Botchan

Orphan is proud to present the first English version of the 1980 TV special Botchan. (It should not be confused with the shorter version that was included in 1986's Animated Classics of Japanese Literature.) The show is based on Natsume Souseki's beloved 1906 autobiographical novel, which remains one of most popular novels in Japan.

The hero is a rambunctious youth known only by the nickname his nurse/servant Kiyo gave him, Botchan (Young Master). He's a rowdy Tokyo boy who doesn't get along with his family. After completing a degree in physics, Botchan takes a job in Matsuyama in Shikoku. There, his naivete, his tendency to jump to conclusions, and his gargantuan appetite embroil him in conflicts, mostly comic, with his students and his fellow teachers. Eventually, he sorts out who is in the right and earns the affection of his pupils. However, the conflicts have become irreversible, and he leaves to return to Tokyo, and Kiyo, and start his life anew.

In Matsuyama, Botchan is surrounded by a colorful cast of eccentrics and schemers; he refers to them all by nicknames. For example, the principal is unctuous and slippery, so he's called Tanuki. The head math teacher, Hotta, is bluff and forthright, so he's Yamaarashi (mountain storm or porcupine). The vice-principal dresses in Western clothes to show his advanced thinking and is nicknamed Red Shirt. The art teacher, Yoshikawa, is Red Shirt's cravenly follower and becomes Nodaiko (field radish). The quiet, beaten down English teacher, Koga, is Uranari (unripe gourd). The local beauty is Madonna. And so on.

The visuals, by TMS and Madhouse, reinforce the comedic tone, with a bright palette and distinctive character designs.The original character designs were by Monkey Punch, famous for Lupin III, and were cleaned up by animator Sugino Akio. The voice cast is from an earlier era in anime:

• Saijou Hideki (Botchan) was best known as a singer. His only two anime roles were the title roles in Botchan and Sugata Sanshiro.
• Naya Gorou (Yamaarashi, the head math teacher) played Koichi Zenigata in Lupin III, Juzo Okita in Space Battleship Yamato, and Shocker in Kamen Rider. His deep voice provided the narration in Shinzou Ningen Casshern, Vampire Miyu, Golden Boy, and other shows.
• Nagai Ichiro (Tanuki, the principal) starred in numerous shows, playing grandfather Jigoro in Yawara!, the off-the-wall narrator in Gosenzosama Banbanzai!, Professor Hajime in Queen Millennia, and Happosai in the Ranma 1/2 franchise. He appeared in Manxmouse, Nora, Hidamari no Ki, Yuukan Club, Amon Saga, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases.
• Yanami Jouji (Red Shirt, the vice principal) 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. He appeared as Lump in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Big Bird in Grim Douwa: Kin no Tori, the cart vendor in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, and of course, Ibari in Stop!! Hibari-kun, all Orphan releases.
• Tanonaka Isamu (Nodaiko, the art teacher) was best known for voicing the character Medama Oyaji (Daddy Eyeball) in the first five GeGeGe no Kitarou anime, as well as Sindbook in the original Magical Princess Minky Momo and Igor in the Persona franchise.
• Yamada Yasuo (Uranari, the English teacher) played Lupin III starting in Part III and continuing to his death.
• Asou Miyoko (Kiyo) has played Isone Funo in Sazae-san, more or less forever. She played Cologne in Ranma 1/2 and appeared in numerous World Masterpiece Theater series.

The director, Takeuchi Yoshio, also helmed the Oishinbo TV series and specials, as well as Ipponbouchou Mantarou, Gorillaman, Harlock Saga, Shin Megami Tensai: Devil Children,  Night Head Genesis, and several of the Sensou Douwa specials.

Iri did the translation and rough timing, and ninjacloud did the fine timing. I edited and typeset; there are a lot of signs. Nemesis and BeeBee QCed. The raw is a 720p web rip by YES and looks very nice. There are also good 480p raws out there, if anyone wants to do a standard definition version. YES released an excellent raw of Sugato Sanshiro too; all we need is a translator (hint, hint).

