Tabi Suru Tobi Neko

Today, Orphan is releasing Tabi Suru Tobi Neko (The Journeys of the Jumping Cats). It's about... cats! Cute Cats Doing Cute Things™: Playing! Eating! Sleeping! Playing! Eating. Sleeping. Playing... Eating... Sleeping... Did I mention it's about cats?

Okay, there has to be some serious prose in this blog entry. This release is a segment of the 1989 movie Dayan to Tama to Tobi Neko to: Mittsu no Neko no Monogatari (Dayan and Tama and Jumping Cat: A Story of Three Cats). The movie had three segments: animated segments about Dayan and Tama, and live action segments from photographer Igarashi Kenta, who created the Tobi Neko (Jumping Cats) franchise. The live-action portion was shot on Aoshima in the Seto Inland Sea. It's known as "Cat Island", because the cat population now outnumbers the aging and decreasing human population. The cats have the run of the place. They always do; there, it's just more obvious.

The narrator is Tsutsumi Yukina. Her only other anime credits are Kirara in Talentless Nana and a bit part in Tsugu Tsugumomo.

The dialog was translated by tenkenX6, friend to his sister's cats Hailey and Sky. ninjacat timed. I edited and typeset, between my shifts as staff to my cats Pixel and Pumpkin. konnakude, long absent, tore himself away from his cats Angel and Marley to QC, along with (Kuro) Nemesis, who brought Mikan Enikki to the English-speaking world. The raws are full HD web rips by R-Raws; his ailurophile status is unknown. The rest of us are just hopelessly devoted.

So despite the release date (it's already April 1 by the UT standard), this is a serious project. The only surprise is that it's live-action rather than animation. (Orphan has done a few live-action titles before, but not many.) You can download the kitties from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Call Me Tonight

Pink Noise was a series of unrelated OVAs released by C.Moon, the "adult" label of Bandai Visual. It consisted of four titles:

1. Call Me Tonight (1986)
2. Gakuen Tokusou Hikaruon (1987)
3. Maryuu Senki, 3 episodes (1987-1989)
4. Body Jack (1987)
   

It's not clear what they had in common, except perhaps some sexually suggestive material (hence "Pink"). In Japan, they were only issued on analog media (VHS and laserdisc). Some encodes claim to be DVD sources, but they are probably based on laserdisc rips in a DVD ISO container.

Call Me Tonight, the first OVA in the series, was considered to be near-hentai when it was released. Today, it looks positively tame compared to shows like Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi. A hardsubbed English release from Toy-RC, based on a laserdisc rip, has been available for more than a decade. It's a fine effort, but it's showing its age. So when a laserdisc of Call Me Tonight showed up in one of Orphan's multi-disc purchases, I suggested redoing the show. And here it is.

Call Me Tonight centers around Natsumi Rumi, owner and occasional worker at Telephone Communication Madonna, a somewhat shady operation that seems to be a cross between a telephone sex business and an advice-for-the-lovelorn service. One evening, Sugiura Ryou calls up with a rather unusual problem: when he gets aroused and tries to masturbate, he has visions, and his room and clothing end up wrecked. Intrigued, Rumi meets him at a coffee shop to discuss his problem:

When she uses her undoubted sex appeal on Ryou, he turns into an out-and-out monster, with tentacles sprouting from his back, which indeed explains why his room and clothing get wrecked. Rumi, though, is undeterred and takes Ryou on a "desensitizing" tour of Tokyo's steamy nightlife, with results more comic than terrifying.

Ryou's transformations attract the attention of a fearless, muscular Yakuza group heiress named Nohara Maki and her shorter and more timid sidekick Hayata. They track Rumi and Ryou around the city and photograph Ryou's transformations. The photos intrigue Maki's sister, Nohara Oyuki, leader of a juvenile gang, who thinks that Ryou might be a monster in bed as well. Oyuki and her gang kidnap Rumi and Ryou. Oyuki seduces Ryou (successfully), and the gang tries to rape Rumi (unsuccessfully). Neither initiative turns out as planned, but again, the emphasis is more on comedy than violence. And in the end, Rumi does solve Ryou's problem.

