Kageyama Tamio no Double Fantasy

Kageyama Tamio was a Japanese actor and writer. He is probably best known to anime audiences for his book Coo: Tooi Umi Kara Kita Coo, which was adapted by Toei in 1993 as Coo of the Far Seas. He was also a judge on the Japanese TV series Iron Chef for years. He died in 1990 in a mysterious fire at his residence.

Kageyama Tamio no Double Fantasy is a 1994 two-part TV special drawn from his stories. The first segment is comedy; the second, horror. Both are excellent. It's hard to understand why this show has languished in obscurity for more than 25 years.

First up is "Psychedelic Airlines." A young couple on their honeymoon discover, to their horror, that they left their tickets to Saipan at home. (Remember real airline tickets? I thought not.) Faced with a long delay or cancellation of their dreams, they are enticed by an absurdly low fare to book a round trip on "Psychedelic Airlines." This proves to be the ultimate in low-cost carriers: an ancient, cargo-carrying. purple DC-3 without seats, heating, or food. In the true spirit of today's low-cost carriers, everything is extra: seats, blankets, even cups for the "free" tea.

Further, the plane goes wherever is has to in order to deliver its cargo, so it's a flight from Tokyo to Saipan via Hokkaido, Kanazawa, Maibara, and Shikine-jima, taking four days (the plane can't fly at night). Add to that a near-fatal encounter with a thunderstorm, and it's truly the flight from hell. Will our young protagonists, and their even younger marriage, survive the ordeal?

The second segment is "South Pacific Hotel." A Japanese photographer, Hanezawa, and his assistant, Yoshino, are offered too much money to take photographs on Saipan, with one condition: they must stay at the South Pacific Hotel. When they arrive on Saipan, the locals are puzzled by their choice of accommodations and suggest, indirectly, that they stay somewhere else. But the photographer insists.

When he and his assistant arrive the South Pacific Hotel, they find an imposing but dingy and dark building, with a chilly desk clerk and no other guests. Their rooms seem to be haunted. They try to call for a taxi to change hotels, but the phone doesn't work; all they can hear are incoherent, military-sounding voices. During the night, other visitors do arrive, but they are unexpected and unwanted. The photographer tries to flee back to Japan, but it is already too late to get away from "paradise."

The voice cast is excellent:

• Aihara Yuu (ep1 - Yurie) is a singer. Her only other anime role was in Kattobase! Dreamers.
• Horikawa Ryuu (ep1 - Yurie's husband) played Shutendou in Shuten Douji, Shinya in Okama Report, Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Naoto in Slow Step, Anthony Brown in Candy Candy, Reinhard in LOGH, Tadao in Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Kai in Kizuna, and Andromeda in Saint Seiya. He also appeared in Chameleon, Hi-Speed Jecy, Lunn Flies into the Wind, and the first two Sangokushi movies, all Orphan releases.
• Ogata Kenichi (ep1 - friendly customer; ep2 - driver) 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, Chichi's father in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, 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.
• Yamada Reiko, who gives a scene-stealing performance as the flight attendant in ep1, played Lum's mother in the Urusei Yatsura franchise and Okami in Kasei Yakyoku, an Orphan release.
  
• Ikemizu Michihiro (ep2 - Hanezawa) had numerous featured roles, including the boy in Tsuki ga Noboru made ni, Zhuge Jin in the second Sangokushi movie, and Lu Xun in the third Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases.
• Chafuurin (ep2 - Yoshino) played the title role in Barbapapa Around the World, Inspector Megure in the Detective Conan franchise, Scotch Jii-san in the Hello Kitty franchise, Isono in Sazae-san (since 2014), and Kamoda in Yawara! He also appeared in Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa, Yamato 2520, Colobuccoro, and Izumo (1991), all Orphan releases.
• Yamazaki Taumi (ep2 - desk clerk) played Harada Tomohisa in Mezzo DSA and Mezzo Forte, Dera (the bird) in the Tamako Market shows, and Kasugaigarasu (another bird) in Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Terahigashi Katsumi, who did the storyboards for the first segment and directed both, worked on many of Orphan's releases, including Amatsuki, Cool Cool Bye, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Hashire Melos, and Greed, as well as mainstream shows such as Baccano, Durarara!!, and the Natsume Yuujinchou franchise. Hara Keichi, who did the storyboards for the second segment, is a Shin-Ei animation stalwart. He directed the ESPer Mami and 21 Emon TV series, several Crayon Shin-chan movies, Kappa no Coo to Natsuyasumi, and the 2010 version of Colorful. I also want to mention the sound design by Kobayashi Katsuyoshi, which contributes to the mood throughout but particularly in the second segment.

Iri translated Double Fantasy and did the initial timing. kokujin-kun filled in two difficult lines in the second segment. Yogicat fine-timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis, Uchuu, and Topper3000 QCed. bananadoyouwanna encoded from a 1080p web stream; the stream was too bit-starved for full HD.

So here's a real hidden gem. Orphan's done a lot of shows from the last century, and most of them are pretty ordinary. Kageyama Tamio no Double Fantasy stands out. Download and watch this one. You won't regret it, although you may think twice about visiting Saipan afterwards. You can get Double Fantasy from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.