Saint October 07 - Xtreme Speed Dating Challenge

This episode features one of the most hilarious uses of typical Magical Girl transformation/attack sequences I've ever seen. But leave it to Saint October to always be mixing things up. No, the main story in episode 7 concerns some romantic misunderstandings and a figure from Joshua and Koutarou's past, seen above. On other matters, I attempted to integrate some of the Commie/Underwater "Fansub 2.0" typesetting techniques outline here for signs in this episode. Let me know if I'm doing it wrong, or if there's even any noticeable difference.

Torrent [CRC=F1DC0BEE]

Also, if you're gearing up for the Christmas holidays in the US, I recommend showing support for low-wage/exploited retail workers by NOT shopping tonight or early tomorrow morning. And hopefully there's enough labor unrest and mass chaos at the Mart of Wal to show the President Kurtzes down in Arkansas that they need to change their ways.

Lovely Idol 06 - Prepare for Trouble, Make it Double

We're back with Lovely Idol episode 06, where the gang meets up with the "Piccolo" duo from Lovedol Gen-2. But it's no ordinary introduction, as mischief, mayhem, and explosions are the order of the day. And as a special bonus, Shizuku (right, pink hair) is played by the incomparable Rie Kugimiya, in this case closer to her Rizel mode than to Shana/Louise/Aria/etc. Hibiki (left, green hair and "quad-eyes") is played by the lesser-known Akiko Kobayashi; among her few roles is Momo from Shinigami's Ballad. But despite all the wacky hijinx, there might be *gasp* actual plot brewing in the background, and even a cliffhanger.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

As always, I didn't intend for this long of a gap between releases... but as always around this time of year, I've been busy with staffing work for Anime NebrasKon, on top of some real-world "work." I've also been battling some wrist/joint pain that interferes with fansubbing work. Let's just hope it's not carpal tunnel syndrome or whatever, as my sorry non-health-insured self certainly can't afford any surgery. But things should be cleared up for more releases in the next few weeks, both of Saint October/Lovely Idol and possibly a few other things.

Saint October 06 - More Party Members!

After the sudden introduction at the end of episode 5, Kotono and Natsuki attempt to befriend the strong, agile, and downright feral Misaki Hijiri. Reverse sends the kung fu chick equivalent of Air Man after them, but her villainy is no match for the powers of Elegant Gothic Lolitas.

Torrent [CRC=67A58315]

Lovely Idol 05 - Our Fabulous Swimsuit Issue

Here we have the aspiring idols of Lovedol Gen-3 heading to the beach for a commercial shoot, proving that all you need to succeed is hard work, talent, and connections with already-established idols. Miu Nekoya may be the best dancer of the bunch, but she's also the biggest diva, with disastrous results. Oh, and this episode also features tons of insert karaoke. Luckily, it's all the same song, but it still bloated the script to 450+ lines.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Saint October 05 - I Summon Iron Chef Arcana!

Sorry for the now-expected delays, but I had a few other things to do involving house painting and my imouto getting married. And releasing a few Yes! Pretty Cure 5 episodes, and going out of town (which for me means no Internet) for the weekend. At any rate, this fifth episode of Saint October has Natsuki and Kotono confronting an old enemy and meeting a possible new ally. There's also some feline chaos and dessert disagreements along the way. And it's very Saint-October-esque to cut away to a random cooking segment, as seen above.

Torrent [CRC=CA7BC383]

Lovely Idol 04 - Koe de Oshigoto!

I'm sure the Japanese voice acting realm is competitive enough that it doesn't need random idols stepping into it, but that's what we have here in this episode. And with Tomohiro out sick, Ruri decides to channel Ritsuko Akizuki and play "Manager for a Day." Some things go wrong, some things go right, and it's mostly cuteness all around. This time, I did notice some little touches, like how Mai primps herself for the camera when there is no camera.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Saint October 04 - Vampires Don't Sparkle

In this episode, our GothLoli Detective Duo confronts an apparent vampire attacking their school, only he doesn't sparkle in the sunlight or display any other traditional vampire traits. Which means it's not much of a vampire at all, really. But whatever it is, it's [rainbow]FABULOUS!![/rainbow] Oh, and I elected not to go the gg/CoalGuys route and put "I'm being cockblocked by everything!" in the above screenshot.

Torrent [CRC=18319462]

There will likely be some v2s for eps 1-3 to finetune some consistency issues, possibly in conjunction with a later 01-13 halfway point batch.

