Cyborg 009 (1966)

If you were a US kid in the 1960s, you grew up watching non-stop blocks of cartoons on Saturday morning. Some of these were US productions; some, like Astro Boy and Speed Racer, were dubbed and re-edited Japanese productions. Simplified plots, simplified characters, and simplified animation prevailed. Thus, working on Toei's 1966 movie Cyborg 009 - the first work in what proved to be a durable franchise - felt like deja vu all over again. I was watching a 1960s Saturday morning cartoon, albeit in color and high definition.

This was not an accident. After the relative failure of Gulliver no Uchuu Ryokou, Toei decided to take a bifurcated approach to feature-length anime. They would still make expensive, fully animated features, but less frequently. To fill in the gaps in their release schedule, they would create features using TV animation techniques. TV animation saved money by using fewer unique frames, repeated sequences, and simplified backgrounds and character designs.The first movie released under this strategy was Cyborg 009. Orphan and Inka are pleased to bring you a new version, is full high-definition, encoded from the Japanese Blu-ray.

Cyborg 009 is based on a sci-fi manga by Ishinomori Shoutarou. It tells a standard good guys/bad buys plot, but in this case, the cyborgs are the good guys. The villains are Black Ghost, a supranational crime syndicate dedicated to fomenting wars in order to sell weapons to both sides. 

Despite having an arsenal that would make a superpower green with envy, Black Ghost wants to have even deadlier weapons.

They coerce Professor Gilmore into creating a line of cyborgs, augmented humans with unsurpassed special powers.

They stage a fatal racing accident that kills driver Shimamura Joe and bring his corpse to Gilmore to become the ultimate cyborg, 009. Little Do They Know™, however, that Gilmore has been secretly programming the Cyborgs to be soldiers of justice. They revolt and escape.

Now with Joe as their leader, they work to bring about Black Ghost's downfall.

As the hero, Cyborg 009 is both Japanese and generally overpowered. The other eight come from other countries and have more specialized capabilities:

• 001, Ivan Whisky, a Russian baby, is super brainy with psychic powers.
  
  
  
  
  
• 002, Jet Link, an American, can fly at Mach 5.
  
  
  
  
  
• 003, Françoise Arnoul, a French girl, has super sight and hearing.
  
  
  
  
  
• 004, Albert Heinrich, an East German, is heavily armed with rockets and missiles.
  
  
  
  
  
• 005, Geronimo Jr, native American, is immensely strong.
  
  
  
  
  
• 006, Chang Changku, Chinese, can breathe fire.
  
  
  
  
  
• 007, Great Britain, an English child, is a shape-shifter.
  
  
  
  
  
• 008, Pyunma, Kenyan, can swim underwater indefinitely.
  
  
  
  
  

Thus, they have the right skills to confront Black Ghost's swarms of robot dinosaurs, manned submarines, unmanned jets, and red shirts.

In addition to the movie, this release includes the preview as well as the (wordless) non-credit OP and ED. The latter is just the last 20 seconds of the movie, with the concluding fanfare. The NCOP and NCED are SD resolution. The movie has a second audio track, with just the background music, suitable for making fandubs (not).

The movie seems to have been cobbled together from multiple sources. For example, there is a notable increase in grain at 22:20, for a few seconds. In addition, the animation errors are numerous as well. It also has numerous animation and continuity errors. My favorite is when 007 complains that they are out of fuel for their jet, when, in fact, the jet had been blown up a few scenes before.

The voice cast includes:

• Oota Hiroyuki (009) had no other voice acting roles.
• Toriyama Kyouko (001) played Romy in the first Jungle Emperor Leo TV series.
• Ishihara Ryou (002) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He narrated Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, Future War Year 198X, Ningen Kakumei, and Uchuu Kuubo Blue Noah.
• Judy Ongg (003) was an actress, singer, author and woodblock-print artist born in Taiwan. She had no other voice acting roles.
• Ootake Hiroshi (004) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He also played  Nezu in Akira, Dayon in the first Osomatsu-kun, 004 in the first Cyborg 009 movie, and Boss in the Mazinger franchise. He also played Fox in Shounen Jack to Mahou Tsukai, Vailly in Greed, Takeshi in Yukuguni no Ouji-sama, Michael in the What's Michael? OVAs, Director Hiruta in Ojisan Kaizou Kouza, and (Juushoku,  the temple priest) in Kachikenee!, al Orphan releases.
• Masuoki Hiroshi (005) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He also played Fuguta Masuo in Sazae-san until 2019, Minami's father in Touch, and Ojisan Jam in the Soreike! Anpanman frachise. He played Wujing Sha in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I am Son Goku and appeared in Shounen Jack to Hidamari no Ki, King Fang, Mahou Tsukai, Meisou-ou Border, Nine, Fumoon, and Bremen 4, all  Orphan releases.
• Fujimura Arihiro (006) also appeared in Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima and Andersen Monogatari.
• Soga Machiko (007) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He also played he title role in Obake no Q-taro Joker, Totto in Hyppo and Thomas, and Joker in Maken Liner 0011 Henshin Seyo!, an Orphan release.
• Utsumi Kenji (008) played Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, Senbei Norimaki in Dr. Slump and Arale-chan, the village chief in Watt Poe, and Alex Louis Armstrong in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. He played Ishikawa in Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu and appeared in Nora, Bavi Stock, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Techno Police 21C, Don Dracula (title role), 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases. appeared in Nora, Bavi Stock, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Techno Police 21C, Don Dracula (title role), 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, A Ghost Story, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases.
• Yanami Jouji (Dr. Gilmore) played Jumbo in Kikansha Yaemon: D51 no Daibouken, Ozora Ibari in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Akahatsu (Red Shirt) in Bocchan, Lump in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Murphy in Maris the Choujo, the wine-loving Big Bird in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Gen-san in Yukiguni no Oujisama, and the cart vendor in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, all Orphan releases. He narrated most of the Dragon Ball Z properties. He played Ittan Momen in several of the GeGeGe no Kitaro series and movies and Chuta Ban in all the Kyojin no Hoshi TV series.
• Kawakubo Kiyoshi (Beagle) played Kevin Yeager in D.gray-man and Guame in Tengen Toppe Gurren Lagann. He appeared in Rain Boy, King Fang, and Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Gokuu, all Orphan releases.
• Yamanouchi Masato (Black Ghost leader) appeared in Casshan, Future Boy Conan, Racoon Rascal, and Shounen Santa no Daibouken. He played the prophet Samuel in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament and (Professor Hayashi in Maken Liner 0011 Henshin Seyo!, both Orphan releases.
• Hase Sanji (Ösel/Easel) played Shuunen in the Ikyuu-san properties, Kazuo in The Kabocha Wine, Nanako-san in the Kinnikuman franchise, and Yoshikawa in Botchan (1986), an Orphan release.

The director, Serikawa Yuugo, also directed several other Toei releases, including Wanpaku Ouji no Orochi Taiji, Chibikko Remi to Meiken Kapi, Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, an Orphan releaseand a GeGeGe no Kitarou movie.

This version of Cyborg 009 started with BlueFixer's script for his SD release many years ago. TougeWolf translation checked and rough-timed. ninjacloud fine-timed. I edited and typeset (very little). VigorousJammer, AGundam, and WasteOfHair QCed. The encode was by an anonymous friend. This is another Inka-Subs and Orphan Fansubs collaboration, and like all our partnerships to date, it went very smoothly.

There's no point in looking at Cyborg 009 rationally. The villains are straight out of the James Bond movies: the chief villain even has a lap cat. (The opening credits, with their silhouetted Cyborgs in action poses, salutes the James Bond movies too.) The Cyborgs are impossibly good-hearted and dedicated. The show jumps from one confrontation to another, with the shortest of breaks. The cartoon violence is bloodless, and the action sequences are interspersed with slapstick comedy.

I fell under its spell right away, as did the other staffers who worked on it. I hope you will too. You can get Cyborg 009 from the usual torrent site.

 

Cool Cool Bye v2

You were maybe not expecting this. Then again, neither was I.

Cool Cool Bye is a 1986 fantasy OVA. Orphan subbed it back in 2020, based on the original Random Masters script and a new Domesday Duplicator laserdisc rip. As I wrote at the time, the hardest part was wrestling a workable encode from rotted discs and buggy DdD software. The OVA didn't make much of an impression, and I didn't bother to release the 15 minute extra, which focused on a short-lived animation studio called Bebow, the principal animation house for Cool Cool Bye and Greed.

But someone did care a great deal more: MartyMcflies, proprietor of LonelyChaser Fansubs. He inveigled me into finding the extra in archival storage and then commissioned a translation of it. The translator also looked through the OVA script, found some significant errors, and fixed them. Marty then made me a deal: if I would typeset the extra, he would give me the revised script for the OVA. Unlike the claims of certain world leaders, we had a deal.

There's no need to rehash Cool Cool Bye itself; the blog post covers the plot, the seiyuu, and the encoder's travails in getting to a workable encode. In brief, it tells the story of two "Han warriors," Len and Fleke, who are enticed by offers of food to take on a gigantic monster that's been terrorizing a village and kidnapping its women. 

They're joined by villagers Syril and Coron, who have lost loved ones, and an enigmatic woman named Klee, who is actually some sort of fairy or flying spirit.

This revision tightens the dialog considerably. It corrects a major error in the old script, which conflated the villain's name (Tanguin) with the name of his monster fortress (Penguine), as well as other translation mistakes. It also corrects an error in the ordered chapters that caused a ten-second repeat at 22:10.

The extra is a brief look at Bebow in its brief heyday, starting with its founder, Kogawa Tomonori, who was director, character designer, and story author for Cool Cool Bye and Greed. It showcases Kogawa's philosophy, everyday activities at the studio, and the young animators on the staff.

 

Each staff interview starts with a caricature, continues with a couple of sentences from the animator, and concludes with a short animation of perhaps 15-25 seconds. The shorts vary widely in level of finish and tone. 

