Well, the next 2 weeks I am covering the 2 OVAs of Galaxy Fraulein Yuna. It is 2 OVAs made in 1995 and 1996 by Movic, Toho and Starchild Records and licensed by ADV Films in the United States.Now, this is based on a video game series, but of a obscure variety. The video games that these OVAs are based on were on the PC Engine and Sega Saturn consoles from 1992-1997. So, these OVAs came around the time when the games were rather popular, I assume.
Now, what's Galaxy Fraulein Yuna about? Well, to put it simply, it's Mahou Shoujo in Space. It's the adventures of Yuna, the "Savior of Light" for the galaxy, hence the title. She is aided by Yuri, a robot girl and her best friend/adopted sister and Elner, a robot fairy who can change into a giant robot which Yuna then pilots. Also aiding her is some other friends which include Lia, another friend who has an alter ego Polylina (which Yuna has a rabid fangirl crush on). Polylina, basically, is what happened if Tuxedo Mask had a distaff counterpart, and I think that's the point. In addition, there's Mia, a rich young woman whose also teacher at Yuna's high school and Shiori, a girl whose interesting personality trait is that of being a slowpoke, i.e. she talks, walks and acts slowly.
Now, onto the first OVA, which has a few titles.There are Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, Sorrowful Saline (which is the title on the dvd), and GFY: Siren's Sadness. The opening is this (ty youtube): GFY OVA 1 OP
As you can see from the OVA, its a standard upbeat Jpop song over montage clips, which surprisingly those clips are never used in the OVA itself. I kinda like it, its very catchy and lets you know what your are in for.
The plot of the first OVA involves a baddie, named 'Fraulein D' plots to get rid of Yuna by tricking the Galactic Council into thinking that Yuna's bad (when all evidence is to the contrary). The Council then sends Saline (under alias of Misaki Ichijouin) to investigate and see if the claim is held true. Turns out, Fraulein D sent some minions to misdirect Saline into thinking Yuna is evil, by using a fake robot to wreck the city. Of course, at the time, Yuna was saving a little girl's puppy from a river, with the whole city's population were helping out. Yuna is arrested by Saline and taken to Galaxy HQ, with Lia/Polylina, Yuri and Elner following shortly afterward.
Then, there's a trial held for Yuna, where she tries to plead innocence, but Fraulein D (obvious villain) has the council tied around her fingers. Her punishment-to be sent down a blackhole (dun dun DUN). However, Saline realizes that she was wrong about Yuna, and sets out to save her, meeting with Lia/Polylina, Yuri and Elner. They save Yuna, Fraulein D's evil plans are revealed, and a Big, Final Battle takes place (all in the last 10-15 minutes). The warpup is that Saline becomes Yuna's newest best friend, as most of Yuna's friends are former enemies that Yuna defeated.
Phew.........that was a mouthful.
Now, then onto the good and bad of this OVA. Well, the OVA has some good things going for it. The animation is rather good, given the time it was made. It does a 'video game' feel to it, though that's not surprising as the artist for the video games also helped out with the OVA. The plot is also very good.
There are however some bad things to this OVA. First, this OVA sort of requires that you know the games, as there is little exposition at the beginning. The viewer is thrusted into the story with very little introduction. More like, the exposition is sprinkled into throughout the first episode. Second, the plot, while good, it is rather standard as it is a bit obvious what going to happens when the villain, Fraulein D, shows up. Upon repeated viewings, this becomes more clear. Third, the english dub. The japanese track (which I've listened) is very well done and even. Not so much with the english dub track. Now, being done by ADV Films, it got some talent involved (Cynthia Martinez, Tamaro Lo, Marcy Rae, Tiffany Grant, Toni Navarre) but there are some inconsistencies. Notably, Saline got played in the english dub by Laura Chapman. Now, she's a fine actress, but Saline sounds, instead of a teenager, like that of an older woman (which is the role Laura Chapman is typically lumped into for anime titles i.e. the mom from Godannar). That and some screaming/screeching from Tamaro Lo's Yuri (who has some funny lines in the OVA) put me off at first, but I can tolerate it after repeated viewings. I can understand where that might turn some people off, to be fair.
Final Score is 7.5/10. Fairly average story, but some good animation and characters (with some funny lines thrown in to boot) makes this worth the viewing. The 2 Galaxy Fraulein Yuna OVAs are a personal favorite of mine, and I'll explain in next week's review.
So, next week I'll be going over the second Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, which came out in 1996, one year after the first one. So looking forward to that.
Laterz, Eclectic Dude
P.S. found another youtube video of clips from the first OVA illustrating the rather yuri/lesbian subtext within the OVA. Which I found pretty funny. It is also in the eng dub, so yay ^_^ Link is here-Funny GFY clips
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