Nessa no Wakusei

Okizari presents the first English-subtitled release of the original version of Nessa no Wakusei (Desert Planet), a mid-1990s borderline hentai OVA. It's better known in North America in its "enhanced" version, Bondage Queen Kate. This release is part of the ProxyMan project.

Nessa no Wakusei was created by a short-lived anime company called All Products. They specialized in borderline hentai like the Sei Michaela Gakuen series, Dragon Knight Gaiden, and Fencer of Minerva. Their first release was in 1990; by 1996, they were gone. Rights to their works fell into the hands of another short-lived hentai anime company, Five Ways. They tarted up Nessa and Gaiden with a few very short explicit scenes to create hentai OVAs for North America and other markets. This version of Nessa no Wakusei, from a Japanese laserdisc, is the first time the original OVA has been released with English subtitles. Blasphemboys has already released the original Dragon Knight Gaiden. 

The original Nessa no Wakusei is no masterpiece. It's an exercise in BDSM titillation, as close to porn as possible without earning an X (or NC17) rating. Based on an erotic novel by Hakage Tatenao, its protagonist is Second Lt. Kate Curtis of the Galactic Union Military Security Department, aka, the Galaxy Police.

Young (19), pretty, buxom, and a virgin, she is sent undercover by Major Jones to the desert planet of Doune, where young women are disappearing in alarming numbers.There, she is dropped into the hands of human trafficking criminals who kidnap and train women as sex slaves. 

Her captor, Brick, drugs, binds, and rapes her, then shares her with his fellow trainer, Dick. Brick is impressed by Kate's passionate responses and decides to keep her for himself as hit "pet." 

He and his ex-wife Cathy train her. Even though he's a rapist and a sadist, Kates falls in love with him. She's distraught when he pays attention to Amy, another slave.. Eventually, Lt. Smith and Kate's support team rescue her, to her dismay. After a half-year leave of absence, she finds Brick on another planet and throws herself into his arms (and ropes) once again.

I could try to write a learned dissertation on Nessa no Wakusei's place in a long line of erotica about female submission, from Story of O to Fifty Shades of Grey, but there's no point. It's erotic trash, designed to earn a quick yen. The only interesting question, at least for me, is why Five Ways thought it was a good idea to make it into hentai by adding a bit (less than 20 seconds, total) of explicit content. Some All Products' releases went in the opposite direction. For example, CPM eliminated the only explicit scene in Fencer of Minerva for its North American release.

Nessa was badly mastered for its North American DVD, and the added explicit scenes are badly animated (static or low frame rate). Nessa no Wakusei on laserdisc (top) looks much better than Bondage Queen Kate on DVD (bottom):

A few notes: 

• Kate appears in another Hakage Tatenao BDSM-themed erotic novel, Rebellion on the Spaceship Diana: Female Security Officer Kate's Voyage of Abuse.
• The setting, planet "Duone," is a rip-off of Dune, complete with sandworms.
  
  
  
  
  
• Kate's superior, Major Jones, prefers singing karaoke to organizing her rescue. His idea of appropriate equipment for her mission is a carry-on full of sex toys and skimpy clothing, with "Rape Me" on the side. 

By the 1990s, working on erotic anime had become more acceptable, and the voice actors used their real names, not pseudonyms:

