Sangokushi movie 3

The third movie of the Sangokushi trilogy is Sangokushi Dai San Bu Harukanaru Taichi (Sangokushi: The Distant Land). With this release, Orphan completes its work on Sangokushi, at least for a while: two TV specials and three movies, totaling more than eleven hours of anime. It had taken a year and a half to do - a marathon, not a sprint.

The third movie covers the longest time span, from Liu Bei's expedition to Shu in 211 CE to the death of Kongming in 234 CE. Instead of The Distant Land, it could just as well be titled The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody. All of the main characters die, and the ultimate winner of the battle to reunite China is None of the Above - not Liu Bei or his descendants, not Cao Cao or his descendents, not Sun Quan or his descendants. Eventually, sheer exhaustion of all opponents allows a descendant of the Cao Wei general Sima Yi to reunite the country and create a new dynasty... for a while.

The Distant Land goes a long way, perhaps inadvertently, toward undermining Sangokushi's glorification of Liu Bei's nobility and Kongming's strategic genius. In particular, Kongming's "Land Divided in Three Stratagem" fails spectacularly, producing not a peaceful balance of power but a perpetual war for supremacy among the three states, like the three conflicting superpowers in 1984. The results were disastrous: the population of China was cut more than in half between the outbreak of the Yellow Turban revolt in 184 CE and the establishment of the Jin dynasty in 280 CE. The movie tries to claim a retrospective victory for Liu Bei's ideals, but the state of modern China belies that.

Because it has so much time to cover, The Distant Land moves at a breakneck pace from conflict to violent incident to battle and back again. With the exception of Guan Yu's foster daughter Fengji, characters are introduced, act out their part in history, and vanish in minutes. There is little time for character development or domestic concerns, just for plotting, ambition, betrayals, and executions. It all feels rather depressing - or perhaps I'm just tired of working on the Three Kingdoms era after so many hours working on the TV specials and the movies. The Distant Land had a ton of signs to set, and because of image jitter, almost all of them needed to be motion tracked.

The principal voice cast (Liu Bei, Cao Cao, Kongming, Sun Quan, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei) is unchanged from the previous two movies. The new main characters include:

• Hiromi Tsuru (Fengji) debuted as Perrine in Perrine Monogatari and went on to play Kashima Miyuki in Miyuki, Madoka in Kimagure Orange Road, Barge in Blue Sonnet, and Mikami Reiko in Ghost Sweeper Mikami. She also played Iyo in Izumi, Nozomi in Nozomi Witches, Jill in A Penguin's Memories, UFO-chan in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, and Takagi Youko in Nine, all Orphan releases.
• Tanaka Hideyuki (Ma Su, Fengji's lover) had a long career, including featured roles as Terryman in the Kinnikuman franchise and Rayearth in Magic Knight Rayearth, as well as Harmer in Al Caral no Isan, Sammy in Bavi Stock, Sawamura in Nozomi Witches, Ronron in Greed, Aoto in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, and Katze in Ai no Kusabi, all Orphan releases. 
• Ootsuka Chikao (Sima Yi) also had a lengthy career, starting back in 1963 in Astro Boy. He played Nezumi in the original GeGeGe no Kitarou and Hakaba Kitarou series, Goemon in the first Lupin III TV series, Tora in the original Ushio & Tora OVAs, and Kaibara Yuuzan in the Oishinbo properties, among numerous other roles. He appeared in several Tezuka Osamu specials, all released by Orphan. 

The anime staff remained the same in all three movies.

Despite the massive size of the undertaking, Orphan's work on the Sangokushi movies was done by a small and remarkably dedicated crew. Iri translated all three movies, diligently researching names, translating signs, and labeling the numerous map locations. Yogicat timed, I did edited and typeset, BeeBee and Topper3000 QCed, and M74 encoded from R2J DVD ISOs - a total staff of six. They have my heartfelt thanks for sticking with the project until it was completed. You can get Sangokushi Dai San Bu Harukanaru Taichi from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net,

Is this the end of Orphan's involvement with Sangokushi? Well... while we were working on the movies, some beautiful high-definitions raws surfaced on Japanese streaming sites. We could put out HD versions of the movies, but there's a problem: the raws are 29.97 fps and need to be re-encoded down to 23.976 fps in order not to wreck all the typesetting. (No, I'm not redoing all that.) So if you want HD versions of the Sangokushi movies, tell your favorite and most capable encoder-san to get in touch with us on IRC. Or do my wrists a favor, and don't.

