Chiisana Koi no Monogatari

Here's a wonderful TV special from 1984: Chiisana Koi no Monogatari: Chitchi to Sally Hatsukoi no Shiki (Little Love Story: Chitchi and Sally, Four Seasons of First Love). Adapted from a manga by Mitsuhashi Chikako, this a charming and gentle comedy about the trials of first love. Ogawa Chiiko (Chitchi to her friends) is a vertically-challenged short high school student. She's only 132 cm tall (4' 4"), and she's frequently teased by her classmates, except for her loyal friend Tonko. Chitchi's problems are compounded when she falls hopelessly in love with one of the most popular boys in her school, the 6-foot-tall Murakami Satoshi (Sally to his friends). 

Chitchi succeeds in becoming Sally's friend - he thinks of her as a kind of mascot - but she aspires to be something more. She follows him to his clubs, arranges similar vacations, and pursues her quest from the opening of school in the spring to spring of the following year. She experiences the joys and agonies of first love, while all too keenly aware that she is stuck, despite Tonko's encouragement and help, in Sally's "friend zone."

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari is a slice of life comedy. Chitchi's romantic longings are treated with respect, but her pursuit of a boy more than 50 cm (18 inches) taller produces one awkward situation after another. Sally is treated respectfully too. He's kind to Chitchi - kind enough to keep her on tenterhooks but not to provide any real romantic encouragement. Tonko provides loyal support, but she has her own romantic relationship, with Sally's sidekick Yamashita, to think about as well. There's a supporting cast of friends, teachers, and parents to provide more comedy throughout.

The voice cast includes:

• Furukawa Toshio (Sally) played Moroboshi Ataru  in Urusei Yatsura, Kagege in Keroro Gunsou, Kai Shiden in Mobile Suit Gundam, Shin in Fist of the North Star, Shinohara Asuma in Mobile Police Patlabor, and Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z.  
• Itou Tsukasa (Chitchi) played the heroine in the anime adaptation of the popular shoujo manga Hikari no Densetsu, for which she also sang the opening and ending songs.  
• Yoshida Rihoko (Tonko) played Megu-chan in Majokko Megu-chan, Monsley in Future Boy Conan, Maria Grace Fleed in UFO Robo Grendizer, Michiru in Getter Robo, Clara Sesemann in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Rosalie Lamorliere in The Rose of Versailles, Kurama in Urusei Yatsura, and Machiko in Maicchingu Machiko-sensei.
• Suzuoki Hirotaka (Yamashita) played Bright Noa in Mobile Suit Gundam, Huga Koijiro in Captain Tsubasa, Dragon Shiryu in Saint Seiya, Tenshinhan in Dragon Ball, Kuno in Ranma ½, and Saito in Rurouni Kenshin. He appeared in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, as Karino Daisuke in Sei Michaela Gakuen, and as Abriel Nei Debrusc Larth Kryb Debeus in the Crest of the Stars franchise.
• Suzuki Reiko (Chitchi's mother) usually played elderly women. She appeared as Matsuda's mother in Yawara!, Megabaa in Dennou Coil, Jakotsu-baba in the 2007 version of GeGeGe no Kitarou, Kyousuke's grandmother in the Kimagure Orange Road franchise, and old lady Honke in My Neighbor Totoro. She also appeared in Tsuki ga Noboru made ni and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho!, both Orphan releases.  
• Ogata Kenichi (Chitchi's father, English teacher) played the put-upon father in  Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. 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. 
• Hara Eriko (Mayumi, a classmate) played Selene in Watt Poe, Patty in the Gall Force properties, Fana in Gldeen, Hiyami Hikaru in the Kimagure Orange Road properties, and Pyonkichi in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise. She starred as Ranze in Tokimeki Tonight and appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu, both Orphan releases. 
• Horiuchi Kenyuu (drama teacher) has an extensive resume, including the title role in Guin Saga as well as Kubota in Meisou ou Border, Jin Akira in Wolf Guy, Lid in Greed, Nest in Eien no Filena, and the refined son in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show. The last five are Orphan releases.

The director, Hirata Toshio, was an anime pioneer. He joined Toei Douga in 1960 as an "in between" animator, graduated to key animation at Mushi Productions with Senya Ichiya Monogatari (an Orphan release), and took his first directing job on Tanpen Unico. Other directing credits include Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori (also an Orphan release), Barefoot Gen II, and Ohoshi-sama no Rail (Rail of the Star). Kazato Shinsuke's background music suits the gentle and whimsical mood of the story. He also composed the scores for Jarinko Chie, Urusei Yatsura, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Karuizawa Syndrome (an Orphan release).

Iri picked up a laserdisc of Chiisana Koi no Monogatari in a random sweep through Yahoo Auctions and sent it to our Intrepid Media Maven™ for ripping and encoding. Unfortunately, like a lot of discs Orphan has bought lately, it was badly rotted. Once again, it has required a lot of Intrepid's time to extract a usable encode. Despite extensive filtering, the video has visible dropouts, and the audio is quite distorted, particularly around 45 minutes in. To provide an alternative audio track, Intrepid synced up the audio from Gutsy-Raws' VHS release. It lacks base and has a lot of clicks and pops, but it is less distorted. (Pick your poison.) Once the show was encoded, Iri translated, Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset, and Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. If a better laserdisc shows up, we'll probably do a new encode. In the meantime, this version is what we have.

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari will lift your mood and make you smile, just the tonic we need in today's troubled times. It's available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.