2018 in Review

Another banner year for Orphan Fansubs, full of interesting releases, including two long and very different series, Stop!! Hibari-kun and Hidamari no Ki - both orphan rescues, by the way.

Orphan Fansubs

Orphan used to put out just a handful of releases a year. For the last three years, though, that number has been much higher, thanks to

1. An expanded staff. In 2018, Orphan welcomed several new QCs, as well as the return of translation checkers laalg and tenkenX6.
2. The increasing availability of back-catalog titles, on both physical and streaming media.
3. The hard work of core staff members in all disciplines: translation, timing, editing, typesetting, QC, and encoding.

As a result, Orphan released a record number of new projects in 2018:

1. Hidamari no Ki. An outstanding historical seinen series, about Tezuka Osamu's medical ancestor, set during the Bakumatsu. This is "must watch" anime. R2J DVD encode. 
2. Smash Hit! The "inside story" of Cosprayers, as seen from the viewpoint of its harried and harassed producer. R2J DVD encode.
3. Sonic Soldier Borgman: Madnight Gigs. A music video of songs from the series. It includes an epilogue providing the real ending to the show. Laserdisc encode. 
4. Purple Eyes in the Dark. A music video of songs loosely based on a popular shoujo manga about a were-panther. Laserdisc encode. 
5. Condition Green. A sci-fi story of Emerald Earth's resistance to evil invaders. Laserdisc encode. 
6. Fantasia (The Girl from Phantasia). A fantasy comedy about an entire world hidden inside a discarded floor rug. Laserdisc encode. 
7. Ai no Kusabi (1992). A dystopian sci-fi BL OVA about the forbidden romance between a member of the ruling elite and a slum-dwelling gang member. R2J DVD encode. 
8. Starship Troopers. The Robert A. Heinlein sci-fi classic about interstellar warfare between mankind and BEMs. Laserdisc encode. 
9. Bremen 4. A Tezuka Osamu NTV special. Four animal friends take on evil, Nazi-like invaders, with the help of a transformation gadget provided by a visiting alien. 720p BD encode; joint with M74.
10. Zetsuai 1989. The BL classic about a fraught relationship between a successful singer and a budding soccer star.  Laserdisc encode. 
11. Katte ni Shirokuma. A sci-fi comedy about a bear family (plus an adopted boar) exploring an abandoned city. Laserdisc encode.
12. Dallos Special. A condensed version of the Dallos sci-fi OVAs, aired as a TV special. Laserdisc encode.
13. Every Day Is Sunday. A caper comedy about the romance between a rookie policewoman and a lazy magician. Laserdisc encode. 
14. Oruorane the Cat Player. An out-of-work youth meets a mysterious old man who plays cats as musical instruments. A forgotten classic. Laserdisc encode. 
15. Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou. An ecchi, not to say sketchy, comedy about the misadventures of a single guy seeking female companionship. Laserdisc encode. 
16. Sangokushi (1985). An anime adaptation of the epic Records of the Three Kingdoms, taking the story up through the Battle of Red Cliffs. 1080p streaming rip.
17. Techno Police 21C. A sci-fi comedy/action film about cops and their robot partners chasing powerful criminals. Laserdisc encode.  Blu-ray version. 1080p BD encode.
18. Bronze: Zetsuai ~ Since 1989. The continuation of Zetsuai 1989. R2J DVD encode. 
19. Greed. A fantasy about a group of adventurers seeking to escape the "distortion" that encompasses their world. Laserdisc encode.
20. Sangokushi 2 (1986). The continuation of Sangokushi (1985), carrying the story through the deaths of Cao Cao and Liu Bei. 1080p streaming rip. 
21. Yume Kakeru Kougen. A biography of Paul Rusch, an American missionary who worked to improve conditions in the Japanese countryside before and after World War II. R2J DVD encode.
22. Alice in Cyberland. A sci-fi OVA about combat in cyperspace. Laserdisc encode. 
23. Oishinbo - Japan-America Rice War. A TV special about Japanese agricultural policy (yawn). 720p BD encode. 
24. Okane ga Nai! A loan shark saves a college student from being auctioned off as a sex slave but demands "repayment" for his expenses. R1 DVD encode; joint with M74. 
25. Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki Long Distance Call. A salesman who died from overwork is revived as a cyborg business consultant. VHS encode. 
26. Wild 7. A gang of death row convicts is recruited to go after criminals who are "above the law." R2J DVD encode. 
27. Ultra Nyan: Hoshizora kara Maiorita Fushigi Neko. An interplanetary cat saves the local felines from a gang of dastardly cat-nappers. ARR encode.
28. Ultra Nyan 2: Happy Daisakuse. Our interplanetary cat confronts a gang of enraged (and allergic) crows. R2J DVD encode. 
29. Kiss wa Me ni Shite. A shoujo romance, part of the Margaret Video series. VHS encode. 
30. POPS. A shoujo romance, part of the Margaret Video series. VHS encode. 
31. Boyfriend. A shoujo romance about a basketball player and a sickly girl. ARR VHS encode. 
32. Singles. A shoujo romance, part of the Margaret Video series. ARR VHS encode. 
33. Izumo (1991). A fantasy about a young prince, a mysterious girl with magic powers, and a mystic sword. Laserdisc encode.
34. Kasei Yakyoku. A josei OVA about a quartet of star-crossed lovers in Taisho Japan. Operatic and compelling. VHS (episodes 1-2) and laserdisc (episodes 3-4) encode; joint with Iquix.
35. Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru. A Tezuka Osamu NTV special, produced by Toei rather than Tezuka Productions. Shakaru, the last living descendant of the ancient three-eyed tribe, battles neo-Nazis for control of a powerful weapon. heponeko encode.
36. Nine: Original-ban. First of three movie-length specials adapted from Adachi Mitsuru's first manga series about baseball and high school romance. Laserdisc encode.
37. Nine 2: Koibito Sengen. The second special. Laserdisc encode.
38. Nine: Kanketsuen. The third and last special. Laserdisc encode.
39. Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show. A comedy anthology from the demented mind of Eguchi Hisashi, creator of Stop!! Hibari-kun. Laserdisc encode.
40. Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru. A shoujo romance, part of the Margeret video series. VHS encode.
41. Mahoutsukai Tai! vs Shamanic Princess. An omake for both series. VHS encode.  

