Inochi no Chikyuu: Dioxin no Natsu

Here's another project that has been stuck in limbo for a very long time: the 2001 movie Inochi no Chikyuu: Dioxin no Natsu (Life on Earth: The Summer of Dioxin). This is a very earnest, quasi-documentary look at the 1976 industrial accident in Seveso, Italy, which resulted in the highest level of dioxin exposure by a residential population in history.

On July 10, 1976. an industrial accident occurred at the ICMESA chemical plant in Meda. ICMESA was a subsidiary of Givaudan, itself a subsidiary of the giant Swiss conglomerate Hoffman-La Roche. A reactor producing tetrachlorobenzine (TCP) overheated when it was shut down (improperly) for the weekend, as required by Italian law. When the reactor reached a critical temperature, the reaction became exothermic and began generating its own heat. The further rise in temperature started producing dioxin in significant quantities. Eventually, the pressure relief valve blew, releasing six tons of chemicals, including a kilogram or more of dioxin, into the air. 

The toxic mixture settled over almost seven square miles, on the towns of Seveso, Mesa, Dessa, and others. ICMESA said nothing about dioxin being released for a week, delaying the start of emergency measures. Eventually, the worst-hit areas were evacuated, and more than 80,000 animals were slaughtered to prevent dioxin from entering the food chain. Many people were treated for skin rashes (chloracne) and eye irritation. The disaster eventually resulted in the European Union adopting tough new safety rules for chemical plants.

Inochi no Chikyuu tells the story of that horrific summer through the eyes of a group of local children. Their normal lives are interrupted when a "white powder" falls out of the sky. The locals develop headaches and rashes, and small animals begin to die in large numbers. The children aren't satisfied with the vague explanations from the plant's managers. Aided by a convenient (fictional) Japanese journalist, they enlist help from a local (fictional) technical institute. When they learn that the powder contains dioxin, and that their food, water, friends, and pets have been poisoned, they take their findings to wider and wider audiences, eventually confronting Hoffman-La Roche's continuing evasions at a press conference. While all ends relatively well (no human deaths were attributed to the accident), the children draw solemn lessons, for themselves and the audience, about the need to protect the environment on behalf of all "life on Earth."

Inochi no Chikyuu falls squarely in a line of earnest and well-meaning fictionalized anime documentaries, such as Junod, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, and Yume Kakeru Kougen. All of these tell worthwhile stories, but they forfeit some ability to shape events into a more compelling narrative. The movie tries to add a little drama by focusing on the dilemma of an expectant couple, but it's really very linear: accident, coverup, exposure, morals drawn.

The Seveso disaster has been extensively studied over a 40 year period. A 2018 summary by NIH concludes:

• The area around Seveso was divided into three zones: A (evacuation required); B (caution required); and R (okay). The zones were well chosen, but exposure varied by three orders of magnitude, or more, within a zone. Thus, a person in Zone B could have received a higher dose than a person in Zone A.
  
• The human body can eliminate dioxin. It takes a long time. Half-life is 7 to 9 years, so 21 to 27 years to get close to 90% out, but it is eventually removed... if the person exposed lives long enough.. The movie says it is impossible to get out of the human body.
  
• Dioxin exposure did not increase the birth defect rate among unborn children or the miscarriage rate among pregnant women.
  
• Dioxin exposure did increase fertility issues and long-term liver disease and cancer rates.

The ICMESA plant was decontaminated over many years. After several questionable attempts by ICMESA and Givaudan, Hoffman-La Roche assumed responsibility for disposing of the contaminants. Ultimately, Hoffman-La Roche and Givaudan spent more 300 million Swiss francs on remedial work. Five ICMESA executives were arrested. Two were convicted and spent a small amount of time in jail. Neither Hoffman-La Roche or Givaudan ever admitted wrongdoing. Zone A was bulldozed, and the rubble and contaminated soil buried in a concrete sarcophagus topped with layers of clean soil. Today, it is the Seveso Oak Forest Park, and development there is forbidden.

The voice cast includes well known seiyuu in the adult roles and some of the children's roles.

• Sakuma Nobuko (Giulia, one of the children) appeared in Marshmallow Times and Happy Birthday Inochi Kagayaku Toki.
• Kobayashi Sanae (Marco, Giuilia's little brother) starred as Lucy in Elfen Leid, Allen Walker in D.Gray-man, Maya in Glass no Kamen (2005), and Touya Akira in Hikaru no Go. She had a recurring role as Natsume Reiko in the Natsume Yuujincho franchise. She played Scarlet Church in Cosprayers and Smash Hit, both Orphan releases.
• Mizutani Yuuko (Anna, Giulia's pregnant older sister) played Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties, as well as Hiromi in Milky Passion: Dougenzaka - Ai no Shiro, Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Lila in Eien no Filena, and Dr. Uematsu Kikue in Yume Kakeru Kougen, all Orphan projects.
• Shiratori Yuri (Maria, Giulia's classmate) played the title roles in the Kiko Lala and Angelique franchises, Cherry in the Saber Marionette franchise, Aki in Boys Be..., and Hatoko in Angelic Layer. She appeared as Lilith in Megami Paradise, an Orphan release.
  
• Sasaki Shizuka (Angelo, Giulia's classmate, likes Maria) appeared under her real name in Ayashi no Ceres, Ateru, and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch.
• Murozono Takehiro (Antonio, Giulia's classmate) had featured roles in numerous shows, including the Macross 7 franchise, Vampire Miyu, Fullmetal Panic, Hanada Shounen-shi, Monster, and Tsurune.
• Orikasa Ai (Enrico, Giulia's classmate, Mayor Carlo's son) made her debut in Shoukoushi Cedie. She played the title role in Romeo no Aoi Sora, Fee in Planetes, Seguchi Touma (the record company president) in Gravitation, Quatre in Gundam Wing, and Ryouko in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She also played Carrie in Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Sara in Eien no Filena, Toryune in Al Caral no Isan,  Katchan's mother in Tako ni Natta Okaasan, the narrator in Boku no Boukuugou, Made, Ayuuru's sister, in B.B. Fish, and young Mars in Fire Emblem, all Orphan releases.  
• Baishou Chieko (Grandma Sonia, Anna's neighbor) is mostly an actress. She starred as Sophie (old) in Howl's Moving Castle and was featured in Weathering with You.
• Honda Takako (Lucio, Giulia's classmate) had featured roles in numerous shows, including the Psycho-Pass franchise, the Queen's Blade franchise, Kara no Kyouki, and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
• Inoue Kazuhiko (Ando Shiro, journalist) starred as Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo, Yuki Eiri in Gravitation, the title role in Cyborg 009, Gorou in Moonlight Mile, Tachibana no Tomomasa in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de: Hachyoushou, and my favorite role, the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou franchise. He also played Saiki Haruka in Tobira o Akete, Iori in Tomoe's Run!, Kanuma Hayate in Akai Hayate, Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi TV specials, Ayako in Lunn Flies into the Wind, Nakatsugawa in Boyfriend, Jinpachi Nezu in Sanada 10, Katsuhiko in Hiatari Ryouko, Minamoto no Yoshitsune in Genji (Part One), Hisui in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, and Kajiwara Kagetoki in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3, all Orphan releases.
• Genda Tesshou (Mayor Carlo) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman,  and "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors. He also played Akauma in Fire Tripper, Jin Kiryu in Blue Sonnet, Zigong in Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den, Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, Jim Hyatt in AWOL Compression Remix, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate and Meisou-ou Border, Dog McCoy in Dallos, Hebopi in Wild 7, rebel leader Oosukune in Izumo, Miyoshi in Sanada 10, and Rikiishi's trainer Kuroki and Kirishima in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.