The synopsis makes Call Me Tonight sound like a routine sexploitation show, and some reviewers have seen it that way. However, it's more than that, as Justin Sevakis pointed out in his Buried Treasure review on Anime New Network. There's a lot of satire about gender roles and what adolescence does to young men, and some sly digs at then-current trends in Japanese hentai anime, as exemplified in Urotsukidoji. As Justin wrote, it "almost plays like a sketch comedy send-up of common adult anime tropes." I found it to be a lot of fun.

The voice cast includes:

• Tamagawa Sakiko (Natsumi Rumi) played Shiori in Akai Hayate, Lar Lipp in Greed (both Orphan releases), Athena in Appleseed XIII, Tachikoma in GITS SAC, Kanoko in Shouwa Monogatari, Dotta in Sorcerer Hunters, Rouge in Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko, Masaki in Tenchi Muyo, Natsumi in the You're Under Arrest franchise, and Princess Suurya in Kamasutra.
• Toriumi Katsumi (Sugiura Ryou) played the male lead, Wakamatsu, in Miyuki. He appeared as Shigeru in Yume Kakeru Kougen and Ishmael in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, both Orphan releases.
• Ukai Rumiko (Nohara Maki) played Fraw Bow in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Rose in the Godmars franchise, and Kiyomi in Miyuki. She played Rachel in Dallos and Michelle in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, and she appeared in What's Michael? 2, all Orphan releases.
• Seki Toshihiko (Hayata) was one of the leading male seiyuu in this period. He played the title role in Izumo, Riki in Ai no Kusabi, the hero Seitarou in Hoshi Neko Full House, the gang leader Hiba in Wild 7, Yoshitarou in Mikeneko Holmes, Miroku in Yuukan Club, Chuuta in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, the fighter Nagase Jun in Akai Hayate, the unnamed protagonist of Oruorane the Cat Player, Ootsuki in Milky Passion: Dougenzaka - Ai no Shiro, and Sara's younger brother Junichiro in Kasei Yakyoku, all Orphan releases. He also played Matsuda in the Yawara! properties, Sanzo in the Saiyuuki TV series, and the title roles in Alexander (Reign the Conqueror) and Kaiketsu Zorro.
• Koujiro Chie (Nohara Oyuki) appeared in many featured roles.

The director, Okamoto Tatsuya, also did the screenplay and the storyboards.

Toy-RC's dialog translation was good and required little revision. The songs, on the other hand, were pretty far off in places. This was because the songs contain a large number of English words, which were sometimes misinterpreted as Japanese. Fortunately, the EP with the songs became available online in the last few years, and the rip included scans of the official lyrics. That helped a lot; in particular, it provided lyrics for the insert songs, which had not been translated. Still, issues remain. One line in the song Call Me Tonight says:

    夜は Mevious 不安めいて

Mevious? Your guess is as good as mine.

Toy-RC did the original translation. Yogicat transcribed and timed the dialog, and he also transcribed the kanji song lyrics. Various team members helped put the songs in shape. I edited and typeset. This release has a lot more typesetting than the Toy-RC version, but there are far too many signs in the background to do them all. Nemesis, TougeWolf, and VigorousJammer QCed. Intrepid encoded from a Domesday Duplicator rip of a Japanese laserdisc.

Unlike the Lion Books, Orphan doesn't intend to redo all the Pink Noise OVAs. For one thing, we don't have sources for half of them. They're either not available or for sale at exorbitant prices. So it's sheer luck that we're able to offer a new version of Call Me Tonight, the best of the bunch. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Chameleon 3

I bet you weren't expecting another episode of Chameleon. Frankly, neither was I. Even though laalg translation-checked all the remaining episodes years ago, I found the series so distasteful that I couldn't bring myself to work on it. Every couple of months, I'd plug away on a couple of minutes worth of dialog, rediscover why I loathed the series, and put it away. And then, without quite realizing it, I had finished editing episode 3. After that, it was only a matter of (the painful) mechanics to do the typesetting, QC, and release checks. So here we are.

Episode 3 ("The Hitman's Bonds of Brotherhood") continues the saga of pint-sized wannabe hood Yazawa Eisaku. Having survived two near-death encounters, first with the Shadow Dance gang and then with psychotic thug Kyuu Akio, Yazawa stumbles into deep yogurt yet again by attracting the attention of the ultra-violent Matsudo gang and its murderous leader, Matsuoka Eiji. Fortunately, he also attracts the attention of Mishima Jun, an even stronger fighter who is grateful to Yazawa for saving Kyuu in episode 2 (entirely inadvertently, I might add). 

