Status 2020

Current status:

• Makoto-chan the movie. In QC.
• Rail of the Stars. In QC. 
• Sweet Spot. In RC. 
• Saiyuuki 1960 HD. In RC.
• Bocchan. In editing.
  

There's still plenty of backlog. Stalled at translation checking - encoding, translation, timing are done:

• Bakumatsu no Spasibo
• Fighting Beauty Wulong. The professional scripts we were given appear to be dub scripts. They need to be translation checked.
• Genji Pt 1
• Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve
• Nayuta
• Cool Cool Bye
• The Choujo
• Hakujaden
  
• Adesugata Mahou no Sannin Musume

Next, stalled at translation - encoded and pre-timing are done in most cases:

• DAYS OVAs 2016
• Magma Taishi (Ambassador Magma)
• Mellow
• Raiyantsuurii no Uta
• Sanada 10 ep 10-12
• Sugata Sanshiro
• Tengai Makyou
• Tezuka Osamu Kyoto Animation Theater Works

Next, stalled at encoding:

• R2J DVD - Amatsuki; Haruka Naru Toki no Naka de 2: Shiroki Ryuu no Miko; One Pound Gospel; Mars OVA; Sanada 10 ep 10-12

So Orphan needs staff, of all kinds: translators, encoders, QCs (particularly an RC), but yes, even editors and typesetters - I'm now the bottleneck on too many projects. If you're interested, and you know what you're doing, please contact me or other staff members on IRC.
 
[Updated 20-Sep-2020]

Sensou Douwa: Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki

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)

Except for Two Walnuts, which has been subbed by Saizen, the series has not been translated into English before.

Yakeato no, Okashi no Ki (The Cake Tree in the Ruins) in set in an unnamed town in 1945. Taichi is an elementary school student and the leader of a group that includes his little sister, Misako, and classmates Jirou, Tsuyoshi, and Yoshio. The boys play at soldiers, mindlessly echoing the nationalistic jingoism drilled into them during the war. Only Tacihi's friend Haruo stands apart. He is too sickly to join the militaristic games, and he spends most of his time reading. Food is scarce, but otherwise, the children haven't been affected much by the war.

This changes suddenly when their town is firebombed by American forces. In one horrific night, Taichi and his gang lose their homes and their school. Forced to eke out an existence by begging or stealing food, they retreat to a "secret fort" in a cave. Haruo's house still stands, and his mother does her best to protect him, going to great lengths to buy the last baumkuchen (tree cake) from the local German bakery. Then, all the children are orphaned and injured in further raids. [Spoiler alert.] Haruo dies of smoke inhalation. In a hallucinatory afterlife, he plants the last of the cake in hopes of creating a true cake tree. The other children reach the ruins of his house and collapse against a tree. One by one, they succumb to their wounds or malnutrition, starting with Misako. Eventually, only Taichi is left. Suddenly, the spirits of the other children reappear, partaking of the miraculous sweetness of the tree. Haruo's spirit shows Taichi that this is a true cake tree. But then, it's Taichi's turn.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins is based on a short story by Nosaka Akiyuki, who also penned Grave of the Fireflies. He grew up during World War II as part of "the generation of the ashes" - the children who experienced the bombing and destruction of much of urban Japan. Like Taichi in the story, many in Akiyuki's family died in the Kobe firebombings, and his younger sister died of starvation. These events haunted his life and informed his writing. Six of the eight Sensou Douwa specials are based on his short stories, which are available in English as a collection called The Cake Tree in the Ruins. Sagara Masae's music evokes the innocence of children's lives. She also scored five other Sensou Douwa specials.

The children are played by noted female seiyuu:

• Tonguu Kyouko (Taichi) played Kei in Dirty Pair, Leo in Saint Seiya, Kikunosuke in The Abashira Family, Jouhouya in the Akuma-kun movies and TV, and Nakamura in Black Magic M-66. She also appeared in Kuroi Ame ni Utarete, Kuro ga Ita Natsu, and the first Sangokushi special, all Orphan releases.
• Hidaka Noriko (Haruo) played Satsuke in My Neighbor Totoro, Minami (the female lead) in Touch, Akane (the female lead) in Ranma 1/2, Peter in Peter Pan no Bouken, Mrs. Yamada (the mother) in the first two Chii anime series, Near in Death Note, and Kikyo in the Inuyasha franchise. She also played Yuuki in Boyfriend, Noriko in Yuukan Club, and Harumi in Mikeneko Holmes, all Orphan releases.
• Oomae Akane (Misako, Taichi's little sister) played Shiina in the Negima franchise.
• Matsumoto Sachi (Jirou) played Watari in Fushigi na Melmo, Shinatuhiko in the Yozakura Quartet franchise, Houjou in the Ao no Exorcist franchise, and Ousaka in Chihayafuru 2 and 3.
• Kondou Reiko (Tsuyoshi) played Kosuke in Ultra Nyan, an Orphan release, and appeared in Lupin III part 3 and Ninku.
• Yukiji (Yoshio) played Michael in Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san and Gonzales in Yawara!

The director, Yasumi Tetsuo, was one of the stalwarts of Shin-ei animation, directing six of the eight Sensou Douwa specials and numerous lengthy series, including Obocchama-kun, Dororonpa!, Bonobono, Kochira Katsushikaku, Atashinchi, and Kuromajo-san ga Tooru, as well as several children's movies.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins marks kokujin-kun's return to translating for Orphan. He hopes to do the rest of the Sensou Douwa specials as time permits. Yogicat timed. I edited and typeset. Nemesis and BeeBee did QC. The raw is a 1080p webrip from UNEXT and is, unfortunately, badly upscaled and rather bit-starved. This show was the first of the Sensou Douwa specials broadcast in high-definition; the first four are standard definition.

The Cake Tree in the Ruins hit me (and others on the project) really hard. Stories of the deaths of children are always upsetting, and the last segment is particularly difficult to watch. Nonetheless, I recommend it strongly, for the simplicity of its storytelling and the impact of its message. You can find The Cake Tree in the Ruins at the usual torrent site or download it from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Gekijouban Perrine Monogatari

 Another "Orphan-raw" release, the 1990 summary movie of the 1978 World Masterpiece Theater series, Perrine Monogatari. This show was started in C1 and finished in KiteSeekers-Wasurenai-Licca. I worked on it, as QC and editor, for both groups.

Originally, I wanted Orphan to sub the summary movie, as Orphan did for the Dallos summary special. I even bought the laserdisc when it came up for auction in Japan. However, the thought of grovelling through 53 episodes to find the relevant scenes was not an enticing thought, particularly because I hadn't like the show all that much to begin with. WMT series are best left to groups that specialize in G-rated shows. Personally, I prefer a grungy 90s OVA, preferably with a modicum of sex and violence, or at least a sense of humor.

Orphan's Intrepid Media Maven™ encoded from a laserdisc rip done with the Domesday Duplicator. The Duplicator software still doesn't handle CX-compressed analog audio all that well, so Intrepid also captured the audio conventionally and synchronized it to the encode. It's available as a separate file, in FLAC for, well, Reasons. And no, I don't know the reasons.

For the do-it-yourself-ers, the torrent includes a link to the script archives, so I'd encourage anyone who's interested to piece together a script for the movie by finding the relevant scenes in the 53 TV episodes. Or you could just watch the grass grow instead.

Gekijouban Perrine Monogatari can be found on the usual torrent site or downloaded from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa (Chrono Trigger OVA)

Occasionally, I come across an OVA that is utterly baffling, because it requires too much context from the game, manga, or novel it is promoting. That's the case with 1996's Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonjaa (Time and Space Adventure Nuumamonjaa), familiarly known as the Chrono Trigger OVA. It's short, face-paced, and entertaining, but it makes no sense whatsoever, because it requires the viewer to be familiar with the insanely popular Chrono Trigger game... which I had never played, or even heard of, before this project.

I'll expand the ANN summary. A town in the Kingdom of Guardia celebrates the millennial anniversary of the kingdom's founding by throwing a a festival, which is crashed by a monsters. Two rather harmless monsters - the genki, fur-covered Momo and the round, dim-witted Nuu - try their best to recruit people into their little group, Nuumamonjaa. Eventually, they give up and go off to enjoy the festival. On a trip to pee in the woods, they run into a giant robot cat named Gonzalez that sings about beating him up and getting silver points. When the robot runs out of energy, Mamo and Nuu cover it with graffiti:

(Right arm: moron. Belly: outtie. White circle: idiot. Throat: tone-deaf.) Their taunting provokes the robot into chasing them around the countryside. They end up in the festival's climactic race, pursued and pursuing a motorcycle monster named Johnny. After the expected catastrophic climax, a few familiar faces show up.

Um... wtf? Even after reading the Wikipedia article on Chrono Trigger and the Chrono universe fan wiki, it doesn't make much sense. The OVA is apparently set just before the start of the game, which begins at the same millennial fair in Guardia. Momo, Nuu, Johnny, and Gonzales are non-player characters (NPCs) from the game. Mamo is a Kilwala. Nuu is an instance of creatures called Nuu. Johnny is a cyborg that can transform into a motorcycle. Gonzales (Gato) is a training robot. The Kilwala and Nuu are minor enemies in the game, but they've become comic figures in the OVA. The main characters of the game are only seen from the back in the very last scene and have no lines.

The voice cast includes:

• Tanaka Mayumi (Momo) 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, Mao in Cooking Master Boy, and of course, Monkey D. Luffy in almost every incarnation of One Piece. She also played Mit-sah in White Fang, Son Gokuu in Tezuka Osamu Monogatari, and Rocco the fox in Tezuka Osamu's Tales from the Old Testament, all Orphan projects.
• Chafuurin (Nuu) played title role in Barbapapa Around the World, Inspector Megure in the Detective Conan franchise, Scotch Jii-san in the Hello Kitty franchise, Isono in Sazae-san (since 2014), and Kamoda in Yawara! He also appeared in Yamato 2520 and Izumo (1991), both Orphan releases.
• Tachiki Fumihiko (Gonzales) played Taizou in Gintama, the narrator in Golden Kamuy, Ddraig in the High School DxD franchise, Ginpei in Nana, Gendou Ikari in the Evangelion franchise, and Daisuke in Oreimo.
• Miki Shinichirou (Johnny) 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, John Bishop (the sharpshooter) in AWOL Compression Remix, and Cyber-X in Hand Maid May. The last two are Orphan releases.

This OVA was Kawasaki Itsurou's first directing assignment. He went on to direct many more well-known shows, including Bronze: Zetsuai Since 1989 (an Orphan release), Arc the Lad, Licensed by Royalty, Rental Magica, Sengoku Basara, and the entire Cardfight franchise.

Despite the immense popularity of Chrono Trigger and its successors, Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonja is its only anime incarnation, and the OVA was only released on VHS tape. Nemesis spotted a copy on a Japanese used media site, bought it, set the project in motion, and kept it moving. The original translation was done in 2003 by Jasconius of HnK (Hikari no Kiseki), one of the earliest digital fansubbing groups. Nemesis transcribed, timed, and checked the subtitles. I edited and typeset (I didn't do all the PITA graffiti). Nemesis QCed. Intrepid ripped and encoded the tape. There's evidence of wear and tape stretch in places, but it's passable.

So here's an improved version of Jikuu Bouken Nuumamonja. It's enjoyable as an absurd gag comedy, even if you, like me, know nothing about the game. You can get the OVA from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari

Here's a wonderful TV special from 1984: Chiisana Koi no Monogatari: Chitchi to Sally Hatsukoi no Shiki (Little Love Story: Chitchi and Sally, Four Seasons of First Love). Adapted from a manga by Mitsuhashi Chikako, this a charming and gentle comedy about the trials of first love. Ogawa Chiiko (Chitchi to her friends) is a vertically-challenged short high school student. She's only 132 cm tall (4' 4"), and she's frequently teased by her classmates, except for her loyal friend Tonko. Chitchi's problems are compounded when she falls hopelessly in love with one of the most popular boys in her school, the 6-foot-tall Murakami Satoshi (Sally to his friends). 

Chitchi succeeds in becoming Sally's friend - he thinks of her as a kind of mascot - but she aspires to be something more. She follows him to his clubs, arranges similar vacations, and pursues her quest from the opening of school in the spring to spring of the following year. She experiences the joys and agonies of first love, while all too keenly aware that she is stuck, despite Tonko's encouragement and help, in Sally's "friend zone."

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari is a slice of life comedy. Chitchi's romantic longings are treated with respect, but her pursuit of a boy more than 50 cm (18 inches) taller produces one awkward situation after another. Sally is treated respectfully too. He's kind to Chitchi - kind enough to keep her on tenterhooks but not to provide any real romantic encouragement. Tonko provides loyal support, but she has her own romantic relationship, with Sally's sidekick Yamashita, to think about as well. There's a supporting cast of friends, teachers, and parents to provide more comedy throughout.

The voice cast includes:

• Furukawa Toshio (Sally) played Moroboshi Ataru  in Urusei Yatsura, Kagege in Keroro Gunsou, Kai Shiden in Mobile Suit Gundam, Shin in Fist of the North Star, Shinohara Asuma in Mobile Police Patlabor, and Piccolo in Dragon Ball Z.  
• Itou Tsukasa (Chitchi) played the heroine in the anime adaptation of the popular shoujo manga Hikari no Densetsu, for which she also sang the opening and ending songs.  
• Yoshida Rihoko (Tonko) 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.
• Suzuoki Hirotaka (Yamashita) played Bright Noa in Mobile Suit Gundam, Huga Koijiro in Captain Tsubasa, Dragon Shiryu in Saint Seiya, Tenshinhan in Dragon Ball, Kuno in Ranma ½, and Saito in Rurouni Kenshin. He appeared in Ginga Tansa 2100-nen: Border Planet, as Karino Daisuke in Sei Michaela Gakuen, and as Abriel Nei Debrusc Larth Kryb Debeus in the Crest of the Stars franchise.
• Suzuki Reiko (Chitchi's mother) usually played elderly women. She appeared as Matsuda's mother in Yawara!, Megabaa in Dennou Coil, Jakotsu-baba in the 2007 version of GeGeGe no Kitarou, Kyousuke's grandmother in the Kimagure Orange Road franchise, and old lady Honke in My Neighbor Totoro. She also appeared in Tsuki ga Noboru made ni and Eguchi Hisashi no Nantoko Narudesho!, both Orphan releases.  
• Ogata Kenichi (Chitchi's father, English teacher) played the put-upon father in  Maroko, Suzuki in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance call, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, and the Narrator/Lord of Kaga in Oedo wa Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases. He also played Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums. 
• Hara Eriko (Mayumi, a classmate) played Selene in Watt Poe, Patty in the Gall Force properties, Fana in Gldeen, Hiyami Hikaru in the Kimagure Orange Road properties, and Pyonkichi in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise. She starred as Ranze in Tokimeki Tonight and appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu, both Orphan releases. 
• Horiuchi Kenyuu (drama teacher) has an extensive resume, including the title role in Guin Saga as well as Kubota in Meisou ou Border, 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 five are Orphan releases.

The director, Hirata Toshio, was an anime pioneer. He joined Toei Douga in 1960 as an "in between" animator, graduated to key animation at Mushi Productions with Senya Ichiya Monogatari (an Orphan release), and took his first directing job on Tanpen Unico. Other directing credits include Grimm Douwa: Kin no Tori (also an Orphan release), Barefoot Gen II, and Ohoshi-sama no Rail (Rail of the Star). Kazato Shinsuke's background music suits the gentle and whimsical mood of the story. He also composed the scores for Jarinko Chie, Urusei Yatsura, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, and Karuizawa Syndrome (an Orphan release).

Iri picked up a laserdisc of Chiisana Koi no Monogatari in a random sweep through Yahoo Auctions and sent it to our Intrepid Media Maven™ for ripping and encoding. Unfortunately, like a lot of discs Orphan has bought lately, it was badly rotted. Once again, it has required a lot of Intrepid's time to extract a usable encode. Despite extensive filtering, the video has visible dropouts, and the audio is quite distorted, particularly around 45 minutes in. To provide an alternative audio track, Intrepid synced up the audio from Gutsy-Raws' VHS release. It lacks base and has a lot of clicks and pops, but it is less distorted. (Pick your poison.) Once the show was encoded, Iri translated, Yogicat timed, I edited and typeset, and Nemesis and VigorousJammer QCed. If a better laserdisc shows up, we'll probably do a new encode. In the meantime, this version is what we have.

Chiisana Koi no Monogatari will lift your mood and make you smile, just the tonic we need in today's troubled times. It's available from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net.

Wanted: Translation Checker(s)

I'm shelving an increasing number of projects because the fansub or R1 translation base is suspect. This didn't used to be a problem, but now I've learned enough Japanese to sense when a translation is off, although not, alas, enough to fix the translation myself.

Fansubs and R1 subs tend to have different issues. For fansubs, the problem is accuracy: lines that were misheard or not understood. For R1 subs, the problem is laxity: serious liberties that were taken to make the lines shorter or more appealing to Western viewers. Both bother the living daylights out of me. Oh, for the glorious days of blissful ignorance, when I wouldn't have known or cared!

Anyway, that's a long-winded way of appealing for translation checkers. Orphan has a raft of scripts that need translation checking before they can be used:

• Adesugata Mahou no Sannin Musume
• Bakumatsu no Spasibo
• Blue Sonnet
• Cool Cool Bye
• DAYS OADs
• Genji Part 1
• Hakujaden
• Kaitei Daisensu
• Maris the Choujo
• Mother Saigo no Shoujo Eve
• Nayuta

If you're a translator, and any of these ring your chimes, please get in touch with us on irc.rizon.net.

Shin Dousei Jidai: Hawaiian Breeze

Shin Dousei Jidai: Hawaiian Breeze (New Era of Cohabitation: Hawaiian Breeze) is a 1992 OVA based on a manga by Saimon Fumi. It's an unusual project, even for the era: a seinen domestic drama, with a very limited cast (three characters) and a less-than-happy ending. It was only released on VHS tape.

Hawaiian Breeze follows two twenty-something adults, Peter Honda, an illustrator, and Eri Todani, a planner, who have been living together for two years since meeting on vacation in Hawaii. They seem reasonably happy, but there's an underlying conflict. Peter really loves children. He wants to get married and start a family. Eri doesn't want children and sees no reason to get married. Their happiness gradually erodes, and eventually Eri leaves to "think about things." Peter's editor, Reiko, who wonders if she'd be a better match for Peter, unravels the underlying reason for Eri's reluctance. Peter must then make a choice. Will he give Eri up, in order to have a family, or will he accede to her feelings, in order to be with her? There's no easy answer.

The voice cast has just three featured roles:

• Hori Hideyuki (Peter) played Zach Isedo in Al Carl no Isan, Sid in Ai no Kusabi, Falk Green in Hi-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. 
• Yamamoto Eriko (Eri) played Iczer 1 in the Iczer OVAs, Rumy in the Gall Force OVAs, Sally in Mahou Tsukai Sally 2, Sandybell in Hello! Sandybell, Georgie in Lady Georgie, Tomoe in Tomoe's Run!, Nora Scholar in Nora, Rihabi and Sayuri in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, and Telenne in Hi-Speed Jecy. The last four are Orphan releases. 
• Nagahori Miho (Reiko) is best known as Lebia in Silent Mobius.

The director, Futukomi Hiroshi, was an industry veteran. Other shows include Kaibutsu-kun series and movies, Galactic Patrol Lensman, High School! Kimengumi, and Captain Tsubasa J. He also directed both Sei Michaela h-OVAs.

Iri translated the show and did initial timing. Yogicat fine-timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee and VigorousJammer QCed. Our Intrepid Media Maven™ encoded from a VHS tape ripped on his All-in-Wonder capture setup. The colors are very muted, which seems appropriate for the tone of the show.

The audio track is also muted, with long periods of silence as the unanswered (and unasked) questions grow into a barrier between Peter and Eri.

Shin Dousei Jidai: Hawaiian Breeze is easy to summarize but less easy to categorize. It's challenging, and its challenges resonate even today. 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.

Late breaking news: here's a patch to fix a typo in one of the lines.