Never Say Never Again (Cat-Eyed Boy 02)

Happy Halloween! Orphan again brings you some thrills and chills with the second episode of Umezz Kazuo's 1976 horror series Youkaiden Nekome Kozou (Spirit Legend Cat-Eyed Boy, here just Cat-Eyed Boy).

"Hold the phone, Joan," I can hear my readers (all eight of you - readership is up this year) say. "The release post for Cat-Eyed Boy 01 said it was a one and done. What gives?" Indeed it did, and what has happened since has taught me a valuable lesson: never say never again.

Cat-Eyed Boy seemed like an orphan in the making for several reasons. First, just three episodes had been released on DVD. The remaining 22 episodes were available only on VHS tapes or laserdiscs, both hard to find. (However, you can buy us the laserdisc box set of Cat-Eyed Boy for a mere 35,200 yen, plus shipping.) Second, Skr, champion of all things Umezz Kazuo, needed a break from fansubbing, and it was impossible to say when, or even if, he would return. So last October, Cat-Eyed Boy seemed like a singleton release, Orphan's first orphan.

Well, Skr is back, baby, and with him the second episode of Cat-Eyed Boy. In this half hour, our lonely, scorned hero interrupts his quest to find his birth mother to save a village from a monster called the Long-Neck:

(Please ignore the fact that the Long-Neck appears to have no neck.) The Long-Neck demands an annual sacrifice of a young maiden to quell his appetites. Because this year's victim, Shizue, resembles his foster mother, Cat-Eyed Boy decides to fight the evil fiend before continuing his journey. Don't look back, Cat-Eyed Boy! A better day will surely come tomorrow. Well, that's what the narrator says, anyway.

Because the show is almost fifty years old, information about the voice actors is scant:

• Hori Junko (Cat-Eyed Boy) is best known as the voice of the protagonists in three Fujiko Fujio works, Obake no Q-tarou, Ninja Hattori-kun, and Chinpui. She also appeared in Wan Wan Chuushingura, Taiyou no Ouji: Horus no Daibouken, Rain Boy, Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose, and Makoto-chan (all Orphan releases), as well as Moomin, Akage no Anne, Cinderella Boy, and Unico.
• Kimura Reiko (Shizue) has no other anime credits.
• Masuoka Hiroshi (Ryuzo) is best known for Minami's father in the Touch franchise, Masuo in Sazae-san, Jam Ojisan in the Anpanman franchise, and Cyborg 005 in the early Cyborg 009 properties. He also played Sa Gojou in Tezuka Osamu Story: I am Son Goku and Hirokawa in Meisou-ou Border, and he appeared in Hidamari no Ki, Nine, Tokimeki Tonight, and Bremen 4, all Orphan releases.
• Watanabe Noriko (Sachi) played Naoto in the original Tiger Mask and Sister Jill in the original Cutie Honey.
• Okada Michiro (The Long-Neck) played Shozo in Kuroi Ame ni Utarete, an Orphan release. He played Soundwave in the Transformers franchise and the Chief in the You're Under Arrest franchise.
• Ikeda Katsuhiko (Narrator) has no other anime credits.
  

Once again, Skr was the driving force behind this release. He translated, timed, edited, typeset, and encoded the show. His friends, sotoo and rockleevk, helped with translation checking and QC. Nemesis and I also QCed.

So break out the candy or the popcorn and strap in for another spooky "gekimation" (graphic novel plus animation) episode. You can get this release from the usual torrent site or from channels #nibl or #news in irc.rizon.net.

Will there be more Cat-Eyed Boy? I've learned my lesson, so no absolute statements from me, and no promises, either. But we'll always have Halloween...

Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni

From the depths of the unfinished projects vault, Orphan and M74 bring you a new version of the 2014 sci-fi anime, Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni (Sleep Tight, My Baby, Cradled in the Sky). The first script that I have is dated late 2016 (six years ago); it was already styled and typeset. After that, nothing. I don't know why the project was shelved. Perhaps we thought it needed to be translation checked. In fact, the subs are "official," from the Japanese DVD. Whatever the reason for the delay, it's now done.

Nemure Omoigo explores some familiar science-fiction themes. Are human beings just the sum of their memories ("their data")? Could this data be used to reconstruct a person's consciousness after death? (Elon Musk seems to think so.) And what would be the consequences for the person's descendants and for the person themselves?