• Amano Yuri (Kate, ep 1) 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, the teacher in Tanjou: Debut, Tonto in the Blue Knight segment of Tezuka Osamu: Kyoto Animation Works, the Chinese whore in Shibuya Honky Tonk, and Yuko in St. Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, as well as multiple roles in Fukuyama Gekijou and Gakkou no Yuurei, volume 1, all Orphan releases.
• Honma Yukari (Kate, ep 2) played Mikako in Kazu & Yasu Hero Tanjou, Ayu in Mermaid Forest, and Yugo in Project Arms. She appeared in Pops, Cosmic Fantasy, and Gakkou no Yuuri, volume 2, all Orphan releases.
• Yanada Kiyoyuki (Brick) played Takenori in Slam Dunk, Gateau Mocha in Bakuretsu Hunter, and Kuroinu the black cat in Chii's Sweet Home. He appeared in Nanatoshi Monogatari, Hidamari no Ki, Hayou no Tsurugi, Exper Zenon, Akai Hayate, Nozomi Witches, Mellow, and Ai no Kusabi, all Orphan releases
• Yamaguchi Kappei (Dick) 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 Tacchan in Ashita Genki ni Naare!, Suzuki Kyota in Aoi Kioku, Shibuya in Zetsuai 1989,  Billia in Tottoi, Matsuoka Eiji in Chameleon, Nichol Hawking in Plastic Little, and Tooru in Boyfriend, and appeared in Shin Gakkou no Yuurei, all Orphan releases.
• Nakahara Shigeru (Jenkins, a psychotic trainer) played the title role in Arion, Trowa Barton in Gundam Wing, Fujiwara no Takamichi in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de: Hachyoushou, and Kurama in Kyousogiga. He also played Hyakutaro in Ushiro no Hyakutaro, Fujiwara no Yukitata in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, Arikawa Yuzuru in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3, and had featured roles in Aoki Honoo, Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Ai no Kusabi, Dragon Fist, Dokushin Apartment Doukudami-sou, Chameleon, and Neko Neko Fantasia, all Orphan releases.
• Sawaki Ikuya (boss of the organization) played Gooley in the Dirty Pair franchise. He also played Kentaro in Ushiro no Hyakutaro, Samuel Hunter in Wolf Guy, Masayoshi Hotta in Hidamari no Ki, Barry in Joker: Marginal City, Alan in Mother: Saigo no Shoujo Eve, Itakura Shirouemon in Sanada 10, the Kaiser in Apfelland Monogatari, Gonbei the cat in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, and multiple role in Shibuya Honky Tonk, as well as small parts in Heavy, Dallos, Heart Cocktail, and Chameleon, all Orphan releases.
• Shinohara Emi (Eva, another policewoman, ep 1; Cathy, ep 2) played B-Ko in the A-ko properties and Sailor Jupiter in the Sailor Moon franchise. She appeared as the goddess in the Unico segment of Tezuka Osamu: Kyoto Animation Works, Yuri Onagara in Blue Sonnet, vulgar daughter Stephanie in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Reiko in Akai Hayate, Lady Manthrum in Hayou no Tsurugi, Yoshie in Shibuya Honky Tonk, a newscaster in Junk Boy, and Android 1025 in Oz, all Orphan releases.
• Mizusawa Jun (Amy, Dick's "pet," ep 2) played Sakakibara Miyuki in Sotsugyousei, an Orphan release, and appeared in Android Ana Maico 2010.
• Tsujitani Kouji (Lt. Smith) played the title role in the Captain Tylor franchise and the lead role in the 3x3 Eyes OVAs. He also played Takei in Sotsugyou: Graduation, Honda in Bakuen Campus Guardress, Guy in Ai no Kusabi, Homare in Okane ga Nai, Shou in Condition Green, Saburou in Kasei Yakyoku,(the northern tribe's leader in Michite Kuru Toki no Mukou ni, Kotarou in Genji, Part 1, and Seishirou in Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases.
• Ootaki Shinya (Major Jones) played Beat in Scoopers. He appeared in Shibuya Honky Tonk, Aoki Honoo, Wolf Guy, Elf ,17, Hoshizora no Violin, Gakkou no Yuurei volume 1, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases.

Some of the animation was done by a first-line company, J.C. Staff. The director, Asami Takashi, also did the storyboards.

The original English translation is credited to "Tokyo Rose," a pseudonym for a translator with many hentai credits. Perevedodildo translation checked and timed. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and Muzussawa QCed. The raw is from Proxyman, ripped and encoded from a Japanese laserdisc. It includes two AMVs and promo. Both episodes have a longer version of the OP song, "Really Serious," set to a montage of highlights. The second episode has a promo for the second episode.

It wouldn't be correct to call the original version of Nessa no Wakusei a censored version of Bondage Queen Kate; the latter is an augmented version of the former. Even without the extra scenes, Nessa no Wakusei contains a plethora of nudity, sex, and BDSM content and is totally NSFW. If you can live without the inserted explicit scenes and would like to watch the show with better video quality, you can get this release from the X-rated side of the usual torrent site.

Botchan (1986)

Seishun Anime Zenshuu (translated as Animated Classics of Japanese Literature for its English release) is a 1986 anthology series that retold well-known stories from modern Japanese literature. It's very much in the mold of its contemporaries, the World Masterpiece Theater series. Most of the 34 episodes were standalone, although there were a few two- and three-parters. The show was licensed by Central Park Media, but the English version was left incomplete when CPM went bankrupt. Only twelve episodes were released on DVD:

• Episode 1: The Izu Dancer by Kawabata Yasunari. 
• Episodes 2,3: The Sound of Waves by Mishima Yukio.
• Episodes 7,8: Botchan by Souseki Natsume.
• Episode 10: The Dancing Girl by Ougai Mori.
• Episode 14: Growing Up by Higuchi Ichiyou.
• Episode 16: Kaidan: The Song of Hoichi by Lafcadio Heran.
• Episode 20: Season of the Sun by Ishihara Shintarou.
• Episodes 25,26: The Harp of Burma by Takeyama Michio.
• Episode S1 (33): Student Days by Kume Masao.

This time, we're releasing a two-part adaptation of Botchan. It's based on a wildly popular 1906 autobiographical novel by Souseki Natsume. The novel was adapted for the movies at least five times. It was also adapted as an anime in 1980; Orphan released that version in 2020.

The protagonist is a Tokyo resident and a recent college graduate. He is not named; his faithful old servant, Kiyo, calls him "Botchan" (young master). He accepts a job teaching mathematics at a boarding school in Matsuyama, Shikoku, which is about as far away from Tokyo as you can get in Japan.