Singles v2

Here's a revised version of the 1993 Margaret OVA Singles. You can read all about the plot and the voice actors in my original blog post.

This first version used an Internet raw that was very blurry and lacked one of the audio channels. This new version was captured from a second-hand VHS tape using a non-compressing system and then encoded. The improvement in video quality is dramatic:

And of course, having both audio channels is a plus too.

For the first version, Sunachan translated, M74 timed, I edited and typeset, bananadoyouwanna styled the songs, and BeeBee and Nemesis QCed. For this release, the timing was "sushi'd" and then tweaked. I redid the signs, but the dialog and songs were left almost unchanged. Suzaku encoded from a VHS tape acquired and ripped by our Intrepid Raw Hunter™. There is a little bit of fuzz at the bottom of the frame, but I don't think it detracts from the overall result.

With this release, all of the Margaret OVAs now use Orphan's own encodes rather than random Internet raws. We might refresh other VHS releases with new ones using uncompressed captures, but the encoding backlog is already enormous, so don't hold your breath. You can get this new version of Singles from the usual torrent sites or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Translators, Encoders Wanted! (aka Status)

I've mentioned before that Orphan's three-year run of frequent releases has come to an end, due to lack of resources, but I wanted to show how dire the situation actually is:

• Waiting on encoding (VHS lossless captures): Kentauros no Densetsu, Mahou Tsukai Tai vs Shamanic Princess (v2), Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve (v2), Oedo ga Nemurenai (v2), Ohoshi-sama no Rail, Okama Hakusho, Shin Dousei Jidai- Hawaiian Breeze, Tottoi: Secret of the Seals, Yamazaki Long Distance Call (v2)
• Waiting on encoding (LD lossless captures): Ichigatsu wa Christmas, Super Real Mahjong
• Waiting on encoding (DVD ISOs): Amatsuki (v2), Gokuu no Daibouken, Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2 (v2), Mars OVA, One Pound Gospel, Hakujaden, Sanada 10
• Waiting on encoding (net streams): Sangokushi movies HD, Saiyuuki HD
• Waiting on translation checking: Akai Akiba Blue Sonnet, Bakumatsu no Spasibo, Genji Part 1 (OVA), Karuizawa Syndrome, Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve, Nayuta
• Waiting on translation: Bocchan, DAYS OAD (2017), Magma Taishi, Mellow, Raiyantsuurii no Uta, Sanada 10 10-12, Sugata Sanshiro, Tengai Makyou, Tezuka Osamu Kyoto Animation Theater, Ziggy Soreyuke! R&R Band

The situation is so bad that the team has stopped buying additional video media. We've also stopped reprocessing previously purchased media through the lossless capture systems. And I'm not even counting the backlog of laserdiscs that Piyo Piyo Productions has already encoded and released.

In view of the backlog, it's fair to ask what projects are actually progressing. The answer is, not a lot:

• Hashire Melos v2. A new laserdisc encode. At release check.
• AWOL Compression Remix. Yes, at long last, scripts for the remix have been extracted from the exceedingly rare English VHS subs of the original series. They could use a thorough translation check, but beggars can't be choosers. Episode 1-2 in RC, episodes 3-4 in QC.
• Chameleon ep3. In editing.
• Tales from the Old Testament. Episodes 1-6 released; episodes 7+ tbd.

Beyond that, the team is limited to shows with existing scripts and existing encodes, for example, BD versions of the Tezuka Osamu Animerama movies.

So if you're an encoder who relishes a challenge (almost all of Orphan's sources present challenges) or a translator who likes to work on shows that differ from today's cookie-cutter anime, please give me a shout. I'm available on IRC almost all the time.

