Kiss wa Me ni Shite

The Margaret video series was a set of six shoujo OVAs released at monthly intervals in 1993. They were based on manga published in Margaret magazine and animated by Madhouse. In chronological order, they were:

• Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru (April)
• Singles (May)
• POPS (June)
• Oedo wa Nemurenai! (July)
• Kiss wa Me ni Shite (August)
• A-Girl (September)

Orphan released a finished version of A-Girl in December, 2017, after three tries.

As I noted in my blog on A-Girl, the Margaret OVAs were not very successful from a commercial viewpoint, and none of the OVAs were released on laserdisc, let alone in digital form. Nonetheless, after the problems finding a decent raw for A-Girl, the team began trying to collect raws for all the other OVAs. ARR had done some of them, but their encodes were often missing one channel of audio. After establishing a VHS ripping capability in Japan, we were able to obtain used tapes from the series.  We'll be releasing more of the OVAs, starting with Kiss wa Me ni Shite (Kiss Me on My Eye).

Perhaps one reason for the series lack of success is that the OVAs are very standard shoujo fare, even for the time. In Kiss wa Me ni Shite, high school student Morisato Ibuki has a startling dream about kissing a prince on a white horse.

The next day, the prince from her dream, Ebisu Naoto, shows up as a transfer student at her school and a guest at her house. He had indeed kissed her, in an attempt to wake her up in the morning, although he claims that she kissed him. Ibuki is smitten with Naoto, but he seems to have other commitments, to American football and to a mysterious girl called Kawahara Izumi. Meanwhile, Nitta, a shy boy in Ibuki's class, has a crush on her. Will true love eventually find a way?

The voice cast includes some very distinguished seiyuu:

• Hayashibara Megumi (Ibuki) was arguably the most famous seiyuu of the 1990s. She's starred as Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop, Ayanami Rei in Evangelion, Rune Balot in the Mardock Scramble movies, Rebecca in One Piece, Lina in the Slayers franchise, female Ranma in Ranma 1/2, and Miyokichi in Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. She also played a number of feline roles, including including the title roles in the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku and Hello Kitty franchises, as well as "lead cat" Iruinedo in Oruorane the Cat Player, an Orphan release.
• Seki Toshihiko (Naoto) was one of the leading male seiyuu in this period. He played Riki in Ai no Kusabi, the hero Seitarou in Hoshi Neko Full House, the gang leader Hiba in Wild 7, Miroku in Yuukan Club, Chuuta in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, the fighter Nagase Jun in Akai Hayate, and the unnamed protagonist of Oruorane the Cat Player, all Orphan releases. He also played Matsuda in the Yawara! properties, Sanzo in the Saiyuuki TV series, and the title roles in Alexander (Reign the Conqueror) and Kaiketsu Zorro.
• Ootani Ikue (Ibuki's friend Sumire) stars as Pikachu in the Japanese, English, Spanish, and German versions of the Pokemon shows. She also plays Mitsuhiko in the Detective Conan franchise and Tony Tony Chopper in the One Piece franchise. She appeared as Ann in Next Senki Ehrgeiz and Misono in Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2, both Orphan releases.
• Koyasu Takehito (Nitta) is reputed to be the most prolific voice actor currently active, with more than 365 roles under his belt. He played Doujima Gin in Shokugeki no Souma, Thirteen in Grimoire of Zero, Dio in Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, the title role in Master of Mosquitron, and Fool in Elegant Yokai Apartment Life. He starred as Izumi in Zetsuai and Bronze and appeared in Yamato 2520 and Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases.
• Satou Ai (Ibuki's mother) has played many maternal roles, including Light's mother in Death Note, Masami's mother in Wedding Peach, Misaki's mother in Dear Brother, Ban's mother in Getbackers, Shigeru's mother in Noramimi, and the unnamed mothers in Cinderella Express, Ai Monogatari, and Guyver: Out of Control. Other roles include Kristin Adams in Yawara! and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind, an Orphan release.

The two leads also also starred in the 1991 OVA Izumo, an Orphan release. The director, Ookubo Tomihiko, has mostly done storyboarding and key animation. The songs, by a group called The 5 TEARDROPS, are bouncy, idiosyncratic, and fun.

One translation note. The show is sometimes referred to as Kiss wa Hitomi ni Shite, because the kanji 瞳 (eye) in the title is usually rendered as hitomi, and 目 is used for me. However, me is an alternate, somewhat rare reading for 瞳. The manga cover includes the furigana め (me), indicating that Kiss wa Me ni Shite is the correct reading.

Sunachan translated the show as part of a break between more serious assignments. (She noted, "Shoujo is not complicated.") M74 timed and encoded the raw. I edited and typeset, and bananadoyouwanna styled the songs. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. The VHS tape was purchased second-hand in Japan.

There's nothing groundbreaking about Kiss wa Me ni Shite, even for its day, but it's not a disgrace either. If you like shoujo, you should give it a try. You can find it at the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. And stay tuned for more shoujo releases.