He immediately gives all his colleagues nicknames:

• The slippery principal is "Tanuki"
  
  
  
  
  
• The flannel-wearing vice principal is "Red Shirt"
  
  
  
  
  
• Red Shirt's obsequious hanger-on, Yoshikawa, is "Buffoon" (nodaiko, field radish)
  
  
  
  
  
• The bluff head math teacher, Hotta, is "Porcupine" (yama arashi, which also means "mountain storm")
  
  
  
  
  
• The timid English teacher, Koga, is "Unprepared" (uranari, unripe gourd)

and so on. Botchan has had no training as a teacher, and his students tease him for his Tokyo accent, his gargantuan appetite, and his love of hot springs. 

When they place locusts in his futon, Red Shirt lies to him and tells him Hotta instigated the prank. 

Our hot-headed hero promptly breaks off relations with Hotta.

Later, Botchan finds out the truth: Red Shirt is a conniving liar. The vice principal has stolen Koga's beautiful fiance and is trying to get rid of Hotta. 

He even frames Botchan and Hotta when they try to stop a fight between their students and the normal school students. The two conspire to expose Red Shirt's hypocrisy by catching him in flagrante delicto with a geisha. Ultimately, they deliver rough justice to the vice principal and leave town. 

Botchan returns to Tokyo and the comfort of his old retainer, Kiyo.

I've already worked on this story once, and I liked the 1980 TV special better than this one. It has better character designs, livelier animation, and a lot more comedy. This version of Botchan is straightforward, almost pedestrian, like all the adaptations in the Animated Classics series. It is also much shorter; it omits the story of the protagonist's life before he leaves for Matsuyama.

A couple of translation notes.

• Localization of the nicknames can be iffy. The R1 subs used "Weakling" for Koga, which seems rather harsh. Uranari connotes unripe or not ready; hence, "Unprepared." The kanji for Hotta's nickname actually precludes "Porcupine," but it was used in older translations. Orphan's earlier version used the romanized Japanese.
• Normal schools (shihan gakkou) were teacher training schools that eventually became broad-based educational institutions.

The voice actors include:

• Yasuhara Yoshito (Botchan) played Scarecrow in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (TV), Ranze's father in Tokimeki Tonight (which Orphan finished), and Louis XVI in The Rose of Versailles. He starred as Kyousuke in Techno Police 21C and played the Black Night in Tobira o Akete and Yoshito in King Fang. All three are Orphan releases..
• Iizuka Shouzou (Hotta/Porcupine) played the Captain in The Sound of Waves and appeared in Yamato 2025, the What's Michael? OVAs, Neko no Midori, Rain Boy, and Hi-Speed Jecy, all Orphan releases. He played Lestrade in Sherlock Hound, Jumba in the Stitch! franchise, the wizard in The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz, and Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland.
• Nakamura Tadashi (Red Shirt) played Ahmad in Macro Polo no Bouken, Tetsuhara in the Kyojin no Hoshi franchise, and Quincy in Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 1940.
• Kamiyama Takuzou (Principal/Tanuki) appeared in Manxmouse, Bagi, and Prime Rose, all Orphan releases. He also played Greg Gates in Area 88, Shalulu in Castle in the Sky, Dracula in Dororon Enma-kun, Werewolf in the Kaibutsu-kun properties, Dayon in Osomatsu-kun, and Tinman in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
• Hase Sanji (Yoshikawa/Buffoon) played Shuunen in the Ikyuu-san properties, Kazuo in The Kabocha Wine, Nanako-san in the Kinnikuman franchise, and Cyborg 006 in Cyborg 009 (1979)
• Ogata Kenichi (Botchan's first landlord) played Yamada in It Rained Fire, a paper merchant in The Izu Dancer, the put-upon father in Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, Chichi's father in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, the business chief in Okama Hakusho, Tadinori Tachimi, the Terayama family lawyer, in Asatte Dance, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
• Kyouda Hisako (Kiyo) played Minuet in Bremen 4, the Witch in Adachigahara, Yoshiko in the Black Jack segment of Kyoto Animation Theater, and the maid in Lunn Flies into the Wind, all Orphan releases. She also played Sawa in Mermaid Forest, Tama in Mushishi, Obaba in Nausicaa, Darkness in Peter Pan, Yoshi Tamazaki in Showa Monogatari, Rin in the Stratos 4 properties, and Magno Vivan in Vandread.
• Hayashi Kazuo (Koga/Weakling) played Yasuo Nanbu in the Yamato franchise and Gije Zaral in Space Runaway Ideon.
• Takizawa Kumiko (Madonna) played Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz (movie). She  played Elena in Techno Police 21C, Kanako's mother in Boyfriend, Susan the gangster in The Green Cat, and appeared in Raiyantsuuri no Uta, Fumoon, Makoto-chan, and Scoopers, all Orphan releases.
• Hanagata Keiko (Mrs. Hagino, Botchan's second landlord) appeared in Belle and Sebastian, Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz, A Little Princess Sara, and Shounen Tokugawa Ieyasu.

The director, Kondou Eisuke, also directed Gonbare Gonbe.