The director, Dezaki Satoshi, is the older brother of Dezaki Osamu and directed some of the Urusei Yatsura OVAs and movies, as well as Yume Kakeru Kougan, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Boyfriend, and Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose, all Orphan releases.

The project started eight years ago. M74 translated and timed, based on an AnimeGorodok raw with Russian subtitles. I could not get a translation checker, so the project stalled out until this year. Then, two Discord colleagues, NoraInuG and Perevodildo, independently checked and heavily revised the original script. I edited, using pieces from both of them, so it's difficult to apportion translation credit. I revised the original timing, edited, and typeset (not much there). Rezo and Topper3000 QCed. I'm glad it's finally seeing the light of day.

Inochi no Chikyuu: Dioxin no Natsu is a somber reminder of the environmental dangers posed by toxic chemicals. The Seveso accident was followed by the far more catastrophic Bhopal disaster in 1984. Chemical contamination continues to be an ongoing threat, as demonstrated by the recent derailment in Palestine, Ohio. And "forever chemicals" (PFAS) are in drinking water just about everywhere.

You can get this movie from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net.

Kaitei 3-man Mile SD

Here's a standard-definition version of Kaitei 3-man Mile, encoded from the R2J DVD. There's not much to say about this release; it's a smaller version of the movie Orphan already released in high-definition. 

The DVD release was not remastered. As a result, the colors are darker than the HD release:

The sound is muddier too. So why bother? Although this version is one-seventh the size of the HD release, is there really demand for small encodes anymore? I don't know. This is intended to honor M74's work on the show, including his initial encode. This release may not be strictly necessary, but it was certainly earned.

The script is basically the same as the HD release. The typesetting has been adjusted to the different color tones and anamorphic encode, and one typo has been found and fixed. (No prizes if you find it.) M74 did the initial translation from a European language, and the initial timing as well. Sunachan checked against the original Japanese. Yogicat did final timing. I edited and typeset. Uchuu, VigorousJammer, and Nemesis QCed. M74 encoded. This is a joint Orphan and M74 release.

If you'd like this release, it's available from the usual torrent site and on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. The HD release is there too.

Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni (HD)

When we released Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni, a downloader asked why we hadn't used the high resolution R-Raws encode instead. There were three reasons:

1. I wanted to finish the original project, which had sat on the shelf for almost six years.
2. The R-Raws encode required redoing all the motion tracked typesetting, because it was encoded at 30fps instead of the DVD raw's 23.976fps
3. After redoing the typesetting, I couldn't get subs in the final mux properly synchronized.

These rationalizations/excuses/problems have all been overcome, and Orphan and M74 are now releasing a 1080p version of Nemure Omoigo. The higher resolution allows a bit more typesetting to be done. It also makes source issues, like aliasing in thin lines, more obvious:

Otherwise, the two versions are the same.

I've already discussed the show in great detail, so I won't rehash the previous blog post. Instead, to fill out this post, I'll present a boring and overly long explanation of the technical issues that delayed the release.

Typesetting

When raws have different frame rates, motion tracking from one raw won't work on the other. Inter-frame object motion depends on the frame rate, so all the motion tracking must be redone. But there was another, more subtle problem. The DVD raw was anamorphic (720x480, played back as 853x480). The R-Raws web rip was flat (1920x1080). As I've found out to my cost in the past, Aegisub cannot do proper transformations on angled signs between anamorphic and flat raws; the angle is invariably wrong. (Letters angled with \fax also tend to be wrong.)

This is a simple matter of geometry. If the base of a triangle is stretched by 18.4% (the anamorphic stretch factor), then the angle of the hypotenuse to the base will change. Aegisub cannot calculate the change because it cannot be sure what the display resolution will be. The display resolution in the MKV file may or may not be correct; Aegisub has to rely on the resolution of the video stream. And in an anamorphic encode, that's wrong.

The moral of the story is simple. Kids, don't do anamorphic encodes of DVDs. Your typesetter will thank you for it, if not right away, then eventually.

Subtitle Synchronization

I wear many hats in Orphan - editor, typesetter, QC/RC, cat herder - but one job I never touch is encoding. I simply don't understand the process or the nuances of the numerous filters, post-processors, and voodoo spells that good encoders apply to fix source problems. Many times, with my senior eyes, I can't even see the issues. Even the basics are a mystery. So when subtitles don't play properly in a muxed softsub file, even though they do play properly in the subtitling tool Aegisub, I'm utterly at sea. Which brings me to the issue of timecodes.

Timecodes are simply a list of the time, in milliseconds, for frame boundaries. Here's an example from a 23.976fps raw:

# timecode format v2
0
42
83
125
:

Basically, the times increase monotonically at 1000/23.976 = 41.7 msec. If this seems excessively verbose, the format allows for precise specification of frame boundaries in raws with variable frame rates (usually mixed 23.976fps and 29.97fps).

I first encountered timecode issues with the initial release of Tomoe's Run! The raw was at 29.97fps. At the time, Aegisub rounded differently from later tools in the chain. As a result, subtitle synchronization gradually drifted off, eventually by a couple of frames. The solution at the time was to mux in Aegisub's version of the timecodes. (I didn't realize that this solution threw off audio synchronization.) The ultimate solution was a new encode as 23.976fps. After that, I'd occasionally find raws missing one timestamp, so I always checked the timecodes in the raw and replaced them if necessary.

The HD raw for Nemure Omoigo has subtitle synchronization problems in spades. Every subtitle was off by three frames. The timecode file was strange. It should have had timestamps at 33.33msec intervals (1000/30). Instead, it began:

# timecode format v2
0
109 <- two frames missing (33 and 66); and off by 9?
133 <- extra frame?
142 <- back to "correct cadence", but still off by 9
176
209
242
276
309
:

I tried editing the timecodes file to add the missing frames; that didn't work. I tried splitting the raw at the 1 second mark (it had 1 extra second of black screen); that didn't work. I tried generating a correct 30fps timecode file; that didn't work. Finally, after a good night's sleep, I realized what to do: if every subtitle was off by three frames, I could simply add three frames (100ms) worth of delay to the subs during the mux. That worked, and it's what I will do in the future. Any experienced encoder would have hit on this solution immediately.

Summary

tl;dr. Here's the high resolution version of Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni

From the depths of the unfinished projects vault, Orphan and M74 bring you a new version of the 2014 sci-fi anime, Nemure Omoigo, Sora no Shitone ni (Sleep Tight, My Baby, Cradled in the Sky). The first script that I have is dated late 2016 (six years ago); it was already styled and typeset. After that, nothing. I don't know why the project was shelved. Perhaps we thought it needed to be translation checked. In fact, the subs are "official," from the Japanese DVD. Whatever the reason for the delay, it's now done.