Lovely Idol 03 - Hey Girl, I'll Make You a Star

Much like the logistically-challenged concert at the end, this episode's release was plagued by errors, like silly mistakes and an Aegisub crash. Nonetheless, the task of dragging icy tsundere Mizuki Sakaki kicking and screaming into stardom seems more or less complete in this episode.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

EDIT: Apparently I now has trusted status on nyaa.

Saint October 03 - A Cat is NOT Fine, Too!

Episode 3 of Saint October has the Reverse Company dispatching one of their fearsome beasts (even more fearsome than the late Kim Jong-Il's panthers) to recapture Ewan. Fortunately, Natsuki gets in on the action as well, and gets her own transformation sequence that totally isn't, uh... "dripping" with innuendo.

Torrent [CRC=D159CA84]

If you notice any audio/video desync in this episode, let me know. I encountered a situation where the OP karaoke I pasted in was perfectly lined up with the video scene changes, but the audio in the k-timing was off. I couldn't see any discrepancy when I checked actual dialogue, so I didn't try to remux/delay the audio before releasing.

Shinigami's Ballad 04-06 - It's a Wonderful Life

Well, I might've had this second half of the series done sooner, but I had to unstall and blitz through a few episodes of Yes! Pretty Cure 5, which was a full translate/time from scratch effort. Anyway, this concludes Shinigami's Ballad. Maybe it descends into too much melodrama here and there, but it's short and sweet and doesn't overstay its welcome. Out of this batch, episode 6 is my favorite, though 4 and 5 are certainly good as well.

The episodic format is nice, but it does leave you wanting more, or wondering if a continuing story could develop. Perhaps the (untranslated?) light novels would provide answers. There is also a live-action adaptation, which I have not seen.

Torrent

If you have the files that are (for now) on BakaBT, I finally learned how to create non-ghetto patches to convert those eps 4-6 into my releases. Please help seed if you can. Didn't realize that the files on BakaBT were changed, so the patch likely won't work.

So I heard you like batches...

If you've been watching the nyaa.eu front page recently, you'll see that I've been posting a few batches for older ReDone projects. These shows have previously only had batches on BakaBT, so I decided to answer the demand for public-tracker alternatives. Recently-posted batches include:

To Heart ~Remember my Memories~

Soul Link

Tonagura!

Lime-Colored War Tales TV & OVA

I will likely be removing the single-episode torrents for these as time goes by. Some older projects like Strawberry 100%, Touka Gettan, and Rizelmine already have batches on nyaa linked in the final posts under those labels. Various shorter OVAs also got public-tracker batches at the time of completion.

And just for record-keeping, the following ReDone releases are not yet on BakaBT:

Hand Maid Mai
Sky Girls OVA
Memories Off #1
Shin Koihime Musou OVA

Shinigami's Ballad 01-03 - Beyond the Grave, Beyond Tears

As hinted at before, this is a "secret surprise" batch release. I'd been doing some work off-and-on with this series for awhile, and figured it was finally time to throw something out there. Shinigami's Ballad (AKA Shinigami no Ballad, AKA Ballad of a Shinigami: Momo the Girl God of Death) is one of my favorite short series from the mid-00s. It's only six episodes, but few series manage to lay down a pervasively melancholy, tearjerker mood for so much of their runtime. But I shouldn't be surprised, as its director Tomomi Mochizuki has been involved with numerous other "strange and wonderful" series like Zettai Shounen, Twin Spica, Yami to Boushi, and Touka Gettan. So I hope you all can enjoy it as I did when it aired in 2006 (and when I rewatched it in 2007).

01-03 Torrent (ep 01 43BB3778 , ep 02 4B94AA3D , ep 03 8BD343A1)

More technical/subtitle stuff below.

Lovely Idol 02 - You think you've got talent?

As far as the old-school Sailor Moon definition of the term goes, I think Kotoha has the most talent of anyone in this bunch. Still, this show's manager (who actually has a name!) decides to ignore that and pursue the elusive legendary street performer, Mizuki Sakaki. But the four girls pictured above notice this obsession and decide to help, with cutely disastrous results. Nevertheless, Lovedol Gen-3's numbers are increasing, even if those increases come from unlikely places.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Thanks again to the Anon in the ep 01 comments for tipping me off to the audio delay issue in even-numbered episodes of AME's rip. Fortunately, the first "HA!" of the OP coincides exactly with the appearance of the title graphic. So I just had to time out the difference, which for ep 02 was 660 ms. Unfortunately, I didn't see any steam reduction in the shower scene at 8:25, so no DVD enhancements there.

