#256 : Nayuta

Shojo, sci-fi, space, espers, an alien invasion and the possibility of reawakening humanity’s long lost potential…now that is a mouthful and a half to digest into a one off OVA. Can you imagine what it would be like to discover latent powers within yourself? Do you want to know the secrets of the universe? Well I can’t grant these wishes to you, but I can recommend an anime as a possible substitute. Let’s check out another half forgotten OVA from the 1980s, 1986 to be exact, as we examine Nayuta this time round.

Nayuta, the character, is yet another example of the average Japanese school girl who realizes she has a greater destiny than the humdrum life she currently knows. Walking home one day from school she encounters a young boy, Kiro, and his mother, both looking in dire straits. The mother is obviously ill, if not close to death, and Nayuta helps out by bringing them to a hospital. Mysteriously the mother would vanish after what seemed like an attempted surgery! Nayuta would then return home and would be visited by Kiro again. She invites him in and instead of using the door he just teleports into the house. Nayuta then learns the secret to his superpower lies within a golden tiara like ring around his head, a Jarun. Curious Nayuta “borrows” it from Kiro’s head while he is asleep to grant herself superpowers so that maybe it can help on her upcoming test (cheater, lol).

After school she is asked to meet up with a teacher to talk about her Jarun, but before this happens she meets a young man, Ryotaro, who helps her escape the clutches of the Azadd, an insect like alien race bent on hunting down those who take and wear the Jarun. They often go about posing as normal humans (Sounds like V, or They Live). Nayuta then meets others espers who also have Jaruns and their leader, Sozu. Over time and tribulations, including losing her family and being kidnapped by a long haired bishounen in league with the Azadd, who she comes to find she has met before ironically, Nayuta would grow and develop her latent powers.

Espers are nothing new in anime, particularly in the 1980s. Ai City, Cosmo Police Justy, Locke the Superman, Toward the Terra and even the original Mobile Suit Gundams all have some theme of of highly developed psychic powers just to name a few. Nayuta, as well as Blue Sonnet, approach this theme from a shojo angle instead and cross genre boundaries exceptionally, though not exactly in the same way. Knowing this, Nayuta has a lot going for it that checks off a lot of boxes that bring a smile to my face: sci-fi, action, character development, romantic leanings, greater human potential and challenging a threat bigger than yourself with triumph. Solid artwork is present as well, but it is the story itself that provides the essential glue… and this of course was sourced from the original manga.

Nayuta expresses one possibility of ultimate transcendence. We go beyond barriers both within and without by watching Nayuta develop out of what could be fated circumstances. Breaking barriers both within the body and the mind, as well as the confines of our Solar System, are up for grabs here. Big themes and concepts, and yet it’s all wrapped up into a singular 75 minute production! Even if Nayuta is not one of the bigger properties of anime that should not dissuade you from possibly tracking a copy down and checking it out… of course this depends on your anime preferences. My  only wish is that why was the ending so open ended? Maybe thats how the manga finished?

…oh how I love 80’s one and done OVAs, so many classics to choose from!

#237 : Isabelle of Paris

So let’s run through this checklist… I have here a historic shojo anime set in France, released to television in 1979 and features a main character who does a little gender bending. Gotta be Rose of Versailles? Oh good guess, but WRONG! Fooled you and honestly those clues would have fooled me as well as a short time ago until I discovered another series that is ‘similar’.  Take what you will, but give it a shot as it is only 13 episodes (very short for a series in those days). May I present Isabelle of Paris.

Call me ignorant, but I have never heard of the Romantic Masterpiece Theater.  World Masterpiece Theater oh yes, I love those shows, but the previous moniker is our current interest and I don’t have much to say on it except I can guess (and I mean guess!) that Isabelle of Paris was labeled in this category as this was one of four shows released by a studio not usually seen on our radars, DAX International in 1979/80. These four shows could have been the Romantic Masterpiece Theater? By the way I want to thank Helen McCarthy’s research as this is what helped me come to this conclusion. Now this means I need to check out the other three shows: Julie the Wild Rose, Golden-Haired Jeannie and Wandering Girl Nell. … What I do know is that we get a pre-intro to Isabelle for Romantic Masterpiece Theater which features cats…  I love cats and it’s a short, simple and a cute sequence, but anyway… on with the show!

