Sol Bianca
| Sol Bianca | |
 1990 VHS tape cover | |
| Genre | Science Fiction Adventure |
|---|---|
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Katsuhito Akiyama |
| Studio |  AIC |
Sol Bianca (ソルビアンカ, Sol Bianca) is a two volume anime OVA series released in 1990 and 1992 by director Katsuhito Akiyama in association with AIC. Sol Bianca: The Legacy is a sequel to this series.
The name of the OVA is also the name of the ship that serves as both the home and the interstellar headquarters for an all-female band of notorious pirates. Thanks to a stowaway who hides himself aboard their ship following one of their raids, they learn of the ultimate treasure: the Gnosis (pronounced "G'Nohsis" in dialogue), an artifact reputedly from old Earth itself.
Unfortunately for them, the Gnosis happens to be in the hands of Emperor Batros, the brutal ruler of the planet Tres (pronounced "trez" in dialogue) who is executing great numbers of enemies, real or speculated, as a result of his military occupation of the neighboring planet Uno. Armed with a little luck, a sniper gun that can shoot from orbit, and a technologically advanced ship, the crew of the Sol Bianca are about to make a run for the greatest prize of all.
Technical Merit
Sol Bianca is notable for the fluid animation of the spacecraft of the title; the Sol Bianca itself. As fully animating detailed spacecraft requires a great deal of precise keyframing and time, most anime featuring large spacecraft choose to make use of panning, "sliding" and static shots to portray their detailed ships. The Sol Bianca, however, is very often seen fully-animated, with the camera panning around, under and over the ship as it moves through space. Shots such as the first view of the craft warping in during the opening minutes of the first OVA display fluid animation on par with or perhaps exceeding scenes in animated movies such as Akira.
Characters
- April Bikirk: Captain of the Sol Bianca. She found the Sol Bianca in an astroid field and since then she tries to be responsible. An honorable individual, she will often fight to help others.
- Feb Fall: A skilled pilot and a crack shot... when she is not drunk, which she often is. She was a prisoner in a ship until April came to rescue her, after which she then became a crew member.
- Janny Mann: Heavy gunsmith with all sorts of weapons. She's a hot tempered young woman that is easily irritated by many people. Her past is unknown.
- June Ashel: Hologram expert with computer skills. She was found inside the Sol Bianca by April. She appears to be an android with human emotions. She does not enjoy combat seeing how dangerous it is, and is usually the first to panic when danger does happens.
- May Jessica: A new crew member who pilots a mecha suit. She was brought inside the Sol Bianca by its power. April decided to help her find her parents on Earth, only to found out from her uncle and aunt that May's parents have been killed by another group of pirates. She then decided to go with April and the others as a new crew member, acting as the ship's chief engineer.
Turbo CD game
A single game was released based off the movie for the Turbo CD on June 29, 1990[1] by NCS. As the movie was only initially released in Japan, and due to the failings of the TurboGrafx-16 in America, the title was never released in North American markets. The format is a role-playing game.
Trivia
- The names of the characters are based on months.
April: April
Feb: February
Janny: January
June: June
May: May
- The names of the planets and other artifacts reveal an old Earth history that is beyond the characters' understanding or memory.
Planet Uno: (Spanish) the first planet in its solar system
Planet Tres: (Spanish) the third planet in the same solar system
The Gnosis: an archive of information from old earth showing the origins (i.e. "genesis") of humanity
Voices
English
April Bikirk - Kim Sevier
Janny Mann - Sue Ulu
May Jessica - Kimberly Yates
Feb Fall - Laura Chapman
June Ashel - Tiffany Grant
Batros - Trisdan McAvery
Rim Delapaz - Jay Zeidman
Melanion Delapaz - John Swasey
Rammy - Steven Blum (as David Lucas)
Japanese/Seiyuu
April Bikirk - Rei Sakuma
Janny Mann - Minami Takayama
May Jessica - Miki Ito
Feb Fall - Yoko Matsuoka
June Ashel - Yuriko Fuchizaki
Rim Delapaz - Daisuke Namikawa
Melanion Delapaz - Tesshou Genda
Batros - Takeshi Aono
Lind - Tomomichi Nishimura
Rammy - Jūrōta Kosugi
DVD Release
Sol Bianca is one of the rare cases where the first episode of the show had an English language dub made, but none was made for the second episode. This has been a reason stated by Matt Greenfield at numerous anime convention industry panels as to why a DVD release has never occurred.