2022 in Review

2022 winds down as catastrophically as most other recent years. The war in Ukraine grinds on. A "tripledemic" rages in the US. Covid has returned to claim its due in China and elsewhere. (Three of our staff members caught Covid this fall.) Pestilence, war, famine, and death ride unchecked. So what else is new?

Orphan Fansubs

Orphan's projects this year included a lot of retreads: rerips of previous releases; dubs added to previous releases; resubs of other groups' hardsubbed projects. I wish we could do more original subs, but translators and other resources are scarce. One stalled project, Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, was successfully restarted, releasing a further four volumes.

1. A-Girl v3. A new version of the Margaret OVA, featuring much improved video.
   
2. Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, episodes 10-12. The start of the Exodus story, from the enslavement of the Israelites to Moses' encounter with the burning bush.
   
3. Cherry no Manma. A short OVA, telling a tiny portion of a much larger story.
   
4. Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, episodes 13-15.  The Exodus story continues with the plagues, the miracle at the Red Sea, and the journey to Mt. Sinai.
   
5. Baby Love. A shoujo romance featuring a very large age gap.
   
6. Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99. A sci-fantasy that makes as little sense as its title.
   
7. The Kitten's Doodles. An early black-and-white Toei cartoon, featuring a mischievous kitten and his even more mischievous mouse friends.
   
8. The Kitten's Studio. Another Toei cartoon, in color, featuring the kitten, his mouse friends, and an automated/robotic movie studio.
   
9. Tezuka Osamu: The Secret of Creation. A documentary about Tezuka Osamu, filmed in his last years. It was included as a bonus in the wonderful art book, "The Art of Osamu Tezuka."
   
10. Kosuke-sama Rikimaru-sama: Konpeitou no Ryuu. A DragonBall ripoff, but fun nonetheless. Kosuke and his younger brother Rikimaru must defend the nearly extinct dragons of Dragon Island from a ruthless collector and his mercenaries.
    
11. Junkers Come Here: Memories of You. A sentimental tale about an adorable talking Schnauzer that can work miracles, and his impact on a distressed family.
    
12. Kakyuusei (1995) v3. A DVD version of the softcore h-anime, which Orphan previously released from a laserdisc source.
    
13. Sotsugyou: Graduation. Five girls who are about to graduate from high school ponder their future plans. Should they do what they want, or what is expected of them?
    
14. King Fang v2. The shounen tale about a wild dog-wolf hybrid and his attempts to find freedom in the wild of Hokkaido. The video, from a streaming source, is a substantial improvement over the first version, which was ripped from a VHS tape.
    
15. Hayou no Tsurugi. A sword-and-sorcery tale about a young half-demon swordswoman battling evil demons, including her brother.
    
16. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2: Shiroki Ryuu no Miko v2. This OVA, based on the second game in the Haruka Naru Toki franchise, is a somewhat anemic tale that seems to end before it properly gets off the ground.
    
17. Chameleon ep5. Pint-sized wannabe hood Yazawa Eisaku must fend of challenges from precociously violent middle-school students.
    
18. Nana Toshi Monogatari. Sci-fi set in a post-apocalyptic earth where naval warfare dominates because air warfare is not possible.. 
19. Arisa Good Luck. A one-shot OVA about a normal high-school girl, her siscon brother, and an Evil Organization bent on Ruling the World™.. 
20. Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu! A shoujo romantic comedy about a rich girl who is completely tsundere about her love interest.
    
21. Kimama ni Idol. Two high school girls from the country win a big lottery prize and come to Tokyo basically to goof off and have fun. They team up with another girl and try to break into the music business.
    
22. Don Dracula. Tezuka Osamu's incomplete comedy series about the legendary vampire, who inadvertently ends up in Japan when his castle is bought up by a local developer.
    
23. Ai no Kusabi (1992) DVD Extras. Short features from a pioneering BL title.
    
24. Chameleon ep6. The end of the road (thank goodness) for Yazawa Eisaku and his gang of friends and enemies.
    
25. Sugata Sanshirou. A well-loved story about the early days of judo, featuring a happy-go-lucky hero out to learn the secrets of martial arts from masters in Tokyo.
    
26. Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni. A sci-fi yarn abut a young teenager's unexpected encounter with a replica of her mother.
    
27. Cat-Eyed Boy (1976), episode 2. The second episode of Umezz Kazuo's horror series.
    
28. Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni HD. HD version of the show.
    
29. Wolf Guy v2. A sci-fi story about immortal wolf-men fighting to keep their secrets safe from secret societies, governments, and intelligence services alike.
    
30. Kaitei 3-man Mile SD. This was M74's original encode for this Toei movie, which was released last year in HD.
    
31. Hameln no Violin Hiki. A send-up of the "noble band of heroes" trope; a complete riot.
    
32. Maris the Choujo, dual audio. Dub added to last year's release.
    
33. Fire Tripper, single- and dual-audio. Another Rumic World OVA, about a young girl who can teleport through time when faced with danger from fire.
    
34. Laughing Target, single- and dual-audio. Another Rumic World OVA, about a disturbed girl who is determined to claim her place as the fiancee of a typical high school student.
    
35. Amon Saga, dual audio. Dub added to the 2020 release.
    
36. Fire Emblem, dual audio. Dub added to the 2017 release.
    
37. Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, episodes 16-18. The Exodus story ends with Moses' death and Joshua's conquest of Canaan.
    
38. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Kurenai no Tsuki. The Haruka Naru Toki formula applied to the Genpei wars. This part covers up to the battle of Ichi-no-Tani.
    
39. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Owarinaki Unmei. The second part of the story, covering the battle of Dan-no-Ura and the aftermath. This version is 50% longer than any previously released version of the show and includes ten alternate endings.
40. Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, episodes 19-21. The glory days of the United Kingdom of Israel: the reigns of Kings Saul and David.
41. Star Dust. A sci-fi OVA that's an uneasy mixture of great spaceship action and a clumsy lesson about racism.
    

A personal highlight was Sugata Sanshirou, a wonderfully picaresque saga of late Meiji Japan. Other personal favorites included Toei's Kitten, Nana Toshi Monogatari, Fire Tripper, and Laughing Target. Plus, I was really pleased to be done with Chameleon, at long last, and the Haruka Naru Toki franchise.

A big shout-out to Intrepid and Rezo for their ongoing work in media acquisition, transcription, and encoding. I also want to thank the Arutha foundation, which has hosted all of Orphan's releases on IRC. The timing regulars, ninjacloud and Yogicat, and the QC regulars, Nemesis and Uchuu, continue to carry the bulk of the group's projects in their respective fields. And last, but not least, Iri, tenkenX6, and kokujin-kun keep the group's original translation efforts afloat. But all the staffers, whether called out here or not, have made valuable contributions to the group's work.

The Audio Side

Orphan released some additional music this year. Except as indicated, the source is a CD, ripped by Intrepid.

1. Nana Toshi Monogatari OST (FLAC) 
2. Kyouryuu Daisensou Izenborg Music Collection (FLAC) - LP source
3. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Kurenai no Tsuki OST (FLAC)
4. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Kurenai no Tsuki Vocal Collection (FLAC)
5. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Owarinaki Unmei OST (FLAC)
6. Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Owarinaki Unmei Vocal Collection (FLAC)
   

Work for Other Groups

Much the same.

• Frozen-EviL. I continued to edit the slow-moving Blu-Ray version of Yawara!
  
• Saizen. I continued to edit and typeset the slow-moving Laughing Salesman specials. I also started working on the slow-moving series Baby and Me.
  
• Soldado. Eternal_Blizzard has retired from fansubbing, alas.
  
• Inka. I typeset a few shows, to thank that team for their help on our joint projects.
  

With Saizen and Live-EviL involved in several of these projects, is "slow-moving" redundant?

Favorites of 2022

I'm not an anime critic, so I don't try to compile a "best of" list for the anime year. Instead, I'm listing my favorites of the year and why they kept me interested all the way through.

In alphabetical order:

• Aharen-san wa Hakarenai. This deadpan comedy really ticked my funny bone.
  
• Baraou no Suretsu. History rewritten as shoujo psychodrama. Despite terrible animation and plot twists that could not be believed, I couldn't turn awa; I'm a history major, after all.
  
• Dance Dance Danseur. A wonderful character study of a teenage boy wrestling with the conflicting demands of talent and conformity.
  
• Koukyuu no Karasu. Prolix to the max, but the (fictional) historical setting and characters were very engaging.
  
• Kumichou Musume to Segakawari. Yeah, it's sentimental pap, but I'm a grandad, so a show about a young child softening the heart of a closed-off adult is in my sweet spot.
• Mob Psycho 100 S3. Shounen is not normally a genre I like, but this season of Mob Psycho 100 was very good, and the series really stuck the landing.
  
• Ryman's Club. A seinen! And about badminton, the only sport I ever played competitively! I loved the character dynamics and the split emphasis on business as well as sports. However, negi soda... don't think so.
  
• Sabikui Bisco. A fine example of the Wide-Screen Baroque School of sci-fi. Killer 'shrooms! Heroes riding giant crabs! Improbable action and even more improbable coincidences! What more do you need?
  
• Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Sura. It pandered to its audience's fantasies, but the technical details about cosplay, and the interplay between the characters, worked.
  
• Summertime Render. At last, a mystery series that stayed mysterious (and consistent) right until the end.
  
• Yofukashi no Uta. A fascinating character study of introversion masquerading as a vampire story.
  

Isekai Oji-san would have made the list too, if it hadn't been delayed by production problems, as would Mairimashita! Iruma-kun S3, if it didn't continue into next year. I found the second half of Ousama Ranking disappointing.

 

I've really enjoyed two short series, Sekai no Owari no Shiba Inu to and Nights with a Cat. The former has some of the sharp writing that I liked in the Fireball series. The latter has a cat; 'nuff said.

Looking Ahead

In 2023, I intend to complete Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament. In all likelihood, this will be Orphan's last lengthy series. I'd like to do Ambassador Magma and finish up Sanada 10. There are still lots of OVAs and movies stranded on the wrong side of the Digital Divide. It's a race against time - to find, buy, and transcribe analog media before they decay irretrievably, and to get them translated, shaped up, and released before the same happens to me.

So Orphan Fansubs will continue to work on The Shows That Time Forgot™. There's no shortage of good material, and interesting raws are more abundant than ever; but qualified staff is in short supply. If you're a translator, encoder, editor, typesetter, or QC with an interest in the back catalog, please get in touch with me on irc.rizon.net. I even show up on Discord occasionally, under duress.

Thanks, everyone - both team members and fans. Have a happy and safe 2023.