Not counted in this tally were five more mini-batches of Stop!! Hibari-kun, the HD version of Cleopatra, the HD version of Senya Ichiya Monogatari, and an Okizari project best left unmentioned. That's close to 50 distinct projects this year. Congratulations, and many thanks, to the whole Orphan team.

I must also thank Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions. Seventeen of the shows this year, and close to 40 over the last four years, have been based on his laserdisc rips. Without Erik's help, Orphan's release catalog would be missing many of its most interesting shows. I want to thank the Arutha foundation, which has hosted all of Orphan's releases on IRC. And finally, I want to thank our anonymous financial benefactor, who this year helped with setting up a better VHS ripping capability in Japan.

Work for Other Groups

There seems to be less of this each year, particularly outside the "back catalog" kairetsu.

• FFF. I edited the fourth Hoozuki no Reitetsu OVA.
• Frozen-EviL. I continued to edit the slow-moving Blu-Ray version of Yawara!
• Saizen. I continued to edit and typeset Laughing Salesman. Psycho Armor Govarian was licensed and dropped.
  
• Soldado. I QCed this year's Ninku releases.
• Live-eviL. I edited one episode of Shoukoushi Ceddie. It reminded me of why I swore off working on World Masterpiece Theater series.

Laughing Salesman continues to be a useful diversion; I find it's exceedingly dark humor appropriate for the times. The team is half way through!

Favorites of 2018

I'm not an anime critic, so I no longer try to compile a "best of" list for the anime year. These days, I don't watch enough anime, outside of the genres I like (slice-of-life, comedy, sci-fi, seinen, josei, cats), to be knowledgeable enough to make a "Top 10" list. Instead, I'm listing my favorites of the year and why they kept me interested all the way through.

My favorite series for this year, actually, was Hidamari no Ki, but since it aired at the turn of the century, it probably shouldn't be included. So my favorite current series, in alphabetical order, are:

• Double Decker: Doug and Kirill. A stylish and entertaining police dramedy, with the gore kept to a minimum. It went rather weird at the end, another victim of Serious Development syndrome.
• Gakuen Babysitters. Slice of life at its best.
• GeGeGe no Kitarou. A reboot with a point and a point of view. The third coeur (the Western Youkai arc) started off too darkly, but the show has regained its form recently.
• Hakumei to Michoki. Little folks in the woods. D'ooooh.
• Hinamatsuri. A very funny family comedy with sci-fi and yakuza elements.
• Hinomaru Sumo. A traditional sports anime, and very good at what it does.
• Hoozuki no Reitetsu S2 part 2. Cool-headed and outrageously funny to the very end.
• Kyoto Teramachi Sanjou no Holmes. Part romcom, part travelogue, part detective story. I liked all the aspects.
• Miira no Kaikata. Another terrific slice of life show, with supernatural overtones.
• Tada-kun wa Koi no Shirai. A traditional romcom, but well done.
• Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii. Another romcom, but rather untraditional, with the emphasis on comedy more than romance.

