Here's another OVA with a bit of a checkered past, 1985's Karuizawa Syndrome. As originally made, it included live-action sequences of nude AV models. The sequences had nothing much to do with the actual story, and as a result, the OVA was rather poorly received. An anime-only version was released on VHS in 1986, and amazingly, it crossed the analog-digital divide and got a DVD release in 2002. That's the version Orphan used for this release. Sorry, AV fans.
Karuizawa Syndrome tells the story of Aizawa Kohei, former leader of the biker gang Deep, now turned freelance photographer specializing in nudes. (Maybe that was the justification for the live-action sequences.) Kohei has nothing much more on his mind than having fun and getting laid. He and his best bud Matsunama Sumio hoped to bum their way across the U.S. in a jeep, but that fell through. Now the pair, flat broke, are forced to flee creditors in Tokyo and take shelter in Karuizawa (a mountain resort town in Nagano province) with Sumio's sister Kaoru, who is also Kohei's childhood friend. There, Kohei meets a number of other women, including Kuonji Noriko (known as Non), the former leader of a girls' biker gang. She's brought Kunoshita Kumiko with her, in hopes of settling the score with Deep, whose members gang-raped Kumiko's older sister and drove her to suicide. Also in the picture are the proprietor of the local coffee shop La Cuca, the proprietor's sister, Minowa Milk, a local girl named Tsunoda Eri, and the current leader of Deep, Onda Jiro. Kohei tries to score with anything female, succeeds with both Non and Kaoru, and apparently gets both of them pregnant. (Non's actually just late.) The stress causes Kohei to flee the scene and take up with one of his models, Yukari, but she's sick of her aimless life and intends to return home and get married. Kohei realizes that he can't continue drifting. He returns to Karuizawa and Kaoru, apparently ready for a steadier relationship... maybe.
It's hard to characterize Karuizawa Syndrome; perhaps it's best described as a seinen slice-of-life. There's comedy, there's angst, there's drama, and there's lots of nudity and sex. However, all the sex scenes are done with super-deformed (chibi) characters - a stylistic decision that seems weird at first but that helps to keep the scenes light and frothy.
The character designs are also a mix of realistic and chibi styles. The younger siblings (Sumio and Kumiko) are drawn as chibis, with massive mops of hair, making them look about eight years old. In fact, they're both grown-ups.
The voice cast is a who's who of 1980s seiyuu stalwarts, and there's a staggering amount of overlap with previous Orphan releases:
The director, Nishikubo Mizuho, also helmed Miyuki, Purple Eyes in the Dark (an Orphan release), and most recently, Giovanni's Island. The music is by Kazato Shinsuke, who also wrote the scores for Urusei Yatsura, the Kinnikuman franchise, and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (OVA version).Karuizawa Syndrome tells the story of Aizawa Kohei, former leader of the biker gang Deep, now turned freelance photographer specializing in nudes. (Maybe that was the justification for the live-action sequences.) Kohei has nothing much more on his mind than having fun and getting laid. He and his best bud Matsunama Sumio hoped to bum their way across the U.S. in a jeep, but that fell through. Now the pair, flat broke, are forced to flee creditors in Tokyo and take shelter in Karuizawa (a mountain resort town in Nagano province) with Sumio's sister Kaoru, who is also Kohei's childhood friend. There, Kohei meets a number of other women, including Kuonji Noriko (known as Non), the former leader of a girls' biker gang. She's brought Kunoshita Kumiko with her, in hopes of settling the score with Deep, whose members gang-raped Kumiko's older sister and drove her to suicide. Also in the picture are the proprietor of the local coffee shop La Cuca, the proprietor's sister, Minowa Milk, a local girl named Tsunoda Eri, and the current leader of Deep, Onda Jiro. Kohei tries to score with anything female, succeeds with both Non and Kaoru, and apparently gets both of them pregnant. (Non's actually just late.) The stress causes Kohei to flee the scene and take up with one of his models, Yukari, but she's sick of her aimless life and intends to return home and get married. Kohei realizes that he can't continue drifting. He returns to Karuizawa and Kaoru, apparently ready for a steadier relationship... maybe.
It's hard to characterize Karuizawa Syndrome; perhaps it's best described as a seinen slice-of-life. There's comedy, there's angst, there's drama, and there's lots of nudity and sex. However, all the sex scenes are done with super-deformed (chibi) characters - a stylistic decision that seems weird at first but that helps to keep the scenes light and frothy.
The character designs are also a mix of realistic and chibi styles. The younger siblings (Sumio and Kumiko) are drawn as chibis, with massive mops of hair, making them look about eight years old. In fact, they're both grown-ups.
The voice cast is a who's who of 1980s seiyuu stalwarts, and there's a staggering amount of overlap with previous Orphan releases:
- Shiozawa Kaneto (Kohei) played Shin in Hiatari Ryoukou, Iason in Ai no Kusabi, Rock Holmes in Fumoon, Shiina in Chameleon, Sanzou in I am Son Goku, 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 Arslan Senki OVA, Rosario in Dragon Half, and Abriel senior in Crest of the Stars.
- Toda Keiko (Noriko Kuonji, Non) played Hitomi in Cat's Eye, Iczer-2 in Iczer-One, Blinky in Fushigi ga Koala Blinky, Kitarou in Gegege no Kitarou (1985), Nina in High School Agent, Kiki in the Kiki no Lala series, Anpanman in the Anpanman franchise, Karara in Space Runaway Ideon, Sophia in A Wind Named Amnesia, Kate Jackson in Bavi Stock, and Eterna in Hoshi Neko Full House. The last two are Orphan releases.