Nemure Omoigo explores some familiar science-fiction themes. Are human beings just the sum of their memories ("their data")? Could this data be used to reconstruct a person's consciousness after death? (Elon Musk seems to think so.) And what would be the consequences for the person's descendants and for the person themselves?

The story opens with Satomi Shionoha bringing her new baby girl, Orine, home from the hospital. Her happy thoughts are brutally interrupted when the car is side-swiped by an 18-wheeler, and Satomi is killed. Fast forward 19 years. Orine is a sullen teenager, apparently on the lam, when she is intercepted by mysterious agents and offered a proposition: escape and cash in return for a mission to space. Orine accepts and is whisked off to a space station. Initially, her mission is just to explore. Once inside, she makes a startling discovery: her mother, no older than when she died. This apparition knows all about Orine and wants to be her mother again, but Orine's logical mind revolts. It's then that she learns more of the truth.

The space station's scientist (known only as The Professor) had been running experiments on reanimating the dead. He succeeded with Satomi, but she took over the space station's main computer and the computer itself. She demanded that the authorities bring Orine to her. Orine's handler, Yuki, wants the girl to plant a virus that will disable Satomi and allow them to retake control of the station. Orine, still horrified by what she has seen, complies. Satomi is disabled, the authorities retake the station, and the real truth emerges. Yuki is part of the company that funded the Professor's research. The purpose was to lift memories from the dead for espionage purposes. Satomi realizes that she has been played, but it seems that Yuki and her colleagues have the upper hand. However, the baddies have failed to reckon with the power of a mother's love and what she might be prepared to do to save her child.

I quite liked Nemure Omoigo. Yes, the themes are familiar, and yes, parts of the story are overly sentimental, but the centering of the show on parental love, rather than on weighty philosophical questions about identity or the soul, resonates with me. Satomi "knows" that her recreated body is not Orine's biological mother, but her memories say that she is, and she behaves accordingly. Orine "knows" that the creature on the space station is not her mother, but as they spend time together, Orine experiences some of the happy moments that her mother's death had denied to her. The ending is not "happy ever after," but it does offer some hopeful notes about the power of love and the possibilities of second chances.

The voice cast includes:

• Fukushime Orine (Orine) played the Yanbo role in Yanbo, Ninbo, Tonbo, Ryou in Sango no Umi to Ouji, Saori in Initial D, and young Guts in Berserk.
• Inoue Kikuko (Satomi) played Kasumi in Ranma 1/2, Chigusa in Kekko Kamen, Mizuho in Onegai Teacher and Onegai Twins, Yayoi in the Happy Lesson properties, Momozono Mei in Mouse, Maria in Gungrave, Emeraldas in Space Symphony Maetel, Belldandy in the Ah My Goddess franchise, Lust in Full Metal Alchemist, Goei in Ikkitousen, and the mother in the Uchouten Kazoku series. She also played Chamberlain, Guilford's executive officer, in Nana Toshi Monogatari, Stasia in Megami Paradise, Shouta in The Girl from Phantasia, Narusawa in Doukyuusei 2, Doria in D4 Princess, and Mai in Hand Maid May, all Orphan releases.
• Tanaka Atsuko (Yuri) played Mauve in ACCA, Nena Hargen in Aika, Cassandra in Alexander, Caster in the Fate franchise, Motoko Kusanagi in the GITS franchise, Bynas in Ozma, Claudette in Queen's Blade, and Jagara in Wolf's Rain. She also played new Mamamega in Megami Paradise and Dana in AWOL Compression Remix, both Orphan releases.
• Hirata Hiroaki (the professor) played Benny in Black Lagoon, Itsuki in the Kindaichi movies, Sa Gojou in Saiyuki and its sequels, Sanji in One Peace, Zaki in DearS, Jack in Moonlight Mile, Nantoka in Rita to Nantoka, Tiger in Tiger & Bunny, Vinsmoke in One Piece, Fujimoto in Ao no Exorcist, Kondou in Koi wa Ameagari no You ni, and Max Lobo in Bananafish. He also played Mishima Jun in Chameleon, an Orphan release.
• Kijima Ryuuichi (Yukio, Yuri's right hand man) had featured roles in the Arifureta franchise, Beast Saga, God Eater, Time Travel Girls, and numerous other recent anime series.
• Ishiguro Chihiro (Mizuki, the space ship operator) appeared in Girl Friend Beta and a few other series.

The film is 3D CGI. The space sequences and special effects are spectacular, but the human figures fall right into the "uncanny valley" of near but inadequate realism:

The creator and director, Kurisu Naoya, is a 3D CGI specialist. He has few other credits.

The subtitles are "official" - that is, they were on the DVD - and are credited to Stuart Walton of Sprout. M74 timed. I edited and typeset. ImAWasteOfHair and Uchuu QCed. M74 encoded from an R2J DVD. The subs have typical R1 characteristics: they're very compressed, Western name order is used, and honorifics are omitted. I've corrected for obvious omissions, but the original subs are pretty much unchanged. The Japanese title ねむれ思い子 空のしとねに can be read as Nemure Omoigo or Nemure Omoi Ko. I've used the former, to be consistent with AniDB.

Nemure Omoigo is available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2

Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de (In a Distant Time) is an otome game franchise developed by Ruby Party. It spans at least a dozen games and has spawned multiple anime adaptations, including a TV series, several OVAs, and a movie. Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2: Shiroki Ryuu no Miko (In a Distant Time 2: Priestess of the White Dragon) is a three-episode OVA from 2003-2005. It adapts the second game in the series.

Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de has been described, unkindly but not inaccurately, as "cut-rate Fushigi Yuugi." All of the anime shows begin with a modern high-school girl being whisked away to a fictionalized Heian city, where she becomes the main character in a historical, reverse-harem dating sim. Her job is to assemble a team of eight noble warriors, all bishounen (natch), and unify their power to defeat evil. All of them fall under her spell, but her feelings are never revealed. Some of the shows offer eight or more alternative endings, where the heroine ends up with one of the bishounen who have danced attendance around her.

Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2 is no different. Takakura Karin is summoned to Kyou (fictional Heian Kyoto) by the mysterious Akram. Kyou is consumed by rivalry between the current and former emperors, and it is Karin's responsibilities to purify the land with the help of her eight guardians:

1. Minamoto no Yoritada, Seiryuu of Heaven
2. Taira no Katsuzane, Seiryuu of Earth
3. Isato, Suzaku of Heaven
4. Akifumi, Suzaku of Earth; he is the younger brother of the current Emperor and the crown prince
   
5. Fujiwara no Yukitaka, Byakko of Heaven
6. Hisui, Byakko of Earth
7. Minamoto no Motomi, Genbu of Heaven
8. Abe no Yasutsugu, Genbu of Earth

The Seiryuu, Suzaku, Byakko, and Genbu are the shijin, or Four Symbols, from Chinese mythology:

• Seiryuu, the azure dragon that guards the east. Its element is wood, its season, spring.
• Suzaku, the vermillion bird that guards the south. Its element is fire, its season, summer.
• Byakko, the white tiger that guards the west. Its element is metal, its season, fall.
• Genbu, the black tortoise that guards the north. Its element is water, its season, winter.
  