The original subtitles are from CPM's R1 release. Perevodildo translation checked. ninjacloud fixed the original timing. I edited and typeset. Paul Geromini and Nemesis QCed. The encoder for the series wishes to remain anonymous. CPM's mastering includes hardsubbed translations for some of the Japanese credits. They are incorrectly timed and don't line up with the Japanese credits, but as hardsubs, they can't be fixed. 

As I've already said, I think the 1980 version of Botchan is better, but this one is a lot shorter, so if you want to get the gist of the story, this version might be for you. You can get these episodes from the usual torrent site.

 

Kyuukyoku no Chef wa Oishinbo Papa

A new year, a new Okizari hentai release. This time it's the 1990 OVA Kyuukyoku no Chef wa Oishinbo Papa (The Ultimate Chef Is Gourmet Papa), based on a U-Jin manga. It shows his typical profile: comedy, schoolgirls, and fetishes. This is not quite the first English release, but it's the first one with a reasonably accurate translation.

The protagonist in Nishikata Kenzo, one-time private detective turned Chinese restaurant chef. 

However, that's just a cover for his true occupation: hitman for hire, specializing in avenging women who have been raped or abused.

His trademark is to serve part of criminal's anatomy to his client, as proof that he's succeeded. He's aided by his lovely young assistant Sai-chan, about whom he harbors dangerous fantasies, never acted upon.

The OVA abstracts a pair of stories, one short, one long, from the manga. In the first, Sai-chan lures an exhibitionist rapist into a fatal encounter with Kenzo's wickedly sharp carving knife. His junk ends up as a repast for the client. In the second, a woman named Akina hires Kenzo and Sai to save her younger sister from the clutches of Ikeno Koijiro, a villainous underboss of the Kuromon gang. Kenzo lures the yakuza into a pool filled with piranha. The villain tries to escape, but Kenzo pins his hands with a skewer and skins him alive. His back becomes sashimi for the client.

However, that's just the opening chapter of a longer story. The Kuromon gang is in league with a corrupt and perverted politician, Gotokuji Daizo, and numerous CEOs to set up a nationwide schoolgirl prostitution ring. (Kenzo is outraged about this, because they're hogging all the pretty girls.) Daizo hires assassins to go after Kenzo and Sai-chan. Kenzo barely survives his encounter with the Supreme Barber Technician Boy, but Sai-chan defeats her sukeban (delinquent) schoolgirl assailant. Kenzo then tickles the key information out of the second assassin. After that, Kenzo and Sai-chan decide to go after the Big Shots and take them down, in a welter of bloody action.

Kyuukyoku no Chef is old school hentai, more plot than sex scenes, and it actually requires some explanatory notes:

• Kenzo constantly introduces himself as "a man who can tell the difference." This is a parody of a long-running Nescafe Gold ad campaign that started in the 1970s, featuring men who "know the difference" in their fields of endeavor.
• "A carp is swimming up the waterfall, huh?" A reference to a Chinese proverb, "Even a carp is not strong enough to swim up a waterfall." The yakuza is named Koijiro (koi means carp), and he has a carp tattoo on his back. 
• Gotoku Daizo is involved in the "Lucrate Scandal," a stereotypical company name. 
• He's also involved with the so-called M-fund, an urban myth about supposed war loot confiscated by the American occupation and subsequently lost.
• When Kenzo tells Akina that she can't come along for the final battle, he calls her a shiroto, meaning a non-yakuza or layperson.
• When Kenzo wheels in the corpse of the gang boss, he calls him kurobuta (black pig), a pun on the gang name Kuromon (black gate). 

It's also notable for its animation mistakes:

• At 11:48, Sai-chan says to Akina, "Here's your tea." There's no tea. 
• At 22:22, there's a reaction shot to Barber Boy's "It's you!", but Kenzo isn't drawn in.
• At 33:34, three CEO's are supposedly shot with a spear to create an "evil three color dango skewer," but it's not actually shown; the three men are freeze-framed in a doorway.

There are no voice credits. I think Genzo is played by Chiba Shigeru, but I can't be sure. The director, Tomizawa Kazuo, mostly did animation.

ProxyMan got the ball rolling by providing an encode of his own Japanese laserdisc. Perevodildo translated, timed, did some of typesetting, and researched the references. I edited and did the rest of the typesetting. Paul Geromini and Muzussawa QCed. It is being released under the Okizari label as part of the ProxyMan project.

Kyuukyoku no Chef wa Oishinbo Papa is typical U-Jin: funny, sexy, gory, and preposterous. It has a fair amount of nudity, sex, and blood, so it's definitely NSFW. You can get the show from the NSFW side of the usual torrent site and, until January 31, 2026, IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news or irc.rizon.net.

The Old (Seeding) Order Changeth

Since at least 2018, the Arutha foundation has provided Orphan with its torrent seeding and IRC XDCC bot capability. That means Orphan's releases have been continuously available, instead of frequently going unseeded or unavailable, as had been the case before then.

But all things must pass, and after more than 15 years of serving the anime community, the Arutha foundation is closing down. All its seed boxes and IRC XDCC servers will go offline on January 31, 2026. I want to thank the Arutha foundation, and its benevolent proprietor, for providing a safe, secure, highly available home for Orphan's releases. I wish them the best in their next endeavors. So long, my friend, and thanks for all the fish.