The story opens with Satomi Shionoha bringing her new baby girl, Orine, home from the hospital. Her happy thoughts are brutally interrupted when the car is side-swiped by an 18-wheeler, and Satomi is killed. Fast forward 19 years. Orine is a sullen teenager, apparently on the lam, when she is intercepted by mysterious agents and offered a proposition: escape and cash in return for a mission to space. Orine accepts and is whisked off to a space station. Initially, her mission is just to explore. Once inside, she makes a startling discovery: her mother, no older than when she died. This apparition knows all about Orine and wants to be her mother again, but Orine's logical mind revolts. It's then that she learns more of the truth.

The space station's scientist (known only as The Professor) had been running experiments on reanimating the dead. He succeeded with Satomi, but she took over the space station's main computer and the computer itself. She demanded that the authorities bring Orine to her. Orine's handler, Yuki, wants the girl to plant a virus that will disable Satomi and allow them to retake control of the station. Orine, still horrified by what she has seen, complies. Satomi is disabled, the authorities retake the station, and the real truth emerges. Yuki is part of the company that funded the Professor's research. The purpose was to lift memories from the dead for espionage purposes. Satomi realizes that she has been played, but it seems that Yuki and her colleagues have the upper hand. However, the baddies have failed to reckon with the power of a mother's love and what she might be prepared to do to save her child.

I quite liked Nemure Omoigo. Yes, the themes are familiar, and yes, parts of the story are overly sentimental, but the centering of the show on parental love, rather than on weighty philosophical questions about identity or the soul, resonates with me. Satomi "knows" that her recreated body is not Orine's biological mother, but her memories say that she is, and she behaves accordingly. Orine "knows" that the creature on the space station is not her mother, but as they spend time together, Orine experiences some of the happy moments that her mother's death had denied to her. The ending is not "happy ever after," but it does offer some hopeful notes about the power of love and the possibilities of second chances.

The voice cast includes:

• Fukushime Orine (Orine) played the Yanbo role in Yanbo, Ninbo, Tonbo, Ryou in Sango no Umi to Ouji, Saori in Initial D, and young Guts in Berserk.
• Inoue Kikuko (Satomi) played Kasumi in Ranma 1/2, Chigusa in Kekko Kamen, Mizuho in Onegai Teacher and Onegai Twins, Yayoi in the Happy Lesson properties, Momozono Mei in Mouse, Maria in Gungrave, Emeraldas in Space Symphony Maetel, Belldandy in the Ah My Goddess franchise, Lust in Full Metal Alchemist, Goei in Ikkitousen, and the mother in the Uchouten Kazoku series. She also played Chamberlain, Guilford's executive officer, in Nana Toshi Monogatari, Stasia in Megami Paradise, Shouta in The Girl from Phantasia, Narusawa in Doukyuusei 2, Doria in D4 Princess, and Mai in Hand Maid May, all Orphan releases.
• Tanaka Atsuko (Yuri) played Mauve in ACCA, Nena Hargen in Aika, Cassandra in Alexander, Caster in the Fate franchise, Motoko Kusanagi in the GITS franchise, Bynas in Ozma, Claudette in Queen's Blade, and Jagara in Wolf's Rain. She also played new Mamamega in Megami Paradise and Dana in AWOL Compression Remix, both Orphan releases.
• Hirata Hiroaki (the professor) played Benny in Black Lagoon, Itsuki in the Kindaichi movies, Sa Gojou in Saiyuki and its sequels, Sanji in One Peace, Zaki in DearS, Jack in Moonlight Mile, Nantoka in Rita to Nantoka, 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. He also played Mishima Jun in Chameleon, an Orphan release.
• Kijima Ryuuichi (Yukio, Yuri's right hand man) had featured roles in the Arifureta franchise, Beast Saga, God Eater, Time Travel Girls, and numerous other recent anime series.
• Ishiguro Chihiro (Mizuki, the space ship operator) appeared in Girl Friend Beta and a few other series.

The film is 3D CGI. The space sequences and special effects are spectacular, but the human figures fall right into the "uncanny valley" of near but inadequate realism:

The creator and director, Kurisu Naoya, is a 3D CGI specialist. He has few other credits.