Aided by former rival Shiina Yuji and pursed by Yuji's cross-dressing brother Yu, Yazawa dodges, weaves, lies, and flees to try and save himself from getting pounded into the pavement for the third time in three episodes. Laughs galore.

The voice cast includes some pretty famous names, although their fame comes from other roles:

• Nanba Keiichi (Yazawa) played Locke in Choujin Locke, Lundi in Honoo no Alpenrose: Jeudi & Lund, Uesugi in Touch, Schneider in Captain Tsubasa, and Junta in DNA2. He also played Hongou in Nozomi Witches, an Orphan release.
• Shiozawa Kaneto (Shiina Yuji) played Rock Holmes in Fumoon, Iason in Ai no Kusabi and the egotistic comic relief Shin in Hiatari Ryouko, all Orphan releases. 
• Yamada Eiko (Shiina Yu) played the title roles in Anne of Green Gables, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, Aramis no Bouken, and Legend of Lemnear, as well as Jo in Little Women, Misaki in Captain Tsubasa, and Gozu in Hoozuki no Reitetsu. She appeared in Nora, the Sangokushi specials,  and the What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
• Hirata Hiroaki (Mishima Jun). This was one of his very first roles. He went on to play Itsuki in the Kindaichi movies, Sa Gojou in Saiyuki and its sequels, Zaki in DearS, Jack in Moonlight Mile, Nantoka in Rita to Nantoka, Benny in Black Lagoon, Tiger in Tiger & Bunny, Vinsmoke in One Piece, Fujimoto in Ao no Exorcist, Kondou in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni, and Max Lobo in Bananafish.
• Yamaguchi Kappei (Matsuoka Eiji) played the lead character in the Detective Conan franchise, Ranma in the Ranma 1/2 franchise, Inuyasha in all the Inuyasha properties, Usopp in the One Piece franchise, Sakuma Ryuichi in Gravitation, Arslan in the first OVA series, and the title role in Mouse, among many others. He played Shibuya in Zetsuai 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989, and Tooru in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Tominaga Miina (Yazawa's crush, Hikaru) played Ritsu in Fruits Basket (2002), Persia in Magical Fairy Persia, Rollpanna in the Anpanman franchise, Misaki in Tsuritama, Muuma in Bavi Stock, Kamiya in Tokimeki Tonight, Karen in Yuukan Club, and Eri in Karuizawa Syndrome. The last four are Orphan releases.

The director for this episode, Matano Hiromichi, helmed other obscure works, including the Konpeki no Kantai franchise and Super Submarine 99.

Moho Kareshi did the initial translation; both laalg and Sunachan did translation check passes. (There are still unresolved issues, because the dialog is full of 80s slang and bad puns.) ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset, with the greatest reluctance. TougeWolf, Uchuu, and VigorousJammer did QC. The raw is an ancient Internet rip (DivX505!), but there are no signs of original media on the second-hand market in Japan. I wouldn't spend the money to buy them anyway.

Some translation notes:

• Thank you, Turtle God! A perverted pun. The usual saying is "kami-sama hotoke-sama" (O God! O Buddha!). Yazawa says "kami-tama kitou-tama," literally "Turtle-balls! Turtle-head (glans)-balls!" Localize as you will.
• You're a blockhead! "Ishiatama" is literally "stone head," i.e., hard-headed.
• For stiff shoulders, try Pip. Pip is a brand of magnetic therapy medicine.

Admittedly, I'm very jaundiced about this series. I'm not in its target demographic. Many members of the staff find it hilarious and hope to do more "yankee" genre shows. So when will episode 4 be out? Will episode 4 ever be out? Don't hold your breath. The last three episodes still need their songs translated, and so far, no translator has volunteered for the job. So if you want to see the last three episodes, find a song translator for this show.

However, in the meantime, after a mere 3+ year delay, here is Chameleon 3. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

MAPS: Densetsu no Samayoeru Seijin-tachi

Here's a wonderful example of the "wide-screen baroque" school of anime science fiction, the 1987 movie MAPS: Densetsu no Samayoeru Seijin-tachi (Maps: The Legendary Nomad Star Tribe), or just Maps for short. This first English release of the movie is a joint project between Inka-Subs and Orphan Fansubs.

