Still More Raws from the Attic

Here's another raw I'd dearly love to translate: Noel no Fushigi na Bouken (Noel's Fantastic Trip), a 1983 children's movie. According to MyAnime List:

The film is centered around Noel, a young girl and her dog, Pup, who both live on the Planet Noel. While relaxing, Noel comes up with the idea to deliver ice cream to the sun. The two fly off and make their way toward the sun.

On their way, the two of them make a stop at the Planet Gaudy. Upon their arrival, the President steps out to welcome the two. The President invites them to a special party, in which the Emcees show off the planet's most beautiful designs. This does not impress Noel, who states that it doesn't matter what clothes one is wearing, they will still be beautiful and loved. This coaxes the President and the citizens of the planet to take their clothes off, as does Noel. Pup gently reminds Noel of their trip to the sun, and the two take off to find him.

When they find him, the sun warns of foul smog emanating from some unknown planet. The two leave the sun to find the source of the smog, but it quickly surrounds them. They escape underwater on another nearby planet. They appreciate the fine scenery underwater, but as they traverse further they notice the fish are ill...

It features nine songs by Iruka, a Japanese artist who wrote and performed songs for the Unico movie.

DVD rip, encoded by Rezo.

Arisa Good Luck v2

Now, this is embarrassing.

Almost as soon as I released Arisa Good Luck, a viewer posted a comment pointing out that the video was, to put it kindly, a mess: not only crawling with blended frames, but encoded to the wrong aspect ratio (16:9 instead of 16:10). It seemed strange that a 1999 OVA would be framed to the by-then obsolete 5:3 ratio, but the viewer was correct.

So the encoder, Rezo, went back to the drawing board. The DVD played smoothly enough, but all attempts to deinterlace it or deblend it at 23.976 fps, or even 29.97 fps, failed. So Rezo tried a solution that Intrepid has used before with bad sources: encoding at 59.94 fps (double speed). Sure enough, most, but not all, of the blended frames disappeared. And despite the much higher number of frames, the encode was smaller, because the disappearance of the blending allowed for more effective compression.

Of course, the typesetting had to be redone, both for the 16:10 aspect ratio and the much higher frame rate. There weren't many signs, but the only motion-tracked sign proved troublesome. No matter what I did, at various points the motion tracking seemed to lose synchronization, moving to the next position before the picture actually changed. I think the issue is a difference in rounding algorithms between Aegisub and the clips produced by x264, causing gradual frame drift. (See a previous blog entry on problems with 29.97 fps encodes.) I ended up having to fix the frame boundaries by hand - not easy because Aegisub doesn't carry enough precision in its millisecond times (it has two digits but needs three for 60fps). If an experienced typesetter has a solution - or if a later build of Aegisub fixes this problem - please let me know.

I also gave into Editor's Remorse™, so a few lines have been changed for this do-over.

Anyway, here is version 2 of Arisa Good Luck, at the right resolution. It's much easier on the eyes than the previous version. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Arisa Good Luck

Here's a true bluebird: the 1999 one-shot OVA Arisa Good Luck. Last month, Tennouji, translator and proprietor of SakuraCircle, contacted me about doing this show. He had the DVD and a script but needed a team to do the back-end work. Would Orphan be interested? In a never-before-translated rare OVA starring the inimitable Horie Yui? You betcha! Tennouji sent over the ISO and his script, and off we went. After several viewings, maybe, just maybe, I understand what's supposed to be going on. I certainly understand why the OVA was lost in obscurity.

Nishizaka Arisa is an ordinary high school girl. She has a crush on ace basketball player Matsumoto Takayuki and decides to leave a confession note in his locker, asking him to meet her at the park after school. Her letter slips out of the locker into the briefcase of Hoshino Yuuki, delivery boy for a pizza shop named Pizza Shark. Little does she know (or care) that Pizza Shark is actually the local headquarters of an Evil Mastermind and his Minions™. The EM sends his minions to break up the date and kill Arisa in the process.

But little do they know that Arisa's siscon brother has been preparing for a confrontation with Evil. He has equipped Arisa with a magical(?) suit that turns her into a walking good luck charm. After Arisa transforms into a magi-girl, much to her embarrassment, she easily escapes every attack, knocking the Minions out in the process.

The EM is so impressed by her powers that he decides to kidnap Arisa's brother and extract the secret of the lucky suit. Arisa's brother is about to be dropped in the drink when Arisa, realizing that she'll never be able to get out of magi-girl outfit if her brother dies, shows up, ready for battle. Mayhem ensues, none of it believable, until Arisa's luck is victorious.