Saint October 02 - Poison Ivy Attacks

Why yes, President Kurtz, I know what happens if I fail at life, but what if I fail at fansubbing as well? What then? Though actually, I didn't even need to load the audio to fix minor mistakes while QCing this episode, so I guess that's a good sign. Anyway, mystery boy Ewan continues to mysteriously defy all attempts at identification, and Reverse's supervillain-wannabe Kurtz has his subordinate send another subordinate on another kidnapping mission. And somehow, I get the feeling that the Reverse Company will be hearing some calls from DC Comics' legal department.

Torrent [CRC=9EE26C0C]

But despite a couple of trips, I haven't been completely inactive -- after the next episode of Lovely Idol, I may bring out a surprise short series in one or two batches.

Lovedol ~ Lovely Idol 01 - The Poor Man's Idolm@ster

(Image not necessarily indicative of show content)

And now, for something completely different that not many people care about, here's the first episode of Lovedol ~ Lovely Idol, a Fall 2006 anime about... idols and stuff. But mostly stuff. If you want to see an anime about lovely, hardworking, talented girls striving for a goal, all with great animation and a wide variety of music, then I highly recommend The Idolm@ster from Summer 2011. This show... well, I was initially drawn to it by the Princess Soft game origin and the Aoi Nishimata (Final Approach, Shuffle!, We Without Wings) character designs. And while it did deliver cute girls doing cute things, it didn't deliver a whole lot else.

Still, my philosophy is that even marginal/mediocre anime deserve good subtitles. This release uses the Chinese DVD-rips by A.M.E. and English subs from the only group brave enough to translate the series, We are IN Denial. And, well, no offense to those involved, but I didn't care for WinD's subbing style. Things like fragmented timing, overliteral editing (names often used instead of "you"), mistranslations, and tiny/marginless text made the episodes a bit of a chore to watch. So, I found many "opportunities for improvement."

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

More info on file technical details and subtitle changes is available at the torrent link. Although these raws are encoded in XviD, they still look better than the TV-rips. They do have a framerate issue, so if anyone can create new encodes or find better raws (like these?), let me know.

Saint October 01 - Lolis to the Rescue

Torrent [CRC=48297F24]

Here's the first episode of Saint October, a Winter 2007 anime that first caught my attention because it was one of the last latenight 4:3 TV anime. It's a quirky, strange show that involves magical Gothic Lolitas battling the tarot-power-wielding minions of a powerful corporation and its maniacal president. The colors are garish, there's what can only be called "intentional banding," and the animation had its share of issues. But Saint October was an original anime, and it shows evidence of creative ideas put into it, just without the budget and experience to execute everything properly. Still, this serious has a lot of heart as it dances between the serious and the absurd, and its dramatic parts surprised me more than once.

Needless to say, it wasn't popular enough to get fansubbed on a weekly basis, and in fact wasn't completely subbed until late last year. The existing subs are a patchwork of various groups, all with their own name spellings and renderings of common phrases. And the first half is only available in TV quality, in some cases only Xvid/avi. So, it was a prime candidate to be fixed up and edited for consistency. Fortunately, BakaBT user Alaford was also interested in the series, and is helping out with some timing and typesetting.

Subtitles will be taken from any and all groups that subbed a particular episode. See the torrent link for more technical info. Since this is mostly a softsub -> softsub project, I will be starting another 100% hardsubbed TV series (a 16:9 one) after I return from vacation early next week.

Memories Off 3 - How to Save a Life

I thought for once I'd present a screenshot with relevant characters, since this is the final episode of the 2001-02 Memories Off OVA. This installment features cheery, artsy, and sickly girl Minamo Ibuki, who has an unexpected connection to Tomoya's past. After going through a certain amount of drama, the episode ends on a sad and ambiguous note. At least the animators remembered to include the title this time.

Batch (BakaBT) || Batch (Nyaa)

I'm not sure if I'll start in on Memories Off 2nd right away. However, I have new encodes available for it in both 8-bit and 10-bit h264. Both versions have equal file size. So the question is, do you want...

* 8-bit only?
* 10-bit only?
* Both 8 and 10-bit?