No mecha, no magical girls, no idols, no isekai, no shounen (sorry, Boku no Hero Academia), no excessive violence (yeah, I'm looking at you, Golden Kamuy). Among short series, I was completely bemused by Jingai-san no Yome, which was undoubtedly the strangest show all year.

Looking Ahead

Orphan Fansubs is now eight years old, more or less. Since the group's inception, the team has finished 145+ official projects. For 2019, we have a number of carryovers in the pipeline, including the three Sangokushi movies, the second set of DAYS OVAs, and the last Margaret OVA. In addition, we've established full media transcription capabilities in Japan - VHS tapes, laserdiscs, and DVDs - which will make acquisition of new media more affordable. So look forward to yet more unknown gems and turkeys from the back catalog. And we can always use more help. If you'd like to contribute...

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Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely... Orphan Fansubs!

Have a happy and safe 2019.

With Our Best Wishes

Who can resist a cute cat on Christmas Day?

Best holiday wishes from the Orphan Fansubs team.

Mahoutsukai Tai! vs Shamanic Princess

When Orphan released Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru a few days ago, I told the team it would be the last release for 2018, and everyone could relax until next year. Little Did I Know what those unsuspecting words would lead to. And here is the result, Orphan's holiday bonbon for 2018, Mahoutsukai Tai! vs Shamanic Princess.

And what, you might ask, is Mahoutsukai Tai! vs Shamanic Princess? I had no clue either, but fortunately MyAnimeList has the answer.

A parody-esque epilogue to both Shamanic Princess and Mahou Tsukai Tai!.

As a marketing ploy back when Shamanic Princess was first released, buyers who purchased all six first edition LD's of both Shamanic Princess and Magic User's Club, and sent in their proof of purchases before a deadline, received a special OVA entitled Shamanic Princess vs. Magic User's Club. It was never sold in stores and was a special omake by the series' creators to the fans. The OVA contains an epilogue to both series, which is fitting considering they both came out at the same time.

Now you know. I don't think the short snippets are really epilogues - they're more like ecchi gags - but I haven't watched either series, so I can't be sure.

Eternal_Blizzad saw this on a Japanese auction site, snapped it up, and sent it to our media ripper, who thus received the shortest (less than seven minute) commercial video tape he had ever seen. Our media guy captured it on his new D-VHS setup, and it turned out rather well, so M74 encoded it. Starting a few days ago, Yogicat timed the raw, Iri translated, I edited and typeset, and BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. Done! The raw begins with 12 or 13 seconds of black; I've used ordered chapters to snip that out. If your player doesn't support ordered chapters, you'll just have to sit through the lead-in.

As usual, you can get Mahoutsukai Tai! vs Shamanic Princess from the standard torrent site, or you can download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Happy viewing!

Haste Makes Waste Department adds: I fumbled the timing credit. Here's a patch to fix it.

Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru

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 has released A-Girl, Kisa wa Me ni Shite, POPS, and Singles. After a pause for station identification, we now bring you the first OVA, Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru.

Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru (The Fashion Boy Is Cool) tells the story of Fujiya Kotobuki, a precocious 14-year-old girl with a strong sense of fashion and an equally strong crush on Kushinige Hodaka, the owner and chief designer of a chic boutique, Galopin et Galopine. By creatively exaggerating her age, she wangles her way into the shop and into Hodaka's heart. However, she also comes to the attention of Hodaka's younger assistant (and, as it turns out, younger half-brother) Kujou Kazuomi. When Hodaka finds out Kotobuki's true age, he firmly rejects her, and Kazuomi tries to take his place in Kotobuki's affections. Will the complications and misunderstandings be straightened out? Will Kotobuki find the path to true love? Well, this is a shoujo romance, after all.

For an American audience, there's a certain "ick" factor in showing a relationship between an older man - Hodaka is 26 - and a middle school girl, but Japan is, or was, more tolerant of it. The age of consent is 13 in many parts of the country, although it's higher in Tokyo. That's the lowest age of consent in the developed world.