Isabelle of Paris always begins with a few seconds of recap before the start of the official intro, but when that intro comes, I am excited. It’s not the most technically advanced in terms of animation and it always outlines the main cast, which by the end of episode one you should have a good handle on. My joy is that it features the music of Frédéric Chopin (the real Piano Man). Fantaisie-Impromptu in C♯ minor to be exact, a very bold choice, but somewhat fitting as well. Chopin’s work is often heard throughout the series including one of my personal favorites, Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1. 

Set during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, during the reign of Napolean III, we find the backdrop to Isabelle of Paris. Isabelle is a carefree 15 year old noble French girl who gets caught up in the social-political climate of that era. France has been defeated and the Prussian Army has laid siege to Paris much to the delight of many crooked Parisian nobles and politicians. Being of the upperclass she witnesses first hand the toil this situation has put onto the Rostain family. Her brother is an officer in the army, her sister is in love with a commoner (the piano teacher!) who like many others aims to defend Paris as the army and government cannot and her parents are set on upholding tradition of the family name and prestige. 

Isabelle herself must flee to safety in Versailles once the Prussians near Paris and is constantly accompanied by Jean, and old friend who happens to have the biggest crush on Isabelle. Gender bending plays a minor role by the second half of this short series. Not so much a struggle for identity, but the need to reverse one’s role to escape Versailles and perform acts of espionage. Isabelle has been tasked to get to London, England to recruit help to save Paris from the invading Prussian army. Isabelle proclaims, “If only I were a boy?” She begins to cut her flowing locks of hair and a rushes to a change of clothes thus adopting a new role, a disguise to get past anyone who might be looking for our lady. Different from The Rose of Versailles in the fact that Oscar was bred to be a son, an heir, to her father, Isabelle does not have an issue of struggling with her internal sense of self. This is only a matter of procedure to get the job done so to speak. And the shorter hairstyle, it looks really sharp!

Though a short series for the time (40–50 episodes was the norm), Isabelle of Paris told an effective story which when you look at it from a glance is really a reflection on the evolution of the Rostain family from privileged nobility to defenders of the common man. Isabelle of Paris portrays a solid, dramatic and adventurous tale full of strength that also occasionally threw in a monkey wrench that made me go, “What, the…?”… like being chased by a guy who looks like Frankenstein and the main ‘evil’ politician having green skin, lol. Yet the conclusion was a definite surprise as I was not expecting such a tragic downfall… prepare a few tissues. This was a happy find as of recent and is without question a welcome break from much more drawn out series which sometimes can be a haul getting through. May I add yet another fun shojo series to my collection. YES!!!

#231 : Purple Eyes in the Dark

Another music video styled OVA? Haven’t we seen enough of these already? And yet this time, it’s different. More akin to an art book set in motion, the release of Purple Eyes in the Dark was not based off of an already established anime like many other music styled OVAs. Only the completed manga was what we had to work with here. Kind of a strange choice to only show a bunch of pretty shojo imagery with a couple full on animated sequences over a selection of pop styled music don’t you think, instead of a conventional story? And in yet from another point of view, talk about a creative idea!

How ironic that a full feature with a plot and story was not conceived for this project. From some basic research about the manga, I think there was a missed opportunity here. An average teenage girl who has a particular birthmark gets triggered when angry and turns into a big cat, a leopard I believe, and in the process her eyes turn purple… when in the dark. Oh wow, so that’s where the title came from. Kind of like The Incredible Hulk meets Blue Sonnet, or Baoh? Release the beast within! This could have been a great angst action drama mixed with some romance as well, imagine the possibilities. All we got instead was music set to a majority of static images. Maybe budget was an issue, or maybe the creators wanted to try something different? If one is desperate to watch a full series with a plot never fear, a live action drama was made in the 1990s.

Now for the fun part, a majority of the music used for Purple Eyes in the Dark was sang in English, very cosmopolitan and international… and convenient for English speaking fans including me! It’s hard to say more without actually watching the OVA in full. A visual art book set in motion that needs a VCR, LaserDisc player, or whatever digital media device you choose, Purple Eyes in the Dark is like an art piece that isn’t artsy with a high brow attitude, but is instead pop culture for the masses filled with lots of period style. I call for a toast to celebrate this OVA which honors the visual cues linked to the art of the original manga. It’s basic simplicity and appealing to the eyes and that’s all Purple Eyes in the Dark needs to be because that is all we got to work with here.