Accordingly, Orphan is switching to a new torrent seeding server, provided by and shared with our back-catalog comrades at Saizen. As of today, all the Orphan and Okizari torrents are being seeded from the new server, as well as the Arutha server while it remains online. However, there have been and will be changes.

1. When Orphan's releases required minor fixes, I often didn't bother to make a new torrent; instead, I just released a patch for the old one. However, the original files have long since disappeared, and only the v2 (or v3) is actually archived. Accordingly, I've had to make new torrents for a handful of releases. I've pointed out that these are not new, but simple remediation for my past laziness. If there are other patched releases that need updated torrents, please let me know.
2. The new seed box will not support XDCC. This is painful to IRC stalwarts like me, but in fact, IRC usage has been steadily declining, as the downloads from the Orphan|Arutha bot show. With a robust new seeding capability, all of Orphan's releases will remain available. If any release is not being seeded, please let me know.

If you are an IRC user, you have until January 31, 2026, to download whatever you want or need from Orphan|Arutha. After that, it is gone with the wind. 

The Orphan team will continue to serve you treasures and trash from anime's deep, dark past. Thanks for watching!

 

 

Hiroshima ni Chiban Densha ga Hashitta

A new year, a new Orphan release about the atomic bombings in World War II. This time, it's the 1993 NHK TV special Hiroshima ni Chiban Densha ga Hashitta (The First Tram Runs to Hiroshima). It's short - only 30 minutes - but like Natsufuku no Shoujo-tachi, its short length strengthens rather than vitiates its impact. Its another fine addition to Orphan's catalog of anime movies and specials about World War II. It centers around the Hiroshima tram system, which dated back to 1910 and was a vital transportation system for the city. By late in the war, middle-school girls had been drafted to take the place of male conductors, who had been sent to the arm or war factories.

The story focuses on three schoolgirls: Yayoi, a homesick girl trying not to run back to her mother, who works at an inn; Tsuki, the tallest and most mature; and Tae, a cheerful girl who believes in "first come, first served." 

The girls live in a dormitory near the tram yards and attempt to mix work and schooling, but they're always too tired to stay awake in the classroom.

Life is fairly routine. There's never enough food or sleep, but they're basically living normal lives... until August 6th.

The atomic bombing flattens much of Hiroshima and kills 100,000 people, or more.

108 of the 123 trams are destroyed or damaged. 185 employees of the tram company are killed. The girls suffer representatives fates: one killed, one burned, one untouched and plagued by survivor guilt. Yet three days after the bombing, the tram system is partially restored, and the first trams began running, a symbol of the hope for Hiroshima's recovery. 

Two of the trams that survived have been restored and are still running today.

Like many atomic bombing narratives, Hiroshima ni Chiban Densha ga Hashitta skips lightly over the bombing itself and the brutal human cost, when many of the survivors succumbed to radiation poisoning. This airbrushing of the horror is common in media portrayals. The Japanese didn't want to scare their wartime population, and the American occupation authorities censored or prevented accurate reporting for six years. For that reason, the best way to understand what happened is not anime or movies, but the printed word: John Hersey's 1946 understated and devastating book, Hiroshima. Even eighty years later, its impact remains undiminished and undeniable.

The credits for this show are very sparse. The voice actors appear to be a mix of anime seiyuu and live-action actors, and the roles they played are not specified:

• Yoshida Rohiko played the title role in Majokko Megu-chan and Maicchingu Machiko-sensei, Monsley in Future Boy Conan, Maria Grace Fleed in UFO Robo Grendizer, Michiru in Getter Robo, Clara Sesemann in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Rosalie Lamorliere in The Rose of Versailles, and Kurama in Urusei Yatsura. She appeared in numerous other World Masterpiece Theater series, including  Anne of Green Gables, Honoo no Alpen Rose, Katry the Cow Girl, Shoukoushi Cedie, Lucy May of the Southern Rainbow, Marco: 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, Perrine, and Pollyanna. She played Holy Mother in Gude Crest, Sozu in Nayuta, Takako in Sugata Sanshiro, Deborah in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament, and Diaochan in the first Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases.
• Chiba Shigeru played Megane in the Urusei Yatsura franchise and Nezumi in later GeGeGe no Kitarou movies. He played the title role in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call and appeared in Ai no Kusabi, Akai Hayate, Bagi, Condition Green, Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai: Tsuyoshi no Time Machine de Shikkari Shinasai, and Yamato.
• Ohara Junko was a singer.
• Yoshimura Miki was a model and actress.
• Ohara Jouko was a film actress.

The show was directed by Hirata Toshio, an industry veteran who started at Toei and then worked at Mushi Pro. Hirata directed two Unico movies, Barefoot Gen 2, Hi no Tori: Yamata Chapter, Natsufuku no Shoujo-tachi, and Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori. The last two are Orphan release. It was written and produced by NHK and animated by Madhouse.

