcore. Nessa no Wakusei and Dragon Knight Gaiden were borderline stories, with nudity, sex, and fetish material, but nothing explicit. For the US market, Five Ways interpolated some badly done 1-3 second explicit scenes. This in turn became the DVD release in both countries. The Japanese laserdiscs have the original, R-rated versions.
2. Turning hardcore material into softcore.  Fencer of Minerva, volume 1, had an explicit scene of the heroine being violated by enemy (female) warriors. It was the only explicit scene in all five volumes, so it was removed in the US and Spanish editions. It can still be seen, censored, in the Japanese laserdisc, and uncensored in the French edition. Something similar was done in Dragon Rider, volume 2.
3. Catering to local requirements. All hentai in Japan is distributed in censored form, with the "naughty bits" obscured by mosaics or other effects. Unless this was done for comic effect, as in Karakuri Ninja Girl, the R1 releases are uncensored. But other deletions were imposed, particularly because of concerns about underage (2-D) characters in sexually explicit material. Japanese characters, both male and female, are often drawn to look young, which is problematic. Sometimes they are stated to be young, which is really problematic. So the second volume of The Maiden Diaries was never released in R1, because the female protagonist is clearly underage. Inju Seisen (Twin Angels) and La Blue Girl had various scenes cut because characters looked too young.

Now, I'm not trying to defend the "artistic integrity" of ecchi or hentai anime or to second-guess the changes that were made in the licensing process. These shows were throwaways, intended for entertainment, titillation, and profit. Local laws must be observed. But personally, I prefer to watch Japanese anime, of any variety, the way it was made. I prefer Saiyuuki to Alakazam the Great. I prefer Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind to Warriors of the Wind. And the same applies to ProxyMan's trove.

In support of his efforts, Orphan and related groups like Blasphemboys will be redoing some  of these shows, with ProxyMan's raws and updated translations and typesetting. Not all of them - just enough to illustrate the transformations and gyrations. Blasphemboys has already released Dragon Knight and Dragon Knight Gaiden, using the Japanese laserdiscs. Gaiden doesn't have the Five Ways explicit interpolations, so both are R-rated.

Blasphemboys' hentai label, Muzu'sNudes, has just released Nankyoku 28 Gou (in R1, Mail Order Maiden 28). According to ProxyMan, "The US release cut out a 2-3 second shot of sex probably because it was the most explicit scene in the OVA, however, they left a screencap of it in the credits." Orphan/Okizari has a few titles in the works as well.

Consider the ProxyMan project a Christmas present to the fans. Well, no one was willing to work on Santa Company: Christmas no Himitsu anyway.

Ashita Genki ni Naare!

The firebombing of Japan's cities is less well-known than the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but they caused heavy loss of life and enormous property damage. From March, 1945 onward, American B-29 heavy bombers conducted night raids with napalm bombs on Japan's cities, which were mostly built of wood and burned rapidly. The first raid, in Tokyo on March 9-10, killed more than 100,000 people, destroyed 16 square miles of the city, and left more than one million people homeless. 

Further raids in May and June on Tokyo and other cities eventually destroyed one-seventh of Japan's total urban area and killed upward of 250,000 people. Attacks on smaller cities continued up until the end of the war.

Ebina (nee Nakane) Kayoko was twelve years old when the raids began.  

She had been evacuated to the countryside, but she lost six of her seven other family members in the Tokyo raid.  She became an essayist and writer. Her works inspired two anime movies: 1991's Ushiro no Shoumen Daare (Who's Left Behind?) and 2005's Ashita Genki ni Naare! ~Hanbun no Satsumaimo~ (Tomorrow Will Be Better! Half a Sweet Potato). The former was fansubbed several years ago, but the latter had not been, until now. Orphan is pleased to release the first English-subtitled version of this movie.

Ashita Genki ni Naare! is less a recounting of the raid and its immediate consequences than a sad study of the plight of orphan children immediately after the war. Kayoko is shuffled to her Aunt Yoshi, who resents her as an extra mouth to feed and uses Kayoko's surviving family possessions as a source of funds. 

