Hidamari no Ki, Part 2

Here is the second installment of Hidmari no Ki, episodes 7 to 13, bringing us to just past the halfway mark in the series. This seemed like a logical breaking point, because the ending song changes in episode 14 from Hikari no Mouko e to High Dive, both by the rock group Charcoal.

This batch of episodes sees significant developments for all the major characters. Ryouan is summoned back to Edo from his studies in Osaka to help his father in the western doctors' struggle to establish a smallpox vaccination clinic in Tokyo, which is vehemently opposed by the official Shogunate physicians. Manjirou is assigned to guard the newly arrived American envoy, Townsend Harris, against the threats of the Joui movement. Both Ryouan and Manjirou experience life-changing events in their families, to comic and tragic effect, respectively. And both are drawn inexorably into the increasing chaos of the Bakumatsu, as the Shogunate's attempt to deal with foreign intrusion creates violent counter-reactions. For more information on the complex politics and numerous historical characters, the show's translator, Sunachan, has prepared a selection of links and summaries from Wikipedia. It is available here.

Three new female characters are introduced in this segment of the show. The first is Oshina, the daughter of a shop owner in Osaka.

She actually appeared in an earlier episode but wasn't named. The second is Okon, a "nighthawk" (boat-based prostitute) in Osaka.

The third is Otsune, the daughter of a distant relative of Ryouan. 

(The character designs are much less distinct than for the male characters.) All three women are drawn to Ryouan, for very different reasons. All get to experience first-hand the ups-and-downs of a woman's life during the Bakumatsu. Ultimately, their trajectories diverge, one propelled by the demands of love, one by the imperatives of survival, and one by the customs of family life.

Some translation notes:

• "ri" (里) is translated as "miles," signifying "Japanese miles." One Japanese mile is about 4 kilometers. This should not be confused with "Chinese miles," or "lǐ" (里), which use the same character. One Chinese mile is about 0.5 kilometers. 
• It's no coincidence that all the women's names begin with "O." In the Bakumatsu and later Meiji eras, it was common to prefix women's names with the polite honorific "O." Thus, all the men (even the ruffians) call the Ninaya shop owner's daughter "Oshina," while she refers to herself as "Shina." Okon, interestingly, calls herself Okon rather than Kon, as part of her self-given title, "Okon of the Seven Ghosts."
• Ep07. A "nighthawk" was a prostitute who lived on a boat. 
• Ep07. "Joui" was one half of the slogan of the neo-Confucian Sonnou Joui ("Revere the Emperor, expel the foreigners) movement. It was particularly popular with the samurai class and became the rationale for violent attacks on foreigners and revolts against the Shogunate.
• Ep08. Christoph Wilhelm Hufeland was considered the most eminent practical physician in the Germany of his day.
• Ep09. Bousshuu is the old term for the Awa region of Japan.
• Ep12. Satsuma-age are deep fried fish-paste balls. Shochu is liquor distilled from rice, barley, or sweet potatoes. It is typically around 50 proof - more than sake but less than whiskey.
• Ep13. Hougan is an old word for doctor.
• Ep13. Manjirou's removal from his post as bodyguard to American envoy Townsend Harris reflected the chaotic politics inside the Shogunate following the ascension of Ii Naosuke as chief minister.
• Ep13. Korori is an old name for cholera.

The retention of old words and terms, instead of using their modern equivalents, is the translator's choice.

One minor change to the project staffing: starting in episode 10, Yogicat did the preliminary timing by shifting the workraw-based scripts to the final encode. Eternal_Blizzard did fine timing of each episode. As before, Sunachan translated; I edited and typeset; bananadoyouwana, Nemesis, and VigorousJammer did QC; Skr encoded the workraws; and M74 encoded the final video and audio.

Before closing, I have to rant a bit about the chickenshit disclaimer that appears at the end of each DVD:

Whom, exactly, were the producers afraid this "biased" show would offend? Ultra-nationalist defenders of the Shogunate? Chinese medical practitioners? Any remaining samurai? The show portrays the Bakumatsu as a turbulent and corrupt era. It was. The show portrays the samurai class as having both honorable and lawless elements. It did. The show portrays the role of women in the era as subservient and limited. That was true. If Hidamari no Ki leans more to the western-oriented views of Ryouan than the traditional samurai outlook of Manjirou, that reflects Tezuka Osamu's optimistic and pacifistic outlook on life. Does that constitute bias in the eyes of certain authorities in Japan?

Hidamari no Ki is a gripping, complex, and suspenseful series - Tezuka Osamu at his best, IMHO. If you aren't watching it, you should. You can get this batch of episodes, and the previous batch too, from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. 