The seiyuu do their best with this nonsense:

• Horie Yui (Nishizaki Arisa), affectionately known as Hocchan, needs no introduction to anime fans. She started as Tooru in the original Fruits Baskets, Naru in Love Hina, Haruka in Kurogane Communication, Catherine in Sci-Fi Harry, Sakuya in Sister Princess, Ayu in Kanon, Eri in the School Rumble franchise, Cross Yuuki in the Vampire Night series, Tsubasa Hanekawa in the *monogatari franchise, Hoozuki in Otome Youkai Zakuro, Millhiore in the Dog Days franchise, Kouko in Golden Time, and a personal favorite, Yuuko in Inukami! She starred as Suzu in Nagasarete Airantou, an Orphan release.
• Ueda Yuuji (Shuichi, her brother) played Johannes Krauser II in Detroit Metal City (OVA), Fuuma Yousuke in Wedding Peach, Sagara Sonosuke in Rurouni Kenshin, Tenkata Akito in Kidou Senkan Nadeseico, Keitarou in Love Hina, Makoto in Futari Ecchi, and Takeshi in Pokemon. He also voiced Takagi-kun in Let's Nupu Nupu and Nanbara in Hand Maid May, both Orphan releases.
• Ichijo Kazuya (Toujo, the villain) played Raoh in DD Fist of the North Star and Zafira in the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha franchise. He appeared in Kakyuusei (1995) and Doukyuusei 2, both Orphan releases, as well as other h-animes.
• Chiba Susumi (Hoshino Yuuki, the delivery boy) played Seiji in Cutie Honey Flash, Fujiwara no Sai in Hikaru no Go, and Kondou Isao in Gintama.
• Tsurunu Kyouko (Mirei, one of the minions) had only a few featured roles.
  
• Kozakura Etsuko (Touka, the other minion) played Ryou-Ouki in the Tenchi Muyo franchise, Youhei in the Chi's Sweet Home franchise, and Nanami in the Nanami-chan franchise.
• Ittou Miki (Toujo Maiko, the villain's wife) played Eiko in the Project A-Ko franchise, Reimi in the Burn-Up franchise, and Touko (Natsume's adoptive mother) in the Natsume Yuujinchou franchise. She appeared in Adachigahara, Chameleon, Greed, and Cool Cool Bye, all Orphan releases.

The director, Kageyama Shigenori, also directed Bavi Stock I, Hi-Speed Jecy, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases, as well as The Humanoid, Windaria, Kakyuusei 2, Himawari!, and numerous h-animes (under an alias).

Tennouji translated and timed. I tweaked the timing, edited, and typeset. Nemesis, Rezo, and Topper3000 QCed. Rezo encoded from Tennouji's R2J ISO. The source is a mess of blended frames, and there's not much Rezo could do about it.

Arisa Good Luck is a trifle, but any trifle starring Horie Yue has some redeeming qualities. You can get it from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Lunatic Night 03v2

Here's an updated version of episode 3 of the late 90s h-anime comedy Lunatic Night. This version was made possible by Internet pen-pal known as ProxyMan. He's has been systematically collecting R2J DVDs of older Japanese h-anime - including most of Orphan's output in the field. Kakyuusei (1995) and Beast City 3 have been released; Lunatic Night 3 is next. There will be more (sorry).

Lunatic NIght belongs to the now-vanished category of knockabout comedy h-anime, in which the sexual hijinks are subordinated to utter silliness. (Karakuri Ninja Girl is another example.) The nominal plot is about the struggles of the lost king of Atlantis, Kanzaki, to defeat the evil machinations of a powerful otaku, Mutsuki, who wants to fill the universe with his obsessions (e.g., girls in sailor suits). In the third episode, Mutsuki's sailor-suited minions are attacking a village of Penguins in Devil Word, kidnapping the residents for nefarious purposes. Kanzaki and his servants must defeat the Sailor Suits and rescue the villagers. This involves insane mecha battles of "rock, paper, scissors" as well as (needless to say) lots of sex. Kanzaki's stamina is more than up to the challenge of satisfying the Sailor Suit girls, and everything ends happily, if inconclusively. In short, the show is completely bonkers.

 

Only the first two episodes of Lunatic Night were released in R1. The third episode appeared, uncensored, in R2E, but the mastering is a complete mess. So the choice is between a censored R2J source or an uncensored but frame-blended R2E source. Okizari's original release in 2014 used a random Internet raw; this release is encoded directly from the German DVD. It's still a mess. Further, it only had a German soundtrack, so the Japanese soundtrack has been interpolated from the original release.

