Wolf Guy v2

When Orphan released Wolf Guy back in 2016, I noted, "The laserdiscs came from two sources. The first three volumes are from Erik's collection and were encoded by him as Piyo Piyo Productions. The last three volumes are from an anonymous collector and were encoded by M74. The significant differences in color and brightness reflect the sources as we received them and were probably a result of different players and capture setups." This was before the days of the Domesday Duplicator, which removed player calibration from the equation altogether. Thanks to Rezo, Orphan is now releasing a new version of Wolf Guy, ripped on the Duplicator, with uniform encoding and colors.

Wolf Guy is a six part OVA from 1992. It's an action/adventure/sci-fi story about immortals who can transform into wolves battling the Phoenix Group, a hideous conspiracy led by an American company called Biomeasure. It's quite baffling at times, because it starts in the middle of a complex situation and ends without reaching much of a conclusion. The nominal hero is fighting not only the Phoenix Group but also Chinese Intelligence's Tiger Corps (immortals who can transform into tigers) and Japanese Cabinet Intelligence. Add to this four-sided battle characters who change allegiance and appearance, and you've got quite an explosive and confusing story.

The protagonist and immortal "wolf guy" of the title is Inugami Akira, who transforms at full moon and when he needs to into a golden wolf. He's deeply attached to his high-school teacher, Aoshiko Akiko, whom he has saved on more than one occasion. The Phoenix Group is aiming to seize the secret of immortality from the wolf-men, wipe out most of planet's population, and then rule the world. Their agents kidnap Akiko, drug and rape her, and use her as bait to try and catch Akira. He in turn seeks an antidote for the drug and to defeat the Phoenix Group.

After some initial hostility, Akira is aided by Hu Ssu, a tiger-woman from the Tigers Corps. She gradually falls in love with him, to the detriment of her loyalty to the Corps. He's also aided by another wolf-man, Jin Akira, a journalist who is out to uncover the truth about the Phoenix Group. Occupying a more villainous role is Saijou Kei, the Phoenix Group agent who, among other bestial acts, raped Akiko. After he is betrayed and left for dead by his bosses, Saijou starts working as an agent of Japanese Cabinet Intelligence, but he's really out for himself.

With all these combatants, there's a lot of action, bloodshed, and death, but the series is surprisingly calm in spots, allowing time for character development and interaction. Saijou has as prominent a role as the two Akiras and Hu Ssu. Akiko, reduced to dazed obedience by the Phoenix Group's "Narcotic 800," is mostly a cipher, but her doppelganger, Keiko (a Cabinet Intelligence agent remade by plastic surgery), figures prominently in the second half.

Wolf Guy was originally a two-volume manga by Hirai Kazumasa; it has not been published inEnglish. Hirai worked the manga into a novel series than ultimately included 19 volumes. (The OVA appears to start in the middle of book two and covers through book four.) In 2007, the story was re-adapted as a longer and more violent manga known as Wolf Guy: Ookami no Monshou. This later manga version is available in English but diverges considerably from the plot of the original manga and from the OVAs.

The voice cast includes:

• Morikawa Toshiyuki (Inugami Akira) played lead roles in Gallery Fake, Yami no Matsui, Kyou Kara Maou, and numerous other shows. He's also a regular in Orphan's releases. He played the lead role Ear of the Golden Dragon and Nozomi Witches, as well as Inspector Kendo in the Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo series. He delivered a scene-stealing performance as Panda Mama in Polar Bear Cafe. He also appeared in Al Caral no Isan, Akai Hayate, Dragon Fist, Kiss wa Mi ni Shite, Blazing Transfer Student, and Wild 7.
• Yokoyama Chisa (Hu Ssu) played the title roles in Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, Iron Virgin Jun, and the Sakura Taisen franchise, as well as Sasami/Pretty Sammy in the Tenchi Muyo franchise and Flute in Hameln no Violin Hiki. She played Mami in Boyfriend, an Orphan release.
• Mugihito (Commander Lin, Hu Ssu's father) played the elderly Tomosuke in Fune o Amu, Kaseki in Dr. Stone, and Wombat in the Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei Bu Love! franchise. He appeared as Gaius in Amon Saga, an Orphan release.
  
• Gouri Daisuke (Saijou) played Yamazaki Hiromi in Patlabor and Mimi in Okama Hakusho; he also had numerous featured roles. He appeared in Bagi, Dallos, Condition Green, Bavi Stock I, Dokushin Apartment Dokudamisou, Hashire Melos, Rain Boy, all three Sangokushi movies (Xiahou Dun), Submarine 707R, Tokimeki Tonight, Hi-Speed Jecy, Hidamari no Ki, and Kage, all Orphan releases.
• Horiuchi Kenyuu (Jin Akira) 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, Lid in Greed, Romus in Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99, and the refined son in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
• Ootaki Shinya (Chiefson) played Pete, the male lead in Scoopers. He also appeared in Oishinbo: Japan-America Rice Wars, Aoki Honoo, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases.
• Sasaki Yuko (Akiko/Keiko) played Sayoko in Aoko Honoo, Yuki in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, and Exper Schiff in Exper Zenon, all Orphan releases. She also played Gilbert in Kaze to Ki no Uta SANTCUS and Hitomi Nomura in Piano.
• Kawamura Maria (Hu Liang, Hu Ssu's sister) played Naga the Serpent in the Slayers franchise, the title role in Fujiko Fujio A no Mumako, Eluza in the Gall Force OVAs, Interpreter in the Compiler OVAs, Luna and Tiger Lily in Peter Pan no Bouken, Kate in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki, Shirin in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, and Houjou Masako in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Sawaki Ikuya (Samuel Hunter, a Phoenix Group executive) played Gooley in the Dirty Pair franchise. He also played Masayoshi Hotta in Hidamari no Ki, Barry in Joker: Marginal City, Alan in Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve, and the Kaiser in Apfelland Monogatari, as well as bit parts in Dallos and Chameleon, all Orphan releases.

The director, Yoshonaga Naoyuki, worked on several classic shows, including Maison Ikkoku and Patlabor. The music is by the peerless Kenji Kawai; for some reason, Wolf Guy doesn't show up in his English discographies. I'm still looking for the two soundtrack albums.

The scripts haven't changed much in this release, although all the typesetting had to be redone because of the color differences. Iri translated the original episodes, and ninjacoud timed them. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Calyrica QCed the original releases; ImAWasteOfHair and Rezo release checked the new version. Rezo encoded from this own DdD rip of the Japanese laserdiscs. The audio was taken from the digital track and is FLAC.

Wolf Guy is a terrific show, entertaining, compelling, and exceedingly violent. (It has a tiny bit of nudity, which will deter exactly no one from watching it.) There was really nothing wrong with the original release, aside from the color variability, so if you're satisfied with that version, you can stay with it. On the other hand, if you've never seen Wolf Guy, you're in for a treat. You can get the release from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.