Kayoko's surviving brother, Kisaburo, tries to eke out a living with other war orphans in the postwar black market, 

but the yakuza monopolize commerce and push everyone else out, by lethal means if necessary. 

Kayoko eventually despairs and is only saved by an encounter with a demobilized Japanese soldier, who shares a precious sweet potato with her and demonstrates that there is still good left in humanity.

The movie touches on several themes that rarely, if ever, get much play in Japan. In the aftermath of catastrophe, Japanese families closed rank and gave little thought, or help, to outsiders. (This theme, discussed at length in John Dower's Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, is also at the root of Grave of the Fireflies.) Further, the yakuza used defeat to fill the void left by collapsing governmental authority, often with open tolerance from the American occupiers.

The comparison with Grave of the Fireflies is instructive. Grave is a great movie, a tragedy that wrecks the viewer with understated artistry. Ashita Genki, on the other hand, is best described as sincere. Ebina Kayoko is openly and vehemently anti-war. The movie makes a straightforward case for peace. Still, I don't think I'd call it art.

The movie has four extras and, unusually for Orphan, they're translated too:

• Extra 1 is the trailer.
• Extra 2 is two15 second promos.
• Extra 3 is staff comments at the premiere.
• Extra 4 is the author's comments.

The voice cast combines professional seiyuu and amateurs. The professional cast includes:

• Ueto Aya (Nakane Kayoko) is primarily a singer.
• Doi Mika (Nakane Yoshi, the wicked aunt) played the title roles in Angel Cop and Explorer Woman Ray, Hayase Misa in the Macross franchise, the empress (Lafiel's grandmother) in the Crest of the Stars saga, Tabitha in the Zero no Tsukaima properties, Eclipse in Kiddy Grade, the narrator in Mushishi, and Nanase in Natsume Yuujinchou. She appeared as Yukari in Mikeneko Holmes no Yuurei Joushu, Rosa in Seikima II Humane Society, Captain Deladrier in Starship Troopers, Hagar and Elizabeth in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Totsugawa Misako in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, and multiple roles in Kage, all Orphan releases.
• Ueda Yuuji (Nakane Kisaburo) played Johannes Krauser II in Detroit Metal City (OVA), Fuuma Yousuke in Wedding Peach, Sagara Sonosuke in Rurouni Kenshin, Tenkata Akito in Kidou Senkan Nadeseico, Keitarou in Love Hina, Makoto in Futari Ecchi, and Takeshi in Pokemon. He also voiced Shuichi in Arisa Good Luck, Takagi-kun in Let's Nupu Nupu, and Nanbara in Hand Maid May, and he appeared in Heart Cocktail Again, all Orphan releases.
• Yamaguchi Kappei (Shimamoto Tatsuyoshi aka Tacchan, Kisaburo's protector in the black market) played the title roles in the Detective Conan, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha franchises, Usopp in the One Piece franchise, Sakuma Ryuichi in Gravitation, and the title roles in the Arslan no Senki OVA series and Mouse, among many others. He played Suzuki Kyota in Aoi Kioku, Shibuya in Zetsuai 1989,  Billia in Tottoi, Matsuoka Eiji in Chameleon, Nichol Hawking in Plastic Little, and Tooru in Boyfriend, and appeared in Shin Gakkou no Yuurei, all Orphan releases.
• Uran Sakiko (Osawa Kazushige) played, Miko in After School Midnighters, Marumaro in Blue Dragon, Wendy in Cinderella Boy, Kitu in Gon, Runa in Ozma, Setsuno in Toriko, and Raphael in Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san.
• Yoshinaga Sayuri (Narrator)  also narrated Buddha: The Great Departure and played Tatsuya in Taro the Dragon Boy.
• Higasayama Tsugumi (Osawa Yuriko) played Tsugumi in Aquarion, Otome in Pani Poni Dash, and Margaret in Project Blue Earth.
• Suyama Akio (Shinji, one of Kisaburo's gang) played Nile in Beyblade, Tom Benson in Element Hunters, Hatsuhara Soma in Fruits Basket, Patrick in Galaxy Angel, Ichiro Ogami in the Sakura Taisen franchise, Mike in Shibuya heart Hachi, and Hie in Wolf's Rain.
• Ishikawa Shizuka (Shigeo, another member of the gang) played Kamui in the Cardfight!! Vanguard franchise, Eimi Ooba in the Comic Party franchise, and Chinatsu in Refrain Blue.
• Katou Nanae (Tecchan, another member) played the title roles in Croquette!, Noramimi, and Princess Tutu, Makoto Korusaki in Inazuma Eleven GO, and Miki in the Shugo Chara franchise.
• Takagi Reiko (Noboru, another member) played Sei in Black Blood Brothers, Kahoko in La Corda D'Oro, Nobunaga in Haruka Nogizaki's Secret, Risa in Kujibiki Unbalance, Kaolla Su in Love Hina, Maki in Minaki-ke, and Tadase in the Shugo Chara franchise.
• Morikawa Toshiyuki (Demobilized Soldier)took over the role of dad Nohara Hiroshi in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise. He played lead roles in Gallery Fake, Yami no Matsui, Kyou Kara Maou, Damekko Doubutsu, and numerous other shows. He's also a regular in Orphan's releases. He played the lead role in Ear of the Golden Dragon, Wolf Guy, and Nozomi Witches, as well as delinquent student Fuwa in Mellow, Kazuma in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Bluebone in Tezuka Osamu Works: Kyoto Animation Theater, and Inspector Kendo in the Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo series. He delivered a scene-stealing performance as Panda Mama in Shirokuma Cafe and also appeared in Al Caral no Isan, Akai Hayate, Dragon Fist, Kiss wa Mi ni Shite, Blazing Transfer Student, and Wild 7.
• Tsumura Makoto (Aiko, another gang member) appeared in Bakumatsu no Spasibo and Ultra Nyan Hoshizora, both Orphan releaes. She played Takato in Digimon Tamers, Kimihiro in Hikaru no Go, Wakame in Sazae-san from 2005 on, and Ai in Submarine 707R.
• Kawasaki Eriko (Shizue, Kayako's good aunt from Numazu) played Miyuki in All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku and Mike in Those Who Hunt Elves.
• Ooguro Kazuhiro (Shizue's husband) had small parts in Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Ao no Exorcist, Hellsing, and Tegami Bachi.
• Kosugi Juurouta (yakuza leader) played Murakami Atsushi)  in Magma Taishi, 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.

