"Andromeda Strain" references

[Dr. Nick [ANF]]

Hi everybody! A couple of days ago I had a chance to see this movie from the dark seventies, called The Andromeda Strain. For what I know the movie, based on a book written by Michael "Jurassic Park" Crichton, is considered to be some kind of classic in a field of geeky science fiction. In short, it's a story about four scientists who try to stop a deadly microscopic alien lifeform that has destroyed a small town in New Mexico from spreading further.

I had heard beforehand that this movie has been a big source of inspiration for Anno and co. but I was still amazed by the amount of Andromeda Strain references in NGE. Many of these references are listed in the Evangelion Mailing List FAQ (it can be viewed on Sage's site), but I managed to find a few extras that are not listed there. But let's check out the old findings first:

(slight editing done by Dr. Nick)

These similarities occur in episode 10, Magma Diver.

NGE: After Misato discovers Sandalphon in the volcano, she calls NERV. When Aoba answers, she demands a A-17, an executive order for an offensive mission vs. an Angel. Aoba reminds her that the phone she is on is an open transmission.

AS: After they leave the infected town, Dr. Stone orders Directive 7-12, an executive order to cauterize the area with a thermonuclear device. Major Manczech (sp) reminds him that they are making an unsecured line.

NGE: Shinji looks up at the sky and sees some flashes of light. When he asks Ritsuko, she tells them they are UN jets, that are to bomb the area with N2 mines if they fail.

AS: Inside the town of Piedmont, Dr. Hall looks up and sees some flashes of light in the sky. When he sees them again, Dr. Stone tells him that they're Air Force jets. If something were to happen to them on the ground, the helicopter would be either escorted to Wildfire (where it and its pilot would be "sterlized" i.e., incinerated) or shot down if it were to go off course.

This is from episode #19:

NGE:[/b] Shinji tries to call Kensuke and his call is intercepted by NERV Security, who closes the
call with the phrase "thank you for your cooperation".

AS: Dr. Stone's wife's call is intercepted by the NSA, who closes the call with the phrase "thank you for your cooperation". The conversation is word-for-word identical.

Other interesting tidbits:

- The placards in ep. 20 use the same method of counting time (black background with Nth DAY).

- The code "601" in ep. 5 is used by MAGI for the term "unable to analyse" when Ritsuko refers to Angel DNA.

In the movie this scene happens when the scientists try to analyze the micro-organism with their crappy seventies "super"computer; code 601 means actually "not enough calculating power". Even the font of the numbers is exactly the same in NGE.

This one I can't verify, because I haven't read the book. Maybe somebody else knows more about this.

The novel of "The Andromeda Strain" was written by Michael Crichton. A reference in another Michael Crichton novel, "The Terminal Man" describes the installation of a stimulation device as identical to how Ritsuko connects with Casper.

The most interesting connections are not mentioned in the FAQ though. In Andromeda Strain, when the scientists finally manage to analyze the organism, it becomes clear to them that it works like a microscopic reactor - it can turn energy into matter and matter into energy directly, without any waste. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the S2-engine transfrom matter to energy the same way?

Also, in the final scene of the movie we see a new, mutated version of this lifeform. Normally it resembles a conglomeration of tiny triangular shapes, but the basic shape of the new version has become a hexagon. I know, the shape of A.T.-field is (if animated correctly) octagonal, but it appears to me that the animators of Gainax have some sort of obsession towards the hexagon / octagon -shape: Hexagonal patterns are already present in the Daicon opening animation, the very first work of Gainax, and the shape is there also in Gunbuster (though I can't remember whether it was hexagonal or octagonal). So, the shape might be a movie reference that later on evolved to be the shape of the A.T.-field. Or do we know the source of that shape and I'm just being stupid here?

Of course, the whole geeky atmosphere of the movie was very similar to ep. 13 of NGE; not much action, but lots of psedo-scientific babbling and technology gone wrong. I'm not saying it was a bad movie - on the contary it had certain CSI-esque, professionals-at-work type of charm in it; definately very different from your standard science fiction movie. I recommend that you watch it yourselves.

In my opinion at least the obvious references should be mentioned in our commentary. It would be really great if somebody could take some screencaptures from the movie. And Gunbuster screencaps wouldn't hurt either, because many visual details of that show are repeated in NGE.

Originally posted on: 26-May-2004, 18:47 GMT

[NakedEYE666 [ANF]]

Dr. Nick, I TOTALLY dig the body count in your sig! It's a good idea, too!

Anyway.... some of this stuff just seems pretty typical and coincidental, but if I saw the actual wording (or read the whole post) I'd probably think differntly for some of them.

