Blue Sonnet

Akai Kiba Blue Sonnet (Crimson Fang Blue Sonnet), usually known as just Blue Sonnet, is a five-episode OVA series from 1989. It is based on a 19-volume manga by Shibata Masahiro that is unavailable in English. It received an English release from Central Park Media (CPM) on VHS tape (and laserdisc too, apparently), and rips of those tapes have been the only way for an English speaking audience to watch the show... until now.

Blue Sonnet is an action show set in a world of ESPers and cyborgs. A sinister secret organization, Talon, masterminded by an evil genius, Dr. Merikus, and the equally evil Azumi Group, led by its ruthless director Tsunaga, seek World Domination™ by creating all-powerful cyborgs with ESP powers. The doctor's greatest creation, Sonnet Barge, is sent to Japan to investigate Lan Komatsuzaki, who is suspected of being the legendary Crimson Fang, a super-ESPer with "the power of the ancients." Talon sets increasingly dangerous traps for Lan, who must try to escape from their clutches (and from Sonnet) with the help of her guardian, writer Jin Kiryu, his son Wataru, a maimed ESPer named Yuri, and a mysterious stranger who seems to turn up rather conveniently, Shuichi Torigai ("Bird"). While tracking and then pursuing Lan, Sonnet begins to experience emotional reactions to her surroundings, particularly to the friendships she experiences at school in Japan. Will Sonnet's brutal training keep her a faithful soldier of Talon? Or will her latent human feelings win out? Time will tell. There's a lot more detail, as well as a thoughtful appreciation of the show's strengths, in Justin Sevakis' Anime News Network review.

The show's plot, and in particular, its "science", will not withstand scrutiny. For example, Talon wants to clone Lan in order to get more super-ESPers, but their cloning technique involves artificially inseminating Lan's eggs with the sperm of a "famous scientist" - which would of course produce not a clone but an in-vitro baby. When Wataru gets a blood transfusion from Lan, he picks up some of her ESPer powers - even though her powers are in her genes. Sonnet can stop anything and destroy anything, except when she can't, because the plot demands it. And so on.

Originally, I thought Blue Sonnet would be a fairly simple project, based on applying the VHS subs to PPP's laserdisc rip, producing a softsubbed version with better video. However, there were Problems, as there always seems to be:

• The R1 subs are bad, overly compressed with whole phrases and lines missing. The show required a full translation check, and translation resources are difficult to find these days.
• There were multiple encodes to choose from. Piyo Piyo Productions redid its original encode using the Domesday Duplicator. Beatrice took the DdD data and made its own encode as well.

I am not the person to present with a choice of raws. I have senior citizen eyes and an almost total lack of knowledge about what makes a good encode. The project started with Erik's original release, because that's what was available at the time. However, the DdD-based versions have much better color fidelity. Ultimately, we chose Beatrice's raws, because their encoder did the best job in eliminating blended frames. The encodes are huge and a bit upscaled, and episode five has audio dropouts from disc rot, but them's the breaks.

The voice cast is stellar:

• Tsuru Hiromi (Sonnet Barge) debuted as Perrine in Perrine Monogatari. She went on to play Kashima Miyuki in Miyuki, Madoka in Kimagure Orange Road, and Mikami Reiko in Ghost Sweeper Mikami. She also played Keiko in Hiatari Ryoukou, Nozomi in Nozomi Witches, Jill in A Penguin's Memories, UFO-chan in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Milk in Karuizawa Syndrome, and big sister Shizuka in Tomoe's Run!, all Orphan releases.
• Kanda Waka (Lan) played Marin in Windaria but has few other credits.
  
• Genda Tesshou (Jin Kiryu) played Colonel Muto in Joker Game, Moloch in Yondemasu Azazel-san, Rei in the Urusei Yatsura franchise, Moguro Fukuzou in New Laughing Salesman,  and "Oyaji" in Mitsuboshi Colors. He also played Zigong in Eiyuu Banka Koushi-den, Paul Rusch in Yume Kakeru Kougen, Jim Hyatt in AWOL Compression Remix, the loyal lieutenant Galbreath in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, the dragonman Baguda in Greed, the narrator in Akai Hayate and Meisou-ou Border, Dog McCoy in Dallos, Hebopi in Wild 7, rebel leader Oosukune in Izumo, and Rikiishi's trainer Kuroki and Kirishima in Eguchi Hisashi no Kotobuki Gorou Show, all Orphan releases.
  
