Dallos (Blu-ray)

It's been more than ten years since Orphan first released Dallos. After release posts for the DVD version, the HD web version, and the laserdisc summary version, is there anything new left to say about this Blu-ray version? Probably not. But I have to say something. So I'll record some of my impressions after watching this show for the fourth, or eighth, or tenth time.

• Alex Riger has to be the dumbest police chief in the known universe. Did he get his training at the Bull Connor School of Pointless Brutality? As his subordinates point out, increasing repression will just draw more settlers to the guerillas' side. That's just what happens. And by the end of the show, Riger has learned exactly nothing, even after almost being fragged by his own side, except that he's not competent to be a military commander.
  
• Melinda Hearst is not a character, she's (in Hitchockian terms) the Macguffin. She even looks like a Hitchcock heroine - blonde, cool, and aloof.
• Shun's journey from apolitical youth to committed revolutionary is supposed to be the core of the plot, but he's colorless.and not very compelling. His wannabe squeeze, Rachel, is a better character, more alive and passionate. Shun manages to miss or ignore that passion, among many other things.
• The music is as bombastic and annoying as ever. Nanba Hiroyuki has done much better scores, including Space Dandy.
• The concluding sequence, when Shun takes his dying grandfather to the light side of the Moon to see Earth for one final time, is unexpectedly moving. The concluding shot of the Earth hanging in the black sky, overlooking the sea of graves, is iconic.

• Dallos remains an uneasy mixture of hard sci-fi, societal allegory, and character drama. The tensions in the show - between action and story - can be traced to the presence of two directors on the show: Mamoru Ishii, at the time a wunderkind in his early 30s; and Toriumi Hisayuki, an industry veteran and Mamoru's mentor. (Toriumi is usually only credited with the story, but the interview in the Discotek release makes it clear that he was co-director.) They had different ideas about what was interesting and what was practical, and the tensions show. 

So I like the show, but I really don't want to work on it again..

A few notes on this release:

• First, I again used Orphan's fansubs, not the R1 DVD release subtitles. If you want the DVD subtitles, then buy Discotek's excellent release. It's very affordable, and it includes a highly informative interview with Mamoru Ishii and others who worked on the original show.
• Second, the subs have hardly been touched. I've put in a lot more line breaks, because of problems with different subtitle renderers, and added a few exclamation marks, but that's it. The subs have been edited and checked three times already. Further changes are unnecessary.
• Third, the release is 720p rather than 1080p. Both the encoder and I agree that the image quality isn't good enough for a 1080p release. If you think otherwise, feel free to encode your own version. These subs should be frame exact for any competent Blu-ray encode.

The voice cast includes:

• Sasaki Hideki (Shun) played the lead role in Gauche the Cellist; otherwise, his resume is very short.
• Ikeda Shuichi (Riger) played Char in Mobile Suit Gundam, Gilbert Durandal in Gundam Seed, Ulrich Kessler in Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Azuma in Starship Troopers, an Orphan release.
• Genda Tesshou (Dog McCoy) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman,  and "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors. He also played Miyoshi Harumi Nyudo in Sanada 10, Akauma in Fire Tripper, Jin Kiryu in Blue Sonnet, Zigong in Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den, Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, Jim Hyatt in AWOL Compression Remix, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate and Meisou-ou Border, Dog McCoy in Dallos, Hebopi in Wild 7, rebel leader Oosukune in Izumo, and Rikiishi's trainer Kuroki and Kirishima in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
• Sakakibara Yoshiko (Melinda) played Sybil in Black Magic M-66, Sylvia Stingray in Bubblegum Crisis/Crash, Sir Integra Hellsing in both versions of Hellsing, Paula in Condition Green, Kaoru in Karuizawa Syndrome, and Mimau in Greed. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Ukai Rumiko (Rachel) played Fraw Bow in the original Mobile Suit Gundam, Rose in the Godmars franchise, and Kiyomi in Miyuki. She played Nohara Maki in Call Me Tonight and Michelle in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, and she appeared in What's Michael? 2, all Orphan releases.
• Suzuki Mizuho (Shun's grandfather) played Dr. Mo in A Penguin's Memories, an Orphan release.
• Tanaka Hideyuki (Max, Dog's second-in-command) played Terryman in the Kinnikuman franchise and Rayearth in Magic Knight Rayearth. He also played Unno Rokurou in Sanada 10, Harmer in Al Caral no Isan, Sammy in Bavi Stock, Sawamura in Nozomi Witches, Ronron in Greed, Aoto in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, Katze in Ai no Kusabi, Minowa Takanari in Karuizawa Syndrome, Kazuhiko, Chiko's father in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, and Ma Su, Fengji's lover, in Sangokushi movie 3, all Orphan releases.

The credited director, Mamoru Oshii, rose to prominence with Urusei Yatsura and went on to direct many famous anime works, including Ghost in the Shell, Gosenzosama Banbanzai, and Sky Crawlers.

The project flow was straightforward. The subs from the HD web release required a one-frame timing tweak for the new encode, plus new typesetting for the color differences. I did the timing shift and typesetting. Topper3000 did a release check. bananadoyouwanna encoded from a Japanese Blu-ray. The encode includes FLAC audio. The pilot film subs came from the laserdisc summary special and required no more than a linear shift and the 720p styles.

So here is Orphan's last word (or so I sincerely hope) on Dallos.The new encode looks great, and the FLAC audio reproduces every thump, blast, and musical crescendo. You can get this version from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.