Elf 17 Blu-ray

Elf 17 was done back in 2020. It was a a lot of fun, marred only by its source, a VHS rip. I wasn't hoping for a better source, but lo! one has appeared: a fully remastered Blu-ray. It didn't take much longer than reading about the BD release to start a project to revisit the show.

Elf 17 is based on a six volume manga (not available in English) by Yamamoto Atsuji. It chronicles the adventures of Prince Muskat Tylor as he travels around the Galactic Empire, accompanied by Lu, a winged elf and the strongest creature in the universe, and K.K., a walking arsenal in an armored suit. The 1987 OVA recounts the start of their adventures. The prince stages a no-holds-barred martial arts tournament to find a companion for his travels. 

 

The contest is proceeding to a lethal climax when Lu suddenly flies in, in all her glory.

 

Naturally, she crushes all the competitors. The prince is delighted by the prospect of such a beautiful companion, but K.K. refuses to concede and proceeds to demolish the arena in his attempts to corral Lu. 

 

The prince eventually decides to take both of them along.

 

Their first (and only) adventure occurs when their spaceship crash-lands on Planet Asaharu, home to a mysterious shrine containing the wine of Bacchus. Although the wine is stored in a supposedly impenetrable sarcophagus, Lu and K.K. easily remove the lid. However, it's all a dastardly plot by the spaceship's driver, who brought them there deliberately in order to steal the wine. 

After suitable amounts of comic mayhem, Lu and K.K. save the day, and everyone heads off for more fun - and trouble - in the galaxy. Well, the OVA is really just a teaser for the manga, a common practice in the 1980s (cf. Sanctuary and Meisou-ou Border).

The voice cast is like a rogue's gallery of 1980's OVA seiyuu:

• Honda Chieko (Ruu) played Kurumi in Kimagure Orange Road, Marybell in Hana no Mahou Tsukai Marybell, Amy in the Gall Force OVAs, Rullishia in Dragon Century, Meroko in Full Moon o Sagashite, Sara Russell in Lady Lady!!, Marie in Soul Eater, and Lea in the Ancient Book of Ys OVAs. She played Francesa in Tottoi and Hiromi in Kakyuusei 1995, and she had minor roles in Greed and St. Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, all Orphan releases.
• Yao Kazuki (K.K.) is best known as Franky in One Piece, but he also played the lead in Makyou Gaiden Le Deus, the title role in Rance, Dark Schneider in Bastard!!, Chivas in Sorcerer on the Rocks, Yoki in Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions), and Kouichiro in the Initial D franchise. He played the title role in Samurai Gold, Tatsuya in Season of the Sun, Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, Ryougaku in Wild 7, Charles Morbridge in Nana Toshi Monogatari, Robert Ryan in Star Dust, Hamel in Violinist of Hamelinand Sofue Akira in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Kamiya Akira (Masukato Taira) is best known for the title roles in the City Hunter properties and the Kinnikuman franchise. He played Kazamatsuri in Yawara!, Roy Focker in Macross, Kyuusaku in the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku properties, and Mendou in Urusei Yatsura. He also played Mizushima in The Izu Dancer, Sergent Zim in Starship Troopers, Abe Edinburgh in MAPS, Kiro in Nayuta, Kentarou in Nine, and stole the show as the lecherous robot Chiraku in Hoshi Neko Full House, all Orphan releases.
• Yara Yuusaku (Driver) played the destroyer captain in Zipang and Walken in BAOH. He played Lucky Roman in Heavy, Yang in Kimu no Juujika, Kai in Tomoe ga Yuku! and Hachisuku in Meisou-Ou Border, and he had many featured roles, appearing in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, Samurai Gold, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Nayuta, Elementalors, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.

The director, Sakata Junichi, directed DNA^2, Kaze no Stigma, the To Heart OVAs, and the wonderfully goofy High School Agent.

The original releases used subs from Box Subs with additional translation by Orphan's intrepid media maven. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and BeeBee QCed. For this release, Perevodildo translation checked the original script. I shifted ninjacloud's original timing, which needed few other changes, redid all the signs, and added some new ones made readable by the new transfer. darkcart of Inka-Subs did a major edit to tighten up the dialog and make it punchier. Uchuu and an anonymous staffer checked the release. The encode was done by an anonymous friend, who noted:

 

It's well known that the animators for this OVA managed to sneak in various references into the background when they could. For example [in one place] you can see a Moomin beside two Kamen Riders below an awning sign which reads KAMEHAMEHA!! (Dragon Ball) when the letters are ordered properly. Also in the audience during a panning shot @ 00:48 you can see Chewbacca (Star Wars) in attendance. Further @ ~01:10, one can spot, among others, a Zeon Soldier (from Gundam) and Lum (from Urusei Yatsura) obscured in the crowd. The superb HD transfer makes small details such as those easier to appreciate.

A piece of trivia less well-known is that Muskat Tylor's sunglasses and afro-clad side attendant are, in all but name, the Spiderman-knockoff scientist character from Ultimate Teacher. Both stories were adaptations of manga written by Yamamoto Atsuji, and both centered around a cute yet ridiculously strong female main character, which explains the link. Ultimate Teacher predates Elf 17; it was published starting in 1981, whereas Elf 17 only began serialization in 1985... Interestingly, the OVA for Elf 17... was released in January, 1987. Ultimate Teacher's OVA... followed shortly thereafter in February, 1988.  

 

The raw is gorgeous, and sign tracking worked much better.

Elf 17 is the embodiment of light entertainment. It hasn't a serious thought in its head. The violence is all for comic effect, and there's no nudity or sex. And I can finally answer a question that has bothered me since the original project: Is Lu is the 17th elf or 17 years old? In fact, she's 17 years old in elf years, perhaps 15 in human years. Jeopardy next! Meanwhile, you can get this wonderful show from the usual torrent site. Everyone who worked on it liked it, and you will too.