I don't know about the movie, but you've got me interested in the Crichton book now. I heard a lot about it a while back but never actually picked it up (didn't think it could match Jurassic Park) but now I think I may.

I'm not really suprised EVA has tons of AS refferences, that's the kind of thing I'd expect to see. Along with the Bible...

I do beleive that all great works of fiction are deeply connected, in one way or another. Or atleast all of my favorite works...

Originally posted on: 26-May-2004, 23:25 GMT

[thx3876 [ANF]]

I shall watch this movie.

Originally posted on: 27-May-2004, 00:15 GMT

[Dan [ANF]]

Thats really interesting, thanks for sharing.

I personally have only seen "Strained Andromeda Strain" (good luck finding it) through my filmmaking class, which was a painful experience, but I'd like to watch the original now.

And I would like to suggest briefly after thumbing through the religious research page: You may find much more meaningful connections to the series through books by Freud and Jung rather than the Bible.

Originally posted on: 27-May-2004, 19:04 GMT

[Painkiller [ANF]]

Someone brought this up almost a year ago. I want to see it but I couldn't find it anywhere.

Originally posted on: 28-May-2004, 08:05 GMT

[Reichu [ANF]]

And I would like to suggest briefly after thumbing through the religious research page: You may find much more meaningful connections to the series through books by Freud and Jung rather than the Bible.

Oh, don't worry, we're going to tackle plenty of psychology and mathematics-related crap later on when they become more relevant. As it goes, we're researching stuff pertinent to the opening sequence right now -- and that means lots of Tree of Life, Kabbalism, and blah blah blah.

Originally posted on: 27-May-2004, 21:11 GMT

[Dan [ANF]]

Oh, don't worry, we're going to tackle plenty of psychology and mathematics-related crap later on when they become more relevant. As it goes, we're researching stuff pertinent to the opening sequence right now -- and that means lots of Tree of Life, Kabbalism, and blah blah blah.

Great, I'll look forward to what you find.

Originally posted on: 27-May-2004, 21:19 GMT

[Reichu [ANF]]

Great, I'll look forward to what you find.

You're welcome to help out, you know... You don't know how little luck I've been having getting these guys (most of them, anyway) out to their local library.

Originally posted on: 27-May-2004, 21:52 GMT

[Dan [ANF]]

You're welcome to help out, you know... You don't know how little luck I've been having getting these guys (most of them, anyway) out to their local library.

Maybe, but this is where it gets a little fuzzy/irrelevant. Aside from mathematics, most of what you'll read will enrich Evangelion personally, rather than factually. One could explain their findings as they apply to varying scenes throughout the series, but its entirely possible that anyone else would not be interested in what they find, since what it means or how it applies to one person is often different to another.

On the other hand, if you applied a theorem directly to how a scene plays out, you run the risk of debasing the series into a 1:1 comparison rather than a culmination of ideas and emotions that Anno wanted to express. For example: compare the idea that these scholars "grew on him" rather than he saw a neat idea that he wanted to recreate through animation.

I already plan on reading Freud and Jung this summer now that I have a lot of free time, so I'll be happy to suggest specific books or articles that I find relevant or interesting, but I'd rather not apply it directly to the series.

Oh, and sorry to all the Andromeda Strain fans, I've been posting about that topic here so that I dont junk up their research.


P.S. Speaking of books to read: I just posted on the FMA forum about how FMA fans MUST read Frankenstein. Its a great story that FMA fans will love.

Originally posted on: 27-May-2004, 22:21 GMT

[Dr. Nick [ANF]]

For your amusement, here are some more bizarre references from the moldy archives of the Evangelion Mailing List. Again, these are from Sage's site:

(This information was excerpted from the Evangelion Encyclopaedia, included with the Italian edition of the Evangelion TV series video release, authored by "Gualtiero Cannarsi". Text supplied by "Ebj")
-----
The coffee machine at NERV: The coffee machine is an exact replica of the one that was present at Gainax studios at the time of the production of the series.

Hmm, I wonder why I'm not surprised

The newspaper Maiasa Shinbun, episode 7: The name of the Maiasa Shinbun (lit. "the newspaper of all mornings") that is used to show the official version of the reasons for Second Impact) is most probably the fusion of the names of two existing newspapers, the MAInichi Shinbun ("the newspaper of all days") and the ASAhi Shinbun ("the newspaper of the Rising Sun"). The head office address is the same of Gainax's.

Ikuhara Industries, episode 7: Among the flower wreaths offered by firms invited to the Jet Alone presentation, one is by "Ikuhara Electronic Systems". Kunihiko Ikuhara is the name of a young director famous for working in various series and the second movie of the anime TV series Sailor Moon, and he's a friend of director of Evangelion Hideaki Anno.