Rizelmine 24 - A Decent Proposal

It feels like it's taken forever, but here is the final episode of Rizelmine. After the insanity of the previous two episodes, it's a short, sweet, and low-key finale. Note that it refers back to certain events and objects from episodes 14-16.

This is actually the fourth DVD version of the second season, following Hono-Bono, AIP, and Retrofit's releases. Still, I think most will agree that this is the best and most definitive version, at least until someone comes along and does a 10-bit encode with the same amount of filtering and manual correction that Desbreko put into this release. And I don't think that's too likely.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT) EDIT:

A patch for episode 07v2 can be found here. That file will be in the complete batch on BakaBT. The only difference is that it adds a font that wasn't included in the .mkv. If you have the Candara font on your system, you won't notice a difference.

Memories Off 02 - Head Games

After fixing half a dozen embarrassing editing errors that I introduced, not to mention countless more TL, editing, timing, and other errors from the Anime-Keep subs, I bring you episode 2 of Memories Off. This episode features Shion Futami (the older sister of Ami and Mami? Probably not), a quiet librarian type of girl who harbors a hidden side and some dark secrets. She's not as moe as Shiori Shiomiya, though.

Note that the English and Japanese episode titles are added in as softsubs, because the post-production team apparently forgot to place the Japanese title in the video. Given how simplistic and shoddy this OVA's animation is, it wouldn't surprise me. So if you're seeing rectangles at that point, your system isn't set up to display East Asian characters properly. To avoid that issue, I normally don't use kanji in my subs, but this warranted an exception. If you wish to fix it, GIYF.

Batch (BakaBT) || Batch (Nyaa)

And as before, I'm still searching for the MangAnime release of Memories Off #5. If you have or can acquire it, let me know. (Luckily, they eventually re-uploaded it.)

Rizelmine 23 - Hetalia: Waifu Powers

What started as an arranged marriage between a middle school boy and a strange girl outside of his preferred age group has morphed into an international incident. And now, we get Rie Kugimiya playing five characters with a variety of foreign accents. And that's something of a rarity. If she's not playing a robot (this show, Hand Maid May), an alien (G-On Riders), a suit of armor (FMA), or a being from another dimension (Shana), Kugimiya usually plays traditional Japanese/super-ojousama characters. (ToraDora, AkaSaka, Hayate the Combat Butler, Idolm@ster, etc.) I guess there is Louise, but that's in an other-world setting. About the only other time I can think of where she plays a human non-Japanese character in an Earth setting is her role as Shannon in Umineko no naku koro ni.

Anyway, the end of this episode shows how Rizelmine can throw tons of ridiculous action and fanservice at you, and then blindside you with an emotional suckerpunch. Look for the final episode sometime after Sunday.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Memories Off 01 - Amefuri Koneko

Once again, I'm reaching into the vaults to bring out another old and somewhat forgotten OVA from the early 00s. Memories Off was based on a romance game of some sort, though I don't know if it was ero or not. Rather than forming a complete story, the three episodes adapt different story paths from the game. They all deal with a male lead who's lost a childhood friend/girlfriend to Japan's #1 Backstory Killer (a traffic accident), and his attempts to move on amidst guilt and regret.

Since I could not find the Baka-MX version for comparison, I took the subs from the commonly-available Anime-Keep release. As always, they've been retimed and edited, this time to fix TL/timing errors, improve flow, and remove embarrassing internal notes that were accidentally left visible in the final release.

Batch (BakaBT) || Batch (Nyaa)

More technical details available at the torrent link. I'm sure some will question the use of wmv and wma, and my answer is:
1) That's how the raws were.
2) Since the wma used 16-bit depth rather than 24-bit, it worked in Aegisub without the need to transcode to another codec. Therefore, I decided not to transcode the audio, which would've degraded the sound quality.

Before anyone asks: yes, I do intend to release later OVAs in the Memories Off series. Someone has been working on finding/encoding raws for MO 2nd and 3.5 for me. However, I'd like to get the MangAnime release of Memories Off #5, so if you have that file, let me know and seed the torrent.

