And then I discovered an Irishman named Sean Seanson.
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| Not the actual wheel that was used, though the titles are accurate, but it certainly makes for a good visual, doesn't it? |
For those unfamiliar, which is likely a fair amount of people as he has less than 11,000 subscribers as of this piece, Sean Seanson makes videos on YouTube where he covers "retro" video games, with a primary focus on the original Sony PlayStation. While he does also make videos about individual games or games with a shared theme (same franchise, same publisher, etc.), his most interesting videos are from his two series where he covers "Obscure & Forgotten PS1 Games" & "Japan Only PS1 Games", i.e. he's pretty much the video equivalent to me, but with the PS1. In those, he leaves the selection of games for each video up to chance by randomizing which games are up for selection, before having a literal prize wheel make the decision for him; the specific site Sean uses is Wheel of Names, if you're curious. After seeing how Sean does it, I must admit that I was kind of inspired, to put it likely. Therefore, starting now, every third entry of Oh Me, Oh My, OVA! will be a random selection "provided" by the wheel, and this apparently is being done with the approval of Mr. Seanson himself. We have 122 different OVAs on board for this initial selection, so which four has the "God from the Wheel" chosen for me?
While I'm not showing the wheel selections themselves (I'm already copying Sean Seanson enough as it is), I promise that I did indeed use the wheel to decide for me. The only thing I've done is organize them in chronological order, as per OM, OM, OVA! tradition, but that's actually a lie as the wheel literally gave them to be in order already. Up first... (Possibly) Women's Erotica!
Well, that certainly is me being pushed out of my comfort zone, isn't it?
Starting things off, the wheel has first chosen Milky Passion: Dogenzaka, Ai no Shiro/The Castle of Love in Dogenzaka, a 30-minute OVA from 1990 based on the short manga Milky Passion by Milk Morizono, which ran in Tairiku Shobou's women's magazine Menuett. Not to be confused with later yuri mangaka Milk Morinaga, Milk Morizono (real name: Hiroko Mizoguchi) is known best by her moniker "Queen of Ladies' Manga", with "Ladies' Manga" being the term used in Japan for illustrated women's erotica, though Morizono herself prefers to call her manga "ecchi", as its not straight-up porn; her 90s shojo manga Peacemaker even got her in hot water due to its content. As for this OVA, this looks to be the only anime adaptation of a Milk Morizono manga & comes from now-defunct animation studio Aubec (or is it Auvek, Aubekku, or Aubeck?), the studio behind other OVAs like Capricorn & Garaga. However, the actual group credited for the animation in the OVA goes to "Animation 501", which would later be known as Aubec's hentai division. Also, while this OVA was produced by Tairiku Shobo itself, the actual release was done by Sega! (The first name you go to for "women's erotica", am I right?) Without a doubt, I am one of the last people you should go to for opinions on women's erotica, but I'm willing to give this a go & see if it gives any indication as to why Milk Morizono is "Queen" of this type of story.
Hiromi Mishiba is a 20-year-old OL who dresses too plainly, wears no makeup, & is too shy to ever feel like any man will ever find her attractive. One day after work, though, Hiromi is suddenly taken by two large men, who force her into their car & is taken to "The Castle of Love"... a luxurious love hotel in Dogenzaka. Though she resists, she's eventually brought to the handsome manager, Takuma Fujiwara, who asks Hiromi if she'll take control over the hotel, as it was the final wish of her father. Hiromi's confused by all of this, as she was told by her now-deceased mother that her father died before she was born, but in reality the two had eloped & eventually opened up a small hotel. Hiromi's mother, feeling that she was a burden on the love of her life, ran off with a baby Hiromi, while Hiromi's father eventually expanded the hotel into the building that she's now in. Eventually, Hiromi accepts the offer, but how will she do as the new president of the hotel when an American opens up competition, Hotel El Dorado, nearby?
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| I refuse to give proper context for this image. |
OK, so first thing's first: This OVA isn't actually "women's erotica", as while there is the occasional bit of sexual imagery seen here & there, there's nothing I'd really call "erotic" in this OVA; maybe it was toned down from the manga? What this OVA is, however, is undeniably wish fulfillment for (heterosexual) women. We have a frumpy & shy young woman who's suddenly whisked away into a situation that gives her a potential new lease on life without any effort on her part to make it happen, complete with staff who treat her with respect from the get-go (despite her lack of any experience running a business), which in turns suddenly makes her more willing to stand up for herself & her new place of employment, and she even gets a handsome young man that she can fall in love with, to boot? Without a doubt, this is 100% pure, undistilled wish fulfillment, only now it's meant for women to enjoy, instead of men... and that is perfectly fine, because even women deserve to have this kind of blatant product that men generally are given over & over again.
