The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
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| The Irresponsible Captain Tylor | |
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| 無責任艦長タイラー (Musekinin Kanchō Tairā) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Military, Science Fiction |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Koichi Mashimo |
| Studio | Big West |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | 25 January 1993 – 19 July 1993 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| OVA | |
| Directed by | Naoyuki Yoshinaga |
| Studio | Yume Studio Deen |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
| Released | |
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (無責任艦長タイラー Musekinin Kanchō Tairā?) is a Japanese anime work based on a series of light novels by the Japanese author Hitoshi Yoshioka. It originally ran in 1993-1994. It was produced by some of Japan's larger studios, including Big West, Tatsunoko Productions, King Records and VAP.
The television series and the follow-up OVAs have been adapted for America by The Right Stuf International.
The first made-for-video installment was titled An Exceptional Episode and proved to be just that, offering a two-part tale, a special theme song, and a style that was very true to the series in terms of visuals and presentation. The quality of the later OAVs compared to the original series is disputed, but thought by many to be inferior. Tylor himself appears in few episodes.
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[edit] Plot
In a distant, highly technological future, Tylor, the title character, is a mysterious young man without a real purpose in life, a state of mind that is very hard to determine, and a knack for accidentally getting out of near-death situations with a childishly cavalier attitude. He sometimes does not even seem to realize when he is in danger, which is actually an asset to him on many occasions.
Tylor stumbles his way into the space navy, and soon gains command of a destroyer, to the astonishment of his lieutenant, Yamamoto. It turns out, much to Yamamoto's dismay, that this ship is considered the dumping grounds of the military, and contains all the sorts of characters that should probably not even be let near a paintball gun, let alone a spaceship (Yamamoto and Yuriko Star seem to be the only recruits aboard who are both serious and sane). However, thanks to Tylor's eccentric leadership, these misfits eventually become the collective saviors of humanity.
The two major powers in the story are the UPSF (United Planets Space Force, or the humans, possibily a reference to the Earth Federation Space Force of Mobile Suit Gundam, or the United Federation of Planets of Star Trek, or perhaps both) and the Raalgon Empire (the extraterrestrials, which some might say look like elves from Dungeons and Dragons).
One of the largest points of dispute within the story is the actual competence of Tylor. Several characters say of Tylor, "I can't decide if he's an idiot or a genius." Whether he is a genius or an idiot is up to each individual viewer. But one thing to be noted is, despite Tylor's frequent show of idiocy, he has remarkable insight along with being honest and courageous to the core. He might seem one way or another to have suffered from mild behaviour disorder or be mentally unstable, in nearly all the episodes.
[edit] Characters
[edit] United Planets Space Force
- Justy Ueki Tylor: The mysterious, irresponsible man. Tylor, age 20, joined the United Planets Space Force for, what he hoped would be, an easy life. Originally assigned to the Pension department, he unwittingly foiled a terrorist plot to kidnap and kill a retired UPSF admiral when he tried to deliver a late check by hand. For saving the war hero's life, Tylor was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and placed in command of the destroyer Soyokaze (the UPSF dumping ground for trouble makers and the unwanted). Tylor has, as his superiors have put it, 'The Devil's own luck' and usually can get out of any situation relatively unscathed, avoiding multiple assassination attempts and defeating enemy groups of vastly superior numbers. He is very laid back and does not really care for the rules, using his authority as captain to change whatever regulations seem too uptight for him. He is also easily led by his crew, who are able to convince him to allow them to wear comfortable clothes on watch, hold a swimsuit competition, and let the surgeon drink while on duty. The UPSF and the Ralgon Empire are constantly debating whether Tylor possesses the most brilliant military mind or whether he is just a lucky moron.
- Lt. Commander Yamamoto: A very straight-laced, by-the-books military man. Yamamoto is the first officer on the Soyokaze and tried mightily to interject an air of professionalism to the outfit. Constantly enraged by Tylor's lack of discipline and his loose command of the troops, Yamamoto spends much of his free time in the medic's office taking tranquilizers and making use of the neuro-clenser. Yamamoto sees Tylor for what he is, a bumbling fool, but is torn between the unwritten soldier's code of supporting and obeying your superior officer, and telling the UPSF brass what is REALLY going on. He is always on the lookout for a chance to get some form of command, hoping to get a ship of his own one day.
