Anime Classic Reviews

Cho Kosoku Galvion - 1984 TV

2011-08-23T13:09:00.000-07:00

Cho Kosoku Galvion is a 22 episode TV series from 1984. It involves criminals using robots to save innocent people's lives in exchange for years being cut from their long prison sentences. It's a unique premise for a show and nothing has ever been done like it since. Sadly the show only aired once in 1984 as it did not garner the immsense popularity it deserved. Instead the show was cut short from it's original run while episode 23 was still in production. Later episodes were cancelled and similiar to SPT Layzner, the show ended on a cliffhanger with a small narration summarising what could have happened to our protagonists. The show was produced by a little known company called Kousai Eigasha, this would be their last production due to financial reasons, possibly bankrupty, bringing them to an arupt closure. Similiar to Transformers, Galvion was also supposed to be a toy driven franchise for the toy company Takatoku, however they also went bankrupt and no official toys were released under them. Model kits were released, however years later by other third party companies, which to this day can still be bought on auction sites.

Galvion is unique in many ways because it's one of the only shows to revolve around high tech formula speed cars that transform quickly into battle mecha. The show is set in the 23rd century therefore involves a lot of glorious high tech scenery and gadgetry. Episode 1 sees a blonde woman called Midoriyama Rei who just happens to be one of the few billionaires living in this futuristic city. She wants to create a secret organisation called Circus to combat an evil, mysterious organisation called Shadow. However she cannot find any qualified pilots for her machines and therefore cuts a deal with two convincts called Mu and Maya who accept in return they get their prison sentences cut for each successful mission.

Galvion is about as rare as it's gets in the anime world. It's never been released on any format in Japan that includes VHS, Laserdisc or DVD making it one of the hardest, most obscure shows to find even on the internet. Due to the birth of youtube in 2006 and the gratitude of an obsessed fan, it's status as slowly been rising as more and more fans have been exposed to the very catchy opening called Lonely Chaser which has one of the best, if not the best, animated intros of all times. The official soundtrack got released on cd in June 2009, however there were complaints of poor sound quality due to master issues. They basically ripped the old LP soundtracks. Some fans believe the OST was released to measure the potential market for DVD sales, however nothing has been hinted at since.

Galvion has not been subtitled by any group as of 2011, mainly because of obscurity and lack of raws. However I am slowly aquiring all the raws to this TV series and will be posting them on this site. Episode 4 currently has the highest video quality. If anyone wishes to translate them for ACR then please contact me at area88@hotmail.co.uk

Episode 1 Raw - Download Here
Episode 2 Raw - Download Here
Episode 3 Raw - Download Here
Episode 4 Raw - Download Here

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: None

MD Geist - 1986 OVA - Original Cut

2011-08-22T07:14:00.000-07:00

MD Geist is a 1 episode OVA from 1986. There are two versions of this OVA, the original and the director's cut. While the 1996 director's cut is on DVD, the original 1986 version never made it sadly. It can only be bought subtitled on eroding copies on VHS or Laserdisc. So whats the big deal about the original cut? Well, with the diretor's cut they changed all the Japanese voice actors, sound effects and music placement. The director's cut couldn't be more different to the original version. Most contemporary fans have only seen the director's cut which is a real shame. Central Park Media also reanimated alot of scenes so in one frame you have standard 1986 character designs and then in another frame, you have mid 1996 designs, making chartacters and backgrounds look very out of place and superimposed. While MD Geist is more infamous than loved and deplored by alot of fan circles and critics, most fans of older anime shows from the 80's, especially those that love gritty, realistic one shot OVA's, will find MD Geist an absolute blast. While the original cut has a few animation errors, who cares? So do most shows from this decade, try and find one tv series that doesn't have some minor animation issues or mistakes here and there. I actually like seeing the odd mistake here and there, it's those inperfections in cel animation that keep the obsessive fans coming back.

MD Geist is set in a post apocolopytic wasteland, on a far way planet called Jerra. A lot of the early landscape shots are reminscent to the show Fist of the North Star, perhaps a few animators of this OVA were long time fans. MD Geist is an ex soldier who has been freed from an orbital sattelite prison and now looks to explore his surroundings. MD Geist is an enigma to anyone who meets him. Is he good or bad? Who are his allies or enemies on this strange planet? There are so many questions to be answered so don't worry if you can't figure out what's going on right away, the plot is actually quite layered and it unwraps a little bit more with each new scene. There are some pretty cool dramatic scene fades in this OVA. The music is your standard synthesiser soundtrack, although with a jazzy twist, listen for the trumpets! It makes fantastic listening and MD Geist actually has a pretty awesome soundtrack which kicks in well with the action scenes and intensifys the build up of atmosphere in the earlier scenes especially. Because it's 1986, expect a fair bit of violence and a raunchy scene here and there, as main characters get aquainted. There is also a lot of cool Mecha designs in this anime, I particularly like the brain controlled red robot.

This ACR encode of the original cut is taken from the the subtitled 1992 Laserdisc release. Almost all other versions on other sites are inferior VHS rips which have muted colours, grain and tin can audio quality. I encoded this and tried to go for DVD like video quality and I think I achieved it. I did this rip back in 2009 and I always meant to post it here on this site. Enjoy! Now you can tell your friends you've seen the real MD Geist.

MD Geist - Download Here

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Hi-Speed Jecy - 1989 - Episodes 1-3

2010-06-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Hi-Speed Jecy is a 12 part OVA series from 1989. Although it's quite well known in old anime circles, it's never been fansubbed, even in the VHS days. It's probaly most famous for being character designed by the famous Haruhiko Mikimoto. He was one of the most revered designers of the period, some of his most famous works include Macross, Macross DYRl, Gunbuster and the design of Eve through the Megazone 23 triology.

ACR is proud to announce it's intentions to sub and release the whole series for the first time ever. We are using high quality laserdiscs for our raws, while mustering the best and most accurate fansub translations we can do. We hope to produce something quite special. All episodes will be torrented but in the meantime use our direct links.

Good News! Episode 1-3 are subtitled by us to deliver perfect translations that you would only usually find by professional companies. Episodes 4 and onwards are being released by another group.

Episode 1 - Download Here
Episode 2 - Download Here
Episode 3 - Download Here

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Black Magic M-66

2010-05-27T05:35:00.000-07:00

Black Magic M-66 is an OVA from 1987.

Full Review coming soon! Site updates every week from now on!

Download Here - Black Magic M-66

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan, USA), Laserdisc (Japan, USA), DVD (Japan, USA)

Area 88 - 1985

2010-05-26T02:43:00.000-07:00

Area 88 is a 3 part OVA series that started in 1985. The first 2 episodes, Act I and Act II, ran at 50 minutes each and were released a few months apart in 1985. Both episodes were extremely close to the original manga series that started in 1979 but was still running while the OVA series was being animated. The third episode, Act III, a feature length episode, was released in 1986 and ran at 90 minutes long. Since the manga was still being written at the time, the creators decided to create their own path for the the characters of Area 88. Many fans consider Act III to be the only weak part of a brilliant OVA series. It deviated too far from the original story and was too inconclusive with the fate of all the characters. The OVA series only covers a third of the manga, which is a shame since it would have been a marvelous spectacle to see all this wonderful material transferred onto screen.

Fans who want to complete the story by reading the manga will be frustrated to know it's never all been translated into English for western fans. Viz picked up the manga in 1987 and distributed it through Eclispe Comics. All 172 issues were planned to be released but only 42 issues were released until it was cancelled in the middle of 1989 due to declining sales. Viz then tried releasing the manga in book form but only 1 volume made it out the presses.

Luckily the Area 88 anime has been more fortunate through history, geting the complete release and exposure it merits. Central Park Media picked up the series in 1992 and released it subtitled on VHS and then Laserdisc a bit later. Then in 1998, Central Park Media was one of the first companies to embrace the DVD format and released Area 88 Act I on dvd, which also included an English dub. However due to underwhelming sales, never put out Act's II and III. This meant new fans now had to hunt down tired and used copies on VHS or LD, which was a real tragedy considering how good the series was. Another classic, Gunbuster would suffer an almost identical fate.

In 2006, out of nowhere, ADV announced it would release Area 88 on DVD. It would include the remastered dvd print used on the R2 Japan releases, as well as an exclusive interview with the original manga creator, Kaoru Shintani. At first, this looked like the perfect release, however two problems would surface that would smear this release. First of all the sound on the Japanese track had been botched on Disc 1, the sound crackles throughout when charcaters speak or music plays. Thankfully Disc 2 is perfect. Dub fans should rejoice as the English track doesn't suffer from any of these sound issues and ADV redubbed the show for your viewing pleasure. Next on the list, this release is sadly the movie edited version. Act's I and II are combined into one feature long episode, some important scenes have been removed, most noticeably is the conversation Kanzaki has with Ryoko in a cafe in episode 1. Thankfully episode 3 is left untouched and is blight free.

Area 88 is a brilliant story packed with more angst than any other show that had come and gone before it. It's a dark story with everything from love triangles, betrayals, morality choices to just pure off the seat action as you witness the rollercoaster ride that is Shin Kazama's life. For purists and true fans, the links below provide Act I and II in their original, unedited form. However if you wish to finish the story, I recommend fans purchase the official region 1 DVD which is around $7 at Amazon Marketplace, to see the final Act III.

OVA 1 - Download - Area 88 Act I
OVA 2 - Downoad - Area 88 Act II
OVA 3 - Buy the DVD to find out

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan, USA), Laserdisc (Japan, USA), DVD (Japan, USA)

Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia - 1985

2010-05-24T03:43:00.000-07:00

Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia is a 1985 OVA. It was created parralel to the TV series and came out on video during the series' first broadcasted run at the end of 1985. Although the OVA sold reasonably well, many fans rejected the more serious and hard sci-fi tone and style to the franchise. Sequels were clearly intended with the phrase 'See You Next Time, Vol ??' appearing at the end of the show's credits.

The production team obviously wanted to produce something more closely related to the original 1980 novel called 'The Great Adventures of Dirty Pair' both in designs and content. Takachiho Haruka, the author, also played a big part in writing and supervising the story in this OVA. It's assumed that this is also his favourite adaptation of his work.

The story is complex and the pace deliberately slow, since the Dirty Pair need time to unravel the mysteries of Nolandia. They must face everything from psychic powers, strange creatures, conspiracy casea, as well as the true secrets of Nolandia. The light heartedness and humour that made up the TV series is almost entirely absent from this rendition. It's clear the creators wanted a fresh break, so even the character designs got majorly changed and revamped. Both Kei, Yuri and as well as all the other characters in the story, now have realistical proportioned figures. The cute, curvy look is gone and a more angular, skinny, well proportioned look, is now in. Backgrounds equally go up a notch, boasting some really impressive color and detail. The music is delightfully catchy and sweet with the typical 80's synthesisers doing a wonderful job of adding to the atmosphere.

Affair of Nolandia simply offers some of the best animation and storytelling seen from this era. It's creativty is captivating, offering both fresh outlooks on designs and storytelling. Affair of Nolandia is a mind blowing experience upon first viewing. It continues to be benchmark for which other 80's anime must be compared to. Affair of Nolandia was lucky enough to get a release on DVD in 2003 and re-released in a thinpack bundle in 2005. Both are out of print, however the single release still goes cheap on Amazon Marketplace for around $5. A remastered DVD release in Japan, occurred in 2006. While the color and grain levels are slightly improved, the sound quality is vastly inferior to the R1 release. I therefore continue to treasure my Region 1 release over anything else. I urge you to hunt down a copy for yourself upon viewing this treasure. Hurry before copies get even harder to find, I suspect ADV lost the license to this a couple of years ago and this will soon become collector's fodder.

Download Here - Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia

Overall Grade/Rating: A+
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan, USA), Laserdisc (Japan, USA), DVD (Japan, USA)

Maris the Chojo - 1986

2010-05-23T03:41:00.001-07:00

Maris the Chojo is an 1986 OVA. It's the second volume from the Rumic World OVA franchise. The OVA is a perfect blend of science fiction and comedy. The show is packed full of jokes and cameo appearances from other anime.

More Comprehensive review being written and uploaded next few days:

Download Here - Maris the Chojo

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan, USA), Laserdisc (Japan, USA)

California Crisis - 1986

2010-02-13T14:59:00.000-08:00

California Crisis is a 45 minute OVA by the largely unkwown Studio Unicorn. A small, independent company that set out to do a few ambitious projects but failed to cause more than a blip on the radar before going the way of the dodo. California Crisis is very unique for many reasons. As the name suggests it's set in Southern California, spread over a range of locations from San Diego, Orange County to Los Angeles. The time flashes on the screen when a key scene or location changes. You can tell the creators were striving to push the boundaries of style with this one, seen particurly clearly by the way the character designs and high contrast animation style are constructed. Only Megazone 23 Part II has used such a similiar technique and that came out in the same year, which shows what little effect it had on the industry.

The story is about a guy named Noera who loves driving his red convertible. One day he meets a girl called Marsha after rescueing her from some trouble. She has a mysterious object that the government's Men in Black are chasing her for. Noera agrees to protect her and the wild adventure begins.

More extensive review & screenshots coming soon - English Subtitled Fansub now available below:

Download Here - California Crisis

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), LD (Japan)

Violence Jack Harlem Bomber - 1986

2009-09-27T05:34:00.001-07:00

Violence Jack Harlem Bomber was originally released in 1986 as a one shot OVA, based loosely on Go Nagai's longest running manga series. A manga series so succesful it was revived twice after it's original run of 1973-1974. It would run for another year between 1977-1978 before being picked up a for a massive run of 7 years between 1983-1990. This was also Go Nagai's most controversial manga series as it was extremely graphic in violence, contained alot of hentai, drugs and other mature themes. It's rumoured Go Nagai was urged by many to end the manga series early on a number of occasions in fear of prosecution for his extreme style of works.

The first OVA was released in 1986 as Violence Jack Vol 1 Harlem Bomber :and was planned to be an OVA series but for whatever reason failed as the later OVA's would be produced by different production companies. This is unfortunate because I would have loved to have seen more of Violence Jack in this style. The later OVA's produced in 1988 and another in 1990, lacked the compelling story telling found in the first. In the original OVA, Violence Jack is portrayed as an enigma, an anti-hero that wants to free the world from the destruction. In the latter OVA's, Violence Jack is just portrayed as a ruthless killer. None of the OVA's have any continuity between them. All use different voice actors, animators and directors. Each new OVA got more progressively graphic than the last, although saying that, OVA 2 is the most controversial as it deals in themes of cannabilism, rape and and necrophila. But OVA's 2and 3 fall well short in my opinion, even if they are supposed to contain components that follow the manga series more closely. Still, they are worthy as curiosity pieces.

All 3 OVA episodes have been released for Violence Jack on VHS in the USA. First, in 1994 by Manga Entertainment, in a strictly dubbed and edited form. 25 seconds of footage was cut from OVA 1, around 4 minutes from OVA 2 and a whopping 7 minutes from OVA 3. Manga Entertainment also changed the order they released the OVA's. They released OVA 2 as Volume 1, OVA 3 as Volume 2 and OVA 1 as Volume 3. This was probaly done to release Violence Jack in order of controversy and graphic content, making a splash with the fans and media, resultingly boosting sales. This can be further supported by the addition of profanity to their English dubs, not found in the original Japanese scripts. In 1996, Rightstuf offered Manga Entertainment money to release these OVA's uncut under their hentai label Critical Mass. Manga Entertainment accepted and Rightstuf released the show subtitled for the first time. They also released the same dubbed version Manga Entertainment released but uncut. Unfortunately Rightstuf pressed only a small number of copies on VHS making the uncut version rare when it went out of print and for a lot of fans just a myth.

Manga Entertainment retained the rights until around 2005 and for whatever reason didn't release the show on DVD. However fans should not dismay, for I suspect it may see a release eventually. A boutique company called Discotek recently released the Fist of the North Star movies and the Crying Freeman OVA series, both graphically violent and have of the same nature as Violence Jack. Violence Jack would be a good seller considering fans have been clamouring to get uncut copies of it for years. Only recently have fansubs based around the uncut Japanese Region 2 release finally surfaced out on the internet.

Violene Jack Harlem Bomber is set in a post apocalyptic world. Rather than the standard Nuclear War that made up alot of 80's stories, Earth has been destoryed by the impact of a large meteor. Society has been destoryed and the world is now tossed into a dystopia where powerful gangs control the cities surrounded by baron wastelands of sand and starving people. This story focuses on an evil overlord known as Slum King who rules and controls an area within one of the last decaying syscapers. However one shadowy figure threatens to put an end to his tyranny and that man is Violence Jack who is seen at the beginning of the OVA, rising through a mountain of skulls.

The OVA then quickly throws us a dramatic showdown between Jack and the Slum King but is aruptly ended and Jack's whereabout is ambigious. Slum King then order's his vast array of henchman to locate Jack. One of the best is a tall, beastly woman who uses her whip to neautralise her targets. Her objective is to capture woman and make them into slaves for the empire. All the sub characters play an important role in the story but none more important than a woman called Mari who longs to be reunited with her lover. It's a sort of Romeo and Juliet love affair that gives the story alot more depth. Infact you could even say that Mari is the main character in this since she gets more runtime than Jack. However I won't give much more away since there are alot of twists and turns in this one.

The animation is excellent, boasting strong production values, fluid animation and detailed backgrounds. The charcater designs are one of my favourites with vibrant colours for the characters but lots of blues and blacks for backgrounds. Objects are drawn with thick lines and roughly shaded textures for that comic book style effect. The animation is instantly identifiable as there are few shows that looks anything close to this. Big kudos as well for the excellent drawing and inclusion of use of heavy armoured tanks, helicopters and bikes. Something often overlook in other post apocalyptic style anime.

The soundtrack is very catchy and consist of three main tracks, one high tempo for battle scenes, another for flashback moments and one slow tempo for the ending. There are no vocal tracks in this but the show is the better for it. Vocalised bubblegum themes would just be out of place in a sombre show like this.

In conclusion, Violenece Jack is not for the faint hearted. It's easily one of the darkest, daring and most extreme shows produced in anime history. While this doesn't go as far as it's sequels, viewer discretion is advised. For anyone who likes a bit of graphic content in their anime, Violence Jack will certainly deliver a thrilling ride.

Download Here - Violence Jack Harlem Bomber

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan, USA), Laserdisc (Japan), DVD (Japan)

Guyver Out of Control - 1986

2009-09-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

Guyver Out of Control is a 1 episode OVA from 1986. It was the first adaptation to make it to the US waters on VHS in 1993 through Dark Image Entertainment (a sub division from US Renditions). Sadly it is the last to make it to dvd, should a release ever happen at all. There was some hope when ADV licensed their co-produced Guyver: The Bioboosted Armor TV series in 2006. A minority of fans in forums were hoping they would tie in the old 1986 OVA with the new TV show. ADV did this with Area 88, licensing the 3 part 1985 OVA series after the successful release of the 2004 TV show. However no licensing news for Guyver Out of Control has ever surfaced and with ADV in financial hardship, the dream of a successful tie in, is now surely dead.

Guyver has had 4 anime adaptations, a one shot OVA, two 6 episode OVA series and a 26 episode TV series. Despite the later adaptations being longer and following the manga more closely, I feel they got it right the most with the original OVA. With only 1 chapter of the manga released at the time, the director and production team had to use their own creative mind to fill in the gaps since there simply wasn't enough material to complete a story. This makes it the most unique compared to it's later releases.

One of the biggest changes is Guyver II is now a woman and takes a much more prominent role in the show. Later adaptations, we only see Guyver II for a short period of time but in this, we see the character and armoured suitfor almost the entirety of the show. Another big difference is the added realism of Chronos Headquarters, which is portrayed as a business organisation rather than a criminal syndicate run by alien lifeforms. Lastly, another significant change I wanted to list is the the main character Sho who becomes host to Guyver I. In this OVA Sho is full of angst rather than the confidenct protagonist in later adaptations. Sho suffers a lot of personal loss, becoming isolated and retreating into baron wastelands. Forcing him in to a period of intense change and personal growth. One scene actually bears a striking resemblance to the Area 88 OVA series, for those familiar with the show, watch Sho collapse in the desert scene and you will see what I mean.

Guyver Out of Control has more than just plot changes though. The production team decided to go all out, cranking up the blood and gore factor massively. In this you will see mutilations, decapitiations and quite a lot of blood in key scenes. There's also quite a bit of fan service too with the creator's exploiting the fact that Guyver II is a female in this version. Infact her first transformation sequence can be considered borderline hentai. Later adaptions had a lot of this censored out, with the the latest tv series being the worst culprit. This is a shame considering I always been in awe of the Guyver franchise for pushing boundaries in the action genre.

The animation in the show is excellent and the character designs have that great rough shaded look that was so typical of the times, even in big budget theatrical releases like Project A-ko. Mizuki's character design resembles that of Ami from the Cream Lemon series and was the standard back in 1986. The music soundtrack in this, is one of my all time favourites, I've never heard a synthesiser used as effectively as this for fight scenes before, the sound effects are equally impressive as well.

In conclusion, Guyver Out of Control is more than just an action shonen show, it's full of depth and drama. Even if you're familiar with other adaptations from the Guyver franchise, very few fans will be able to predict the direction the story is taking when watching this for the first time.

Update - Since a high quality Japanese Laserdisc has recently surfaced on to the internet, I've seen many attempts at updating the low VHS quality versions that had plagued the internet for years. However recent attempts as using this high quality raw have been dismal. The subtitle timings for one had been terrible. Therefore I took matters into my own hands and did an ACR update. I even added song lyrics for all the songs with vocals, which even the standard VHS release didn't have back in it's day. Enjoy and please comment if you like the improvement.

Download Here - Guyver Out of Control

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan, USA), Laserdisc (Japan)

Body Jack - 1987

2009-08-08T03:26:00.000-07:00

Body Jack is a 30 minute OVA from 1987. It's the fourth OVA in the Pink Noise series.

More extensive review coming soon...

Download Here - Body Jack

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Dragon's Heaven - 1988

2009-04-01T01:00:00.000-07:00

Dragon's Heaven is a little known 35 minute OVA from 1988. This was produced by the once adored Artmic who brought us more well known classics like Bubblegum Crisis and Riding Bean. Dragon's Heaven starts off by startling the viewer with a rather unexpected live action sequence using models. At 5 minutes long, it's a unique introduction and invitation into this delightfully quaint anime. It's only real relevance to the content of the show is that it provides a nice visual comparison to the animation that follows it. The creators did a great job rendering the models and landscapes that we later see in the anime.

The story is about a blonde girl called Ikooru who is a traveller who crosses the sandy desersts on her trusty bird. However this all changes when one day she meets Shaian, a self aware combat robo that has finally awoken. Shaian went into hibernation over a thousand years ago when his pilot, needed to maintain his system, died during a massive war between the humans and sentient robots. Since then Shaian has patiently waiting for a new pilot. With peace once again being threatened, Ikooru agrees to help Shaian face an old enemy.

Despite being made in 1988, the cute character design for Ikooru is something you'd usually see from a show made in 1985. However design wise, she is the only part of the show that was contemporary and conventional during it's time of production. The dusty landscapes and clunky mechanical designs are a true sight to behold. Drawn with a thick, sketchy and grainy styl.e, it's unlike anything ever made before and since. This style complements the setting very well and the show does looks as it could have been dug up from ancient times.