As each bishounen rallies to Karen's side, he receives a colored jewel signifying his membership in the Hachiyou ("the eight leaves"). There are other characters too, including a pair of mystical twins, Fujiwara no Misono and Fujiwara no Yukari; Kazuhito, the half-brother of the current Emperor; and Taira no Chitose, a rival Dragon Priestess. Nominally, the story is about Kazuhito's scheme to overthrow his older brother (and the current regime) using evil spirits, but the story barely has time to get started before the OVA ends.

My association with Haruka Naru Toki goes all the way back to C1, fifteen years ago. I started doing QC on the Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de: Hachiyoushou TV series and ended up editing the last ten episodes or so. One of Orphan's first formal projects, in 2010, was cleaning up the subtitles on Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 3: Owari Naki Unmei. In 2013, M74 and I released the first English version of Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2: Shiroki Ryuu no Miko, based on the AnimeFreakz R2E release. The same year, Orphan released two previous untranslated specials from the Hachiyoushou TV series. That was quite enough.

Still, I've always been a bit unhappy with the original Haruka Naru Toki 2 release. The AnimeFreakz raws had multiple encoding errors. I thought that the 25fps PAL transcription might have introduced stuttering. A few years ago, I bought the R2J DVDs and took a look at them. I was in for several surprises. First, the R2J looked utterly washed out compared to the R2E encode. Second, each episode on the R2J was about 5% longer than on the R2E. Finally, the R2J had totally different opening and ending songs. These issues delayed work on the show for a few years. Finally, I found an experienced encoder to work on it. He agreed that some color correction was needed, but not as much as the R2E encode. He explained that the time discrepancy came from the mastering method: the original NTSC 23.976fps version was played at PAL standard 25fps. This made every episode run about 5% faster. Neither of us could explain, though, why the music was changed for the R2E release. In any case, he made a new encode, I wrote a program to retime the subtitles (Aegisub would have done it, but I didn't know that), and the project was off and running.

In revisiting a show from almost ten years ago, I've tried to avoid Editor's Remorse™, but I was flabbergasted by the vast number of ellipses in the show. I dislike ellipses, yet they were everywhere. When I tried to get rid of them, I realized that they are there for a reason: most of the characters... speak... very slowly... and portentously... with long pauses... in their sentences. I can't tell whether this is poor writing or the actors trying to provide some depth to their one-dimensional characters, but I've had to leave most of the ellipses in. I was unimpressed with the R2J OP and ED as well; like the R2E songs, they are generic early ought rockers with little or no relationship to the story or the setting.

Because the cast is so large, most of the characters, other than Karin and Yoritada, don't get much screen time. Still, it's a well-known crew of seiyuu:

• Kawakami Tomoko (Takakura Karin) starred in the titles roles for Revolutionary Girl Utena, Hikaru no Go, and Chiccha na Yuki Tsukai Sugar. She also played Chiriko in Fushigi Yuugi, Kamio Misuzu in Air, Soi Fon  in Bleach, Rosette Christopher in Chrno Crusade, Yura in Futari Ecchi, Kazuma in Detective Academy Q, Akane in Harukanaru Toki no Nake de Hachiyoushou, Youko in Tactics, Linen in Lime Iro Ryuukitan Cross, Sumi in Amaenaide yo!!, and a personal favorite, Elise the irate personal assistant in Nodame Cantabile. She also played Carrot in Waza no Tabibito and Rinko in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, both Orphan releases.
• Miki Shinichirou (Minamoto no Yoritada) played Kojiro in Pokemon, Fujiwara Takumi in Initial D, Urahara Kisuke in Bleach, Minamoto no Yorihisa in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de, Shintarou in Lime-iro Senkitan, Bruce Wayne in Batman: Gotham Knight, Roy Mustang in Full Metal Alchemist (2009), Katze in Ai no Kusabi (2012), Gintarou in Gingitstune, Johnny in Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa, John Bishop (the sharpshooter) in AWOL Compression Remix, and Cyber-X in Hand Maid May. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Seki Tomokazu (Taira no Katsuzane) played Keisuke in the Initial D franchise, Kenji in the original Pokemon, Ken in Weiss Kreuz, Kyou in the original Fruits Basket, Rentarou in Futakoi Alternative, Tanaka in Genshiken, Ryuuki in Saiunkoku Monogatari, Dee in Fake, Shinya in the Psycho-Pass properties, GIlgamesh in the Fate/Stay franchise, and Suneo in many Doraemon movies. He played Yamaoka Tetsutarou in Hidamari no Ki, an Orphan release.
• Takahashi Naozumi (Isato) played Bunta in the Prince of Tennis franchise.
• Miyata Kouki (Akifumi) played Suzaku no Rei in Saint Beast, Daisuke in Major, Ken in Kyou Kara Maou!, Kouta in the Baka to Test franchise, and Badger, Sea Otter, and Squirrel Mama in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release.
• Nakahara Shigeru (Fujiwara no Yukitata) played the title role in Arion, Trowa Barton in Gundam Wing, and Kurama in Kyousogiga. He had featured roles in Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Ai no Kusabi, Dragon Fist, Dokushin Apartment Doukudami-sou, Chameleon, and Neko Neko Fantasia, all Orphan releases.
• Inoue Kazuhiko (Hisui) starred as Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo, Yuki Eiri in Gravitation, the title role in Cyborg 009, and my favorite role, the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou franchise. He also played Saiki Haruka in Tobira o Akate, Iori in Tomoe's Run!, Kanuma Hayate in Akai Hayate, Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi TV specials, Ayako in Lunn Flies into the Wind, and Nakatsugawa in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases.
• Hoshi Souichirou (Minamoto no Motomi) played Kira Yamato in the Gundam Seed series, Sanada Yukimura in the Sengoku Basara franchise, Eisen in Hachiyoushou, Kei in Onegai Teacher, Maebera in the Higurashi franchise, Tomoki in the Soro no Otoshimoto franchise, Son Goku in the Saiyuki franchise, Shinji in the Symphogear franchise, and Nagi in Tenjou Tenge.
• Ishida Akira (Abe no Yasutsugu) has had a storied career. He starred as Sasuke in Samurai Deeper Kyou, Chrno in Chrno Crusade, Howard in Uninhabited Planet Survive, Rion in Galerians: Rion, Komugi in Hen Zemi, and Arima in Princess Lover. He played Gaara in the Naruto franchise, Shinichi in Nana, Athrun Zala in the Gundam Seed Destiny properties, Cho Hokkai in the Saiyuuki franchise, Xellos in the Slayers franchise, Natori in the Natsume Yuujinchou franchise, Tsukasa in the Shokugei no Souma franchise, and Kuchiki in the Genshiken series. He played brother Oomori in Let's Nupu Nupu and Gordon in Fire Emblem, both Orphan releases.
• Okiayu Ryoutarou (Akram) starred as Aoyama-kun in Keppeki Danshi! Aoyama-kun, Mitsui Hisashi in Slam Dunk, Matsura Yuu in Marmalade Boy, Jinnai Katsuhiko in the El-Hazard franchise, Nueno Meisuke in the Hell Teacher Nube series, the title roles in Gambler Densetsu Tetsuya and Toriko, Samejima Ranmaru in Kizuna, Souma Shigure in Fruits Basket (2003), Berserker in Fate/Zero, Hideyoshi in Sengoku Basara, and Atsushi in Recorder to Ransel. He also played Takao-san in Let's Nupu Nupu, Abel in Fire Emblem, and Gion in Okane ga Nai!, all Orphan releases.
  