At the outset, 16-year-old Tokishima Gen is over his head in a high-school soccer game, cheered on (or egged on) by his not-quite-girlfriend Kimizuki Hoshimi. Suddenly, a ginormous space ship shaped like a flying female figure (or a vintage Rolls Royce hood ornament) appears. The ship beams Gen up, as Hoshimi clings to his leg - and other parts of his anatomy - in a desperate attempt to keep him on the ground. Inside the ship, its statuesque captain, Lipmira Gweiss, informs Hoshimi that he is the legendary Mapman - a living map to a treasure, the Surging Light, hidden on Earth 200,000 years ago by the equally legendary Space Nomad Tribe.

While Gen is busy denying any knowledge of a map, Lipmira's ship is suddenly attacked by Captain Abe's "Space Patrol" cruiser. However, Abe is not part of the Space Patrol, but just another treasure seeker pursuing Mapman. After some hair-raising experiences, Lipmira, Gen, and Hoshimi turn the tables on Abe, who meekly accepts a role as cook on Lipmira's ship. Lipmira then reveals that she has deciphered the map, and the quartet set out to find the Surging Light. Of course, their quest will not be unopposed, because the Mythic Breed lurks in wait...

This bare synopsis cannot convey how delightfully goofy Maps is. Gen and Hoshimi are wonderfully mismatched. Captain Abe is basically a flake with a fantastically unrealistic view of his talents and prospects. There's one breathtaking (and often comic) escapade after another, leading to a galvanic final confrontation. And the conclusion is nicely open-ended, which is fitting, because the Maps manga, by Yuichi Hasegawa, filled 17 volumes.

The voice cast has many well-known veterans of 1980s anime, even in the smaller roles:

• Tsuru Hiromi (Lipmira Gweiss) 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, Milk in Karuizawa Syndrome, UFO-chan in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, and big sister Shizuka in Tomoe's Run!, all Orphan releases. 
• Tanaka Mayumi (Tokishima Gen) made her debut at age 10 in Kimba the White Lion. She's probably best known for her roles as Pazu in Castle in the Sky, Giovanni in Night on the Galactic Railway, Kuririn in the original Dragonball, and of course, Monkey D. Luffy in every incarnation of One Piece. She also played Flene in Cool Cool Bye, Mit-sah in White Fang, Rocco the fox in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, and Son Gokuu in I am Son Gokuu: Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, all Orphan projects. 
• Minaguchi Yuuko (Kimizuka Hoshimi) is best known for Yawara!, her breakout and defining role. She debuted as Kii in Greed, an Orphan release, and starred in numerous other shows, including Bosco Adventure, Dragon Ball Z and GT, Sailor Moon, One Piece, and Alexander (Reign: The Conqueror). She played Frieda in Apfelland Monogatari, Saki in Singles, and Felicia in Oz, also Orphan releases. 
• Kamiya Akira (Abe Edinburgh) is best known for the title roles in the City Hunter properties, the Kinnikuman franchise, and Babel II. He played Kazamatsuri in Yawara!, Roy Focker in Macross, and Mendou in Urusei Yatsura. He also played Sergent Zim in Starship Troopers and Musakato Taira in Elf 17, and he stole the show as the lecherous robot Chiraku in Hoshi Neko Full House. All three are Orphan releases. 
• Watanabe Naoka (Tsukime) played the title role in Vampire Miyu and the Jungle wa Itsumo Hare Nochi Guu properties, Puar and Chichi in the Dragon Ball franchise, and Catty in the Gall Force series. She appeared in Neko Neko Fantasia, Yousei Ou, and Aoko Honoo, all Orphan releases. 
• Shibata Hidekatsu (Mibarihan) has been in anime almost fifty years. He played Baron Ashura in Mazinger Z, Kenzou Kabuto in Great Mazinger, Count Mecha in Galaxy Express 999, General Shadow in Kamen Rider Stronger, King Bradley in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist, Backbeard in the 2007 iteration of GeGeGe no Kitarou, Nigira in Ushio to Tora (TV), and the Third Hokage in Naruto. He played Sun Quan in the second and third Sangokushi movies, Toujo in Tomoe's Run!, and Ling Changpu in Dragon Fist, all Orphan releases. 
• Onosaka Masaya (Calion) played Kubota Kazuhi in Nineteen 19, Shuntaro in Aika, Mihara Ichirou in Angelic Layer, Isaac in Baccano!, Zelos in Tales of Symphonia, J.D. in Neo Angelique, Leeron in Tenga Toppa Gurren Lagann, Takeshi in the Prince of Tennis franchise, Vash in Trigun, and a personal favorite, Azazel in the Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san series. He also played Calion in the 1994 Maps OVAs.
  

