Cyborg 009 (1966)

If you were a US kid in the 1960s, you grew up watching non-stop blocks of cartoons on Saturday morning. Some of these were US productions; some, like Astro Boy and Speed Racer, were dubbed and re-edited Japanese productions. Simplified plots, simplified characters, and simplified animation prevailed. Thus, working on Toei's 1966 movie Cyborg 009 - the first work in what proved to be a durable franchise - felt like deja vu all over again. I was watching a 1960s Saturday morning cartoon, albeit in color and high definition.

This was not an accident. After the relative failure of Gulliver no Uchuu Ryokou, Toei decided to take a bifurcated approach to feature-length anime. They would still make expensive, fully animated features, but less frequently. To fill in the gaps in their release schedule, they would create features using TV animation techniques. TV animation saved money by using fewer unique frames, repeated sequences, and simplified backgrounds and character designs.The first movie released under this strategy was Cyborg 009. Orphan and Inka are pleased to bring you a new version, is full high-definition, encoded from the Japanese Blu-ray.

Cyborg 009 is based on a sci-fi manga by Ishinomori Shoutarou. It tells a standard good guys/bad buys plot, but in this case, the cyborgs are the good guys. The villains are Black Ghost, a supranational crime syndicate dedicated to fomenting wars in order to sell weapons to both sides. 

Despite having an arsenal that would make a superpower green with envy, Black Ghost wants to have even deadlier weapons.

They coerce Professor Gilmore into creating a line of cyborgs, augmented humans with unsurpassed special powers.

They stage a fatal racing accident that kills driver Shimamura Joe and bring his corpse to Gilmore to become the ultimate cyborg, 009. Little Do They Know™, however, that Gilmore has been secretly programming the Cyborgs to be soldiers of justice. They revolt and escape.

Now with Joe as their leader, they work to bring about Black Ghost's downfall.

As the hero, Cyborg 009 is both Japanese and generally overpowered. The other eight come from other countries and have more specialized capabilities:

• 001, Ivan Whisky, a Russian baby, is super brainy with psychic powers.
  
  
  
  
  
• 002, Jet Link, an American, can fly at Mach 5.
  
  
  
  
  
• 003, Françoise Arnoul, a French girl, has super sight and hearing.
  
  
  
  
  
• 004, Albert Heinrich, an East German, is heavily armed with rockets and missiles.
  
  
  
  
  
• 005, Geronimo Jr, native American, is immensely strong.
  
  
  
  
  
• 006, Chang Changku, Chinese, can breathe fire.
  
  
  
  
  
• 007, Great Britain, an English child, is a shape-shifter.
  
  
  
  
  
• 008, Pyunma, Kenyan, can swim underwater indefinitely.
  
  
  
  
  

Thus, they have the right skills to confront Black Ghost's swarms of robot dinosaurs, manned submarines, unmanned jets, and red shirts.

In addition to the movie, this release includes the preview as well as the (wordless) non-credit OP and ED. The latter is just the last 20 seconds of the movie, with the concluding fanfare. The NCOP and NCED are SD resolution. The movie has a second audio track, with just the background music, suitable for making fandubs (not).

The movie seems to have been cobbled together from multiple sources. For example, there is a notable increase in grain at 22:20, for a few seconds. It also has numerous animation and continuity errors. My favorite is when 007 complains that they are out of fuel for their jet, when, in fact, the jet had been blown up a few scenes before.

The voice cast includes:

• Oota Hiroyuki (009) had no other voice acting roles.
• Toriyama Kyouko (001) played Romy in the first Jungle Emperor Leo TV series.
• Ishihara Ryou (002) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He narrated Dracula: Sovereign of the Damned, Future War Year 198X, Ningen Kakumei, and Uchuu Kuubo Blue Noah.
• Judy Ongg (003) was an actress, singer, author and woodblock-print artist born in Taiwan. She had no other voice acting roles.
• Ootake Hiroshi (004) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He also played  Nezu in Akira, Dayon in the first Osomatsu-kun, 004 in the first Cyborg 009 movie, and Boss in the Mazinger franchise. He also played Fox in Shounen Jack to Mahou Tsukai, Vailly in Greed, Takeshi in Yukuguni no Ouji-sama, Michael in the What's Michael? OVAs, Director Hiruta in Ojisan Kaizou Kouza, and (Juushoku,  the temple priest) in Kachikenee!, al Orphan releases.
• Masuoki Hiroshi (005) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He also played Fuguta Masuo in Sazae-san until 2019, Minami's father in Touch, and Ojisan Jam in the Soreike! Anpanman frachise. He played Wujing Sha in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I am Son Goku and appeared in Shounen Jack to Hidamari no Ki, King Fang, Mahou Tsukai, Meisou-ou Border, Nine, Fumoon, and Bremen 4, all  Orphan releases.
• Fujimura Arihiro (006) also appeared in Hyokkori Hyoutan-jima and Andersen Monogatari.
• Soga Machiko (007) played the same role in the 1960's Cyborg 009 TV series. He also played he title role in Obake no Q-taro Joker, Totto in Hyppo and Thomas, and Joker in Maken Liner 0011 Henshin Seyo!, an Orphan release.
• Utsumi Kenji (008) played Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, Senbei Norimaki in Dr. Slump and Arale-chan, the village chief in Watt Poe, and Alex Louis Armstrong in both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. He played Ishikawa in Mahjong Hishouden: Naki no Ryuu and appeared in Nora, Bavi Stock, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Techno Police 21C, Don Dracula (title role), 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases. appeared in Nora, Bavi Stock, Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Techno Police 21C, Don Dracula (title role), 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, A Ghost Story, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases.
• Yanami Jouji (Dr. Gilmore) played Jumbo in Kikansha Yaemon: D51 no Daibouken, Ozora Ibari in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, Akahatsu (Red Shirt) in Bocchan, Lump in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Murphy in Maris the Choujo, the wine-loving Big Bird in Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Gen-san in Yukiguni no Oujisama, and the cart vendor in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, all Orphan releases. He narrated most of the Dragon Ball Z properties. He played Ittan Momen in several of the GeGeGe no Kitaro series and movies and Chuta Ban in all the Kyojin no Hoshi TV series.
• Kawakubo Kiyoshi (Beagle) played Kevin Yeager in D.gray-man and Guame in Tengen Toppe Gurren Lagann. He appeared in Rain Boy, King Fang, and Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: I Am Son Gokuu, all Orphan releases.
• Yamanouchi Masato (Black Ghost leader) appeared in Casshan, Future Boy Conan, Racoon Rascal, and Shounen Santa no Daibouken. He played the prophet Samuel in Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament and (Professor Hayashi in Maken Liner 0011 Henshin Seyo!, both Orphan releases.
• Hase Sanji (Ösel/Easel) played Shuunen in the Ikyuu-san properties, Kazuo in The Kabocha Wine, Nanako-san in the Kinnikuman franchise, and Yoshikawa in Botchan (1986), an Orphan release.

The director, Serikawa Yuugo, also directed several other Toei releases, including Wanpaku Ouji no Orochi Taiji, Chibikko Remi to Meiken Kapi, Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, an Orphan releaseand a GeGeGe no Kitarou movie.

This version of Cyborg 009 started with BlueFixer's script for his SD release many years ago. TougeWolf translation checked and rough-timed. ninjacloud fine-timed. I edited and typeset (very little). VigorousJammer, AGundam, and WasteOfHair QCed. The encode was by an anonymous friend. This is another Inka-Subs and Orphan Fansubs collaboration, and like all our partnerships to date, it went very smoothly.

There's no point in looking at Cyborg 009 rationally. The villains are straight out of the James Bond movies: the chief villain even has a lap cat. (The opening credits, with their silhouetted Cyborgs in action poses, salutes the James Bond movies too.) The Cyborgs are impossibly good-hearted and dedicated. The show jumps from one confrontation to another, with the shortest of breaks. The cartoon violence is bloodless, and the action sequences are interspersed with slapstick comedy.

I fell under its spell right away, as did the other staffers who worked on it. I hope you will too. You can get Cyborg 009 from the usual torrent site.

 

Miyuki Forever

After Miyuki was finished back in 2014, the team basically disbanded. When a viewer pointed out that the DVD box set contained an AMV called Miyuki: Forever Selection, there wasn't much enthusiasm to work on it. I threw together a set of dialog subs and signs around an existing raw and fobbed it off. Eventually, I decided that this was (more than) a little lazy, so I cajoled Skr into making a new encode, redid the signs, and released that as the FroZen-EviL version. It was still a lazy release, though; none of the songs were translated.

Fast forward a decade. WOWmd found a laserdisc of a longer version of the AMV, called simply Miyuki: Forever, and encoded it. It not only had more songs, it looked better too. (The Miyuki DVDs, like the Yawara! DVDs, were pretty bad. Maybe Miyuki will get a Blu-ray remaster too, someday.) The passing years had erased any frustrations with the project, leaving only my affection for the series itself. Accordingly, I was eager to do a proper sub of Forever. Happily, darkcart, proprietor of Inka-Subs, also loved the series; it was the first one he ever watched. He organized a project to sub the show and enlisted me to do typesetting, QC, and general kibbitzing, for another smooth Inka-Orphan joint project.

Miyuki: Forever is a collection of songs set to scenes from the series. It is stitched together with a small amount of dialog, but it doesn't really follow the plot. It isn't a proper superset of Miyuki: Forever Selection, although when the same song occurs in both, the same scenes from the series are used. The songs are:

1. 10% Chance of Rain (10% no Ame Youhou) - H2O. Series opening song. Selection uses the full song with scenes from the series. This show uses the shorter series opening and animation. 
2. Hello Vibration - H2O.
3. Goodbye, Highway of Youth (Saraba, Seishun no Highway) - Virgin VS. Not included in Selection.
4. Hold On, Make Love (Chotto Matte, Make Love) - Smart Looking. Not included in Selection.
5. Sensual Girl (Kannou Shoujo) - Takao Kisugi
6. Summer Holiday - Michiko Kawai. Series second ending song.
7. The Foghorn is Calling Me (Muteki ga Ore wo Yonde Iru) - THE SPOILE. Not included in Selection.
8. Goodbye Season - H2O. Series third ending song.
9.  Lily Collection (Yuri Collection) - Virgin VS. Not included in Selection.
10. Howl at the Moon (Yoru ni Hoero) - White Dragon. Not included in Selection.
11. Goodbye Day - Takao Kisugi.
12. Dream Radio City (Yume no Radio City) - Virgin VS. Insert song in series episode 33.
13. Lonely Boy, Lonely Girl - Hakuryuu. Insert song in series episode 26. Not included in Selection.
14. Memories Overflowing (Omoide ga Ippai) - H2O. Series first ending song.

Selection includes a song, "Furimukeba Broken Heart", that is not present in this AMV; the Miyuki fanatic will need to have both. I liked many of the songs on the AMV, particularly the ones by H2O and Takao Kusugi. Note, however, that several are earworms. You have been warned.

The original dialog subs and the signs are from FroZen-EviL's release of the TV series.  (See my blog post on the series for staff credits.) The song translators were:

• FroZen-Evil (laalg): 10% Chance of Rain.
• darkcart: Lonely Girl, Lonely Boy, Hello Vibration, Sensual Girl, Summer Holiday, Dream Radio City, Goodbye Season, and Memories Overflowing.
• Perevodildo: Lily Collection and Howl at the Moon.
• Jimmy: Goodbye Day
• perry dimes: Goodbye, Highway of Youth, Hold On, Make Love, and The Foghorn is Calling Me.

TougeWolf checked the translations and filled in some missing dialog.. I typeset, QCed, and did a bit of editorial tweaking (I can't help myself). imatu also QCed. WOWmd encoded from his own Domesday Duplicator rip of a Japanese laserdisc. This is a new encode, not the one released as a WOWmd-raw.

So here, a decade later, is proper version of Miyuki: Forever, courtesy of Inka and Orphan, with a little help from our friends. This is probably my last word on the show. darkcart and I would like to redo the series from better sources, but the laserdiscs are unlikely to get encoded soon, and there's no sign of a Blu-ray box set. Meanwhile, you can get Miyuki: Forever from the usual torrent site.

AI on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (Trust)

Inka-Subs and Orphan Fansubs finish their work on Anime no Tane 2025 with Trust. The other three shows were:

• Dive-In!, no dialog
• Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills, subtitled by Inka and Orphan
• Sora and the Big Tree, subtitled by Inka and Orphan

Actually, this is the end of our work on all instances of the Young Animator's Training Project,  whether called Project A, Anime Mirai, Anime Tamago, or Anime no Tane - because they're almost all done (mostly not by us). There are still four unsubbed OVAs in the series, with questionable raws, but we'll leave them for other teams.

Trust is not the best in the Young Animators' series, but it is thought provoking and dense. However, it's difficult to discuss without giving away the plot, so if you don't want to be spoiled, skip down a couple of paragraphs to the voice cast. [Spoilers ahead] As the story opens, the management AI of a MMORPG called "To World" has summoned a user who has tried to hack the game.

The AI, known as Violet, intends to suspend the user, known as Mia, for violating the Terms of Service.

Mia argues back desperately, claiming that the hack was an excuse to find Violet, because Violet is, in fact, the projection of her mother, who is imprisoned by criminals and used as an enforcer in the metaverse (shades of The Matrix). The AI pooh-poohs this idea and fends off Mia's increasingly desperate advances with a weapon that displays like a banana, because Mia is underage and can't be shown real weapons.

Mia seizes on this. How could Violet know that Mia is underage? The AI must know from real life. Mia gradually wears Violet down and wins her trust. Eventually, Mia asks Violet to transfer admin rights to her, so that Mia can close Violet's account and free her. Wracked by conflict,

Violet eventually agrees and transfers rights. Cut.

To this point, Trust has played like a standard "escape from the virtual world" story, with a human entering the virtual world to rescue someone trapped there. All of the animation has been obvious computer graphics - planes and angles, triangles and pixels. Now, the camera pulls back to reveal three actual human beings, played by real actors, watching what has happened on a large screen. 

They are the CEO, CTO, and engineer of the MMORPG company. Their AI, Violet, has destroyed the game by transferring admin rights to an external entity, which in turn has given them to 70,000 users. The three humans are baffled. Violet is alone, talking to herself, thanking an invisible entity for returning her to reality. That is, Violet has hallucinated the whole thing - the intruder daughter, the discovery of her humanity, her return to reality.

I find this interesting because AIs do in fact hallucinate: they produce results labeled as accurate that are completely made up, as lawyers and graduate students have found out to their cost. Further, AIs exhibit emergent behavior: they do things beyond what their creators intended or programmed in. Is it beyond possibility that an AI would hallucinate that it is human and act accordingly? It's an interesting twist on the AI-runs-amok-and-destroys-mankind trope. This AI has no malevolent intentions against humanity. It thinks it is human and wants to rejoin its fellows. [End spoilers]

The animated segment is a two-hander, so the voice cast is small.

•  Matsumoto Sara (Mia) has had featured roles in many recent anime, including Loretta in Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou, Honoka in Kamerabi God.app, Fatima Double Darts in Undead Murder Farce, and Rin in The Water Magician.
• Takako Honda (Violet) played Mami in Apocalypse Hotel, Kiwi in Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, PANDY in Dead Leaves, Ii Onna in Norageki!, Gimmy in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Hone-Onna in the Hell Girl franchise, Sasaki in the Knights of Sidonia franchise, Junko in Saotome, Hibari in Speed Grapher, Izumi in Un-Go, and Touko in the Kara no Kyoukai movies.

The live-action actors are real people (I think). Amusing, the Japanese cast is listed as "first name-last name", while the live Western cast is listed as "last name-first name", backward from practice in their home regions. The show was done by aptly-named CGI studio Polygon.

For this show, Darkonius translated and timed. Perry Dimes translation checked. darkcart edited. I typeset and QCed. TougeWolf also QCed. The raw is from Gecko and is the only one available. This is a joint Inka-Orphan release. You can tell I didn't edit if you look closely enough or read the comments in the script.

Trust is one of the better Young Animators' Training Project efforts. It makes effective and deliberate use of not-quite-right computer graphics to convey the virtual world's and Violet's gradual breakdown. The story is thought-provoking without falling back on the usual AI tropes. This is a good note on which to wrap up our Young Animators' work. You can get this show from the usual torrent site.

 

Sora and the Big Tree

Inka-Subs and Orphan Fansubs return to the scene of their last Anime no Tane heist with another short from the 2025 edition, Sora and the Big Tree. The other shows in that tranche are:

• Dive-In!, no dialog
• Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills, subtitled by Inka and Orphan
• Trust, raw only from a web source (but stay tuned!)

Like all the Anime no Tane shows since 2021, Sora and the Big Tree is short - under ten minutes. However, while Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills needed every second of its runtime for its jam-packed story, Sora seems padded, even though it's less than eight minutes not counting its ending song.

The actual Japanese title is Hoshi no Kodomo to Hajimari no Ki (Star Child and the Tree of Beginning), which is a lot closer to the content than the official English title of Sora and the Big Tree. It opens with a well-dressed boy walking into the lobby of an ornate hotel. The boy doesn't know his name, but the manager checks him in anyway. 

He shows the boy through the grounds, dominated by a gigantic tree. 

Later, the boy comes out in his pajamas to explore. He meets an obliging guide bird, which shows him into the interior of the tree.

It is studded with gems, and the boy collects the ones he finds prettiest. But after a while, he encounters an ogre king, who hoards gems. 

The king demands the boy surrender his red gem, but the boy refuses and escapes.

The bird and the boy climb to the top of the tree, where the bird shows the boy to put his gems in a silver basin.

 

The gems explode in light and coalesce into a golden globe, which the boy absorbs it into his heart. The manager reappears and wishes the boy a pleasant journey. The boy runs through golden fields, soon joined by other running figures.

 

They leap into the air and fall toward Earth - where they will be born.

The show is very pretty, although there's a distressing ten-frame video glitch at 3:23. But it's tepid stuff. The boy is clearly a preborn soul, collecting the attributes that will make him unique, and then jumping to meet his pregnant mother. Other than that, the show doesn't have a thought, or at least an original thought, in its head. What's the significance of the gem-collecting ogre king? No idea, except to pad out a very short runtime and even shorter dialog script.

The voice cast is:

• Tadokora Asuza (the boy, Sora) played Aoi, Karen, and Yuzu in the Aikatsu! franchise, Iyo in Big Order, Ryoma in Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko, Hiro in Himegoto, Caerina in Leadale, Itsuki in Mononogatari, Miharu in Pop in Q, Astaroth in Sin Nanatsu no Taizai, Mei in SSSS.Dynazenon, Symboli in the Uma Musume franchise, and Mohoro in Yashahime.
• Yamamoto Kazutomi (the bird, Carl) played Mochizuki in Another, Mimic in Blood Lad, Leonardo in Chaika: Blood Princess, Isao in Gleipnir, Kousuke in Love Stage!!, Lance in Hoshi no Samidare, Tsuyoshi in Nichijou, Ibuki in Shounen Maid, and Min-su in Akatsuki no Yona.
• Tooru Nara (the king) played multiple smaller roles in Boku no Hero Academia, Shingeki no Kyojin, Dorohedoro, Youkai Watch, Kiseijuu, Chihayafuru, One Outs, and numerous other shows.
• Shiraishi Kento (the manager) played Moruda in Kirei ni Shite Moraemasu ka, Nanasuke and other roles in Yashahime, and Seiji in Busamen Gachi Fighter.

The animation studio, Buemon, is relatively unknown, but they also animated 2016's Anime Tamago OVA Kaze no Matasaburou, an Orphan release.

For this show, Darkonius translated and timed. Perry Dimes translation checked. darkcart edited. I typeset and QCed. TougeWolf also QCed. The raw is from Gecko and is the only one available. This is a joint Inka-Orphan release.

Sora and the Big Tree is not one of the better Young Animators' Training Project efforts. It's good-looking, but it's insipid, and it vanishes from the mind the moment it's over. As Galaxy Apartment Cosmo Hills demonstrated, half-length OVAs can be a lot better. Meanwhile, you can get this show from the usual torrent site.

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.

Tooyamazakura Uchuuchou: Yatsu no Na wa Gold (Samurai Gold)

To paraphrase the great Jimmy Buffet, I think this one might be my fault; but darkcart also accepts some responsibility, so this is a joint Inka-Orphan clusterfuck.

The awkwardly named Tooyamazakura Uchuuchou: Yatsu no Na wa Gold (Toyama Sakura Space Chronicles: His Name is Gold), commonly known as Samurai Gold, is a 1988 OVA based on a science fiction novel by Yuuki Kyousuke. It is an homage to the period novel Maragoshi-Bugyo by Jinde Tatsurou, if that helps. It tells the story of a young man named Gold Disasmount (can't make this up), who lives in a peaceful world ruled by a giant computer named EDO. 

Gold is dissatisfied and bored and spends his time gambling (and losing) and pursuing a barroom singer named Midi.

Gold's existence is suddenly upended when his estranged father, Retklaad, is attacked and nearly killed by a "ghost." Gold himself has a narrow escape from an oversized, effeminate assassin and several androids. 

He believes the answer to these sudden attacks lies in the tourist space colony of Fedvar, from which his father had just returned. 

Gold travels to Fedvar, with Midi as an uninvited guest, to meet his snoopy cousin Ritt.

In an endless infodump, Ritt explains that the King of Fedvar, Tonomono Plenmatz, his wife, and their son Prince Ion, had been killed in a spaceship accident. The spaceship had been delivered by none other than Gold's father Retklaad. There are many more twists and turns, most of them pulled out of places where the sun don't shine.

I don't want to spoil the story further. Besides, I'm not sure I understand it.

One translation note. Gold has tattoos on his back that only appear when his blood is circulating vigorously, e.g., after exercise or under stress. They're called 白粉彫り or "white powder engravings." They don't actually exist, but they make for a really convenient plot device.

The voice cast includes:

• Yao Kazuki (Gold Disasmount) played Franky in One Piece, the lead in Makyou Gaiden Le Deus, the title role in Rance, Dark Schneider in Bastard!!, Chivas in Sorcerer on the Rocks, and Yoki in Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions). He also played the title role in Hameln no Violin Hiki,  Morbridge Jr in Nana Toshi Monogatari, K.K. in Elf 17, Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, Ryougaku in Wild 7, Ryan in Star Dust, and Sofue Akira in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Fujii Ichiko (Midi) was an idol. She has no other anmie credits.
• Tsuboi Akiko (EDO) had featured roles in numerous shows, incuding Perrine Monogatari, Heidi Girl of the Alps, Lucy of the Southern Rainbow, Galaxy Express 999, Miyuki, Saint Seiya, and Nausicaa. She played Mensuran in Hayou no Tsurugi, an Orphan release.
• Mori Katsuji (Ion Plenmatz) played Atlas in the 1980 Astro Boy, Seiji Hayama in Cutie Honey, Wolfgang Mittermeyer in LOGH, Haru in Real Drive, Robespierre in Rose of Versailles, Alcan in Amon Saga, Cemen Bond in Bagi, Tanguin in Cool Cool Bye, Ii Hyobushoyu Naomasa in Sanada 10, and Shiina in Stop!! Hibari-kun! The last five are Orphan releases.
• Shioya Yoku (Ritt) played the title roles in Kariage-kun and the Umi no Triton TV series and movies, Ryouta in Slam Dunk, Jinpei the Swallow in Gatchaman, and Cosmo Yuki in Space Runaway Ideon. He played Tsuri in Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko, Yuzuru in Laughing Target, Mickey in Milky Passion: Dougenzaka - Ai no Shiro, Mizuki in Nayuta, and Zhuge Jun in the first Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases.
• Saka Osamu (Retklaad Disasmount) played Daisuke Aramaki in the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex franchise and Oohara in the Oishinbo properties. He appeared in Toraemon, Aoki Honoo, Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Sanada 10, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Fire Emblem, Kasei Yakyoku, Oz, and the third Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases.
• Ikemizu Michihiro (Ebota, Retklaad's brother) had numerous featured roles, including the boy in Tsuki ga Noboru made ni, Zhuge Jin in the second Sangokushi movie, Hanezawa in Double Fantasy, Zhuge Jin in the second Sangokushi movie, and Lu Xun in the third Sangokushi movie, all Orphan releases.
• Yara Yuusaku (oversized effeminate man) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Kimu no Juujika, Kimama ni Idol, Hayou no Tsurugi, Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho, Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, the second Sangokushi movie, and both What's Michael? OVAs, all Orphan releases.
  

The director, Umezawa Atsutoshi, also directed some of the Tenjou Hen: Utsu no Miko OVA series, Ghost Sweeper Mikami, and Gokinjo Monogatari, among others. At the beginning of this century, he switched over to planning and producing.

This project started in the fall of 2023, when WOWmd captured a laserdisc of Samurai Gold on the Domesday Duplicator. About a year later, Rezo had made a finished encode. I thought this offered an opportunity to supersede the hardsubbed VHS rip of the ancient R1 release. I advertised on Discord for someone to transcribe the hardsubs. darkcart, Fearless Leader™ of Inka-Subs volunteered, but by the time he finished, I forgot all about the idea. Reminded of my request, I asked Perevodildo to look at the subs. He concluded that were useless and translated the show from scratch. TougeWolf then checked the result, and darkcart did a first edit. However, by the time they had finished, I was having back surgery and forgot all about it again. Reminded (rather more bluntly) for a second time, I edited and typeset. ImAWasteOfHair, timx, and Muzussawa QCed. TougeWolf did a release check. The result is a joint Inka-Subs and Orphan Fansubs release; Inka's final word on the subject is here. You may ask, "Why does Inka use a hyphen in its name and Orphan doesn't?" I'll tell you, "I don't know. It's a tradition!"

Samurai Gold isn't all that bad. It has many lively sequences, and Gold makes a good protagonist in his initial goofball mode. But there are too many infodumps and too many improbable twists, and the prolonged courtroom sequence at the climax is simply unbelievable. It ought to be a stark lesson to me not to initiate a project without at least watching a raw; but because I don't understand Japanese, what good would that do? Anyway, you can get Samurai Gold from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. And for extra punishment, be sure to check out the YouTube video on the Samurai Gold game. (A tip of the hat, I guess, to darkcart for pointing this out to me.)

Tottoi

Inka and Orphan are pleased to bring you Tottoi, an environmental fable (or fairy tale) from 1992. Based on a novel by Italian writer Gianni Padoan, it tells the story of a young Sardinian boy, Antonio, nicknamed Tottoi. He grew up in West Germany, where his father had moved for work. After the death of his mother, Tottoi, his father Cipriano, and little sister Francesca return to Sardinia and the embrace of Tottoi's extended family and friends. 

They include his uncle and aunt, Stanis and Gizza; his cousin Billia; and Billia's friends Caterina, the local "princess," and Pedro, "the village idiot." Billia works for Captain Marco, who takes tourists to Sea Cow (Seal) Cave. In the past, Mediterranean monk seals gathered there to breed. But the seals are extinct on Sardinia...

While exploring the depths of the cave, Tottoi encounters a seal. No one believes him. His father sends him to go see Nanni Spannu, an artist and potter who has lived in the area a long time. Spannu tells Tottoi that monk seals are extinct on the island, like the antruxu or griffon vulture, which is the symbol of Sardinia. 

When Tottoi insists that he saw one, Spannu agrees to take him back to the cave. They find not only a mature female seal but also her pup. Initially wary of humans, the pup becomes friendly with Tottoi. The boy names the pup Zabaione, after his favorite dessert.

Although Spannu warns Tottoi to keep the presence of the seals secret, the boy can't resist sharing with his friends, who share it with their parents.

Eventually, it comes to the attention of an avaricious (what else) American mogul vacationing on a yacht, who wants to capture the seal for his hotel aquarium. 

Can Tottoi and his friends protect the seals from the greedy visitors? Well, it is a fairy tale.

It's also a fairy tale because the Mediterranean monk seal is, in fact, extinct in the western Mediterranean, including Sardinia, and endangered everywhere else. On the other hand, the antruxu (griffon vulture) is not extinct on Sardinia, which has one of the largest colonies. But I can't imagine an anime in which a boy becomes all close and cuddly with a young vulture. Can you?

Zabaione (sometimes spelled zabaglione) is a simple, delicious dessert. Its only ingredients are egg yolks, sugar, and a sweet wine, usually Marsala, and perhaps some fresh fruit for a topping. Try it!

The voice cast includes:

• Namikawa Daisuke (Tottoi) played Takeru in the Freedom OVAs, Tokunaga in Gurazeni, Tooru in Haikyuu!!, Italy in the Hetalia franchise, Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter (2011), and my personal favorite, the demon-summoning detective Akutabe in the Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san franchise. He also played Mizuki, the Seiseki captain, in DAYS and appeared in Sangokushi 2 and Cosprayers, all Orphan releases.
• Yamaguchi Kappei (Billia) played the lead character in the Detective Conan franchise, Ranma in the Ranma 1/2 franchise, Inuyasha in all the Inuyasha properties, Usopp in the One Piece franchise, Sakuma Ryuichi in Gravitation, Arslan in the first OVA series, and the title role in Mouse, among many others. He played Matsuoka Eiji in Chameleon, Shibuya in Zetsuai 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989, and Tooru in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Tomiyama Kei (Cipriano) played the title roles in Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae, Roppou Yabure, and the original Tiger Mask, as well as Lingham in Genmu Senki Leda, Sir Jogo  in SF Saiyuuki Starzinger, Susumu in the Yamato franchise, and Wen Li in Legend of the Galactic Heroes. He also played leading roles in Michite Kuru Toki no Mukou ni, Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori, Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Bremen 4, Sugata Sanshiro, the Sangokushi TV specials, and Yousei Ou, all Orphan releases. He won a posthumous Special Achievement Award in 2007.
• Honda Chieko (Francesca) 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, Marie in Soul Eater, and Lea in the Ancient Book of Ys OVAs. She starred as Ruu in Elf 17 and Hiromi in Kakyuusei 1995, both Orphan releases.
• Ogata Kenichi (Stannis) played 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, the 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. 
  
• Ichijou Miyuki (Gizza) played Akane in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, an Orphan release, and Jody Rockwell in the Yawara! properites. She appeared in several Detective Conan movies.
• Matsui Naoko (Caterina) played Efera in Gude Crest, Wato-san in Mitsume ga Tooru and Tezuka Osamu ga Kieta?!, and Lady Dola in Ai to Ken no Camelot, and she appeared in Hi-Speed Jecy and Every Day Is Sunday, all Orphan releases. She played the title role in Compiler, Uru Chie in High School! Kimengumi, Katsumi Liqueur in Silent Mobius, Run Run in Mahoujin Guru Guru, Roux Louka in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Suzuki Sonoko in the Detective Conan franchise, Juushimatsu in Osomatsu-kun (1988), Wendy in Peter Pan no Bouken, Marian in Robin Hood no Daibouken, and Matsu in Nobunaga no Shinobi.
• Sawaki Ikuya (Captain Marco) played Gooley in the Dirty Pair franchise. He also played Gonbei the cat in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, 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, and the Kaiser in Apfelland Monogatari, as well as bit parts in Dallos, Heart Cocktail, and Chameleon, all Orphan releases.
• Katou Seizou (Nanni Spannu) played Jashinsai in Tengai Makyou, Admiral Putyatin in Bakumatsu Spasibo, Ii Naosuke in Hidamari no Ki, Abraham in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, Norbert in Apfelland Monogatari, Hatsutori Juuzou in Kage, Billy Bones in Shin Takarajima, the old stationmaster in Sotsugyou: Graduation, and Jeigan in Fire Emblem, all Orphan releases. He had many other featured roles in the span of a 50 year career.
• Sakurai Toshiharu (Pedro) played Hanson in Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Innocentius VII in Arslan Senki TV. He appeared in Asatte Dance, Akai Hayate, Exper Zenon, and Mellow, all Orphan releases.
• Gouri Daisuke (Holt) played Yamazaki Hiromi in Patlabor. He had numerous featured roles. He appeared in Okama Hakusho, Condition Green, Bavi Stock I, Hashire Melos, Rain Boy, all three Sangokushi movies (Xiahou Dun), Submarine 707R, Tokimeki Tonight, Wolf Guy, Hi-Speed Jecy, Hidamari no Ki, and Kage, all Orphan releases.
• Watabe Takeshi (Jack Land) appeared in Gunparade Orchestra, Maze, Ninku, Oishinbo, Wrath of the Ninja, and You're Under Arrest. He also appeared in Tales from The Old Testament, Condition Green, Twinkle Nora Rock Me!, Sanctuary, and Sanada 10, all Orphan releases.
• Yamaguchi Ken (Totorino) appeared in Asatte Dance, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Yamato 2520, Hoshi Neko Full House, Shiratori Reiko de Gozaimasu!, and Condition Green, all Orphan releases.
  
• Yamazaki Takumi (Massimo) had featured roles in Al Caral no Isan and Wolf Guy, both Orphan releases, as well as numerous other shows.
  

The director, Kiyozumi Norifumi, mostly did animation and mechanical design. Tottoi is his only directing credit.

Tottoi was only released on VHS tape, not on laserdisc or digital media. Orphan's media guy found a second-hand tape of the show. I liked the look of the show, so he encoded it. However, no translator was available at the time, and the movie was released as a raw. Eventually, some folks over at Inka became interested. Rugi translated it. TougeWolf timed and translation checked. I edited and typeset. ImAWasteofHair, Perevodildo, and MartyMcflies QCed. After the usual release checking, it was ready to go, as a joint Inka-Orphan release. The raw is a mess, marred by periodic loss of tracking, but no other tapes have been found. If you have one and it's better, or if the movie is released as a web stream, we'll make a new version.

Tottoi never quite swept me away. The story line is predictable, the climax is forced, and Nanni Spannu is a narrative crutch. The background music is jolly, faux-Italian dance tunes. Still, the seal pup in the story is very cute, the interactions among the youngsters seem natural, and some of the artwork is quite striking.

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.