It also helps that this is honestly really enjoyable & worth a watch, even for guys like me.
Hiromi is a likable lead, and she definitely carries the entire thing from start to finish; one could argue that Yuko Mizutani maybe voices her a tad bit childish at points, but nothing too egregious. Fujiwara is a perfect example of a character who initially comes off a little too cold, but in reality is just as silly as our lead in certain moments, like dressing himself up like a giant maid when he sees Hiromi come into the hotel with an old co-worker who's actually a repeat guest... all to protect Hiromi by sneaking in a video of the co-worker's previous escapades, as the guy forgets that he records all of his visits; similarly, the late Kaneto Shiozawa plays him well, usually calm & reserved but with moments of silliness. Sure, there are the usual pratfalls of this kind of love story, like the misunderstanding that leads to some sort of conflict with a third party, & it plays a little loose on the idea of Hiromi finding herself in situations where she could potentially get raped (only for Fujiwara to save her, both times), but there's no mistaking what this OVA aimed to be. Simply put, this is a short story that women can put on & watch in order to get that feeling of "Man, I wish something unrealistic like this could happen to me", have a smile put on their face (there is some good comedy included), & continue on with the rest of their day. In that regard, Milky Passion: Dogenzaka, Ai no Shiro succeeds in what set out to do, and is a fun little way to spend a half-hour if you're either a woman, or someone who is just curious to see some wish fulfillment done for "the other side of the fence", if you will. Meanwhile, the director of this OVA, Takashi Imanishi, would go on to direct various Gundam OVAs (namely 0083, MS IGLOO, The Origin OVAs, & two of the Evolve shorts) & the very enjoyable Violinist of Hameln movie, so that's cool.
Next, we have 1991's Kyukyoku Chojin R/Ultimate Superhuman R, a 73-minute OVA adaptation of the Shonen Sunday manga of the same name by Masami Yuki that ran from 1985 to 1987 for nine volumes, plus a bonus tenth volume in 2018; Yuki made R in between the two halves of the original Birdy the Mighty manga. While the manga itself only ran for two years, it found a strong post-serialization life in the form of six image albums released between 1987 & 1992, comprised of over 30 songs (an amount unheard of for a single manga, at the time) & numerous audio dramas performed by a cast of seiyuu, with the late Kaneto Shiozawa leading it all as the titular android boy, R. Ichiro Tanaka. It was during this time that the OVA adaptation was produced, which features the same cast as those audio dramas, though Yuki has apparently been adamant about not approving an anime adaptation, as he feels that the series is more of a "conversational drama" that wouldn't properly adapt into animation. In that case, how is this OVA even a thing? Apparently, it's only because the head of the animation studio that made it, Studio COA (which is generally an assistance studio & even jokingly states on its Twitter account that this OVA from "a long time ago" is its representative work), is an old friend of Yuki's, who trusted that his friend could do as good a job as possible. Guess I'll see how well this OVA, which apparently takes places after the manga's ending, fares & try to figure out if Yuki's worry that it wouldn't adapt well into anime actually holds true.
R & his friends from their school's Camera Club are challenged by their rival, Marii Saionji, to gather every single stamp from various stops on the JR Central Line before 6:00 pm the next day, or else the Camera Club gets closed down. A mixture of getting lost when travelling from one line to another, needing to get as many stamps using one train as possible after losing time because of said getting lost, & occasionally dealing with R's "father", Dr. Nariyuki Narihara, trying to stop them will hamper their ability to actually win this challenge, but with a leader like Tosaka & the (occasionally) helpful R on hand, the Camera Club might actually be able to get the job done.
