Lost Universe

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Lost Universe
File:LostUniverse.jpg
Cast of Lost Universe
GenreAdventure, Comedy, Science Fiction
Anime
Directed byTakashi Watanabe
StudioJapan E.G. Films
Released 3 April 1998 – 25 September 1998
Manga
Written byHajime Kanzaka
Illustrated byShoko Yoshinaka
MagazineComic Dragon Jr.
DemographicShōnen
Original run1998 – present
Volumes4

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.

Plot overview

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.

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. Lost Universe only lasted 26 episodes, and was plagued with numerous production problems. Most notably, large amounts of the raw work for the first few episodes was destroyed in a studio fire and had to be quickly replaced leading to fairly sketchy quality for those episodes. It also ran in during the Southeast Asian financial crisis of '98 which severely limited budgets for anime series across all studios. A Lost Universe movie was rumored in 1998, but was cancelled in favor of more Slayers movies.

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.

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. Slayers media released by ADV also was plagued by mistranslations or intentional renaming of terms, mostly of spells that were originally English terms. 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.

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.

Main characters

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.

Canal Vorfeed (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.

Millennium "Millie" Feria Nocturne (ミレニアム・フェリア・ノクターン, Mireniamu Feria Nokutaan) is picked up by Kane 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). Millie's full name is Millennium Feria Stargazer. In the anime she is Kane's 2nd cousin, as their grandparents were siblings. Seiyū: Mifuyu Hiiragi.

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.

Music

Opening Theme: "Infinity" by Megumi Hayashibara (eps. 1-26)

Ending Theme:

  1. "Extrication" by Megumi Hayashibara (eps. 1-25)
  2. "Eternity (E-49)" (ep26)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lost_Universe&oldid=244866603"