Episode 5: Green Legend Ran

Download episode five, here. 

Revolutionary War II

Whilst the American Revolutionary War has long ended, it was but a prelude to a much more serious war: UK dubs vs USA dubs. In our new recurring segment, we bravely report from the frontlines of this epic conflict. In the case of this episode, we look at original OVA series of AD Police, where the ADV and Manga UK dubs face each other in mortal combat. Who emerges the victor? Listen and find out.

A bluecoat veteran gives a pep talk to his disenfranchised fellow minutemen; reminding them that if Great Britain maintains its grip on the colonies, the Manga UK Violence Jack dub will be the only selectable option on the DVD. 

In the distance, Militiaman Porter considers whether to interject with, "But their Patlabor 2 dub is a masterpiece!"

We also touch upon some classic super robot titles such as Daitarn 3 and Voltes V and Project A-Ko's upcoming BluRay release.

Featured Fansubbers:

Soldado Subs: Ninku seemed like a title that was destined to never be fully translated. Well, life is full of surprises. 

Johnny English Subs: We are cheating slightly because this project is listed as "stalled". Yume Senshi Wingman is an early 80's Tatsunoko title that was a bit hit in France. This release, at twelve episodes, is incomplete, but it's further than anyone else has gotten. Here's hoping the project continues.

/m/subs: Definitely one of the more high profile fansubbers we've featured.

Mini-Review: Green Legend Ran

Back in the early to mid  Neolithic period   1990's, the OVA format reigned supreme amongst English speaking anime fans. Even a cursory glance (as cursory as one could be with a dial-up modem) at the Anime Web Turnpike featured dozens of "fansites" for titles such as Moldiver,  All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku and Green Legend Ran. 

Saturday Anime's Anime Bingo post reminded us of this glaring hole in our retro Anime repertoire.

Green Legend Ran is a fascinating mélange of interesting worldbuilding, animation, ecological and transhumanist themes coupled with a degree of violence that stands in juxtaposition with its "innocent" character designs and overall aesthetic.   

Imperfections aside,  this contains all the ingredients that got us into Anime in the first place. 

Do we recommend it? Yes.