Ask John: Will Iriya no Sora Come to America?

Question:
I was wondering if the OVA series and the novel series of Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu will be available in English soon? Is there a company will be getting to release this series soon? By the way, does this anime remind you of “She: The Ultimate Weapon” also? Some ideas look the same.

Answer:
I’m sorry to say that neither the Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu novels or the anime OVA series adaptation of them have been licensed for official North American release. I’m not familiar with the original novels, but I have watched all of the anime series. I agree that “Iriya’s Sky” does share some superficial similarity with Saishuheiki Kanojo. Both stories focus on a high school girl forced into military service that steadily destroys her mental and physical health. “SaiKano” was a gut wrenching tragedy because it spent so much time developing its characters and creating a sympathetic relationship between its characters and viewers. SaiKano also depicted the physical action of war, allowing viewers to personally see the violence and destruction that Chise was part of.

On the other hand, the six episode Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu OVA series is an unfocused, poorly developed and almost totally unengaging anime series. The series half-heartedly tries to introduce and develop several characters, resulting in none of them ever being fully realized. The anime seems uncertain about whether it wants to tell its story from Iriya or Asaba’s perspective, which undermines the show’s ability to convey a consistent tone. Rather than make viewers empathize with the character’s personalities, the anime periodically creates artificial conflicts, like Iriya suddenly developing amnesia, which feel obvious and manipulative instead of feeling like a natural evolution of the story. Likewise, character actions and reactions often seemingly contradict their spoken desires, making their actions feel like contrived plot elements rather than believable choices. The show also never actually illustrates any of Iriya’s battles (with the exception of the action scene depicted in the series’ opening animation). Without ever seeing what Iriya has to endure, viewers are hard pressed to sympathize with her. Because she’s so aloof, and because half of the series intentionally distances viewers from Iriya and tries to make her mysterious and cryptic, she feels more like a plot device than a person.

The Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu OVA series was highly promoted in Japan as a heartbreaking sci-fi romance, but the only sad thing about it is the fact that it’s a mediocre quality production that fails to make a lasting impression on viewers because it’s poorly constructed, too reliant on cliches, and uncertain of what tone or audience it wants. The Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu OVA series is certainly not the worst anime I’ve watched, but it’s far from the best, and it doesn’t come remotely close to the quality of the Saishuheiki Kanojo television series. Iriya no Sora is a short series that I can envision being licensed and released on official American DVD, but it’s not a show that I can imagine ever becoming popular or respected in America. Once again I need to emphasize that I’m not familiar with the original novels at all. The importation of Japanese “lite novels” hasn’t exploded in America, but since it’s still an exploratory market, there may be room in America for the Iriya no Sora novels.