The voice cast includes:

• Mitsuishi Kotono (Fujiya Kotobuki) has had a fabulous career, including star turns as Excel in Excel Saga, female Maze in Maze TV and OVAs, Mink in Dragon Half, Birdy in Birdy the Mighty, Katsuragi Misato in the Evangelion properties, and of course, Sailor Moon in the Sailor Moon franchise. She also appeared in Blazing Transfer Student, Nagasarete Airantou, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases. She is still active, appearing in 2018's Zombieland Saga.
• Hayami Shou (Kushinige Hodaka) starred as Nanjou in Zetsuai: 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989, both Orphan releases. He has had many featured roles, including Iason's friend Raoul in Ai no Kusabi, Hojo in Sanctuary, Pat Leivy in Starship Troopers, and Junoichi in Blazing Transfer Student, all Orphan releases.  He is still active, recently playing Popuko in Pop Team Epic. 
• Nanba Keiichi (Kujou Kazuomi), starred as Eizawa in Chameleon and Hongou in Nozomi Witches, and gave an over-the-top performance as Roll the vengeful wizard in Girl from Fantasia, all Orphan releases. He also starred as Koujiro in the Fuma no Koujiro OVA series and as Momonari Junta in DNA^2.

The show was directed by the late Endou Takuji, who also helmed Zetsuai: 1989.

Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru was first translated by Tomodachi back in the VHS fansub era. Moho Kareshi did an independent translation for Orphan. I cross-correlated the two translations, and laalg corrected the result. M74 timed, and I edited and typeset (very few signs). BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. M74 encoded based on a VHS rip. The tape itself was purchased second-hand and turned out to be reasonably good.

So if you're in the mood for a little May-December romance, you can get Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. The last Margaret OVA, Oedo wa Nemurai!, is "on the slipways" but is still a ways from launch. Stay tuned.

Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show

Most of the time, Orphan gets its laserdisc encodes from Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions, but when it comes to ecchi, not to mention downright sketchy, material, our supplier of choice is ics- of Lamonae. Following up on Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Orphan now presents the first English version of Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show (Eguchi's Hisashi's Long Life Gorou Show, or something like that), another comedy from the prolific, disturbed mind of Eguchi Hisashi, creator of Stop!! Hibari-kun.

Kotobuki Gorou Show is an anthology of episodes from Eguchi's Hinomaru Gekijou, which also provided material for some of the filler episodes in Stop!! Hibari-kun. There are four segments:

1. The Vulgar Family (episode 5). The most vulgar family in the world meets the most refined family in the world, with predictable results.
2. The Vulgar Family, Yet Again (episode 9). More hijinks (or lojinks) with the vulgar family.
3. Rebel without a Cause (episode 7). A boxing parody of Ashita no Joe, with "Horaccho Rikiishi" squaring off against "Piston Akagi."
4. Monster Kingdom (episode 10). A send-up of Japanese kaiju movies. Kirishima, Professor Ichinose, and the Scientific Defense Force try to defeat a monster by bringing in a second monster to fight the first, and then a third to fight the second, and so on.

The voice cast is large and includes many well known seiyuus of the 80s and 90s:

• Yara Yuusaku (Vulgar Dad) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
• Takizawa Kumiko (Vulgar Mother) played Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (movie). She also appeared in Techno Police 21C and Scoopers, both Orphan releases.
• Shinohara Emi (Vulgar daughter Stephanie) played B-Ko in the A-ko properties and Sailor Jupiter in the Sailor Moon franchise. She appeared as Reiko in Akai Hayate and Android 1025 in Oz, both Orphan releases.
• Matsuoka Youko (Vulgar son Ralph) played the title role in the 1990's incarnation of GeGeGe no Kitarou. She appeared in Haguregumo and Tsuki ga Noboru made ni, both Orphan releases.
• Ueda Toshiya (Refined Father, Professor Ichinose) appeared in Perrine and Akai Hayate, an Orphan release.
• Satou Ai (Refined 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!, Ibuki's mother in Kiss wa Me ni Shite, and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind; the last two are Orphan releases.
• Horiuchi Kenyuu (Refined Son) has an extensive resume, including the title role in Guin Saga, as well as Jin Akira in Wolf Guy, Lid in Greed, and Nest in Eien no Filena; the last three are Orphan releases. He recently appeared in Sirius the Jaeger.
• Futamata Issei (Rikiishi) is best known for his roles as Godai Yuusaku in Maison Ikkoku, Akira (Chibi) in Urusei Yatsura, and Saburo in Sazae-san. He also played the psychopathic brother Cross in Hi-Speed Jecy and the horny lead in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, both Orphan releases. He recently appeared in Gurazeni.
• Seki Toshihiko (Akagi) was one of the leading male seiyuu in this period. He played the title role in Izumo, 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, younger brother Jun in Kasei Yakyoku, 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.
• Genda Tesshou (Rikiishi's trainer Kuroki, Kirishima) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman,  "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors, as well as Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate, Dog McCoy in Dallos, Hebopi in Wild 7, and rebel leader Oosukune in Izumo, all Orphan releases.
• Inoue Kikuko (Kuroki's daughter) starred as Belldandy in the Aa! Megami-sama franchise, Kazami in Please! Teacher, and Doris in D4 Princess, an Orphan release. She has numerous other credits, including Cyberdoll Mami in Hand Maid May, Short(cake) in The Girl from Phantasia, and Lucie in Alice in Cyberland, all Orphan releases. She remains active and has recently appeared in Amanchu! and its sequel, The Ancient Magus' Bride, Darling in the FranXX, and FLCL Progressive.
• Nishimura Tomomichi (Akagi's boss) played the rot-loving Professor Itsuki in Moyashimon and Richard Mardukis in the Full Metal Panic franchise. He has had hundreds of featured roles, including Aoki Honoo, Bremen 4, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Fumoon, Starship Troopers, Wild 7, and Wolf Guy, all Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in this year's Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai. 

