Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Rainbow Signal: Hi-Fi Set

Here's a rarity: 1985's Rainbow Signal: Hi-Fi Set. These are six or seven loosely-related anime/live-action music videos from the Japanese singing group Hi-Fi Set. This show was released in 1985, right in the middle of Hi-Fi Set's career (1974-1994), and features songs from their 1984 and 1985 albums Pasadena Park and Indigo. (Information summarized from MyAnimeList.) It was never released on DVD and did not appear in either AniDB or AnimeNewsNetwork until we added it.

The story revolves around two cute dragons in a future high-tech city.


The plot doesn't venture any deeper than boy (dragon) meets girl (dragon), boy (dragon) loses girl (dragon), boy (dragon) gets girl (dragon), but it's hard to fashion a complex plot without dialog. (Actually, there is one line of dialog, or at least we think there is. It might be just a random exclamation.) Hi-Fi Set's song are harmonious ballads and pop songs - no angsty rock or heavy metal. And all ends happily.

Maho Kareshi, finally done with translating the entire Oishinbo TV series (136 episodes!), translated the songs from official lyrics, and Sunachan checked the translation. Yogicat timed, I edited and styled (no signs), and Nemesis and Calyrica did QC. Nemesis also corrected the romaji and added the background lines in the songs. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions encoded from the Japanese laserdisc. We hope to subtitle other AMV rarities from Erik's collection sometime in the future.

So settle in to listen to some Japanese pop from the mid-80s and watch Ms. Red Dragon and Mr. Green Dragon find their way to reptilian happiness. You can get Rainbow Signal from the usual torrent sources or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.



5 comments:

  1. I love your releases and I love you for releasing so frequently. Thanks for keeping old obscure anime alive in the west!

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  2. So is this "City Pop?" Hi-Fi Set seems to be classified as City Pop, but I always think of something a bit more "disco-y" when I think of City Pop (like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bNITQR4Uso)

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    Replies
    1. Check this one out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwjI1M4n03U

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    2. www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0cZE9cGWEI

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    3. Also this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1MiIs4LiiI

      Their music changed drastically from one record to another, though.

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