Ebina Kayoko's real family supplies the voices for the remaining Nakane family members who died in the raid. The director, Takeuchi Yoshio, helmed many shows, including Cat's Eye, Space Cobra, Oishinbo and its two specials, Tengai Makyou, Ipponbouchou Mantarou, and The Mother Who Became a Kite.

The DVD ISO for Ashita Genki ni Naare! had been knocking around for a while, and I finally secured an encode in June. The encoder noted:

The DVD was a very clean source which IVTC'd well. Other than some light dehaloing, only minor debanding was applied for certain scenes... The anamorphic widescreen film fills almost the entire video frame of the DVD picture, which is why it only required slight black border cropping & resizing to 864x486 (16:9 DAR). Meanwhile DVD Extras 01, 02, & 04 were similarly widescreen, but forcibly letterboxed into an anamorphic 4:3 frame; hence the need for some significant vertical cropping and resizing which resulted in their 16:9 resolution output being a bit smaller @ 736x414.

Extra 03 was recorded using camcorder video and was traditional 4:3 footage, so it resolves to a 720x540 resolution. Also Extras 03 & 04 both being video-capture live-action were deinterlaced to full 59.940 fps to retain smooth motion, and a portion of the interview in Extra 04 was inserted into the movie promo of Extra 02, hence it was encoded as VFR.

With raws in hand, Perevodildo translated and timed the movie and four extras that came with it. Paul Geromini timed. I typeset and QCed. Uchuu also QCed. The encoder wishes to remain anonymous.

Ashita Genki ni Naare! shines a bright (and mostly unfavorable) light on postwar Japan, a subject rarely seen in anime. The movie and its extras are available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha i channels #nibl or #news in irc.rizon.net.