The director, Nishizawa Sususu, also helmed Hikaru no Go and Ouran Koukou Host Club, as well as the two most recent Nanatsu no Taizai series.

Maps was remade as a four-part OVA in 1994, and as is often the case, that version completely superseded the original. As a result, the 1987 movie was hard to find; it was only issued on analog media. For years, the standard raw was a VHS rip. The laserdisc rarely came up for sale and always at exorbitant prices. So this project happened through a series of fortuitous coincidences.

On one track, an old-anime fan who goes by the handle GouNoKen got in touch with Orphan about trying to do Maps. He bid on and won a used Japanese laserdisc of the movie and had it shipped to Intrepid, who ripped it on the Domesday Duplicator and encoded it. There it sat, for lack of a translator. On the other track, Yume in Inka Subs had started to translate the movie, using the available VHS raw. When TougeWolf of Inka began freelancing on Orphan projects, he brought the separate tracks together. Everyone rapidly agreed to a joint project, and this release is the result.

The staff credits reflect the interrelated work of the two groups:

• Translation - Yume
• Translation check - TougeWolf
• Timing - Yume, Yogicat
• Editing - TougeWolf, Collectr
• Typesetting - Collectr
• QC - Programming Dragon, Nemesis, Uchuu
• Encoding - Intrepid
• Laserdisc provider - GoNoKou

A harmonious and fun project it has been.

I hope you can tell that I like Maps: Densetsu no Samayoeru Seijin-tachi quite a lot. It's playful and exciting, and it doesn't take itself too seriously. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Out of Gas

You've probably noticed that Orphan's releases this year lean heavily towards re-releases of past projects or of previously fansubbed material. Basically, the group is out of gas; our translators are busy with Real Life, and I've been unable to recruit new ones. So we're stuck with recycled material.

However, there's a limit to how much of that I'm willing to do (or the team is willing to do, for that matter). Yes, there are still a number of early projects that really need better encodes (for example, Harukanaru Toki no Naka de 2). Yes, there are other fansubs that also need better encodes (for example, Love Position: The Legend of Halley). But constantly retreading old ground means the projects and the group get stale. Without new scripts, Orphan is at or past the point of diminishing returns.

There's no lack of material to work on. We have good raws for dozens of untranslated shows, as well as preliminary scripts for a few:

1. Ambassador Magma TV series (13 episodes)
   
2. Asatte Dance (DdD, AIW7500)
3. Ascending the Clouds 1-2 (DdD)
4. Bakumatsu no Spasibo (needs TLC)
5. Days OAD (needs TLC)
6. Fighting Beauty Wulong (needs TLC) - existing subs are HK DVD and dubtitles
   
7. Genji, Part 1 1-2 (needs TLC) (laserdisc)
8. GoGo! Toraemon (DdD)
   
9. Hashire! Shiroi Ookami
10. Heart Cocktail (DdD)
11. Kaitei Daisensou (needs TLC)
12. Kentauros no Densetsu (AIW7500)
13. Kimama ni Idol
14. Koiko no Mainichi (AIW7500)
15. Maps (1987)
16. Mellow
17. Mother: Saigo no Shoujo Eve (AIW7500) (needs TLC)
18. Nemurenu Yoru no Chiisana Ohanashi
19. Nijuushi no Hitomi
20. OL Kaizou Kouza (AIW7500)
21. Okama Report (AIW7500)
22. Ore no Sora (AIW7500)
23. Raiyantsuuriii no Uta
24. Sakyo Komatsu's Animation Theater (with JP captions)
    
25. Sanada 10 last 3 episodes (needs R2J encode)
26. Santa Company ~The Secret of Christmas~
    
27. Shin Takamaru (laserdisc)
    
28. Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu (AIW7500)
29. Son Gokuu TV series (39 episodes)
    
