John’s Anime Want List

During my years as an anime fan certain titles and images have stuck in my head – many of them from my earliest days as an anime fan. I’ve been curious about these shows seemingly forever, possibly because they looked interesting, or just because their titles sounded cool. Over the years, a combination of luck, perseverance, and sometimes simple cold cash have enabled me to selectively satisfy my curiosity. I’m grateful to have been able to cross anime including Fan Fan Pharmacy, Takamaru, Tetsujin 28 FX, Hiatari Ryoko, Yadamon, Fighbird, Appfleland Monogatari, Warau Salesman, Watt Poe to Bokura no Ohanashi, Wonder Beat Scramble, Hidari no O’Clock!!, and Rayca off my list. There are a small handful of other anime that I’ve long been curious about which I do have access to, but haven’t gotten around to watching yet, including Jura Tripper, Eien no Filena, Dokushin Apartment Dokudami So, and Yagami-kun no Katei no Jijou. Then there are a handful of obscure anime that I’ve wanted to watch for many years but never had access to. I have no idea if these shows are good, nor whether I’ll like them. In fact, I expect at least one of them to be pretty bad. But I’d still love to see these particular anime first hand, just to satiate my curiosity. They include:

Arei no Kagami ~ The Way to the Virgin Space, creator Leiji Matsumoto’s educational anime short movie screened only at the 1985 World Expo held in Tsukuba, Japan. It had a Japanese VHS release (and an anime art book, which I own a copy of), but it’s been out of circulation in Japan for years now.

The 1985 OVA series Nora hit Japan the same year as Dirty Pair. At least the second OVA, “Twinkle Nora Rock Me” is infamous for its terrible animation quality. Despite that, I can’t resist curiosity about a golden era gal in space adventure anime.

I’ve long known the 1988 OVA Touyama Sakura Uchuu Chou – Yatsu no Na wa Gold under its abbreviated Romanized name “His Name is Gold.” I first saw a shitajiki image (to the left) in the late 80s, and the the imagery of the tattooed, heroic sci-fi swordsman defending a cute anime girl amidst stereotypically Japanese falling cherry blossoms captivated my imagination. The enigmatic title and cool imagery have made me long curious to see what this anime is all about.

Even back in 1990 when the Onimaru OVA premiered I half thought it looked silly and too mired in the awful aesthetics of the 1980s pop/punk scene. At the same time, I thought then, and think now that this also looks like it may be a uniquely creative and interesting ninja anime.

The tenth issue of American anime fanzine Animag included an introductory article about Ryousuke Takahashi & Norio Shioyama’s 1991 Eiyuu Gaiden Mozaicka OVA series. Partly because the title reminds me of “Nausicaa” and partly because this looks like it could be the exciting heroic fantasy anime that I wished Amon Saga & Heroic Legend of Arislan were, I’ve long been curious about it.

I’ve always had a fondness for cats, so the idea of a heartwarming, fairy tale-esque anime about an apprentice musician learning to play cats like musical instruments is charming. Animag volume 2 issue 3 introduced me to the Neko Hiki no Ororane OVA back in 1992. I’ve been looking for it ever since.

I don’t know anything about the 1994 Omakase Scrappers TV anime series. I just like the name. According to Tohokushinsha Film Corporation, it’s a family show about a young team of problem solvers who always find themselves embroiled in problems.

By 1997 I’d begun watching late night anime just a few weeks after it aired on Japanese television. However, the Shinkai Densetsu Mermanoid television series was one that seemed especially obscure and difficult to find. I know very little about the show, so I’ve been curious about it for over ten years just because I wasn’t able to find any of it back then.

Similarly, I’ve long thought that the 1998 Nessa no Haou Gandalla television anime had intriguing promotional art. But despite having access to many of the shows that aired concurrently with it, I’ve never been able to find any Gandalla episodes to watch.

As far as I’m aware, none of these anime have ever been released on Japanese DVD. None of them are currently in print or currently available through digital distribution. I’d certainly be glad if this article uncovers one or more of these old anime, but my primary goal with this indulgent article is just to bring some fresh attention to long forgotten shows.