Rizelmine 22 - Welcome to Married Life

Tomonori's in for a rude awakening in Rizelmine 22, as Rizel doesn't seem interested in repeating the in-her-mind-successful attempt at the "Adult C." So he's feeling understandably frustrated and a little, uh, blue. Tensions run high, and they're not the good kind of tensions, either. This sets the stage for the final crisis that will unfold in the last two episodes.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Hand Maid Mai - Over before it began

And yet another anime entry is completed by ReDone! Hand Maid Mai was a 2003 OVA set in the same world as the 2000 Hand Maid May TV series. Unfortunately, legal and financial issues concerning the companies involved have created a situation where the 2nd and 3rd OVAs exist, but are apparently in some kind of inescapable limbo. Somehow, I doubt anyone cares enough to try and work things out at this point. And maybe that's a good thing... the way things were developing in this episode, the rest of the show could've easily been lousy. In particular, the main character has lousy financial sense to the point where I wanted to troll-rewrite a line just to point out his stupidity. (But I didn't; check the script if you're curious.)

Nonetheless, I still felt the one episode that does exist deserved a better release, so here it is. There's maybe not a world of difference between ANBU's encode and the raw I used, but I think it's slightly better. As usual, you'll notice more differences in the subtitles, as I restyled them to match the Blitz-Orphan release of Hand Maid May, which is the best existing version of that series. Speaking of which, the creator/remuxer of those files, Collectr, contributed some additional editing and QC to this release. And ANBU's subs were fairly good to begin with, so there wasn't that much TLC needed -- just retiming to eliminate 3-line subs and other oddities. My typesetting is lazier, but ANBU's \moves didn't look that great in the first place.

Torrent [CRC=AC2A118E]

More Rizelmine will come out after the Memorial Day weekend.

With You ~Mitsumeteitai~ - The stone holds a power when it's there

My first "all at once" multi-episode release! Here's another old OVA, one I'm releasing despite the fact that probably nobody cares about it. With You is based on a game, was released in 2000-01, and features a childhood friend love triangle romance plot, with a fair amount of supernatural/mystery elements involved. There's nothing special or historically significant about it, but I liked it well enough when I saw it back in 2007. Thus, I decided to revisit it when I saw raws available.

These raws were distributed (but not created) by the folks at Anonymous Russian Rippers, and all I can say is, "don't expect miracles." They suffer from some undercropping, ghosting, and framerate issues, but they still offer better audio and video quality than the old .avi release by AnimeForce. However, the A/V improvements pale in comparison to the subtitle improvements, because AForce's subs were just horrendously awful. Well, the spelling/grammar was adequate, but the translations were erroneous enough that many lines and entire scenes made little or no sense. You can read more details in my AniDB comment, or check out the scripts to see some of the changes I made.

Torrent

Technical details available at the torrent link. As always, I invite anyone with access to the DVD .isos (or better raws) to re-use my subs in a new encode.

Rizelmine 21 - Why don't we *all* have a seat over there?

It's Christmas at the Iwaki house, and Rizel and Tomonori are alone, confined, and being subjected to all kinds of stimulating stimuli. Despite the post's title, I don't believe the kind of relationship depicted here is wrong, but I had to complete the running gag I had in mind. Of course, since this is the fourth-to-last episode, various forces are sure to prevent the expected outcome from happening so early.


Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

And now it's time for a little bit of "Adventures in 10-bit h264 on an old POS PC."

Sky Girls OVA - A Pilot for Pilots

In a shameless endeavor to increase the ReDone "Completed Anime" count, I present to you all the 1-episode Sky Girls OVA from 2006. There's not much time for developing the story or the setting, but there are girls wearing underwear Motion Slits, they fly in the sky, and they blow stuff up.

Vital Stats:

Video Source: DVD encode by Chinese groups SumiSora & CASO
Video: h264, 704x528 4:3, maybe 1200 kbps, 23.976 fps
Audio: Japanese 2.0 Stereo AAC, maybe 136 kbps (MediaInfo was unclear on A/V bitrates)
Subtitles: English softsubs based on Froth-Bite's translation. (Restyled, OP lyrics corrected, retimed, miscellaneous edits & TL corrections)

Torrent [CRC=14BBBE9E]

Of course, this OVA was only a trial run for the 26-episode Sky Girls TV series that aired in Spring 2007. And I'm sure the question that's on your mind is related to the one I'm about to ask: do people want to see a DVD version of Sky Girls TV from me? This wouldn't be an immediate priority, since there already is an English DVD release by Taedium. You can read my thoughts on that release here; needless to say, I decided to watch the Froth-Bite (100%-hardsubbed 400p .mp4) TV-rips instead, and I don't regret that choice. What SG TV really needs is a DVD version with Froth-Bite's subs or at least an improved F-B/Ayako hybrid.

