Orphan's projects get started for all sorts of reasons. Sometimes, a raw intrigues one of the translators. Sometimes, an orphaned series gets resuscitated by fortuitous circumstances. And sometimes, one of the team members has a favorite that they want to do (or redo), and the right source material shows up. That's what happened with Nemesis and Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa. That's what happened with Skr and the forthcoming Makoto-chan movie. That's what happened with me and Yume Tsukai. And that's what happened with our Intrepid Media Maven™ and Elf 17.
Elf 17 is based on a six volume manga (not available in English) by Yamamoto Atsuji. It chronicles the adventures of Prince Masukato Taira (or Muskat Tylor) as he travels around the Galactic Empire, accompanied by Ruu, a winged elf and the strongest creature in the universe, and K.K., a walking arsenal in an armored suit. The 1987 OVA recounts the start of their adventures. The prince stages a no-holds-barred martial arts tournament to find a companion for his travels. The contest is proceeding to a lethal climax when Ruu suddenly flies in and crushes all the competitors. The prince is delighted by the prospect of such a beautiful companion, but K.K. refuses to concede and proceeds to demolish the arena in his attempts to corral Ruu. The prince eventually decides to take both of them along.
Their first (and only) adventure occurs when their spaceship crash-lands on Planet Asaharu, home to a mysterious shrine containing the wine of Bacchus. Although the wine is stored in a supposedly impenetrable sarcophagus, Ruu and K.K. easily remove the lid. However, it's all a dastardly plot by the spaceship's driver, who brought them there deliberately in order to steal the wine. After suitable amounts of comic mayhem, Ruu and K.K. save the day, and everyone heads off for more fun - and trouble - in the galaxy. Well, the OVA is really just a teaser for the manga, a common practice in the 1980s (cf. Sanctuary and Meisou ou Border).
The voice cast is like a rogue's gallery of 1980's OVA seiyuu:
Intrepid got the ball rolling by inveigling me into buying a used VHS tape of the show. He then ripped it on his uncompressed All-in-Wonder setup and encoded it. The original subs are by Box Subs (the BakaBT fansubbing group); Intrepid translated the ending song and quite a few additional signs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. The typesetting was a PITA: hand-drawn signs that move, rotate, scale, and mostly won't track.
Elf 17 is the embodiment of light entertainment. It hasn't a serious thought in its head. The violence is all for comic effect, and there's no nudity or sex. However, it fails to answer a basic question: Is Ruu the 17th elf? Or is she 17 years old? The world waits for a definitive answer. While it waits, you can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.
Elf 17 is based on a six volume manga (not available in English) by Yamamoto Atsuji. It chronicles the adventures of Prince Masukato Taira (or Muskat Tylor) as he travels around the Galactic Empire, accompanied by Ruu, a winged elf and the strongest creature in the universe, and K.K., a walking arsenal in an armored suit. The 1987 OVA recounts the start of their adventures. The prince stages a no-holds-barred martial arts tournament to find a companion for his travels. The contest is proceeding to a lethal climax when Ruu suddenly flies in and crushes all the competitors. The prince is delighted by the prospect of such a beautiful companion, but K.K. refuses to concede and proceeds to demolish the arena in his attempts to corral Ruu. The prince eventually decides to take both of them along.
Their first (and only) adventure occurs when their spaceship crash-lands on Planet Asaharu, home to a mysterious shrine containing the wine of Bacchus. Although the wine is stored in a supposedly impenetrable sarcophagus, Ruu and K.K. easily remove the lid. However, it's all a dastardly plot by the spaceship's driver, who brought them there deliberately in order to steal the wine. After suitable amounts of comic mayhem, Ruu and K.K. save the day, and everyone heads off for more fun - and trouble - in the galaxy. Well, the OVA is really just a teaser for the manga, a common practice in the 1980s (cf. Sanctuary and Meisou ou Border).
The voice cast is like a rogue's gallery of 1980's OVA seiyuu:
- Honda Chieko (Ruu) played Kurumi in Kimagure Orange Road, Marybell in Hana no Mahou Tsukai Marybell, Amy in the Gall Force OVAs, Rullishia in Dragon Century, Meroko in Full Moon o Sagashite, Marie in Soul Eater, and Lea in the Ancient Book of Ys OVAs.
- Yao Kazuki (K.K.) is best known as Franky in One Piece, but he also played the lead in Makyou Gaiden Le Deus, the title role in Rance, Dark Schneider in Bastard!!, Chivas in Sorcerer on the Rocks, Yoki in Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions), and Hamel in Violinist of Hamelin. He appeared as Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, Ryougaku in Wild 7, and Sofue Akira in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
- Kamiya Akira (Masukato Taira) is best known for the title roles in the City Hunter properties and the Kinnikuman franchise. He played Kazamatsuri in Yawara!, Roy Focker in Macross, and Mendou in Urusei Yatsura. He also played Sergent Zim in Starship Troopers and stole the show as the lecherous robot Chiraku in Hoshi Neko Full House, both Orphan releases.
- Yara Yuusaku (Driver) 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, Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
Intrepid got the ball rolling by inveigling me into buying a used VHS tape of the show. He then ripped it on his uncompressed All-in-Wonder setup and encoded it. The original subs are by Box Subs (the BakaBT fansubbing group); Intrepid translated the ending song and quite a few additional signs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. The typesetting was a PITA: hand-drawn signs that move, rotate, scale, and mostly won't track.
Elf 17 is the embodiment of light entertainment. It hasn't a serious thought in its head. The violence is all for comic effect, and there's no nudity or sex. However, it fails to answer a basic question: Is Ruu the 17th elf? Or is she 17 years old? The world waits for a definitive answer. While it waits, you can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.
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