Tanjou: Debut

Tanjou: Debut (Birth: Debut) is a two-episode shoujo OVA from 1994. It was originally subbed in the VHS-fansub era. Its two stories revolve around a quartet of high school girls - Ito Aki, Tanaka Kumi, Fujimura Saori, Aida Sachiko - but appear to exist in alternate realities. In the first, Aki falls in love, and Saori is her rival; in the second, the first three are fast friends, and Sachiko is MIA. There's a hint, in the opening credits, that the girls are acting in TV dramas, but this isn't followed through. What is going on?

Fortunately, Japanese Wikipedia explains all. Tanjou: Debut is a derivative of a training simulation game about three wannabe idols (Aki, Kumi, and Saori). 

The player's objective is to guide all three to successful careers, either as individual artists or as a unit, in the face of multiple rivals. The OVAs add Sachiko as a fourth member of the team. 

In the OVAs, the four are appearing as themselves in independent teleplays, the first about teenage romance, the second about childhood loss. In the first, only Aki and Kumi are friends, and the others appear in the course of the story. The tone is mostly comedic, with a touch of heartbreak. 

In other words, it's okay. In the second, Aki, Kumi, and Saori are friends, and Sachiko, it turns out, died in childhood. The tone is melancholic, with a redeeming (and unbelievable) supernatural conclusion

It is breathtakingly superficial.

The principal voice actors have all appeared in other Orphan releases:

• Tominaga Miina (Ito Aki) played Ritsu in Fruits Basket (2002), Persia in Magical Fairy Persia, Rollpanna in the Anpanman franchise, and Misaki in Tsuritama. She also played Muuma in Bavi Stock, Kamiya in Tokimeki Tonight, Hikaru in Chameleon, Karen in Yuukan Club, Cresson in Star Dust, Eri in Karuizawa Syndrome, and Kaguya-hime in Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko, all Orphan releases. 
• Kanai Mika (Tanaka Kumi) played the title role in the Licca-chan franchise, Normad in the Galaxy Angel franchise, Histoire in the Hyperdimension Neptunia franchise, Melonpanda in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, Misato in Nana, Lotte in Starship Girl Yamamoto Yohko, Kanna in Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, and Hime in Bakuen Campus Guardress. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Shiina Hekiru (Aida Sachiko) played Asami in Elementalors, Rurubell in Megami Paradise, and Elysse in Plastic Little, all 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. 
• Kasahara Hiroko (Fujimura Saori) played the title roles in Armitage III and Mahou Angel Sweet Mint, Maron in Assemble Insert, Nanako in Dear Brother, Ami in DNA^2, Fuu in the Rayearth properties, Tama in the Tama and Friends franchise, and Hinako in Ultimate Teacher. She starred as Seara in Baby Love and played Princess Shurain in Hayou no Tsurugi, both Orphan releases.
  

The first episode also includes some additional seiyuu:

• Amano Yuri (teacher) played the title role in The Legend of Snow White, Julia in Daddy Long Legs, Kiyone in the Tenchi Muyo franchise, and Moemi in Video Girl Ai. She appeared as Lady Freeze in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Catherine in Okama Hakusho, Kuzunoha in Akuemon, Angie in Condition Green, Elthena in Eien no Filena, Kitagawa in Nozomi Witches, Noriko in Singles, and Yuko in St. Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, as well as multiple roles in Fukuyama Gekijou and Gakkou no Yuurei, volume 1, all Orphan releases.
• Miyamoto Mitsuru (Mike) starred as Ibuki in Hidamari no Ki, an Orphan release. He also played Chihiro in After the Rain, Maiza in Baccano!, Roger Smith in The Big O, Steven Starphase in Kekkai Sensen, Ougai Mori in the Bungo Stray Dogs franchise, Hideo Tachibana in H2, Mizoguchi in Kaiju No. 8, Keiichi Nakagawa in the Kochikame franchise, Shirakawa in Piano, Itsuki in RahXephon, and Hubb in Wolf's Rain.
• Kazama Nobuhiko (manager) appeared in many shows, including Shinken Densetsu Tight Road and Spectral Force.

The director, Mochizuki Tomomi, has directed many other shows, including Ranma 1/2, Dirty Pair Flash, Fancy Lala, Princess Nine, Seraphim Call, and Porphy no Nagai Tabi.

I don't remember, or have suppressed, how this project got started. Perhaps I wasn't impressed by the existing subs. In any case, an anonymous friend found the R2J DVD ISOs and encoded new raws. I shifted the existing Mushin subs (themselves transcribed from an unknown VCD or even VHS tape) into place. Perevodildo translation checked. Paul Geromini edited. I fine-timed and typeset. ImAWasteOfHair and I QCed. IaWoH (to abbreviate) put me on the right track about the show by pointing out that the "original work" was credited to the same games company, Headroom, which was also behind Sotsugyou: Graduation and Sailor Victory, two shows where the same characters were used in radically different scenarios.

Tanjou: Debut is middling shoujo, but this version is an improvement over the previous ones. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.