Iijima Masakatsu, who directed the first three sketches, is best known for his work on the Pokemon franchise. Nabeshima Osamu, who directed the fourth sketch, has directed most of the Yowamushi Pedal properties.

Kotobuki Gorou Show is chock-a-block with puns, parodies, and pop culture references. Here are just a few:

• "Beautiful Teens." Mita Akira's 1963 hit song.
• "You're the laundryman." A reference to an old Japanese porn film, 洗濯屋ケンちゃん (Laundryman Ken-chan), which was uncensored. It was so popular that it apparently contributed materially to the success of home VHS decks in Japan.
• "Please forgive me for getting hard first." A grisly reference to Kamikaze pilots, who often left a last message saying, "Please forgive me for dying before my parents."
• "Sex? How vulgar." The refined mom says 御セックス. 御 is used as a prefix to make a word polite, but it isn't used with foreign words.
• "Let's have a salaryman get his public hair shaved!" A parody of a Braun shaver commercial.
• "Round sliced me." 輪切りの私 (wagiri no watashi). A parody of 矢切の渡し(yagiri no watashi).
• "Crazy Cats records." Crazy Cats was a jazz band and comedy act. 
• "Yashiro Aki records." Yashiro Aki was an enka singer and painter.
• "He likes PHP paperbacks and listens to Jet Stream." PHP is a magazine and a paperback publisher. Jet Stream is a radio program.
• "I have an Edvard Munch-size problem with that." A pun: Munch (ムンク munku) versus problem (文句 monku). The picture is, of course, Munch's "The Scream."
• Horaccho Rikiishi is a reference to Ashita no Joe's Tooru Rikiishi. Akagi (red tree) and Kuroki (black tree) are parodies of the same show's Shiraki (white tree).
• Gag Da is a real magazine, now called Manga Life. SPA is a also real magazine, still published. MIMI was a real magazine that ceased publication in 1996.
• Kochira is, of course, Godzilla.
• Achira is a parody of Agnuirus from the Godzilla movies.
• The man flying in front of Science Defense Force HQ is Okamato Tarou, who created the weird sculpture being depicted.
• Rodon (魯鈍), which means imbecile in Japanese, is a parody of Rodan from the Godzilla movies.
• "Explosion!" Okamato Tarou's signature saying was, "Art is explosion!"
• King Hitler (キング ヒトラ) is a parody of Ghidorah from the Godzilla movies.
• Marimon is a reference to marimo, a species of Japanese green algae.

Moho Kareshi did the initial translation. laalg revised the translation and researched the numerous and sometimes disturbing references. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis, Topper3000, and VigorousJammer did QC. M74 encoded from a laserdisc rip provided by ics-.

So if you're prepared to wade through the usual Eguchi Higashi potpourri of puns, parodies, and tasteless jokes, you can get Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show from the regular torrent site or IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. His other anthology, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho, is even worse, so you have something to look forward to in 2019.

Nine: Kanketsuhen

The Nine saga comes to a close with the third installment, 1984's Nine: Kanketsuhen (Nine: Final). Niimi Katsuya, Karasawa Susumu, and Kurahashi Eiji are all third-years, as are Nakao Yuri and Yasuda Yukimi. The principal romantic relationships are set. Katsuya is paired off with Yuri, and Jirou-kun (a second-year) with Yasuda Yukimi. Katsuya's former romantic rival, Jirou's older brother Kentarou, has gone on to college or pro baseball and is out of the picture. Thus, Nine: Kanketsuhen focuses on some of the side characters, as well as the climax of Coach Nakao's decades-long quest to get to the holy of holies, the high school baseball championships at Koushien.