 

The staffers are engaging, and their short animations quite interesting. One translation note: there's a running gag among the staff about Yuki Saito, an actress and singer.

 

The OVA started with the Random Masters script. This version was translation checked and heavily revised by justj22. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. imatu QCed the revision. The encode is unchanged. justj22 also translated the extra. I edited and typeset. imatu and MartyMcflies QCed. The encode is also from 2020, but it was not previously released. Because of Marty's pivotal role in getting the extra subbed, the extra is a joint Orphan-LonelyChaser release.

 

So here's a new version of Cool Cool Bye, with a considerably improved script and the same old encode, as well as its extra. I was too harsh on the OVA when I first worked on it. It has likable characters, some good comedy, a bit of nudity, and a ton of shiny explosions. (The ending is a great example of what Roger Ebert used to call "the impregnable fortress impregnated.") 

 

The extra features the Bebow animators before they went their separate ways when the company dissolved and gives them a chance to showcase their talent. You can get the new release from the usual torrent site. Because this version of the OVA is just a script and chapter change, the original can be patched; a patch file can be found here.

 

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P.S.A. If you have version 1 of Cool Cool Bye, you may find that it doesn't play correctly in recent versions of MPC-HC. (It plays fine in VLC, mpv, or MPC-BE.) This is due to a bug in MPC-HC about the interpretation of tags in scripts that started as SSA and were converted to ASS in Aegisub 3.2.2. This same problem also affects Orphan's releases of Ai no Kusabi, Aoki Honoo, Cathexis, and Megami Paradise. If your playback of these releases is malfunctioning, you can either use an alternate player, or wait until the bug is fixed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Damekko Doubutsu

Damekko Doubutsu (Useless Animals) is a short-form anime comedy from 2005. It was originally hardsubbed by Ryuu-Rogue back in the day. Darkwispers redid the show in 2022, with translation-checked softsubs and new encodes, but Darkonius was never completely happy with the result. In particular, the styling and typesetting were bare-bones. He decided to revise the scripts and asked me to do the typesetting. I couldn't have been more delighted to help.

The premise of Damekko Doubutsu is that there's a forest for "useless animals" - animals that don't measure up to the requirements of their species. It's populated by a menagerie of misfits, including:

• Uruno, a timid wolf. He can't run down or attack prey; he can't even skip without tripping.
• Usahara, an aggressive, chain-smoking rabbit. He reflexively pounds anyone in his path, Uruno in particular.
• Yunihiko, a sly unicorn. He enjoys drinking with and trolling the other forest inhabitants,
• Peganosuke, a winged horse and Unihiko's twin brother. He is very shy and wants to be friends with Uruno.
• Chiiko, a clumsy cheetah, the object of Uruno's unrequited affections.
• Takaoka, a short-sighted eagle. 
• Kumanee, a genki and enterprising bear, a traveling salesbear. 

The list goes on and on: for example, the orca in the cast can't swim and uses an inflated tube. In any given episode, the characters bounce off one another to great comic (and no other) effect. It's a fine example of the short-form comedy, with far less of the snark that seems mandatory in modern examples of the genre. I loved it with it when it first came out, and my opinion still stands.

The characters in the show are not drawn as animals but as people in kigurumi costumes. Most of the time, the characters are drawn as chibis, but occasionally, their faces turn adult(ish) to emphasize the joke.

The voice cast includes:

• Takagi Motoki (Uruno the wolf) played Nozomi in Futakoi, Renji in the Ef properties, Ooba Youzou in Aoi Bungaku, and Kamanosuke in Brave 10.
• Sugiyama Noriaki (Usahara the rabbit) played Sasuke in the Naruto franchise, William T Spears in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, Shirou in the Fate franchise, England in the Hetalia franchise, and Sasaki in Ramen Aka Neko.
• Morikawa Toshiyuki (Yunihiko the unicorn) took over the role of dad Nohara Hiroshi in the Crayon Shin-chan franchise. He played lead roles in Gallery Fake, Yami no Matsuei, Kyou Kara Maou, 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.
• Narita Sayaka (Chiiko the cheetah) played Melon in Akikan, Mayu in Ai Yori Aoshi, Mirumiru in Pururun! Shizuku-chan, and Kusukusu in the Shugo Chara franchise.
• Kamiya Hiroshi (Peganosuke the flying horse) played the title roles in The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. and Natsume Yuujinchou franchises, Araragi Koyomi in the *monogatari franchise, Ataru in Urusei Yatsura reboot, Beelzebub in the Yondemasuyo, Azazel-san franchise, Levi in the Shingeki no Kyojin franchise, Shunpei in Ace of the Diamond, Kou in Arakawa under the Bridge, Mephisto Pheles in the  Ao no Exorcist franchise, Ranpo Edogawa in the Bungo Stray Dogs franchise, Kinshirou in the Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu Love! franchise, Zain in Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid, Izaya in the Durarara!! franchise, Shinji Matou in the Fate franchise, Takeda in the  Haikyuu!! franchise, Michel Blanc in Macross Frontier, Choromatsu in Osomatsu-san, Kawai in Ring ni Kakero, and my favorite, Penguin in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan franchise.
• Aoki Makoto (Takaoka the eagle) played Taiichi in Showa Monogatari and Ryuunosuke in Smash Hit!, an Orphan release.
• Takeda Naha (Kumanee the bear) played the title role in ANNA, Pegitan in the Precure franchise, and Kyocho in the Ikkitousen franchise.
• Shintani Ryoko (Fukurou the owl) played Sugai Hinata in Amaenaide yo!, Sakurai Rihoko in Amagami SS, Tetsuro in Arawaka under the Bridge, Milfeulle in the Galaxy Angel franchise, Sae in the Hidamari Sketch franchise, Fujimiya Konomi in the Non Non Biyori franchise, and Anna in Henzemi.

