Does the world really need another version of Exper Zenon, a 1991 one-shot science fiction OVA? Probably not, but here it is anyway.
Piyo Piyo Productions did a first version in 2011 - one of Erik's relatively few ventures into subtitled anime. DOMO modified the script and release its own version, basically uncommenting the interjections. Now, Erik has revisited the show with the Domesday Duplicator and modern encoding techniques. Orphan's version is based on PPP-Raw's new encode and a modified version of the original PPP-Sub scripts.
Exper Zenon tells the story of high school game whiz Zenno Hiroshi. One day, he receives a mysterious offer on his PC to participate in a 3D virtual simulation game, EXPERS. Thanks to a Cat on Keyboard incident, he inadvertently order an Exper suit, which shows up at his school along with a beautiful naked girl named Atover. Before he can be beaten to a pulp by his jealous male friends and outraged female classmates, a kaiju appears outside the school. Atover tells Zenno, now known as Exper Zenon, that he is inside a game and, as the main character, must fight the kaiju. With Atover by his side, Zenon confronts and fights an increasingly strong set of opponents, until he finally faces off with the time-traveling Final Boss who set the whole game in motion.
Exper Zenon seems to lie squarely within the "trapped inside a virtual reality game" genre, but it has other sources as well. For example, the time travelers who use the past for their own selfish ends and cut off any timelines that don't suit them is straight out of Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity. Still, it's an entertaining 90s blend, with lots of action, some shiny explosions, and the occasional glimpse of Atover's bare bod.
The voice actors include:
The director, Moriyami Yuuji, did the character design as well. He filled the same two roles on Project A-ko 2, 3, and 4 and the first All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku OVAs. He has done animation direction on numerous shows.Piyo Piyo Productions did a first version in 2011 - one of Erik's relatively few ventures into subtitled anime. DOMO modified the script and release its own version, basically uncommenting the interjections. Now, Erik has revisited the show with the Domesday Duplicator and modern encoding techniques. Orphan's version is based on PPP-Raw's new encode and a modified version of the original PPP-Sub scripts.
Exper Zenon tells the story of high school game whiz Zenno Hiroshi. One day, he receives a mysterious offer on his PC to participate in a 3D virtual simulation game, EXPERS. Thanks to a Cat on Keyboard incident, he inadvertently order an Exper suit, which shows up at his school along with a beautiful naked girl named Atover. Before he can be beaten to a pulp by his jealous male friends and outraged female classmates, a kaiju appears outside the school. Atover tells Zenno, now known as Exper Zenon, that he is inside a game and, as the main character, must fight the kaiju. With Atover by his side, Zenon confronts and fights an increasingly strong set of opponents, until he finally faces off with the time-traveling Final Boss who set the whole game in motion.
Exper Zenon seems to lie squarely within the "trapped inside a virtual reality game" genre, but it has other sources as well. For example, the time travelers who use the past for their own selfish ends and cut off any timelines that don't suit them is straight out of Isaac Asimov's The End of Eternity. Still, it's an entertaining 90s blend, with lots of action, some shiny explosions, and the occasional glimpse of Atover's bare bod.
The voice actors include:
- Matsuno Taiki (Zenno Hiroshi) played the lead role in the second Kindaichi movie (an Orphan release) and every subsequent show in the franchise. He appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou, also an Orphan release. He played Kouga in Inuyasha and the title role in The Adventures of the Little Prince.
- Takada Yumi (Atover) played Yoshinaga-sensei in many of the Crayon Shin-chan movies and Ayeka in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She appeared as Saya and Monmo in Cosmic Fantasy, Purinpurin in Hoshi Neko Full House, and Yumi the barkeep in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, all Orphan releases.
- Hayami Shou (Exper Kain) starred as Nanjou in Zetsuai: 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai since 1989, and Kushinige Hodaka in Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru. He also played an angel in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Iason's friend Raoul in Ai no Kusabi, Hojo in Sanctuary, Pat Leivy in Starship Troopers, Junoichi in Blazing Transfer Student, and Seichii in Mikoneko Holmes. All of these shows are Orphan releases.
- Sasaki Yuko (Exper Shiff) played Sayoko in Aoko Honoo, Yuki in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, and Akiko in Wolf Guy, all Orphan releases. She also played Gilbert in Kaze to Ki no Uta SANTCUS and Hitomi Nomura in Piano.
- Yanada Kiyoyuki (Exper Venom) played Kuroda in Akai Hayate and Ooniwa in Nozomi Witches, both Orphan releases. He also played Black Bear Cat in Chii's Sweet Home.
For this release, the original PPP-sub script was retimed, given some modest amount of checking, and augmented with signs and the ending song. Iri translated the signs; convexity translated the ending song. Yogicat did the fine timing. I edited and typeset. (There's substantial frame-blending, which throws off the motion tracking in spots.) Nemesis and Topper3000 did QC. The encode, like the translation, is from Piyo Piyo Productions. This is a joint release.
So fasten your seat belts, sit back, and enjoy the ride. You can find Exper Zenon at the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net
I really like this one.
ReplyDeleteI decoded the LD using v5 of ld-decode, which at the time had broken digital audio support. The audio in this release is just the analog track. At some point in the future I might do a re-issue of just the audio portion, as its still a bit of a WIP. Thanks Orphan for resubbing - enjoy folks!