• Ootani Ikue (the Fujiwara twins, who support Karin) provided the voice of Pikachu in in the Japanese, English, Spanish, and German versions of the Pokemon shows. She also played Mitsuhiko in the Detective Conan franchise and Tony Tony Chopper in the One Piece franchise. She appeared as Ann in Next Senki Ehrgeiz and Sumire in Kiss wa Mi ni Shie, both Orphan releases.
• Asakawa Yuu (Kazuhito) starred as Kasumi in Seraphim Call, Rei in Shin Hakkenden, Nagi in the original Boogiepop, Motoko in Love, Hina, Sakiki in Azumanga Daioh, Jura in Vandread, Tachibana in the two Gravion series, and Rider in the Fate/Stay franchise.
• Ishii Kouji (Minamoto no Tokitomo, Kazuhito's right-hand man) played Fujisawa in the El Hazard franchise, Taiga in the GaoGaiGar franchise, Mitsukake in the Fushigi Yuugi franchise, John Blade in Sin: The Movie, Tanaka in Kachou Ouji: Hard Rock Save the Space, and Garterbelt in Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt. He also appeared as Henry Hellgate in Alice in Cyberland, and Hyman in Fire Emblem, both Orphan release.
• Kuwashima Houko (Taira no Chitose) played the title role in Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne and Arete-Hime and starred as Sango in Inuyasha, Aoi in Infinite Ryvius, Marlene in Blue Gender, Margaret in Madlax, Kou Shuurei in the Saiunkoku Monogatari series, Yuuko in Dennou Coil, Chizuru in the Hakuoiki properties, and Warp in Kaiba. She appeared in Sensou Douwa: Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu and Yume Tsukai, both Orphan releases.
• Kawamura Maria (Shirin, the dancer) played Naga the Serpent in the Slayers franchise, the title role in Fujiko Fujio A no Mumako, Eluza in the Gall Force OVAs, Interpreter in the Compiler OVAs, Luna and Tiger Lily in Peter Pan no Bouken, and Kate in Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki, an Orphan release.
  

The actors appeared in many of the other Haruka Naru Toki shows and many video games as well. The director, Tsunaki Aki, directed several other Haruka Naru Toki shows.

 

For the original release, M74 translated and timed, starting with the German language subtitles. laalg translation checked and corrected the subtitles from the Japanese audio. I edited and typeset (not much). CP and Saji QCed the original scripts. For this version, Intrepid ripped the Japanese DVDs, and an encoder who wishes to remain anonymous encoded the new raws. Yogicat tweaked the timing. ImAWasteOfHair did a release check. There's really no solution to the mastering issues. There are 29.97fps signs and foreground animation overlaid on 23.976fps anime. The encoder's solution was to encode at 59.94fps, which seems to minimize interlacing and frame blending issues. YMMV.

 

Because of the different OP/ED songs, this version of Harunka Naru Toki no Nake de 2 supplements rather than replaces the R2E version. Script changes have been minimal; you can watch either one. However, the original is finished 5% sooner, and some people will certainly count that as an advantage. You can get this new version from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

 

 

Kaitei 3-man Mile

Toei Douga pioneered the feature-length theatrical cartoon in Japan, starting with 1958's Hakujaden. Orphan has released several Toei features:

• Saiyuuki (1960)
• Wan Wan Chuushingura (1963)
• Taiyou no Ouji: Horus no Daibouken (1968)

Orphan and M74 are pleased to release the first English-subtitled version of another one, 1970's Kaitei 3-man Mile (30,000 Miles Under the Sea, or, for a literary pun, 30,000 Leagues Under the Sea). 

Kaitei 3-man Mile is an all-ages shounen adventure fantasy. Young Isamu and his pet cheetah (named Cheeta, natch) are playing soccer on a volcanic island when they encounter a mysterious girl named Angel. Their playful bickering is interrupted by the sudden appearance of a monster, a Flame Dragon. Isamu saves Angel, so she invites him to visit her home. They travel to the bottom of the ocean in Angel's craft, the Seathrough. Once home, Angel informs Isamu that in addition to the surface world, there is an Underground Kingdom, ruled by King Magma VII, and an Underwater Kingdom, ruled by her father. Yes, Angel is a princess, and one with a taste for adventure to boot.

While attempting to return Isamu home in the Seathrough, Angel is captured by the Underground Kingdom's Magma VII. He uses her as a hostage to keep the Underwater Kingdom neutral while he wages war on the surface with his Flame Dragons. Isamu, aided by Cheeta and the Seathrough's comic crew members, Octopus and Tuttle (Turtle?), must rescue Angel and team up with her to stop Magma VII's evil plans. Do they succeed? Is this a G-rated kids' movie?

Because it was made more than 50 years ago, the voice cast consists of stalwarts from an earlier era:

• Nozawa Masako (Isamu) is a legend. She played the title roles in The Adventures of Gamba, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry no Bouken, Billy Inu nan demo Shoukai, and Hey! Bumboo. She was Enma-kun in the original Dororon Enma-kun, Son Goku in the original Dragonball, and Kitarou in the 1968 and 1971 versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou, as well as Hakaba Kitarou. Even though her first role was in 1965, she is still active, appearing as Obaba in Ping Pong the Animation, Madame Curie in Marie & Gali, and of course, Medama Oyaji in the most recent version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. She played the title roles in Manxmouse and The Green Cat, Lek in Cool Cool Bye, and Costar in 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, all Orphan releases. She won a lifetime achievement award in 1997.
• Kobato Kurumi (Angel) played the lead in the Attack No. 1 franchise before leaving anime work to teach at a university.
• Naya Gorou (King Magma VII) played Koichi Zenigata in Lupin III, Juzo Okita in Space Battleship Yamato, Shocker in Kamen Rider, Yupa in Nausicaa, Schott in Hashire! Shiroi Ookami, Weedon Scott in White Fang, and Yamaarashi in Botchan; the last three are Orphan releases. His deep voice provided the narration in Shinzou Ningen Casshern, Vampire Miyu, Golden Boy, the original Dororo, and other shows.
• Kitegawa Kunihiko/Yonehiko (Underwater King) played Konaki Jiji in the first Gegege no Kitarou, the chairman in the Kinnikuman franchise, Poseidon in Umi no Triton, Jacob in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, and Zhang Song in the third Sangokushi movie. The last two are Orphan releases.
• Umino Katsuo (Octopus) also appeared in Wan Wan Chuushingura, an Orphan release.
• Hitomi Akira (Tuttle) was a stage actor.

The director, Tamiya Takeshi, mostly did planning and production.

This project has a long history, with its origins now lost to (my) memory. M74 got the ball rolling back in 2017, encoding the DVD and doing an initial translation from another European language. I did an initial edit, and Sunachan agreed to check the translation. It proved to be her last project for Orphan, and it wasn't clear how much she had done.

