Why not 12, like usual? Because that'd require me to wait until 120 consecutive months, and I'm not doing that. Still, for anyone that knows me, you can guess what one of these titles is, so let's just get the obvious one out of the way first.
Ring ni Kakero 1
If it seems like I try to make any excuse to harp on this subject, to the point where it might seem like I'm beating a dead horse, it's only because it literally feels like I'm the only one who actually cares about this series that speaks English. Seriously, to say that was shocked to have found Honey's Anime & Bounding into Comics bringing up this series within the past year would be an understatement. Also, I can almost guarantee that, had this anime simply been licensed back during the 00s, or simulcasted at the start of this decade, I'd probably only bring it up on absolutely rare occasion, simply because I would have been happy enough to have seen this anime be given even a basic attempt in North America. Instead, though, it's essentially lavished in obscurity, being given an inadvertent mass ignorance by people to the point where not even those who make it their duties to finish up fansubs that were dropped by others seem to care about giving even that much of a glance to this anime. Seriously, the second half of Season 3 & all of Season 4, a total of just 9 episodes, have yet to see any sort of English translation in general, almost a decade later; hell, most people don't even know that these last two seasons even exist at all. But I think I've gotten way ahead of myself, so let me explain what Ring ni Kakero 1 even is, in the first place.
Before becoming an international success with Saint Seiya, Masami Kurumada first made his name in Japan with Ring ni Kakero/Put It All in the Ring, a boxing manga that ran in Shonen Jump from 1977 to 1981 for 25 volumes. Though ostensibly a sports manga, RnK's over-the-top "SF Boxing" execution (as Japanese readers called it back then) wound up becoming the "hot-blooded fighting manga bible" (Shueisha's actual words, not mine) that essentially every single shonen action manga has followed for the past 42 years; yep, Fist of the North Star, Dragon Ball, & JoJo's Bizarre Adventure took from this. It was such a success that it wound up being the first manga in Jump history to ever have its final chapter be published in full-color, something that has only since been imitated for Dragon Ball, Slam Dunk, & Naruto. While there was an "image album" done for the manga in 1982, featuring music composed by (a pre-Ghibli) Joe Hisaishi, an anime adaptation wouldn't actually come to be until 2004 by Toei Animation, to celebrate Kurumada's 30th Anniversary as a mangaka. This 12-episode season would be followed up by another 12-episode season (Nichibei Kessen-hen) in 2006, and then after a four year break two more 6-episode seasons (Shadow & Sekai Taikai-hen) would be made in 2010 & 2011, respectively; by 2004, the series was re-titled Ring ni Kakero 1, as Kurumada had debuted a sequel in 2000. I'm not acting like this is one of the greatest anime of all time, but RnK1 is still a ton of fun, with memorable characters, crazy boxing action, outstanding music & voice work, & a status as a more recent adaptation of a true trailblazer that more people should know of; even the 2003 pilot film is cool to look at. Today, there are people making fansubs for Jump anime like Dr. Slump, Ninku, & even Dokonjo Gaeru, all of which are much larger endeavors to complete, yet no one wants to translate a measly nine episodes to finish up the RnK1 anime, and that's frankly embarrassing.
Will it ever get licensed? To be perfectly honest, I've long given up any & all hope for Ring ni Kakero 1 ever getting any sort of official English translation. There's always the slight chance that someone, somewhere, will be interested in finishing up the fansub side of things for it, but I'd say that RnK1 only had two chances at ever getting officially released in English. First was during the 00s anime bubble, when seemingly anything was getting put out because anime had a surge of popularity, and second was back when Seasons 3 & 4 debuted. Unfortunately, the abject failure of DiC's Knights of the Zodiac killed any hope for Masami Kurumada works in general for the former chance, while Toei Animation didn't really join the simulcasting train until just after Sekai Taikai-hen finished airing, which pretty much killed any chance RnK1 had for the latter chance. Today, there isn't enough interest in Masami Kurumada's non-Seiya work for anyone to really give RnK1 even a cursory glance, Anime Midstream's seemingly successful B't X release is too recent and could very well just be an outlier, and even Seiya in general doesn't appeal that much in "North of Mexico", outside of a (comparatively) small cult following.
Ring ni Kakero 1's chances in North America are dead, and have been for a long time now. Long live Ring ni Kakero 1.
