Waza no Tabibito

Here's a modern OVA that slipped under the radar, 2011's Waza no Tabibito (Skills Journey). Waza is virtually a one-man production - created, written, designed, directed, and produced by mangaka Matsuena Shun (romanized as Syun in the video), author of Kenichi: History's Strongest Disciple. Iri had a raw of this on his hard drive and decided to translate it, primarily to give me a break from typesetting after some of the recent sign-heavy shows.

Waza no Tabibito is set in familiar sci-fi/fantasy post-apocalyptic landscape. The remnants of human civilization are trying to survive by salvaging parts from the ruins of technological civilization, but they are beset by war-weapon monsters that also survived the previous era. Into this setup wanders Techni Debugger and her owl familiar, Fukku. Techni has come from the far east, whose people have abandoned technology for spiritual power and spells, known as wazan (skills or techniques); practitioners are called wazabito. Techni saves a young girl named Ruri from a monster and gets taken back to Ruri's people, who live in an abandoned city. Her father, Cient, is the city leader. He hopes to resurrect technology, but his burrowings in an abandoned military base have awakened the monsters. They attack the city in force. All Seems Lost™ when Techni-chan charges in with her mystic spells to combat the enemy. Will she succeed? Well, what do you think?

The cliched plot doesn't begin to summarize the issues with this OVA. The CGI backgrounds are pretty to look at,

 

 

but the human characters fall squarely into the "uncanny valley" of viewer discomfort.

 

The writing is clumsy, with long sequences of exposition substituting for organic development. Techni-chan is the epitome of anime cliches, with a cute verbal tic (she's the wazibito who says "Ni"). She's scantily-clad, with enormous breasts bursting from an inadequate halter (monogrammed with the word waza), and skimpy pantsu with well-defined creases. Her boobs move in accordance with the laws of anime rather than real physics, and the 3D CGI only makes it stranger. Her owl familiar is annoying, Ruri is cloying, and Cient is a strawman for western faith in technology. Oh, and Cient's second-in-command is a catgirl named Carrot.

So why did Iri translate the show? Because... KugiRie. Yes, the legendary "queen of tsundere" plays the lead. Indeed, the voice cast is the best part of the OVA:

• Kugimiya Rie (Techni) starred in the title roles for Lotte no Omocha and the Hidan no Aria franchise. She also starred as Shana in the Shakugan no Shana properties, Nagi in Hayate no Gotoku!, Aisaka Taiga in Toradora! and Louise in the Zero no Tsukaima franchise. She played Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions),  Rizel in Rizelmine, Hina in Guardian Hearts, Daisuke in Major, Rose in Dragon Crisis, Momo in the Shokugeki no Souma franchise, Atsumi in Recorder to Ransel, Yukimura in Hyakka Ryouran, Cure Ace in the Precure franchise, Happy in Fairy Tail, and Kagura in Gintama. She also appeared as Rena in Hand Maid May, an Orphan release.
• Seki Tomozaku (Cient) starred in the title roles for Maze and Keniichi: History's Strongest Disciple. He starred as Sousuke in Full Metal Panic, , Kyou in the original Fruits Basket, Gilgamesh in the Fate franchise, Shuichi in Gravitation, Yotaro in Showa Genroku Rakugo, Dee in Fake, Rentarou in Futakoi: Alternative, Ryuuiki in Saiunkoku Monogatari, Nobuo in Nana, Striker in Gangsta, Tanaka in Genshiken, Tenma in Harukanaru Toki no Nake de Hachiyoushou, Suneo in the Doreaemon franchise, and my personal favorite, Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile. He appeared as Hajime in Yume Tsukai, Yagi in Amaama to Inozuma, Reiji in Sanctuary, and Taira in Haruka Naru Toki de Naka de 2, all Orphan releases.
• Kawakami Tomoko (Carrot) starred in the titles roles for Revolutionary Girl Utena, Hikaru no Go, and Chiccha na Yuki Tsukai Sugar. She also played Chiriko in Fushigi Yuugi, Kamio Misuzu in Air, Soi Fon  in Bleach, Rosette Christopher in Chrno Crusade, Yura in Futari Ecchi, Kazuma in Detective Academy Q, Akane in Harukanaru Toki no Nake de Hachiyoushou, Youko in Tactics, Linen in Lime Iro Ryuukitan Cross, Sumi in Amaenaide yo!!, and a personal favorite, Elise the irate personal assistant in Nodame Cantabile. She also played Rinko in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, an Orphan release.
• Mochizuki Takashi (Fuuku) worked mostly in production. This is his only voice-acting role.
• Satou Arise (Ruri) appeared in Hanamaru Kindergarten, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Strike Witches, and other shows.

Iri translated and did the rough timing. ninjacloud fine timed. I edited and typeset (no signs!). Nemesis and Topper3000 QCed. tipota encoded the raw from a DVD, and it looks terrific.

Waza no Tabibito won't make you want to claw your eyes out (unlike Twinkle Nora Rock Me!), but it's an waste of art design and computing power on an unoriginal story. Still, if you have an idle half hour, you can admire the pretty pictures (and Iri's excellent translation). 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.