Gall Force: the Engrish Fascist Garage Kit Diorama world of “Star Front”

I was reading a review of the original “Gall Force” film and remembered one of my Yahoo! Auctions Japan binges where I bought a ton of Gall Force merchandise. If you know me that means old ancient artbooks, even older and more ancient anime magazines and dead video formats like laserdiscs. Years ago I’d heard that Gall Force was based upon a manga by Kenichi Sonoda which ran in a hobby magazine. That was kind of partly right. Sodona was working at Artmic in the mid 1980’s and was commissioned to create character designs for Model Graphix magazine. The idea was to scratch build figures and mecha for the monthly magazine as part of a “photo serial”. It’s a pretty cool idea. Similar stuff has run in other Japanese hobby magazines like Hobby Japan, but this idea was truly an anime fan garage kit maker’s dream come true. The Gall Force Star Front feature ran in the magazine on a monthly basis from March 1985 to July 1986 when the feature film came out.

So, getting back to my original point, I bought the compilation mook (magazine/book) a few years back and decided to flick though it again a couple of days ago. So it’s been for than a quarter of a century since these photos were first published. They still look quite good;


Prior to the creation of the film, the cast was only made up of Rabby, Patty and Rumy, and the story pretty much follows the latter half of the film (see this site for a better run down of Star Front than what I can give). The mecha is pretty darn good too;




Love the powered suits and that all-terrain vehicle. But the highlight of this mook is the photo story. For some reason instead of Japanese, the story is in English. Really, really bad English;

Yup. Surprisingly there’s practically no “how to” or behind the scenes stuff related to the making of the models. Odd for a product from modelling magazine. It’s kind of clear with the sections that follow that the mook is aimed at the anime fan rather modellers. There’s a section promoting the movie as well as rather ugly looking 1/8 scale figures of the cast from the film and tons of conceptual drawings and model sheets mostly done by Sonoda. But of course the bulk of Sodona’s designs have to with Star Front. Naturally Sonoda has model sheets of the cast in their undies, despite the fact none of the garage kits depict them that way;


One can only wonder why the Solonoid army would supply their soldiers with pantyhose and lacy undies. Naturally there’s also a fair bit of fan related material including a very wonky Catty figure;


Even English speaking fans got into the book. Well OK, one did;

Alexander Rivers from Los Angeles who sent the magazine a typed up letter (long before the internet or even word processor programmes kids!) who loved the series quite a bit. Gee, that work bench looks way too clean. I made such a mess when I was into garage kits and models.

There’s also some additional promotional stuff with somebody in scary kigurumi cosplay mode attacking the voice actresses (or something);



It seems that Sonoda designed another character called Nekomimi (above), which seems to be specifically designed for garage kit maker Mono Craft. However there are no photos of any type kit produced for her in the mook. However, as always, undies are what Sodona likes;


Yeah, on the far left, that’s Swastika undies. Uh huh. But even better is to come;
Mein Führer, I am a bunny girl! I think that’s the problem with anime, we need more fascist bunny girls. Seriously Japan, what is up with your underlying fascination with Nazis?!! Not only that but Rabby, Patty and Rumy are depicted as super deformed SS in one small drawing. Argg, what the hell?!

But it’s the weird stuff that makes these old artbooks, mooks and Roman Albums so damn fun (and the horrible Engrish and weird Nazi and underwear fetishes). I might visit a few more items in my collection a little down the track.

Video Backlog: A Week with the Lovely Angels

As I finally got part two of the Dirty Pair TV this week (thank you Right Stuf), I decided to yet again watch all of the show from start to finish (well except for "Flash". I ain't watching that ever again!). This is one of my favourite shows (I’m definitely a Kei fan more than a Yuri fan), and I was really looking forward to watching it on commercial DVD for the very first time. Bye, bye VHS fansubs, off to landfill you go!

