Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose (Blu-ray)

From 1978 to 1989, NTV's annual 24-hour telethon, "Love Will Save the World," frequently featured an animated special from Tezuka Productions. Over the next decade, eight of them were broadcast:

• 1978 - Hyakumannen Chikyuu no Tabi Bander Book (One Million Year Trip: Bander Book)
• 1979 - Marine Express
• 1980 - Fumoon
• 1981 - Bremen 4: Jigoku no Naka no Tenshi-tachi (Bremen 4: Angels in Hell)
• 1983 - Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose (A Time Slip of 10,000 Years: Prime Rose)
• 1984 - Daishizen no Majuu Bagi (Baggy)
• 1986 - Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet (Galaxy Investigation 2100: Border Planet)
• 1989 - Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu (Tezuka Osamu Story: I Am Son Goku)

(The 1985 special, Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, was derived from a Tezuka Osamu manga but was produced by Toei without his involvement.)

All eight special have, at various times, been released on DVD and translated, the last two by Orphan. Recently, all of them have been collected in a pair of Blu-Ray box sets. M74 has now released a 720p high-definition encode of the fifth, Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose.

After the failure of Mushi Production's attempts to create "anime for adults" (as opposed to adult or h-anime), Osamu repaired his reputation by returning to manga. Eventually, he started Tezuka Productions and began working on feature length anime again. Unlike the ill-fated Animerama series, Tezuka Production's feature length films were intended to appeal to a broader viewing demographic, although there were certainly some elements not intended for children.

Prime Rose is pretty typical of the group. The story begins with a present-day catastrophe. A giant space fortress, shaped like a death mask, breaks apart, and the pieces crash into Kujikuri Beach in Japan and Dallas in the United States. Both cities are thrown 10,000 years into the future. Sometime later, time patroller Tanbara Gai is sent to discover what happened. He encounters a future where one future city (Groman) has enslaved the other (Kukritt). Aided by a runaway noblewomen, Emiya, who is actually the princess of Kukritt, Prime Rose; and hindered by the inconvenient presence of his little brother, Bunretsu; Gai must coach the Kukritten slaves into rebellion, defeat the Groman army, and confront the sinister force behind it all - the secret hidden within the original Death Mask space fortress. This is done with a maximum of action and humor and a minimum of common sense, as a hard sci-fi story evolves into a sword-and-sorcery fantasy.

 

The voice cast includes:

• Okamoto Mari (Prime Rose) played the title role in Hana no Ko Lunlun, Ai-chan in  Time Bokan Series: Yatterman, and Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz movie. She played Tomoko in Makoto-chan the Movie, Coda in Bremen 4, Misako in Nijuushi no Hitomi, Rococco in Fumoon, and Haruka's mother in both Ultra Nyan OVAs, all Orphan releases. 
• Mizushima Yuu (Gai) played played the title roles in Ai no Senshi Rainbowman, God Mars, and Guyver: Out of Control. He also played the title role in Bander Book, Shukumaru in Fire Tripper, Makabe Shun in Tokimeki Tonight, and Dai-chan in Katte ni Shirokuma, all Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in Golden Kamuy. 
• Hori Junko (Bunretsu) is best known as the voice of the protagonists in three Fujiko Fujio works, Obake no Q-tarou, Ninja Hattori-kun, and Chinpui. She played the title role in Cat-Eyed Boy and also appeared in Wan Wan Chuushingura, Taiyou no Ouji: Horus no Daibouken, Rain Boy, and Makoto-chan (all Orphan releases), as well as Moomin, Akage no Anne, Cinderella Boy, and Unico. 
• Shiozawa Kaneto (Taro, Prime Rose's doomed lover) played the title role in To-Y, Orochimaru in Tengai Makyou, Shin in Hiatari Ryoukou, Iason in Ai no Kusabi, Rock Holmes in Fumoon, Shiina in Chameleon, Sanzou in Tezuka Osamu Story: I am Son Goku, Kouhei in Karuizawa Syndrome, Amakusa Jiro in One Pound Gospel, Kaname in Bride of Deimos, Minamoto, the mad inventor, in Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai: Tsuyoshi no Time Machine de Shikkari Shinasai, and Kurahashi Eiji in Nine, all Orphan releases. He also played Joe in Tokimeki Tonight, Yoshio in Miyuki, Takeshi in Touch, D in Vampire Hunter D, Narsus in the Arslan Senki OVA, Rosario in Dragon Half, and Abriel senior in Crest of the Stars.
• Ikeda Shuuichi (Pillar, the evil governor) played Char in Mobile Suit Gundam, Gilbert Durandal in Gundam Seed, and Ulrich Kessler in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He starred as the Dragon in the Naki no Ryuu OVAs and played Alex in Dallos and Azuma in Starship Troopers, all Orphan releases.
• Chiba Kouichi (space fortress, Sigma 99) played Don Dracula in Marine Express and the Fox Elder in Akuemon, both Orphan releases.

The director, Dezaki Satoshi, also directed Marine Express, Grey: Digital Target, the Urusei Yatsura OVAs, the Riki-ou OVAs, and numerous other shows.

Prime Rose is not all-ages entertainment. The show includes a fair amount of bloodshed and violence, including an on-screen execution and a flogging. There's also lots of fanservice:

(This doesn't strike me as the most practical costume for a swordswoman, but what do I know? And a later bathing scene poses interesting questions about how Prime Rose manages to fit in this outfit at all.) But mostly it's comedy and zany touches; for example, Tanbara Gai's superior officer is a dead ringer for Mr. Spock. In the end, good triumphs, the bad guys (and space fortresses) get their comeuppance, and the hero and heroine are ready for new adventures.

The basic script is a professional translation and has not been checked. M74 timed and encoded. I edited and QCed. Beatrice Raws provided the BDMV (thank you!). You can get in from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #news or #nibl on irc.rizon.net.

I hope that more of these specials will be released in high-definition in the future.