The subtitles are "official" - that is, they were on the DVD - and are credited to Stuart Walton of Sprout. M74 timed. I edited and typeset. ImAWasteOfHair and Uchuu QCed. M74 encoded from an R2J DVD. The subs have typical R1 characteristics: they're very compressed, Western name order is used, and honorifics are omitted. I've corrected for obvious omissions, but the original subs are pretty much unchanged. The Japanese title ねむれ思い子 空のしとねに can be read as Nemure Omoigo or Nemure Omoi Ko. I've used the former, to be consistent with AniDB.

Nemure Omoigo is available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Sugata Sanshiro

When Orphan released Botchan, I mentioned that YES raws had an equally good rip of the 1981 TV special, Sugata Sanshirou, just waiting to be translated. It's taken almost two years, but Orphan is finally releasing an English version of that show.

Sugata Sanshirou is based on a novel by Tomita Tsuneo, but most people know the work from Akira Kurosawa's 1943 movie of the same name - his directorial debut. The novel, the movie, and the anime are all about the early days of judo and its emergence from the many competing schools of jiujitsu (martial arts) in the late 19th century. The anime's namesake hero is a rough-and-tumble country boy, who comes to Tokyo and works as a rickshaw puller. His real goal, though, is to find a jiujitsu master worthy of his raw talent. Sanshirou defeats the city's dojo masters one after another. Eventually, he runs into the drunken and seemingly effete Yano Shougorou, founder of the Seidoukan school of judo. Despite his inebriated state, Yano effortlessly throws Sanshirou into the river, and Sanshirou becomes Yano's pupil and disciple.

Fast forward four years. Sanshirou is now a talented pupil, but he is still wild and undisciplined, to the despair of both Yano and Sanshirou's good friend Natsume Kinnosuke (who becomes the author Natsume Souseki). When Sanshirou saves Takako, a viscount's daughter, they begins a whirlwind romance that takes him to the upper reaches of Meiji society. However, his untamed temper gets him into trouble. He loses Takako and is almost thrown out of the Seidoukan dojo. Only by standing in a frozen pond until he nearly dies does he convince Yano that he has the discipline to succeed at judo.

The third act concerns a showdown between judo and jiujitsu, in the form of a city-wide martial arts contest. Sanshirou is chosen to represent judo. Meanwhile, he has met a lovely young girl, Otomi. She turns out to be the daughter of Murai Hansuke, coach of the police dojo and the designated representative of jiujitsu. Complicating matters is the sinister Higaki Gennosuke, who covets both Murai's job and his daughter. Higaki hires a karate master to attack Murai, causing the coach to lose his match to Sanshirou as a result. Worse yet, Murai dies of his injuries. This serves to bring Sanshirou and Otomi closer together. Enraged by the failure of his schemes, Higaki challenges Sanshirou to a duel to the death. You can guess how it turns out.

Although Sugata Sanshirou sounds melodramatic and violent, it's actually mostly an episodic comedy, with a dash of romance. Sanshirou is a good-natured but headsstrong young man, and he tumbles from one scrape to another. His romance with Takako is not serious; his romance with Otomi is. Throughout, Natsume is a loyal if exasperated wingman, and Yano a patient if disapproving master. Higaki makes a thoroughly hissable villain. Indeed, the only real flaw is the presence of a live-action narrator, Sanyuutei Enjou. He shows up randomly to explain gaps in the timeline and speed up the story. He's a distraction, and despite what he seems to think, he's not funny.

As with Botchan, the visuals by TMS reinforce the comedic tone, with a bright palette and distinctive character designs by Monkey Punch. The voice cast includes:

• Saijou Hideki (Sugata Sanshirou) was best known as a singer. He played the title role in Botchan and Junji in Kuroi Ame ni Utarete, both Orphan releases.
• Iwasaki Yoshimi (Murai Otomi) was also a singer. Her only other anime was the recent movie Ryuu to Sobakasu no Hime (Belle).
• Miyagawa Youichi (Murai Hansuke) was featured in Anime Himitsu no Hanazono, Little Twins, and Future War 198X.
• Chikao Ootsuka (Gennosuke Higaki) played Nezumi in the first GeGeGe no Kitaro series, Zenigata in the Lupin III pilot film, Goemon in Lupin III Part 1, Hook in Peter Pan no Bouken, Tora in the Ushio to Tora OVAs, Joseph JoeStar in the first JoJo's Bizarre Adventures OVAs, and Yoran Pailsen in the Armored Trooper Votoms franchise. He appeared in several Tezuka Osamu TV specials and played Yamada, the villain in Kosuke-sama Rikimaru-sama: Konpeitou no Ryuu, all Orphan releases.
• Nozawa Nachi (Yano Shougorou) played Lupin in the original Lupin III pilot film, Axel von Fersen in The Rose of Versailles, Cobra in the Space Cobra franchise, and Deimos in Bride of Deimos. He also played Ladin in Tobin o Akira, Taka in Kasei Yakyoku, Black Jack in Marine Express and Bremen 4, and Takeru in Izumo (1991), all Orphan releases.
• Tomiyama Kei (Nastume Kinnosuke) played the title roles in Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae, Roppou Yabure, and the original Tiger Mask, as well as Lingham in Genmu Senki Leda, Sir Jogo  in SF Saiyuuki Starzinger, Susumu in the Yamato franchise, and Wen Li in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He also 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.
• Katou Osamu (Monma Saburou, proprietor of a rival dojo) had featured roles in dozens of series, including Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae, Ashita no Joe, Great Mazinger, Koutetsu Jeeg, and Galaxy Express 999.
• Yoshida Rihoko (Takako, the Viscount's daughter) played Megu-chan in Majokko Megu-chan, Monsley in Future Boy Conan, Maria Grace Fleed in UFO Robo Grendizer, Michiru in Getter Robo, Clara Sesemann in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Rosalie Lamorliere in The Rose of Versailles, Kurama in Urusei Yatsura, and Machiko in Maicchingu Machiko-sensei. She appeared in numerous other World Masterpiece Theater series, including  Anne of Green Gables, Honoo no Alpen Rose, Katry the Cow Girl, Shoukoushi Cedie, Lucy May of the Southern Rainbow, Marco: 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, Perrine, and Pollyanna. She played Holy Mother in Gude Crest, and Diaochan in the first Sangokushi movie, both Orphan releases.
• Sanyuutei Enjou (narrator) also narrated Yattokame Tanteiden.

The director, Mikamoto Yasumi, mostly did episode direction and storyboards.

kokujin-kun translated. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset; lots of signs. Nemesis and Uchuu did QC. The raw is a webrip, encoded by YES, and looks great. A 480p raw is also available, if anyone wants to make a standard definition version.

Because of the intrusive live-action sequences, Sugata Sanshiro suffers a bit in comparison to Botchan, but it's still a terrific production that puts most modern anime to shame. 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.

 

Chameleon 6 (Series End)

After more than seven years, it's done.

Orphan started in on Chameleon in the spring of 2015, because it had been left unfinished - only the first episode was released in the US. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd made a big mistake. Nonetheless, I soldiered on, and the first episode was released in 2015. (These days, I'd give up.) Orphan released a second episode in 2017, but then there was a gap of more than three years, reflecting my distaste for the series. In 2021 and 2022, Orphan released three more episodes. And here, at last, is the sixth and final episode. During the opening credits, Yazawa exclaims, "I can't believe we made it this far!" Neither can I.

This episode ("Yazawa vs Matsuoka Bros: Fight to the Death at Dawn!") begins with a party for Junna-chan, Aizawa Naoki's younger sister, celebrating her entrance into high school, and coincidentally, Yazawa Eisaku's entrance into 11th grade (by cheating, natch). Junna-chan meets and falls for Matsuoki Eiji, a violent delinquent and Yazawa's arch-rival. But Matsuoka's real concern in this episode is his younger half-brother, Hachiya Miki, the natural son of his father's mistress. Hachiya wants his elder sibling's acknowledgement and respect, but Matsuoka will have none of it. The result is a series of increasingly violent encounters, with Yazawa playing the role of faux-mediator in the hope of winning Junna-chan's love.

Of course, it all comes to nothing, and Yazawa's only love interest remains Yu, Shiina's cross-dressing older brother.

I'm not the person to provide a serious critique of this episode (or indeed, of any of them), but this one, like the previous one, feels like filler. The last two episodes followed the first four after a gap of 15 months and featured a new director and a new character designer. Perhaps they were a late cash grab to exploit the insane popularity of the manga. (It ran to 47 tankoubon volumes and won the 1999 Kodansha award for shounen manga, beating out One Piece!)

