Hashire Melos (1992) v2

I was a bit unhappy with Orphan's original release of the 1992 movie Hashire Melos (Run, Melos). First, it was very big - 2.3GB for a movie that wasn't even full SD. Second, the encode was in two parts, because of differences between the framing on the first and second side of the laserdisc source. Third, I wasn't sure about the ratio. The rip came from a letterboxed laserdisc, but it was packaged in a DVD ISO container. The encoder assumed it was anamorphic at 1.85:1 after the top and bottom black margins were cut off. I don't think is. Laserdiscs are 640 x 480 (NTSC resolution). Even if the top and bottom letterboxing is removed, the horizontal width is still 640.

Earlier this year, a copy of the Hashire Melos laserdisc was offered on Ebay. I bought it and sent it to Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions for ripping and encoding. Erik was able to handle the changes in framing between the two sides, as that's a common problem with laserdiscs, and created a new raw. Orphan is releasing a new version of Hashire Melos using his new encode The principal changes are:

1. All in one file.
2. Laserdisc aspect ratio (borders included).
3. Smaller file size.
4. Better color balance.
5. Short extra (a promo for the film) at the end.

As is his usual practice, Erik left the letterboxing in place. This allowed the karaoke and subtitles to be moved out of the video area. If that doesn't float your boat, you should stick with the previous version.

Hashire Melos is based on a beloved short story by Japanese author Osamu Dazai and has been made into an anime multiple times. It tells the story of Melos, a shepherd who crosses (either deliberately or inadvertently) the tyrant of Syracuse, Dionysius the Younger (called Dionysius II in the movie), and is condemned to death. He requests time to return home and settle his affairs, but the king refuses, believing that Melos will run off and never return. Melos' friend Selinuntius volunteers to take Melos' place. The king agrees but warns Melos that Selinuntius will be executed if Melos fails to return in three days. After numerous trials, Melos returns in the nick of time. The king is so astonished by this display of true friendship that he releases both men.

I find this version of Hashire Melos overstretched. There isn't enough content in the original short story to justify 100+ minutes of screen time. There's a lot of padding throughout. On the other hand, I like the look of the film, as well as its character designs. The main characters have distinctive faces and body types, with real noses and realistic eyes. Melos looks like an overgrown lunk of a shepherd, Dionysius has the "lean and hungry" demeanor of a habitual schemer, and Selinuntius has the balanced appearance befitting a classical sculptor. The animation is fluid, set against very detailed backdrops of the city of Syracuse and the Sicilian countryside.

The voice cast is excellent.

• Yamadera Kouichi (Melos) played many leading roles, including Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Sukeroku in Shouwa Ginroku Rakugo Shinju, Ryouga in all the Ranma 1/2 properties, the nameless hero of Otaku no Seiza, Benten in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, Happyaku in Wild 7, and of course, Ryouan in Hidamari no Ki. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Ogawa Shinji (Selinuntius) played Johnny's father in Starship Troopers and Douglas MacArthur in Junod, both Orphan releases, as well as Hyou in Hokuto no Ken. However, I remember him best as the lecherous ojii-san, Maestro Stresemann, in Nodame Cantabile.
• Kobayashi Akiji (Dionysius) played Tachibana throughout the Kamen Rider franchise.
• Hayashibara Megumi (Clair, Melos' sister) was arguably the most famous seiyuu of the 1990s. She 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. She played Navi in Izumo (1991), another Orphan release.
• Nakamori Aina (Raisa, a prostitute who helps Melos) is primarily a singer. Hashire Melos is her only anime role.
• Aono Takeshi (Calippus, a garrulous old man who helps Melos) was an industry veteran. He played Nurarihyon in every incarnation of GeGeGe no Kitarou through 2007, Billy Bones in Treasure Island, Bookman in D.grayman, Dracule in One Piece, Katsuhiko Masaki in the Tenchi Muyo franchise, and Shiro Sanada in the Yamato franchise. He also appeared in A Penguin's Memories, Ginga Tansa 2100: Border-nen, Fire Emblem, Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Amefuri Kozou (Rain Boy), the three Sangokushi movies (as Guan Yu), and Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, all Orphan releases.

Osami Misaki directed and also did the storyboards and the screenplay. His use of dark interiors and shadows is striking. Oda Kazumasa composed all the music, including the excellent ending ballad. The background music is subtle and used sparingly.

For the original release, M74 transcribed the ACR subtitles and did the initial timing; ninjacloud did timing cleanup. Iri translation checked, I edited and typeset, Juggen created the wonderful ending karaoke, and Calyrica, konnakude, and Xenath3297 did QC. For this release, Iri translated the extra dialog, signs, and song verse in the promo. ninjacloud retimed the script. I cleaned up the script and redid the typesetting for the new raw and the added promo. Juggen redid his karaoke to fit the narrower width. BeeBee and Nemesis checked the release. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions encoded from a laserdisc I bought on Ebay.

Hashire Melos is still too padded for my taste, but it's excellent artwork and music make it quite watchable. You can get this new version from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.