Seirei Tsukai (Elementalors)

Seirei Tsukai (Elementalors), not to be confused with Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance, is a one-shot OVA based on a manga by Okazaki Takeshi, who also wrote Explorer Woman Ray. Released in 1995, it was one of the first OVAs to be fansubbed, with the first version released in the VHS-fansub era. It has some resemblance to 1994's Bakuen Campus Guardress - epic battles among super-powered heroes and villains to determine the fate of the world - but Bakuen was a parody, while Seirei Tsukai takes itself completely seriously.

The story opens with a beautiful (and fetchingly unclothed) blonde woman, apparently some sort of ice spirit, getting subdued and imprisoned.

It then jump cuts to the present, where our depressed hero, Kagura, is suffering through the funeral of his older stepsister, Kana, who has killed herself after her husband dies in a car accident. Their relatives and friends blame Kagura for surviving the accident, and only his wannabe squeeze, Asami, stands by him. 

Then suddenly, more super-powered beings appear and restart the War of the Holy Sword. They attack each other with nonsensically named special moves and unleash earthquakes and floods that destroy civilization.

Turns out that the super-beings are wielding the power of the elements - Earth, Wind, Fire, Water, Wood, Steel, etc - and hence are known as Elementalors. Lord Shiki, a water Elementalor, is determined to free his daughter Shiohisa (the woman from the prologue), even if this means upsetting the balance of the elements and destroying the world. To that end, he kidnaps Asami to be his Deepa (assistant? channel?) and almost slices Kagura in half.

Kagura must awaken to his own dormant Elementalor powers, heal himself, rescue Asami, and, incidentally, keep what's left of the world from blowing up.

You following this? It's preposterous. The Elementalors destroy most the of the world and humanity, without the show batting an eyelash. Asami is vital to Lord Shiki, and Kagura has staggering unknown powers as the Ether Elementalor, because the plot requires it. Lots of Elementalors (Tsuyuha, Koimura, Sai, Shizuku), are introduced and given a brief moment to posture or fight, without much explanation. (I think they're opposing members of the Earth and Water Clans.) Still, it has lots of epic battle scenes and shiny explosions. I guess that's the point.

The voice cast includes many well-known seiyuu from the 1990s, all of whom, incidentally, have appeared in other Orphan releases:

• Shiina Hekiru (Asami) played Rurubell in Megami Paradise and Elysse in Plastic Little, both Orphan releases, as well as Hikaru in the Rayearth series, Fam in Hikyou Tanken Fam & Ihrlie, Rockman in the Rockman Hoshi ni Negai wo OVAs,  Alpha in the Yokohama Country Cafe OVAs,and Nene (the protagonist's perverted younger sister) in the Seitokai Yakuindomo franchise.
• Midorikawa Hikaru (Kagura) played the title role in Sakamoto desu ga?, Softon in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, Heero Yuy in Gundam Wing, Tamahome in Fushigi Yuugi, Shi Seiran in Saiunkoku Monogatari, Kaede Rukawa in Slam Dunk, Zelgadis Greywords in Slayers, Gen in the OVA version of MAPS, and Ryuu Hou in s-CRY-ed. He played Muraoka in B.B. Fish and Mars in Fire Emblem, both Orphan releases
• Inoue Kazuhiko (Shiki) starred as Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo, Yuki Eiri in Gravitation, the title role in Cyborg 009, Gorou in Moonlight Mile, Tachibana no Tomomasa in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de: Hachyoushou, and my favorite role, the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou franchise. He also played Leslie Madoff in Michite Kuru Toki no Mukou ni, Arthur in Ai to Ken no Camelot, Ando Shiro in Dioxin no Natsu, Saiki Haruka in Tobira o Akete, Iori in Tomoe's Run!, Kanuma Hayate in Akai Hayate, Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi TV specials, Ayako in Lunn Flies into the Wind, Nakatsugawa in Boyfriend, Jinpachi Nezu in Sanada 10, Katsuhiko in Hiatari Ryouko, Minamoto no Yoshitsune in Genji, Part 1, Hisui in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, and Kajiwara Kagetoki in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3, all Orphan releases.
• Sakuma Rei (Tsuyuha) played Batako in Soreike! Appanman, April in Sol Bianca, Peorth in Ah! My Goddess, the title role in Aika, Shampoo in Ranma 1/2, Vena in Dragon Half, Kitty White in Hello Kitty, and Mii in Muumin. She also played Lady Aoi in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Yukihime in Tengai Makyou, Naru in Blue Sonnet, Carmencita in Starship Troopers, and Belga the pirate in Cosmic Fantasy, all Orphan releases.
• Matsumoto Yasunori (Sai) starred as Ushiro in Ushiro no Hyakutaro, Akira in Mellow, Johnny in Starship Troopers, Kaname in Singles, and Tooru in Every Day Is Sunday, all Orphan releases. He was in numerous OVAs in the 1990s, including Houkago no Tinker Bell, Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Seikimatsu: Humane Society, Fukuyama Gekijou: Natsu no Himitsu, and Al Caral no Isan, also Orphan releases. Among his other notable roles were Wataru Akiyama in Initial D, Jean Havoc in Fullmetal Alchemist, Gourry Gabriev in Slayers, Ryou in Sonic Soldier Borgman, and a personal favorite, Dick Saucer in Dragon Half.
• Yamazaki Wakana (Chiaki, Sai's Deepa) played Mao Lan in Fighting Beauty Wulong and Mouri Ran in the Detective Conan franchise. She played Sonya in Dragon Slayer Eiyuu Densetsu and appeared in Chameleon, both Orphan releases.
• Shibata Hidekatsu (Koimura, the Steel Elementalor) played Baron Ashura in Mazinger Z, Kenzou Kabuto in Great Mazinger, King Bradley in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist, and the Third Hokage in Naruto. He played Sun Quon in the Sangokushi movies, the hero's father in Dragon Fist, Funakoshi in Ushiro no Hyakutaro, and the voice of God in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, all Orphan releases.
• Minaguchi Yuuko (Shiohisa) is best known for Yawara!, her breakout and defining role. She starred in numerous other shows, including Bosco Adventure, Dragon Ball Z and GT, Sailor Moon, One Piece, and Alexander (Reign: The Conqueror). She played Kii in Greed, Yumi in Blue Sonnet, Frieda in Apfelland Monogatari, Saki in Singles, Hoshimi in Maps, and Felicia in Oz, all Orphan releases.
• Orikasa Ai (Hisae) played the title role in Romeo no Aoi Sora, Fee in Planetes, Seguchi Touma (the record company president) in Gravitation, Quatre in Gundam Wing, and Ryouko in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She also played Hibino Aya in Asatte Dance, Enrico in Dioxin no Natsu, Carrie in Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Sara in Eien no Filena, Toryune in Al Caral no Isan, Hanamura in Houkago no Tinker Bell, Katchan's mother in Tako ni Natta Okaasan, the narrator in Boku no Boukuugou, Made, Ayuuru's sister, in B.B. Fish, and young Mars in Fire Emblem, all Orphan releases.
• Iwao Junko (Kana) starred as Mima in Perfect Blue. She played the title role in Ayashi no Ceres and Key the Metal Idol, Jun in Devilman Lady, Tomoyo in Card Captor Sakura, and Mayuka in Tenchi Muyou: Manatsu no Eve. She appeared in Kakyuusei (1995) and Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, both Orphan releases.
  
• Okiayu Ryoutarou (Shizuku) starred as the title roles in Gambler Densetsu Tetsuya, Toriko, and Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun, Mitsui Hisashi in Slam Dunk, Matsura Yuu in Marmalade Boy, Jinnai Katsuhiko in the El-Hazard franchise, Nueno Meisuke in the Hell Teacher Nube series,Samejima Ranmaru in Kizuna, Souma Shigure in Fruits Basket (2003), Berserker in Fate/Zero, Hideyoshi in Sengoku Basara, and Atsushi in Recorder to Ransel. He also played depressed student Yamazaki in Mellow, Takao-san in Let's Nupu Nupu, Abel in Fire Emblem, Gion in Okane ga nai!, Akram in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2 (a repeat of his role in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de: Hachyoushou), and Hakuryuu in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3, all Orphan releases.

The director, Akiyama Katsuhito, directed many other shows, including Bubblegum Crisis, Sol Bianca, Bastard, Monkey Turn, and Inozuma Eleven.

By now, it should be clear that I didn't much care for Seirei Tsukai, so you might reasonably ask why Orphan did the show. The answer is, basically, it seemed like a good idea at the time. The cover art was striking, all the readily available versions were based on VHS tapes, and the laserdisc was inexpensive. I bought the disc, an anonymous friend ripped it on the Domesday Duplicator and encoded it, and then... nothing happened. Eventually, Orphan released the show as a raw. Perevodildo found it and translation checked the existing fansubs. ninjacloud fine-timed. I edited and typeset. ImAWasteOfHair and Rezo QCed.I should mention that the "special attack" names make no sense, so Perevodildo simply left the originals alone. And I don't care; do you?

So here's Seirei Tsukai, in a new, shinier version. It has some (female) nudity; it's NSFW. 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.