The original translation was by Moho Kareshi; the translation checker wished to remain anonymous. I edited and typeset. CP of late lamented memory helped with QC. The encoder of the new version also wishes to remain anonymous. I've touched up the script in a few places and updated the typesetting. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same as before.

You can get Lunatic Night 3v2 from the X-rated side of the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Beast City (Inma Daitoshi) 3v2

sxales has recently released a new dual audio encode of the US version of the 1990's h-anime Beast City (Inma Daitoshi), which includes the first two episodes. Completing the update, here's a new version of the third episode, which was only released in Japan and is, therefore, censored and single audio.

This version was made possible by an Internet pen-pal known as ProxyMan. He's has been systematically collecting R2J DVDs of older Japanese h-anime - including most of Orphan's output in the field. Kakyuusei (1995) was the first to be released; Beast City 3 is next in line. There will be more (sorry).

The third episode of Beast City followed the first two after a considerable time lapse; perhaps that explains why it was never released in the US. It begins with a comical recap of events to date, which obviates the need to watch the first two episodes for plot continuity. (That's why everyone watches h-anime, isn't it?) Horrible alien beasts have invaded Earth and are ravishing and killing its women. Vampires from another planet previously ruined by the beasts have come to Earth to save it. Violence and sexual hijinks ensue. Well, at least it has a plot.

Okizari's original release in 2014 used a random Internet raw, encoded in DivX5, which causes playback issues these days. Moho Kareshi translated; the translation checker and timer remained anonymous. I edited and typeset. CP of late lamented memory helped with QC. This new version is encoded from an R2J DVD by an encoder who also wishes to remain anonymous. I've touched up the script in a few places and updated the typesetting. Otherwise, it's pretty much the same as before, just shinier.

You can get Beast City 3v2 from the X-rated side of the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Nana Toshi Monogatari

Here's another project that BlueFixer asked Orphan to redo: the two-part sci-fi OVA Nana Toshi Monogatari: Hokkyokukai Sensen (A Tale of Seven Cities: The Arctic Front). Released in 1992 and 1994, the OVA is based on the opening section of a novel by Tanaka Yoshiki, who also wrote other sci-fi and fantasy novels with a military theme, including Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Tytania, and The Legend of Arslan.

Nana Toshi Monogatari is set in 2190 A.D. More than a century earlier, in 2086 A.D., Earth had suffered a catastrophic realignment of its axis of rotation, basically wiping out the population. A small fraction of humanity survived in colonies on the moon (Planet B?). In 2091 A.D., the lunar colonists started resettling the Earth, founding seven city-states, based on climate, resources, and crust stability:

• Prince Harald, in the former Antarctica
• Buenos Zonte, in the former Amazonian rain forest
• Tademecca, on the Niger River in Africa, now a subtropical grassland
• New Camelot, in the former Great Britain
• Aquir(l)onia, on the Lena River in former Siberia
• Kunlun, on the Tibetan plateau, now fallen to 2000 meters above sea level
• Sandara, in the former Borneo
  

However, to prevent any future incursions from Earth, the lunar government set up a system of military satellites to shoot down any object that flew higher than 500 meters. Then, in 2136 A.D., the lunar colonies were wiped out by a meteor-borne virus (there is no Planet B!). Earth society, bound to the planet surface by the orbiting military satellites, had to compete for supremacy the old-fashioned way: with armies and navies. And all this is set out in the first two minutes!

Now, the viewer can be forgiven for thinking this is all preposterous; an excuse for exploring warfare with early 20th century technologies. The anachronisms extend to the city settings too, with the cars all looking like survivors from the 1930s. The warships all look like classic dreadnoughts, and there is no radar.

The OVA relates the attempted invasion of Aquironia by New Camelot. The rationale for the attack is somewhat confusing. It is led by Charles Morbridge Jr, son of the former leader of Aquironia. Following his father's death, Junior's corruption was exposed, and he was forced to defect to New Camelot. Now, he wants to conquer his former homeland and become its ruler by force.

At first, the war favors the New Camelot invaders, thanks to the clever tactics of Commander Kenneth Guilford. In desperation, Aquironia dispatches its best strategist, Liu Wei, to Kunlun, to strike up an alliance for diverting New Camelot. Meanwhile, the idiosyncratic Aquironian fighter Almarick Aswaer (known as A.A.) counters Guilford with a clever riposte. However, the battle continues. Morbridge decides to lead a direct invasion of Aquironia up the Lena River, with Guilford playing a diversionary role. Guilford's diversion is unexpectedly successful.

However, he is called away to defend against the invasion from Kunlun. Meanwhile, Morbridge's direct attack is stymied by Aswaer. Morbridge flees. Aquilona is victorious. However, its leader decides that Liu Wei is too dangerous to his power. Liu Wei flees to Tademecca, taking Important Secrets™ with him. And the novel has four more major arcs.

The voice cast is sterling:

• Yamadera Kouichi (Almarick Aswaer) played many leading roles, including Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, Sukeroku in Shouwa Ginroku Rakugo Shinju, Ryouga in all the Ranma 1/2 properties, and the nameless hero of Otaku no Seiza. He plaued the title role in Hashire! Melos, Benten in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, Happyaku in Wild 7, and Ryouan in Hidamari no Ki, all Orphan releases. 
• Ootsuka Akio (Kenneth Guildford) played the title roles in most of the Black Jack properties, Ambassador Magma, Blade, and Montana Jones. He also played Gozo in the Aika franchise, Batou in the Ghost in the Shell franchise, the villain All for One in Boku no Hero Academia, and Nyanko Big in one memorable episode of Tada Never Falls in Love. He played George in Condition Green, the narrator in Fire Emblem, Nobunaga the boss crow in Ultra Nyan 2, Zilu in Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den, and Black Jack in Tezuka Osamu Disappears, all Orphan releases. 
• Horikawa Ryou (Liu Wei) played Shutendou in Shuten Douji, Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Naoto in Slow Step, Anthony Brown in Candy Candy, Reinhard in LOGH, Tadao in Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Kai in Kizuna, Shinya in Okama Report, and Andromeda in Saint Seiya. He also appeared in Chameleon, Hi-Speed Jecy, Lunn no Kaze, and the first two Sangokushi movies, all Orphan releases. 
• Yao Kazuki (Charles Corrin Morbridge Jr) played Franky in One Piece, the lead in Makyou Gaiden Le Deus, the title role in Rance, Dark Schneider in Bastard!!, Chivas in Sorcerer on the Rocks, Yoki in Fullmetal Alchemist (both versions), and Hamel in Violinist of Hamelin. He appeared as K.K. in Elf 17, Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, Ryougaku in Wild 7, and Sofue Akira in Boyfriend, all Orphan releases. 
• Hisakawa Aya (Marine) has had a prolific career. She played the title roles in Mamono Hunter Youko, Voogie's Angel, and Iria: Zeiram, Skuld in the Ah! My Goddess franchise, Cerberus in Card Captor Sakura, Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon franchise, Yuki in Fruits Basket, Haruka in RahXephon, Youko in The Twelve Kingdoms, and Storm in X-Men. She played Shizuka in Sotsugyou: Graduation, Mishima Misako in Yume Tsukai, Shana in Al Caral no Isan, Sonia in Ziggy Sore Yuke! R&R Band, Tomoko in Sensou Douwa: Boku no Boukuugou, and Koneko in Ear of the Golden Dragon, all Orphan releases. 
• Inoue Kikuko (Chamberlain, Guilford's executive officer) 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 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. 
• Okiayu Ryoutarou (Nicholas Broom, Duce of Aquironia) 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 Akram in Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 2, Takao-san in Let's Nupu Nupu, Abel in Fire Emblem, and Gion in Okane ga Nai!, all Orphan releases. 
• Sogabe Kazuyuki (Madison) played Oda Nobunaga in Black Lion, Rei Ginsei in Vampire Hunter D, Kaei in To-Y, and Meyer in Hi-Speed Jecy. The last two are Orphan releases. 
• Koseiki Hajime (Prime Minister of New Camelot) played Michael Commando in Kosuke-sama, Rikimaru-sama: Konpeitou no Ryuu and appeared in Izumo (1991) and Akai Hayate, all Orphan releases. 
• Nakamura Hidetoshi (Posts Minister of New Caledonia) appeared in Ai no Kusabi and Exper Zenon, both Orphan releases. 
• Yanada Kiyoyuki (Bosswell) played Takenori in Slam Dunk, Gateau Mocha in Bakuretsu Hunter, and Kuroinu the black cat in Chii's Sweet Home. He also played Townsend Harris in Hidamari no Ki, Sesuran in Hayou no Tsurugi, Exper Venom in Exper Zenon, Kuroda in Akai Hayate, Ooniwa in Nozomi Witches, and multiple roles in Ai no Kusabi, all Orphan releases. 
• Tsukui Kyousei (Secretary of Aquironia) appeared in many featured roles, including Cherry no Manma, Meisou-ou Border, and Call Me Tonight, all Orphan releases.
  

The chief director, Nagaoka Akinori, helmed Tokimeki Tonight and most of the Sore Ike! Anpanman franchise. The director, Kanbe Mamoru, also directed Elfen Lied, I"s Pure, Tegami Bachi, and Kimi to Boku.

Nana Toshi Monogatari has a lot of English, including all the signs and credits, but the transcription leaves something to be desired. For example, Aquironia was probably intended to be Aquilonia, because of its Italianate setting, and Olympos should have been Olympus; but the English signs dictated the translation.

Iri (Bluefixer) did the original and revised translation. Yogicat timed. I edited and typeset; the title screen is the only real typesetting. ImAWasteOfHair, Nemesis, and Uchuu all QCed. Intrepid encoded from a Domesday Duplicator rip of a Japanese laserdisc. The soundtrack is digital, so the audio is FLAC.

Nana Toshi Monogatari is an interesting spin on the typical sci-fi military space opera, with the admittedly mechanistic "pre-history" providing the excuse for the use of ship-to-ship naval combat as the principal means of conflict. 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.

 

Chameleon 5

We're seven months into a catastrophic 2022. War ranges unchecked in Ukraine. Inflation is at a forty-year high. Drought is killing the rivers in the southwestern US. The Supreme Court has taken a jackhammer to separation of church and state and to women's rights. And another episode of Chameleon is out.

Not much has changed. Pint-sized wannabe delinquent Yazawa Eisaku still tries to lord it over the hoods and girls of Narita High School. By now, his entourage accepts his pretensions either at face value or with amusement. His friend Shiina's cross-dressing brother Yu still has the hots for him. The highly dangerous Kyuu is still trying to go straight. His external rival, Matsuoka Eichi, is out of action with serious injuries received in episode 4. So the writers have to come up with new challenges, namely, younger (but still bigger) hoods from Narita Fifth Public Middle School.

The plot is predictable. The middle school students see challenging and/or killing Yazawa (who is shorter than they are) as a way of burnishing their reputations as tough guys. Yazawa tries to avoid getting sliced and diced by arranging for his friends to do the actual fighting. Even though Yazawa's plans always go awry, he gets out of dangerous situations by sheer luck or cowardly cunning and emerges with his reputation as "a man among men" intact or even enhanced. Rinse and repeat.

Chameleon reminds me of The Flashman Papers, a series of historical novels by George MacDonald Frasier. It chronicles the purported adventures of Harry Flashman (the bullying villain of Tom Brown's School Days), rake, gambler, and coward. Flashman flounders his way through Victorian England, achieving a totally undeserved reputation for bravery and dash. The series was fun at first, but the shtick quickly became repetitious and then boring. Chameleon has the same problem. Yazawa doesn't wear well as a central character. But readers know how I feel about the series by now.

I summarized the main voice cast in the blog post for Chameleon 3. Episode 5 introduces some new characters, namely, the gang leaders in Fifth Narita Middle School:

• Miki Shinichiro (Niiya) 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), and Gintarou in Gingitstune. He also played Johnny in Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa, John Bishop (the sharpshooter) in AWOL Compression Remix, Minamoto no Yoritada in Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2, and Cyber-X in Hand Maid May, all Orphan releases.
• Horikawa Ryou (Kaoru) played Shutendou in Shuten Douji, Vegeta in Dragon Ball, Naoto in Slow Step, Anthony Brown in Candy Candy, Reinhard in LOGH, Tadao in Ghost Sweeper Mikami, Kai in Kizuna, Shinya in Okama Report, and Andromeda in Saint Seiya. He also appeared in Hi-Speed Jecy, Lunn no Kaze, and the first two Sangokushi movies, all Orphan releases

The director, Yotsuji Takao, also wrote the script. He was involved with many other anime series, most of them obscure.

Moho Kareshi did the initial translation. laalg and later tenkenX6 translation checked. convexity and Sunachan both tried their hands at the OP/ED song. ninjacloud timed. I edited and typeset; VigorousJammer provided valuable assistance by applying laalg's translation check. Nemesis and Uchuu did QC. The raw is an ancient Internet rip (DivX505!), but there are no signs of original media on the second-hand market in Japan. 

One note: the preview contains rapidly flashing signs, which can affect some people adversely. There's a warning in the subtitles, but it doesn't hurt to mention it again.

Chameleon was wildly popular in Japan. (I have no idea why.) The manga sold more than 30 million copies and spawned sequels, a live-action movie, and a pachinko game. You can get this penultimate episode of the OVA series from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.