Mujigen Hunter Fandora

Mujigen Hunter Fandora (夢次元ハンター　ファンドラ, mujigen hantā fandora, translated as Dream-dimension Hunter Fandora) is an original video animation (OVA) created by manga artist Go Nagai. It was originally released on September 21, 1985 (1985-09-21), March 10, 1986 (1986-03-10) and November 21, 1986 (1986-11-21) by Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd. (now Columbia Music Entertainment).

Along with the OVA, a 222-page novel written by Koichi Minade and illustrated by Nagai was released on February 19, 1986 (1986-02-19) by Kodansha with ISBN 4-06-190049-8.

The OVAs were also released in Italy by Dynamic Italia with the title Dimension Hunter Fandora.

Plot

The stars are a bounty hunter girl named Fandora and her shape-shifting assistant and guardian, Kue, as they attempt to save the universe from the evil Yog-Sogoth (not to be confused with the Lovecraftian deity of the same name). They encounter characters Gyaram, Captain PK, Sorta, Red-Eye Geran, Princess Reimia, GK, and Sorto. They travel through the Dream Dimension and hunt there. Fandora uses the power of the jewel Lupia in her crown to summon her powers and allows Kue to transform into the Fantastic Dragon.

Episodes

Staff & production notes

• Distributor: Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd.
• Planning/Production: Hiro Media, Kaname Production
• General producer: Hiromasa Shibazaki
• Original work: Go Nagai
• Director: Kazuyuki Okaseko (OVA 1), Hiroshi Yoshida (OVA 2), Shigenori Kageyama (OVA 3)
• Scenario: Koichi Minade, Takashi Yamada
• Animation coordinator: Shigenori Kageyama (OVA 1, 2)
• Key animation director: Masahiro Shida (OVA 1), Masahiko Imai (OVA 2), Nobuyuki Ikegami (OVA 3)
• Animation: Kaname Production, Studio Giants (OVA 1, 2), Studio Eagle (OVA 1)
• Character design: Hideki Tamura (OVA 1), Mayumi Watanabe (OVA 2, 3), Hideko Yamauchi (OVA 3)
• Art director: Koichi Kudo (OVA 1), Geki Katsumata (OVA 2), Jiro Kono (OVA 3)
• Music: Nozomi Aoki
• Theme songs:
  • OVA 1
    • "Kokoro no Tobira" (心のとびら, translated as "Door of the heart") ending theme lyrics by Maki Kimura, composition by Maki Kimura, arrangement by Nozomi Aoki, song by Ushio Hashimoto
    • "Yume Hunter" (夢ハンター, yume hantā, translated as "Dream hunter"), lyrics by Alice Sato, composition by Maki Kimura, arrangement by Nozomi Aoki, song by Ushio Hashimoto
  • OVA 2
    • "Akuma no Mama de" (悪é­"のままで), lyrics by Kazunori Sonobe, composition by Yuichiro Oda, arrangement by Kohei Tanaka, song by Ushio Hashimoto
    • "Akai Uchu" (赤い宇宙, Akai UchÅ«, translated as "Red space") ending theme, lyrics by Kazunori Sonobe, composition by Yuichiro Oda, arrangement by Kohei Tanaka, song by Ushio Hashimoto
  • OVA 3
    • "Sayonara wa Iwanai" (さよならは言わない) ending theme, lyrics by Rui Serizawa, composition by Yoshihiro Yonekura, arrangement by Kenji Yamamoto, song by Ushio Hashimoto
    • "Endless Way", lyrics by Rui Serizawa, composition by Yoshihiro Yonekura, arrangement by Kenji Yamamoto, song by Mitsuko Horie)
• Cast: Mitsuko Horie (Fandora), Akira Kamiya (Kue), Makio Inoue (Yog-Sogoth), Keiko Toda (Leimia, OVA 1), Keiko Han (Fontine, OVA 2)

Source(s)

Media

Home video

Besides the original VHS release, the OVA were released in Laserdisc, both individually and in a single package. The OVA were also released in a single DVD in March 17, 2001 (2001-03-17) by Columbia Music Entertainment (standard number COBM-5125).

Soundtracks

Each OVA had two vinyl records, an EP and a LP album, the first containing the song themes and the second the full background music and song themes. All of them were released by Columbia.

• OVA 1

• OVA 2

• OVA 3

Picture books

Besides the novel, two picture books of the first two OVA were released by Nihonbungeisha under the label Film Comics with ISBN 4-537-03005-4 and ISBN 4-537-03029-1 respectively.

Appearances in other media

The theme songs of the series are included in several CDs.

Merchandise

At the time of the OVA releases, several goods were available, including postcards, bags, cassette recorders, pencil cases, stationery, etc.