In early 2021, I took a look at the state of the script. I found that Sunachan had actually finished her translation check. I updated the editing and typesetting, and Uchuu and VigorousJammer QCed. At the same time, Skr captured a high-definition broadcast of a "4K remaster" of the film. Although rather bit-starved, the remastered version had better color balance than the DVD, as well as more detail. bananadoyouwanna agreed to encode the web stream, downscaled to 720p because of the bit rate. Yogicat retimed the script to the new raw, and I tweaked the editing and typesetting yet again. Nemesis checked the finished script. Because M74 did the original translation, timing, and SD encode this is a joint Orphan-M74 release.

Kaitei 3-man Mile is mid-tier Toei Douga - better than Saiyuuki but not a masterpiece like Horus: Prince of the Sun. There's a Disney-like abundance of sidekicks (Cheeta for Isamu, Octopus and Tuttle for Angel), a few non-intrusive songs, lots of comedy, and lots of action. (The Flame Dragon attack is probably too intense for younger children.) Some of the sequences without dialog, like Isamu's soccer practice with Cheeta and the underwater ballet at an undersea banquet, are really well done, both visually and kinetically. The movie goes by quickly, partly because it's less than an hour long. And the ending is unexpected - not modern ironical, but not formulaic either. You can get Kaitei 3-man Mile from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Okane ga Nai!

So why, after swearing off R1-licensed anime, is Orphan releasing Okane ga Nai? Call it conservation of momentum. The project got started yonks ago, when M74 and I were plotting to redo some of the early BL OVAs. M74 had the Okane ga Nai DVDs, and we used them to release the four omake with softsubs and proper typesetting. That led us to look at the OVAs proper. aarinfantasy's release was hardsubbed and marred by video artifacts, while Nosmas' release was upscaled, had the usual awful R1 subtitle timing, and lacked typesetting. So in for a penny, in for a pound...

If you're not familiar with Okane ga nai! (No Money!), it's a borderline hentai BL OVA about a college student (Ayase) forced to pay off his debt to a loan shark (Kanou) with his body. That's probably enough information for most people. If you need more, read the Wikipedia article.

The OVAs cover the first two volumes of the manga, which relate how Kanou "acquires" Ayase and then defends him against crooked a casino boss and then a corrupt politician. It includes a lot of (too much, in fact) non-consensual sex, occasional violence, and some humor. Because the two leads spend most of their time in angst-ridden conversation and introspection, the humor comes from the side characters: Kanou's baka "younger brother" Gion, who wants to use the pair for the ultimate porn movie; Someya Kaoruko, Kanou's transgender childhood friend and client, who runs an okama bar; and Kanou's twin assistants, Homare and Masao, who observe their employer's moods, ranging from furious anger to anxious jealousy, with deadpan humor and not a small touch of dread.

The voice cast includes a cross-section of the industry.

• The incomparable Fukyuma Jun (Ayase) starred as Panda in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release, Geass in Code Geass, Yukio in Ao no Exorcist, Keita in Inukami!, Kuro-sensei in Assassination Classroom, and Tokidoki in Amatsuki (an Orphan release), among numerous other roles. He is one of the major seiyuu in current anime.
• Kosugi Juurouta (Kanou) made his debut at the villainous Eyesman in Bavi Stock I, an Orphan release. He played Touji in Ninku and de Morcerf in Gankuutsuou. He also played Oguma in Fire Emblem, Dr. Bayfarm in Joker: Marginal City, Utsubushi in Amatsuki, and Gisuke in Kage, all Orphan releases. He is still active.
• Okiayu Ryoutarou (Gion). His 30-year career recently included the lead roles in Keppeki Danshi Aoyama-kun and Recorder and Randsell. He played Gorgeous in Maze and Ebisu in Noragami. He appeared in Fire Emblem and Yamato 2520, both Orphan releases.
• Tobita Nobuo (Someya) is best known for the roles of Kamille Bidan (Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam), Albert Heinrich/004 (Cyborg 009 (2001)), and Sueo Maruo (Chibi Maruko-chan). He appeared in Condition Green and Eien no Filena, both Orphan releases. He is still active, appearing in the recent Darling in the FranXX and Sirius the Jaeger.
• Tsujitani Kouji (Homare) played the title role in the Captain Tylor franchise and the lead role in the 3x3 Eyes OVAs. He also played Guy in Ai no Kusabi, Shou in Condition Green, and Seishirou in Yuukan Club, all Orphan releases. His most recent role was in Kokkoku.
• Hatano Wataru (Misao) played the hapless zookeeper Handa-kun in Shirokuma Cafe, an Orphan release, Kajii in Bungo Stray Dogs, and Nobunaga in Nobunaga no Shinobi. He is still very active, appearing in a dozen shows this year.
• Ogata Kenichi (the crooked casino boss Hayashida) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and Maroko, as well as Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken, rival cyborg Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club (an Orphan release), and, most recently, 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.

The director, Sokuza Makoto, has a few other credits, notably the original (excellent) Kyou no Go no Ni OVAs.

The subtitles are basically from the R1 DVD, but I've interpolated from the aarinfantasy scripts in places, because the R1 subs are rather prissy and indirect sometimes - an odd choice for BL OVAs. M74 and Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset, Calyrica and I QCed, and M74 encoded. This is an Orphan and M74 joint release.

We've packaged the Okane ga Nai extras with this torrent, to make a complete offering. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on Irc.rizon.net.

Bremen 4 (Blu-ray)

With the release of the 1981 TV special Bremen 4, Orphan and M74 have completed their high-definition survey of Tezuka Osamu's feature length anime movies for NTV's annual telethon. The eight Tezuka Production specials were:

1978: Hyakumannen Chikyuu no Tabi: Bander Book
1979: Kaitei Choutokkyuu Marine Express
1980: Fumoon
1981: Bremen 4 
1983: Time Slip Ichimannen Prime Rose
1984: Daishizen no Majuu Bagi
1986: Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet
1989: Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Songoku

The 1985 special, Akuma Shima no Prince – Mitsume ga Touru, was based on a Tezuka Osamu character but was produced by Toei Animation. It has not been released in high-definition. Maybe someday...

Bremen 4 seems to have an official subtitle, Angels in Hell, although that does not appear in the anime itself. It tells the story of four animals - a cat named Coda, a donkey named Largo, a dog named Allegro, and a chicken named Minuet. 

(That's either a very big cat or a really small donkey.) The four are stranded or abandoned when their peaceful country is conquered by ruthless, Nazi-like invaders. Wandering the countryside, the animals save the life of a visiting alien, Rondo. In return, she gives them devices that transform them into humans. In this form, they become musicians, bringing some joy to their war-ravaged land. Eventually, they come to the attention of the invader's commander, Karl Presto. He falls in love with Coda in her human form, but she and her friends reject his overtures and, returning to animal form, help the resistance to fight the invaders. Eventually, the villains are defeated and peace returns.