Appendix: A Sampler of Encoding Challenges

• VHS lossless captures. Soft deinterlacing, and then all the usual VHS problems: cropping, blended frames, halos, rainbows, etc. Every capture presents unique issues.
• LD lossless captures. Soft deinterlacing, and then all the usual LD problems: cropping, halos, rainbows, chroma blending, etc. Every capture presents unique issues.
• Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2 (DVD ISO). Progressive, but very strange color balance.
• Sanada 10 (DVD ISO). Mostly progressive, but interlaced fades and 30 fps credits. A formula for tackling the episodes is available.
• Sangokushi HD movies. Wrong frame rate (29.97 fps instead of 23.976 fps).
• Saiyuuki HD movie. Clearly an upscale. Needs to be downscaled to an appropriate size and cleaned up, a la Wan Wan Chuushingura.

[Updated 28-Aug-2019]

Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken

Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken (Tezuka Osamu Vanished?! The Last Great Mystery of the 20th Century) is a TV special created by Tezuka Productions in 2000 to celebrate its namesake and departed founder. On New Years' Eve in the year 2000, Tezuka Osamu meets his creations for an end-of-the-century party at Dr. Tenma's mansion. However, before the celebration can start, Tezuka suddenly disappears from his room, in what appears to be a classic locked-room mystery. While Professor Ochinomizu, Sapphire, Sharaku and Wato-san, Higeoyaji, Hamegg, Pinako, Dr. Tenma, and even Robota race around helplessly (or suspiciously), and Black Jack hovers enigmatically, Atom investigates and eventually solves the puzzle. At the end, all the characters from Tezuka Osamu's "star system" (and many others) gather round to toast the new year, the new century, and the new millennium, while Tezuka begins his next adventure.

It's all very slight. The mystery itself doesn't hold water and requires several science-fictional elements for its resolution. (As usual, the explanation takes twice as long as the setup.) Rather, it's a chance for the viewer to get together with Tezuka Osamu's classic characters one last time and to bid them, and the God of Manga himself, hail and farewell.

One of the charms of the show is that it uses many of the voice actors who originated the characters for Mushi Productions or Tezuka Productions. These include:

• Kobayashi Kyouji (Tezuka Osamu) was mostly a stage actor. However, he voiced Tezuka Osamu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu, Dr. Kudo in Bander Book, and Iyami in the original Osomatsu-kun.
• Shimizu Mari (Atom) played Atom in every instantiation of the character from the original series in 1968 to the movie in 2003. She also played Jim Hawkins in Takarajima.
• Ootsuka Akio (Black Jack) played the same role in all of the Black Jack properties. He played the title roles in Ambassador Magma, Blade, and Montana Jones, 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, and Nobunaga the boss crow in Ultra Nyan 2, all Orphan releases. He is still active and will appear in this summer's Vinland Saga.
• Katsuta Hisashi (Professor Ochanomizu) played the same role in the Atom series, its remakes, and Marine Express. He appeared in the original Osomatsu-kun, the original Dororo, the first three Lupin III TV series, and the Oishinbo properties.
• Touma Yumi (Sapphire) played the title roles in Emma: A Victorian Romance and Baby Felix. She played Urd in the Aa! Megami-sama franchise. She appeared in numerous shows, including Boyfriend, Condition Green, Fukuyama Gekijou, and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Nareudesho, all Orphan releases.
• Kumai Matoko (Sharaku) played the title roles in title roles in Hanada Shounen-shi and Papuwa, Syaoran Li in Cardcaptor Sakura, Takao Kinomiya in Beyblade, Sumomo in Chobits, Ginta in Mar, Banba in Kuragehime, Honda Gorou in Major, Coffret in the Eiga Precure franchise, and Kocchi the black-and-white cat in Koneko no Chi.
•  Matsui Naoko (Wato-san)played the same role in Mitsume ga Tooru. She played the title role in Compiler, Uru Chie in High School! Kimengumi, Katsumi Liqueur in Silent Mobius, Run Run in Mahoujin Guru Guru, Roux Louka in Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Suzuki Sonoko in Case Closed, Juushimatsu in Osomatsu-kun (1988), Marian in Robin Hood no Daibouken, and Matsu in Nobunaga no Shinobi.
• Ooki Tamio (Dr. Tenma  played the same role in the 1980 version of Astro Boy, Ibuya in Hidamari no Ki, Aramaki in the GITS movies, and the title role in Planetarian: Hoshi no Hito.
• Mizutani Yuuko (Pinoko) played the same role in all the Black Jack properties, as well as Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Lila in Eien no Filena, and Dr. Uematsu Kikue in Yume Kakeru Kougen, all Orphan projects.
• Tomita Kousei (Higeoyaji) played the same role in the TV specials Fumoon, Marine Express, Ginga Tansa 2100: Border Planet, and Tezuka Osamu Monogatari: Boku wa Son Gokuu, the movies Jungle Tatei and Metropolis, in several Astro Boy properties, and the OVA Midori no Neko. He also played Watson in Sherlock Hound. 
• Ootake Hiroshi (Hamegg and Robita) played Tezuka-sensei in Fushigi na Melmo and Michael in the What's Michael? OVAs, which Orphan released.

