I'm not as familiar with the works of Rumiko Takahashi as an anime fan ought to be. I've never watched Maison Ikkoku, Urusei Yatsura, Ranma 1/2, Inuyasha, or Rin-ne all the way through, and I've somehow missed her shorter works, such as Mermaid Saga and Rumic World, too. The only Takahashi show I've worked on was the "It's a Rumic World" anniversary Urusei Yatsura OVA, The Obstacle Course Swim Meet, released by Orphan in 2013.
Rumic World was a set of OVAs based on one-shot Rumiko Takahashi manga. The OVAs were released from 1985 to 1992:
- Fire Tripper, 1985.
- (Maris) The Choujo, 1986.
- Laughing Target, 1987.
- Mermaid Forest, 1991.
- Mermaid's Scar, 1992.
(One-Pound Gospel is sometimes listed as part of this series, but it was based on a longer manga series.)
The last two OVAs were released on DVD, but the first three were only available on VHS tape and laserdiscs. That caught my eye. Orphan gradually acquired the laserdiscs for the first three OVAs, with the intent of creating shiny new releases using the Domesday Duplicator. However, as is frequently the case with analog media, there were issues, both with the sources and the available scripts. As a result, Orphan is just now releasing 1986's (Maris) The Choujo. Others may follow, if the encoding issues can be solved.
The odd title requires some explanation. The Japanese title is
ザ・超女(スーパーギャル), or phonetically, za chou on'na (suupaagyaru). The first part
is pronounced as "The Choujo," meaning "super woman," while the
parenthetical piece is katakana for "super gal." The original English title was The Supergal, but threats of a lawsuit from a certain Well Known Comics Publisher caused CPM to retitle it Maris the Choujo. That's how it's known in English-speaking countries, and I've retained the title in this release.
The Choujo tells the hard-luck story of Maris, a lieutenant in the Space Patrol's Special Police. Maris is a refugee from planet Thanatos, which blew up when she was a small child. Like all Thanatosians, Maris is super-strong: six times stronger than a mere Earthling. While this is handy in fighting bad guys, it's a hazard in real-life. Maris accidentally leaves havoc and destruction in her wake, so her debts for damages are constantly increasing. She can't find normal employment or romance. (Before joining the police, Maris was a pro wrestler known as "Vampire" Maris.) In short, being a "supergal" is not all it's cracked up to be.
Maris' luck seems to take a turn for the better when she is assigned to rescue Kogemaru, the kidnapped son of a billionaire. With yen signs glinting in her eyes, she sets out to Planet Moroi, accompanied by her sidekick, the shape-shifting nine-tailed fox Murphy. There they encounter Maris' former pro wrestling opponent, "Zombie" Sue. After many adventures, Maris rescues Kogemaru, but her hopes for a profoundly wealthy marriage don't quite turn out as she'd hoped.
I found The Choujo extremely funny. It's full of wonderful sight gags:
as well as Easter eggs:
The mandatory bit of 1980s nudity is short and sits inside a terrific gag about Maris' handling of the cockroaches in her decrepit hotel's shower. The action sequences are well done, and denouement is entirely in keeping with Maris' hard-luck life.
The voice cast includes:
- Koyama Mami (Maris) starred as the title character in the Minky Momo franchise, Paris no Isabelle, Princess Himetsu, and Nils no Fushigi na Tabi. She played Kei in Akira, Arale in Dr. Slump, Lunch in Dragon Ball, and Mendou Ryouko in Urusei Yatsura. She also played Mimiru in Bander Book and the female lead in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Gokuu, both Orphan releases.
- Yanami Jouji (Murphy) narrated most of the Dragon Ball Z properties. He played Ittan Momen in several of the GeGeGe no Kitaro series and movies and Chuta Ban in all the Kyojin no Hoshi TV series. He appeared as Lump in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Big Bird in Grim Douwa: Kin no Tori, the cart vendor in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, Red Shirt in Bocchan, and of course, Ibari in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
- Shimamoto Sumi (Sue) as debuted as Clarisse in The Castle of Cagliostro. She starred as Sara in Princess Sara, Nausicaa in Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Otonashi Kyouko in Maison Ikkoku, and Dayan in Neko no Dayan. She also played Shokupanman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, Tinkerbell in Peter Pan no Bouken, Antoinette in Reporter Blues, Big Mama in Bakuretsu Hunter, and Elice in Fire Emblem (an Orphan release).
- Furukawa Toshio (Koganemaru) played Kimball Kinnison in Galactic Patrol Lensman, 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. He also played Inumaru in Maroko, Tree Kangaroo in Shirokuma Cafe, Prince Croyler in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, the Spartan Dragon in Stop!! Hibari-kun! and Sally in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, all Orphan releases.
- Takiguchi
Junpei (the Colonel) brought his distinctive voice to the roles of the
Professor in The Green Cat, Dr. Yamanado in Fumoon, Scratch in Techno
Police 21C, the villainous king of Kanemacchi Castle in Grim Douwa: Kin
no Tori, the Mouse Thief in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, and Dong Zhung in the
first Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases. He also played the
Millennium Earl in D.grayman, John Trelawney in Treasure Island, and Dr.
Laughton in Metropolis.
The director, Takahashi Motosuke, directed two other Rumic World OVAs, Fire Tripper and Laughing Target.
The subtitle starting point was Kotomi's transcription of the R1 subs. tenkenX6 did a full check and helped with
the songs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Rezo
QCed. Intrepid encoded from a Domesday Duplicator rip of a Japanese
laserdisc. It look many tries to get the show looking right; the final
encode is take 13. The audio is FLAC, for maximum bloat... er, to capture the digital audio track in full accuracy.
So if you're up for a good laugh and a zippy sci-fi action OVA, you could do worse than The Choujo. It's available at the usual torrent site as well as from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.
Late breaking news: I muxed a down-rev copy of the script. I've posted a patch to bring v1 to v2 here. I'm out of practice at doing releases. Lack of translators is to blame!