Sometimes, an OVA is made precisely for a single sort of audience: Fans of the original source material. In such cases, there is the chance that newcomers can still enjoy it to some extent, but there will definitely be that feeling that such viewers are missing out on things. That best describes the Kyukoku Chojin R OVA in a nutshell, as while I did have a decent time with it, & I definitely did enjoy certain parts, it's also easy for me to see that I went into this OVA the wrong way by having never experienced the manga before. This OVA makes no attempt at introducing anything to you, simply assuming that you are already familiar with the 10 characters that comprise R & his friends who are taking this trip, as well as the apparent rivalry Saionji has with them. Not just that, but while there is the occasional bit of absurd and/or gag humor to be found here, I can sort of see Masami Yuki's feeling that this series wouldn't necessarily adapt into animation. It's not that it doesn't at all, but when you really get down to it, not a whole lot of note actually happens here, as the entire challenge is in the stamp collecting itself. While Saionji & her partner follow our "heroes" & keeps track of their progress for the most part, she doesn't seem to actively do anything to prevent them from completing the challenge; I can't really tell if R's father was simply working on his own as a third party or not. Simply put, this OVA is all about the Camera Club taking a two-day trip by train, occasionally getting into trouble along the way, but all of those troubles are solved in a rather anti-climactic fashion, though sometimes comically. I remember seeing mention that this OVA is kind of boring, and I can understand that if you go into this more or less blind. My favorite scenes were the more blatant bits of comedy, like R always wanting to use what he thinks is a camera but is actually a giant laser rifle, Tosaka constantly flipping the bird (even if it's mostly just for the hell of it), Dr. Narihara's repeatedly self-defeating attempts to attack R, or the entire climax where the gang all ride a jury-rigged bicycle in a mad dash to make it to Saionji's office in time for the final stamp, complete with characters flying off during points.
In essence, the main appeal of the Kyukoku Chojin R OVA is in the fact that it's anime, in & of itself. For fans of the manga, which this is aimed precisely at, the reason to watch it is simply to see their favorite characters moving around via animation, while still being voiced by the same actors that voiced them in the audio dramas, and the voice cast is indeed very good; Akira Kamiya's Tosaka is always fun, & Kaneto Shiozawa is brilliantly against type here. Also, while Studio COA's animation isn't anything truly remarkable, it is consistent the entire way through & very accurate to Masami Yuki's art style. In the end, while I definitely went into this OVA the worst way & would obviously appreciate this more if I had read the manga beforehand, I can't say that I had a bad time with it, as a complete neophyte to this series. While I can understand some complaints about it being "boring", I can appreciate it for being true to itself & seemingly giving hardcore fans of the manga (& audio dramas) more or less what they wanted out of it.
For the wheel's third selection we have 1997's Gestalt, a two-episode OVA adaptation of the manga Choujuu Densetsu/Super Beast Legend Gestalt by Yun Kouga (real name: Risa Yamada, née Risa Kimura) that ran in Enix's Monthly Gangan Fantasy from 1993 to 2001 (after an initial one-shot in 1992) & totaled 8 volumes. Kouga is best known for her manga that feature heavy BL/yaoi tones (both under & over), such as Loveless & Earthian, though she's also made plenty of manga that feature other types of romances, like Crown of Love (heterosexual) & Riddle Story of Devil (yuri), & has contributed character designs for anime like Mobile Suit Gundam 00 & Un-Go. Personally, I know Yun Kouga today primarily because she's a massive fangirl for Masami Kurumada (the very pen name she uses is literally made from the names of some Ring ni Kakero characters), even getting to draw a crossover manga featuring his characters in 2013 (which remains unfinished after just one volume), but I actually did see the Gestalt OVA way back in my early days of being an anime fan during the mid-00s, and I did read the first couple volumes of the manga back when Viz released it across 2009 & 2010. My memories of both are a bit foggy, though, so I might as well just jump into this OVA as though it's brand new to me & see how things fare.
Father Olivier is a priest of the Vasaria Order which reveres Salsaroa as the God of Creation. However, Olivier is in the midst of a crisis of faith & leaves the Order so that he can make his way to "G", an island to the far South that was once home to a land ruled by Gestalt, a god who rebelled against Salsaroa before being sealed away & whose very name is now considered sacrilege; simply "G" is more than enough for people. Shortly after starting his journey, though, Olivier comes across a mute slave girl that he's (more or less) forced to take as his own, though after managing to dispel the Silence spell put on her she reveals herself to be Ohri, a powerful sorcerer who was weakened as part of a challenge between she & her siblings to see who's the strongest, with her very form seemingly being her own self-imposed handicap; Ohri also gives a vague indication to Olivier that she comes from a "newly freed island". Olivier & Ohri's travels first take them to Dangal, the capital of the Kingdom of Bilmol, which is currently in the midst of troubles with its King, who had quickly gone from benevolent to cruel after marrying his new Queen... and how it all relates to Soushi, one of Ohri's brothers.