The director, Shibuichi Setsuko, did character design and direction for Magic Bus. Her character design credits include Tobira o Akete, Aoi Kioku, and Bakumatsu no Spasibo, all Orphan releases. Her directing credits include Yuukan Club and Chuumon no Ooi Ryouriten (1994), also Orphan releases.

This is Darkonius' project, so you'll have to read his release post for staff credits. I styled and typeset and did a bit of editing. (I can't help myself.) As a digipainted SD release, the images are very stable, and the signs use mostly recognizable fonts; but it was often difficult to make the English fit in the limited available area. The R2J DVD release bundled two episodes together, except for 13 and 14, which were kept separate to make the episode count per disc work out.

Late in the project, Darkonius detected issues in the original encodes that couldn't be fixed. The original encoder had bowed out, so work stalled for almost a year. Eventually, I asked an anonymous friend for new encodes, which were promptly supplied. New encodes meant that the typesetting and timing had to be reworked, yet again. And that uncovered a host of problems that had gone undetected the first time around, particularly with the preview signs. Release candidates pinged backed and forth, but eventually, it was done. In addition, the new encode included the non-credit OP and ED, a compilation of the TV previews, and two live action "extras." These will be released separately at a later date.

So here is the third, and hopefully definitive, version of Damekko Doubutsu. Its principal task is to make the viewer laugh, and it does that very well. The closest it comes to subtext is a gentle push about accepting oneself, Mr. Rogers style, and that is barely noticeable. I was glad to work on it, and I strongly recommend it. You can get this version of Damekko Doubutsu from the usual torrent site.

Miyuki Forever

After Miyuki was finished back in 2014, the team basically disbanded. When a viewer pointed out that the DVD box set contained an AMV called Miyuki: Forever Selection, there wasn't much enthusiasm to work on it. I threw together a set of dialog subs and signs around an existing raw and fobbed it off. Eventually, I decided that this was (more than) a little lazy, so I cajoled Skr into making a new encode, redid the signs, and released that as the FroZen-EviL version. It was still a lazy release, though; none of the songs were translated.

Fast forward a decade. WOWmd found a laserdisc of a longer version of the AMV, called simply Miyuki: Forever, and encoded it. It not only had more songs, it looked better too. (The Miyuki DVDs, like the Yawara! DVDs, were pretty bad. Maybe Miyuki will get a Blu-ray remaster too, someday.) The passing years had erased any frustrations with the project, leaving only my affection for the series itself. Accordingly, I was eager to do a proper sub of Forever. Happily, darkcart, proprietor of Inka-Subs, also loved the series; it was the first one he ever watched. He organized a project to sub the show and enlisted me to do typesetting, QC, and general kibbitzing, for another smooth Inka-Orphan joint project.

Miyuki: Forever is a collection of songs set to scenes from the series. It is stitched together with a small amount of dialog, but it doesn't really follow the plot. It isn't a proper superset of Miyuki: Forever Selection, although when the same song occurs in both, the same scenes from the series are used. The songs are:

1. 10% Chance of Rain (10% no Ame Youhou) - H2O. Series opening song. Selection uses the full song with scenes from the series. This show uses the shorter series opening and animation. 
2. Hello Vibration - H2O.
3. Goodbye, Highway of Youth (Saraba, Seishun no Highway) - Virgin VS. Not included in Selection.
4. Hold On, Make Love (Chotto Matte, Make Love) - Smart Looking. Not included in Selection.
5. Sensual Girl (Kannou Shoujo) - Takao Kisugi
6. Summer Holiday - Michiko Kawai. Series second ending song.
7. The Foghorn is Calling Me (Muteki ga Ore wo Yonde Iru) - THE SPOILE. Not included in Selection.
8. Goodbye Season - H2O. Series third ending song.
9.  Lily Collection (Yuri Collection) - Virgin VS. Not included in Selection.
10. Howl at the Moon (Yoru ni Hoero) - White Dragon. Not included in Selection.
11. Goodbye Day - Takao Kisugi.
12. Dream Radio City (Yume no Radio City) - Virgin VS. Insert song in series episode 33.
13. Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl - Hakuryuu. Insert song in series episode 26. Not included in Selection.
14. Memories Overflowing (Omoide ga Ippai) - H2O. Series first ending song.