Platinumhugen Ordian
In comparison to the inability for anything of Masami Kurumada's that's not Saint Seiya to really be given a fair shake in North America, though, I'm seriously amazed that this second pick has never been licensed before. Seriously, from the mid-90s to the mid-00s, if an anime was directed by the legendary Masami Obari, then it was pretty much a sure thing that it'd see North American release, regardless of the actual quality. We got Detonator Orgun, Battle Arena Toshinden, Voltage Fighter Gowcaizer, Voogie's Angel, Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, Virus Buster Serge, both seasons of Gravion, & even Dangaizer 3; hell, we also got the few hentai he directed, like Angel Blade & Viper GTS! This stopped once we hit the second half of the 00s, as both Dancouga Nova & Prism Ark have yet to be licensed, though Super Robot Wars OG: The Inspector did get simulcasted (though it's no longer streaming). This just makes it all the more curious why 2000's Platinumhugen Ordian never got licensed, as it came out during that ideal time for Obari anime to see English release. In fact, it's the only anime Obari directed from the mid-90s to the mid-00s that was skipped over, so what the hell is up with this series?
In short, Ordian was Obari's take on the style of mech anime that Hideaki Anno & Gainax made popular with Neon Genesis Evangelion five years prior. It told the story of Yu Kananase, a rebellious teen who winds up joining the IMO, which trains people to become pilots of giant robots called Rimhugens so that they can fight in wars as for-hire soldiers. As the anime went on, the story would transition into being about a mysterious project called Remake, and how it relates to everyone involved within the IMO, especially Yu & his older sister, who's a higher-up at the organization. In the end, Ordian was Obari's stab at tackling a story dealing with themes of identity (Remake literally allows one person to be "remade" into another personality), personal worth, familial bonds, & using teenagers as literal soldiers, among other things, all with an interesting use of Norse mythology as an underlying thematic web, similar to how Evangelion used Christian mythos. Unfortunately, to most people Ordian is considered a bit of a storytelling mess, especially in the second half, but in the past decade or so people have realized that the only complete English fansub for the show, done by Anime-Keep, was actually really bad, & it more than likely heavily obfuscated the actual plot Obari was telling. Had this anime actually been given an official English release back in the 00s, & therefore a better translation, maybe reception towards this series would be kinder... Or maybe people would just lump it more with all of the other "Eva Clones", like Gasaraki, Brain Powerd, RahXephon, & Fafner; not saying that any of these are bad shows, but people do kind of just lump them into this category.
Will it ever get licensed? Actually, I think there is still a slight chance for Platinumhugen Ordian to get licensed, one day. In the past decade, companies like Discotek Media, Sentai Filmworks, & Maiden Japan have made a habit of licensing & releasing titles that had never seen release in North America before, partially because the potential audiences for those are now adults who have the spending power needed to support these kinds of releases; go ahead, try FUNimation even, they get lucky sometimes. In particular, the catalog of licensor d-rights has slowly been rummaged through by the likes of Discotek, Maiden Japan, Sentai, & even Right Stuf, leaving only so many titles left to be licensed for release; hell, this is partially why I hold a slight hope for Next Senki Ehrgeiz to be rescued. While Ordian isn't on the company's current site, it was listed on the previous form of the site, so who knows if d-rights still is in charge of that anime. Regardless, even if it winds up simply being a case of "There wasn't much else left to choose from, so we grabbed it," I think Ordian could very well see release... One day or another. At the very least, Masami Obari's name still carries some cachet with older anime fans, so there's that.
Asura
Admittedly, I don't cover movies that often here, which is really a faux pas on my end. Therefore, there's only one movie that gets its own slot in this list, but at least it's a damn good one. George Akiyama is best known for his manga Haguremono, which ran in Big Comic Original from 1973 to 2017 for 112 volumes, making it one of the longest single-series manga ever. A few years prior, though, Akiyama was more of an infamous mangaka, mainly because of his 1970 manga Asura, which ran for only three volumes in Weekly Shonen Magazine. Why the short run? Simply put, Akiyama was forced to end the manga due to the content, namely the cannibalism. To explain, Asura took place during the early Sengoku period, but instead of focusing on the war itself, it followed the life of a young boy whose mother actually tried to cook & eat him as a baby, because of the dire famine that was happening across the land for the common folk, before abandoning him. The boy would grow into a feral child, though a meeting with a monk showed him how to be more human (while also giving him the name of Asura), eating anything he could to survive, including other humans, if need be. Obviously, for the early 70s this was considered too much, but it also allowed Asura to remain a notable work in Akiyama's catalog, which eventually resulted in a 2012 movie adaptation done by Toei & directed by Keiichi Sato, the creator of The Big O who had just finished directing the hit anime Tiger & Bunny.