- Lt. Commander Yuriko Star: Another by-the-book officer. Yuriko joined the UPSF to give her life structure and attepts to obey the rules in almost every situation. However, she, unlike Yamamoto, has no problem telling Tylor that he has done something wrong and will even resort to slapping him when he gets too far out of line. Yuriko also tries to downplay her gender, making herself a soldier first, and then a woman. This is a sore subject for her when someone comments about Tylor's obvious attraction to her looks, pointing out that she has never used her appearance to get ahead. Yuriko is one of the most rational and level-headed officers on the Soyokaze.
- Nurse Harumi: Assigned to the Soyokaze as the doctor's assistant, the beautiful Harumi has every man on board lining up at the infirmary for minor things like cut fingers or stomach aches. Harumi is very professional with all of them, but seems to take a large interest in the captain. It turns out that she is a Raalgon spy, first sent to learn about, then to track, and eventually to kill Tylor. He manages to talk her out of her assassination plans (further impressing the Ralgons) and feeds her just enough information to make it look like her spying is working, but not enough to endanger the Soyokaze and her crew.
- The Marines: Soldiers led by First Lt. Andressen and Master Sergeant Cryborne, the Marines are a rough and crude bunch who are always spoiling for a fight. They usually keep to themselves in their section of the ship and run that part pretty much as they see fit, bristling whenever Yamamoto or Yuriko venture down and demand a cleanup. Not many of the Marines get much exposure or character development in the show, with the notable exception of the mute, hockey mask clad Marine named Jason, an obvious reference to Jason Voorhees of the Friday the 13th horror film series. Whenever something inexplicably explodes or breaks, Jason is the first one blamed, as he is often seen wielding a chainsaw for no real reason.
- Kojiro: The star pilot of the Soyokaze. Kojiro is famous on board for his misogyny, not allowing any women near his plane or himself. Despite this, Kojiro laters volunteers to teach the twins how to be fighter pilots when he sees their natural abilities in the cockpit. Kojiro is also very hot-headed, getting into fights with the Marines at the slightest provocation.
- Emi and Yumi Hanner: Daughters of Admiral Hanner, one of the UPSF's most decorated war heroes, the twins first came into contact with Tylor when he came to deliver their father's pension check and saved them from being killed by the terrorist's bomb. They immediately signed up with the UPSF and used their father's influence to get themselves assigned to the Soyokaze to be with Tylor. Once aboard, they trained to be pilots under Kojiro, who recognized that they had natural talent that exceeded what a standardized pilot's test could measure.
- The Brass: Admirals Mifune and Fuji are Tylor's superior officers in the UPSF. They know that Tylor is not qualified to be a captain, or even to work in the Pension department, but his successes keep forcing them to commend and promote him. Mifune and Fuji tried to kill Tylor on a couple of occasions, but later shunted he and his crew out to the Demotion Sector, far from the fighting and, more importantly, far away from UPSF headquarters.
[edit] The Holy Raalgon Empire
- Azalyn: The 16 year old empress of the Holy Raalgon Empire. Azalyn is a child, forced into the unenviable situation of having to assume power of the empire once her parents are murdered. Prompted by her advisors, she gives the command to attack the UPSF (assuming that they were behind the assassination plot). Having not had a chance to be a child, Azalyn must now be strong for the entire empire, and it's a task that she is afraid of taking, but even more afraid of failing.
- Wang: Chief advisor to the Empress, Wang yearns for greater power. He is a master at twisting the opinions of the court, forcing Azalyn to take his suggestions, in effect letting Wang control things as he sees fit. Even this is not enough and Wang makes a couple of attempts on Azalyn's life in hopes that the reigns of power will fall to him.
- Captain Dom: Dom is the commander of one of the Raalgon fleets. He speaks candidly with the Empress, in stark contrast to the bowing and scraping and lying of the rest of her court. Dom gains Azalyn's trust and becomes one of her more valued advisors. Dom is also very interested in Tylor, feeling that Tylor would be not only a worthy adversary, but also a challenge for anyone to decipher and defeat. It is Dom who assigned Harumi to spy on the Soyokaze's enigmatic captain, but even with the constant data coming in from his valued spy, Dom is still unsure whether Tylor really knows what he is doing or if he is just a fool.