“Dirty Pair (TV Series and “With Love From the Lovely Angels” OVAs)”Publisher: Nozomi Entertainment (Right Stuf, USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Subtitles
Length: 26 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1985, 1987
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

Finally after being a fan favourite for over 20 years, Dirty Pair makes it to DVD in English. For whatever reason, ADV never released the TV series despite releasing every other Dirty Pair anime including “Dirty Pair Flash” 25 years after its original broadcast run and yes, it does look a little creaky and sometimes the animation is woeful, but the stories have lasted the ravages of time. Another big surprise is the dialogue, which is rather clever and witty at times. I was also stunned at how the show uses tropes and turns them on their heads. The designs by Studio Nue are for the most part really good, though the Lovely Angel ship is a bit of a dog, and some of their earlier work is far superior to this show. It does feel like a fresh show even though it’s well past the average age of most anime fans today. The series is completely episodic except for a two parter towards the end. I think this is both a strength and a weakness for the show. There are certainly are a few duds in the series, but most episodes are a lot of fun. Also why is no one surprised when two buxom women show up practically in bikinis with cleavage galore? Such a ridiculous show really. Only 24 episodes were broadcast before the show was cancelled. However the show returned with a vengeance with reruns and video releases (the show won Animage’s Anime Grand Prix by a landslide in 1986). In 1987 the two part “With Love From the Lovely Angels” video was released which is essentially two extra TV episodes (though they are newly animated OVAs). While the first is fantastic, I though the second was little weak. The DVD versions (both R1 and R2) have a newly animated scene which removes a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Lum and Ataru Moroboshi (“Urusei Yatsura”) cameo which was in the original video releases (I have bought the fabled “The Big Settlement of Dirty Pair” VAP laserdisc box set, so it’s no biggie). This is rather odd as the Shinobu Fujiwara and Sara Yuki (“Dancougar”) cameo is STILL left in episode 16 (and it’s a really blatant cameo as well). But enough whinging, now to the score; despite a quarter of a decade passing, the show is still great. 8.5 out of 10.

"Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia"
Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 57 minutes
Production Date: 1985
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

Let’s face it; this is the suckiest thing in the Dirty Pair catalogue (aside from “Dirty Pair Flash”). Seeing as the original TV series was axed, I don't know how the franchised survived after the release of this OVA. The new designs really suck, especially Kei (why is Muhgi black? You can barely see him at times) and the story, while rather interesting, somehow seems quite laboured. I only realised on this viewing that Kazunori Ito of Patlabor, Ghost in the Shell, 1990’s Gamera and Dot Hack fame did the screenplay for this OVA. The OVA also marks the last time we see Namo. Strangely our little robot friend never appears ever again (discounting the “With Love From the Lovely Angels” OVAs released a year after this). Look I know this OVA is more in line with the original novels and “more realistic”, but it’s not as fun as the TV series. Period. Still, I liked it more than previous viewings. 6.5 out of 10.

"Dirty Pair (movie, aka Project EDEN)"Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 81 minutes
Production Date: 1987
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

I think this was the first Dirty Pair anime I saw and owned. Well actually I can’t remember if I bought the Streamline dub of this first (used VHS US import for $50 from a dodgy pizza shop/games arcade/pool hall in town back in the mid 1990’s) or saw “005” at the local anime club. The film is really, really fun, but rather empty. It’s one of the last great candy coloured 1980's anime films. Like an extended 1980's music video with a plot. "Wings of Honneamise" released in the same year and "Akira" released the next really changed the look of anime films. The designs are ramped up and look so much better than previous incarnations, especially the mecha from Studio Nue’s Kazutaka Miyatake (love his stuff). The ADV DVD is 16:9 but the film was shot in open matte. However it's framed quite well unlike other open matte anime films of the 1980's which were cropped for cinema release. I have the laserdisc of this movie (an old Bandai Visual/Emotion disc from 1987 or so), so I’m not too annoyed with this format. Was never sure why this film was dubbed “Project EDEN”, as the title cards on the film clearly say “Dirty Pair”. Gorgeous looking, fun film, 8.5 out of 10.