If I were to release Sky Girls TV, should I...

Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs 06 - RUN!! Get to the CHOPPAH!

I so wanted to use the title of this post in the scene above, but I thought better of it. At any rate, it only took me a few months to get through the 6 episodes of Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs, and this is the grand finale. Naoyuki swings between the extremes of powerless and powerful, as his relationship with Iriya proves to hold the fate of the world in its balance. All in all, it's a bittersweet ending that's not without a few unanswered questions. Though be sure to watch after the credits, as there's a very brief but poignant epilogue.

Batch (Nyaa)
Batch (BakaBT)

There may be some slight weirdness when watching the ED in fullscreen... if you hadn't noticed, I used overlay blocks to create a faux-16:9 effect so that the karaoke wouldn't conflict with the credits. I couldn't get them to display quite right in several attempts, and while eps 1-5 had black backgrounds to hide things, the ED plays on a white background this time.

In terms of future plans, I'll be releasing a few shorter OVAs while finishing up Rizelmine, before starting up more TV series. (Possibly My Wife is a High School Girl and Minami-Ke Okawari.)

Rizelmine 20 - Too Hot for TV Tropes

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Rizelmine 20 is out, and I'm going to take this opportunity to soapbox for a moment.

Last weekend, popular/infamous website TVTropes.org got a complaint referred to Google's AdSense (and probably one from some troll, not a concerned citizen) about the content of their "Naughty Tentacles" page, which once documented instances of supernatural tentacles groping and attacking people for erotic, comedic, or horrific purposes. The response of the admins was to wipe that page, all pages specifically referring to pornographic content, remove/lock/limit certain tropes, and perhaps most disturbingly, remove numerous works pages deemed too deviant or sexually offensive. In the anime/manga realm, that includes titles ranging from Kodomo no Jikan to Eiken to Fate/Stay Night (as well as some fairly-respected pieces of literature like Vladmir Nabokov's Lolita), and I wouldn't be surprised if more get the axe in weeks to come.

Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs 01-02 v2

After some of the comments on the first two episodes, kaishakunin went through and did new encodes for episodes 3-6 to correct some interlacing errors in the video. He also did new encodes for eps 1 and 2, which I hadn't gotten around to releasing. Until now.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs 05 - Initiate the Survival Strategy

After the events of episode 04, Asaba and Iriya go on a romantic getaway adventure, with plenty of thrills and chills in the form of rain, trains, transients, and psychotic breakdowns. And meanwhile, a bell is ringing in the village square for the rabbits on the run, as the Sonohara Base crew won't let their prized pilot escape quite so easily.

This episode betrays some signs of rushed adaptation; some spots feel like they're missing connecting scenes, content that might be better explained in the novels. But I guess that goes with the territory for 6-episode OVAs. Also, there was one line at 06:30 that all three translations (Lunar, Ayu, AnY-Spork) got wrong, but I managed to fix it.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Rizelmine 19 - Foreplay and Cosplay

We've reached the point where Tomonori and Rizel's relationship needs more experience points to get to the next level, or else Rizel's growth will stay stunted forever. (Come to think of it, I was once told that I erroneously viewed dating and sex like a video game...) But Tomonori, being his usual male tsundere self, will have none of it, so it's up to all the adults in the household to give Rizel the weapons she needs to succeed. Also in episode 19, Rizel's 3 Mamas start to take a larger role in the proceedings. Note that while the Papas use benefits and rewards to influence Tomonori's parents, the Mamas use threats and fear to get their way.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Kagihime ~Eternal Alice Rondo~ - Cool Story, Bro

Although this isn't a ReDone release, I'm publicizing it anyway since I did mark it in green on the Requests page. I had transcribed all the scripts and was going to release Kagihime (eventually), but after some discussion, I passed the project off to Jumonji-Giri. So the end result is that you'll see it faster and in considerably better A/V quality than the CASO wmv/mp3 DVD raws that I would've used.

While Kagihime is a widely disliked show (possibly even by some of its production staff), I felt it had a certain charm to it. Whether it's the forbidden love, the metaphorical raep, the disturbing and sad backstories, or the totally outrageous hair colors/styles, there were enough compelling elements to keep me watching. The same has been my experience with other Kaishaku adaptations, like Shattered Angels, Magical Meow Meow Taruto, UFO Ultramaiden Valkyrie, Steel Angel Kurumi, and Kannazuki no Miko. All of those had R1 DVD releases (minus the snoozefest Steel Angel Kurumi Zero), but Kagihime never did.