In the first vignette, Coach Nakao (Yuri's father) uses a minor hospital stay to motivate the happy-go-lucky third-years to buckle down and try for Koushien. In the second, Susumu, who has mostly been a comic wingman to Katsuya, takes center stage, as a prolonged batting slump draws the attention (and eventually, the affection) of budding manga artist Takagi Youko. In the third, a mixup about a bottle of shampoo causes the ever-doubting Katsuya to wonder if Eiji is a romantic rival for Yuri's affections. And finally, the team reaches the hallowed halls of Koushien, fulfilling the coach's dream and providing an appropriate climax to the series.

There was two major changes in the voice cast for this episode. Kurata Mariko dropped out of the project, so the role of Nakao Yuri was recast with another singer, Narumi Yasuda. She was best known for the songs in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. She had no other voice-acting credits. In addition, the late Hiromi Tsuru played Takagi Youko. She debuted as Perrine in Perrine Monogatari and went on to play Kashima Miyuki in Miyuki, Madoka in Kimagure Orange Road, Barge in Blue Sonnet, and Mikami Reiko in Ghost Sweeper Mikami. She also played Iyo in Izumi, Nozomi in Nozomi Witches, Jill in A Penguin's Memories, and UFO-chan in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, all Orphan releases.

As a consequence of Kurata Mariko's departure, Serizawa Hiraoki did all the songs in Nine: Kanketsuhen himself. Perhaps for that reason, this episode has the fewest number of songs of the three episodes.

The Orphan staff is unchanged. Moho translated; laalg checked the dialog and signs; and Sunachan checked the songs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee, Topper3000, and VigorousJammer did QC. The raw is a laserdisc encode from Piyo Piyo Productions.

Two translation notes:

• Takagi Youko pokes fun at Karasawa's weight by calling him Karabuta literally, "Kara-pig." I've localized the insult as a pun with "Kawa-sow-a," even though a "sow" is actually a female pig, because she caricatured him as a pig in Nine 2.
• Omaeda, the monster pitcher on Seishuu's Koushien rivals, mistakes "Seishuu" for "Seishu," a brand of sake. That's the key reason I added the "u" for long Japanese vowels (Seishuu, Kentarou, Jirou) throughout the show, even though Seishuu's team uniforms say "Seishu" in Roman letters.

Typesetting this episode was a PITA. All three episodes of Nine are rather sign-heavy, but this one was ridiculous, with background signs (advertisements) in practically every long-shot at Koushien. Many of the signs are parodies of real Japanese brands and companies. For example, KDY 電話 (KDY Telephone) is a joke on a real telecommunications company, Kddi. These signs don't add much, but laalg took the trouble to translate them, so I've set as many as I could.

Looking back, it seems clear that Nine is not a traditional sports shounen; rather, it's a romcom with a baseball foreground. Nine lacks the typical shounen hero's determined rise to the top in the face of adversity and the humorless focus on building the team and achieving victory. Here, getting to Koushien is just another incident in high school life, and the boys are much more interested in having a good time, and in girls, than in becoming champions. For Niimi, Karasawa, and Eiji, baseball is fun; it's not an obsession.

Nine set the pattern for Adachi Mitsuru's baseball manga series, and he continues to ring changes on the theme even today. (His current manga, Mix, is getting an anime adaptation in the spring of 2019.) Now English-speaking viewers can see where it all began. Except for Hiatari Ryouko, which remains incomplete, all of Adachi-sensei's anime series are available in English. As for Hiatari Ryouko... one never knows, do one? It's an orphan series, after all.

You can get Nine: Kanketsuhen (and the other two episodes) from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Raws from the Abyss

The team members in Orphan tend to collect rarities on analog media, even if there's no real intent of ever subbing them. So here's another raw release, the 1990 movie Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko. Not much is known about this movie, but it appears to be a digest or compilation of some or all of the 13-part OVA series, Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko. The timing is a little odd; the movie was released before the first OVA. Furthermore, it includes the previews for OVAs 6 through 13. So it may be a "teaser" for the OVA series or a complete summary. Adventurous fansubbers are welcome to try matching up scenes in the movie with Ukyuu's subs of the OVAs.

Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko was ripped from a VHS tape, as a test case for Orphan's New and Improved™ VHS transcription capability in Japan. Our media guy had been having trouble with video/audio synchronization between his S-VHS deck and his capture card (something to do with "TBC"). As an alternative, he bought a used D-VHS (digital VHS) deck to see if it worked better. D-VHS was the dying gasp of VHS technology; it supported tapes with digital encoding. Unfortunately, D-VHS came out after DVDs were established, and the format never took off. But the deck did have one redeeming feature: digital outputs. It put out MPEG-2 over Firewire and PCM audio over an optical cable. This removed the capture card completely and produced a better image, usually, then the S-video output. It also allowed for high-resolution audio. Would you like FLAC with your VHS rip, sir? I wouldn't, but it's now a possibility.

This new setup isn't a panacea. VHS tapes are still analog, and most of them are quite old. Fancy electronics can't overcome the intrinsic limits of the medium. The tapes are interlaced, and the output compression makes software-based correction problematic. Vertical pans, in particular, look pretty bad. But unless Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko is given a digital makeover, this raw is about as good as it's going to get.

Our media guy ripped the video, and M74 encoded it. The new setup was funded by a generous donation from a benefactor who wishes to remain anonymous. The entire team is grateful for his continuing support and is trying very hard not to blow their entire Christmas gift allowance on old tapes.

Nine 2: Koibito Sengen

Here's the second installment in the Nine trilogy, Nine 2: Koibito Sengen (Nine 2: Declaring Love). It covers our heroes' (and heroines') second year at Seishuu High, with the usual double focus on baseball and romantic comedy.

When we last saw our main characters, Niimi Katsuya and Nakao Yuri were beginning to see themselves as a couple, but Katsuya was being pursued by a rising track star, Yasuda Yukimi, and Yuri by rival Bunan's third-year pitching phenom, Yamanaka Kentarou. New complications arise in this episode, as Kentarou's younger brother Jirou joins the Seishuu baseball team and promptly falls for Yukimi.

Except for Katsuya, most of the characters are fairly clear about their feelings. However, out of diffidence or immaturity, Niimi doesn't want to disappoint Yukimi by saying he likes someone else or be forthright with Yuri about his feelings. This causes problems for everyone else, particularly Yukimi, who nurtures hopes that cannot be realized. Even Katsuya's wingmen see what's going on and tell him, fairly forcefully, to get his act together. Meanwhile, the team must once again face arch-rival Bunan in a pivotal game.

The voice cast is pretty much the same as Nine: Original-ban. The new role of Jirou was played by Hirano Yoshikazu, who appeared in a number of shows in the 1980s. After that, he moved into live TV as a host, narrator, and producer. The Orphan staff is unchanged. Moho translated; laalg checked the dialog and signs, and Sunachan checked the songs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee, Topper3000, and VigorousJammer did QC. The raw is a laserdisc encode from Piyo Piyo Productions.

A note on the translation of the subtitle, Koibito Sengen. In Japanese, koibito is genderless, meaning lover or sweetheart. The literal translation would be "Lovers/Sweethearts Declaration." However, in English, "lovers" has a more sexual connotation, and "sweethearts" is rather old-fashioned. Because the core theme of the episode is Niimi struggle to face up to his feelings, I've used the neutral "Declaring Love" as the subtitle.

You can get Nine 2: Koibito Sengen at the usual torrent site, or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Recruiting! (Always)

Time for another update on current projects:

• Margaret OVAs. Five of the six are released. The last one is in translation.
• Sangokushi movies. All three encoded and translated; the first is in QC, the second and third in editing and typesetting.
• DAYS OVAs. Encoded, translated, and timed; in editing and typesetting.
• Eguchi Hisahi no Nantoko Narudesho. Encoded, translated, timed, and checked; in editing and typesetting.

Potential projects include Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Blue Sonnet, Fukuyama Theater, Genji Pt. 1, Karuizawa Syndrome, Majou Demo Steady, Manxmouse, and Mother: Saigo no Shoujo Eve, all waiting on timing or translation checking. In addition, there are a number of resub projects on the back burner, including Kashou no Tsuki. We also have a gigantic jigsaw puzzle to do: putting together a script for AWOL Compression Remix from the VHS tapes of the original AWOL TV series. New, interesting raws arrive all the time; a batch of two dozen laserdiscs has just arrived from Japan.

Orphan always needs additional experienced staff. Right now, we could use another timer, as well as an experienced encoder who likes to deal with old, recalcitrant sources. And I must confess that I could use some help in editing and typesetting, as you can see from the number of projects stuck there (and some others I can't discuss yet).