As usual, the episode contains a lot of untranslatable puns:

• "A chocolate cheat sheet." Anchoko is "cheat sheet," but choko is a shorter way to refer to "chocolate."
• "Popular" / "Pubic hair." jinbou is "popular," while inmou is "pubic hair."
• When Yazawa tells Hachiya that he understands the relationship between the brothers is rough, he uses the term 肉体関係, meaning "sexual relationship."
  

This episode features some new voice actors:

• Konishi Hiroko (Junna) played Aida Rion in Agent Aika, Miho in Yume de Aetera, Nene Romanova in Bubblegum Crisis 2040, and Gaou Nejiri in D4 Princess, an Orphan release.
• Matsuno Taiki (Hachiya) played the lead role in the second Kindaichi movie (an Orphan release) and every subsequent show in the franchise. He starred in Exper Zenon and appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou, both Orphan releases. He played Kouga in Inuyasha and the title role in The Adventures of the Little Prince.

It features the best song in the series, Bad Timing, as the opening. (The other really good song is Smokin' Boogie, the opening for episode 2.) The ending is the same as episode 5. I have not found any EP or OST for the series, either online or on physical media.

Moho Kareshi did the original translation, and laalg provided translation checking. VigorusJammer integrated laalg's translation check into the script. convexity and Sunachan translated the songs. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The raw is from the Internet and is a VHS rip. (All of the Chameleon raws are from VHS tapes; there never was a laserdisc or digital release in Japan.) I get the occasional inquiry about whether Orphan would redo the series if better sources surfaced. The answer is "no".

So that's it; my long anime nightmare is over. You can get this final episode from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Ai no Kusabi (1992) DVD Extras

I recently received a copy of the R2J ISO for Ai no Kusabi and was surprised to see that it had seven "extras." These are slide shows with pictures of the character designs and art designs, storyboards for two famous scenes, and galleries from the "original" character designer, Michihara Katsumi, and the OVA character designer, Onda Naoyuki. The slide shows are silent. Rezo encoded this from the R2J DVD, without actually knowing anything about the show. He's happier that way.

The extras are a pendant to the original Orphan-M74 release; you can tuck them into your Ai no Kusabi folder. There's some nudity, but nothing explicit. They're available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Even the Good Homer Nods (Don Dracula)

The Roman poet Horace noticed that in the Iliad, Homer reintroduced a character that he had previously killed off. Horace's comment was "Quandoque bonus dormitat Homerus" or, loosely translated, "Even the good Homer nods." Nowadays, the expression is used to express the idea that even a master can make a mistake or have an off day. That applies to the anime of Tezuka Osamu; in particular, to Don Dracula.

Don Dracula started as a manga, published in 1979. He first appeared as an anime character in the early "Love Will Save the World" TV specials, including Bander Book, Marine Express, and Fumoon, all Orphan releases. (Chocola also appeared in Marine Express.) In 1982, Tezuka Productions produced Don Dracula as a TV series. Scripts were written through episode 21; however, the sponsor went bankrupt. Only eight episodes were finished, and only four were aired. The four "lost" episodes were included in the DVD release. Various fansubs, with indifferent encodes and translations, have floated around the Internet for years. Orphan's Tezuka Osamu fan(atic)s decided to do a new version. Whether the results are better is for the viewer to decide.

The premise of Don Dracula is that the count's castle has been brought to Japan, along with the count, his daughter, Chocola, and his servant, Igor.

Dracula still dreams of sucking the blood of beautiful women, but he is repeatedly thwarted in his ambitions. There is no through plot. The episodes are standalone, involving recurring characters such as Blonda, an overweight woman who is besotted with Dracula; Rip van Helsing, a descendant of the famous vampire hunter, who has come to Japan in pursuit of the count; Murai, a trigger-happy local policeman; and Nobuhiko, Chocola's crush at school.