Bremen 4 was the last of the TV specials that made heavy use of Tezuka's Star System, although the stars made cameo appearances in the later specials. The villainous, Wagner-loving commander, Karl Presto, is Rock Holmes, returning to his usual role as a heavy. Presto's father, an even more heinous warmonger, is Lamp, the guy with the candle on his head. Duke Red plays Count Lento, the hapless (and soon posthumous) leader of the invaded country. Ban Shunsaku is Adagio, the manager of a puppet theater who also leads the resistance. Black Jack is a mysterious figure who cares for the orphans of war. Astro Boy appears in a musical sequence, Don Dracula is an announcer at a concert, and Unico and Leo have cameos in the final triumphant march of the animals.

Okamoto Mari (Coda the Cat) played the female leads in Fumoon, Prime Rose, and The Wizard of Oz movie. The incomparable and now sadly deceased Tomiyama Kei (Largo the Donkey) stole the show as the wicked witch in Grim Douwa: Kin no Tori, an Orphan release. Kyouda Hisako (Minuet the chicken) has had a long career, with some unusual roles, such as the father in Shouwa Monogatari. Ishimaru Hiroya gave a bravura performance as the "interpreter" dog Allegro, speaking Donkey, Chicken, or Cat as required. He also played as Rodimus Prime in the various Transformer TV shows. Tomita Kousei and Nozawa Nachi reprised their roles as Ban Shunsaku and Black Jack, respectively, from Marine Express.

The eight specials exemplify Tezuka Osamu's style - the wandering plots, the use of anachronisms for humor, the obvious fanservice (in Bremen 4, Rondo's cleavage defies gravity). I think the later specials were better, with tighter plots and less overt preaching, but they're all very watchable. (Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet remains my favorite.) They also make me more forgiving of Tezuka's earlier Mushi Production movies, the so-called adult cartoons Cleopatra and Sen'ya Ichiya Monogatari. There's a lot of continuity between the Animerama releases and the later specials; the former just have a lot more fanservice. While Tezuka Osamu could work in a much more serious vein (Hidamari no Ki, Hi no Tori), he reveled in the possibilities that his lighter works allowed.

This subtitles for this release were professionally translated. Yogicat transcribed them, and M74 timed them. I edited and typeset (not much). Nemesis and Calyrica did QC. M74 encoded from a BDMV provided by Beatrice Raws. I'm truly grateful to them for sharing their source material. The source material has a a variety of video mistakes. In one scene, the background disappears; in another, the foreground characters. Transitions are rough, and mouth movements are sometimes poorly animated. Still, this is the best source out there.

You can get Bremen 4, and all the other Orphan (or M74) HD releases of the Tezuka Production TV specials, from the usual torrent sources or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Ai no Kusabi (1992)

When Orphan released Cathexis last year, it was supposed to be the first release in an ambitious project to redo early BL OVAs with modern encodes and softsubs. The original Lupin Gang scripts were available, as were laserdiscs or DVDs of all the shows. The plan was to create new encodes, translation check the existing scripts, and publish the shows in rapid succession. Then reality set in, and the project has been delayed significantly. Here, after a delay of nine months, is the next offering, the 1992 sci-fi OVA Ai no Kusabi.

Based on a novel by Yoshihara Rieko, Ai no Kusabi is a contemporary of Zetsuai 1989 and shares with the latter the same over-the-top emotional palette and tragic outlook that characterizes BL shows of that time. The plot is a fujoshi's fever-dream take on traditional science-fiction themes. An all-knowing supercomputer named Jupiter has constructed an artificial world with a caste structure based on hair color: blondes at the top (I guess blondes do have more fun), silvers-hairs next, and so on, down to the black-haired "mongrels" at the bottom. For some reason, the denizens of this universe are mostly men, although women do exist. Sex slavery - the creation of human "Pets" - is an integral part of the structure; in fact, it seems to be the primary business of the blonde elite. For more information on the Ai no Kusabi world, see the Wikipedia article.

The main characters are a Blondie named Iason, who runs the illegal Pet trade from the elite city of Tanagura, and Riki, a black-haired mongrel from the slum city of Ceres. Iason rescues Riki from a tight situation and makes Riki his Pet. Blondies are allowed to have Pets for observational purposes, for no more than a year. Instead, Iason falls in love with Riki, has sex with him, and keeps him for three years, in violation of "the rules." Riki pines for freedom, and eventually, Iason sets him free for a while to return to his old life, his old gang (Bison), and his old lover (Guy). However, Iason plans to reclaim Riki by a devious plot. This sets in motion the chain of events that leads to the story's inevitably tragic outcome. It feels like a strange grand opera, although there's no fat lady to sing at the end.

Seki Toshihiko (Riki) should be a familiar name to readers of this blog, having appeared as the hero Seitarou in Hoshi Neko Full House, Miroku in Yuukan Club, Chuuta in Satsujin Kippu wa Heart-iro, and the fighter Nagase Jun in Akai Hayate, all Orphan releases. He also played Sanzo in all the Saiyuuki TV series and the title roles in Alexander (Reign the Conqueror) and Kaiketsu Zorro. Shiozawa Kaneto (Iason) played Rock Holmes in Fumoon, Shiina in Chameleon (both Orphan releases), the egotistic comic relief Shin in Hiatari Ryouko, and numerous other roles before his untimely death in 2000. Tsujitani Kouji (Guy) played the title role in the Captain Tylor franchise and the lead role in the 3x3 Eyes OVAs. He also played Shou in Condition Green and Seishirou in Yuukan Club, both Orphan releases. His most recent role was in Kokkoku, which just finished.

The original script was from Lupin Gang Anime and was pretty good. Sunachan checked the translation and corrected a few of the more baffling lines, like the reference to "an Achilles" in the second episode. (The Japanese phrase actually means "an Achilles' heel.") M74 timed and encoded, I edited and typeset, and Calyrica and Yogicat did QC. This is a joint Orphan-M74 release.

When it was released, Ai no Kusabi was considered quite daring and trailblazing. Nowadays, it would scarcely raise an eyebrow. The sex scenes are discrete and indirect. Nothing is censored or needs to be. It is BL, of course, so if that's not your cup of tea, you shouldn't download it. You can get Ai no Kusabi from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Marine Express (Blu-ray)

Orphan and M74 continue their high-definition survey of Tezuka Osamu's "Love Will Save the Earth" TV specials with the second show in the series, 1979's Kaitei Choutokkyuu Marine Express (Marine Express: Undersea Super Train, or just Marine Express for short). Like it's predecessor, Bander Book, it features time travel, a runaway computer, and a panoply of "stars" from past Tezuka Osamu works, including Black Jack, Ban Shunsaku, Duke Red, HamEgg, Rock Holmes, Atom, Don Dracula, Sharaku the Three-Eyed One, and even Kimba the White Lion. Tezuka Osamu himself has a a cameo in one of the last scenes of the movie.