30. Sugata Sanshirou
31. Super Real Mahjong (DdD)
32. Takamaru (laserdisc)
33. Tannishou o Hiraku
    
34. Tezuka Osamu Works - Kyoto Animation Theater (with JP captions)
    
35. Tottoi (AIW7500)
36. Umi no Yami, Tsuki no Kage
37. Uraysau Tekkin Kazoku
38. Ushiro no Hyakutaro
39. Visitor (VHS)
40. Warau Hyouteki
41. Yumemakura Baku Twilight Gekijou

(Key: DdD = Domesday Duplicator laserdisc rip. AIW7500 = uncompressed VHS rip. TLC = translation check)

However, without translators, these shows will remain stuck in the vaults, inaccessible to an English-speaking audience. Even Chameleon is stalled for lack of a translator to do the songs in the last three episodes.

So yes, this is a recruiting post for translators; but it's also a notice that Orphan is basically going into quasi-hibernation. We'll finish what we started, like the HD versions of the Sangokushi movies and the Sensou Douwa specials, but after that, releases are going to be much more sporadic, as scripts turn up.

If you are a translator, and one or more of these shows interest you, please get in touch with me by private message on irc.rizon.net. To my great annoyance, I have to be on Discord occasionally, but it's very sporadic.

Yamatarou Comes Back v2

One of Orphan's earliest Tezuka Osamu projects was the set of six OVAs known as the Lion Books:

1	The Green Cat	1983
2	Rain Boy	1983
3	Lunn Flies into the Wind	1985
4	Yamatarou Comes Back	1986
5	Adachigahara	1991
6	Akuemon	1993

The project took 18 months, from the middle of 2013 to the end of 2014. Except for Adachigahara and Akuemon, Orphan used existing raws from other teams. I've always been less than happy about the quality of those raws. Last month, I was able to purchase a complete set of the Lion Books R2J DVDs, and Orphan will be redoing the OVAs with new encodes. This is the fourth episode, Yamatarou Comes Back (Yamatarou Kaeru).

Yamatarou is a sentimental and slightly strange take on friendship, in this case between a brown bear cub and a class C62 steam locomotive. Yamatarou and his mother become stranded on floating ice when the ice pack they are on breaks up. The crew of a passing fishing vessel rescues them, but the mother bear does not survive. Yamatarou is sold to the owner of a rural sundries store, who chains him up and uses him to sell his "food" (fish) to the locals. Yamatarou is growing fat and despondent, his only companion a snarky local cat, when he is befriended by a passing steam engine. The engine, which Yamatarou calls C6, teaches the cub how to be strong and break free from his chain and then returns the cub to the wild. They have another, fateful encounter when Yamatarou has become an adult.

Moho Kareshi translated, and convexity did translation checking. Eternal_Blizzard timed the original; Yogicat timed this version. I edited and typeset both versions. CP, Calyrica, and konnakude QCed the original; Nemesis and Uchuu QCed this version. Skr encoded from an R2J DVD. The encode includes an English dub audio track. In this release, I've changed one of Moho's translation quirks (rendering short and long Japanese vowels the same way), so Yamataro in the original is Yamatarou in this version. That aligns the title with standard sources like AniDB.

The voice cast is small, although three different seiyuu were used for Yamatarou, as a baby, a cub, and an adult:

• Yamada Eiko (Yamatarou) played the title roles in Anne of Green Gables, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, Aramis no Bouken, and Legend of Lemnear, as well as Jo in Little Women, Misaki in Captain Tsubasa, and Gozu in Hoozuki no Reitetsu. She played the cross-dressing sister Shiina Yu in Chameleon, Vee in Al Caral no Isan, and appeared in Nora, the Sangokushi specials,  and the What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases
• Takemura Hiroshi (Yamatarou as an adult) played the title role in Crusher Joe and Barts in Gina Hyouryuu Vifam,
• Itou Miki (Yamatarou as a baby) played Eiko in Project A-Ko, Reimi in Burn-Up, Sachiko in Maria-sama ga Miteru, Lind in Ah! My Goddess, Touko (Natsume's foster mother) in Natsume Yuujinchou, Taiga in the Fate franchise, Colon in Cool Cool Bye, and Anny in Adachigahara. The last two are Orphan releases.
  