Perevodildo found the DVD ISO, translated, and timed. Paul Geromini edited. I QCed and typeset. Uchuu also QCed. The encoder wished to remain anonymous but left these notes:

The source is very good, with only very minor anti-aliasing, dehaloing, derainbowing, and chroma noise removal applied. VFR to preserve smooth motion of the intro/outro scrolling credits. I've also tightened up the DVD chapter timings as well.

Despite it's brief runtime, I thought the storyboard for this feature was well structured, giving near equal time to both the Before and After periods of the pivotal moment, allowing each to breathe. The production studio also made conscious efforts to render in the ruins of the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall (Genbaku Dome) as it still stands until now.

With lawless warlords running rampant around the world, including in my own country, Hiroshima ni Chiban Densha ga Hashitta is a timely reminder of what's at stake when war and destruction are unleashed. It's short and on point. It has a guardedly hopeful ending, but that hope built on a mountain of dead. You can get the show from the usual torrent site and, until January 31, 2026, from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

2025 in Review

2025 turned out to be even more calamitous than I had feared. I couldn't bear to watch the news, as one horror followed another.

Orphan Fansubs

Despite the adverse conditions in real life, Orphan released a near-record number of projects, primarily thanks to prolific translator Perevodildo and the many staffers and helpers from across IRC and Discord. The team subbed several outstanding movies, crushed the backlog of untranslated Young Animator OVAs, revisited some old favorites, and laid the groundwork for interesting new and ongoing projects in 2026.