"Dirty Pair (OVA)"Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 10 Episodes x 25 minutes
Production Date: 1987 - 1988
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

For the most part a fantastic follow up to the TV series. I read that these 10 episodes were actually made for the Italian and French markets to extend the TV series for broadcast release in Europe, but were released more than two years before those broadcasts took place, so that’s a false rumour. Seriously Kei's big hair is getting bigger and Muhgi's tail is getting bigger in sympathy. I had previously only seen the first two episodes in this series (on VHS in the very late 1990’s), but only managed to snap these episodes up on DVD a few years back. This series is a little slow to start, but soon ramps up to full speed and has some episodes which are better than the original TV series. The only problems I had here was the bitchiness between Kei and Yuri in some episodes. Also didn’t like the colour design choices for the girl’s uniforms, but I can live with that. Some of the earlier episodes are rather weak here, but the last few are pretty damn good. The animation was more TV quality rather than OVA, which was disappointing. The mecha designs, especially the Lovely Angel where superb. Annoyingly ADV didn’t translate the episode titles properly. For example the last episode is titled “Bad Guys Need Not Say a Word – ‘We're space truckers!’", but ADV leaves it as “We Are Space Truckers”. ADV also has alternate angles for episode title cards, but they seem to force back to the English title card if you’re watch the original Japanese and then part way through they don’t soft sub the title cards. Annoying as hell. Anyway, I enjoyed this, 8 out of 10.

"Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy"Publisher: ADV Films (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 59 minutes
Production Date: 1990
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

A fantastic way to finish off the franchise. Much, much more a serious outing this time around. Probably more in line with the novels. There is a lot of humour early on, with Chief Gooley finally going insane after dealing with the Lovely Angels for so long. The plot is quite involved (for a Dirty Pair anime) and there are a number times where a lot of dialogue and plot is delivered. Instead of the 60 minute runtime, perhaps this OVA could have been extended by 20 minutes. Still, there’s a lot of really good action sequences and it’s really engaging with never a dull moment. Again Studio Nue gives us a bunch of great new and revamped mecha designs and Yuri and Kei’s uniforms revert back to the movie incarnations. Only one niggling complaint here; Mughi. He becomes more comedic early on in the OVA, which is a bit distracting and out of character. This OVA seems to be either disliked or loved, which I always found a bit odd. Perhaps it’s because it’s a more serious outing for the Lovely Angels. While I love the earlier incarnations (with perhaps “Nolandia” being the exception), I really, really enjoy this OVA much more than anything else in the series. You can really feel the love that’s been poured into the OVA by everyone involved. I’m assuming they knew that this would be the last outing for the Dirty Pair, so they made it as spectacular as they could. I adore this OVA. 9 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 21 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).

Urusei Yatsura in English: 1992 to 2011

I suppose it had to happen one day. AnimEigo has announced that their Urusei Yatsura licence is to expire in September 2011. Mind you the discs have been out of print since 2006 or so. I went through some of the old anime magazines and found this advert;
(Click on image for larger version)

Yes, for the extraordinarily low price of $39.95 per tape (and you kids have the gall to whinge about anime prices today! Get off my lawn!) and they'd have the whole thing out by late 1996! OK, so they managed to barely get half the series out by that time, and the final batch of episodes were eventually released in 2006. The point is they managed to release the lot and the company never gave up on it. It is the end of an era though. I really doubt we'll see this series in English in any format ever again. With AnimEigo giving up on "Yawara!", it's also the end of another era in anime. It's doubtful they'll license anymore anime.

Video Backlog: Week 5, 2011

"Black Jack (OVA)"Publisher: U.S. Manga Corps (Central Park Media, USA)
Format: Region Free DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 10 Episodes x 50 minutes
Production Date: 1993 - 2000
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

After Tezuka’s death in 1989, there was a giant push in the 1990’s to turn most, if not all, of his works into anime. Strangely prior to Tezuka’s death, Black Jack had only appeared in a number of anime works in cameo roles only. This OVA series was directed by Osamu Dezaki and spans seven years. I still can’t figure out the actual release dates of the individual episodes, but I know they were released in short spurts, not one or two a year as you might expect. Being a Dezaki directed anime, straight away you can pick his unmistakable style. The 10 stories are taken directly from Tezuka’a manga and none of the episodes continue on from each other. You could watch the series in any order you like. Probably the worst aspect of the show is that the origins of Black Jack and more importantly Pinoko’s origins are never explained. If you hadn’t read the manga, Pinoko would seem to be a very strange character. Is she a girl? Is she really 18 as she says? What’s her relationship to the doctor? Unfortunately CPM didn’t provide any translation or background notes which would have helped greatly.

