During the late 1980s, Japan went through an economical boom that saw the country being flushed with cash. While the rapid adaption of VHS players saw the rise in straight to video, anime projects that bypassed the creative restrictions of advertiser driven television. The result of all this money and creative freedom was an avalanche of OVAs, some good, but many would fade into obscurity like Roots Search.
Released in Japan in 1986 before receiving an English subtitled release courtesy of Image Entertainment in 1993. Roots Search is an Alien knockoff similar to Lily Cat albeit with poorer execution.
The anime kicks-off with woman on a research facility undergoing brain experiments before the staff receives a distress signal from a space ship called the Green Ship. Stop me if you have heard this set-up before.
After landing on the Green Planet, the crew finds a single survivor and a mysterious Alien that is simply dubbed X. Taking no chances the Captain orders the Alien to be jettisoned into space like pickles from a cheese burger. But it doesn't take long until he returns to attack the crew using his psychic abilities.
Three of the crew members meet their Waterloo, leaving the two survivors to fall in love with each other and have weird fantasies where they prance around naked. After snapping out of la-la land, they decide to initiate the space station's self destruction sequence and escape in the Green Planet. Unfortunately everything goes tits up and they get caught up in the blast.
Despite my Grade 8 physics teacher telling me that people die in explosions, our heroes come out unscathed. At the 40
minute mark, the anime simply ends with no conclusion or resolution.
Either the production crew ran out of money or they were leaving the
door open to a sequel that was never green lit.
The saddest part is Roots Search had potential. The concept of an invisible Alien that attacks people through mind manipulation is an intriguing vehicle for horror. But is lost upon the anime's poor pacing, abysmal music and dreadful animation. It's obvious the film had a tiny budget, as the Alien is never animated beyond a single key frame.
Unsurprisingly, the OVA has been out of print for over 25 years and will most likely remain lost to time. It was popular enough in Japan to receive a vinyl release of the soundtrack and a movie comic adaption for those who didn't want to shell out 9,800 yen for a VHS copy. A Spanish dub was produced for Latin America but I haven't had the chance to listen to it.
Animated by Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell) and directed by Jun Kamiya (Blue Seed). Fantasia (or Girl from
Phantasia as it was renamed overseas to stop the House of Mouse from
flexing it's legal muscle) is a 25 minute OVA released in 1993 on VHS and Laserdisc to promote the manga of the same
name.
The story follows a horny high school student called Akihiro that is eager to get inside the pants of his girlfriend Miyuki. Our protagonist hopes to reach third base by outfitting his bachelor's babe pit with a dirty old rug he finds lying on the street. I guess that explains my single status as a rug doesn't adorn my living room floor.
Upon cleaning his newly acquired rug, a magical girl named Malon emerges from the land of Fantasia Phantasia which is housed inside said rug. Malon is immediately infatuated by Akihiro and sets out to win his heart by showing off her magical abilities. It doesn't take long for the two to become intimate before Akihiro's girlfriend walks in on them.
After being demoted to former boyfriend, Akihiro tells Malon to take a hike and she finds herself being targeted by the malicious Roll who is hell bent on destroying Fantasia Phantasia. But the heart broken Malon is unwilling to fight back as she is pursued through the streets of the unnamed Japanese town.
Reverting back to Akihiro's bedroom, Malon's classmates from Fantasia Phantasia convince him to mend bridges with Malon. This restores her will to live and she immediately sets out to vanquish Roll from the face of the Earth. The following day, Malon has been transferred to Akihiro's school where she continues to express her affection to an unresponsive Akihiro.
Girl from Phantasia is far from being a masterpiece, but the anime's fast paced nature and slap stick humour makes for an entertaining piece when you have nothing else to watch on a lazy Sunday. The animation by Production IG doesn't match the studio's efforts during their later years, but the over the top expressions and visual gags makes up for the lower budget. Voice acting is a mixed bag with Malon's voice being particularly annoying.
As you can guess from the title of this blog entry, the anime has been out of print since the 90s and is unlikely to ever be rescued. Outside of Japan, it received a limited VHS release in the USA courtesy of ADV Films and was most likely the result of a packaged deal. The manga was never localised and seems like Girl from Phantasia will remain lost to time. A sad fate for what seems like a promising property.