The Gestalt manga is labeled by Yun Kouga as being "RPG-Style Fantasy", and that's not hard to see within the first few minutes of this OVA. While literal levels aren't outright used (though Ohri does joke about Olivier being able to power her up a few from a kiss at one point), we do have various things like white & black magic, classes like Priest, Sorcerer, & Sage, monsters like carrion crawlers, other races like dark elves, and the like. While that can result in Gestalt seeming maybe a little generic in feel, this OVA shows that it doesn't take itself overtly serious at all times in execution, with a fair bit of verbal humor, a generally relaxed & fun-loving mood to it, and even the occasional bit of lampshade hanging, like Ohri literally using text boxes to communicate when she's initially mute; it also only lasts for the first third of the first episode, so it doesn't overstay its welcome. In terms of adaptation, this OVA only covers roughly the first 2/3 of the first volume (again, this only totals just shy of an hour long), though the last 1/3 of Episode 2 does diverge slightly in order to give the story regarding Bilmol a bit more of a conclusive finish, while also keeping the focus on just Olivier & Ohri for the direct end. In comparison, the duo should be joined by fortune teller Shazan & dark elf hunter Suzu by this point, while in the OVA they're included but left behind for the direct end. Still, watching this OVA again for the first time in well over a decade reminded me of why I had fond memories of it, & why I did initially buy the manga, because this remains a fun little OVA, in its own right. We have an enjoyably snarky yet endearing lead character in Ohri (Olivier's good, too), and while the animation isn't anything special (it's an early attempt at mixing traditional & digital animation, & ages about as well as you'd think) it's still not bad looking; if anything, Kouga's visual style carries it.
Despite being so short & obviously meant to do nothing but promote the manga, you can still watch the Gestalt OVA & have something resembling a "complete" story, which immediately puts it above many other OVAs of its ilk. Sure, there are tons of unanswered questions & some hints as to the larger plot (like Ohri being indicated as actually being a man before taking a female form as a handicap; also, this is how Yun Kouga snuck in some slight BL undertones), but there's still a good time to be had here. It's just a shame that this OVA is a Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) production, i.e. it's Aniplex, so the chances of it ever getting re-released look to be slim-to-none. As for the manga it was made to promote, while there is no digital version out there by Viz, the physical books still look to be in print to some extent, or at least they currently still go for roughly MSRP to this very day, which is nice to see after more than a decade.
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| He has a super horse... All complaints are now null & void! |
Finally, we end this truly random cavalcade of selections with 2012's Ippatsu Hichuu!!/One Shot Sure Shot!! Devander by Tatsunoko Pro, which is a single 27-minute OVA. It was released initially on Blu-Ray in Japan on October 19, 2012, the exact day of Tatsunoko's 50th Anniversary, followed by a DVD release & some TV airings on Kids Station. Devander is also notable in that it's the last anime to ever be directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa, the man who directed Tatsunoko's first anime (Space Ace) & would go on to direct many of the studio's most iconic anime (Mach Go Go Go/Speed Racer, Casshan, Tekkaman, Time Bokan, Yatterman, etc.), though Sasagawa does still get credited in more supervisory "director" roles to this day, most recently with 2021's Muteking reboot; also, Tatsunoko alumnus (& anime legend) Kunio Okawara returned for the mech designs. This actually isn't the first time Tatsunoko created an original superhero for a one-off production (see: Denkou Senka Volter for Tatsunoko Fight in 2000), so let me see if this one-time-only hero makes a bigger splash than his predecessor did, personally.
Kazuma Harukaze & his little sister Sakura live on a ranch with their miniature horse Lovely, when one night they both see a mysterious object crash land nearby. The three check it out, only to find a horse-shaped UFO with two robotic inhabitants: The small & egg-shaped Hinkel & a robo-horse named Robony. The two have come to Earth on orders by Duke Oasis of the Planet Muzanda, as Oasis' brother King Bull has decided to steal the "Gaia Energy" from Earth in order to keep himself at full power, and a giant siphoning machine lands on top of Mt. Fuji around the same time to start the process. In order to save Earth, Hinkel & Robony need to find the human with the most "Ultra Lucky Power" in order to utilize the powers of Devander, which Duke Oasis has created... and said human looks to be Kazuma (maybe). So Kazuma dons the costume of Devander, hops on top of Robony, & aims to put a stop to King Bull's plan... at least, if he's got luck on his side to access Devander's full power.
