Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills

We'll conclude this spate of Young Animator Training Project shows with a relatively recent offering, Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills, from the 2025 edition of Anime no Tane; the other shows are:

• Dive-In!, no dialog
• Sora and the Big Tree, subtitled by DmonHiro
• Trust, raw only from a web source

Galaxy Apartment is a joint Inka-Orphan release. Like all the Anime no Tane shows since 2021, it is short - under ten minutes - but it packs a lot into its runtime. It opens with an unknown man dying in a raid of some kind; but before he kicks the bucket, he launches an object into space with the words, "I'm counting on you, Cass." Cut to an apartment house on a small planetoid, where slacker Cass is the only tenant of Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills. 

He's desperately trying to make money as a "Nyantuber," but his page, about cute multi-tentacled creatures called Takochu, is getting no views at all. 

His landlord Chami stops by to demand the rent, and his mother calls to nag him about his slacker lifestyle.

Then he receives a package from "Mamazon." He's expecting meat buns from his mom, but instead, it's a baby in a prison uniform, with a spiked iron pacifier, whose sole word is "Da!"

Before Cass can figure out where the baby came from, the apartment house is surrounded by villainous shark aliens sent by the evil Captain Cigar (and the even more sinister Mother Shark):

Cass has no idea what to do, but Da uses his pacifier as a flail and trounces all the sharks (Captain Cigar too). Da is seriously OP.

Chami contributes as well, using her transforming broom against the enemy.

She then transports the apartment house, via warp drive, to Neptune. Cass has recorded all the events. When he uploads his video to Nyantube, he gets millions of views:

He's promptly banned, of course. And then the show ends, with an ominous cliffhanger. Wow!

Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills is visually inventive and narratively dense. Nothing is ever explained; for example, I only found out the identity of the unknown man in the opening sequence from the end credits. Unanswered questions abound. Who, or perhaps what, is Da? What are the villains after? Will Cass ever make any money? We'll never know.

The voice cast is first-rate:

• Kobayashi Chiaki (Cass) starred as Asakase in Sonny Boy, Yuiichi in Tomodachi Game, the title roles in Moriarty the Patriot and Ragna Crimson, Hayate in Cool Doji Danshi, Gabimaru in Jigokuraku, Stark in Sousou no Frieren, and many other roles. He played Okuninushi in the first Science Saru x MBS Original Short Anime Daisakusen short, an Orphan release.
• Kuno Misaki (Chami) starred in the title role in Aharen-san wa Hakarenai and as Touko in Hikari no Ou. She played Xialon in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Shiori in the Non Non Biyori franchise, Hawk in the Nanatsu no Taizai franchise, and Chie in Chuck Shimezu, an Orphan release.
• Sakamoto Chika (Da) played Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railway, the title role in Tsuruhime, Nonoko in Tobira wo Akete, Tendonman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and Agumon in the Digimon franchise. She appeared as Kijimuna in the Utsu no Miko movie, Miko in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Yasuda Yumiki in Nine, Kometora in Charapno Land no Bouken, and Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
• Ohtsuka Mizue (Cass' mother) played Butaro Tomita in more than 400 episodes of Chibi Maruko-chan, among other roles.
• Iwata Mitsuo (Cass' Father) starred as Tetsuya in Outlanders, Shoutarou in Akira, Kintarou in Golden Boy, Jay in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, and Wataru in Doukyuusei: Climax. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Touchi Hiroki (Captain Cigar) played Takumi in Zipang, Abel Nightroad in Trinity Blood, Ovan in .hack//roots, Baldroy in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, and Heiter in Sousei no Frieren.
•  Kujira (Mother Shark) was best-known roles as Otose in Gintama and Orochimaru in Naruto. She also plays Matsuyo in the Osomatsu-san franchise. 

This was director Aoki Kane's first directing assignment; previously, she had done animation and storyboards.

Inka did the front-end work, and Orphan the back-end. Perry Dimes translated and did initial timing. Darkonius translation checked and fine-timed. darkcart edited. I typeset; the typesetting is ten times longer than the dialog. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The raw is from Gecko and had major flaws in its timecodes. It took a lot of experimentation to get the subbed version to play properly. There was no place to put fansub credits, so this blog post will have to do, commemorating another smooth Inka-Orphan joint project.

I liked Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills quite a lot. It's unpredictable, with interesting animation and stand-out characters. It leaves the viewer - at least this viewer - wanting more. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news in irc.rizon.net.

Hoozuki no Reitetsu OAD 6

I worked on the original Hoozuki no Reitetsu TV series when I was in FFF, and I fell in love with the show's weird vibe, deadpan comedy, and outrageous cast of crazed characters. FFF dropped the show midway through its second season but continued on to do the first five OADs (original anime discs). However, the last two came out after FFF disbanded and have never been subbed. The show's esoteric language and insane typesetting requirements discouraged most other teams from considering it (Orphan included). Now, with its usual timeliness, Saizen is picking up the ball and releasing OAD 6, a mere five years after it became available.

