Condensed Anime Take 2 - Hashire Melos 1979

Just like Cello Hiki no Gauche, Hashire Melos is a beloved Japanese story. Written in 1940 by Dazai Osamu, known for the novels No Longer Human and The Setting Sun, Hashire Melos has been brought to the screen many times, both as a live-action drama and as an anime:

• 1955, an NHK TV drama starring Toshiro Mifune.
• 1979, TV Asahi, as the 19th episode of their animated TV series Heart of the Red Bird.
• 1981, Fuji TV, as an animated Nissei Family Special. The only copies of this found to date are the English dubs, subtitled "An Olympic Fable."
• 1992, Toei, an animated movie, subtitled by Orphan.
• 2006, NHK, a televised reading as part of their Terrebi Picture Book series.
• 2009, Nippon TV, as part of the animated Aoi Bungaku series.
• 2010, NHK, as part of the Dazai Osamu Short Story Collection.

In addition to the 1992 movie, I also worked on the 2009 series for Monokage.

This seems like plenty, but there's at least one more: another 1979 animated version, about the length of a TV episode, but totally different from the Heart of the Red Bird episode. (I have raws for both.) This second 1979 version is not included in the JP Wikipedia article on the story and only shows up with bare statistics on AniDB and MAL. Orphan is today releasing the first English subtitled version of this rarity.

The story is so familiar that it's not worth repeating. This version retains all the essential points - Melos's righteous and disastrous intervention against the king's tyranny; his plea for a short reprieve to attend his sister's wedding, with his friend pledged as a substitute victim; 

his troubles and doubts on the way back; his nick of time return to save his friend; and the king's change of heart in the face of such trust among men - but it is really condensed and simplified for younger viewers. For example, Melos' friend is simply named Friend, rather than Selentius, as in the story and all other versions. I felt the 1992 movie, at 102 minutes, was padded; but this version is Cliff Notes. It's very bland, like a children's version of Aesop's Fables.

The raw was shorn of its introductory and ending credits, so there is no information on the cast or the crew, beyond what's in AniDB. The director was Uchida Seiji, mostly known for photography. The production house was Gakken, which also created the highly condensed 1998 version of Cello Hiki no Gauche. They offer a DVD version at exorbitant prices to school and libraries only.

Once again, Perevodildo translated and timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Paul Geromini QCed. The raw, encoded by Omar Hidan from the now defunct streaming service GYAO!, is probably a VHS tape. 

I don't think Hashire Melos 1979 has much to recommend it. Watch the 1992 movie, or the Aoi Bungaku version, or just read the story. But if you want this version for your collection, you can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.