Starting off 2015 with a bang, Orphan Fansubs presents D4 Princess. This short-episode series has a long and checkered history. It was subbed back in the VHS days, but numerous attempts to do a DVD version came to grief. Anime SkyScraper (the aptly named ASS) did six episodes and stopped. DmonHiro did six episodes and stopped. Animeyoshi started a project but gave up before releasing anything. tipota encoded all 24 episodes and put together softsubs from the original VHS fansubs, but the subs were inaccurate, lacked previews, and had no typesetting to speak of.
Most of these projects got underway because CP, QC extraordinaire, owned the R2J DVDs and offered them to any serious-sounding team, with little luck. Accordingly, Orphan decided in early 2013 to sub the show. Our highly prolific translator, laalg, ripped through all 24 episodes in a matter of weeks, translation-checking DmonHiro's version of the first six episodes and translating the last eighteen from scratch. Skr encoded the first six episodes, and by the summer of 2013, those episodes were in relatively good shape. And then, the curse of D4 Princess struck, and everything just stopped.
There were a couple of problems. First, laalg had worked from the VHS encode, which lacked previews, so there were no previews for episodes 7-24. Second, tipota released his version, which took a lot of the urgency out of the project. Third, the series required general translation checking as well as translation of additional signs and the previews, and no one had the bandwidth. And most importantly, the series proved to be a typesetting nightmare, far beyond my capabilities at the time. As a result, the project stalled out for eighteen months.
Then, in early November, 2014, the stars suddenly aligned. tipota's encode included the previews. convexity translated all the previews and missing signs, and then translation checked the last eighteen episodes, in a matter of weeks. ninjacloud joined the group and timed all the episodes in rapid succession. Through practice on the Lion Books series and Hanaukyo Maid Tai, I had acquired just enough understanding of motion capture typesetting to handle the signs; I edited the scripts as well. Juggen supplied a suitably bouncy karaoke for the bouncy ending song. CP, Calyrica, and konnakude QCd the episodes in rapid succession. In less than two months, all 24 episodes were finished, in time for a New Year's release.
So what of the show itself? Well, like many Orphan projects, it's no masterpiece. (Collectr's Law of Orphaned Anime: If a show has been abandoned by multiple subbing groups, it's probably for a good reason.) Ruridou Doris is a spoiled 13-year-old, the third Princess of the Rasen Empire. She's also a panzer, a person who can transform a household appliance or tool into a personal mecha. She's about to start attending Teito Toho Academy, a prestigious private school for the ultra-wealthy (the dorm rooms are bigger than most apartments, and it has a private subway), where she will be able to practice her panzer skills freely. Unfortunately, Doris is unaware that real life doesn't come with butlers and maids and that her panzer form, which includes a drill on her head and a mahou-shoujo outfit, is rather lame.
The series starts out as a fish-out-of-water comedy about a spoiled rich girl but transforms pretty rapidly into a girl-battles-girl mecha combat show. Doris's older sister, Doria, a famous panzer, shows up to train Doris for combat. Doris, called "The Drill Princess" because her panzer weapon is a drill, fights set-piece battles against Takaeda Hasami, aka "The Longhorn Beetle" (scissors based), Kurina Nozuru, aka "The Tornado Motor" (vacuum cleaner based), and Gaou Nejiru, aka "The Bloody Drill" (also drill based). The usual Serious Development sets in at episode 21 and is resolved by the end of the show.
D4 Princess suffers from a variety of problems. The animation is not great, with lots of chibis, still-frames, repeat sequences, and even some stick figures to stretch the budget. The tone varies wildly between slapstick comedy, mecha combat, and of course the dreaded Serious Development. The ending song is an earworm, particularly after 24 (or more) repetitions.
However, I see two more serious defects. First, the viewer is invited, rather too often, to ogle Doris's 13-year-old form (and those of her friends) in states of undress. Further, as Doris perfects her panzer skills, each stage of advancement endows her with bigger oppai and more revealing décolletage. I realize that the show was made 15 years ago, and that the Japanese have (or had) a different attitude about sexualizing young girls in anime, but I find it distasteful. Perhaps I've reached the same stage as the Danny Glover character in Lethal Weapon: I'm too old for this shit.
Second, the Serious Development is handled with a superficiality that is breathtaking. Doris undergoes a serious psychological trauma and is then magically cured by a single letter. I know 13-year-olds are resilient, but that is just ridiculous.
Well, as one team member remarked, if it wasn't the best show, at least it was short.
A couple of translation notes.
