Retro Anime Podcast - Episode 34 'How Long Were You Alone With That Dog'

Lewis and I should be recording in the next couple of days. We'll be taking another look at obscure unlicensed OVAs with reviews of Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora and Dragon's Heaven.

Please let us know if you have any questions or comments for the podcast.
 
Listened to ep10 the other day (I'm terrible at keeping up with podcasts as they come out).

Given the name, I actually kind of thought Fandora might have been connected to the similarly vintage Dream Hunter Rem series, which I remember being pretty good, but alas not. Having looked at the art on google images though, I wouldn't have realised it was a Go Nagai property unless someone had told me - any other anime I've seen based on his work seems to make at least some nod back to his art style.

Dragon's Heaven is something I've been keen to see for a while though, I'd seen images of it crop up on the Colony Drop twitter a few months back. What really caught my attention was the artwork, which is very, very much in the style of French artist Moebius - so much so that it surprises me he doesn't actually seem to have been explicitly involved with the project! Sadly he's no longer around, but I'd be curious to know if he had any awareness of the film and er, if his lawyers were ever summoned...
 
Thanks for continuing to listen Professor Irony, your support is much appreciated!

I didn't realise that Fandora was a Go Nagai design either until I was researching it for the podcast. We're planning to review the Dream Hunter Rem OVAs at some point in the future as well.

I hadn't picked up on the Moebius link for Dragon's Heaven until after the review when someone mentioned it to me on Twitter (I'm not into art as such so the similarity passed me by). But now comparing I agree with your comments as to whether the man himself had any awareness of the anime!
 
Crikey, I'd forgotten about Sword for Truth. I remember it being a bit of a whipping boy for the youtube anime crowd at one point, but I don't think it really deserves the 'worst OAV ever' label so many of them were keen to slap on it. It certainly wasn't great, but the art design was passable enough at least. It'd probably have gone largely unnoticed if not for Manga's hilariously optimistic tagline about it being "the best sword fighting action since Ninja Scroll".
 
Unfortunately the Ninja Scroll association (it was even released as Ninja Scroll 2 initially in the US) was it's biggest downfall, it was never going to compare! As you said it would have probably passed by unnoticed without the comparison.
 
Listened to the new episode today. It's been a long time since I've seen Dagger of Kamui, but I would agree with your take on it - it was an interesting curio with some great action, but it's a shame it just fades out so much in that last half hour. One thing I do remember is that Yoshiaki Kawajiri was a key animator on the film and, looking at the way the action is handled, I'm sure his experience must have been a big influence on his general style, and undoubtedly, his work on Ninja Scroll.

After that, I find it hard to disagree about Sword for Truth, but I'd stick by my guns that it's not the worst OAV ever - it's incompetent and a waste of time and effort from people capable of much better, but I wasn't actively offended by it. For my money, I'm torn between either Makyu Senjo, a particularly turgid, artless retread of the Baoh formula that glosses over a scene of the main character raping someone, and the more recent-ish Tank SWAT, a (presumably) failed pilot for a CGI reboot of Dominion Tank Police. Even if you can forgive it the awful, weightless CGI, it has a paper-thin, completely inconsequential story that fails to convey anything of the characters' personality - it's like a terrible tech demo that was somehow released to the public. The fact that very few people seem to have seen either is probably a relief.

Also it's not something anyone should spend time on, ever, but I would watch a version of Sword for Truth in which all the audio is taken from The Room...
 
Thanks for listening Professor Irony, your continued support is much appreciated 👍

I agree you can see Kawajiri's finger prints all over the Dagger of Kamui and it was definitely an influence on Ninja Scroll.

I haven't seen seen either of those anime you mention, but I'll make sure I avoid them. Of the anime I've seen Sword For Truth is the worst, it's just the laziness that seeps through the whole thing.

I've challenged Lewis to create that version with audio taken from The Room 😁
 
Hi Everyone,

Lewis and I will be recording the next episode of the podcast in the next week with reviews of comedy/action OVAs Dragon Slayer: The Legend of Heroes and Dragon Half.

Leave any questions or comments for us here.

Thanks,

Ian
 
Hi Everyone,

Episode 12 is out where Lewis and I review a couple of fantasy action comedy OVAs; Dragon Slayer - The Legend of Heroes and Dragon Half.

Find it on Soundcloud here: Retro Anime Podcast #12 'You're A Funny Dragon'

You can can also find it iTunes, Stitcher, Overcast and most podcast hosting services by searching for Retro Anime Podcast.

Thanks for listening,

Ian (Orgun)
 
That did finally give me the much needed kick up the backside to go and watch Dragon Half - it's something I've seen mentioned for years, but never gotten around to. It was nice; a jolly, even Python-esque little romp. Just a shame we never got the other two episodes, it really does feel like they've stopped in the middle. It actually surprises me it wasn't more successful in Japan, it feels very similar in tone to the Slayers anime, and would only have been a couple of years before that became such a hit.
 
I'm chuffed we've inspired you to check out Dragon Half! As you say a jolly romp and a shame it was cut short.

Funny you mention Slayers, I'd been meaning to get into it for ages and after watching the two fantasy comedy anime for the podcast I was in the right mood for it and watched and thoroughly enjoyed the first series.
 
Hi Everyone,

Lewis and I will be recording the next episode of the podcast in the next week where we will review the original Gall Force anime trilogy; Eternal Story, Destruction and Stardust War.

Please leave any questions or comments here.

Cheers,

Ian
 
Gall Force is one of those things I've always meant to seek out, but never gotten around to - if nothing else, I think the films were Sonoda's character art at its most appealling. It's something I feel like has more following in the US than it does here though. I guess that's just down to availability - I think all we ever got here was one of the last OAVs (I want to say Earth Chapter?) and the, admittedly great, spoofs Ten Little Gall Force and Scramble Wars.
 
Hi Everyone,

Episode 13 is out where Lewis and I complete the first part of our Gall Force retrospective with reviews of Eternal Story, Destruction and Stardust War.

Find it on Soundcloud here: Retro Anime Podcast #13 'Galls Just Wanna Have Fun'

You can can also find it iTunes, Stitcher, TuneIn, Overcast FM, Pocket Casts, Cast Box Podcast Player and most podcast hosting services by searching for Retro Anime Podcast.

Thanks for listening,

Ian (Orgun)
 
Watched Eternal Story last night - thoroughly enjoyed it! From what I've heard people say about it in the past, I'd always assumed it would stick far closer to Alien, but was pleased to see there was more to it than that. I thought the mutually assured destruction theme brought something interesting to the table in particular.

That final scene really was an odd note to end on though. Maybe they felt the ending would have been too dark otherwise? I actually kind of wonder if it might have inspired the famous 'what if this was just a high school series?' scene towards the end of Evangelion.
 
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As I said on the podcast, I really like Eternal Story despite it's flaws, there's far more content in the story than people give it credit for.

Yeah, that last scene is an odd one, I hadn't considered that scene in Evangelion but given where Eternal Story sits in anime's progression I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some influence.
 
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