[Updated 21-Dec-2018]
 

Nine: Original-ban

Adachi Mitsuru and baseball romcoms go together like ice cream and chocolate sprinkles. For more than three decades, he has written hit manga series focusing on baseball and teenage romantic comedy, and many of them have been adapted into successful television anime. But the granddaddy of them all - Adachi's very first baseball series - was Nine, published from 1978 to 1980 in Monthly Shounen Sunday and collected in five tankoban volumes. In 1983, Nine was adapted into three hour-long TV specials. The first special was also released theatrically, under the title Nine: Original-ban (Nine: Original Version), with some changes: a different voice actor played Coach Nakao, the insert songs were replaced, and the background music was redone.

Nine: Original-ban tells the story of two friends who are just entering Seishuu High School: record-setting middle school sprinter Niimi Katsuya and prefectural middle school judo champion Karasawa Susumu. Dropping by the school's baseball field, they see a beautiful girl staring forlornly at the school team's miserable performance. On impulse, they decide to join the baseball club, in order to cheer her up. She turns out to be Nakao Yuri, the baseball coach's daughter and soon to be team manager. 

They also meet Kurahashi Eiji, a middle school baseball phenom, and persuade him to join the team as well. Thus begins their athletic and romantic odyssey, which will take them from the agony of defeat to the hallowed grounds of Koushien, Japan's high school baseball championships.

Of course, there are complications. Niimi's running skills attract the attention of Yasuda Yumiki from the track club. She thinks Niimi would make a great coach for her and an even better boyfriend. Yuri is being courted by Yamanaka Kentarou, a slightly older rock-star pitcher for rival Bunan High School. And Karasawa would also like to court Yuri, although Niimi, as the designated hero, has the inside track.

If you've read the somewhat later Hiatari Ryouko, this may all sound somewhat familiar. And if you've watched the Hiatari Ryouko anime, this will all look really familiar. That's because Nine and Hiatari Ryouko have a significant number of major staff members in common, including producer, director, character designer, music composer, and planning.

The voice cast includes:

• Furuya Tohru (Niimi Katsuya) played the lead male roles in Kimagure Orange Road and Sailor Moon, the title roles in Casshern Sins, Utsunomiko, and Kyojin no Hoshi, and recurrent roles in the Dr. Slump, Dragon Ball, and Mobile Suit Gundam franchises. He also starred as Kosaku in Stop!! Hibari-kun and Bavi Stock in Bavi Stock, both Orphan releases.
• Kurata Mariko (Nakao Yuri) was better known as a singer. Nine is her only anime role.
• The late Tomiyama Kei (Karasawa Susumu) played Kongming in the Sangokushi OVAs, Subaru in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Largo the Donkey in Bremen 4, the witch in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, and Cú Chulainn in Yousei Ou, all Orphan releases
• The late Shiozawa Kaneto (Kurahashi Eiji) played Iason in Ai no Kusabi, Rock Holmes in Fumoon, and Shiina in Chameleon (all Orphan releases), as well as the egotistic comic relief Shin in Hiatari Ryouko and numerous other roles.
• Sakamoto Chika (Yasuda Yumiki) 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 Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun, an Orphan release.
• Kamiya Akira (Yamanaka Kentarou) is best known for the title roles in the City Hunter properties and the Kinnikuman franchise, as well as the Sayaka's ambivalent boyfriend, Kazamatsuri, in Yawara! He played Sergeant Zim in Starship Troopers and stole the show as the lecherous robot Chiraku in Hoshi Neko Full House, both Orphan releases.
• The late Kitamura Kouichi (Coach Nakao) played Paolon, the intelligent spaceship in Hi-Speed Jecy, Professor, the wise old cat in the Ultra Nyan OVAs, and appeared in Hidamari no Ki and Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, all Orphan releases.

The director, Sugii Gisaburou, has done many outstanding shows, including other Mitsuru Adachi series (Touch and Hiatari Ryouko); Nozomi Witches and Hidamari no Ki (both Orphan projects); and several recent movies.

Moho Kareshi translated the dialog and songs. laalg checked the dialog translation and added many additional signs. Sunachan checked the song translations. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee, Topper3000, and VigorousJammer did QC. Erik of Piyo Piyo productions encoded from his Japanese laserdisc box set. Because of all the chain link fences, filtering the show proved unusually difficult and time-consuming; you can read all about it here. Erik also pointed out the strange art style - featureless backgrounds, limited color palette, lack of detail. Budget limitations? Stylistic choice? Hard to say.

So the World Series may be over for now, but we'll always have Koushien. You can too, by getting Nine: Original Ban from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.