1. Gakkou no Yuurei volume 3. More ghost stories, mixed animation and live action.
2. Seirei Tsukai. Gods versus superpowered humans. Most of the planet ends up as collateral damage, and no one seems to care much.
3. Gakkou no Yuurei volume 4. Even more ghost stories, mixed animation and live action.
4. Tsuyoshi Shikkari Shinasai: Tsuyoshi no Time Machine de Shikkari Shinasai. A side OVA from long-running (112 episodes), totally forgotten sitcom. Put-upon elder brother Tsuyoshi and a pal travel back in time and discover, accidentally, why his family life in the present is so broken.
5. Mikosuri Han Gekijou. A collection of dirty jokes, strung together around themes. You'll like it, or you won't.
6. Sakyou Komatsu's Animation Theater. Outstanding science fiction and satire from a noted Japanese author. This show is always interesting, often thought provoking, and sometimes spooky.
7. Toraemon. A paean to the 1985 championship baseball team, the Henshin Tigers. Filled with topical references and satires on real characters, it is impossible to understand without a decoder ring.
8. Zetsuai 1989 v2. The grand-daddy of BL OVAs, in a new, shinier encode.
9. Tistou Midori no Oyayubi. A wondrous full-length movie about the power of goodness and beauty to alter lives for the better. Its fairy-tale like artwork and story soothe the soul.
10. Utsu no Miko (1989). This rarity is the prequel to the better-known OVA series of the same name. Utsu no Miko and his friends battle greed and perfidy on Earth, ultimately concluding they must take their battle to the heavens.
11. Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko (1990). A summary movie for the OVA series, covering the first five chapters.
12. Tanjou Debut. This OVA showcases four wannabe idols/actresses performing in unrelated TV dramas.
13. Cello Hiki no Gauche 1998. A highly abbreviated version of the classic, made to be shown in school classrooms. Faithful to the original but nowhere near as good as the Takahata Isao version.
14. Hashire Melos 1979. Another abbreviated version of a classic for the educational market. It is much shorter than the (later) movie but again, not as good.
15. Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu 1988. An enigmatic mahjong player, known only as the Calling Dragon, tangles with various yakuza factions, all of whom want him for his legendary luck. An expanded version of the OVA that was subbed in 2024.
16. Kimu no Juujika. An excellent movie about the kidnapping of Korean workers for forced labor on the Japanese mainland during World War II. A religious overlay does not mask the brutality of the Japanese regime.  
17. Heart Cocktail Colorful episodes 1-5. A modern version of Watase Seizou's classic short tales of love found, lost, or regained. This set of five stories is set in spring. Joint with DarkWispers and LonelyChaser.
18. Magma Taishi, episodes 1-4. A Tezuka Osamu series that had been on my radar for a long time. Aliens led by the evil Lord Goa intend to seize Earth and destroy humanity. Only a handful of people, aided by a giant golden robot named Magma, stand in his way.
19. Tooyamazakura Uchuuchou: Yatsu no Na wa Gold. A complete clusterfuck of a sci-fi show, in which samurai themes are transplanted into an interplanetary future. Joint with Inka.
20. Gakkou no Yuurei volume 5. Still more ghost stories, mixed animation and live action.
21. Junk Boy. An ecchi, not to mention sketchy, story about a young boy who lands his dream job at men's magazine Potato Boy, only to find that life surrounded by beautiful (and sometimes naked) women is not quite what he expected. I originally edited this show for Erobeat. The new translation and encode are a significant improvement.
22. Heart Cocktail Colorful episodes 6-10. Five summer stories from Watase Seizou. Joint with DarkWispers and LonelyChaser.
23. Heart Cocktail Colorful episodes 11-15 and batch. The final set of five stories, set in late fall and winter. Joint with DarkWispers and LonelyChaser. 
24. Gakkou no Yuurei volume 6 and batch. The last of the original series.
25. The First Line. A recent web short, showing the tribulations of a young animator trying to find his own style. The anime plays with framing as a way of showing the young man breaking out of his constraints.
26. Usagi-chan de Cue!!. This very funny and very ecchi sci-fi caper posits a fusion between a schoolboy's pet rabbit and curvaceous girl delinquent. The resulting hybrid is very affectionate toward her keeper, and more than combative enough to fend off the various baddies. The third episode was my first attempt at rescuing an orphan, as part of C1. This version has a better translation and new encode.
27. Magma Taishi, episodes 5-7. The plot thickens. The aliens infiltrate by posing as humans, protected by various shady government agencies more interested in alien technology than saving humanity. 
28. Shin Gakkou no Yuurei. A sequel to the original series, fully animated for the first time since volume 1. 
29. Magma Taishi, episodes 8-10. The good guys' attempts to fend off Lord Goa seem increasingly futile. 
30. Magma Taishi, episodes 11-13 and batch. The Slough of Despond™ and the eventual victory of humanity. However, the outcome is not as clear-cut as one might expect in a shounen sci-fi series. 
31. Tezuka Osamu Works: Kyoto Animation Theater. A collection of short films that were shown in the Tezuka Osamu Kyoto Animation Theater, now closed. Shorts about familiar Tezuka characters - Astro Boy, Unico, Princess Knight, Leo the white lion, Black Jack, the Phoenix - alternate with humorous looks at key episodes in Kyoto's history.
32. Aoi Kioku. An excellent movie about Japan's attempts to colonize Manchuria during World War II. Teenage boys are lured to Manchuria with the promise of free land, only to find themselves unprotected and at the mercy of Russian soldiers when the Soviets invade in August, 1945.
33. Hello WeGo! A Young Animator's OVA. The protagonist is a lonely boy whose only companion is his mobile robot, named WeGo. A fairly routine coming-of-age story, but not offensive.
34. Kicks and Punk. Another Young Animator's OVA. The main character is a girl who loves to run in an age when everyone else uses automated propulsion. She discovers a shared mania for sneakers with an unlikely older woman.
35. Midnight Crazy Trail. A Young Animator's OVA. A young witch is sent to our world for training, but all she wants to do is get rid of her magic and be ordinary. Sort of a cross between Kiki's Delivery Service and Getbackers and not very original.
36. Hoshizora no Violin. A movie about a young boy whose quest to become Japan's Stradivarius is interrupted by World War II. Moving, but it whitewashes the Japanese regime in Manchuria; Aoi Kioku is more realistic.
37. Charanpo Land no Bouken. A Young Animator's OVA. Animals live in a fantasy world where a magic baobab tree provides all the necessities of daily life. When the tree suddenly becomes barren, three youngsters must race against time and other interests to restore the tree's essence.
38. Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills. A Young Animator's OVA. A fast-moving and subversive sci-fi story, in which a wannabe "Vtuber" slacker suddenly receives an overpowered baby as a present.
39. Shibuya Honky Tonk. The purported autobiography of George Akayama, ex-yakuza, author, and raconteur. Exaggerated and more than a bit smug, it's an entertaining comedy in spots.
40. Adesugata Mahou no Sannin Musume. Princess Persia, Minky Momo, and Creamy Mami hang out at a hot springs, make prank calls to their boyfriends, and review highlights from their TV series.
41. The Fullmoon Tradition: Indra (Pilot). A short promotional film for an Oshii Mamoru series that was never made. An intriguing premise.
42. Cat-Eyed Boy episodes 9 - 12. Once again, more Cat-Eyed Boy for Halloween. Subsequently, we've learned that the complete series will be released on DVD in 2026. 
43. Shin Takarajima DVD. An early Tezuka Osamu TV special, retelling Treasure Island with animal characters. It features a new, improved encode.
44. Heavy. A movie about a karate fighter who is recruited by a dying sports doctor to contend for the heavyweight title.
45. Animated Classics of Japanese Literature: The Izu Dancer. This collection of stories based on classic Japanese literature has been on my radar for a long time. The first is an oblique tale of a student's encounter with, and unfulfilled love for, an itinerant entertainer.
46. Ashita Genki ni Naare! This movie starts with the firebombing of Tokyo in March, 1945, but it mostly focuses on the plight of Japanese orphans immediately after the war.
47. It Rained Fire. This outstanding movie is tightly focused on the firebombing of Fukuoka in June, 1945. It's juxtaposition of children's carefree lives prior to the air raid, and the horrors they went through during it, is very effective. 
48. Animated Classics of Japanese Literature: The Sound of Waves. This second story in Animated Classics is a coming of age story about a young fisherman's romance with a local girl, and the obstacles both must overcome to reach their mutual happiness.
49. Animated Classics of Japanese Literature: The Dancing Girl. Episode ten of Animated Classics is another star-crossed romance, this time with tragic results.

