Ask John: Where Can I Find Dunbine?

Question:
I was just wondering where I could find the anime “Aura Battler Dunbine,” or if you know of a re-release coming up. I’ve only seen about 1/2 hour of it, years ago, and I remember at the time that it was a great story. It’s only recently I’ve thought about it again.

Answer:
Although best known for Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino also created a number of other influential giant robot shows, including Aura Battler Dunbine, Space Runaway Ideon, Xabungle and Brain Powerd (the Japanese version of the title has only one “e” in Powered). Dunbine, while never a high profile series, has been relegated to relative obscurity in recent years.

Aura Battler Dunbine premiered on Japanese TV on February 5, 1983, and lasted through 49 episodes. Featuring a story by Yoshiyuki Tomino and mecha designs by Yutaka Izubuchi, perhaps best known for the mecha designs for the Patlabor anime, Dunbine told the story of Sho Zama, a teen drawn into the world of the afterlife, Byston Well, a medieval-style world of fairies, aura power, insect-like mecha called Aura Machines and a civil war that would eventually spill over into modern-day Tokyo. A newer three episode Dunbine OAV series accompanied the home-video compilation release of the TV series.

In fact, the mecha of Dunbine, which are still very recognizable and well known today, were a late addition to the Dunbine universe, and were added to the series under the demand of corporate sponsors that wanted to be able to sell Dunbine mecha toys in the Nippon Sunrise dominated giant-robot craze of the early 1980s. While not released as Dunbine in the US, Central Park Media’s Garzey’s Wing is actually a new, revisionist Dunbine OAV series, more faithful to Yoshiyuki Tomino’s original vision of the series.

Dunbine has always maintained a following in Japan, although a US release is very unlikely. In fact, the TV series and first OAV series are being released on DVD in deluxe boxed sets in Japan this summer. While not a normal stock item, AnimeNation can special order copies of this show for you on import VHS or DVD.