Zetsuai 1989 v2

Redoing Zetsuai 1989 was not in this year's plan (or any year's, for that matter), but when WOWmd did a new Domesday Duplicator rip of the laserdisc, that set the ball rolling. A few timing adjustments to the old script, new typesetting, some quick QCs, and here we are: a new, visually improved version of the BL classic. 

Zetsuai is a compound word, meaning "desperate love," although the author preferred "everlasting love" as the translation. It tells the story of two teenagers, womanizing superstar singer Nanjou Kouji and soccer prodigy Izumi Takuto.

Both come from damaged backgrounds. Nanjou is a running away from a loveless but highly successful family; he was a gang leader before he became a singer. Izumi is hiding from early abuse; his mother killed his father and attacked him as well.

The two meet by coincidence (or fate). After a night of barhopping, Nanjou passes out in the street.

Izumi takes him home and nurses him back to health. Nanjou realizes that Izumi is the soccer player he saw and fell in love with six years earlier, although at the time, Nanjou thought the player was a girl. Nanjou becomes obsessed with Izumi and inserts himself into Izumi's life, eventually confessing his love. 

All this is accompanied by numerous melodramatic incidents, including life-threatening illnesses, near-fatal accidents, and stabbings and self-mutilation. (To be fair, both protagonists are sixteen, when wild emotional swings and hormone-driven desperation are the norm.) Despite the operatic tone, the fat lady never sings; that had to wait for the sequel, Bronze: Zetsuai ~ Since 1989.

The voice cast is quite famous:

• Hayami Shou (Nanjou) played Ichijo Hajime in Princess Army, Kushinige Hodaka in Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru, an angel in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, Charles in Ai to Ken no Camelot, Kuya in Genji, Part 1, Aju in Hayou no Tsurugi, Exper Kain in Exper Zenon, Iason's friend Raoul in Ai no Kusabi, Hojo in Sanctuary, Pat Leivy in Starship Troopers, Junoichi in Blazing Transfer Student, Shargan in Gude Crest, and Seichii in Mikoneko Holmes. All of these are Orphan releases.
• Koyasu Takehito (Izumi) played Doujima Gin in Shokugeki no Souma, Thirteen in Grimoire of Zero, Dio in Jojo's Bizarre Adventures, the title role in Master of Mosquitron, and Fool in Elegant Yokai Apartment Life. He also appeared in Yamato 2520 and Yuukan Club, both Orphan releases.
• Yamaguchi Kappei (Shibuya, Nanjou's "minder") played the title roles in the Detective Conan, Ranma 1/2, and Inuyasha franchises, Usopp in the One Piece franchise, Sakuma Ryuichi in Gravitation, and the title roles in the Arslan no Senki OVA series and Mouse, among many others. He played Billia in Tottoi, Matsuoka Eiji in Chameleon, Nichol Hawking in Plastic Little, and Tooru in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Nishihara Kumiko (Serika, Izumi's sister) played Iris in the Sakura Wars franchise and Renko in Kujibiki Unbalance, both OVAs and TV series. She played Fhalei Rue in Ryokunohara Labyrinth and appeared in Kakyuusei (1995), Kosuke-sama Rikimaru-sama: Konpeitou no Ryuu, Zetsuai 1989, Dragon Fist, Gakuu no Yuurei, Tenkousei, and Blazing Transfer Student, all Orphan releases.
• Munakata Tomoko (Izumi's mother) played maternal figures in Bremen 4, Yamatarou Comes Back, and Hashire! Shiroi Ookami, all Orphan releases. 
  

The score, including the instrumental opening and ending, is by the peerless Kenji Kawai and is very effective. I don't think the songs are as good; they're very similar to the ones in Cathexis.

For the original release, Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions provided the Lupin Gang Anime subtitle scripts, which formed the basis for Orphan's script. Yogicat transcribed the aarinfantasy release, and a few lines from that script were interpolated in the LGA script. Sunachan translation-checked the dialog and the songs and made extensive changes. M74 timed. I edited and typeset. Calyrica and M74 did QC. For this release, WOWmd provided a new raw. I shifted the original script, tweaked the timing, and redid the typesetting. ImAWasteOfHair and Perevodildo QCed.

Perevodildo pointed out that the script uses double vowels to represent long vowels (Nanjou Kouji rather than Nanjo Koji), even though English signs in the show use the latter spelling. Orphan is inconsistent about transcribing long vowels; individual shows follow their translator's preference. For Zetsuai, I didn't want to make any major changes to the script, and I've let sleeping double vowels lie.

So here's a revised version of Zetsuai 1989, featuring a new encode that wrings every last detail possible out of an analog laserdisc source. You can get this release from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.