Most of these projects got underway because CP, QC extraordinaire, owned the R2J DVDs and offered them to any serious-sounding team, with little luck. Accordingly, Orphan decided in early 2013 to sub the show. Our highly prolific translator, laalg, ripped through all 24 episodes in a matter of weeks, translation-checking DmonHiro's version of the first six episodes and translating the last eighteen from scratch. Skr encoded the first six episodes, and by the summer of 2013, those episodes were in relatively good shape. And then, the curse of D4 Princess struck, and everything just stopped.
There were a couple of problems. First, laalg had worked from the VHS encode, which lacked previews, so there were no previews for episodes 7-24. Second, tipota released his version, which took a lot of the urgency out of the project. Third, the series required general translation checking as well as translation of additional signs and the previews, and no one had the bandwidth. And most importantly, the series proved to be a typesetting nightmare, far beyond my capabilities at the time. As a result, the project stalled out for eighteen months.
Then, in early November, 2014, the stars suddenly aligned. tipota's encode included the previews. convexity translated all the previews and missing signs, and then translation checked the last eighteen episodes, in a matter of weeks. ninjacloud joined the group and timed all the episodes in rapid succession. Through practice on the Lion Books series and Hanaukyo Maid Tai, I had acquired just enough understanding of motion capture typesetting to handle the signs; I edited the scripts as well. Juggen supplied a suitably bouncy karaoke for the bouncy ending song. CP, Calyrica, and konnakude QCd the episodes in rapid succession. In less than two months, all 24 episodes were finished, in time for a New Year's release.
So what of the show itself? Well, like many Orphan projects, it's no masterpiece. (Collectr's Law of Orphaned Anime: If a show has been abandoned by multiple subbing groups, it's probably for a good reason.) Ruridou Doris is a spoiled 13-year-old, the third Princess of the Rasen Empire. She's also a panzer, a person who can transform a household appliance or tool into a personal mecha. She's about to start attending Teito Toho Academy, a prestigious private school for the ultra-wealthy (the dorm rooms are bigger than most apartments, and it has a private subway), where she will be able to practice her panzer skills freely. Unfortunately, Doris is unaware that real life doesn't come with butlers and maids and that her panzer form, which includes a drill on her head and a mahou-shoujo outfit, is rather lame.
The series starts out as a fish-out-of-water comedy about a spoiled rich girl but transforms pretty rapidly into a girl-battles-girl mecha combat show. Doris's older sister, Doria, a famous panzer, shows up to train Doris for combat. Doris, called "The Drill Princess" because her panzer weapon is a drill, fights set-piece battles against Takaeda Hasami, aka "The Longhorn Beetle" (scissors based), Kurina Nozuru, aka "The Tornado Motor" (vacuum cleaner based), and Gaou Nejiru, aka "The Bloody Drill" (also drill based). The usual Serious Development sets in at episode 21 and is resolved by the end of the show.
D4 Princess suffers from a variety of problems. The animation is not great, with lots of chibis, still-frames, repeat sequences, and even some stick figures to stretch the budget. The tone varies wildly between slapstick comedy, mecha combat, and of course the dreaded Serious Development. The ending song is an earworm, particularly after 24 (or more) repetitions.
However, I see two more serious defects. First, the viewer is invited, rather too often, to ogle Doris's 13-year-old form (and those of her friends) in states of undress. Further, as Doris perfects her panzer skills, each stage of advancement endows her with bigger oppai and more revealing décolletage. I realize that the show was made 15 years ago, and that the Japanese have (or had) a different attitude about sexualizing young girls in anime, but I find it distasteful. Perhaps I've reached the same stage as the Danny Glover character in Lethal Weapon: I'm too old for this shit.
Second, the Serious Development is handled with a superficiality that is breathtaking. Doris undergoes a serious psychological trauma and is then magically cured by a single letter. I know 13-year-olds are resilient, but that is just ridiculous.
Well, as one team member remarked, if it wasn't the best show, at least it was short.
A couple of translation notes.
- The title, D4 Princess, references that Doris has the fourth Kaiser Drill in her family. The anime completely ignores the other three.
- Takaeda Hasami's panzer name is literally "The Longicorn Beetle." It has been rendered here as the more familiar "Longhorn Beetle."
- The interjection "mou" is rendered as "gee" rather than the more usual "geez" or "jeez," because that's how laalg preferred it - totally G-rated.
F-i-n-a-l-l-y! :D
ReplyDelete"I realize that the show was made 15 years ago, and that the Japanese have (or had) a different attitude about sexualizing young girls in anime,"
ReplyDeleteNo, I think this is proof that some things never change, and that the olden days were no golden era of proper morals compared to today.