Marine Express' plot is so convoluted that it makes Bander Book look like a masterpiece of cohesion. Private detective Ban Shunsaku has been hired by the chairman of the Marine Express corporation, Scrooge Shylock, to investigate a possible arms smuggling plot. Before Ban can get started, the chairman is murdered and then vanishes before Ban's astonished eyes. Ban tackles the assassin but is badly injured. He is rescued by Black Jack, who save his life and then bills him five million yen for medical services. The penniless Ban notices that the murderer is boarding the inaugural run of the Marine Express, an undersea train that runs in an elastic tube from the US to Japan. Both he and Black Jack follow suit. The train is mostly populated with test dummies, but the live passengers include the corrupt American Secretary of State Credit and his daughter Milly, an equally corrupt Japanese prime minister and his aides, the Marine Express's embittered designer, Dr. Nasenkopf, and his two sons, Rock and Adam, and of course, Ban, Black Jack, and the assassins.

The train sets out on its run, with Rock at the helm, and almost immediately runs into trouble. An extinct undersea volcano erupts near the tracks. At the first stop, an altercation between Credit and Nasenkopf over Credit's nefarious schemes and the likelihood of the Marine Express creating oceanic pollution leads to Nasenkopf being seriously injured. Black Jack demands the train be delayed so he can operate, but the assassins force the train to start up again, in order to finish Nasenkopf off. The train is attacked by giant sharks. (Seriously? The train is traveling at 400km/hour. The top speed of a shark is 50km/hour. But facts never got in the way of a good story - just look at our President!) Meanwhile, Nasenkopf's younger son, Adam, who is actually a robot, has been programmed to blow up the train. He seizes control of the master computer and locks the controls. Everyone is hurtling towards DOOM when the train is suddenly diverted 10,000 years into the past, to the Mu Empire. And those are just a few of the highlights.

Tomita Kousei, who played Ban Shunsaku, voiced the same role in the TV special Fumoon, the 2001 movie Metropolis, and in several Astro Boy properties. He also played Watson in Sherlock Hound. Ohtsuki Chikao ("Duke Red" Credit) voiced the same role in Fumoon and  in the TV special Bremen 4. He also played Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Hound. Katsuta Hisashi (Dr. Nasenkopf) voiced the same role (as Professor Ochanomizu) in Astro Boy and Fumoon. He also played Louis XV in Rose of Versailles. Kimotsuki Kaneta (Sharaku) played the same role in Bander Book. She also had recurring roles in the Doraemon and Galaxy Express 999 franchises. The late Nozawa Nachi (Black Jack) played the same role in the TV special Bremen 4. He also appeared in Tezuka's ill-fated Cleopatra, as Octavian. The director and composer are also familiar names from Tezuka Productions.

Yogicat transcribed the subtitles, which were professionally done, and M74 timed them. I edited and typeset, and Calyrica, Nemesis, and M74 did QC. M74 encoded from a BDMV graciously provided by Beatrice Raws. This is a joint Orphan-M74 release. The encode has an odd aspect ratio: 1040 x 720 instead of 960 x 720, as one would expect. Comparing against the 640 x 480 DVD release, it's clear that the DVD was clipped horizontally to make it fit in a square frame. Still, I find it hard to believe that the show was animated at a non-standard resolution. Was there a mastering error in the transfer to digital format? Perhaps we'll never know. You can force playback at a 4:3 aspect ratio if it bothers you.

Marine Express was the apotheosis of the Tezuka Osamu star system and also an exemplar of his tendency to let his plots wander seemingly at random. Still, it's entertaining. You can get this release from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Bander Book (Blu-ray)

Orphan and M74 continue their high-definition survey of the Tezuka Osamu "Love Will Save the Earth" TV specials with the very first, 1979's Hyakumannen Chikyuu no Tabi: Bander Book (Million-Year Trip: Bander Book). This was the first two-hour (with commercials) anime movie made for TV in Japan, and it shows many of the themes, strengths, and weaknesses of the specials that would follow annually for a decade.

Bander Book starts with a bang, literally. A robot terrorist blows up a space liner with Bander's parents on board. In desperation, they put baby Bander in an escape capsule and send him off into space, hoping he will find a home. He drifts to a peaceful planet inhabited by intelligent shape-shifters and is adopted by the Queen. (Superman, anyone? Or maybe Exodus.) Fast forward seventeen years, and Bander is the heir to the throne and the object of unrequited affection from his step-sister Mimiru. However, Bander knows he is different; unlike everyone else, he can't transform. At last, the truth is revealed. He is from Earth, the planet feared throughout the galaxy for its greed and aggressiveness. Bander makes up his mind to leave his home and go to Earth, in order to find out the truth of his origins.

At that very moment, his peaceful home is invaded by "space gangsters," led by... Black Jack! (Yes, the Tezuka Star System is in full swing in this show.) While the rest of the population transforms into animals and flees, Bander attempts to fight off the pirates with just his sword. He is captured, along with Mimiru, who has unwisely decided to stay behind. Black Jack carries them off and maroons them on a desert planet, which leads to a series of spoofs on Westerns. There he rescues Princess Marina of planet Sirius 8 from the Silicon Family of outlaw robots and returns her to her home world. And this is just the beginning. It's ODTAA (one damned thing after another) for 90 minutes until Good triumphs, at significant cost, over Evil, and Bander and Mimiru can be united in True Love.

Black Jack is just the first of the familiar characters repurposed on the show. Ban Shuunsaku, the detective, shows up as Ed the bartender on the desert planet. The leader of the evil Silicon Family is Don Dracula. The henchman to the evil Earth diplomat Dokudami is Hamegg. When Bander is imprisoned by evil Earthmen, his fellow prisoner, Dr. Sharaku, is the "three-eyed boy." Even Kimba the lion and Tezuka Osamu himself have brief cameos:

While the plot meanders towards the inevitable confrontation between Bander and the malignancy controlling Earth (a giant supercomputer, natch), there's time for numerous references, parodies, and gags. The ride to the Silicon Family's hideout includes a spoof of Forbidden Planet and a reference to The Exorcist, for example. The show never drags, but it does meander quite a bit, as Tezuka liked his anime to do. There's also a heavily-sped up, sketchily drawn time-line of Earth history that includes scenes of rape, dismemberment, and cannibalism. It's a kid-friendly show, after all.

Mizushima Yuu, who voiced Bander, played the male lead in another Tezuka special, Prime Rose. He also played the male lead in Tokimeki Tonight, Natsu e no Tobira, and the God Mars properties. Koyama Mami (Mimiru) played the female lead in another Tezuka special, I Am Son Gokuu. She also played Arale in the Doctor Slump & Arale-chan franchise, the mature version of the title character in Millenium Actress, and the title role in the Minky Momo franchise. Oka Masako (Princess Marina) has a fairly thin resume, but she did appear as the phoenix in the first Hi no Tori movie. Ibu Masatou (Black Jack) played the same role in another of the Hi no Tori movies but not in the later TV series and OVAs. He appeared in almost all the Yamato properties, including the ill-fated Yamato 2520 (an Orphan project), where he played the evil Emperor Brone.

Yogicat transcribed the subtitles, which were professionally done, and M74 timed them. I edited and typeset, and Calyrica, M74, and Nemesis did QC. M74 encoded from a BDMV graciously provided by Beatrice Raws. This is a joint Orphan-M74 release.

Despite its meanderings, Bander Book is an entertaining ride, and it's fun trying to spot the references and cameos. You can get the release from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Update: Orphan and M74 have created a standard-definition release (480p) to replace the existing DVD-rips on BakaBT. It is also available from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha.