Lost Universe

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Lost Universe
Cast
ロスト・ユニバース
(Lost Universe)
Genre Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Science Fiction, Shōnen
TV anime
Directed by Takashi Watanabe
Studio DoGA Productions
Network Flag of JapanTV Tokyo
Flag of United StatesInternational Channel
Flag of PortugalRTP,Canal Panda
Flag of MalaysiaRTM 2
Flag of MexicoUnicable
Original run 3 April 1998 – 25 September 1998
No. of episodes 26
Manga
Authored by {{{author}}}
Publisher {{{publisher}}}
Serialized in {{{serialized}}}
Original run {{{first_run}}} – {{{last_run}}}
No. of volumes {{{num_volumes}}}

Lost Universe (ロスト・ユニバース Rosuto Yunibāsu?) is a series of science fiction light novels, running from 1992 to 2000, by Japanese author Hajime Kanzaka. It was later adapted into an anime that ran throughout the summer of 1998 on TV Tokyo during the time slot that the anime depiction of Kanzaka's previous work, Slayers, ran, spanning a total of 26 episodes.

Contents

[edit] Plot overview

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

In Slayers, it was mentioned that the main characters of that series live on a world that is one of the four created by the mother of all creation, called The Lord of Nightmares or simply LoN. This world was known as the Red World. Lost Universe, however, takes place in a different world, known as the Black World. Whereas the demi-gods of the various worlds such as Ruby-Eye Shabranigdo and Dark Star Dugradigdo had physical presence in that world, they appear in the Black World as "Lost Ships," or space ships that have mystical or somewhat magical powers. Kane Blueriver, a "trouble contractor," inherits a "Lost Ship" from his grandmother and from there, he and his sidekick Milly, together with Canal, the ship's computer, journey to find a source of the evil that threatens the universe. That evil results to be Nightmare company.

[edit] Series media

When the first novel of Lost Universe was released in 1992, it enjoyed moderate success due in no part to Kanzaka, who already had negotiations in the works for the Slayers anime. During its first few volumes, there was great popularity. However, with the release of the Slayers anime, the popularity waned as fans saw an "overload" of Slayers material. Unlike the Slayers anime, which lasted 78 episodes, Lost Universe only lasted 26 episodes, and was plagued with numerous production problems which came to be called Yashigani. A Lost Universe movie was rumored in 1998, but was cancelled in favor of more Slayers movies.

[edit] Worldwide releases

Lost Universe was dubbed and released in the United States by ADV Films in late 2001. Lost Universe also aired in dubbed form on the International Channel starting June 2003 and concluded January 2004. The anime was also dubbed into Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese and aired on TV in said countries. Lost Universe was also dubbed and aired in Latin America countries like Mexico and Chile (on TVN and Etc...TV), getting a decent success, however, the Latin America Spanish version for unknown reasons hasn't the epilogue ending, making the series unfinished. It has also found some success in Arabic speaking countries when it aired on the Syrian owned Space Toon under the title El Saif El Kata, however the dub's editing was poorly done.

[edit] Translation discrepancies

Kanzaka took many of the names of the gods from Slayers and subsequently applied them as names of the Lost Ships when he wrote Lost Universe. However, there were differences in the spellings of the names (and, indeed, pronunciation) when both series were distributed in the United States. This was because one company, Software Sculptors, secured the rights to the Slayers television series, while another, ADV Films, secured the rights to Lost Universe. While Software Sculptors had many mistranslations that went against the official romanization, they were accurate in the naming of the gods throughout all three seasons and the weapons introduced in the final season. However, ADV went against both the official and Software Sculptors translations, creating completely new ones. Ragudo Mezegis, a weapon introduced in the third season of Slayers that became a Lost Ship in Lost Universe, was now the Rag D' Mezegis. Dark Star Dugradigdu was now Darkstar Dubranigdo. Kane, the main character of the story, originally had his name written as 'Kain', which can actually be seen in a letter in Episode 26. This, coupled with the fact that the intro sequence was altered by editors at ADV, and that Episode 6 was, in fact, edited, has had many in the American anime community speculating as to whether or not they will release new versions of Lost Universe, presumably under their Anime Essentials line. Enoki Films has the North American licensing rights to Lost Universe. Kane's name was spelled as "Kain" on Enoki Films' website.

[edit] Yashigani

The 4th episode Yashigani Hofuru (ヤシガニ屠る), lit. feasting on Coconut crab, which aired on April 24, 1998, was initially worked on by a South Korean animation company, San Ho Studio. They only had basic manuals of the characters. The result was so dismal in quality that it was later reworked for the LaserDisc releases. The San Ho depiction of that episode is no longer considered canon. An anime with extremely poor animation came to be called a Yashigani.

There were several reasons for this breakdown. With the megahit Neon Genesis Evangelion, other stations rushed to make anime series of their own which resulted in 60 to 70 new works being aired in a week. Around 30 works is widely considered to be a maximum output from companies without reducing the animation quality and what resulted was that works went unchecked until the last minute.

[edit] Main characters

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Notes:

  1. Characters' names are given in Western format (given name, family name) like in original comics (normally in Japan the family name, given name is used).
  2. Katakana names are taken from Lost Universe Special

Kane Blueriver (カイン・ブルーリバー Kain Burūribaa?) is the protagonist of the adventure. He acquired his spaceship from his grandmother, and is a good but stubborn man. He always wears a black cloak, apparently also worn by his grandmother. Seiyū: Souichiro Hoshi. Other romanizations: Kain Blueriver.

Canal Volphied (キャナル・ヴォルフィード Kyanaru Vorufiido?) is a green-haired human-like hologram of the Sword Breaker ship. She can control the whole ship. She is a bit selfish, doing a lot of negative actions for the Sword Breaker owner (Kane Blueriver), like turning off Life System only for getting a job Kane didn't want. Seiyū: Megumi Hayashibara. Other romanizations: Canal Volfied, Canal Vorfeed.

Millennium Feria Nocturne (nickname: Mille) (ミレニアム・フェリア・ノクターン Mireniamu Feria Nokutaan?) is picked up by Kain and Canal in the first episode and continues to travel with them throughout the series. She is the greatest cook in the universe however she destroys the kitchen every time she prepares a meal. She also is an expert in arms use (specially gun and ship's army). Seiyū: Mifuyu Hiiragi. Other romanizations: Millienium Feria Nocturne.
Her real name is Millennium Feria Stargazer.

R-20 (nickname: Anis) (only manga) is a female child made for a meta-psychology experiment that Kane and Mille rescued. She can control all meta-psychology-related instruments with her mind, and all of them become useless when she's scared.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] External links

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