Okizari, Orphan's h-anime label, was also active this year.

1. Bouken Shite mo Ii Koro. A reworking of a show first released by Erobeat, with improved encode and translation. It's about the (mis)adventures of a young man whose desire to be in films leads him to work as an AV actor for a porn video company.
2. Angel. A new translation of an OVA first released by Erobeat. This release uses the first edition Japanese laserdisc, which includes a smidgen of content cut from later home-video versions.

My personal favorites included Tistou Midori, Sakyou Komatsu's Animation Theater, Kimu no Juujika, Aoi Kioku, It Rained Fire, and Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills. The ultra-short The Fullmoon Tradition: Indra was very intriguing. Mikosuri Han Gekijou and Junk Boy were guilty pleasures.

A big "thank you" to all the team members, including translators Perevodildo, Skr, and Yume (who also time), editor and QC Paul Geromini, timer ninjacloud, QCs Nemesis, Uchuu, Topper3000, VigorousJammer, Eternal_Blizzard, bananadoyouwanna, MartyMcflies, Muzussawa, and True Noobow Gamer,and encoders anonymous1, anonymous2, "coffee," and WOWmd. I must also thank the Arutha foundation, which hosts all of Orphan's releases on IRC and reseeded all of our past releases. Finally, I'd like to thank our joint-project collaborators: Inka, DarkWispers, and LonelyChaser. But whether mentioned or not, every staff member has contributed to the work this year.

The Audio Side

Nothing this year.

 
Work for Other Groups

Some old, some new.

• Frozen-EviL. Yawara! reached a major milestone with the completion of the Blu-ray version of the show and the release of the batch torrent. I also edited the live-action movie. Sayona, Yawara-chan!
• Blasphemboys. I QCed more of Ningen Kakumei. I edited or QCed several other shows as well.
• Darkonius. I finished editing and typesetting a new version of Damekko Doubutsu (Useless Animals). This is one of my favorite short series, and I look forward to its release.

Favorites of 2025

I'm not an anime critic, so I don't try to compile a "best of" list for the anime year. Instead, I'm listing my favorites of the year and why they kept me watching all the way through. As usual, shows with lots of "action" (i.e., violence) mostly don't make the cut.

In alphabetical order:

• Ame to Kimi to. This low-key comedy about an introverted young woman who adopts a smarter-than-the-average-bear tanuki was very soothing. As is often the case with pets, the tanuki helps his(?) "owner" grow and come out of her shell.
• Apocalypse Hotel. An absurdist comedy about a high-end Tokyo hotel staffed completely by robots after the human race disappears. The humor gets very "out there" at times, but it worked for me.
• Ballpark de Tsukamaete! A feel-good comedy about the fans and staff at a mid-tier baseball team's stadium.
• Dandadan S2. It doesn't get more over-the-top than this show, and the the second season amped up the shenanigans to eleven. 
• Dekin no Mokura. An oddball show about college students awakening to the world of spirits after interacting with a generous, and perhaps immortal, recluse.
• Kowloon Generic Romance. An intriguing sci-fi/slice-of-life show, with an underlying premise that wasn't clear even after it ended.
• Kuroshitsuji: Midori no Majo Hen. This is the first Kuroshitsuji series I was able to watch all the way through. Although totally absurd in its science (tanks in the 1880s?), the human drama seemed more compelling and grounded.
• Kusuriya no Hitorigoto S2. The further adventures of Xiomao and Maomao and company. Although showing signs of "light novel syndrome" (i.e., spinning events out for the sake of more volumes), it still hits my historical shoujo sweet spot.
• Okinawa de Suki ni Natta Ko ga Hougen Sugite Tsura Sugiru. This lightweight, likeable comedy about a Tokyo boy smitten with an Okinawan girl but unable to understand her dialect never set a foot wrong.
• Shabake. Youkai and mysteries. For me, an unbeatable combination. The self-effacing, quiet protagonist proved much stronger than he appeared. 

Quirky personal favorites:

• Me and the Alien MuMu. Alien cats obsessed with consumer appliances trying to save Earth from destruction? What's not to like?

I continue to enjoy the Ranma 1/2 reboot, rather more than original. And I watched the extended epilogue of Boku no Hero Academia, which is a masterclass on how to conclude a long-running battle shounen.

 

Looking Ahead

Orphan ends 2025 with a significant backlog of projects. We intend to finish the DVD episodes of Animated Classics of Japanese Literature and continue to search for other sources for the rest. There will be more Cat-Eyed Boy, hopefully from the DVD remasters. And we're starting a new project to revisit the early Toei Douga movies, using the best sources available.

 

On the down side, the Arutha foundation is closing down early next year. Orphan is collaborating with Saizen for a new torrent seeding and archiving solution, but the IRC XDCC capability will disappear. If you use IRC XDCC, please get your files before January 31, 2026.

 

Meanwhile, thanks, everyone, both team members and fans. Have a happy and safe 2026.