Botchan is a terrific coming-of-age story, blending comedy, drama, and even a little bit of (unrequited) romance. I highly recommend it. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Ave Atque Vale, Moguro Fukuzou

It's has taken more than six years, but Evil-Saizen has finally finished the main sequence of Laughing Salesman. After 103 episodes, Moguro Fukuzou has satisfied (ensnared) his last customer (victim) and toddled off into the distance with a jaunty, "So long, folks! I know we'll meet again." I fear he's right.

I wrote about Laughing Salesman more than two years ago, when all I had to depress me was the nightly news. Now, with a pandemic raging and my country ripped in half by political passions, I find Laughing Salesman more apropos - and more scary - than ever. The world is indeed filled with lonely men and women looking to have the gaps in their souls filled by someone, anyone, who will promise them their heart's desire. And as in the anime, the results are uniformly disastrous.

With the reworking of episodes 1-8 in HD, I've now edited all the episodes and specials and typeset most of them. kokujin-kun translation checked the early episodes and translated all the others; thus, he's put his translation imprint on the entire series. Eternal_Blizzard was the first timer; sangofe picked up the gauntlet for a long time; and ninjacloud timed the final group. QC has varied a lot but has included Calyrica, Skr, konnakude, Eternal_Blizzard, sangofe, pheon18, Mamo-chan, and at the start, our late colleague CP. BeeBee joined for the later episodes. Eternal_Blizzard encoded the initial DVD episodes; BakaProxy has encoded all the high-definition episodes.

Are we there yet? Not quite. Episodes 9-25 need to be redone in HD; the project could use an additional timer for that. And then there are around 19 more specials, which need the full treatment. The specials pose unique problems. They are typically double length, the typesetting of the opening tends to differ in each special, and the plots are even more intricate and wicked. Well, sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.

I'd like to thank all my colleagues on the project, who come not just from Live-eviL and Saizen but from across the "back-catalog kairetsu." They're a congenial and talented bunch to work with, and they have every reason to be proud of their efforts. Laughing Salesman is a long series; it's formulaic and best taken in small doses; but it is never, ever dull.

Cool Cool Bye

When a laserdisc of the 1986 fantasy OVA Cool Cool Bye turned up in a pile of discs the team bought in Japan, I thought it would be nice to redo the show. Up until now, all releases have been based on VHS tapes; a Domesday Duplicator (DdD) rip ought to be considerably better. Simple, right? Not so fast.

The laserdisc itself had the usual (and some not so usual) issues, and this exposed problems in both the DdD decoding software (ld-decode) and the encoding process. In one moving pan, a glitch on the disc caused ld-decode to mangle a frame entirely. This was patched over with a freeze frame; it's barely detectable. At another point, a one-frame video emphasis to highlight a crash - a negative frame accompanied on the soundtrack by an audible accent - was removed by a filter in the encoding process, which thought the negative frame was an IVTC error. Ultimately, it required seven tries to get an acceptable encode, and the laserdisc's improved fidelity highlights the film burn, burn through, and scratches of the original film source.

The OVA itself is nothing special. Our heroes are two Han warriors, Lek and Flene, who ride around on hoverbikes and have seemingly insatiable appetites. They're accompanied by a miniature strategist named Gege (species unspecified), who lives in Flene's hair and isn't much use. A local village commissions them to fight a monstrous mobile fortress called Tanguin, which has been kidnapping all of the tribe's women. Aided by two tribesmen, Syril and Corola, and a mysterious fairy named Klee, who can transform into a mecha warrior, and motivated by the promise of a feast if they succeed, Lek and Flene set out to confront Tanguin in its lair. After a suitable action sequence, the impregnable fortress is impregnated, and everyone lives happily ever after, sort of.

Cool Cool Bye is sort of an appendage to the previous year's fantasy OVA Greed - same creator, same staff, same animation studio. Greed was in many ways incomprehensible, but at least it had something on its mind: the power of human greed to warp reality. Cool Cool Bye omits all the philosophical and moral agony in favor of a simpler quest story. Still, the plot arc and character designs are very similar to its longer predecessor.