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| They have some amusingly human animation for Lovely at points, that's for sure. |
Tatsunoko's history of superheroes can be split up between two factions, essentially: The Serious Ones & The Comedic Ones. The former is where you'll find the likes of Gatchaman, Tekkaman (either one), Casshan, Hurricane Polymar, Gold Lightan, etc., while the latter features the likes of the entire Time Bokan Series & Muteking, with Devander definitely belonging in the latter camp. Put simply, the Devander power's entire gimmick is that it's based on luck, with Robony being able to shoot out a special ball that releases a ton of smaller beings that can fuse together to form a giant robot that can take on King Bull's forces... but whether or not it's a "Normal Ball" or the actually useful "Golden Ball" is based solely off of Kazuma's luck as he pedals Robony fast enough like a bicycle to churn one of those balls out of the robo-horse's mouth.
Yes, it's literally a superhero based on gachapon... and it's also a fair bit awkwardly suggestive, too.
Obviously, the entire concept is meant to be silly, and the OVA takes advantage of the inherently absurd concept by tossing in all manner of references. Each of the giant robots that Devander summons initially look like metallic versions of Ken the Eagle, Casshan, or Gold Lightan, before shedding that look & revealing what they actually look like, while Devander & Robony fly past the likes of Dematan the Frog, Hakushon Daimaoh, & the Doronbo Gang when heading over to Mt. Fuji to save the day. Also, when Kazuma can no longer sustain the Devander powers, which happens a few times in this OVA, he's left completely naked, just like D-Boy after every battle in Tekkaman Blade. Not just that, but Kazuma isn't even the one with all the luck, but rather it's Sakura, so it's not until she's near him while he's pedaling that he even has a chance at getting the Golden Ball, resulting in King Bull's forces having to deal with underpowered giant robots repeatedly, which is admittedly an amusing gag. Naturally, once the Golden Ball comes out things become more of a traditional superhero story, with Devander piloting the giant golden robot he gets (which looks like a golden Exkaiser, only with a horse head in the chest, instead of a lion) to save the day & destroy the siphoning mechanism. In the end, this is actually a one-&-done story with King Bull defeated & his forces escaping, while Hinkel & Robony head back to Duke Oasis, with the only real tease for possibly more being one of King Bull's commanders seeing Sakura, who reminds him of a young girl he once knew.
Overall, Ippatsu Hicchuu!! Devander is just fine, and as a 50th Anniversary production it does what it set to do in delivering an amusing little one-off superhero story, while also doing the occasional reference to other Tatsunoko icons. Conceptually it really wouldn't work all that well as an ongoing series, as the whole reliance on gachapon would get tiring very quickly (it already was hitting that point in this OVA, honestly), though I actually do like the visual of a superhero with a horse racing motif, as it is unique. Check it out if you're truly curious, but it's not really anything to hunt down unless you're a massive fan of Tatsunoko's superheroes & just need to see all of the various ones the studio has created.
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That brings an end to the very first randomized entry of Oh Me, Oh My, OVA!, and it truly was about as random as it could be. I mean, there really is no unifying thread to all four of the OVAs covered in this entry, unless you can somehow find a way to tie together (not really) women's erotica, "conversational drama", "RPG-style Fantasy", & a superhero whose entire "power" is based around the luck of the draw. Still, this was a fun little way to handle OM, OM, OVA!, so as stated at the beginning we'll visit this concept again in the sixth entry, which would be ζ/zeta, and so on with every third entry. I do plan to eventually make OM, OM, OVA! a more recurring segment, so hopefully it won't take another 2-3 years before we spin the wheel & make the deal once again.
Milky Passion: Dogenzaka, Ai no Shiro © 1990 Milk Morizono/Tairiku Shobou
Kyukyoku Chojin R © 1991 Masami Yuki/Shogakukan/Bandai Visual
Gestalt © 1997 Yun Kouga/Ichijinsha・Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. (now Aniplex)
Ippatsu Hichuu!! Devander © Tatsunoko Pro・Devander Production Committee
Thank you for more infos about OVAs! I just knew Tatsunoko made Devander, never heard of it before!
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