- Sakakibara Yoshiko (Kaoru) played Sybil in Black Magic M-66, Sylvia Stingray in Bubblegum Crisis/Crash, Sir Integra Hellsing in both versions of Hellsing, Paula in Condition Green, Melinda Hearst in Dallos, and Mimau in Greed. The last three are Orphan releases.
- Matsuya Yuji (Sumio) played Margu in God Mars, Tatsuya in Touch, Pen Pen in Mr. Penpen, Kouji in Kiteretsu Daihyakka, Irabu in Kuuchuu Buranko, Jecy in Hi-Speed Jecy, Yuusaku in Hiatari Ryoukou, and Daisuke in Stop!! Hibari-kun. The last three are Orphan releases.
- Tsuru Hiromi (Milk) debuted as Perrine in Perrine Monogatari. She 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 Keiko in Hiatari Ryoukou, Nozomi in Nozomi Witches, Jill in A Penguin's Memories, UFO-chan in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, and big sister Shizuka in Tomoe's Run!, all Orphan releases.
- Tanaka Hideyuki (La Cuca's manager, Minowa Takanari) played Terryman in the Kinnikuman franchise and Rayearth in Magic Knight Rayearth. He also played Harmer in Al Caral no Isan, Sammy in Bavi Stock, Sawamura in Nozomi Witches, Ronron in Greed, Aoto in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, Katze in Ai no Kusabi, and Ma Su, Fengji's lover, in Sangokushi 3, all Orphan releases.
- Tominaga Miina (Eri) played Ritsu in Fruits Basket (2002), Persia in Magical Fairy Persia, Rollpanna in the Anpanman franchise, Misaki in Tsuritama, Muuma in Bavi Stock, Hikaru in Chameleon (2-6), Kamiya in Tokimeki Tonight, and Karen in Yuukan Club. The last four are Orphan releases.
- Hironaka Masashi (Jiro) played Ihika in Yousei-Ou and Kazusa in Tomoe's Run!, both Orphan releases, as well as Siegfried in Legend of the Galactic Heroes
- Ogata Kenichi (Jiro's father) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai! and Maroko, as well as Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and, most recently, Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. He played the Lord of Kaga and narrator in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, the governor in Akuemon, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, and the ruthless rival cyborg in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, all Orphan releases. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
- Miyuki Sanae (Kumiko) played Lynn in Lady Lady!! and Botan in Yu Yu Hakusho. She also played Namiko in Akai Hayate, the Star Cat in Hoshi Neko Full House, and Kotetsu in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases.
- Yokozawa Keiko (Yukari, the model) is probably best known for her starring role as Sheeta in Castle in the Sky. She played the title roles in Charlotte (1977), the Dorami-chan properties, and ESPer Mami, as well as leading roles in Plastic Little and Legend of Lemnear. She also played Pandora in Akuma-tou no Prince Mitsume ga Tooru, an Orphan release.
- Yamada Keaton (Naruse Dai, head of the modeling agency) played the narrator in Master Keaton, Kanako's father in Boyfriend, and Xun Yu in Sangokushi 1 and 2. The last two are Orphan releases.
A few translation notes:
- After Kaoru loses her virginity with Kohei, she makes an enormous breakfast, including red bean rice. That dish is a dead giveaway to her friends, because it's often used to celebrate a significant milestone in a woman's life.
- When Milk is wondering why Kohei is so popular, she uses the word kei-haku-tan-sho, which refers to a trend in consumer products for "smaller, lighter, better." Kohei mishears it as houkei tansho, meaning "small and uncut."
- Milk tries to teach Kumiko to resist Kohei's advances with the phrase, "I want to have a platonic relationship." Kumoko mishears "platonic" as "plastic" and proceeds to mangle the phrase totally, producing "I want to halve a plastic relay stripper."
- Eri tells Kaoru that Non is also pregnant by Kohei; this seems to precipitate Kaoru's miscarriage. Eri isn't messing with Kaoru. The manga makes it clear Eri hadn't heard that Non's pregnancy was a false alarm.
So Orphan is ending 2019 on the same note as it began, with an ecchi OVA. (Our first release of the year was Majo Demo Steady.) I quite enjoyed Karuizawa Syndrome, although it's a bit dated in its attitudes. It's available from the usual torrent sites as well as IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.
Thank you very much.
ReplyDeleteThis was your most wanted release in my house since when I saw fong's raw 4 years ago.
It's so good I watched it without worrying about dialogues or plot comprehension and still enjoyed it;
now I'll follow the story too
Thank you for releasing this! Karuizawa Syndrome has been an odd favorite of mine for almost a decade. It made me a fan of the author, and I ended up importing the manga as well.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to mention something about the different releases: The version with the live action sequences was released on VHS and LD. The version with new, animated sequences to replace the live action was released on VHS only. The “anime” DVD version is just the live action version with the AV parts cut. I own the anime version on VHS, and several scenes (though not greatly important) are cut. For instance, when Kohei is sneaking back into his room at Kaoru's just before he meets Milk. In the DVD version, he climbs the tree, and sees Milk's silhouette in the window. The next scene is Kohei with his back being bandaged by Kaoru.
In the VHS version, there's an animated sequence of Milk undressing, until she notices Kohei. She glares at the camera, and we can hear from the sound effects that this startles him and he falls out of the tree. It also cuts stuff like the entire opening song.
I've always wondered why they released an edited version of the live action, instead of the anime version. But thank you again for releasing this. The weird edits are not your fault. They are Japan's.
(If you want to see the anime version for yourself, it's up in 2 parts on Nico).