• Hironaka Masashi (Bird Torigai) played Jiro in Karuizawa Syndrome, Ihika in Yousei-Ou, Kanou in Nine, Kazusa in Tomoe's Run!, and the hijacker in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, all Orphan releases, as well as Siegfried in Legend of the Galactic Heroes.
• Sasaki Nozomu (Wataru) starred as Tetsuo in Akira, Ebata in Genji Part 1, Ushio in the original Ushio to Tora, Urameshi in the Yu Yu Hakusho franchise, and Mello in Death Note. He played Dekiru in Izumo, Taiga in Nagasarete Airantou, Hal in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, and Ling Fei-Long in Dragon Fist, all Orphan releases.
• Shinohara Emi (Yuri Onagara) played B-Ko in the A-ko properties and Sailor Jupiter in the Sailor Moon franchise. She appeared as Vulgar daughter Stephanie in Kotobuki Goro, Reiko in Akai Hayate, and Android 1025 in Oz, all Orphan releases.
• Minaguchi Yuki (Yuri's daughter Yumi) is best known for Yawara!, her breakout and defining role. She debuted as Kii in Greed, an Orphan release, and starred in numerous other shows, including Bosco Adventure, Dragon Ball Z and GT, Sailor Moon, One Piece, and Alexander (Reign: The Conqueror). She played Frieda in Apfelland Monogatari, Saki in Singles, Hoshimi in Maps, and Felicia in Oz, also Orphan releases.
  
• Nagai Ichiro (Dr. Merekes) played grandfather Jigoro in Yawara!, the off-the-wall narrator in Gosenzosama Banbanzai!, Professor Hajime in Queen Millennia, and Happosai in the Ranma 1/2 franchise. He appeared in Manxmouse, Nora, Hidamari no Ki, Yuukan Club, Amon Saga, Botchan, Ipponbouchou Mantaraou, Rain Boy, and Yamato 2520, all Orphan releases.
• Shioya Kouzou (Tsunaga) has appeared in GeGeGe no Kitarou since 1985. He also played Wildcat B in Grimm Douwa - Kin no Tori, the Announcer in Nora, and a bodyguard in Elf 17, all Orphan releases, as well as dozens of featured roles.
• Sakuma Rei (Naru, Lan's school friend) played Batako in Soreike! Appanman, April in Sol Bianca, Peorth in Ah! My Goddess, the title role in Aika, Shampoo in Ranma 1/2, Vena in Dragon Half, Kitty White in Hello Kitty, and Mii in Muumin. She also played
  Carmencita in Starship Trooopers and Belga the pirate in Cosmic Fantasy, both Orphan releases.
  
• Futamata Issei (Tsunaga's henchman Ina) is best known for his roles as Godai Yuusaku in Maison Ikkoku, Akira (Chibi) in Urusei Yatsura, Onizuka in Shonen Jumai-gumi, and Saburo in Sazae-san. He played Asagaya Takaya in Body Jack, Yoshio in Dokushin Apartment Dokudami-sou, Cross in Hi-Speed Jecy, Guy in Greed, the announcer in Elf 17, and Sakigami in Doukyuusei: Climax, and he appeared in Fukuyama Gekijou - Natsu no Himitsu, What's Michael? OVA 2, and Tokimeki Tonight, all Orphan releases.
  

The director, Kanda Takeyuki, started at Mushi Productions but spent most of his career at Sunrise, where he helmed Ultraman and Dragon Quest, among other shows.

Yogicat transcribed and timed the R1 subtitles. He also transcribed the kanji of the song lyrics, greatly facilitating translation. TougeWolf translation checked; the project could not have been completed without his help. I edited and typeset. (The typesetting was primarily to deal with the show titles and the eyecatch.) Uchuu and Topper3000, as well as TougeWolf, QCed. Erik of Piyo Piyo Productions ripped his Japanese laserdiscs on the Domesday Duplicator, and Urotsuki of Beatrice-Raws encoded. As a result, it's an Orphan-Beatrice joint project.

Some editorial notes: The original subs used Western name order, and that has been retained. The original subs also have no honorifics, with one glaring exception: Kiryu is called "sensei" or "Kiryu-sensei" throughout. This really irked the translation checker, and "Mr. Kiryu" has been substituted. Finally, Wataru calls Lan "nee-san" (sister), even though they are not related by blood. Her proper name, Lan, has been used instead in some places.

Blue Sonnet is quite entertaining (if morally dubious), with a lot of forward momentum, particularly in the last half of the series. There's the typical 80s OVA soupçon of nudity and violence, the former in moderation, the latter not so much. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #news on irc.rizon.net