The problem with the show is that it's only intermittently funny. There are some good gags, but too much of the humor revolves around physical handicaps. For example, van Helsing has hemorrhoids and must frequently break off pursuit of Dracula to find a bathroom; hilarious. Blonda has gained weight from stress at not getting Dracula's love and is now physically unattractive; ho ho. The episodes dredge other shows for plots. For example, episode 3 riffs on The Picture of Dorian Gray, episode 4 on Creature from the Black Lagoon. A Japanese vampire bat, Yasu, shows up randomly to comment on the action, often with disparaging remarks about Dracula as an "immigrant" or "foreigner." There are continuity errors: Nobuhiko's hair is red in episode 4 but black in episode 6. In short, it's very hit-or-miss, and when the gags miss, the show is tedious. But even middling (as Nemesis characterized it) Tezuka Osamu is better than none.

Like any Tezuka show, it has a lot of local references.

• In episode 3, Dracula says, "Compared to that, my face is beautiful, just like Tomokazu Miura's." Tomokazu was a Japanese actor.
• In episode 4, Murai complains about not being able to eat youkan, a confection made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar.
• In episode 5, Helsing boasts of his knowledge of Japanese history. "I know Ushiwakamaru {Minamoto no Yushistune} was Kurama Tengu's pupil." Actually, this famous Heian-era warrior was educated at Kurama Temple. "When he grew up, he became Nezumi Kozou." Nezumi Kozou was a notorious Edo-era thief.
  

Some of the references elude me. For example, who is the pre-1982 samurai hero referenced here?

The voice cast includes:

• Utsumi Kenji (Dracula) is best known for his roles as Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, and Senbei Norimaki in the Dr. Slump and Arale-chan franchise. He appeared as the village chief in Watt Poe and Alex Louis Armstrong in both versions of Full Metal Alchemist, as well as in Nora, Bavi Stock, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Techno Police 21C, and 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, all Orphan releases.
• Shimazu Saeko (Chocola) played Shinobu in Urusei Yatsura, Madoka in Kimagure Orange Road, Miz Mishtal in El Hazard, and Yuri in Dirty Pair. She had featured roles Ranma 1/2, Maison Ikkoku, and Inuyasha. She also played the titles role in Bagi and Lunn Flies into the Wind, Sanae in Izumi (1991), Kyouko in Hiatari Ryouko, and Scanny in Techno Police 21C, all Orphan releases. 
• Ooyama Takao (Igor) appeared in Bakumatsu no Spasibo, The Green Cat, and Techno Police 21C, all Orphan releases.
• Kataoka Tomie (Blonda) played Tomako in Meisou Ou Border and Auntie in Bagi, both Orphan releases. She appeared in several World Masterpiece Theater series, including Daddy Long Legs, Katry the Cow Girl, and The Alps Story: My Annette.
  
• Takiguchi Junpei (Van Helsing) 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!, the colonel in Maris the Choujo, 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.
• Kita Michie (Nobuhiko) appeared in the original Astro Boy, Ribbon no Kishi, and others 60s and 70s animes, before taking a long break. In this century, she appeared in the first Natsume Yuujinchou series.
  
• Kimotsuki Kaneta (Yasu the bat) played Sharaku in Marine Express and Bander Book, both Orphan releases. She also had recurring roles in the Doraemon, Soreike! Anpanman, and the Galaxy Express 999 franchises. 
• Ikeda Masaru (Murai) had major roles in Yatterman and Sakura Taisen. He appeared in Bagi, Greed, Kasei Yakyoku, Every Day Is Sunday, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Techno Police 21C, Tobira o Akete, and the first Sangokushi TV special, all Orphan releases.

Other familiar seiyuu have smaller roles. For example, Mitsuya Yuji, who starred as Jecy in Hi-Speed Jecy and Yusaku in Hiatari Ryouko (both Orphan releases), played the chairman of the Vampire Appreciation Society in episode 2. Ootake Hirosh, who played Michael in the What's Michael? OVAs and Vailly in Greed (both Orphan releases), appeared as the principal in episodes 1 and 5.

The chief director, Ochiai Masamune, also helmed Asatte Dance, Korogashi Ryouta, and other ecchi-themed shows.

bananadoyouwanna got the ball rolling on the show by encoding the shows from the Japanese DVDs. The subtitles originated with ARR and passed through several hands before reaching Orphan; various team members contributed numerous corrections and changes. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. Moelancholy contributed a valuable critique about making the dialog, particularly Dracula's, less bland and more stylized. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed.