Simply put, the Asura movie was excellent. The dark & moody tone was perfect, the story a great mix of hopeful & tragic, the violence was just enough to be unsettling but without going overboard, & the visual style was wholly unique. Using a method called "hybrid animation", the movie was primarily CG, but utilized drawn backgrounds & had shading that gave the CG more of a rougher style meant to imitate both hatching & watercolor paintings. Combined with a 75-minute runtime, this meant that the film certainly didn't overstay its welcome, and I personally felt that it was an excellent variant on the Frankenstein story, making you desperately want to see Asura wind up with a peaceful life with someone he cared for, rather than continually be forced to act upon his animalistic instincts; Masako Nozawa's performance was also superb, giving viewers something notably different from her iconic Goku. Toei did give the film a film festival run, with it even tying for the Audience Award for Best Animated Feature at the 16th Fantasia International Film Festival, but it never saw an official English release, even though the film festival run likely meant that an English translation already existed. Unfortunately, 2012 was an insanely strong year for anime films, with competition like Evangelion 3.0, the first two Berserk: The Golden Age Arc movies, Wolf Children, the first two Madoka Magica films, & even Toei's own One Piece Film Z. Simply put, I'm positive Asura just got lost in the shuffle, resulting in no one licensing it. This is also applies to Toei's other "forgotten 2012 movie", Niji-Iro Hotaru, but Asura is easily the better film of the two, and it's sad that it's still unlicensed.
Will it ever get licensed? Who knows, at this point, if I'm being blunt about it. There has been some recognition given towards Asura in the years since its original release, like when Mike Toole had it as #78 on his "Other 100 Best Anime Movies of All Time" list back in 2017 (though readers argued that it should have been higher), but it still definitely hasn't really achieved any sort of cult fanbase for it, like Hells managed to find itself. Combine that with the fact that there are always plenty of legit classics being given brand new releases in this day & age, along with brand new anime movies usually getting the lion's share of hype, and Asura (the film) has about as much of a fight to get licensed for English release as Asura (the boy) has for finding a place where he truly feels he belongs. I'll always hope for the best, though.
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| Yes, this is an official image drawn by Kazushi Hagiwara. |
Combustible Campus Guardress
Sometimes, it just feels like certain anime just aren't meant to reach the true potential fanbase that they should have. Case in point is Combustible Campus Guardress, a 4-episode OVA series from 1994 that was co-created by the legendary Satoru Akahori & mangaka Kazushi Hagiwara. It told the story of Hazumi Jinno, a destructive high-school girl who must choose between helping save the world from the evil Remnants who wish to open an ancient gate & unleash hell on Earth, or protect her brother Takumi for her own lustful reasons... The only problem is that Takumi must die in order to protect the planet, & Hazumi just loves her brother THAT MUCH. In true Akahori fashion, Guardress was a bit of a parody of stories about saving the world from destruction, as literally everyone in town has some sort of ability related to their profession, even if it's making ramen, and Hazumi herself is known for being more destructive to her own side of the fight than the Remnants are. In true Hagiwara fashion, the action was handled excellently, and having Toshihiko "Mizuho" Nishikubo as director didn't hurt one bit. Finally, in true fashion for both, the OVA was intensely perverted & sexual, with tons of panty shots, bare breasts, & Hauzmi's love for Takumi is most definitely NOT in the familial sense.
Still, what makes this OVA work so well is the devil-may-care attitude it has about everything. Everything done here is with absolute earnest, passion, & fun, and it comes through in every scene, whether it's the fanservice, the absurd characters, the bloody action, or Hazumi's mad obsession with her brother. It's really hard NOT to like Combustible Campus Guardress in some way, and that's what makes it annoying that it's never been licensed for English release before. The OVA has been known in English anime fandom as far back as roughly 1996, when it was first fansubbed back in the old VHS days, and it was even admitted by "Ask John" Oppliger in 2007 that AnimeNation had considered licensing it before officially forming AN Entertainment. Whether or not Guardress can even be licensed in the first place is something to consider, though, and it may even explain why it hasn't even seen a re-release in Japan; there's only the original VHS & LD release from 1994.
Will it ever get licensed? You see, this OVA was actually produced by Shueisha as part of the company's short lived V-Jump Video label, which only existed for a few years back in the 90s. For the longest time, Shueisha was very particular when it came to licensing out its properties directly, and while that has since loosened a bit with manga, the fact that there have never been any official English releases of any of the Jump Festa/Super Anime Tour pilots & OVAs, not even the ones for Dragon Ball or One Piece, may indicate that Shueisha just has no interest in actually working with American anime companies; seriously, they're not even available via streaming. This would also apply to Combustible Campus Guardress, so while I'd certainly love to see this OVA get licensed for English release, especially if it was remastered in any way, I think the chances of it ever actually happening are next-to-nil.