For those who are curious, my edits to the subs consisted of:

* Fixing a few translation mistakes (though Froth-Bite's were translated by noted translator Sylf, and were fairly good in general).
* Updating the OP and especially the ED karaoke to reflect the actual lyrics.
* Joining a LOT of lines at the timing level -- F-B's subs suffered heavily from "fragmented timing," where text like "Onii-chan," "where did you go?" would be in two separate subtitles lasting 1.3-1.6 seconds or something. Longer text onscreen for longer amounts of time = easier to read comfortably.
* "Seeker(s) of Alice" -> "Alice Seeker(s)"; it's more compact this way. Hopefully this won't be as contentious as the Tokyo Mew Mew terminology edits I suggested.
* General edits to improve phrasing and flow to sound more natural in English.

Torrents can be found here, along with a batch on BakaBT. Post image is from the old Froth-Bite TV-rip; see here to see how the new DVD release stacks up.

Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs 04 - Gentlemen Prefer Platinum Blondes

In this lighthearted, fun-filled episode, our shy heroine Kana Iriya breaks out of her shell a little bit and engages in a wide variety of activities, like dyeing her hair, a girls' day out, an eating contest, and a little amateur surgery. But seriously, this has got to be one of the most concentrated cases of mood whiplash I've ever come across. Enjoy it if you can, just... not during or shortly after a meal.

Batch (Nyaa) || Batch (BakaBT)

Rizelmine 18 - Mind Control Mayhem

The school trip comes to a conclusion in Rizelmine 18, and with it we get a wide array of fetishes, kinks, and pairings. Everything from yaoi to yuri to shotacon to bestiality is fair game. Aoi tries out for a part in Gantz, and Rizel practices her photobombing skills. Enjoy, and get ready for things to heat up even more when the action returns to the home front in the next episode.

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Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs 03 - Dance in the Manta Pilot Bund

Here we are at the strangely dark school festival episode of Iriya's Sky. Though I don't mean dark in terms of subject matter, just in terms of lighting. (This extends to all encodes I've seen of ep 03.) Maybe it's all to set up a contrast to the memorable sunset "dancing" scene at the end? Oh, and before I forget again, this release in general is semi-dedicated to anime blogger and real-life acquaintance Xebek; this OVA is among his first and favorite anime. And if you're in the Midwestern USA and into science fiction, check out this event that he and a long-time friend of mine put on. I may also be there.

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P.S. You may think it's trolling, but I think the line fits the situation. Watch the ep and you'll likely see what I mean.

Rizelmine 17 - Why don't *I* have a seat over there?

Sorry for the delay, but random fluctuations to my sleeping patterns have kept me from having energy for subtitle editing. Here's episode 17 of Rizelmine, which is one of my favorites. I can point to the summer evening back in 2007, when I was watching this episode with a drink in hand, as the time I finally fully embraced trashy ecchi anime and (fictional!) loli fanservice. It's just so wrong that it feels right. Perhaps even more right than the height of the trees in Michigan.

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Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs 02 - The Hazards of Dating

Not quite in time for Valentine's Day, here's episode 2 of Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs. It's Asaba and Iriya's first date, and with it comes a host of thrills, chills, and dangers. A small chain of "stalkers stalking stalkers" develops, culminating in an action sequence that's worthy of the Back-to-the-Future-esque music. Later, we get a look into Iriya's past. And who else thinks that Naoyuki's younger sister Yuuko should've been played by Rie Kugimiya or Sakura Tange? Too bad the latter wasn't doing anime voice acting at the time.

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Now, you may notice that the file for Ep 02 is a bit on the large side, especially for a 480p release. However, keep in mind the content of this episode. Aside from the constant flickering light of the theater scenes, there's a grainy flashback sequence... of a sandstorm. All of that drives video bitrate requirements through the roof. If you compare the flashback scenes (20:15-22:15) in this release with the 233 MB AnY-Spork file, or especially with the 154 MB Ayu release, I think you'll see a clear advantage. And fear not, none of the remaining 4 episodes are any larger.

Rizelmine 16 - Why don't you have a seat over there?

