Sotsugyousei Revisited

Back in the airly days (2013), Orphan did a number of projects based on the -uusei eroge franchise, starting with a three episode OVA from the turn of the century, Sotsugyousei (The Graduate). By itself, Sotsugyousei didn't make much sense, so that led us to translate its parent series, Doukyuusei 2; and then on to Doukyuusei Climax, Kakyuusei (1995), and Tenkousei. At that point, I fully expected never to see these shows again.

I reckoned without the determination of an Internet pen pal, ProxyMan. He went on a buying spree to find R2J sources for all of Orphan's hentai (or near hentai) shows that had used Internet raws. Using his sources, Orphan released better versions of Lunatic Night 3 and Beast City 3, a new version of Doukyuusei: Climax, and the first DVD-based version of Kakyuusei (1995). Now, Orphan is releasing a new version of Sotsugyousei, using a modern encode made from the R2Js.

When Orphan released the show, I didn't even attempt a synopsis, because the events and characters were so closely intertwined with the parent series, Doukyuusei 2. For those disinclined to watch or rewatch all twelve episodes of that show, here is a crib for the characters:

• The hero, Sanshirou is a recent graduate of Yasohachi Academy, He now attends Imperial University.
• He is tutoring Mizuno Tomomi, a girl at Yasohachi Academy, but he loves
• Sakakibara Miyuki. She is piano tutor to
• Maijima Karen, an idol who attends Yasohachi Academy. She seems to have a yuri yen for
  
• Narusawa Yui, a girl at Yasohachi Academy, who has a crush on
• Kondou Makoto, who is not a relative but lives at her house. (His name is changed to Ryuunosuke in this sequel, and he never speaks.)
  
• Narusawa Misako, Yui's mother.
• Minamikawa Youko, a red-headed girl.
• Yasuda Azumi, a girl at Karen's racquet club.
• Yousuke, a "yankee" who is Miyuki's former boyfriend.
• "Affection Points Teller", a costumed girl who forecasts Sanshirou's future and gives him relationship advice at key turning points

Sanshirou returns to his hometown on break and promptly falls into the middle of all these relationships and crosscurrents. His interactions with the girls, the girls' interactions with each other, and Yui's propensity for getting herself and other girls into compromising positions, provide frequent excuses for boob, butt, and panty shots, but there is no actual sex. 

Eventually, Sanshirou gets together with Miyuki and true love triumphs, as in all the other -uusei series.

Sotsugyousei has basically the same cast as Doukyuusei 2:

• Kishio Daisuke (Sanshirou) played Ryou in Final Approach, Tsukune in Rosario to Vampire, Jouslain in Tytania, Komatsu in Toriko, Teshima Junta in the Yowamushi Pedal franchise, and Kanamori (Venus) in Heaven's Design Team.
• Kumagaya Niina (Mizuno Tomomi) had featured roles in Demon Warrior Koji, Heli-tako Pu-chan, and New Dominion Tank Police.
• Mizusawa Jun (Sakakibara Miyuki) appeared in Android Ana Maico 2010.
• Yajima Akiko (Maijima Karen) played the title role in Idol Densetu Eriko, Lemon in VS Knight Ramune & 40 Fresh, Takami in Geobreeders, Dorothy in The Big O, Pino in Ergo Proxy, Kogitsune in Natsume Yuujinchou, Mipple in the Futari wa Precure franchise, and the title roles in Shin-men and of course Crayon Shin-chan. She played Lesser Panda (Red Panda) in Shirokuma Cafe and Hikari in Kakyuusei (1995), both Orphan releases.
• Murai Kazusa (Narusawa Yui) had featured roles in Boys Be..., Devil Lady, and the Hamtaro franchise.
• Yamada Miho (Narusawa Misako) played Melmo's mother in Fushigi na Melmo, Atosuryua in the Banner of the Stars series, and Minami in Comic Party. She appeared in Sanctuary, an Orphan release.
• Kitou Satoko (Minamikawa Youko) appeared in Attacker You!, Vampire Hunter D, and Tobira o Akete, an Orphan release.
• Kikuchi Izumi (Yasuda Azumi) appeared in Goal FH and Mirmo Zibang!
• Sekai Tatsuya (Yousuke) had small parts in various series and movies.
• Koyama Kimiko (Affection Points Teller) played Oushi in the Lime-Iro Ryuukitan series, Uzuki in the Happy Lesson franchise, Hifumi in Koi Koi 7, Fuuka in the Mahou Sensei Negima franchise, Komoe in the Toaru no Index franchise, and Wakaba in Yume Tsukai, an Orphan release.

The director, Sakai Akio, mostly did character design and animation.

The original Sotsugyousei script bristles with names from Orphan's past. ElyasRay translated. laalg checked the scripts. I timed, edited, and typeset. CP and Saji did QC. The raws came off the Internet. For this release, Yogicat and I retimed the scripts. I updated the styling and typesetting. Rezo encoded from ProxyMan's R2Js and did a release check. The DVDs are a mess of blended frames and bleeds, but this encode looks cleaner than the original DivX5 raws.

So here's an improved version of Sotsugyousei, but the improvement is relative to an atrocious-looking original. The show is still very hackneyed, but it has lots of eye candy and no sex, if that's the mix you're looking for. 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.