• Takagi Hitoshi (C6) played Totoro in My Neighbor Totoro, and he narrated Galaxy Express 999.
• Ogata Kenichi (Kuro the cat) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and Maroko, Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken, and, most recently, Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. He played the grandfather in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the poster expert in Lunn Flies into the Wind, and the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases. He's also the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums. 
• Asou Miyoko (store owner) played Pinako Rockbell in Fullmetal Alchemist (both series), Machiko's aunt in Miss Machiko, Cologne in Ranma 1/2, and Fune Isono in Sazae-san through 2015.

Yamatarou Comes Back was the last of the Lion Books to be directed by Tezuka Osamu. 

This release concludes the project to redo the four Lion Books originally done with encodes from other teams. Skr may want to redo the last two, because he is now using AI to improve the image quality on cel-based sources. (He trained the AI on Crayon Shin-chan!) Meanwhile, you can get Yamatarou Comes Back from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

Lunn Flies into the Wind v2

One of Orphan's earliest Tezuka Osamu projects was the set of six OVAs known as the Lion Books:

1	The Green Cat	1983
2	Rain Boy	1983
3	Lunn Flies into the Wind	1985
4	Yamatarou Comes Back	1986
5	Adachigahara	1991
6	Akuemon	1993

The project took 18 months, from the middle of 2013 to the end of 2014. Except for Adachigahara and Akuemon, Orphan used existing raws from other teams. I've always been less than happy about the quality of those raws. Last month, I was able to purchase a complete set of the Lion Books R2J DVDs, and Orphan will be redoing the OVAs with new encodes. This is the third episode, Lunn Flies into the Wind (Lunn wa Kaze no Naka).

Lunn is sometimes described as a "low-key" look at adolescent first love. While it certainly lies on the sentimental end of the Lion Book spectrum, there's more to the show than teen romance. The hero, Akira, is a middle-school loner and underachiever, bullied at school by both his fellow students and his teacher. He finds an imaginary friend in the picture of a beautiful girl on a coffee advertising poster. He names her Lunn. She becomes his companion and consolation, but he regards his situation as so desperate that he almost kills himself twice - hardly "low-key" children's fare. Eventually, he becomes strong enough to formulate a goal and a dream for himself. By the end of the show, he is on his way to his first real friendship.

 

The voice cast includes:

• Inoue Kazuhiko (Akira Toyoda) starred as Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo, Yuki Eiri in Gravitation, the title role in Cyborg 009, and my favorite role, the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou franchise. He also played Iori in Tomoe's Run!, Kanuma Hayate in Akai Hayate, Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi TV specials, and Nakatsugawa in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
  
• Shimazu Saeko (Lunn)  played Shinobu in Urusei Yatsura, Madoka in Kimagure Orange Road, Yuri in the Dirty Pair franchise, and Chocola in Don Dracula. She played Sanae in Izumi (1991), the title role in Bagi, and Kyouko in Hiatari Ryouko, all Orphan releases. She also had featured roles in the other Rumiko Takahashi series of the era, Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, and Inuyasha.
• Tomiyama Kei (Miwa Minamidaira) played leading roles in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Bremen 4, Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, the Sangokushi TV specials, and Yousei Ou, all Orphan releases.
• Ogata Kenichi (poster expert) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and Maroko, Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken, and, most recently, Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. He played the grandfather in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, and the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases. He's also the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
• Kitamura Kouichi (language teacher) played Coach Nakao in the Nine OVAs, Paolon, the intelligent spaceship, in Hi-Speed Jecy, Professor, the wise old cat, in the Ultra Nyan OVAs, Professor Lenholm in Apfelland Monogatari, and appeared in Hidamari no Ki and Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou. All are Orphan releases.
• Izuka Shouzou (math teacher) played "K" in the What's Michael? OVAs and appeared in The Green Cat, Hidamari no Ki, and Fire Emblem. All are Orphan releases.

Tezuka Osamu directed.

convexity redid the original Viki translation, and the changes were extensive. Eternal_Blizzard timed the original release, and Yogicat retimed this one. I edited and typeset both releases. CP, Calyrica, and konnakude QCed the original release, and Nemesis and Uchuu QCed this release. Skr encoded the raw from an R2J DVD. Because of the improved image stability over the image release, I was able to typeset a few more of the coffee posters.

All six Lion Books begin with a credit sequence featuring some Tezuka Osamu's best-loved characters. Today's trivia quiz: can you name all the characters in the closing shot?

This release brings Orphan to the halfway point in the Lion Book series. You can download Lunn Flies into the Wind from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.