Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora (partially found English dub of anime OVA; 1985)

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Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora.jpeg

VHS Cover of the OVA.

Status: Partially Found

Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora, Mujigen Hunter Fandora 夢次元ハンター ファンドラ) is an original video animation (OVA) created by manga artist Go Nagai. The three OVAs, all produced by short-lived Kaname Production and released in Japan by Nippon Columbia, were “Lem Fight Chapter”, 35 minutes, released on September 21st, 1985; “Deddlandar Chapter”, 43 minutes on March 10th, 1986; and “Fantos Chapter”, 46 minutes on November 21st, 1986. [1] Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora follows bounty hunter Fandora and her sidekick, Que, as they are bounty hunters in a time where warp travel has become a reality. Fandora and Que must fight Yogu-Sogos as he tries to take the Jewel of Lupia from Princess Fandora. [2] While the anime was relatively successful in Japan, the English dub of Dream Dimensions Hunter Fandora created for Western audiences fell into obscurity for many years.

The English Dub

After the anime's success in Japan, series producer Hiromasa Shibazaki wanted to sell it to an English-speaking market. The company Hiro Media Associates, Inc. produced the English dub of the first OVA and placed it on VHS under their Hiro Media Video label. This is evidenced by their logo appearing at the beginning of the surviving footage, as well as the logo on the tape that eventually surfaced. [3][4]

Notable Deviations from the Source Material

The English dub seems to have generally removed most mentions of religion. In the first surfaced clip, there are some deviations from the Japanese subtitled version.[5][6]. The most notable is that the evil Gilsburg is no longer called "The Pope of the Kadath Church." [7] Lines referring explicitly to religion and the church are apparently absent. Later, Que describes what would happen if the "two jewels" were to "fall into the wrong hands." The original line "The Era of God would be over" [8] was changed to "It will be the end of good." Many viewers have also noted the dub's lower-quality voice acting. Finally, the name of Fandora's partner, Que, has also been changed to "Quest."

Contributors

The resurfaced first OVA contains a brief credits sequence. The executive producer was Hiromasa Shibazaki. The Producer was Toshihiro Nagao. Both Koichi Mizuide and Takashi Yamada are credited as script writers. The music was performed by Nozumo Aoki. Finally, it was directed by Kazuyuki Okaseko. [3] No English voice actors or actresses are given a place in the credits. Likewise, no English voice actors or actresses have come forward after the fact claiming to have been involved.

Availability

The VHS tape for the English dub of the first OVA was marked to be sold overseas[4]. The price was 100$ + International shipping. [9]. It is also rumored that the Japanese Laserdisc release contained the English dub, but this has not been proven. [10] No known copies of the VHS were shipped to retailers or individuals in the U.S. It is suspected that this was due to a combination of the high cost of the VHS tape and anime not being very popular in the U.S. during the distribution period. The English dub is not known to have aired on television either. Because the series never gained popularity outside of Japan, Hiro Media's English dub remained obscure for many years. The only widely-available content during that time was a two-minute clip with low-quality video and audio. [11]

On June 5th, 2023, the first OVA was uploaded onto YouTube by user Neil Nadelman. The user explained that it was captured from a 4th generation VHS copy. This is believed to have been the first complete copy of this OVA made available on the Internet. On October 24th, 2023, Internet Archive user vunderscorei uploaded a version with higher-quality video. The same user uploaded scans of the case art and VHS tape labels, showing that they obtained a first-generation VHS tape. It is unknown whether the other two OVAs received an English dub from Hiro Media Associates, Inc. The resurfaced copy of the first OVA ends on "to be continued...", so it appears that they planned to produce the second OVA. However, neither footage, nor audio, nor images of a second or third tape from this dub have surfaced.

Original OVA Title Title from Hiro Media Associates, Inc. Dub Status
Lem Fight Chapter Fandora Part 1 Found
Deddlandar Chapter Unknown Existence Unconfirmed
Fantos Chapter Unknown Existence Unconfirmed

Gallery

A clip from part one, which was the only available footage from the English dub for awhile (courtesy of YouTube user Kenny's Discount VHS World)

Part one of the OVA, earliest known complete upload of the English dub (courtesy of YouTube user Neil Nadelman)

Internet Archive upload of English dub with better quality video (courtesy of Internet Archive user vunderscorei)

Notes

  • All 3 OVAs may have been dubbed or at least released in Italy on DVD.

See also

References