Smash Hit! (Hit wo Nerae!)

As promised (threatened) when Orphan released Cosprayers, here's the first companion series, Smash Hit! (Hit wo Nerae!). The second companion series, Love Love?, is licensed; go buy or rent the DVDs if you want to watch it.

The premise of Smash Hit! is that Cosprayers is not an anime but a "live action" CG special-effects hero show. Through a series of mishaps, fortuitous or not, diminutive 25-year-old Ikuta Mitsuki is suddenly thrust from the quiet of the Copyright Department into the role of lead producer of Cosprayers. She finds a show in chaos: a crew of eccentric misfits; a squabbling set of young actresses ranging in age from 11 to 17; and a scriptwriter who's not the industry veteran she expected but an 18-year-old high school student, Ooizumi Naoto. Her nominal superior, Kurume Kenjirou, is a cold and sneering seasoned producer whom she refers to as Dracula. Her female co-producer at the TV network, Hayakawa Kazumi, is a voracious vamp brimming with ideas for "improving" the show by adding more bishounen.

Much of the humor derives from linking the insane plot twists in Cosprayers to "real life" events in Smash Hit! For example, the White Goddess shows up because the company that sells Cosprayers toys wants another gadget to sell; and the Goddess turns out to be gray because the prototype toys tested better in that color. The Black Mikos appear because Hayakawa wants to add the handsome boys of idol group Gekokujou to the show. Another repeating joke is the outraged audience letters about Cosprayers, rightly pointing out its exploitative qualities and unsuitability for its target audience of children. Mitsuki must cope with all the ups and downs of production, aided really only by the young scriptwriter, while she simultaneously learns the job of a producer and struggles to overcome her image as a "little kid." And all this is accompanied by a cornucopia of gratuitous boob, butt, and pantsu fanservice shots; and in the last episode, a cornucopia of corn as well.

Back in 2005, when I first saw this show, it all seemed pretty harmless. That was before #MeToo. Now when I watch, all I really see is the relentless harassment, sexual and otherwise, of Ikuta, her female friends, and the young actresses by most of the older men in the show.

(Ikuta is also sexually harassed by her female colleague, Hayakawa, to add "balance," I guess.) When Ikuta is not being harassed, she's being dismissed as too young, too small, too female to do the job of producer. The only male who doesn't make life miserable for her is the young scriptwriter, Ooizomi Naoto. Dracula himself, Kurume Kenjirou, doesn't make advances but uses a "tough love" management style that, on the surface, offers little support to the rookie producer. Ikuta eventually succeeds, of course, in spite of all the obstacles, but the harassment itself goes unnoticed (except by Ikuta) and unpunished. That doesn't sit well now.

Noto Mamiko (Ikuta Mitsuki and opening vocals) has had a prolific career as both a singer and a voice actress. She played the title role in Nogizaka Haraku; the siren Benten in both seasons of Uchouten Kazoku; Alex in Gangsta; Ai Enma, the Hell Girl herself, in all four seasons of Hell Girl; Rin Asogi in Mnemosyne; and too many others to list. Miyano Mamoru (Ooizumi Naoto) is probably best known as Light in Death Note. He also played the leads in Ajin and Tokimeki Memorial ~Only Love~; the boxer-turned waiter Eiji in Antique Bakery; Dazai Osamu in Bungo Stray Dogs; and too many others to list. Kusao Takeshi (Kurume Kenjirou) played the lead role in Junk Boy and the teenaged Tezuka Osamu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari. The director, Takahashi Takeo, has done many other somewhat ecchi projects, including Cosprayers, Love Love?, Dakara Boku wa, H ga Dekinai, Yosuga no Sora, and this season's Citrus.

As with Cosprayers, Smash Hit! consisted of eight TV broadcast episodes and four DVD-only episodes. We've numbered them consecutively in this release, with the original fansub numbering in parentheses. Interestingly, the fansub numbering of the first DVD episode is "1.5," indicating it fell between TV episodes 1 and 2; but the previews make clear that it actually follows episode 2.

The original subs are by Triad Fansubs (episodes 1-6, 8-11) and yu (episodes 7, 12). I OCRed the subs, and Yogicat timed them. The transcribed subs were fully checked and extensively revised by Intrepid, convexity, and tenkenX6 for episodes 1-4, and by Sunachan for episodes 5-12. I edited and typeset. Calyrica and konnakude did QC. Nemesis encoded from R2J DVDs. For the short promotional videos, Intrepid did the translation, and Sunachan checked it.

So if you're ready for more of m.o.e.'s trademark ecchi fanservice, mixed in with some decent comedy and a helluva lot of harassment, you can find Smash Hit! on the usual torrent sites or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.