Another Yawara! Milestone

After more than a decade, the Yawara! Blu-ray project has reached a significant milestone: all 124 TV episodes, as well as the movie and the Atlanta special, are subbed. Our plucky heroine has been tricked by her grandad, misconstrued Matsuda's intentions, and thrown her trademark Ippon Zeoi, for the last time in anime form.

It's been a long journey, and I've written about it at several points along the way. In addition, kokujin-kun has written an excellent summary of the whole extended enterprise. So extended that, last year, I began to despair of ever seeing the show finished. I threw a tantrum in the staff channel and said that if the show wasn't done by the end of 2025, I was quitting the project. Whether because of that ultimatum, or a sense of impending doom after the US elections, the last 25% of the project was done in less than a year, whereas the preceding 75% had taken more than nine years.

At this point I've seen (and edited) all the episodes once, and about half of them twice, plus the movie and the special. The show is a cross between a sports shounen and a romcom. Judo phenom Inokuma Yawara wants to quit; her conniving grandfather Jigoro schemes to get her to be in more tournament; Yawara trounces everyone. Sports reporter Matsuda moons over Yawara but ruins his chance with her by focusing on her judo instead of her feminine charms. Yawara's eternal rival Honami Sayaka vows to be revenged on Yawara for previous losses; Sayaka's coach and unfaithful fiance Kazamatsuri fantasizes over running away with Yawara. Stir and repeat.

I've already provided CVs for seiyuu playing the primary and secondary roles, so I won't repeat them here. Likewise, I've written about the wonderful colleagues whom I worked with on both the DVD and Blu-ray projects; kokujin-kun as provided a comprehensive summary, including the original Live-eviL project, in his release post.

The staff evolved over time, as inevitably happens in such a long project. That led to some lapses in continuity and consistency, so there will be quite a few fixes needed in the batch release. But they're all minor. If you want to watch Yawara!, the current set of episodes are just fine. And I - who dislike both sports anime and shounen anime - think you should watch the show: for the characters, for the comedy, for the romance, and yes, even for the judo. It's hard for me to explain why I like Yawara! so much. Perhaps I've grown accustomed to her face.

So let's leave off at this point, with Yawara striding determinedly toward her next challenge.

On behalf of the entire team, thanks for watching. 

Shibuya Honky-Tonk

Orphan started on the 1988 OVA Abe George Kattobi Seishun Ki: Shibuya Honky Tonk, or Tales from Abe George's Stormy Youth: Shibuya Honky Tonk (for brevity, Shibuya Honky Tonk), almost a year ago. However, after preparing scripts, the translator pronounced anathema on the project: "I found this very hard to even watch, let alone work with, and hated every second of it." That seemed sufficiently damning to me. I shelved the project and released the encodes in raw form. Well, Translator's Remorse (a cousin of Editor's Remorse) soon made its appearance. It seemed the scripts weren't so bad, after all. With a little more work, a usable release was possible. Accordingly, the project was restarted.

Shibuya Honky Tonk purports to be the autobiography of young Abe George, an author and TV personality, who died in 2017. As he himself admitted, "About 10% of it is true, and the rest is exaggerated and dramatized." The anime claims that he joined a yakuza gang as a teenager and then had various scrapes and adventures, as dramatized in the OVA's four episodes. Each episode is introduced by the author himself.

1. "Young Yakuza Wannabe." Naoya is an oversized, precocious, and crooked high-school student. He wants to join a yakuza gang, because it looks exciting, and he'll have a better chance at hooking up with girls.
   
   
   
   
   He manages to impress an underboss named Kingo at the Todo Group, and he meets a pretty (and willing) girl named Yuko.
   
   
   
   
   But when she is threatened by a rival gang, he draws a weapon and wounds one of his antagonists. This makes him a liability, and he's sent to the UK (he has rich and influential parents) until the affair blows over.
   
   
2. "Digression: Studying in the UK." Enrolled in a public (that is, private) school, Naoya blows off his studies and spends his time fleecing his fellow students and screwing available girls.
   
   
   
   
   Expelled for his antics, he winds up as a gofer at a Japanese news bureau. He's promoted to assistant photographer and shows real zeal to get scoops. This allows a senior reporter to entice Naoya into infiltrating a secret British air force base as an unwitting spy.
   
   
   
   
   Naoya wreaks havoc and ends up getting expelled from the country.
   
   
3. "First Fight Back Home." Naoya is now a full-fledged underling (goon) for the Todo Group. Reunited with Yuko, he nonetheless finds time to bed other girls and get into scrapes. He undertakes various enforcement missions in the company of other young Todo hoods, eventually attempting to coerce a rival group's profitable poker game.
   
   
   
   
   This almost ends in a shootout, but Naoya bluffs his way out.
   
   
4. "Introduction to Yakuza Economics." Naoya starts specializing in cons and scams.
   
   
   
   
   He forges and sells counterfeit tickets to a popular event. He shakes down courting couples in the park. He organizes a fake recruiting event for a non-existing host club, pocketing the application fees. Eventually, he organizes a truly large-scale fraud, but the scheme falls apart.
   
   
   
   
   As the show closes, he's sent to a juvenile detention facility.

It's not in the least believable, but there's plenty of violence, nudity, and sex to keep the audience diverted from the implausibility of the plot. In addition, the show exudes a sort of smugness, from the live-action introductions by Abe George himself, to the glamorization of yakuza life. Still, Abe George wasn't all piss and wind. Based on his experiences as a young prisoner, he wrote the manga Rainbow: Nisha Rokubo no Shichinin, which won the 51st Shogakukan Manga Award and was made into a first-rate anime. (Full disclosure: I edited the show for Frostii.)

A few translation notes.

• Ep 1, "176cm." Naoya was 5' 9" tall at age 14. The average Japanese man in the early postwar period was 161cm tall.
• Ep 1, "Like the Toyama novels?" A series of historical novels by Jinde Tatsurou about a legendary Robin Hood-type character. 
• Ep 2, "...a game of See-Low?" A gambling game played with a set of three dice.
• Ep 2, marks at the head of the bed. The kanji 正 is used for tally marks, with each stroke representing one. There's a prescribed order for the strokes, allowing representation from one to five.
• Ep 3, "Don't forget the pride of Sakura Sogoro, you dunce." Sakura Sogoro was a legendary Japanese farmer. 
• Ep 4, "First, we had Seven Faces, then Thirteen Eyes, and now they follow up Twenty-one Fingerprints with Twenty-four Eyes?!" The first three are crime dramas about detective Tarao Bannai, played by Kataoka Chiezo. The fourth is an anti-war film based on a novel by Tsuboi Sakae, which was also made into an anime.
• Ep 4, "Boss Kingo is a sadist!" "So Boss Kingo is from Niigata?" Nao calls Kingo sado, which the other underlings think is an island in Niigata prefecture.
• Ep 4, ""I wish I could enjoy the rest of Spring..."  Death poem of Asano Nagori, feudal lord of the forty-seven ronin.

The core cast included:

• Ishimaru Hiroya (Abe George/Naoya) played Sabu, another yakuza, in Koiko no Mainichi and gave a bravura performance as the "interpreter" dog Allegro in Bremen 4, an Orphan release. He also played Rodimus Prime in the various Transformer TV shows, Sengoku Shunsuke in Cyber City Oedo 808, and Kabuto Kouji in the Mazinger Z franchise.
• Aomori Shin (Kingo Tanaka) played Solomon in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Kurokawa in Meisou-ou Border, and Wailing Man in Cat-Eyed Boy episode 5, all Orphan releases. He played Basque Grand in both versions of Full Metal Alchemist and Gonzo in the currently airing Oi! Tonbo. He appeared in Perrine, Oishinbo, Sousei no Aquarion, the Dragon Ball franchise, and numerous other roles in a career that has spanned almost 50 years.
• Sasaki Yuko (Yuko) played the title role in Desert Rose and Gilbert in Kaze to Ki no Uta SANCTUS. She played Sayoko in Aoki Honoo, Akiko/Keiko in Wolf Guy, Yuki in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, and Exper Jiff in Exper Zenon, and she appeared in OL Kaizou Kouza, Amaama to Inazuma, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, and Yousei-ou, all Orphan releases.
• Nishimura Tomomichi (Todo boss) appeared as the narrator in YuYu Hakusho, Anzai-sensei in Slam Dunk, Shibaraku Tsurugibe in Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru, and Jamitov Hymem in Mobile Suit Z Gundam. He played Ryuuichi's father in Aoki Honoo, had a cameo as Don Dracula in Bremen 4, and appeared in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Goro Show, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoka Naru Desho!, Fire Tripper, Fumoon, Hi-Speed Jecy, A Time Slip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose, Tezuka Osasmu's Tales from the Old Testament, Wild 7, Wolf Guy, and Yamataro Comes Back, all Orphan releases.

Others appeared in episode-specific roles: 

• Sawaki Ikuya (Naoya's father, ep 1; male teacher, ep 2; Yajima, ep 3) played Gooley in the Dirty Pair franchise. He also played Kentaro in Ushiro no Hyakutaro, Samuel Hunter in Wolf Guy, Masayoshi Hotta in Hidamari no Ki, Barry in Joker: Marginal City, Alan in Mother: Saigo no Shoujo Eve, Itakura Shirouemon in Sanada 10, the Kaiser in Apfelland Monogatari, and Gonbei the cat in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, as well as bit parts in Dallos, Heart Cocktail, and Chameleon, all Orphan releases.
• Hirose Masashi (Morio, ep 1; Okamoto, ep 4) appeared in Tengai Makyou, Al Caral no Isan, Dallos, Nora, Kage, Wolf Guy, Junkers Come Here: Memories of You, and Kageyama Tamio's Double Fantasy, all Orphan releases.
• Arima Mizuka (Naoya's mother, ep 1) played Grandma Setsu in Oi! Tonbo, Zara in Bio Armor Ryger, Miriam in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Mary in Starship Troopers, and a dentist in Don Dracula. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Ono Kenichi (Naoya's friend, ep 1) played Toujirou in Mikan Enikki, Shiro Shirota in Dai-Guard, Asurada in the Future GPX Cyber Formula franchise, and Touma in Dirty Pair Flash. He played Abe no Yasuna in Akuemon and Sugawara in Kindaichi movie 2, and he appeared in AWOL Compression Remix, Bavi Stock, Seikima II Humane Society, Wolf Guy, and Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, all Orphan releases.
• Akimoto Yousuke (bartender, ep 1) played Principal Ikebe in Mellow, Nalerov in Plastic Little, Ookubo Sagaminokami Tadachika in Sanada 10, and appeared in Apfelland Monogatari, Genji, Part 1, Wild 7, and Dokushin Apartment Dokidami-sou, all Orphan releases. He also appeared in Stratos 4, Sisters of Wellber, Princess Lover, The Sacred Blacksmith, and Black Summoner.
• Takada Yumi (Susan, ep 2) played Yoshinaga-sensei in many of the Crayon Shin-chan movies and Ayeka in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She played Saya and Monmo in Cosmic Fantasy, Purinpurin in Hoshi Neko Full House, Atover in Exper Zenon, Yumi the barkeep in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Kumaba in Body Jack,(Kurokawa Satomi in Doukyuusei: Climax, and bit parts in Cool Cool Bye and Nora, all Orphan releases. She appeared in many classic h-anime, including Adventure Kid, Angels in the Court, Balthus: Tia's Radiance, Bizarre Cage, Black Widow, La Blue Girl, Countdown, the Demon Beast and Darkness series, Dragon Knight, F3, Fencer of Minerva, Lyon Flare, Trouble Evocation, Twin Dolls, and Venus 5.
• Oikawa Hitomi (Nishina Kurumi) played Ami in the Cream Lemon franchise, Katri in Katri the Cow Girl, and Yasuko in Miyuki.
• Ishimori Takkou (principal, ep 2) played Jodu in Murder Princess, Yoshimune in Buzzer Beater, and Master Luo Wu in Cooking Master Boy. He had small parts in Fire Tripper, Akai Hayate, Aoki Honoo, Nagasaki 1945: The Angelus Bell, Hoshizora no Violin, and Wild 7, all Orphan releases.
• Arimoto Kinryuu (bureau manager, ep 2) had featured roles in numerous shows, including Psycho-Pass, Tokyo Ravens, Joshiraku, Chihayafuru, Un-Go, and Moonlight Mile. He played Kenji's father in Aoi Kioku, Ichijo Yuji in Princess Army and Ogata Kouan in Hidimari no Ki, all Orphan releases.
• Ootaki Shinya (Aoki, reporter/spy, ep 2) played Beat in Scoopers. He appeared in Aoki Honoo, Wolf Guy, Elf ,17, Hoshizora no Violin, Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases.
• Amano Yuri (Chinese girl, ep 2) 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 Lady Freeze in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Catherine in Okama Hakusho, Kuzunoha in Akuemon, Angie in Condition Green, Elthena in Eien no Filena, Kitagawa in Nozomi Witches, Noriko in Singles, the teacher in Tanjou: Debut, Tonto in the Blue Knight segment of Tezuka Osamu: Kyoto Animation Works, and Yuko in St. Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, as well as multiple roles in Fukuyama Gekijou and Gakkou no Yuurei, volume 1, all Orphan releases.
• Nakamura Daiki (Otake)  (Honda Kozukenosuke Masazumi) playedthe title roles in Dangerous Jii-san Ja and Demon Beast Resurrection, Dayakka in Gurren Lagann, Seiji Date in Ronin Warriors, and Liu Bei in Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi. He also appeared in Mikeneko Holmes, Condition Green, AWOL Compression Remix, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases. 
• Yamadera Kouichi  (Ushiji) played many leading roles, including Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Sukeroku in Shouwa Ginroku Rakugo Shinju, Ryouga in all the Ranma 1/2 properties, and the nameless hero of Otaku no Seiza. He played the title role in Hashire! Melos, Benten in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, Almarick Aswaer in Nana Toshi Monogatari, Happyaku in Wild 7, Chiryuu in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Matsu in Koiko no Mainichi, Tsuri in Utsu no Miko, and Ryouan in Hidamari no Ki, all Orphan releases.
• Shinohara Emi (Yoshie) played B-Ko in the A-ko properties and Sailor Jupiter in the Sailor Moon franchise. She appeared as the goddess in the Unico segment of Tezuka Osamu: Kyoto Animation Works, Yuri Onagara in Blue Sonnet, vulgar daughter Stephanie in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Reiko in Akai Hayate, Lady Manthrum in Hayou no Tsurugi, a newscaster in Junk Boy, and Android 1025 in Oz, all Orphan releases.
• Tobita Nobuo (Akiyama, printer, ep 4) played Lumial in the Angelique franchise, Ken Wakashimazu in the Captain Tsubasa franchise, Randy in Fake, Sinistra in Kiddy Grade, the title role in Locke the Superman, and Dayon in Osomatsu-san. He starred as Kenichi in Houkago no Tinker Bell and appeared in Princess Army, Genji, Part 1, Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Condition Green, Eien no Filena, Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99, and Ore no Sora, all Orphan releases.
• Yamaguchi Ken (detective #1, ep 4) appeared in Asatte Dance, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Yamato 2520, Hoshi Neko Full House, Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu!, and Condition Green, all Orphan releases.
• Umezu Hideyuki (detective #2, ep 4)(Kobayakawa-sensei) played Akadama-sensei in Uchouten Kazoku and Uranos Corsica in Gangsta. He had featured roles in Asatte Dance, Star Dust, Apfelland Monogatari, Blue Sonnet, Hashire Melos, Hi-Speed Jecy, Hidamari no Ki, Nana Toshi Monogatari, Neko Neko Fantasia, Singles, the What's Michael? OVAs, Yamato 2520, Genji, Part 1, Mellow, Ushiro no Hyakutaro, and Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, all Orphan releases.  

The director, Ochiai Masamune, also directed Don Dracula, Asatte Dance, Bouken Shite mo Ii Goro, and the Naniwa Yuukyouden OVA series. The OP and ED are by a group called BORO and are suitably downbeat and melancholy. There's an insert song, with the only lyric apparently being, "Do it, do it, lucky boy." If there's more to the song, no one found it.

Perevodildo translated and timed; he went over the scripts multiple times, trying to parse the gangster argot. Paul Geromini edited. I typeset. Uchuu and I QCed. ImAWasteOfHair also QCed episode 1 but then dropped out. ProxyMan purchased the R2J DVDs, and an anonymous friend encoded them. The encode turned out well, with VFR used to accommodate the live-action prologues. ProxyMan got left off the fansub credits, for which I must apologize profusely.

I'm not all that fond of Shibuya Honky Tonk, but it may be some viewers' bowl of rice. (They probably like Chameleon too.) There's plenty of eye candy, it has some good comedy, and it's definitely NSFW. You can get the show from the usual torrent site and from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

 

 

Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills

We'll conclude this spate of Young Animator Training Project shows with a relatively recent offering, Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills, from the 2025 edition of Anime no Tane; the other shows are:

• Dive-In!, no dialog
• Sora and the Big Tree, subtitled by DmonHiro
• Trust, raw only from a web source

Galaxy Apartment is a joint Inka-Orphan release. Like all the Anime no Tane shows since 2021, it is short - under ten minutes - but it packs a lot into its runtime. It opens with an unknown man dying in a raid of some kind; but before he kicks the bucket, he launches an object into space with the words, "I'm counting on you, Cass." Cut to an apartment house on a small planetoid, where slacker Cass is the only tenant of Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills. 

He's desperately trying to make money as a "Nyantuber," but his page, about cute multi-tentacled creatures called Takochu, is getting no views at all. 

His landlord Chami stops by to demand the rent, and his mother calls to nag him about his slacker lifestyle.

Then he receives a package from "Mamazon." He's expecting meat buns from his mom, but instead, it's a baby in a prison uniform, with a spiked iron pacifier, whose sole word is "Da!"

Before Cass can figure out where the baby came from, the apartment house is surrounded by villainous shark aliens sent by the evil Captain Cigar (and the even more sinister Mother Shark):

Cass has no idea what to do, but Da uses his pacifier as a flail and trounces all the sharks (Captain Cigar too). Da is seriously OP.

Chami contributes as well, using her transforming broom against the enemy.

She then transports the apartment house, via warp drive, to Neptune. Cass has recorded all the events. When he uploads his video to Nyantube, he gets millions of views:

He's promptly banned, of course. And then the show ends, with an ominous cliffhanger. Wow!

Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills is visually inventive and narratively dense. Nothing is ever explained; for example, I only found out the identity of the unknown man in the opening sequence from the end credits. Unanswered questions abound. Who, or perhaps what, is Da? What are the villains after? Will Cass ever make any money? We'll never know.

The voice cast is first-rate:

• Kobayashi Chiaki (Cass) starred as Asakase in Sonny Boy, Yuiichi in Tomodachi Game, the title roles in Moriarty the Patriot and Ragna Crimson, Hayate in Cool Doji Danshi, Gabimaru in Jigokuraku, Stark in Sousou no Frieren, and many other roles. He played Okuninushi in the first Science Saru x MBS Original Short Anime Daisakusen short, an Orphan release.
• Kuno Misaki (Chami) starred in the title role in Aharen-san wa Hakarenai and as Touko in Hikari no Ou. She played Xialon in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Shiori in the Non Non Biyori franchise, Hawk in the Nanatsu no Taizai franchise, and Chie in Chuck Shimezu, an Orphan release.
• Sakamoto Chika (Da) played Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railway, the title role in Tsuruhime, Nonoko in Tobira wo Akete, Tendonman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and Agumon in the Digimon franchise. She appeared as Kijimuna in the Utsu no Miko movie, Miko in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Yasuda Yumiki in Nine, Kometora in Charapno Land no Bouken, and Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
• Ohtsuka Mizue (Cass' mother) played Butaro Tomita in more than 400 episodes of Chibi Maruko-chan, among other roles.
• Iwata Mitsuo (Cass' Father) starred as Tetsuya in Outlanders, Shoutarou in Akira, Kintarou in Golden Boy, Jay in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, and Wataru in Doukyuusei: Climax. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Touchi Hiroki (Captain Cigar) played Takumi in Zipang, Abel Nightroad in Trinity Blood, Ovan in .hack//roots, Baldroy in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, and Heiter in Sousei no Frieren.
•  Kujira (Mother Shark) was best-known roles as Otose in Gintama and Orochimaru in Naruto. She also plays Matsuyo in the Osomatsu-san franchise. 

This was director Aoki Kane's first directing assignment; previously, she had done animation and storyboards.

Inka did the front-end work, and Orphan the back-end. Perry Dimes translated and did initial timing. Darkonius translation checked and fine-timed. darkcart edited. I typeset; the typesetting is ten times longer than the dialog. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The raw is from Gecko and had major flaws in its timecodes. It took a lot of experimentation to get the subbed version to play properly. There was no place to put fansub credits, so this blog post will have to do, commemorating another smooth Inka-Orphan joint project.

I liked Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills quite a lot. It's unpredictable, with interesting animation and stand-out characters. It leaves the viewer - at least this viewer - wanting more. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news in irc.rizon.net.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu OAD 6

I worked on the original Hoozuki no Reitetsu TV series when I was in FFF, and I fell in love with the show's weird vibe, deadpan comedy, and outrageous cast of crazed characters. FFF dropped the show midway through its second season but continued on to do the first five OADs (original anime discs). However, the last two came out after FFF disbanded and have never been subbed. The show's esoteric language and insane typesetting requirements discouraged most other teams from considering it (Orphan included). Now, with its usual timeliness, Saizen is picking up the ball and releasing OAD 6, a mere five years after it became available.

Hoozuki was always a fairly discursive series - vignettes rather than a through plot line - and the OADs continue that tradition. This episode focuses on two minor characters, both cats: Koban, the tabloid reporter for a local scandal sheet, and Kan, the male infidelity investigator for King Songdi. They may be inhabitants of Hell, but they cannot disguise or escape their feline nature.

In the first segment, Koban is on the prowl for a story. For him, prowling consists of going to his usual haunts, napping, and avoiding Hoozuki. 

He sees Kan going about his rounds. He imagines an interview with the scatterbrained young demon Nasubi. 

He runs into King Enma, who has developed a passion for interlocking metal puzzles (Hoozuki solves all of them easily). 

And he attempts a stakeout, which is promptly disrupted by Shiba, Momotarou's dog, who thinks stakeouts are an excuse to play. 

In short, nothing much happens, except a series of random events in keeping with the Hoozuki ethos.

In the second segment, Kan introduces himself and demonstrates that, like most cats, he is utterly self-absorbed. 

He visits Hoozuki to offer him a chance to relax through petting a cat (Hoozuki declines). He speculates on the nature of a Pharoah's symbolic beard (Hoozuki tells him the answer, which Kan ignores). Finally, Hoozuki gets him to leave by pointing out that Kan resembles an attendant of the Egyptian goddess Bastet. Kan goes to the Great Library to research the idea, and with help from Okou, the snake-wearing tormentor demon, he confirms that he is likely of Egyptian origin. 

Greatly pleased with himself, he returns to his job, where he boasts of his new found knowledge to his coworker En the snake, who couldn't care less.

Twenty minutes is not enough time to showcase all the secondary characters of the Hoozuki universe, but it does have some of my favorites and their superb seiyuu:

• Sugiyaki Noriaki (Koban) played William T Spears in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, Uryuu in the Bleach franchise, Sasuke in the Naruto franchise, Katsumi in the Cardfight! Vanguard franchise, Shirou in the Fate franchise, UK in the Hetalia franchise, Takuma in the Moyashimon properties, Akira in ReLife, and Usahara (the vicious rabbit) in Damekko Doubutsu,.
• Wakamoto Norio (Kan) (layed the title role in The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, Vicious in Cowboy Bebop, Cell in the Dragonball franchise, Katakuriko in the Gintama franchise, Oda Nobunaga in the Sengoku Basara franchise, Guren in Ushio to Tora TV, Shining Saotome in the Uta no Prince-sama franchise, and Oskar von Reuenthal in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He also appeared as Joshua Balboa in Plastic Little, Sakakibara in Sanada 10, Noa in Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99, York Denman in Apfelland Monogatari, Major Thrauza in Yamato 2520, Denon in Amon Saga, the Tengenji underboss in Koiko no Mainichi, and the Narrator in Joker: Marginal City, all Orphan releases
• Yasumoto Hiroki (Hoozuki) played Inohora in the DAYS franchise, Germany in the Hetalia franchise, the bear in Kumamiko, the hero's wingman Bonba in the Himouto shows, the antagonist Yuuri in Megalo Box, Kinjo in the Yowamushi Pedal franchise, and many other roles.
• Nagasako Takashi (King Enma) played Bill Atkin in Alice in Cyberland 2 and the principal in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu, both Orphan releases.
• Kobayashi Yumiko (Shiro, the dog) played the title role in Crayon Shin-chan, Poemi in Puni Puni Poemi and Excel Saga, Souchi in ex-Driver, Mamoru in Sister Princess, Shoubu in the Duel Masters franchise, and Norio in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu, an Orphan release.
• Saito Kimiko (En) played Rachel in Anne Shirley, Madam in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Melissa in BNA, Rem in Death Note, Sister in Eden of the East, Juri in Handa-kun, Micchan in Migi & Dali, Chieke in Kuragahime, and Fuji Mine in Yaiba: Samurai Legend.
• Kitamuri Eri (Okou) played Saya in Blood+, Alleyne in Queen's Blade, Hinata in Kanamemo, Rin in Kodomo no Jikan, Mahiro in Haiyoru! Nyaruani, Izumo in the Ao no Exorcist franchise, Megumi in High Score Girl, Mikagi in Arve Rezzle, Yachiyo in the Working! franchise, Araragi Karen in the *monogatari franchise, Homura in Senran KaguraI, and  Yakou in Amatsuki, an Orphan release.
• Aoyama Touko (Nasubi) had featured roles in Digimon Tamers, Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z, Hanamaru Kindergarten, and Zenryoku Usagi.

The director, Kaburagi Hiro, was also in charge of the first Hoozuki TV series.

This a Saizen release, but almost everyone involved also appears on the Orphan staff page. (If this were an Orphan release, almost everyone involved would also appear on the Saizen staff page. The overlap among back-catalog groups is now nearly total.) The staff was:

• Translation - convexity
• Timing - sangofe
• Editing - Collectr
• Typesetting - kokujin-kun
• QC - Eternal_Blizzard, Nemesis, Uchuu

The raw is a 1080p web rip. 

So grab this penultimate installment of the Hoozuki no Reitetsu OADs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Saizen|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Let the Hoozuki gang cast its magic one more time and whet your appetite for (one hopes) OAD 7. No promises, though.

Charanpo Land no Bouken

Here's the last untranslated OVA from the Anime Tamago class of 2017: Charanpo Land no Bouken (Adventure in Charanpo Land). The other three from that year have already been subtitled in English:

• Red Ash: Gearworld, released on Blu-ray with official subs
• Zunda Horizon, subbed by multiple groups
• Genbanojou, subbed by Moving Lines

In his relentless drive to collect all the Young Animator Training Project films, DmonHiro found a raw for Charanpo. The raw is not great. It was been reframed from 23.976 (24) fps to 29.97 (30) fps. This makes all motion shots, whether horizontal or vertical, look jerky. Still, this is the only raw available, so Orphan has used it for this release.

Charanpo Land no Bouken is an "all ages" fantasy about a group on anthropomorphic animals living on an isolated island in the South Seas. At the center of the island is an enormous baobab tree that drops "lotto eggs" (the plastic eggs found in Japanese vending machines).

These eggs contain food, clothes, and other necessities of daily life. As a result, the inhabitants don't have to do anything except laze around. Then one day, the tree ejects a golden egg, but after that, all further lotto eggs are empty. 

Three children - Kometora the tiger, a wannabe hero; Pyon the rabbit, his best friend; and Gunma the bear - set out to find the golden egg and return it to the baobob tree, which (they hope) will solve the problem.

However, they are not alone in the search. Foxy Dr. Akan wants the egg for his "research." 

Tanuki mayor Poncho wants the egg because it will grant any wish. 

Even Kometora's parents want the egg, just because. Kometora and his friends, aided by Kaba the hippo and Ojigihibi the "bowing snake", must outwit Akan and Poncho and outrun the other townspeople. 

There are slapstick adventures and minor perils before the children are able to accomplish their mission. But life on the island will never be the same...

As you might surmise, the plot is slight, an excuse for (mostly) comic incidents. Dr. Akan and his machines, and Mayor Poncho and his hench-animals, are no match for the faster and more nimble young ones. The main draw is the animation, which is beautifully colorful.

However, the frame rate screw-up makes the video annoying to watch, at least for me.

The voice cast includes: 

• Sakamoto Chika (Kometora) played Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railway, the title role in Tsuruhime, Nonoko in Tobira wo Akete, Tendonman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and Agumon in the Digimon franchise. She appeared as Kijimuna in the Utsu no Miko movie, Miko in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Yasuda Yumiki in Nine, and Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
• Oowada Hitomi (Pyon) played Midori in Shirobako, Ayano in Hanebado, and Charlotte in Tonikaku Kawaii.
• Ochiai Fukushi (Gunma) played Bonda in Gurazeni, Kimura in Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Bou in Bucchigire!,  and Louis XVI in the Versaille no Bara remake.
• Nose Ikuji (Dr. Akan) had had numerous featured roles.
• Taketora (Poncho) has also had numerous featured roles.
• Oohara Sayaka (Baobab Tree Spirit) played Aki in Colorful, Layla Hamilton in the Kaleido Star franchise, Raquel in Scrapped Princess, Ezra Scarlet in the Fairy Tail franchise, Yuuko in the xxxHoLic franchise, Ridget in Suisei no Gargantia, Irisviel in Fate/Zero franchise, Titania in Mahou Tsukai no Yome, and Priscillaria Shamaran (Sari Rayer) in Love Love?, Cosprayers, and Smash Hit. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Gotou Hiroki (Kaba-san) played Kakisuke the monkey in the Hoozuki no Reitetsu franchise.

The show, from Studio Cometm was directed by Misawa Shin, who also directed Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai and Gingitsune.

After the raw surfaced, Perevodildo, with the greatest reluctance, translated and timed it. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The raw is from DmonHiro. If a better (i.e., properly encoded) raw surfaces, Orphan will release a v2.

Charanpo Land no Bouken reminds me a bit of Parol no Miraijima, an OVA from Anime Tamago 2015. It has non-human characters, an exotic island setting, and colorful, kinetic animation. However, Parol has a more compelling story, and of course, the raw (a full HD Blu-ray encode from Commie) is much better. Still, if you can ignore all the juddering, Charanpo is a decent watch. I'm glad that the Anime Tamago class of 2017 is now complete in English. 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.

Hoshizora no Violin

Orphan is really pleased to present the first English-subtitled version of the 1994 movie Hoshizora no Violin (Starry Sky Violin). Based on a children's story by Wada Noboru, author of Kimu no Juujika, the movie has languished on VHS tape, never receiving a digital or even a laserdisc release. It is another fine addition to Orphan's collection of anime set in World War II.

Hoshizora no Violin follows the life of Ozawa Kikuji, a boy in rural Japan, seemingly fated to taking over the family form.

In school, his teacher, Otsuki, encourages Kikuji to begin experimenting with making violins.

His initial creations look good but lack the proper resonance and depth of sound. 

His teacher gives him a book about Antonio Stradivari, the legendary Italian luthier (violin maker). The book teaches Kikuji about techniques and the importance of the proper wood for various parts. 

He starts roaming the mountains, looking for good trees. There, he meets a woodsman named Abe and his daughter Kayo.

With Kayo's help, Kikuji makes more and better violins and pursues his craft. But then, he receives a conscription notice and must join the Japanese Army.

Kikuji has the good fortune to be assigned to the medical corps of the 9th division, which at this point in the war was garrisoning the quiet backwater of Mudanjiang, in eastern Manchuria, close to the Russian border. There, he and his colleague Sugano serve as orderlies to Lieutenant Tanaka. When two Chinese children, Honran and Yuran, break in to Tanaka's house to steal food for their ailing father, Kikuji sneaks out with them, diagnoses the father's illness as beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency), and treats it with purloined medicine. 

The children in turn take Kikuji to the Russian Quarter to meet Mr. Lensky, a Russian violinist who owns several good violins, including a Stradivarius. 

Kikuji's passion for violin making is rekindled, and before his unit is shipped out (by inference, it's 1944, when the heart of the Kwantung Army was transferred to other fronts), he makes a detailed sketch of the Stradivarius for "after the war."

(This middle section of the film plays like a children's fairy tale. Kikuji was a poor student with no knowledge of medicine, yet he ends up in the medical corps in a backwater. He treats the Chinese children like younger siblings, when a real Japanese soldier would have had them beaten or worse. When Lt. Tanaka discovers Kikuji's theft, he indulgently allows the boy to treat the native, when a real Japanese officer would have had Kikuji court-martialed. The children just happen to know Lensky, and Lensky just happens to have a Stradivarius. Well, the source is children's book, after all.)

Kikuji's 9th Division is transferred to Okinawa before the US invasion. 

He and Sugano survive various American bombardments, but the division is transferred to Taiwan before the actual battle. Kikuji's ship is torpedoed en route. 

As he struggles to survive, his best friends are swallowed up in the maelstrom of war. Although Kikuji returns to Japan and his family safely, he is emotionally scarred and unable to return to his craft, until voices from the past recall him from the depths.

It's worth noting that the service history of the 9th Division is historically accurate. After suffering devastating losses in the China campaigns, the division was reconstituted in Japan and sent to Mudanjiang for garrison duty. In 1944, it was transferred to Okinawa but left before the American invasion. However, the torpedoing of Kikuji's ship is fictional; the 9th suffered no combat losses from its reconstitution in Japan through the end of the war.

The voice cast includes:

• Takano Rei (young Kikuji) has no other credits.
• Hirata Hiroaki (teen/grown Kikuji)) played Kondo Masami in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni,  Benny in Black Lagoon, Itsuki in the Kindaichi movies, Sa Gojou in Saiyuki and its sequels, Sanji in One Peace, Zaki in DearS, Jack in Moonlight Mile, Nantoka in Rita to Nantoka, Tiger in Tiger & Bunny, Vinsmoke in One Piece, Fujimoto in Ao no Exorcist, and Max Lobo in Bananafish. He also played Joseph (Mary's husband) in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Mishima Jun in Chameleon, and the professor in Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni, all Orphan releases.
• Isobe Masako (Kikuji's mother) played Tilda Miller in Gozdilla S.P. She appeared in Letter Bee, Koi Sento, Ear of the Golden Dragon, and Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Ishimori Takkou (Kikuji's father) played Jodu in Murder Princess, Yoshimune in Buzzer Beater, and Master Luo Wu in Cooking Master Boy. He had small parts in Fire Tripper, Akai Hayate, Aoki Honoo, Nagasaki 1945: The Angelus Bell, and Wild 7, all Orphan releases.
• Shimada Bin (Kikuji's older brother) 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 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.
• Kawata Taeko (Kikuji's sister) played Arale in the Dr. Slump franchise, Tanpopo in Seraphim Call, Leo in the 2009 special Jungle Taitei, Shypre in the Precure franchise, and Nocco in Cherry no Manma, and Orphan release.
• Iwai Sayuri (Abe Kayo) appeared in a few children's series.
• Ushiyama Shigeru (Otsuki-sensei) palyed Matsuda in Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Dr. Hiluluk in One Piece, Robita in Phoenix, Lutz in Spice and Wolf 2, Prof Shikishima in Tesujin 28, Edo in Ultraman, and Dan in Wasimo.
• Ootaki Shinya (Sugano) played Beat in Scoopers. He appeared in Aoki Honoo, Wolf Guy, Elf ,17, Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases.
• Ooki Tamio (Lensky) played  Aramaki in the GITS movies, the title role in Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito, Dr. Tenma in the 1980 version of Tetsuwan Atom and Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken, Dr. Ross in Tetsuwan Atom: The Blue Knight, Darai Sem in Amon Saga, Captain Victor in Michite Kuru Toki no Mukou ni, and Ibuya in Hidamari no Ki. The last five are Orphan releases.
• Takase Kurumi (Honran) has only a few anime credits.
• Kanai Mika (Yuran) played the title role in the Licca-chan franchise, Normad in the Galaxy Angel franchise, Histoire in the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise, Melonpanda in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, Misato in Nana, Lotte in Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko, Kanna in Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, Kumi in Tanjou: Debut, and Hime in Bakuen Campus Guardress. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Umezu Miho (Hibino Yurie) is a real-life violin artist.
• Kume Akira (Narration) also narrated Botchan and Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, and she played a librarian in A Penguin's Memories,. All three are Orphan releases.

The director was Nakayama Setsuo. He was a film director; this is his only anime credit. As might be expected of a film about violins, the solo violin music is exceptional and includes excellent solos from major works, including Bach's "Chaconne" from Violin Partita No. 2, Massenet's "Meditation" from Thaïs, Brahm's Hungarian Dance No. 5, Tchaikovsky's "Melodie" from Souvenir d'un lieu cher, and Vivaldi's "Winter", second movement, from The Four Seasons.

Hoshizora no Violin has been on the team's wish list for a long time, but lack of decent source material kept the project on hold. Then WOWmd ripped a video tape on the Domesday Duplicator. The result is far from perfect - there's tape fuzz all along the bottom, and the occasional artifact - but it's much better than previously available raws. Perevodildo translated and timed. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and Uchuu QCed. Perhaps a better raw will come along someday. I certainly hope so; some of the rural backgrounds resemble Studio Ghibili at its best.

Hoshizora no Violin is a really good film, and everyone who worked on it liked it a lot. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net