Hoozuki was always a fairly discursive series - vignettes rather than a through plot line - and the OADs continue that tradition. This episode focuses on two minor characters, both cats: Koban, the tabloid reporter for a local scandal sheet, and Kan, the male infidelity investigator for King Songdi. They may be inhabitants of Hell, but they cannot disguise or escape their feline nature.

In the first segment, Koban is on the prowl for a story. For him, prowling consists of going to his usual haunts, napping, and avoiding Hoozuki. 

He sees Kan going about his rounds. He imagines an interview with the scatterbrained young demon Nasubi. 

He runs into King Enma, who has developed a passion for interlocking metal puzzles (Hoozuki solves all of them easily). 

And he attempts a stakeout, which is promptly disrupted by Shiba, Momotarou's dog, who thinks stakeouts are an excuse to play. 

In short, nothing much happens, except a series of random events in keeping with the Hoozuki ethos.

In the second segment, Kan introduces himself and demonstrates that, like most cats, he is utterly self-absorbed. 

He visits Hoozuki to offer him a chance to relax through petting a cat (Hoozuki declines). He speculates on the nature of a Pharoah's symbolic beard (Hoozuki tells him the answer, which Kan ignores). Finally, Hoozuki gets him to leave by pointing out that Kan resembles an attendant of the Egyptian goddess Bastet. Kan goes to the Great Library to research the idea, and with help from Okou, the snake-wearing tormentor demon, he confirms that he is likely of Egyptian origin. 

Greatly pleased with himself, he returns to his job, where he boasts of his new found knowledge to his coworker En the snake, who couldn't care less.

Twenty minutes is not enough time to showcase all the secondary characters of the Hoozuki universe, but it does have some of my favorites and their superb seiyuu:

• Sugiyaki Noriaki (Koban) played William T Spears in the Kuroshitsuji franchise, Uryuu in the Bleach franchise, Sasuke in the Naruto franchise, Katsumi in the Cardfight! Vanguard franchise, Shirou in the Fate franchise, UK in the Hetalia franchise, Takuma in the Moyashimon properties, Akira in ReLife, and Usahara (the vicious rabbit) in Damekko Doubutsu,.
• Wakamoto Norio (Kan) (layed the title role in The Gargoyle of the Yoshinagas, Vicious in Cowboy Bebop, Cell in the Dragonball franchise, Katakuriko in the Gintama franchise, Oda Nobunaga in the Sengoku Basara franchise, Guren in Ushio to Tora TV, Shining Saotome in the Uta no Prince-sama franchise, and Oskar von Reuenthal in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He also appeared as Joshua Balboa in Plastic Little, Sakakibara in Sanada 10, Noa in Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99, York Denman in Apfelland Monogatari, Major Thrauza in Yamato 2520, Denon in Amon Saga, the Tengenji underboss in Koiko no Mainichi, and the Narrator in Joker: Marginal City, all Orphan releases
• Yasumoto Hiroki (Hoozuki) played Inohora in the DAYS franchise, Germany in the Hetalia franchise, the bear in Kumamiko, the hero's wingman Bonba in the Himouto shows, the antagonist Yuuri in Megalo Box, Kinjo in the Yowamushi Pedal franchise, and many other roles.
• Nagasako Takashi (King Enma) played Bill Atkin in Alice in Cyberland 2 and the principal in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu, both Orphan releases.
• Kobayashi Yumiko (Shiro, the dog) played the title role in Crayon Shin-chan, Poemi in Puni Puni Poemi and Excel Saga, Souchi in ex-Driver, Mamoru in Sister Princess, Shoubu in the Duel Masters franchise, and Norio in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu, an Orphan release.
• Saito Kimiko (En) played Rachel in Anne Shirley, Madam in Kusuriya no Hitorigoto, Melissa in BNA, Rem in Death Note, Sister in Eden of the East, Juri in Handa-kun, Micchan in Migi & Dali, Chieke in Kuragahime, and Fuji Mine in Yaiba: Samurai Legend.
• Kitamuri Eri (Okou) played Saya in Blood+, Alleyne in Queen's Blade, Hinata in Kanamemo, Rin in Kodomo no Jikan, Mahiro in Haiyoru! Nyaruani, Izumo in the Ao no Exorcist franchise, Megumi in High Score Girl, Mikagi in Arve Rezzle, Yachiyo in the Working! franchise, Araragi Karen in the *monogatari franchise, Homura in Senran KaguraI, and  Yakou in Amatsuki, an Orphan release.
• Aoyama Touko (Nasubi) had featured roles in Digimon Tamers, Demashitaa! Powerpuff Girls Z, Hanamaru Kindergarten, and Zenryoku Usagi.

The director, Kaburagi Hiro, was also in charge of the first Hoozuki TV series.

