Bride of Deimos

Deimos no Hanayome: Ran no Kumikyoku (Bride of Deimos: The Orchid Suite) is a 1988 one-shot OVA. It's based on an incomplete 17-volume manga by Ashiba Yuuho and Ikeda Itsuko; even a seven-volume sequel, Bride of Deimos: The Final Chapter, fails to complete the story. The OVA is based on a single chapter. It tells a standalone story, sort of, and is basically a promotion for the manga series. It was only released on VHS tape. BlueFixer (aka Iri) subbed the show more than a decade ago. Orphan is releasing a new version based on an updated encode. 

The framing story is that Deimos, Lord of the Underworld, and his twin sister Venus have had an incestuous love affair. She has been punished by being bound and slowly left to rot. (He's not punished at all, of course.) 

Deimos seeks a bride to provide a fresh body for his love and selects Ifu Minako, a beautiful high school student. Not surprisingly, she wants nothing to do with a devil. More surprisingly, Deimos doesn't simply kidnap her by brute force. Instead, he pursues her through the world as she gets involved with various incidents, most of them creepy, unseemly, or both.

In the OVA, Minako becomes involved in the world of competitive orchid cultivation. The dominant force is Ooba Touko, a mysterious woman who never appears at competitions in person. When Minako's orchid-growing friend, Hisamatsu, states his intention of visiting Touko and then disappears, Minako ventures into Ooba's forbidding mansion. There she meets and is attracted to Touko's brother, Kaname, who ushers her out and warns her never to return. 

Despite that, she returns with a police officer, who also disappears. Despite further warning, she returns a third time and ends up discovering the secret of Touko's mysterious fertilizer mixture. 

No points for guessing what the chief ingredient is.

The voice cast includes many famous seiyuu from the 80s and 90s, all of whom have appeared in other Orphan releases:

• Shou Mayumi (Minako) played Ayako in Kimami ni Idol, Masao in Aoki Honoo, Gannet in Hoshi Neko Full House, Peggy in A Penguin's Memories, Yuko Kurita in the Oishinbo movie-length specials, and Baby Boar in Katte ni Shirokuma, all Orphan releases.
• Shiozawa Kaneto (Kaname) 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 Tezuka Osamu Story: I am Son Goku, Kouhei in Karuizawa Syndrome, Amakusa Jiro in One Pound Gospel, 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.
• Mutou Reiko (Touko) played the title role in Marvelous Melmo and Uran (Astro Girl) in the original Astro Boy. She played Countess Polignac in Rose of Versailles, Akiko in Kasei Yakyoku, and Queen Tasuka in One Million Year Trip: Bander Book. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Nozawa Nachi (Deimos) played Lupin in the original Lupin III pilot film, Axel von Fersen in The Rose of Versailles, Cobra in the Space Cobra franchise, and Deimos in Bride of Deimos. He also played Ladin in Tobira o Akira, Taka in Kasei Yakyoku, Black Jack in Marine Express and Bremen 4, Yano Shougorou in Sugata Sanshiro, and Takeru in Izumo (1991), all Orphan releases.
• Fujita Toshiko (Venus) played the title roles in the Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken properties, Fujiko Fujio no Kiteretsu Daihyakka, Ikkyuu-san, Tomcat's Big Adventure, and Ganbare Genki. She starred as Rui in Cat's Eye and Ryoko in Goku: Midnight Eye. She also played the bunny in Heart Cocktail, Kiro as a boy in Nayuta, Lulu in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Takao in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, Cyborg 1019 in Oz, Gordon in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki, Sharaku in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, and Princess Iron Fan in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Goku, all Orphan releases.
• Kusao Takeshi (Hisamatsu) played the lead roles in Junk Boy and Fujilog, the title role in Babel II, Trunks in the Dragon Ball Z franchise, Sakuragi in Slam Dunk, Lamune in NG Knight Lamume & 40, the teenaged Tezuka Osamu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, Daichi in Singles, the fast talking orca in Sensou Douwa: Chiisai Sensuikau ni Koi wo Shita Dekasugira Kojira no Hanashi, Leedyle/Ranka in Hayou no Tsurugi, and the icy director Kurume Kenjirou in Smash Hit!; the last five are Orphan releases.
• Masuoka Hiroshi (Imamura, an ill-fated detective) is best known for Minami's father in the Touch franchise, Masuo in Sazae-san, Jam Ojisan in the Anpanman franchise, and Cyborg 005 in the early Cyborg 009 properties. He also played Sa Gojou in Tezuka Osamu Story: I am Son Goku and Hirokawa in Meisou-ou Border, and he appeared in Cat-Eyed Boy, Hidamari no Ki, Nine, Tokimeki Tonight, and Bremen 4, all Orphan releases.
• Shimada Bin (Masao, an ill-fated servant) played Ken Nakajima in the You're Under Arrest franchise and numerous other roles, as well as played Konaki Jijii and Wally Wall in the most recent version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. He appeared in Okama Report, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Fukyukayama Gekijou, Tomoe's Run, Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, and Sangokushi, all Orphan releases.
• Aono Takeshi (the Ooba patriarch) played Nurarihyon in every incarnation of GeGeGe no Kitarou through 2007, Billy Bones in Treasure Island, Bookman in D.grayman, Dracule in One Piece, Katsuhiko Masaki in the Tenchi Muyo franchise, and Shiro Sanada in the Yamato franchise. He also appeared in A Penguin's Memories, Ginga Tansa 2100: Border-nen, Fire Emblem, Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Hashire Melos!, the three Sangokushi movies (as Guan Yu), Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, and Rain Boy, all Orphan releases.
  

The director, Rintarou, directed many early anime classics, including Muumin, Captain Harlock, Metropolis, the Hi no Tori movies, the Galaxy Express 999 movie, and several Orphan releases (Makoto-chan the movie and Tezuka Osamu Story: I am Son Goku). 

WOWmd kicked the project off by ripping a VHS tape of Bride of Deimos on his Domesday Duplicator setup, at a fan's request. Rezo encoded. Starting with BlueFixer's (Iri's) original script, Iri rechecked the translation, Eternal_Blizzard retimed to the new raw, I edited and typeset, and Nemesis and ImAWasteOfHair QCed. With a VHS source, the video can never be really outstanding, and the audio sync took some twiddling, but this looks better than previous releases and allowed for some motion-tracked typesetting.

Bride of Deimos isn't great, but it's not terrible either. Relegating it to rot (like Venus) on VHS is a waste. The visuals are interesting, as are Rintarou's directorial flourishes. 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.