Tezuka did have an extensive medical background, but the stories are extremely hard to swallow. Often they resemble no known real life medical conditions (but have origins in real life conditions) and often delve into the world of the supernatural. For the most part the series is excellent in terms of both production quality and story and drama. However I thought the two middle episodes were a bit iffy. There’s also Dezaki’s style, which really hasn’t changed a great deal since the 1970’s. Some of the designs and backgrounds hark back to that era. In particular I thought some of the settings looked rather generic when in fact they were meant to represent actual specific cities. However the OVA gets back on track and there’s some brilliant stories towards the end. In particular I liked the character called Dr Kiriko, a doctor whom specialises in euthanasia, a practice that Black Jack seems to despise. Also of note is the appearance of Megumi Hayashibara, first as a teenage girl in episode two, then as young boy in episode eight. Seriously, was there any anime she wasn’t involved in during the 1990’s? Akio Ohtsuka of Batou (Ghost in the Shell) fame does the voice of Black Jack. So damn well too. Such a great voice. The last three OVAs are 16:9 anamorphic widescreen which was a bit of a welcome surprise. CPM’s release has the first six OVAs on three discs, but then puts the last four on separate discs. Rather wasteful as far as I’m concerned. Sort of ridiculous and farfetched at times, but really enjoyable. It did dip in the middle quite a bit, so I’m going to give it 7 out of 10.

"Black Jack the movie"
Publisher: Manga Entertainment (USA)
Format: Region 1 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 93 minutes
Production Date: 1996
Currently in Print (as of writing): No

This movie version was released in the middle of the OVA series. Unlike the OVA episodes, the story is a new one dreamt up by Osamu Dezaki, but is in the spirit of Osamu Tezuka’s manga. It’s very much like an extended OVA episode and Dezaki’s usual direction and visual techniques as well as his influence on the character designs is unmistakeably his. What impresses me the most about this movie is how well it fits on with the OVA series. You can’t really tell that this is not based on one of Tezuka’s stories (unless you knew the Black Jack manga really well). Again the medical condition here is on the verge of being completely unbelievable, but the story and characters seem to wipe out any disbelief in the medical condition. Where the movie falls over slightly is the introduction of a crack squad of heavily armed medicos, who are on a mission to right the wrongs of big pharmaceutical and medical companies. It’s just way, way too absurd to accept in what is essentially a drama. One thing I did notice in watching this movie in conjunction with the OVA series is that Pinoko seems to become more infantile in each successive episode. With this movie, the good outweighs the bad. The animation and production where fantastic as was the story (for the most part). I just wished Manga had a 16:9 anamorphic print rather than a letterboxed 4:3 version for the DVD. I’m going to give it 7 out of 10.

“Tsubasa Tokyo Revelations” and “Tsubasa Thunder Spring Chronicles”
Publisher: Funimation (USA)
Format: Region 1, 2 and 4 DVD, NTSC, Japanese Dialogue with optional English Dub and English Subtitles
Length: 3 Episodes x 25 mins (Tokyo Revelations), 2 Episodes x 29 mins (Thunder Spring)
Production Date: 2007 – 2009
Currently in Print (as of writing): Yes

If you haven’t see this yet, gee, I hope you’re not expecting any sort of resolution to the previous two anime series. When I first got heavily into anime, I discovered something called “Magic Knight Rayearth”. God I love that show. It introduced me to the all-female manga group called CLAMP as well as to shoujo manga and anime. During the late 1990’s and beyond, I discovered more of their works and loved most of them. Their modern stuff? Well I can take it or leave it. I quite liked the original TV series of this show, but was quite unimpressed with the second season. Quite a lot of crap in there. I was really hoping these two sets of OVAs would wrap up everything. Instead it raises a whole bunch of new questions and manages to give a lot of characters “get out of jail free” cards, which I always find rather annoying. Look, either kill the character or not, you can’t have it both ways. There’s a lot of dialogue and plot presented very quickly (compare with the slowness of the TV series), a lot of fight sequences, our favourite characters in peril and gee, if anyone is dire circumstances or the plot comes to halt, hey, let’s summon up Yuko to get us our wish. Arggg! It’s totally overused. On the plus side the animation by Production I.G is gorgeous and it was nice to see the entire cast of “X” again. However I just didn’t care one little bit about anything. It’s mostly all flash and very little substance. They went for big spectacle, but there’s nothing behind it. Really quite disappointing, 5 out of 10.

Remaining Backlog: 21 months (it's much easier this way than listing the number of discs).