The epic school trip to Kyoto and Nara has begun, and Tomonori and Rizel wind up on a double-date with another would-be couple. Ryuunosuke Hououin proves that he knows what the cleanest best, pleasure is... until he gets a massive Logic Bomb dropped on him. And not surprisingly, there are some unexpected tagalongs on this journey. This arc will continue over the next two episodes.

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Sky of Iriya, Summer of UFOs 01 - Here come the Men in Black

Thanks to a bit of fortune nearly six years ago, I did not have to transcribe or OCR subtitles for this nice little OVA from 2005. So I'm going to try and bring it out as a fairly quick release. Like SaiKano from 2002, Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs is a story about a girl being turned into a weapon of war, and about the boy who loves her. But compared to SaiKano, it's more down-to-earth and less bleak.

Being an OVA, the existing hardsubbed releases by Ayu and AnY-Spork are already DVD source, so there's obviously no decensoring or added scenes involved. However, this is a new encode by Jumonji-Giri, rather than a remux with existing raws, and there are substantial video quality improvements over AnY-Spork's XviD/avi release and Ayu's h264/avi(?!) release. You may also hear an upgrade in the audio department, as this uses FLAC rather than transcoded mp3.

In addition to the two groups listed above, Iriya's Sky, Summer of UFOs was also translated (though not fully released) by Lunar. These subtitles contain the best of all three scripts, along with my usual brand of improvements. The OP and ED have been largely rewritten, and I used letterbox overlays to make the ED "fake 16:9," thus allowing for subdued ED karaoke that does not clash with the scrolling credits.

Anyway, the file sizes will be bigger than the older releases due to FLAC and other reasons, but I think you'll find it all worth it in the end. Additional technical info can be found on the torrent page.

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Rizelmine 15 - I love you from cradle to flatline

Just three episodes into the second season, things in Rizelmine take a turn for the deadly serious. Among other things, that means a trip down memory lane and some grained-up reused animation. But Rizelmine also shows that it has the power to emotionally blindside viewers who came in expecting nothing but ecchi comedy. Expect some shocking revelations into the origins of Tomonori's attraction to older women, as his relationship with Rizel takes two steps forward and one step back.

But don't worry, there's a school trip arc coming up with plenty of hilarious hijinks, including cosplay and mind-control.

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P.S. Anybody know where I got the post title, without the aid of Google or similar services?

What should be next?

So you may have noticed that there haven't been many releases lately, but that doesn't mean I haven't been working behind the scenes. Rizelmine will still be continuing, but with Lime-Colored War Tales wrapped up, it's time to start a new project. The question is, what do people want to see? I have the following series with all raws and subs ready to go, either from transcription or because they were softsubbed or otherwise available.

(name of show - raw - Fansub group)

* G-On Riders [unkown wmv] [Mugen] (note that DmonHiro has released subbed DVD-rips of this, though from HKDVD source]
* H2O ~ Footprints in the Sand ~ [essenapa-jSwar] [Ureshii&F-B]
(if somebody can get me CR's subs for H2O, that'd be a big help for TLC)
* Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu [new encode] [mix of Lunar/Ayu/AnY-Spork]
* Kagihime ~Eternal Alice Rondo~ [CASO] [F-B]
* Kanon 2002 [yR] [AI&A-F]
* LoveDol ~Lovely Idol~ [AME] [WinD]
* Mamotte Shugogetten [unknown raws] [A-Flux]
* Minami-ke Okawari [URaws] [Ayako-Sae]
* My Wife is a High School Girl [Russian raws] [LIME]
* Saint October [essenapa-Jswar] [Ryoumi + mbt&l-w + AoG]
* Ultimate Girls [unknown raws] [A-W]
(not sure if I want to do 2 m.o.e. shows at once, though)
* Wind ~ A Breath of Heart [GFE (German release with hardsubbed romaji/kanji karaoke)] [A-Keep or SS]

If you want to request something that's not listed here, you can do so on the Reqeusts Page.

Lime-Colored War Tales OVA 2 - A Farewell to Harems

It's the first release of 2012 after too long a hiatus, and it's also the end of a series. Somewhere among the bikini-stripping antics and increasingly bizarre fantasy sequences, they snuck in just a bit of action, plot and drama. And of course, there's more of a lead-in to the sequel series, Lime-iro Ryuukitan X Cross, as Tsumugi Shima gets in on the action. In more ways than one. All in all, it's not too bad of an ending, or at least it's better than what most 12-14 episode anime get these days.

TV Series & OVA Batch (Nyaa)OVA Batch (BakaBT)