So Don Dracula is mid-tier Tezuka Osamu, at best, but it's still the Master's work. While I wish the show had been more consistently funny, it is, like the curate's egg, good in spots. You can get the series from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net.

 

Kimama ni Idol

Kimama ni Idol (Free-Spirited Idols) is a 1990 dramedy OVA based on a manga by Kotani Kenichi. It tells the tale of three teenage girls who want to become idols but find out that the road to the top is rough. Sometimes it's like a screwball comedy from the 1930s, but at others, it's like a sordid expose of the perils of the Tokyo music industry. In either mode, it can't be taken seriously, and it's a lot of fun throughout.

The story opens when a typical high school girl, Haruka, wins a fabulous lottery prize - 90 million yen (a million dollars the time). She promptly invites her best friend, Natsuki, to run away from home with her and live the high life in Tokyo. There, they buy fabulous clothes, eat fabulous meals, stay in a fabulous hotel, buy a fabulous car (a Porsche) that they're too young to drive, and otherwise try to fritter their fortune away. However, things take a serious turn when they see a man named Tatsuya apparently accosting another teenage girl, only to find that he was actually preventing her from killing herself. The despondent girl, Fumika, wanted to become a singer but was nearly raped by an unscrupulous composer when she tried to break into the industry. On the spot, Haruka and Natsuki decide to team up with Fumika, form an idol group, the Celebrity Idol Team, and conquer the show biz world. They recruit another high school friend, Naoto, to be their manager and song writer, and record a song, "Free-Spirited Idols."

However, selling the song is difficult. No one in the music business is interested in a new group without professional representation. Worse yet, when the Celebrity Idols stage an outdoor concert, they run afoul of another idol group, the Black Cats, who have a reputation for violence. The Cats attack our heroines, but they get more than they bargained for. All three girls have some martial arts training, and they rout the Black Cats, infuriating the Cats' manager, Matsumoto Seiko. Then, the Idols stage a surprise concert in Shibuya, descending in a blimp to sing their songs. (They have to sell the Porsche to raise enough money.) This further infuriates Matsumoto, who had a similar idea, and she enlists composer Hiramatsu Shigeru to help her get revenge - the very composer who tried to rape Fumika. The two villains kidnap the Idols and spirit them off to an uninhabited island, where the girls will be forced to make porn movies with the "Super Brothers." But the villains and the Brothers reckoned without the fighting spirit of our heroines, who turn the tables and make their triumphant escape. All ends happily, if unbelievably.

The voice class includes prominent seiyuu as the Idols and in supporting roles:

• Hisakawa Aya (Natsuki)  the title roles in Mamono Hunter Youko, Voogie's Angel, and Iria: Zeiram, Skuld in the Ah! My Goddess franchise, Cerberus in Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon franchise, Yuki in Fruits Basket, Haruka in RahXephon, Youko in The Twelve Kingdoms, and Storm in X-Men. She played Marine in Nana Toshi Monogatari, Shizuka in Sotsugyou: Graduation, Mishima Misako in Yume Tsukai, Shana in Al Caral no Isan, Sonia in Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Tomoko in Sensou Douwa: Boku no Boukuugou, and Koneko in Ear of the Golden Dragon, all Orphan releases.
• Hagimori Junko (Haruka) played Li Chang in Blue Gender, Haruka in Rokudenashi Blues, Junna in Chameleon, and a refugee in the third Sangokushi movie. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Shou Mayumi (Ayako) played Masao in Aoki Honoo, Gannet in Hoshi Neko Full House, Peggy in A Penguin's Memories, Yuko Kurita in the Oishinbo movie-length specials, and Baby Boar in Katte ni Shirokuma, all Orphan releases.
• Horikawa Ryou (Naoto) played Shutendou in Shuten Douji, Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Naoto in Slow Step, Anthony Brown in Candy Candy, Reinhard in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Tadao in Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Kai in Kizuna, Shinya in Okama Report, and Andromeda in Saint Seiya. He also appeared in Nana Toshi Monogatari, Chameleon, Hi-Speed Jecy, Lunn no Kaze, and the first two Sangokushi movies, all Orphan releases.
• Yara Yuusaku (Tatsugorou) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Hayou no Tsurugi, Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, the second Sangokushi movie, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
  

The director, Satou Junichi, also directed Akuma-kun, Sailor Moon, Gatekeepers, Kaleido Star, Aria and its sequels, Phi Brain and its sequels, and many other renowned shows.

Iri translated the show. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset; there were a lot of signs. ImAWasteOfHair, Nemesis, and Topper3000 QCed. Intrepid encoded from a Japanese VHS tape. The show was never released on laserdisc or digital media. A 90 second promo for the CD is included in the release; it is not translated. It's all signs, so I've left it as an exercise for budding typesetters.

Kimama ni Idol can be a rollicking good time or a fraught melodrama, often in quick succession. (There's also one bit of gratuitous nudity.) You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news in irc.rizon.net.

Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu!

Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu! (I Am Shiratori Reiko!) is a one episode shoujo romantic comedy from 1990. It is based on a 7-volume manga by Suzuki Yumiko. The manga won the Kodansha Award for shoujo in 1989 and was adapted multiple times for live action, including a 1989 TV series, a 1993 TV series, a 1995 film, a 2016 TV series, and a 2016 film. Despite its popularity, the anime was only released on VHS tape.

Shiratori Reiko tells the story of a "material girl," daughter of a wealthy family. She has been in love since high school with her classmate, Akimoto Tetsuya, but her pride as an "oujo-sama" won't let her admit her feelings. Following graduation from high school, she follows Tetsuya to Tokyo and enrolls in his university, but she continues to pursue him and push him away with equal fervor.

Naturally confused, Tetsuya starts other relationships, including one with Kyouko, a friend of Reiko's from high school. Meanwhile, another college classmate, Takada Haruo, seeks Reiko's help in winning Kyouko's love. It all proves too much for Reiko. Eventually, she decides to return home and accept an arranged marriage, but Tetsuya sees through her smokescreen and asserts his claim to her love.

While Shiratori Reiko is nominally a rom-com, it also plays as a satire on the tsundere and oujo-sama tropes. In one scene, Shiratori dreams that she is the poor little match girl. All the young men flock to buy her matches, but she turns them away, wanting only Tetsuya to buy her matches Personally, I found the show quite exasperating, and I had trouble watching it all the way through, both during editing and RC. The show should not be taken seriously; if it is, it's unwatchable, as Nemesis concluded.

The voice cast includes:

• Kawamura Maria (Shiratori Reiko) played Naga the Serpent in the Slayers franchise, the title roles in Fujiko Fujio A no Mumako and Cleopatra D.C., Lachesis in Five Star Stories, Eluza in the Gall Force OVAs, Interpreter in the Compiler OVAs, Luna and Tiger Lily in Peter Pan no Bouken, Shirin the dancer in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, and Kate in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Horiuchi Kenyuu (Akimoto Tetsuya) played the title role in Guin Saga and Oscar in the Angelique franchise. He also played the title role in Amon Saga, Ryuuichi in Aoko Honoo, Nest in Eien no Filena, Kubota in Meisou Ou Border, Jin Akira in Wolf Guy, Lid in Greed, Romus, the green-haired hero, in Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99, and the refined son in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
• Takamori Yoshino (Andou Kyouko, her best friend) played the arch oujo-sama Sayaka in Yawara! and the twin roles of Juliet Douglas and Sloth in Full Metal Alchemist. She starred as Chika in Ohoshi-sama no Rail and appeared as Shouko in POPS, Princess Lichia in Amon Saga, and in Yousei Ou and the What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
• Yamaguchi Ken (Takada Haruo, Kyouko's suitor) appeared in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Yamato 2520, Hoshi Neko Full House, and Condition Green, all Orphan releases.

The director, Hongou Mitsuru, has many other directing credits, including the first 148 episodes of Crayon Shin-Chan and several Shin-chan movies, Shamanic Princess, Outlaw Star, Megami Kouhosei (Pilot Candidate), Tenkai Knight, the first 48 episodes of World Trigger, and all three seasons of Honzuki no Gekokujou (Ascendance of a Bookworm).

Iri translated, and ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. ImAWasteOfHair, Nemesis, and Uchuu QCed. Intrepid encoded from a Japanese VHS tape ripped on his non-compressing All-in-Wonder setup.

Shiratori Reiko can be watchable or irritating or both, depending on your tolerance for oujo-sama and tsundere cliches. 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.