The voice cast includes a cross-section of well-known 80s seiyuu:

• Nozawa Masako (Lek) is a legend. She played the leads in 30000 Miles Under the Sea, 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 won a lifetime achievement award in 1997. She played the title role in Manxmouse and Costar in 15 Shounen Hyouruuki, both Orphan releases.
• Tanaka Mayumi (Flene) made her debut at age 10 in Kimba the White Lion. She's probably best known for her roles as Pazu in Castle in the Sky, Giovanni in Night on the Galactic Railway, Kuririn in the original Dragonball, and of course, Monkey D. Luffy in every incarnation of One Piece. She also played Mit-sah in White Fang, Rocco the fox in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, and Son Gokuu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, all Orphan projects.
• Akiyama Runa (Klee) played Dole in 15 Shounen Hyouruuki and the young Yuno in Midori no Neko, both Orphan releases, as well as Kuniko in Yawara! and Ignasia in The Humanoid.
  
• Hori Hideyuki (Corola) played Zach Isedo in Al Caral no Isan, Sid in Ai no Kusabi, Falk Green in yHi-Speed Jecy, and Baraba in Eien no Filena, all Orphan projects. He played the title role in Baoh, Phoenix in the Saint Seiya franchise, and Tezuka Osamu himself in the Black Jack TV series.
• Yamada Eiko (Syril) played Vee in Al Caral no Isan, an Orphan release, Tarou in the Captain Tsubasa franchise, as well as numerous other featured roles.
• Mori Katsuji (Tanguin) 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, and Shiina in Stop!! Hibari-kun! The last three are Orphan releases.
• Anzai Masahiro (Gege) debuted in White Fang. He played Ryuunosuke's father in Urusei Yatsura, Mutsuda in Dokushin Apartment Doukudami-sou, Cherenkov in Starship Troopers, and Chaashu in Wild 7. The last three are Orphan releases.
• Yada Minoru (village chief) played Tamaranch (the IOC President) in Yawara!, the elder in Bavi Stock II (an Orphan release), and Hemulen in Tanoshi Moomin Ikka.
  

The auteur, Kogawa Tomonori, was mostly an animation director. Cool Cool Bye and Greed are his only directing and writing credits.

The original script is from Random Masters via GutsySubs. tenkenX6 did a full translation check. Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset (very little to do), and Nemesis and new staff member Rezo QCed. Intrepid encoded, and as I described, it turned out to be a lot more arduous that expected. I fear that after 30 to 35 years, we're fast approaching end-of-life for laserdisc media; more and more of Orphan's purchases have bit rot issues.

So here's Cool Cool Bye, in a somewhat better-looking and somewhat more accurately translated version (YMMV). Orphan has a host of resubbing opportunities based on DdD laserdisc rips of earlier fansubs, including Love Position: The Legend of Halley, Who's Left Behind, Stardust Paradise (encoded by Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions), Laughing Target, Fire Tripper, and The Choujo (encoded by Intrepid), but the source issues in Cool Cool Bye and other discs, as well as the need to translation check the original fansub scripts, has caused me to hit the "pause" button for now. In the meantime, you can get this show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

At some point, Orphan might release the documentary bonus that came with Cool Cool Bye, but don't hold your breath.

Sensou Douwa: Tako ni Natta Okaasan

Sensou Douwa (War Tales or War Fables) was a series of TV specials by Shin-Ei Animation that ran annually from 2002 to 2009. In chronological order:

• 2002    Umigame to Shounen (The Boy and The Sea Turtle)
• 2003    Tako ni Natta Okaasan (The Mother Who Became a Kite)
• 2004    Chiisai Sensuikan ni Koi o Shita Dekasugiru Kujira no Hanashi (The Tale of the Ginormous Whale That Fell in Love with a Little Submarine)
• 2005    Boku no Boukuugou (My Air Raid Shelter)
• 2006    Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins)
• 2007    Futatsu no Kurumi (Two Walnuts)
• 2008    Kiku-chan to Ookami  (Kiku and the Wolf)
• 2009    Aoi Hitomi no Onnako no Ohanashu (The Tale of the Blue-Eyed Girl)

Orphan has already released The Boy and the Sea Turtle and The Cake Tree in the Ruins and is now proud to present the third in the series, Tako ni Natta Okaasan (The Mother Who Became a Kite).

By now, you know the drill. It's the waning days of World War II, in a smaller city in Japan. Food is scarce, but the war hasn't otherwise impinged on the world of small children. They still go to school, play games, and parrot the mindless patriotism of the Japanese propaganda machine. This time, the focus is on a young boy, Katchan, and his best bud, Itchan. They live at home with their mothers; their fathers are dead or at the front. Katchan passes the days dodging air raids, reading manga, longing for food, and dreaming anxiously about his father, while his mother tries to hold her family together. She raises vegetables in the back yard. She ventures out into the countryside to trade her good kimonos for rice and vegetables. She is about to cook her harvested eggplants when one last bombing raid incinerates the area, with tragic and poignant results. The war ends, but it is too late for this family.

Like The Cake Tree in the Ruins and The Boy and the Sea Turtle, The Mother Who Became a Kite is based on a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki. And like other stories from this author, this special shows the ruinous effects that war has on children. It is suffused with melancholy. The artwork matches the tone - dun colors and sepia tones, except for the scenes set when the war has ended. Then, the sky is blue, and the colors are bright; but it's too late.

The voice cast includes familiar names as well as newcomers:

• Orikasa Ai (Katchan's mother) 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, and young Mars in Fire Emblem, all Orphan releases.
• Ookubo Shoutarou (Katchan) was 8 years old when he played Katchan. He also appeared in Sensou Douwa: My Bomb Shelter and Lupin III: Kiri no Elusive.
• Kamon Ryou (Katchan's father) appeared in Shin Sekai Yori and Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex.
• Satou Ai (narrator) played many maternal roles, including Light's mother in Death Note, Masami's mother in Wedding Peach, Misaki's mother in Dear Brother, Ban's mother in Getbackers, Shigeru's mother in Noramimi, the unnamed mothers in Cinderella Express, Ai Monogatari, Guyver: Out of Control, and Kristin Adams in Yawara!. Other roles include the refined mother in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, Ibuki's mother in Kiss wa Me ni Shite, Taichi in The Cake Tree in the Ruins, the narrator in The Boy and the Sea Turtle, and the unnamed girlfriend in Lunn Flies into the Wind, all Orphan releases.
• Futama Issei (Kappa) is best known for his roles as Godai Yuusaku in Maison Ikkoku, Akira (Chibi) in Urusei Yatsura, and Saburo in Sazae-san. He played the main character, Yoshio, in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou and the psychopathic brother, Cross, in Hi-Speed Jecy, and he appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou. All three are Orphan releases.
• Miyamoto Seiya (Itchan) has no other credited roles.
• Katsuki Masako (Itchan's mother) played Maroko in Gosenzosama Banbanzai and its movie version, Maroko, Mira in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, Queen Bee in Golgo 13: Queen Bee, and Tsunade (Fifth Hokage) in the Naruto franchise. She also played Kenbishi Yuuri in Yuukan Club, Hojo's lover in Sanctuary, and Yamazaki's maintenance engineer Kiriko in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, all Orphan releases.
• Koorogi Satomi (Keiko, Itchan's baby sister) played Chi in all versions of Chii's Sweet Home, Himawari (the baby sister) in Crayon Shin-chan, Menchi (the food pooch) in Excel Saga, and Kuki-sama in the Limeiro properties. She also played Yahoi in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki and Misa in Doukyuusei Climax and Doukyuusei 2, allOrphan releases.
• Kamei Saburou (neighborhood chief Kato) had featured roles is many shows, including Akuma-kun, Armored Trooper Votoms, Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor, One Outs, Planetes, Rainbow, and Techno Police 21C, an Orphan release.

The director, Takeuchi Yoshio, also helmed the Oishinbo TV series and specials, as well as Ipponbouchou Mantarou, Gorillaman, Harlock Saga, Shin Megami Tensai: Devil Children, and Night Head Genesis.

Staff credits are basically the same as the other Sensou Douwa specials. kokujin-kun translated. Yogicat timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. The raw is a 480p webrip from UNEXT and looks pretty good

Like the other specials in this series, Tako ni Natta Okaasan is a difficult watch. In particular, the final dialog between mother and son is devastating. With all the stressful events happening right now, I put off doing the final run-through far longer than I should have. Between Covid and the US elections, we could all use some happiness; but there are no happy endings in war.

You can find Tako ni Natta Okaasan on the usual torrent site, or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Makoto-chan the Movie

Some western anime audiences are familiar with Crayon Shin-chan, a very long running Japanese anime series about a five-year-old boy with lecherous proclivities and a tendency to run around without his pants. The humor tends to be broad, ecchi, and sometimes gross. The first 52 episodes were given a US dub release, with scripts that were totally rewritten to emphasize "adult" humor. BuriBuri (Orphan's very own Skr) has been doing yeoman's work providing accurate, and just as funny, translations of the show.

Far fewer people know about Makoto-chan, a manga by Umezz Kazuo. Sawada Makoto is a kindergartner who gets into all sorts of trouble, often involving toilet and adult humor. He sometimes dresses in his mother's and sister's clothing. He usually has a long strand of green mucus dangling from his nose. He uses nonsense catchphrases like "Sabara!" and "Gwashi!" If Crayon Shin-chan is ecchi, Makoto-chan is sketchy. It was animated only once, in 1980, as a feature length movie. Now, on its fortieth anniversary, it is at last available to an (aghast) English-speaking audience. Don't all rush to thank us at once.

The movie has an interesting release history. For a long time, it was only available on VHS tape and laserdisc. At Skr's request, Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions ripped the laserdisc. While Skr was working on translations, a Blu-ray of the movie was released. The Blu-ray had some additional material, like the movie trailer and a promotional teaser, but it lacked the live action intro and outro, featuring Umezz Kazuo himself, from the laserdisc. So this release is a hybrid. The movie itself, the teaser, and the trailer are in glorious high definition, from the Blu-ray; the intro and outro sequences are in measly standard definition, from the laserdisc.

Makoto-chan doesn't have a through plot. Instead, it consists of five sketches of about 15 minutes each:

1. "My Little Lover." Makoto-chan, dumped by his kindergarten girlfriend, develops a crush on an older woman named Tomoko, who has broken up with her boyfriend.
2. "A Present for Mother's Day." To win the Best Child Award in his kindergarten class, Makoto-chan and his sister Mika-neesan develop a set of skits so unintentionally gross that the neighbors invited in to watch pee their pants (and worse).
3. "The Sparrow Egg." Makoto-chan rescues a sparrow egg from a demolition site and devotedly guards it until it hatches, only to find that the baby bird has imprinted on him as its mother.
4. "The Lunch of Love." When Makoto-chan's mother mixes up his and his father's lunches, he finds a series of lovey-dovey messages in his bento. This convinces him that his mother is harboring very inappropriate feelings toward him.
5. "The Best Child Award." In another attempt to win the Best Child Award, Makoto-chan helps a salaryman look for a lost paycheck, with disastrous results.

The voice cast includes:

• Sugiyama Kazuko (Makoto-chan) played Heidi in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Akane in the Dr. Slump franchise, Maria in The Royal Tutor, Ten in Urusei Yatsura, and Wendy H. Troy in Manxmouse (an Orphan release). She appeared in Sangokushi movies 2 and 3, also Orphan releases.
• Okamoto Mari (Tomoko,) played the title role in Hana no Ko Lunlun and Ai-chan in Time Bokan Series: Yatterman.
• Yoshida Rihoko (Mika, Makoto-chan's sister) played Megu-chan in Majokko Megu-chan, Monsley in Future Boy Conan, Maria Grace Fleed in UFO Robo Grendizer, Michiru in Getter Robo, Clara Sesemann in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Rosalie Lamorliere in The Rose of Versailles, Kurama in Urusei Yatsura, and Machiko in Maicchingu Machiko-sensei. She played Tonko in Chiisana Koi no Monogatari, an Orphan release.
• Ohara Noriko (Makoto-chan's mom) had a long career starting in the 1960s. She played the title roles in Future Boy Conan and Arabian Nights: Sindbad no Bouken, Nobita in the Doraemon franchise (through 2004), and Oyuki in the Urusei Yatsura properties. She played the mother bear in Katte ni Shirokuma, an Orphan release.
• Mizusawa Yumi (Makoto-chan kindergarten teacher) appeared in City Hunter and Space Adventure Cobra.
• Umezz Kazuo appears as himself in a few spots and acts as the guide for the intro and outro segments.
  

The director, Shibayama Tsutomu, was an industry veteran who started at Toei. His directing credits include Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!!, the first 18 episodes of Ranma 1/2, the Chibi Maruko-chan TV series and movie,  many of the Doraemon series and movies, and the long-running TV series Nintama Rintarou.

Skr was the principal propulsive force throughout the project. He translated, timed, typeset the movie logo (which is half the movie script), and encoded the movie, teaser, and trailer. Erik did all the translation raws; Intrepid reripped the intro and outro on the Domesday Duplicator and encoded them. Sunachan helped with translation issues in the intro and outro. I edited and did the rest of the typesetting. BeeBee alone QCed; perhaps the other QCs were put off by the dangling strands of mucus. Skr and I have also checked everything as best we can, but I'm sure some errors got through. Please be merciful.

Makoto-chan is definitely an acquired taste. It is gross, bizarre, and in spots, wickedly funny. If this sounds like your cup of... well, whatever, you can find the movie on the usual torrent site or on IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net. Gwashi!

Saiyuuki (1960) HD

In honor of the 60th anniversary of its release in 1960, Orphan is releasing a high-definition version of Saiyuuki, encoded from an HDTV version of the movie's recent 4K remastering. Our loyal fans (all six of them) have been asking for a high-definition version of Saiyuuki ever since a 1080p web rip became available in 2017. However, I felt the video in that raw was no better than the original release, which used ARR's DVD encoding and remains available. This new version is a major improvement, with more vibrant colors and greater image stability.

Saiyuuki was based on Tezuka Osamu's highly popular manga of the same name, which in turn was based on the Chinese classic Journey to the West. Tezuka's name was used prominently in promoting the film, although he always denied active involvement in the production. According to some sources, he was displeased with the film's happy ending, and that spurred him to form his own animation company, Mushi Productions.

Saiyuuki is set in China and recounts the adventures of Son Gokuu, a monkey king. Son Gokuu is both powerful and willful. In his arrogance, he challenges heaven itself and is punished by exile to Mount Gogyou. He is eventually released on condition that he accompany a monk named Sanzou to India in order to receive the Buddhist sutras. Along the way, he defeats and then befriends the pig-man Cho Hokkai and the ogre Sa Gajou. Together, they must confront and defeat the terrible bull demon Gyuumaou before Sanzou can accomplish his mission.

 

 

The core cast is supplemented by Rin Rin, a love interest for Son Gokuu, and Shouryuu, a mischievous imp whose head horn doubles as an antenna for a 1960s mobile phone.

Like the original manga, Saiyuuki is a mishmash of styles, with plenty of anachronistic elements. Broad comedy is mixed in with action and chase sequences. Western influences coexist with Asian styling and thought. For example, the gods are depicted with angelic halos, and some of heaven's denizens are from Greek mythology. When Cho Hakkai is trying to impress his bride-to-be (actually Son Gokuu in disguise), he appears successively in formal Western attire, then in a Russian Cossack costume, then as an Indian chief, and then as a hula dancer. Still, Saiyuuki is recognizably a children's film in the 1950s Disney mold. Action sequences alternate with slower sections to allow kids to "cool off." Songs are used to underline the characters or delineate chapters. (Songs account for 10% of the lines in the script.) And despite trials and tribulations, the good guys triumph.

 

Saiyuuki was Toei Douga's third color animated film. The animation is fluid and represents a real advance over the studio's previous animated movies, although there are obvious animation errors; for example, Son Gokuu disappears in one frame of a sequence. Personally, I find the movie a bit bland. I prefer Takahata Isao's Horus: Prince of the Sun, which shows signs of his unique directorial sensibility, even though it too is a G-rated children's movie. Horus is lively, while Saiyuuki is frenetic. However, Saiyuuki was a greater commercial success in Japan. It was redubbed and re-edited for the North American market as Alakazam the Great but failed at the box office.

