Heart Cocktail Vol 1

Heart Cocktail, based on a manga series by Watase Seizou, has been on my wish list for a long time. Our media maven in Japan acquired the six laserdisc volumes through several years of patient surveillance of Japanese second-hand media websites. He then ripped them on a Domesday Duplicator and encoded them. Unfortunately, no translator could be found, and they were released as raws two years ago. Then, enter Discord.

As readers may remember, a year or two ago, younger team members dragged me, if not exactly kicking and screaming, then grumbling and rumbling, over to Discord, because they regarded IRC as ancient history (it is). I found Discord, like most social media, to be a significant time-waster. However, I made new contacts in the fansubbing world, particularly with other back-catalog groups. The result of those contacts in this project, a subtitled version of Heart Cocktail, at long last.

The principal organizers of this project are Darkonius (of DarkWispers), MartyMcflies (of LonelyChaser fansubs), and me (from Orphan). I met Darkonius because of his interest in World Masterpiece Theater projects; I provided the C1 script archives for Perrine and Peter Pan. I met Marty through a shared interest in anime music; he has found and uploaded the music from numerous obscure shows, including some of Orphan's. We all liked Heart Cocktail and wanted to see if subbed. Marty got the ball rolling by finding the manga raws and getting them scanned. Darkonius translated the show, using the manga as a reference, as well as some prior partial scripts. Marty arranged for Yume to translation check the script. I then put the script through Orphan's normal back-end process: fine timing (ninjacloud), editing and typesetting (me), and QC (Rezo and Moelancholy). We'll be releasing one volume at a time.

Heart Cocktail is difficult to describe. It's a series of vignettes, three minutes or less, each telling a short story of love found or lost, or sometimes both. The characters are mostly unnamed: a man, a woman, and the people in their environments. (One exception is a cafe owner named Jessy, who appears several times.) The animation is simple, with many still frames. There's a lot of music, most of it upbeat and jazzy. Each vignette is followed by some live-action footage that comments on the settings or the props of the previous story. The live-action sequences have sound but no music, so they act as breaks between stories.

Some of the voice actors include:

• Shimazu Saeko (woman) 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, Chocola in Don Dracula, Sanae in Izumi (1991), Kyouko in Hiatari Ryouko, and Scanny in Techno Police 21C, all Orphan releases. 
• Shiozawa Kaneto (man) played the title role in To-Y, Orochimaru in Tengai Makyou, Shin in Hiatari Ryoukou, Iason in Ai no Kusabi, Rock Holmes in Fumoon, Shiina in Chameleon, Sanzou in I am Son Goku, Kouhei in Karuizawa Syndrome, and Kurahashi Eiji in Nine, all Orphan releases. He also played Joe in Tokimeki Tonight, Yoshio in Miyuki, Takeshi in Touch, D in Vampire Hunter D, Narsus in the Arslan Senki OVA, Rosario in Dragon Half, and Abriel senior in Crest of the Stars.

The voice credits in the show and in anime databases don't agree, so it's difficult to know who actually voiced some of the characters. One of the directors, Morita Hiromitsu, mostly did storyboards and animation, but he also directed Oyayubi Hime Monogatari, Kobo-chan, and World of Narue. The other credited director, Shinpei Wada, is not in the public anime databases. The music is by Matsuoka Naoya, a jazz pianist. There are also a few well-known songs, such as instrumental versions of California Dreamin', Donna the Prima Donna, and Let It Be.

In addition to the named staff, I want to thank some other contributors. 6/10 and Makoto-kun both provided initial or partial translations to the project. VigorousJammer scanned the manga volumes that provided the underlying references for the translation. Marty and I both underwrote the project financially, including media acquisition and other services. This is very much a team effort, rooted in the Discord community. I guess social media isn't so bad, after all.

Heart Cocktail is very different from today's plot-driven, slam-bang anime. It's a mood, an atmosphere, a lingering aftertaste. I really like it, and I hope you will too. You can get this volume from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha (yeah, I'm still loyal to IRC) in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.