Ask John: What is Fandora?

Question:
What is Fandora, and was it ever released in the United States?

Answer:
Yume Jigen Hunter Fandora (Dream Dimension Hunter Fandora), created by Go Nagai, was one of the archetypal titles that helped define the “Golden Period” of anime. Although it’s been largely forgotten now among Western fans, the series still has a small fan following among Japanese otaku and a handful of old-school Western anime nostalgia buffs (like me). Fandora was a 3 episode OAV series about a young and sexy sword-swinging interstellar bounty hunter. Fandora’s short mini-skirt, long blue hair, and distinctive tiara have made her one of anime’s most memorable and distinctive heroines. In fact, the visual design of Fandora herself has far outlived the very dated actual anime OAVs themselves. The Fandora anime series, along with titles including Bavistock, Battle Royal High School, Good Morning Althea, Ai City and Iczer-One helped pioneer the distinctive 80s anime trademarks of gratuitous graphic violence, excessive property damage, brief flashes of “fan service,” and action that superceded appreciable logic.

Fandora OAV 1: REM Fight Hen premiered on September 21, 1985. Fandora OAV 2: Dead Lander Hen, hit home video on March 10, 1986. The third episode, Fandora 3: Phatos Hen, was released on November 21, 1986. All three episodes were released on a single DVD in Japan on March 17, 2001. The Fandora OAVs have never been officially released in America, and I’m not aware of an official UK release, but all three episodes were released in Italy in 1999 on Italian dubbed VHS tape issued by Dynamic Italia, a company affiliated with Go Nagai’s Japanese studio Dynamic Planning, Inc.