The end credits offer a nice suprise with the fabolous vocal track 'Dancing with a Heartache', which plays while showing you snippets of the production work that helped make the short live action sequence possible for the opening. It's impressive to see all the hours and parts it took to make something so big, standing in at just over 5ft. There is also a full behind the scenes documentry at 12 minutes long but unfortunately this part wasn't subtitled.

Dragon's Heaven is a visual spectacle, it's unconventional yet beautifully crafted animation is a decent reason alone to watch. The fact that it's story is so endearing, while not pushing any boundaries, makes this a really interesting watch. It's works like these that easily reinforce the wonders and excitment the one shot OVA brings to the screen since it's always offering something new and different.

Download Here - Dragon's Heaven

Overall Grade/Rating: B+
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan), DVD (Japan)

Del Power X - 1986

2009-03-26T09:21:00.001-07:00

Del Power X is a 40 minute mecha parody OVA from 1986. At the time, the mecha genre was going through one of it's most successful periods since the industry began. Shows like Gundam Z and Spt Layzner were dominating the tv ratings. So you think there would be a decent market for an anime like this, yet like so many other parodies of it's time this one faded into obscurity. Only Gainax's Gunbuster bucked the trend but then it ditched most of the comedy and parody references after the first episode.

Del Power X is a really fun show with alot of original ideas. For instance, characters make over the top entrances, with the screen freezing, music playing and title cards flashing on the screen. It's all very frivilous and this sort of outlandish style is best captured by the arrival of a character called Nick (you'll see what I mean). There are so many great examples of the fun, sillyness captured in this show. You'll see characters fill up their mecha suits with gas, use wrestling moves for combat and excessively long power up sequences. There are so more jokes in this OVA, some obvious, others subtle. I don't want to spoil all the fun so I'll let the show itself pleasantly suprise you. With so many jokes squeezed into such a short show, I come to wonder how the creators did it. There's defintly more bang for your buck here than you''d find in a TV series.

The character designs are gorgeous, giving homeage to a style that was more popular in 1984, making the show look slightly older than it actually is. The animation, particularly the backgrounds, are detailed and well drawn. The show has a really, bright colourful look to it as well. The music is consistantly good consisting of upbeat electronic instrumentals to accompany the mood and action. Both the opening and ending's have really excellent vocal tracks, even if the lyrics don't make a lot of sense, but then when has that ever been an issue before?

Overall Del Power X is up there with the best of the parodies. It's been interesting to see the show gather a small cult following on some of the streaming sites in the last year. I'm hoping it's love and appreciation will continue to increase, the more people that see it. Hopefully you'll be one of them.

Download Here - Del Power X

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Cosmos Pink Shock - 1986

2009-01-03T11:13:00.000-08:00

Cosmos Pink Shock! A cute one shot parody OVA produced by JVC in 1986. The story is a is about a 17 year old girl called Micchi who flies her spacecraft 'Pink Shock' through space, to be reunited with her long, lost lover Hiroshi. It's a really fun and cute anime you won't want to miss. With it's strong dose of science fiction and mecha action, romance and comedy, it's sure to please most old school fans longing for something a bit quirky and different. The Hiroshi character designs are a big plus too.

More extensive review coming soon...

Download Here - Cosmos Pink Shock

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), VHD (Japan)

Nineteen19 - 1990

2007-08-30T15:05:00.001-07:00

Nineteen19 (also referred to as Nineteen 19) is an obscure, stylish 45 minute OVA produced in 1990 by the renound animation studio Madhouse. This particular title has been on my radar for quite some time now but it was until I read the review on the Buried Treasure column that I became motivated enough to dedicate precious time and resources into tracking it down. Anyway after months of searching I finally snagged myself a vhs copy of original fansub that was done way back in the early 90's by Nexus Studio.

Nineteen19 is a delightful story about a gentle, intelligent man called Kubota who has yet to lose his virginity at the age of 19 despite plenty of offers from the girls around him. This could infact change though, when he meets the women of his dreams at a nightclub. Her name is Masana who is a beautiful and successful model whose geting plenty of exposure in the city of Tokyo. Kubota is completly stunned by her beauty and as later flashback scenes will show, they actually have quite a history. It's from here in the nightclub that the romance and story begin to blossom.

Nineteen19 is a shounen romance, some might find this an unusual mix since the romance genre is almost always linked with shoujo. However the reason it's shounen is because it's one of the few romances told entirely from the male perspective. We do get a decent insight into characters around him although it's usually from Kubota's angle of understanding. I really like this form of execution since I've always loved shows that delve deep into the minds of the characters especially if it's through the form of self narritive.

This isn't the only unconventional aspect of this show since another key part of it are the music video segments spliced into the key scenes of the show. Each music video focuses on a different aspect of their growing relationship, the animation does a great job of transforming relativelly casual scenes into something artsy, experimental and very different from the norm. The animation style during these moments can shift from anything to the look of a nice sketchy production shot to a detailed labyrinth style chase sequence through the city from the first person view. These unique twists of style will certainly keep the viewers attentive along as they can also appreciate the 80's MTV style music and visuals. Everything from the colourful flashing lights to the accurate company logo branding embarks a certain ambience to it from this decade. I find it novel that copyright infringement wasn't really an issue back then so creators could borrow real company logos to intergrate into the show to add that extra sense of realism, fan should have fun looking out for them all since there are alot. Those that don't appreciate the pop culture aspects and references of this title might struggle to find enjoyment from this title.

As already mentioned above, the animation in this title is really good but I also really must give major credit to Naoyuki Onda for blessing it with his finely crafted character designs which really fit into the show nicely. Some of his other works which adopt a similiar artwork style include the original Sol Bianca and To-y. His designs for Nineteen19 are closely based on the work of Sho Kitagawa who was the original creator of the manga which ran for 12 volume between 1988 to 1990. The same manga artist would later go on to create another shounen romance called Blue Buttefly Fish (B.B. Fish) which was also later adapted into an OVA in 1993 by a different company and group of artists.

Overall if you want a creative romance drama that focuses deeply on it's characters with it's own unique twist of style then Nineteen19 is more than worth watching. Well recieved back in the fansub circle days of vhs, I hope it's rescue from obscurity once again will allow it to meet an equally positive reception.

Download Here - Nineteen19

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Windaria - 1986

2007-08-14T06:12:00.000-07:00

Windaria is a 100 minute long movie from 1986 by the short lived but prolific Kanamae Productions. They were were famous for productions like Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora, Birth and Genmu Senki Leda. All of which sold very well and quickly became fan favourites. All of them including Windaria have been lucky enough to be released on to the dvd format in Japan making it easily accessible to the public again for a short period of time since most dvd releases in Japan are aimed at collectors so pressings are limited with titles often going out of print rather quickly. Windaria was released on dvd in 2000 and then reisused in 2005 by AIC along with other best sellers from their catalogue including Megazone 23 and Birth (both also remastered), once again all of these are now out of print and therefore will require some effort to aquire. Megazone 23 and Birth are widely available in the US and so fans shouldn't have any problems picking up the domestic release. Windaria on the other hand has not been picked up by ADV despite their aquisition of the Carl Macek adaptation of the title known as Once Upon A Time. This version completly changes the plot, dialogue and setting of the anime making it recogniseable only by the artwork alone, fans should avoid this at all costs unless they have a fine appreciation for other edited adaptions like Robotech.

When released in Japan on dvd, Windaria was given the best treatment possible by blessing it with a brand new, remastered anamorphic print for it's dvd release. This completly rejuvenated the once ageing and washed out print, to present to us with a stunning commercial copy that actually matches it's theoretical release and the number of production pictures seen in printed magazine issues at the time. Despite the older designs it really looked as if it could have been produced today if cel animation were still been used today. It's a shame to think a company with such originality and an exceptional track record would fade so quickly into the dust. They unfortunately shut down all their operations in 1988 supposingly due to financial difficulties. For many fans this was a great tragedy at a time since they had quickly built up a large dedicated fanbase of supported. Fortunately some of their ongoing projects were saved by being handed over to other companies for completion however their long term input into the indystry with their unique flavor and style would inevitably be missed. This scenario was not entirely unusual since during the 80's, many companies took great risks under the propserity of the flourishing economy. This however led to a boom or bust scenario with many being so daring that even just one flop could mean financial ruin.

Windaria starts off on a great note by showcasing it's beautful landscapes and gorgeous fantasy setting. It's sad to think that this particular genre is often overlooked by the staff on the industry. Fantasy is often harder to pull of as it revolves conjuring up new creative visual concepts to set up their own unique world for the characters to partake in. The animators really showcase their talents nicely here, like with one of the early scenes of a group of Unicorns peering over a windy mountain. We also get introduced to a small city with an intrieging greek mythological theme to it's dynamic artictecture. The city is right next to the ocean which it uses as a source for filtering drinking water, as well as powering the fountain and the palace's elevated moat. These are just some of the examples of the amount of detail that has gone in to this produciton and this is only the most brief of descriptions for the first few minutes of this movie. Some may want to consider freeze framing these early scenes as they pass by only very briefly but they're very pretty to behold.

Windaria focuses in on alot of romantic elements which are a key part of the story since it's clearly shoujo based(aimed at afemale demographic) with it's both visuals and content, although still appealing to the mainstream. The main character is a blonde haired man called Izu who lives with his young wife called Marin. Iza is a gentle but ambitious man who secretly longs for status, recognition and an overall more luxirious standard of living. His lover Marin is much more content with her lifestyle since her only real desires are the love and companionship of her husband who she wishes to be with for all entity of their lives. Another romance which runs parrelel to this story, centers around the political tension between two cities and it's figures, Jill the prince of Pero and Ahanas, the princess of Isa. Pero is a the technologically advanced, large dark medievel city that wishes to expand it's influence and power while Isa is the more content and beautiful rural city. Their backgrounds and origins will prove decisive in their fates together. Windaria is such an epic piece, I really don't want to discuss the story at any great length since there is alot of the enjoyment to be found seeing this tale unfold from start to finish.

The artwork and animation is stunning and one of the standout attributes that makes this such a delight to view . The character designs are done by Musumi Inomata who will be instantly recogniseable to anyone who has seen the Genmu Senki Leda. The key animation is just as impressive with keen attention to detail with the sometimes dizzying angles and motions captured in this animated piece. Some of my favourite shots in anime in general are those that take the first person perspective. A good example of this used in Windaris would be when Izu first rides his newly aquired motorised vehicle and rides it through the dark forests at night, dodging and passing through the rocks and the trees. If I were to raise one minor weakness in the animation, it is that the cel count isn't qutie as high as the truly top tier productions but then this is the smallest of niggles since at 100 minutes long it can't be too far off from the benchmarks set by other works. If I were to rate Windaria on animation alone it would easily earn full marks in the grading department.

The soundtrack is just as phenomental with it's electronic orchestra which uses a wide range of music from the haunting and mysterious to the exciting and gripping or even the sad and thought provoking. The execution of these musical pieces are as close to perfect as I could have ever hoped for. All scenes are powerfully enhanced by emotionally provoking soundtrack. One such example which always gives me goosebumps occurs exactly at the 54 minute mark which shows one of the villagers pondering over Marin from the hillside while the sun blazes down from it's cloudy blue sky background. It these kind of scenes that demonstrates why music can sometimes be a much more effective way of capturing the mood and feelings of a scene than words or dialogue can ever be. Another very noticeable piece is the final song which plays at the very end of the movie, it's outstand and it magnifies the tone of the ending so well it comes across as both sad and haunting. The soundtrack for this anime was also sold seperatly by Victor but as to be expected with most anime of this age, the OST is now out of print and hasn't been reissued since 1994. Thats not say it won't be in future, soundtracks like Megazone 23 were reissued around the same time as the dvd in Japan. Also their's a rising number of classic anime starting to make itself onto the HD formats in Japan and the US so a future release is possible and I hope this time they include the original trailer and the pilot film which were present on the laserdisc version but exempt from the from previous dvd releases due to the supposed lack of space on a standard dual layer dvd. This was done to max out bit rate for the new transfer.

Some fans refer to this as one of the best and most depressing tragic anime of all time. While it's certainly plays out in a sad note especially during the final third of the film, it's not quite the angst filled, tear jerking masterpiece some would like you to believe. Although it captured by emotions and I almsot shed a tear when the credits started rolling, classics like the Area 88 OVA have had a much deeper effect on me but than it all comes down to personal preferences. I would have liked to have seen an even longer runtime with extended character development and additional padding to some of the background stories including a greater anaylsis on the history of the tree of Windaria. This could have easily have been one of the best of all time with a bit more tweaking. While not the most accomplished movie in terms of content, it's still part of my definition of the word 'classic' or 'old school' since it's mix of shojou, romance and fantasy is a rare treasure to distinguish from.

Windaria seriously needs to be released on DVD here in the US, the only reason I can see for it not being so already is that the rights must be more expensive than any company is wishing to pay for. ADV's aquisition of 'Once Upon A Time' was done through Harmony Gold which would have made it alot cheaper in comparison so i can understand their decision in choosing the edited version over the original especially since Carl Macek was still working for ADV during the time of it's release. He was wielding quite the influence as ADV picked up alot of old streamline titles around 2002 to 2004, some more than successful than others. It's a shame since the orignal version of WIndaria has met with universal cricital praise, I only hope the edited adaptation won't have put off too many fans and damaged it's chances of geting the release since it deserves the attention of fan's today. With ADV going from strength to strength during 2007 after the downturn of 2005 and the rough year that was 2006 maybe with their newly formed partnership with Geneon and their overall changes of fortunes, Windaria could make it as a future aquisitions sooner rather than later since there's no company I'd rather see pick this title up.

Download - Windaria

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon - 1987

2007-08-11T05:08:00.000-07:00

Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon is an attractive 30 minute OVA from 1987. It is the second entry into an OVA series by the Pink Noise team of staff, following up the highly unique, romantic horror title called Call Me Tonight. The signature touch for all their productions were unique self contained OVA's that accompanied a certain degree of fan service. Hikaruon keeps this element nicely in tact but with a completly different style of story from the last.

This OVA is a parody/tribute to the popular sentai genre of Japan from the early to mid 80's. Sentai is basically a show which features a person who transforms into a superhero to save the day. This show is also part of the sub genre Metal Hero which features a hero that uses a metallic metal suit. These shows are primarily about stylish combat moves and over the top fighting sequences, parrelled by loud voice commands. Many outside of Japan will recognise the once popular English adaptations of the live action sentai genre, brought over and produced by Saban in the the US during the mid 90's. These included shows like Power Rangers and VR Troopers.

Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon remains true to it's roots, even though the show only has 1 episode, the animators felt dedicated enough to animate a complete intro to really capture the style of the metal hero shows that were popular back in the 80's when they were still being regularly broadcasted. It's a flashy sequence that introduces our two main characters, Hikaru and Adzumi. Hikaru is the confident yet slightly hot headed male lead who transforms into the powerful Hikaruon, using his special suit to combat the forces of evil. While partner Adzumi seeminly does more of the detective side of work, uncovering complex mysteries and pulling together clues and events. She is the older yet highly attractive and sophisticated female companion who compliments Hikaru perfectly. It's the standard combination of braun and brains but it's finely crafted and well excuted with style.

As to be expected from the Pink Noise team, the character designs have that gorgeous, rough yet utterly cute look to them. All the characters have the typical big puppy dog eyes that makes all the females in particular, so appealing to look at. The larger eyes help display the characters emotions better, a signature feature that other countries sadly neglected back then and still do now to quite some degree. At least this helps define Japanese anime as a unique art form with it's own characteristics and styles.

Anyway focusing back on the show, the plot doesn't really do anything out of the oridinary but it's all put together solidly with conviction. There's lots of flashy posing, fast chase sequences and raunchy yet harmless fan service to keep the viewers happy. There's also some truly noteable background art, especially in the 'other dimension' sequences, with the kind of weird and wonderful look that made the classic Angel's Egg so endearing to gaze at.

So if the show's content is only above average then what makes it so enjoyable? Quite simply the combination of style with cute, detailed animation makes this title an entertaining watch. The mystery plays out in a fairly standard form but i do give it kudos for keeping you guessing. I also like the fact that the fight sequences are not drawn, they are quick, flashy and straight to the point. There is no messing about with characters, like in other shows, for instance taking up to 10 minutes for one single character to just powerup. I'm constantly amazed at how entertaining these short OVA's are when they have so little time to fit it all in.

Remember just because a show might border on the shallow side, shouldn't mean it's automatically qualifies as a poor quality show. It's the likes of Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis that have taught fandom in the past that style can triumph and making it the primary basis for the show, it can still succeed in capturing it's audience. That's not to disregard the importance of content but to reitterate that visuals are just as important, if not more so at times than the actual content. Anime is a visual based medium and therefore the importance of the visuals should not be disregarded.

In conclusion if your looking for a short OVA with lots of style and a hint of parody, then Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon should be watched as soon as possible, especially if you have a fondness for sentai or the action genre in general, although the mystery element in the show means it's not a complete neccesity for appreciating this gem.

Download - Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon

Overall Grade/Rating: B+
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Macross Flashback 2012 - 1987

2007-07-31T12:45:00.000-07:00

Macross Flashback 2012 is a 30 minute OVA released in 1987. It was created primarily to convert the original designs and plans that were made for the original ending of the movie Macross Do You Remember Love. This could not be animated during 1984 due to time conscritions. The creators had intended to include concert footage after Minimay's Countdown in DYRL, as well as possible some other short scenes to conclude the story for all the major characters. Instead all fans got were scrolling white credits down a black screen, although the song is fantastic, this could arguably be called somewhat of an anti climax. Later editions of Macross DYRL would however incorporate the concert footage from the first segment of Macross Flashback 2012, under the label 'Perfect Edition'. This version was released on Laserdisc in 1992 and later on DVD in 1998. Although Macross Flashback was released on DVD in 1998, it was given such a limited print run it's virtually impossible to find now without paying extortionate prices of around $160. It wasn't even remastered like DYRL was, which is disapointing but this can be recitifed assuming it's blessed with another release in the future.

Macross Flashback 2012 is the ultimate music anime video anthology. The OVA starts with a black screen and all you can hear is Minimay doing a countdown, which is the perfect place to start, considering thats where DYRL originally finished. This immediatly signals to fans that this is a continuation of that story. Then it quickly starts with flashes of colourful light, music blazing and behold our very first first music video of the OVA. The fast tempoed and delightfully beautiful 'Angel Paint' features first on the music list. We see an older and even more attractive Minimay, singing and dancing like we've never seen her before. Moving with such precision and fluidity, it's a wonderful showcase for the new sparkly character design. Her futuristic outfit is a striking mix of pink and blue. Fans are left mesmorised by the visuals as we witness Minimay's very last concert performance on Earth. As the screen zooms out of Macross city, the story shifts to the Flashback segment of the OVA.

The second music video only uses footage from DYRL. It plays to the delightfully playful and happy song 'Sunset Beach' with excellent sparkly visuals to match. I particulrly like the choice of live action shots blended in to this segment including a cola can falling into a large city of mainly skyscrapers and the glowing red sign of two people dancing, all perfectly timed to synchronise with the music. the editing for both the animation and the special effects are exquisite. Going from the opposite end of the spectrum is the fifth music video called 'Silver Moon, Red Moon' whichonly use footage from the tv series. This one focuses on Misa's relationship and her longful desires to be with Hikaru. It's a touching video, i particularly love the shot of Hikaru pulling out some photos of Misa as she walks off into the sunset.

Although some fans were disapointed to see that Flashback 2012 wasn't a completly new OVA since it reused footage from DYRL and the TV series. I have to add that i think the creators of Macross did an outstanding job in making this. This was made as a last hurrah, a thankyou for all the dedicated fans out there. Sadly this would be last time fans would ever see the original cast make an appearance in any Macross related show. Although some might say this is a blessing as future works havn't been as good in comparison. There are references to the original works in later incarnations, one example that immediatly springs to mind is the song 'Watashi no kare wa pilot' (My Boyfriend's a Pilot) which is briefly sung by one of the background characters called Kate in Macross Plus.

The footage from DYRL has obviously aged a lot better than the TV series since the movie was made on a budget of $2 million dollars which set the record in 1984, although it would be eclipsed later on in the decade by other visually impressive productions such as Wings of Honneamise ($8 million) and Akira ($10 million). DYRL was also made 2 years later when huge advances in both character designs and artistic skill, which are easily apparent in the greater smoothness of the animation. I'm sure the production staff would have found the concept of mixing newer with older character designs a daunting task at first but I feel they overcame this hurdle with flying colours. The gentle editing pulls everything together nicely so shots with contrasting designs appear to blend together with ease. Good examples of this would be from the music videos 'Shao Pai Lon' which is the fourth music video and a great upbeat song to listen to. Then there is the fan favourite 'Do You Remember Love?' which is eighth on the playlist. Both use a wide array of footage from the archive that is Macross, plus both songs are very catchy and a delight to listen too, even if they are very different in tone as one conveys joy and the other sadness. The second part of 'Angel's Paints' is the very music video to appear. Like the others, there is no dialogue, only music to match the visuals. I could write about it in detail but then that would take the fun and joy of spotting all the new features in this very last segment.

As Macross Flashback 2012 pulls to and end, it is great seeing the evolution of the character designs from 1982 to 1987. All three were professionally animated by the famous character designer Haruhiko Mikimoto. Out of them all, my favourite designs are by far from the newer animated segments from Flashback 2012. I love all the new character designs especially the redesign for Minimay, accompanied by her great variety of new and sophisticated outfits. The only exception is the original character design of Misa from the TV series which i have always prefered over the the later redesigns for some reason.

Overall Macross Flashback 2012 was is a must see for any fan of the franchise. If your an experienced fan then I can understand some of the frustration in only seeing around 7-8 minutes of new animation however stunning it might rate. But I must argue the other music videos are so well edited together, it easily makes up for the show's short run time. Macross Flashback 2012 even has a great credit sequence of both singers Makoto Fujiwara (Macross TV opening & ending) and Mari Iijima (Minimay's voice actor) combining together to form a duet of the song 'Runner' which used to play the end credits of every episode of the TV series, a great bonus for us fans. As the vocal song plays we see a collage of pictures of an older Minimay, followed by a goodbye message to all. Fans certainly deserve to own a dvd release of this especially after the $200 most fans put down for the original Animeigo boxset of the TV series in 2001. If you don't own the Macross TV boxset then they are available at Robotech.com for $39.99. Our only real hope for Macross Flashback 2012 is Bandai Visual who own the worldwide distribution rights to the property, since they produced it in cooperation with Big West. They're already bringing us a latest entry into the Gundam franchise so lets hope they can bring the US another entry into the Macross franchise.

Download - Macross Flashback 2012

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan) DVD (Japan)

Cosmo Police Justy - 1985

2007-07-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Cosmo Police Justy is a 50 minute OVA released in 1985. It was based on the popular 5 volume manga which was released through Shonen Sunday between 1982-1984. The manga's creator, Tsuguo Okazaki, assisted with the planning of the OVA as well as the character designs. Although you don't really see manga artists assisting anime productions anymore, the benefit back then was it allowed the creator to help guide the overall creative direction in order to keep the OVA true to his original work elements such as characterisation carefully monitored to remain consistant with the manga.

It seems like a trend but while the OVA never got picked up for commercial release in the US, the manga was however released by Viz in 1988. It was one of three debut release into the US manga industry. Cosmo Police Justy got released along Area 88 and Mai, the Psychic Girl were released in the form of comics through the label Elcipse Comics. Viz released the manga in flipped (inverted) form which meant all the images read from left to right so their reader base would not be confused by the original Japanese way of reading from right to left, a trend which has plagued the US industry ever since. Although it must be said there are signs of serious changes starting to happen with one of the bext examples being the upcoming re-release of the Appleseed manga by Dark Comics in it's original unflipped form. Anyway 9 comics of Cosmo Police Justy were released (covering volumes I and II from the manga) before being cancelled by Viz in 1989 due to low sales. All of these can be commonly found on Ebay.com under the keywords Justy comics for anyone whose interested.

From the very beginning of this OVA, we can see it''s something a bit different. The story is about a character called Justy Kaizard who is the most powerful Esper in the galaxy. He is a hunter from the Galaxy Patrol System where is part of the Cosmo Police division. His job is to combat criminal espers and detain them if possible. Although not described in any detail in the anime, manga fans will know that Justy must wear his headband called psychic damper to limit his power to prevent it from becoming too overwhelming or dangerous to others, it's technical name is a psychic damper. This was probaly left out because it was considered that most fans would had already read some of the manga plus he never needed to take it off in this part of the story adapted anyway, although we do see Astaris without hers at some point in this anime. I also really liked the hijacking scene which is something we defintly won't see included in shows today because of the rising threat of terrorist activities today's decade.

The animation is really nice, characters designs are cute and friendly looking. Backdrops are detailed with some of the most impressive backgrounds being early on in the OVA with wonderful views of the enormous space colony they live in. It's simply beautiful to look at with it's unique orange glow. Speaking of which, the colour palletes for the show in general are all very bold, especially for the character's hair colours which are both striking and diverse. This was needed because alof of the later scenes are quite dark since it's set in space. I also have to give noteable mentions to the their uniform designs. They are white with each one subtly differerent pattern to the other. I can reassure you that no shortcuts have taken with the animation in this OVA and it's not like there was any need to either since Cosmo Police Justy obviously had a decent sized budget to start off with.

The music is very good if not on the subtle side for most of the OVA, still it's made to very good effect with many scenes being significantly enhanced by the presence of a soundtrack. There are two vocal songs near the end of the OVA which are very noteable. In particular the vocal song that plays at the end of the OVA is defintly an all time favourite of mine, there's no way i'd ever skip the credits for this show, not that i do for anime anyway. The vocalist is exceptional and inclusion of a unique synthesiser backing makes it a winner in my mind. You should also enjoy seeing the end song briefly match up with the final animated scenes of Justy going out on his next adventure.

Recommended to all, Cosmo Police Justy is a great and serious, science fiction, space opera. It's well executed paranormal themes really give it an edge over other titles. My only criticism is that more time should have been dedicated to branching out the characters a bit more. They were all really intrieging and i would have liked to have seen more of some focus on some of the background characters. This is however a minor nitpick since the overall story is very enjoyable and i'm sure this point would have been defunct had Justy been given another installment. Overall Cosmo Police Justy stands out from the crowd to give it's viewers something different that many will not have seen in quite this manner before.

Download - Cosmo Police Justy

Overall Grade/Rating: B+
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Kimagure Orange Road: Jump Special - 1985

2007-07-27T10:06:00.000-07:00

Kimagure Orange Road: Jump Special is a 30 minute OVA created by Shonen Jump magazine in 1985 to test the waters for converting Izumi Matsumoto's popular manga from 1984 into a TV series. The OVA was successful enough that the start of the production for a tv series began in 1986, with the show airing on tv in April 1987 . This OVA is often referred to by fans as the KOR Pilot although in my opinion it's something slighty more special than that.

There are many major differences in staff, voice casting, music, and direction between the Jump Special and the final TV series. This is because in the year between many changes, only the animation studio Pero and the character designer Akemi Takada were retained to work on the TV series which is why the transition from one format to the other was less than subtle.

I've watched and enjoyed all that is Kimagure Orange Road including the TV series, movies and the 1989 OVA spinoff series but out of everything i've seen this is by far my favourite entry. The Jump Special OVA uses a much more direct style of story telling so there's no messing around or any delays with the character development or story progression. This brings around a welcomed change in pace because one my main criticisms of the TV series was it sometimes dragged too much. At least this way we get to see some strong romantic themes almost from the word go.

If KOR fans when watching this are wondering why they may have seen this plot before, well thats because this OVA shares a similiar plot to that of episode 46 from the TV series. You see the Jump Special and episode 46 are both adapted from the same manga story. The only big difference between the two is that the OVA's setting is changed from a ski resort (as seen in the manga) to a more glamourous beach location, which i think pays off dividends for a one off release such as this in 1985.

Alot of people familiar with the TV series seem to dislike the differences seen in the Jump Special but i actually prefer most of them. In particular i really adore the upbeat and more summery OST soundtrack used here. I've watched the stylish intro segment in particular, many of times. Ironically the OST soundtrack did get a US release back in 1996, under the name Kimagure Orange Road cd collection. Although we may laugh and find this strange now, this kind of thing was quite common in the 90's for some reason. I feel kind of sorry for any unsuspecting fans who bought this thinking they were geting the tv series soundtrack, but maybe a few of them were at least pleasantly suprised by the different music choices. There's still some used copies left in the Amazon marketplace for any KOR enthusiasts, or the just plain curious.

Another obvious difference to this delightful OVA are the more cutesy character designs which give them a younger, more adoreable look. In one scene, right in the middle of the OVA, your even see the whole cast in SD (super deformed) form for around 10 seconds which is a very nice bonus. Something we didn't see reused in the later adaptations. It would have even been great to see a short SD Kimagure Orange Road OVA parody made back then like they did with Gundam back in the 80's but then maybe i'm being greedy.

Sadly as fate always seems to play out, this was the only entry in the franchise not to be picked up by Animeigo. It was not their fault though, they persued the license during the 90's but some rights issues prevented them from licensing it. It's also worth noting that the company that distributed the Jump Special in Japan was different to the one that distributed the TV series, which at the time would have further added to the complications. At least for now we can enjoy this precious gem below, even if the quality is less than perfect, it's all we've got until the dawn of a subtitled dvd release rises from the clouds.

Download - Kimagure Orange Road: Jump Special

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Space Fantasia 2001 Nights

2007-07-25T12:27:00.000-07:00

Space Fantasia 2001 Nights is an epic, profound and very serious 50 minute space opera anthology OVA from 1987. It was produced by TMS (Tokyo Movie Shinsha) who adapted the famous Yukinobu Hoshino manga from 1984 called 2001 Nights. Although this OVA has never been released in the US, the manga was licensed and fully translated by Viz in 1996. Don't worry though, it's still available today through the usual online retailers such as Amazon. It's a shame Viz didn't license this to coincide with it, like they did with the Grey Digital Target OVA which was released to partner the Grey Manga.

Space Fantasia 2001 Nights was made when the Japanese economic boom was still going from strength to strength and the growing budgets within the industry reflected this as companies allocated as much time and money as they wanted to. The animation is nothing short of stunning, we've all dropped our mouths in awe when watching productions like Wings of Honneamise or Robot Carnival. This OVA is among those elite, in not only it's technical achievements such as it's immensley detailed animated backdrops but it's very sophisticated setting and plot too. This is the only anime i've seen that can truly convey just how seemingly endless and vast space must feel. When characters gaze out through a window you can truly see and feel the loneliness in their hearts. 2001 Nights is an array of many emotions which your often may find overwhelming when juggling the subtleties and complexities that make the story so compelling.

The character deigns strive for nothing else but realism with everything beautifully rendered. The colour pallete is vibrant with many contrasting colours in close proximity with each other. Unusually the characters seem to have a slight golden tint to their skin tones which almost makes them seem radiant and glowing, it's very striking, in a good way. With all the religious and moral undertones, maybe it's their auras we can see? Also worth noting are some scenes scattered throughout that last only for around a minute or so where only music and animation are playing together. I can't help but feel reminded of Disney's original Fantasia when these segments play. There's something very profound about these scenes that i can't quite put into words, it has a mystical and spiritual awe about them. I can only imagine how much time and effort it must have taken to produce something this complicated since it was even shot using a new cutting edge technology called super perspective technique, a 3d animation process that is well beyond my knowledge.

As the final segment progresses, your soon realise that all the the stories are actually small pieces of a much larger puzzle, which slowly and neatly come together towards the end of the show to capture and create something as vast as space itself. With all it's complex science, undertones and references, it's no wonder I feel tired reviewing this brainbuster of a show that cries out for repeat viewing. As the credits begin to scroll down the screen, your be left quietely pondering while the catchy electronic instrumental with the occasional jamming of an high pitched electric guitar, keeps your ears drumming and your mind numb as you try to decipher all the events that have taken place across this OVA.

In conclusion I highly recommend this to everyone, this is by far one of the best shows i've ever seen and i hope your feel the same when watching it too. If you enjoy serious and complex space operas, like the more well known Legend of the Galatic Heroes, then this is defintly something to see. With this being a TMS title, lets hope it captures the interest of ImaginAsian who have recentlly fostered a strong working relationship with them. They are currently distributing several of their titles on dvd in the US this year including Orguss, Cat's Eye and Nobody's Boy Remi. For all of those who are uninformed, they are exclusively sold at Rightstuf, now here's hoping they can strike a distribution deal for Space Fantasia 2001 Nights.

Download - Space Fantasia 2001 Nights

Overall Grade/Rating: A+
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Dream Hunter Rem - 1985

2007-07-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

Dream Hunter Rem is an very original and unique anime 3 episode OVA series released from 1985 to 1987. It is about a character called Rem Ayanokōji who is a dream hunter. She is a woman capable of entering the dreams of sleeping people in an attempt to extinguish the demons causing the nightmares. The artwork takes shape in a very cute and friendly form but don't let that fool you, although the show appears gentle on the surface it is infact layered with many adult themes which your understand upon viewing. The backgrounds are vibrant and detailed with the occasional unique camera angle appearing. The kind that can only really be seen in shows made from this decade due to the immese time, effort and pride animators used to in their work. Unlike today, animation back then was considered equally, if not more important that the actual content of the show but then thats another article for a different day. In the meantime see the Ask John column entry for more info - Why Does Anime Not Look as Good as it Did in the 80s?

This show is very diverse in it's execution, shifting and alternating between many genres including fantasy, horror, drama and even the occasional romance. But perhaps one of the most fascinating and unique aspects of it all, are the educational Dream Sequences that feature in the middle of each OVA. I've never seen anything quite like these in any other anime before. They are wonderfully animated 2 minute shorts that use real science and sophisticated terminology to factually explain how dreams really when we all decide to go to sleep. I can confess to watching these segements more times than the actual show itself, they're that good.

Unfortunately you won't be able to see all the diversity that Dream Hunter Rem has to offer since the episode provided below is only the first half of OVA 1 since that was all that was released by AnimeCoalition. It is taken directly from laserdisc and therefore the quality is very good. However since being fansubbed back in 2004, the show has finally been rescued from obscurity and released on dvd in Japan. Currently a boxset containing all 3 of the original episodes plus extras is going for around $120 (Japanese imports have always been notoriously expensive). Usually i'd recommend such a purchase outright since the quality of the show far outweighs the heavy price tag however in this case i'll have to make the exception since there is a known audio glitch with the dvd release which is explained in greater detail in this animeondvd post. If thats not enough to deter you away, more salt to rub into the word is the fact the production company/distributor decided to save on expenses and not remaster the show, something that should be regarded as the standard now for older shows but clearly not in this case.

I therefore recommend picking up the original VHS or Laserdiscs which are very cheap and problem free, perfect in otherwords. However there is a catch, importing these are harder than dvds since they can usually only be aquired either from online auctions sites like Yahoo Japan Auctions at great cost due to the fact most sellers don't ship internationally therefore forcing most users to use online bidding sites like Mail Order Japan which do all the work for you including shipping to your country of choice but always at great cost including a number of fees and commisons. Your best bet is to either convince a fansub group willing enough to take up subbing the series or find an online friend who is based in Japan and can ship the products you want at a much lower cost although this option means they will be raw Japanese (without subtitles).

Download - Dream Hunter Rem - 01

Overall Grade/Rating: A-
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan), DVD (Japan)

Call Me Tonight - 1986

2007-07-23T02:07:00.000-07:00

Call Me Tonight was made in 1986 and was the first in a series of fanservice OVA's from Pink Noise in the mid 80s. While most shows that use fan service as it's core are often shallow and repetive, Call Me Tonight breaks the mould and makes it's an integral part of it's heart warming and comical story. Infact i loved the story and characters so much that i've watched this anime quite a number of times now. Although it only has a short running time of only 30 minutes, i actually felt it was the perfect length and achieved everything it set out to do.

Visually this is a very beautiful anime and defintly one of my favourites to look at. The character designs and colour pallete seem to be almost a combination of Megazone 23 (Part I) and Dirty Pair TV. The soundtrack is mainly upbeat 80's style jazzy J-Pop with the standout theme being the song 'Please Call Me Tonight' which plays at both the very start and end of the OVA.

Sadly like so many other great OVA's of it's time this title has not been reissued for release on dvd in Japan. I do expect this anime to get released eventually though as most of the AIC catalogue is gradually finding it's way out on to dvd slowly but surely.

Overall i'd say that this is very much a personal favourite of mine. It's one of the few shows daring enough to blend an unique variety of genres including romance, comedy, science fiction and horror. Also with the bonus of it being a one shot OVA, it makes great replay value with very little time commitment needed. Infact I recommend all the Pink Noise OVA's especially Body Jack (OVA 4) which comes in a close second place to Call Me Tonight.

Here is a list of the whole Pink Noise series:

Pink Noise OVA 1: Download - Call Me Tonight (1986)
Pink Noise OVA 2: Download - Campus Special Investigator Hikaruon (1987)
Pink Noise OVA 3: Evil Dragon War Chronicles 1 (1987)
Pink Noise OVA 4: Body Jack (1987)

Overall Grade/Rating: A
Commercial Availability: VHS (Japan), Laserdisc (Japan)

Gaga Communications - 1988 Trailer

2007-07-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

In 1987 a Japanese theatrical and TV marketing company called Gaga Communications decided to try and break the US market by licensing and approaching a number of companies in the US which could be interested in aquiring the cutting edge animated shows from Japan. They put together a 37 minute reel of trailers with English subtitles for the dialogue and American voice narration for a brief synopsis of each OVA's plot.

Their motivation in 1987 was to branch out and tap into a potentially large gap in the overseas market by being the first company to truly release Japanese shows in their original form with English subtitles. If OVA's were big sellers in Japan then their belief was that with the right support and marketing, companies would be able to sublicence from Gaga to generate a decent profitable business outlet to accomodate the small but growing number of fans in the US.

In order to make a lot of titles seem more import friendly to the American market, Gaga decided to rename alot of the title original names. Here is a list of the anime featured in the trailers including the renamed titles in brackets. All anime are listed in the order they appear first:

Crystal Triangle
Project A-ko - (SuperNova)
They Were Eleven - (Star Odyssey)
Yotoden - (Blade of the Ninja)
Nayuta - (Aura)
Roots Search - (Alien X)
Metal Skin Panic Madox 01 - (City of Steel)
Dream Dimensional Hunter Fandora
Bubblegum Crisis - (FutureScape)
Scoopers
Humanoid - (Metallica)
MD Geist - (Thunder Warrior)
Maps 1987 - (Star Quest)
Circuit Angel - (Thunder Road)

Anyway enough of a history lession, it's time to watch this lost gem dug up from the 80's. Even the illustrious wikipedia and internet groups fail to bring none if any information regarding this rarity. Anyway at 400mb this file is more than worth putting the effort in to downloading:

Click Here to Download - Gaga Communications Trailer (1988)

Stayed Tuned - More Rare and Unlicensed 80's Anime Classics Coming Soon...