Hoshizora no Violin

Orphan is really pleased to present the first English-subtitled version of the 1994 movie Hoshizora no Violin (Starry Sky Violin). Based on a children's story by Wada Noboru, author of Kimu no Juujika, the movie has languished on VHS tape, never receiving a digital or even a laserdisc release. It is another fine addition to Orphan's collection of anime set in World War II.

Hoshizora no Violin follows the life of Ozawa Kikuji, a boy in rural Japan, seemingly fated to taking over the family form.

In school, his teacher, Otsuki, encourages Kikuji to begin experimenting with making violins.

His initial creations look good but lack the proper resonance and depth of sound. 

His teacher gives him a book about Antonio Stradivari, the legendary Italian luthier (violin maker). The book teaches Kikuji about techniques and the importance of the proper wood for various parts. 

He starts roaming the mountains, looking for good trees. There, he meets a woodsman named Abe and his daughter Kayo.

With Kayo's help, Kikuji makes more and better violins and pursues his craft. But then, he receives a conscription notice and must join the Japanese Army.

Kikuji has the good fortune to be assigned to the medical corps of the 9th division, which at this point int he war was garrisoning the quiet backwater of Mudanjiang, in eastern Manchuria, close to the Russian border. There, he and his colleague Sugano serve as orderlies to Lieutenant Tanaka. When two Chinese children, Honran and Yuran, break in to Tanaka's house to steal food for their ailing father, Kikuji sneaks out with them, diagnoses the father's illness as beriberi (vitamin B1 deficiency), and treats it with purloined medicine. 

The children in turn take Kikuji to the Russian Quarter to meet Mr. Lensky, a Russian violinist who owns several good violins, including a Stradivarius. 

Kikuji's passion for violin making is rekindled, and before his unit is shipped out (by inference, it's 1944, when the heart of the Kwantung Army was transferred to other fronts), he makes a detailed sketch of the Stradivarius for "after the war."

(This middle section of the film plays like a children's fairy tale. Kikuji was a poor student with no knowledge of medicine, yet he ends up in the medical corps in a backwater. He treats the Chinese children like younger siblings, when a real Japanese soldier would have had them beaten or worse. When Lt. Tanaka discovers Kikuji's theft, he indulgently allows the boy to treat the native, when a real Japanese officer would have had Kikuji court-martialed. The children just happen to know Lensky, and Lensky just happens to have a Stradivarius. Well, the source is children's book, after all.)

Kikuji's 9th Division is transferred to Okinawa before the US invasion. 

He and Sugano survive various American bombardments, but the division is transferred to Taiwan before the actual battle. Kikuji's ship is torpedoed en route. 

As he struggles to survive, his best friends are swallowed up in the maelstrom of war. Although Kikuji returns to Japan and his family safely, he is emotionally scarred and unable to return to his craft, until voices from the past recall him from the depths.

It's worth noting that the service history of the 9th Division is historically accurate. After suffering devastating losses in the China campaigns, the division was reconstituted in Japan and sent to Mudanjiang for garrison duty. In 1944, it was transferred to Okinawa but left before the American invasion. However, the torpedoing of Kikuji's ship is fictional; the 9th suffered no combat losses from its reconstitution in Japan through the end of the war.

The voice cast includes:

• Takano Rei (young Kikuji) has no other credits.
• Hirata Hiroaki (teen/grown Kikuji)) played Kondo Masami in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni,  Benny in Black Lagoon, Itsuki in the Kindaichi movies, Sa Gojou in Saiyuki and its sequels, Sanji in One Peace, Zaki in DearS, Jack in Moonlight Mile, Nantoka in Rita to Nantoka, Tiger in Tiger & Bunny, Vinsmoke in One Piece, Fujimoto in Ao no Exorcist, and Max Lobo in Bananafish. He also played Joseph (Mary's husband) in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Mishima Jun in Chameleon, and the professor in Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni, all Orphan releases.
• Isobe Masako (Kikuji's mother) played Tilda Miller in Gozdilla S.P. She appeared in Letter Bee, Koi Sento, Ear of the Golden Dragon, and Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Ishimori Takkou (Kikuji's father) played Jodu in Murder Princess, Yoshimune in Buzzer Beater, and Master Luo Wu in Cooking Master Boy. He had small parts in Fire Tripper, Akai Hayate, Aoki Honoo, Nagasaki 1945: The Angelus Bell, and Wild 7, all Orphan releases.
• Shimada Bin (Kikuji's older brother) played Ken Nakajima in the You're Under Arrest franchise and numerous other roles, as well as Konaki Jijii and Wally Wall in the most recent version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. He appeared in Bride of Deimos, Okama Report, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Fukyukayama Gekijou, Tomoe's Run!, Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, Princess Army, and Sangokushi, all Orphan releases.
• Kawata Taeko (Kikuji's sister) played Arale in the Dr. Slump franchise, Tanpopo in Seraphim Call, Leo in the 2009 special Jungle Taitei, Shypre in the Precure franchise, and Nocco in Cherry no Manma, and Orphan release.
• Iwai Sayuri (Abe Kayo) appeared in a few children's series.
• Ushiyama Shigeru (Otsuki-sensei) palyed Matsuda in Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Dr. Hiluluk in One Piece, Robita in Phoenix, Lutz in Spice and Wolf 2, Prof Shikishima in Tesujin 28, Edo in Ultraman, and Dan in Wasimo.
• Otaki Shinya (Sugano) played Beat in Scoopers. He appeared in Aoki Honoo, Wolf Guy, Elf ,17, Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases.
• Ooki Tamio (Lensky) played  Aramaki in the GITS movies, the title role in Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito, Dr. Tenma in the 1980 version of Tetsuwan Atom and Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken, Dr. Ross in Tetsuwan Atom: The Blue Knight, Darai Sem in Amon Saga, Captain Victor in Michite Kuru Toki no Mukou ni, and Ibuya in Hidamari no Ki. The last five are Orphan releases.
• Takase Kurumi (Honran) has only a few anime credits.
• Kanai Mika (Yuran) 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, Kumi in Tanjou: Debut, and Hime in Bakuen Campus Guardress. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Umezu Miho (Hibino Yurie) is a real-life violin artist.
• Kume Akira (Narration) also narrated Botchan and Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, and she played a librarian in A Penguin's Memories,. All three are Orphan releases.

The director was Nakayama Setsuo. He was a film director; this is his only anime credit. As might be expected of a film about violins, the solo violin music is exceptional and includes excellent solos from major works, including Bach's "Chaconne" from Violin Partita No. 2, Massenet's "Meditation" from Thaïs, Brahm's Hungarian Dance No. 5, Tchaikovsky's "Melodie" from Souvenir d'un lieu cher, and Vivaldi's "Winter", second movement, from The Four Seasons.

Hoshizora no Violin has been on the team's wish list for a long time, but lack of decent source material kept the project on hold. Then WOWmd ripped a video tape on the Domesday Duplicator. The result is far from perfect - there's tape fuzz all along the bottom, and the occasional artifact - but it's much better than previously available raws. Perevodildo translated and timed. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and Uchuu QCed. Perhaps a better raw will come along someday. I certainly hope so; some of the rural backgrounds resemble Studio Ghibili at its best.

Hoshizora no Violin is a really good film, and everyone who worked on it liked it a lot. You can get the movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net