The Violinist of Hameln
Like Ring ni Kakero 1, this entry technically covers more than one review, but unlike that series the two productions are completely different, yet taken from the same source. One of the manga to appear in the debut issue of Monthly Shonen GanGan back in 1991, The Violinist of Hameln by Michiaki Watanabe told the tale of Hamel, a man who wields a giant violin & can use musical magic, & his friend Flute as they journey to protect the land from the evil Demon King Chestra. Though Watanabe shouldn't be confused with the anime/tokusatsu composer of the same name, his manga was very much influenced by music, with nearly every single character & location named after an instrument, musical direction, or something music related. The manga also mixed together an overall serious storyline with heavily comedic characters & situations, especially when it came to Hamel, who was portrayed as a selfish braggart who thought of himself as the greatest hero ever & had no reservations in poking fun at his friends; at the same time, though, Hamel was prone to making himself look like a loser, so everything balanced out. The Violinist of Hameln found big success in GanGan, running until 2001 for 37 volumes, received a bonus volume in 2008 that recounted the final battle, & from 2008 to 2011 an 8-volume sequel, The Violinist of Hameln: Shchelkunchik, ran in Young GanGan, focusing on the children of the original cast. Obviously, an anime adaptation was inevitable.
Here's where things get interesting, though. First up was a theatrically-released, 30-minute anime movie done by Nippon Animation in early 1996, which ran as part of GW Anime Festival '96, alongside films for Dragon Quest Retsuden: Emblem of Roto & Magical Circle GuruGuru. The movie was very accurate to Watanabe's manga in terms of tone & is simply a ton of fun to watch, though it is impossible to see the film as it was originally shown in theaters (i.e. in proper widescreen), as even the DVD release from 2001 is presented in 4:3 letterbox format. Regardless, the movie must have been successful enough for some producers to want to expand it out into a full-length TV anime, because in late 1996 came a 25-episode adaptation of the first few volumes, but where this later series, animated by Studio Deen, differed was in the tone. It is guessed by some that Neon Genesis Evangelion wound up being a major influence here, as well, as director Junji Nishimura & writer Yasuhiro Imagawa (who single-handedly wrote every episode) played up the manga's serious storyline, & changed some characters' personalities around, turning a gag fantasy adventure into an extremely dark fantasy series; the first couple of episodes did feature some gags, but that was quickly never seen again, in order to maintain the drama.
The end result, however, is an absolutely amazing series from a storytelling perspective, and if it is indeed still true to the story that Michiaki Watanabe originally wrote, then it shows how deft a hand he had in implementing the gags to keep the manga from being too serious. Sure, the animation itself was generally barely-existent, resulting in the show relying very heavily on stills, slow pans, & the like, but at the same time the staff took advantage of this, giving the anime so many Osamu Dezaki-style "Postcard Memories" that the anime is kind of a poster-child for the technique. Finally, the music by Kohei Tanaka was simply exquisite, featuring both excellent original songs, plus arrangements of tons of different classic music for whenever magical music was utilized. Truly, this was an anime that normally would have aired as a late-night "infomercial", but seeing as that format had only debuted as this anime aired, it wound up running in prime time, making it truly feel unique; it was essentially the last of an era. Truly, while the movie is worth a watch for the fun of it, the TV series is definitely a must-watch, & it's a shame that it's never been licensed.
Will it ever get licensed? Similar to Asura, this is really a "Who the hell knows?!" situation. It's not as if The Violinist of Hameln is exactly unknown, as there is a small but dedicated fanbase for the manga, & the TV anime certainly has had a cult following for years. It looks like Pony Canyon handles the licensing for both the movie & TV series, too, so while they were very different productions, it shouldn't be too problematic in licensing both of them together, at least theoretically. Really, I have absolutely no idea why The Violinist of Hameln has remained unlicensed, though I guess it could just be a victim of there simply being so much anime in general to choose from for licensing that it just gets lost in the shuffle. Hopefully one day that can change, but for now it will remain nothing more than a hopeful dream.
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This brings an end to Part 1 of my most-wanted anime licenses, based on anime that I've reviewed over the past 100 months. Check back at a later date for Part 2, where the picks become more & more obscure, & therefore the chances of being licensed become more & more impossible... But that's just the risk you run by writing about obscure & forgotten anime for 100 months.
Ring ni Kakero 1 © Masami Kurumada/Shueisha・Toei Animation・Marvelous Inc.
Ring ni Kakero 1: Nichibei Kessen-hen © Masami Kurumada/Shueisha・Toei Animation・Marvelous Inc.
Ring ni Kakero 1: Shadow © Masami Kurumada/Shueisha・Toei Animation
Ring ni Kakero 1: Sekai Taikai-hen © Masami Kurumada/Shueisha・Toei Animation・Sammy
Platinumhugen Ordian © 2000 Plum/Ordian Production Committee
Asura © George Akiyama/Asura Production Committee
Combustible Campus Guardress © 1994 Kazushi Hagiwara・Satoru Akahori/Shueisha
The Violinist of Hameln (Movie) © Michiaki Watanabe/Enix・Pony Canyon・Shochiku・Nippon Animation 1996
The Violinist of Hameln (TV) © Michiaki Watanabe/Enix・Pony Canyon・Adex 1996
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