The director, Kuwubara Satoshi, also had a long association with Tezuka Osamu projects. He directed the Black Jack TV properties, did production coordination for Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, storyboards for the Jungle Emperor Leo movies, and production management for the TV series Mitsume ga Tooru. Curiously, there is very little music; the end credits role over silence.

Despite the Orphan staff's passion for All Things Tezuka, the show took a while to get going. convexity translated. Yogicat timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. M74 encoded from an R2J DVD. The original source was a mess, and it proved impossible to clean up. Perhaps someday it will be remastered and streamed.

So for all you Tezuka Osamu fan(atic)s out there, here's Tezuka Osamu Ga Kieta?! 20 Seiki Saigo no Kaijiken. (In tribute to Arthur Conan Doyle, it could almost be titled His Last Bow.) 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.

Meisou-Ou Border v2

Orphan is releasing a second version of Meisou-Ou Border (Wandering Kings: Border, or something like that), with vastly improved video. This version is so different that I feel it should have an entirely new blog post, not just a rehash of the old one.

Meisou-Ou Border is based on a 14-volume seinen manga by Marley Carib and Tanaka Akio. Only the first three chapters are available in English. It tells the story of two drifters, Kubota and Hachitsuka, who return from the Middle East and choose to live on the margins of conventional society in Tokyo (the "border" of the title). The OVA, from Artland, relates the first four chapters of the manga. An unscrupulous documentary producer sends his minion, Hosoki, to lure Kubota and Hachitsuka down to Osaka with the promise of high pay. There are other fringe benefits, such as room, board, and paid female companionship. The producer places the two men as "innocent bystanders" in the middle of a yakuza gang war. They manage to hold their own, much to the producer's dismay, and then they drift back to Tokyo. The episode closes with an unrelated encounter between Hachitsuka and his former mentor, Jinnou, now a homeless man down on his luck - a stark lesson in the difficulties of leading an unconventional life in 80s Japan. The tone of the show is mostly comedic, even during the yakuza fight, but the ending is sad and elegiac.

The voice cast includes:

• Horiuchi Kenyuu (Kubota) has an extensive resume, including the title role in Guin Saga, as well as Jin Akira in Wolf Guy, Lid in Greed, Nest in Eien no Filena, and the refined son in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show; the last four are Orphan releases. He recently appeared in Sirius the Jaeger.
• Yara Yuusaku (Hachitsuka) played the destroyer captain in Zipang. He had many featured roles, appearing in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, Eien no Filena, Hidamari no Ki, Nozomi Witches, both Sangokushi OVAs, Prime Rose, both What's Michael? OVAs, and Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
• Genda Tesshou (Narrator) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman,  "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors, as well as Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate, Dog McCoy in Dallos, Hebopi in Wild 7, rebel leader Oosukune in Izumo, and Rikiishi's trainer Kuroki and  Kirishima in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
• Yamamoto Keiko (Hachitsuka's squeeze "Baba") is an industry veteran. She played Choromatsu in the original Osomatsu-kun, Sand Witch in all iterations of GeGeGe no Kitarou through 2007, and the title role in the Bakabon TV series.
• Masuoka Hiroshi (Hirokawa, the TV producer in Osaka) appeared several times in Tokimeki Tonight, an Orphan release. He is best known for Minami's father in the Touch franchise, Masuo in Sazae-san, Jam Ojisan in the Anpanman franchise, and Cyborg 005 in the early Cyborg 009 properties.
• Yoshida Miho ("D-cup" Hiroko, one of the Osaka sex workers) debuted in Touch. Her best known role is Afura Mann in the El Hazard franchise.
• Suzuka Chiho (Naomi, the other sex worker) debuted in Meisou-Ou Border. She had features roles in Lesson XX, Detective Conan, Cowboy Bebop, and Uchuu no Stellvia.
• Kitigawa Takurou (Hosoki) had featured roles in Pollyana, the Tenchi Muyo OVAs, Gantz, Monkey Turn, and Another.

The director, Ishiguro Noboru, was an industry veteran who directed several episodes of Animated Classics of Japanese Literature; he also worked on Mushishi (another Artland property) before his death in 2012. The musical score is good, but I can't find out anything about the composer.

Our intrepid media guru ripped this version from a VHS tape using Orphan's "new" All-in-Wonder 7500 lossless capture setup. The idea for using this ancient technology (the driver runs on Windows XP!) came from Suzaku in Live-eviL, who used it for the Yawara! Atlanta Special laserdisc capture. Accordingly, it's only appropriate that Suzaku encoded this show. (We are very grateful.) The results are amazing: no interlacing artifacts and no blended frames - in fact, one of the very best VHS encodes I've ever seen. Iri translated the show. ninjacloud timed and then retimed for the new raw. I edited and typeset. While the editing changes from the original are minimal, there is extensive additional typesetting, thanks to the improved video. Calyrica and Nemesis QCed the original release; VigorousJammer did a quick release check.

Meisou-Ou Border tells an intriguing story and left me hungry for more. Unfortunately, this is all we'll ever see on anime, and the manga scanlations stopped two years ago. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

The Audio Side

Although Orphan is a fansubbing group, the 'completionist' impulse that runs through the group's charter sometimes extends into other media. In particular, the team has acquired and released a number of soundtracks for its projects or prospective projects. Other enthusiasts have done a lot more, but finding and ripping soundtracks has become a notable sideline to Orphan's main fansubbing mission. For one thing, it's a lot easier to capture and encode audio, and it doesn't require translators or video encoders.

Most of the music has come from CDs, but there are other sources as well, including records and "dual track" laserdiscs. Here's a list of the ones I can remember.

• Alice in Cyberland OP-ED single. CD source.
• AWOL soundtrack. CD source. 
• Bakuen Campus Guardress music collection. CD source. 
• B.B. Fish soundtrack. CD source.
  
• Boyfriend music collection. CD source.
• Capricorn image album. CD source.
• Eien no Filena soundtrack. CD source. 
• Elf 17 image soundtrack. CD source.
• Fighting Beauty Wulong OP-ED collection. CD source. 
• Fukuyama Gekijou soundtrack. CD source.
• Genji, Part 1 soundtracks and image album. CD source.
• Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori OP-ED single. CD source.
• Haruka Naru Toki no Nake de 3: Kureniai no Tsuki soundtrack. CD source.
  
• Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 3: Owari Naki Unmei soundtrack. CD source. 
• Hashire Melos ED single. CD source. 
• Heart Cocktail soundtrack collection. CD source. 
  
• Hidamari no Ki ED1 and ED2 singles. CD source.
• High Speed Jecy soundtrack. CD source.
• Kakyuusei (1999) soundtrack. CD source.
• Kiss wa Me ni Shite soundtrack. CD source.
• Kyouryuu Daisensou Izenborg music collection. CD source.
  
• Majo demo Steady image album. CD source.
• Majo demo Steady soundtrack. LD source. 
• Megami Paradise soundtrack. CD source. 
• Nana Toshi Monogatari. CD source.
  
• Next Senki Ehrgeiz OP and ED singles. CD source.
• Nozomi Witches soundtrack. CD source.
• Oedo ga Nemurenai! soundtrack. CD source. 
• OL Kaizou Kouza OP/ED EP. LP source.
  
• Oshare Kozou wa Hanamaru soundtrack. CD source.
• POPS soundtrack. CD source.
• Project A-Ko 2 extended soundtrack. Laserdisc source.
• Purple Eyes in the Dark image albums. CD source. 
• Singles soundtrack. CD source.
• Stop!! Hibari-kun Songbook. LP source.
• Tomoe ga Yuku! music collection. CD source. 
• Waza no Tabibito soundtrack. CD source.
  
• YAMATO 2520 music collection. CD source.
• Yuukan Club ED1 single. CD source. 

Most of the work has been done in the material's country of origin, but Stop!! Hibari-kun! was done in the US, because none of the team's overseas members has a turntable. Sometimes it pays to be old.

Soundtracks are also available for many of Orphan's other projects as well:

• A-Girl soundtrack. CD source.
• A Penguin's Memory soundtrack. CD source.
  
• Ai no Kusabi music collection. CD source.
• Akai Hayate soundtrack. CD source. 
• Akatsuki no Yona music collection. CD source.
• Amatsuki music collection. CD source.
• Blazing Transfer Student soundtrack. CD source.
  
• Blue Sonnet. CD source. 
• Boku no Oldies wa All-Color OST. CD source.
  
• Bremen 4. CD source.
  
• Call Me Tonight theme songs. 
• Choujikuu Romanesque Samy: MISSING 99. CD source.
  
• Condition Green song collection. CD source.
• Cosprayers soundtrack. CD source.
• D4 Princess music collection. CD source.
• Dallos soundtrack. CD source. 
• Ear of the Golden Dragon music collection. CD source.
• Fire Emblem OST. CD source. 
• Hameln no Violin Hiki movie music collection. CD source. 
• Heart Cocktail soundtrack collection. CD source. 
• Heart Cocktail Again OST. CD source. 
• Hand Maid Mai music collection. CD source. 
• Hiatari Ryouko soundtrack collection. CD source.
  
• Hidamari no Ki soundtrack. CD source.
• Hoshi Neko Full House singles collection. CD source.
  
• Izumo (1991) soundtrack. CD source.
• Joker: Marginal City music collection. CD source.
• Karuizawa Syndrome soundtrack. LP source.
  
• Kindaichi movies 1 and 2 soundtracks. CD source. 
• Kosuke-sama & Rikimaru-sama - Konpeitou no Ryuu soundtrack. CD source.
  
• Mikeneko Holmes soundtrack. CD source. 
• Nagasarete Airantou music collection. CD source.
• Nine Memorial Album. CD source.
  
• Nora soundtrack. LP source.
• Oruorane the Cat Player soundtrack. CD source.
• Rainbow Signal: Hi-Fi Set. All songs from Hi-Fi Set albums Pasadena Park and Indigo. CD source.
• Sanctuary original soundtrack. CD source.
• Sangokushi TV specials soundtracks. CD source. 
• Sangokushi movies 1 and 2 soundtracks. CD source. (No OST for movie 3.) 
• Shirokuma Cafe music collection. CD source.
• Smash Hit! soundtrack. CD source.
• Sonic Soldier Borgman 2058 soundtrack. CD source.
• Sonic Solder Borgman: Madnight Gigs. All songs from Sonic Solder Borgman: The Last Gig of the World. CD source.
• Starship Troopers soundtrack. CD source.
• Techno Police 21C soundtrack. CD source. 
• The Tale of Princess Kaguya music collection. CD source.
• To-Y image album. CD source.
  
• Tokimeki Tonight background music. CD source.
• Yume Tsukai music collection. CD source.
• Zetsuai, Bronze, and Cathexis music collections. CD source.

These can be hard to find, because they're scattered among public and private trackers, forums, and IRC bots.

My wish list isn't very long, but my greatest wish is that all the "secret sharers" would make their stashes publicly available.

 
[Revised 12-Dec-2024]

Boyfriend OVA (Boyfriend v2)

As I mentioned in my original release post, the 1992 OVA/TV special Boyfriend had a complicated release history. It was released as a 110-minute OVA on two VHS tapes or one laserdisc. It was also released as an abridged, 94-minute TV special, on one VHS tape.

TOVA-1117 - TV special version 94 minutes
TOVA-1118 - OVA first half "The Encounter" 59 minutes
TOVA-1119 - OVA second half "The Promise" 51 minutes
TOLA-1131 - OVA first and second half, 110 minutes (laserdisc) 

Orphan's original release used the abridged TV version, as encoded from VHS tape by ARR. After a long delay, a team member was able to buy the laserdisc version. Accordingly, we're rereleasing Boyfriend, now a two-part OVA: The Encounter and The Promise.

As I wrote last year, Boyfriend is a fairly routine shoujo romance crossed with a sports anime. Yuuki, a girl with a weak heart, falls for Takatou, a rebellious but talented basketball player. Complicating matters, her childhood friend and quasi-fiancee, Nakatsugawa, is the coach of Takatou's basketball team. A player on the girls' basketball team, Mami, has a crush on Takatou. A rival from another basketball team, Akira, wants to best Takatou in both basketball and love. As the climactic championship game between Takatou's and Akira's teams approaches, Yuuki must undergo risky heart surgery to save her life. Will she survive her ordeal? Will the lovers be united? No points for guessing the right answers. 

The OVA version has a bit of additional content - a cold open and an additional scene between Yuuki and Takatou in each episode, as well as an additional verse for the ending song. They help with the continuity, particularly the added scene in the second episode, but their removal wasn't a deal-breaker. The real problem with the ARR VHS rip was the video and audio. The tape was stretched, or the player had wobble; in any case, the video occasionally lost tracking, and the audio had terrible pitch issues. The laserdisc is an enormous improvement. The video is a direct capture with the Domesday duplicator; the audio in an AAC encoding of the digital audio output.

The voice cast consists of well-known seiyuu of the era:

• Tsujitani Kouji (Takatou) 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, which just finished.
• Hidaka Noriko (Yuuki) played Satsuke in My Neighbor Totoro, Akane (the female lead) in Ranma 1/2, Peter in Peter Pan no Bouken, Mrs. Yamada (the mother) in the first two Chi anime series, Near in Death Note, Kikyo in the Inuyasha franchise, and Noriko in Yuukan Club, an Orphan release. She is still active and recently appeared in Little Witch Academia.
• Inoue Kazuhiko (Nakatsugawa) played Yamaoka Shirou in Oishinbo and Yuki Eiri in Gravitation, but I know and love him best as the irascible, sake-swilling Nyanko-sensei in the Natsume Yuujichou properties. He also played Ryousuke in Daishizen no Majuu Bagi, Kitten Smith in Starship Troopers, and Liu Bei Xuande in both Sangokushi OVAs, all Orphan releases.
• Yao Kazuki (Sofue) is best known for his lead role as Dark Schneider in Bastard!! and his recurring role as Franky in One Piece. He also played Date Ikkaku in Akai Hayate, an Orphan release.
• Mizutani Yuuko (Yuuki's friend Aki) has many credits, including Pinoko in all the Black Jack properties, as well as Rika in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Lila in Eien no Filena, and Dr. Uematsu Kikue in Yume Kakeru Kougen, all Orphan projects.
• Yamaguchi Kappei (Takatou's teammate Ougi) has played the lead character in the Detective Conan franchise, Ranma in the Ranma 1/2 franchise, Inuyasha in all the Inuyasha properties, Kudou Shinichi in the Conan franchise, Usopp in the One Piece franchise, Sakuma Ryuichi in Gravitation, Arslan in the first OVA series, the title role in Mouse, and Shibuya in Zetsuai 1989 and Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989 (both Orphan releases), among many others.
• Yokoyama Chisa (Mami) played the title roles in Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, Iron Virgin Jun, and the Sakura Taisen franchise, as well as Sasami/Pretty Sammy in the Tenchi Muyo franchise. She played Hu Si, the were-tiger, in Wolf Guy, an Orphan release.
• Touma Yumi (Hanyuu, the captain of the girls' basketball team) played the title roles in Emma: A Victorian Romance and Baby Felix. She has appeared in numerous shows, including Condition Green, Fukuyama Gekijou, and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Nareudesho, all Orphan releases. 

Moho did the original translation, and laalg the original translation check. For the new version, Sunachan translated the additional dialog, ending verse, and signs. ninjacloud did the original timing and the fine timing on the new version. I edited and typeset throughout; the improved stability of the laserdisc version allowed for additional typesetting. BeeBee and VigorousJammer QCed the original release. Topper3000 checked the new version. Our intrepid raw hunter captured the laserdisc RF output with the Domesday Duplicator and decoded it. He also captured the digital audio as FLAC, because the audio decoding software is still a work in progress. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions encoded the video, and I transcoded the FLAC audio to AAC. (No, we're not releasing FLAC audio for laserdiscs. Get real, dude.) This version is probably not definitive. The decoding software and encoding process has improved over the last few months, and it will continue to improve in the future.

You can get the Boyfriend OVAs from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net