Because the movie is sixty years old, the voice cast belongs to an earlier era of Japanese animation:

• Komiyama Kiyoshi (Son Gokuu) appeared as the puppeteer in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, an Orphan release. He also appeared in the original Astro Boy, the original GeGeGe no Kitarou, Candy Candy, and other roles.
• Kinoshita Hideo (Cho Hokkai) played Rock in Wan Wan Chuushingura, an Orphan release. He also appeared in other Toei Douga movies, including Sinbad and Wanpaku Ouji.
• Shinoda Setsuo (Sa Gajou) also appeared in Wanpaku Ouji.
• Sekine Nobuaki (Sanzou) appeared in Jungle Taitei, Devilman Lady, Heat Guy J, and Salaryman Kintarou.
• Shindou Noriko (Rin Rin) appeared in Wanpaku Ouji, Sinbad, and Princess Knight.

A few translation notes:

• ri is an old unit of distance, equal to 3.927 kilometers.
• Gogyuu, the mountain where Gokuu is imprisoned, takes its name from the five elements of Chinese medicine: earth, wood, metal, fire, and water.

The subs are little changed since the first release, although the typesetting had to be redone. Magistral did the initial translation; convexity checked the dialog and translated the songs. M74 timed the first release; Yogicat cleaned the timing up for the new raw. I edited and typeset. Calyrica and konnakude did QC on the first release. banandoyouwanna encoded the raw from a TV capture; the resolution is 1280 x 544 (effective 720p). Even though this version is based on the 4K remaster, the video quality wasn't good enough for a 1080p encode. Perhaps we'll get a real Blu-ray someday and be able to release in full HD.

If you missed Saiyuuki the first time, here's an opportunity to see it at higher resolution, with its glorious colors restored.. You can find this release on the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net

Choosing Sources

Orphan does many of its show from analog sources - laserdisc by preference, VHS if need be. This reflects the team's interest in the "anime that time forgot" rather than nostalgia for old technology. But occasionally, as with the recent Amon Saga, we'll use an analog source (in this case, laserdisc) instead of an available digital source (in this case, DVD). This raises a valid question: why? Aren't modern digital sources always better?

For modern anime, which are created on computers, the answer is always yes. For back catalog shows, particularly those originating on film stock, the answer is mostly yes. Digital sources have error correction; analog sources do not. Digital sources can be replayed and will always yield the same bit stream; analog sources will not. However, there are cases where an analog source is a valid alternative to a digital source, or even a preferable alternative.

Case 1 - the digital source has been altered in some irremediable way. A notorious example of this is the Maze TV series. The DVDs ares censored; the laserdiscs are not. Further, the series masters are apparently lost, so the laserdiscs are the only possible source for the original version. Another example is Legend of the Galactic Heroes (the 110 episode OVA version). Scenes in episodes 06, 07, 15, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 34, 35, 37, 38, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48, 50, 52, 56 and 92 were redrawn for the digital releases. Is the new animation better or worse? I don't know (reviewers have mixed opinions), but it's different.

Case 2 - the digital source has been carelessly mastered. This is more controversial, because the appearance of a source is in the eye of the beholder. In the early days of DVDs, mastering was often terrible. For example, the Yawara! DVDs looked like VHS transfers, and the Laughing Salesman DVDs were awful too. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions ripped Amon Saga despite the availability of a DVD (something he almost never does) because prevailing opinion said the DVD was terrible. Members of the Orphan team prefer the laserdiscs of Project A-ko to the DVDs and, apparently, so does Discotek.

Case 3 - the digital source is unaffordable. Yes, economics play a role, especially in a volunteer hobby like fansubbing. Some DVDs were produced in small quantities and have become collector's items. For example, Heart Cocktail was released on six laserdiscs; the first four were released on DVD. When it's for sale, which is rarely, the second-hand DVD sells for hundreds of dollars. So if Orphan ever does sub Heart Cocktail, it will be from laserdiscs. Cost considerations may also dictate the use of a VHS source rather than a laserdisc source. The Aoki Honoo laserdisc, and the first volume of Kasei Yakyoku, when they come up for sale, sell for exceedingly high prices, so Orphan used VHS tapes for those shows.

 

I maintain a list of "problematic sources" used in prior Orphan releases. The team has standing searches on Japanese second-hand sites to find better source material, but most of the searches have been fruitless, even over several years. The best hope may be that the properties show up on a streaming site, either remastered or with a good transfer, but that's unpredictable. The ownership rights for old shows can be very murky, and the masters may no longer exist. Still, you never know.