Selection includes a song, "Furimukeba Broken Heart", that is not present in this AMV; the Miyuki fanatic will need to have both. I liked many of the songs on the AMV, particularly the ones by H2O and Takao Kusugi. Note, however, that several are earworms. You have been warned.

The original dialog subs and the signs are from FroZen-EviL's release of the TV series.  (See my blog post on the series for staff credits.) The song translators were:

• FroZen-Evil (laalg): 10% Chance of Rain.
• darkcart: Lonely Girl, Lonely Boy, Hello Vibration, Sensual Girl, Summer Holiday, Dream Radio City, Goodbye Season, and Memories Overflowing.
• Perevodildo: Lily Collection and Howl at the Moon.
• Jimmy: Goodbye Day
• perry dimes: Goodbye, Highway of Youth, Hold On, Make Love, and The Foghorn is Calling Me.

TougeWolf checked the translations and filled in some missing dialog.. I typeset, QCed, and did a bit of editorial tweaking (I can't help myself). imatu also QCed. WOWmd encoded from his own Domesday Duplicator rip of a Japanese laserdisc. This is a new encode, not the one released as a WOWmd-raw.

So here, a decade later, is proper version of Miyuki: Forever, courtesy of Inka-Subs, with a little help from its friends. This is probably my last word on the show. darkcart and I would like to redo the series from better sources, but the laserdiscs are unlikely to get encoded soon, and there's no sign of a Blu-ray box set. Meanwhile, you can get Miyuki: Forever from the usual torrent site.

Maegami Tarou

Here's a rarity: a 1979 TV Nippon Animation special called Maegami Tarou. It's based on a children's story by Matsutani Miyoko and was broadcast as part of Fuji TV's "Nissei Family Special" program. A raw was included in a stash of rare anime from Fabrebatella18. (The same stash provided the raw for the second version of King Fang.) Orphan is pleased to release the first version with English subtitles.

Maegami Tarou is structured like a classic Japanese folk tale. On New Year's Eve, a childless elderly couple offers hospitality to a wandering stranger. 

He turns out to be the New Year's Spirit, and he says that he will grant their wish for a child. The next day, the old man goes to the forest and finds a baby there.

He grows up to be a daredevil horseback rider, Maegami Tarou. (Maegami means forelock, indicating that he's young, and his hair has not been cut.)

Tarou's village lives in the shadow of a volcano called Doudou Mountain. The source of its eruptions in a legendary golden bird, the Firebird. Despite the villagers' fears, Tarou goes to the mountain and talks to the Firebird.

It has grown weak, unable to fly, and it triggers eruptions out of pain and desperation.

Tarou promises to search the whole wide world to find a cure for the Firebird. This resolution triggers a reappearance of the New Year's Spirit. He says that the Firebird needs the Water of Life. To help in the quest, he offers Tarou the use of a flying horse, Tsubametomi... if Tarou can ride it.

For a daredevil rider like Tarou, Tsubametomi is an irresistible challenge. He masters the horse and sets out to find the Water of Life.

First he lands by a lake and meets an Ushi-Oni (cow demon) child (calf?). It wants Tarou's food, which she shares, then his horse, when he refuses. The child throws a tantrum.

That brings out the Ushi-Oni mother, who is much bigger. Rather than angry, she's happy that Tarou tried to play with her offspring.

She grants him the power of double strength: whatever foe he faces, he can have twice the strength. But she knows nothing of the water of life. Tarou then flies off to find an ancient mountain spirit, who looks a bit like an Ent out of Lord of the Rings.

He doesn't know about the Water of Life either. Then Tarou meets a stranded whale, who has been lured up a river by a crafty salmon. 

Tarou uses his double strength to pull the whale back downstream to freedom. The whale promises to repay the favor when needed.

Finally, it's time for the main event. Tarou and Tsubametomi land at a village where everyone is wearing boats. 

They learn that a giant serpent in the nearby Mountain Palace unleashes floods whenever it's angry. The serpent has kidnapped the daughter of the stingy local lord, and his wife is distraught. 

Tarou promises to free the princess, and the lord promises the boy the princess' hand (and nothing else). 

But to fight the serpent, Tarou needs a special iron sword, only to be found in the Dragon Palace at the bottom of the sea. Tarou calls on the whale to help him, and it guides him and his horse to the palace under the waves. There, Otohime, the reigning princess, gives Tarou the sword. 

She also tells him that the serpent stole the Water of Life. Now by defeating the serpent, Tarou can kill two snakes with one stone (so to speak).

Tarou and Tsubametomi fly to the Mountain Palace and find the imprisoned princess. 

She is about to be married to the serpent, so Tarou takes her place at the wedding ceremony.  He fights a titanic battle with the baddie, with the expected outcome. 

Then it's back to the Firebird for the denouement and the inevitable moral lesson leading to a happy ending.

A few translation notes:

• Yuziriha leaf: the false daphne. Nursery rhymes about the descent of the New Year's god (Shogatsu-sama) riding on a yuzuriha tree can be found throughout Japan. The reason why the yuzuriha became the vehicle of the New Year's god is that, just as ancestral spirits pass on their legacy to new life, when the new leaves of the yuzuriha tree sprout in spring, the old leaves fall as if to pass on the legacy. Later generations believed that the ancestral spirits ascended to the heavens riding on these fallen leaves.
• Tarou's village is called Kazefukan, meaning windless. The collapse of Dodo Mountain allow the wind to blow, changing the village's climate and fortunes. 
• Doudou Mountain. Doudou means bold or straightforward. 
• Tsubametomi (つばめとび) means swallow-tailed kite.
• Awa, the name of the princess' family, means millet, which is the family trade. 

The seiyuu belong to an earlier era:

• Matsuda Tatsuya (Tarou) played Ryohei in Future GPX Cyber Formula, D'Artangan in The Three Musketeers, and Makoto in the Hiatari Ryokou movie, an Orphan release.
• Yada Minoru (Grandpa)  played Tamaranch (the IOC President) in Yawara!, Hemulen in Tanoshi Moomin Ikka, the elder in Bavi Stock II, and the village chief in Cool Cool Bye. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Asou Miyoko (Grandma) 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, Nozawa Mitsuko in It Rained Fire, the old lady in The Harp of Burma, and the store owner in Yamatarou Comes Back. The last thre are Orphan releases.
• Saikachi Ryuuchi (New Years' Spirit) played Han Zhongli in Akuma-kun, Matthew Cuthbert in Anne of Green Gables TV and movie, Mage in Legend of Lemnear, Tomeji in Notari Matsutaro, and Hacker in Roujin Z. He appeared in Sangokushi 2 movie, Sangokushi II TV special, and White Fang, all Orphan releases.
• Ikeda Masako (Tsubametobi, the flying horse) starred as Maetel in the Galaxy Express 999 franchise. She played Perrine's mother in Perrine Monogatari, the phoenix in the Hi no Tori movies, sister Nadoka in Ranma 1/2, Reiko in Ace wo NeraeI, Nanzi in Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den, and Kenkichi's older sister in Student Days. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Yokozawa Keiko (Princess) (Mei Lin) is probably best known for her starring role as Sheeta in Castle in the Sky. She played the title roles in Charlotte (1977), the Dorami-chan properties, and ESPer Mami, as well as a leading role in Legend of Lemnear (another Usushihara Satoshi OVA). She played the child mouse in Gauche the Cellist, title role in Charlotte (1977), Dorami in the Doraemon franchise, Misuzu in Lady Lady!!, Pandora in Akuma-tou no Prince Mitsume ga Tooru, Mei Lin in Plastic Little, and Yukari in Karuizawa Syndrome. The last three are Orphan releases.. 
• Tokita Fujio (Whale) played Uncle Pom in Castle in the Sky and Yutenji in Yawara! Live Action.
• Moriyama Shuuichirou (Firebird) played the title role in Porco Rosso and  Kublai Khan in The Adventures of Marco Polo.
• Aoki Kazuyo (Ushi-oni mother) played Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer no Bouken, Hanae in Maison Ikkoku, and Gouda Yuriko in Ore Monogatari, as well as Baxter in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki, an Orphan release.
• Tsukase Norko (Ushi-oni child) played Natalie in Mon Cheri CoCo, Alphonne in Cutie Honey, Tera in Future Boy Conan, Tsuruu in Ginga Tetsudou 999, Emiko in Tokimeki Tonight, and Kaji's mother in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, an Orphan release.
• Yamaya Hatsuo (Narrator, Mountain Spirit) appeared in Kanashimi no Belladonna and Kaze o Mita Shounen.

The director, Saitou Hiroshi, directed Manxmouse as well as many World Masterpiece Theater series, including Heidi, Girls of the Alps, Katry, the Cow Girl, Lucy-May of the Southern Rainbow, and the first half of Perrine.

This show was in my list of unsubbed raws and caught Perevodildo's eye. He translated and timed. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and imatu QCed. The raw is from Fabretella18. The video has about ten seconds of garbage at ~9:30. I've elided this with ordered chapters, but the transition still looks a little wonky.

Maegami Tarou elicited split reactions from the staff. Some found it tedious, watchable only in chunks, while others thought it a decent kids' flick. Personally, I thought it played like a compendium (or pastiche) of classic Japanese folk tales, including The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, Urashima Tarou, and the legend of Yamato no Orochi. I liked that the Ushi-Oni was not the fearsome youkai of some Japanese legends but a harassed mother trying to cope with an unruly offspring. On the other hand, the plot beats are predictable: the Ushi-Oni's gift helps Tarou with the whale, the whale's gift helps Tarou find Otohime, Otohime's gift helps Tarou fight the serpent. Still, it's a decent watch, and I hope you'll enjoy it. You can get the show from the usual torrent site.