This a Saizen release, but almost everyone involved also appears on the Orphan staff page. (If this were an Orphan release, almost everyone involved would also appear on the Saizen staff page. The overlap among back-catalog groups is now nearly total.) The staff was:

• Translation - convexity
• Timing - sangofe
• Editing - Collectr
• Typesetting - kokujin-kun
• QC - Eternal_Blizzard, Nemesis, Uchuu

The raw is a 1080p web rip. 

So grab this penultimate installment of the Hoozuki no Reitetsu OADs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Saizen|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Let the Hoozuki gang cast its magic one more time and whet your appetite for (one hopes) OAD 7. No promises, though.

Charanpo Land no Bouken

Here's the last untranslated OVA from the Anime Tamago class of 2017: Charanpo Land no Bouken (Adventure in Charanpo Land). The other three from that year have already been subtitled in English:

• Red Ash: Gearworld, released on Blu-ray with official subs
• Zunda Horizon, subbed by multiple groups
• Genbanojou, subbed by Moving Lines

In his relentless drive to collect all the Young Animator Training Project films, DmonHiro found a raw for Charanpo. The raw is not great. It was been reframed from 23.976 (24) fps to 29.97 (30) fps. This makes all motion shots, whether horizontal or vertical, look jerky. Still, this is the only raw available, so Orphan has used it for this release.

Charanpo Land no Bouken is an "all ages" fantasy about a group on anthropomorphic animals living on an isolated island in the South Seas. At the center of the island is an enormous baobab tree that drops "lotto eggs" (the plastic eggs found in Japanese vending machines).

These eggs contain food, clothes, and other necessities of daily life. As a result, the inhabitants don't have to do anything except laze around. Then one day, the tree ejects a golden egg, but after that, all further lotto eggs are empty. 

Three children - Kometora the tiger, a wannabe hero; Pyon the rabbit, his best friend; and Gunma the bear - set out to find the golden egg and return it to the baobob tree, which (they hope) will solve the problem.

However, they are not alone in the search. Foxy Dr. Akan wants the egg for his "research." 

Tanuki mayor Poncho wants the egg because it will grant any wish. 

Even Kometora's parents want the egg, just because. Kometora and his friends, aided by Kaba the hippo and Ojigihibi the "bowing snake", must outwit Akan and Poncho and outrun the other townspeople. 

There are slapstick adventures and minor perils before the children are able to accomplish their mission. But life on the island will never be the same...

As you might surmise, the plot is slight, an excuse for (mostly) comic incidents. Dr. Akan and his machines, and Mayor Poncho and his hench-animals, are no match for the faster and more nimble young ones. The main draw is the animation, which is beautifully colorful.

However, the frame rate screw-up makes the video annoying to watch, at least for me.

The voice cast includes: 

• Sakamoto Chika (Kometora) played Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railway, the title role in Tsuruhime, Nonoko in Tobira wo Akete, Tendonman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and Agumon in the Digimon franchise. She appeared as Kijimuna in the Utsu no Miko movie, Miko in Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Yasuda Yumiki in Nine, and Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases.
• Oowada Hitomi (Pyon) played Midori in Shirobako, Ayano in Hanebado, and Charlotte in Tonikaku Kawaii.
• Ochiai Fukushi (Gunma) played Bonda in Gurazeni, Kimura in Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san, Bou in Bucchigire!,  and Louis XVI in the Versaille no Bara remake.
• Nose Ikuji (Dr. Akan) had had numerous featured roles.
• Taketora (Poncho) has also had numerous featured roles.
• Oohara Sayaka (Baobab Tree Spirit) played Aki in Colorful, Layla Hamilton in the Kaleido Star franchise, Raquel in Scrapped Princess, Ezra Scarlet in the Fairy Tail franchise, Yuuko in the xxxHoLic franchise, Ridget in Suisei no Gargantia, Irisviel in Fate/Zero franchise, Titania in Mahou Tsukai no Yome, and Priscillaria Shamaran (Sari Rayer) in Love Love?, Cosprayers, and Smash Hit. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Gotou Hiroki (Kaba-san) played Kakisuke the monkey in the Hoozuki no Reitetsu franchise.

The show, from Studio Cometm was directed by Misawa Shin, who also directed Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai and Gingitsune.

After the raw surfaced, Perevodildo, with the greatest reluctance, translated and timed it. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and Uchuu QCed. The raw is from DmonHiro. If a better (i.e., properly encoded) raw surfaces, Orphan will release a v2.

Charanpo Land no Bouken reminds me a bit of Parol no Miraijima, an OVA from Anime Tamago 2015. It has non-human characters, an exotic island setting, and colorful, kinetic animation. However, Parol has a more compelling story, and of course, the raw (a full HD Blu-ray encode from Commie) is much better. Still, if you can ignore all the juddering, Charanpo is a decent watch. I'm glad that the Anime Tamago class of 2017 is now complete in English. 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.