Kikansha Yaemon: D51 no Daibouken

Orphan presents the first English-subtitled release of Toei's 1974 feature cartoon, Kikansha Yaemon: D51 no Daibouken (Yaemon the Locomotive: D51's Great Adventure). Based on a popular storybook series by Agawa Hiroyuki, it tells the story of a tired but game D51 steam locomotive and the boy who loves him... You see my problem. This movie is aimed at a niche market, namely steam locomotive otaku with children. That leaves me out.

I've never understood the "romance" of the steam locomotive. Ah, the smoke! The sparks! The noise! The pollution! 

I was baffled by Tezuka Osamu's Lion book OVA Yamatarou Comes Back, about the friendship between a D62 locomotive and a captive bear cup. This is a further step down the rabbit hole: a friendship between a D51 locomotive (run by mice) and a lonely boy. Apparently, Toei was trying to capitalize on a contemporary craze for steam locomotives.

A full third of the movie is just live-action shots of steam locomotives in operation in various locales. In between is a barely passable animated story. Tadashi is a lonely boy, bullied by his classmates and scorned for his love of steam engines. 

His only friends are his dog, King, and a pre-war, rather tired D51 locomotive named Yaemon. A family of mice, aided by Tadashi and King and hindered by a hungry cat named Dora, try valiantly to keep the locomotive running. 

However, it keeps breaking down - a bucket-brigade of mice can't provide enough coal for the boiler. The four other locomotives in Yaemon's roundhouse:

• Gonta, a blue E58 electric engine, the leader of the pack
• Haihai, a tricolor DD51 diesel engine that always says "Hai, hai" (Yes, yes) to Gonta
• Hanauta, a red passenger engine and a prima donna
• Mach, a Shinkansen engine 

vote him off the island - well, out of the roundhouse.

(I hate to inject a note of reality in a fantasy meant for children, but the roundhouse is nonsense. The bulk of Japanese railroads are narrow or Cape gauge (1067mm). The Shinkansen runs on standard gauge (1435mm). Most Japanese electrified rail lines use 1500V or 20KV DC. The Shinkansen runs on 25KV AC. But what does reality matter in a cartoon?)

Yaemon is exiled to the boonies, to haul bulk freight, and is towed away by Haihai. Tadashi, King, and the youngest mice (Tantan and Rinrin) chase after him, singing a cheery song to keep their spirits up.

When they reach Yaemon, more cheery songs and a dream sequence follow. Yaemon now rushes back to the roundhouse in order to bring Tadashi home to his family, racing past Haihai and inadvertently burning the other locomotive with sparks. 

Back at the roundhouse, Haihai's piteous state leads the other locomotives to demand that Yaemon be scrapped. The railway company officials reluctantly agree. 

Then a gang of nitwit thieves show up and rob the railway company of all its tickets.

They hijack Haihai as an getaway vehicle and escape to the mountains. Only Yaemon, aided by Tadashi and the mice (shades of Josie and the Pussycats), is willing to scale the steep grades in pursuit.

After a comic chase, the baddies are caught, Haihai is rescued, and Tadashi is hailed as a hero. Yaemon is restored to a place of honor, serving in the railway park.

Cue the ending credits. 

In short, the story is insipid, following the shopworn conventions of the Well Made Play, and the songs are worse. Not my jam at all. (In fairness, I have to admit that the live action shots of a steam locomotive sitting on a roundhouse turntable and then getting towed away by a diesel locomotive, as well as shots of the scrapping of a steam locomotive, are quite interesting.) The release includes two trailers, both translated.

Because this movie was made more than 15 years after Toei's first feature-length cartoon, the voice cast is more familiar than the early films:

• Kumakura Kazuo (Yaemon) appeared in both the 1963 and 1980 versions of Astro Boy. He played Papa Panda in Panda Gopanda, Oz in The Wizard of Oz movie, Pooh in Shounen Jack to Mahou Tsukai, Thomas R. Manx Cat in Manxmouse, Sima Hui in Sangokushi, Pew in Shin Takarajima, and Inspector Unmei in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru. The last five are Orphan releases.
• Satomi Kyouko (Tadashi)  played the title role in Rainbow Sentai Robin and Rune in Jungle Taitei Susume Leo and Tsutomu in Maken Liner 0011 Henshin Seyo!, an Orphan release.
• Yamamoto Keiko (Isamu) - title role in Akado Suzunosuke, Eagle Sam, Flight Osper, Ganbare Gonbe, (Ganso) Tensai Bakoban, Mouretsu Atarou, Sunakake Baba in many interations of Gegege no Kitarou, Queen in Panda no Daibouken, Kaoru in Attack No. 1, Dan-Jack in Bikkuriman franchsie, Kensaku in Devilman, Baba in Meisou-ou Border
• Yamada Junji (Entotsu) has no other voice acting credits.
• Tanonaka Isamu (Kid) was best known for voicing the character Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) in the first five GeGeGe no Kitarou anime, as well as Sindbook in the original Magical Princess Minky Momo and Igor in the Persona franchise.Kitarou. He played Nodaiko in Botchan (1980), an Orphan release.
• Takiguchi Junpei (King, the dog) brought his distinctive voice to the roles of Dr. Yamanado in Fumoon, Scratch in Techno Police 21C, the villainous king of Kanemacchi Castle in Grim Douwa: Kin no Tori, the Mouse Thief in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, the Professor in The Green Cat, and Dong Zhung in the first Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases. He also played the Millennium Earl in D.grayman, John Trelawney in Treasure Island, and Dr. Laughton in Metropolis.
• Tomita Kousei (Chuubei, father mouse) played the same role (Higeoyaj/Ban Shunsaku) in Fumoon, Marine Express, Ginga Tansa 2100: Border Planet, Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu, and Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken, the OVA The Green Cat, all Orphan releases, the movies Jungle Tatei and Metropolis, and in several Astro Boy properties. He also played Watson in Sherlock Hound.
• Takahashi Kazue (Chuuko, mother mouse) played the title role in Kujira no Josefina, Katsuo in Sazae-san (until 1998), Sayuri Komori in F, the tanuki in Gauche the Cellist, and Obaba in Maco the Mermaid.
• Hirai Michiko (Rinrin, the youngest girl mouse) played title role in Mahoutsukai Sally, Dragon Queen in Maco the Mermaid, Fifi in Panda no Daibouken, Ran in Ryu the Cave Boy, Starsha in early Yamato movies, and Anna in Swiss Family Robinson.
• Maruyama Hiroko (Tantan, Rinrin's brother) played Peter in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Mokku in Kashi no Ki Mokku, Kenta's mother in My Neighbor Totoro, and Baby Panda in Panda! Gopanda, as well as the title role in Robotan. She played Tesu in Kimu no Juujika and Moko in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki, both Orphan releases.
• Yanami Jouji (Jumbo) played Ozora Ibari in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Akahatsu (Red Shirt) in Bocchan, Lump in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Murphy in Maris the Choujo, the wine-loving Big Bird in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Gen-san in Yukiguni no Oujisama, and the cart vendor in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, all Orphan releases. He narrated most of the Dragon Ball Z properties. He played Ittan Momen in several of the GeGeGe no Kitaro series and movies and Chuta Ban in all the Kyojin no Hoshi TV series.
• Mine Eken (Dora, the cat) played dozens of characters in Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae and appeared in everything from Ariel to Zou no Inai Doubutsen, including Gude Crest, Fumoon, Perrine, and the second Sangokushi special, all Orphan releases.
• Shibata Hidekatsu (Gonta, the blue electric engine) - see Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko
• Yamashita Keisuke (Haihai, the DD51 diesel) played Dan Araiso in Reideen the Brave and Goro in UFO Senshi Daiapolon, and had featured roles in Dirty Pair Flash, Gegege no Kitaro movie, Maco the Mermaid, and Marvelous Melmo.
• Tsukase Noriko (Hanauta, female red passenger engine) played the title role in Hello! Spank, Ango in Haguregumo, Santarou in Ganbare Gonbe, Natalie in Mon Cheri CoCo, Shouta Yamaguchi in Plawres Sanshirou, Gaku in Mu no Hakugei, and Sumega in Tobiro o Akete, an Orphan release.
• Chijimatsu Sachiko (Mach, the Shinkansen) played Bub in Animal Treasure Island, Nobito's mom in the Doraemon franchise, Haruna in Great Mazinger, Kabu in Mahoutsukai Sally, Matsuo in UFO Sensei Paiapolon, and Reina in Mu no Hakugei and appeared in Maken Liner 0011, an Orphan release.

The director, Tamiya Takeshi, moved into planning and production shortly after this movie.

Perevodildo translated and timed the movie and the trailers. Yume translation checked. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The encoder was an anonymous friend. He wrote:

The source footage was very good for an SD master. Post-letterbox removal left a native video resolution of 716x380, which was then slightly upscaled to 860x380 to preserve the 2.39:1 DAR while avoiding anamorphic scaling. The two theatrical trailers included as DVD Extras have a smaller picture of 648x348 post-crop, which were again slightly increased to 832x348 to preserve the original aspect ratio.

This film contained some really gorgeous wide-angle cinematography of the Japanese countryside, along with historical footage of Japan's older lines of mid-20th century locomotion as well as the appearance of the first commissioned Bullet Train, the Tokaido Shinkansen, whose arrival in 1964 was not far removed from this feature's production. It seems like a movie both general audiences and railroad enthusiasts alike could enjoy.

The QCs thought it was okay as well. I prefer my steam locomotives to be O-gauge.

Kikansha Yaemon: D51 no Daibouken is, chronologically, the last of the movies in Orphan's Toei Douga project, but there are still several more in the list to do. For that reason, I'll defer a discussion of how the Toei that made the kinetic Shounen Jack to Mahou Tsukai, the engaging Horus no Daibouken, and the riotous Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, could become the timid creator of this movie. I didn't like Kikansha Yaemon, but most of the project staff gave it a passing grade. You can get the show from the usual torrent site.