"This is Adam, this is the first human being", episode 8: The line by Gendou Ikari (possibly slightly different from my translation from Italian) that closes his encounter with Ryouji Kaji in episode 8 is exactly the same of that by the cruel Gargoyle character from Fushiji no Umi no Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water series, also by Gainax (episode 37).

Kermadec-3 thermoresistant deep probe, episode 10: The Kermadec-3 probe owes the name to the existing oceanic fault of Kermadec. The same fault was present in the TV series Fushigi no Umi no Nadia - The Secret of the Blue Water. Captain Nemo, Jean, Hanson, Sanson and the lion puppy King go there to find some algae to cure Nadia and Marie.

The walls of Jerico, episode 9: The last night before the Synchro battle, Shinji and Asuka are alone at home together because Misato has work to do at NERV. After teasing him about the matter, Asuka moves her futon from the living room to Misato's bedroom, and warns him that the sliding doors are "the indestructible walls of Jerico".
This is a quote from the movie "It Happened One Night" (USA, 1934), by Frank Capra. The episode quoted is the night that the two main characters, Peter Warne (Clark Gable) and Ellie Andrews (Claudette Colbert), spend in the same hotel room. They divide the two beds hanging a blanket on a rope in the mid, and defining it as "The Walls of Jerico".
The reference in the movie is to the Biblical episode of the capture of the city of Jerico by Joshua and the people of Israel, because God wanted so. The supposedly indestructible walls of Jerico were destroyed thanks to the sound made by seven ram horns. Joshua, under the order of God, circled the walled city for seven days and seven nights, after which the walls collapsed, and the Hebrew army could invade.

The next item on the list is a rather amusing one:

Studio Fantasia, Shinji Higuchi, Episode 9: In the first attack to the seventh angel, Eva 02 jumps over and destroys an abandoned building on the Suruga coast with a sign on top that says "Studio Fantasia". The name and the logo on the sign belong to an animation studio involved as associate productor in the Gainax OAV series "Otaku no Video".
In this series' credits appears the name of the same Shinji Higuchi that is responsible for the story boards of episode 9 of Eva, something visible in the humorous situations and the generally bright atmosphere of the episode, relatively uncharacteristic for the rest of the series. (*

Apparently Studio Fantasia avenged this in their OAV-series Airbats. The main character of the show, Isurugi, is a complete lifeless otaku, and guess what, in episode 6 we see an Evangelion-poster hanging on his wall. He owns also a large variety of other anime-related crap, and a miniature Millennium Falcon.

Another anime show where Evangelion is depicted as a pinnacle of braindead geekery is Hanakyo Maids. Don't even ask how I ended up watching that fan-service -filled piece of trash...

And then, some more scifi-movie references:

3.8.2) Space: 1999
Space: 1999 was a space opera of the seventies, produced by Gerry Anderson, creator of the Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. It's about the adventures of the inhabitants of a moonbase, when Earth's moon is torn from orbit by a cataclysmic disaster.
The date of the disaster was September 13, 1999. In Evangelion the Second Impact occurs exactly one year later. (This date is also noted as a "future" event in Gainax's second Otaku no Video OAV.)

Of course that isn't the only Eva-reference in Otaku no Video; probably the funniest one I can remember offhand is the briefly sighted Mr. Megageek, who escapes the film crew while carrying an Eva-paperbag (probably filled with other merchandise-junk).

3.8.3) The Day The Earth Stood Still
The Day The Earth Stood Still is a classic 1950's science fiction film, about the first contact between humans and the representative of a community of worlds. Reaction of the humans is riddled with suspicion and paranoia, and the alien represenative has to prove his strength by draining energy from everything in Washington DC, making "the Earth Stand Still".
In episode 11, The Day Tokyo-3 Stood Still, the whole of NERV, located in the geofront beneath Tokyo-3 loses power mysteriously.

3.8.4) The Violent History Of the Showa Era: The Final Battle Of Okinawa
According to Protoculture Addicts Issue 49 (a Canadian anime news magazine) the film Death & Rebirth was heavily influenced by a story, "The Violent History Of the Showa Era: The Final Battle Of Okinawa", about the World War II battle of Okinawa. The battle itself was very brutal.

I guess they're referring to JSSDF slaughtering Nerv employees in Rebirth.

3.8.5) Cordwainer Smith and the Instrumentality Project
Cordwainer Smith (real name Paul Linebarger), wrote a series of stories about the Instrumentality of Mankind. In the series, a house of immortal nobles guided a society grown stagnant. The sacrifice of a few of the society brought chaos and began regeneration.
The series has strong religious overtones, and Smith apparently had a background in China.

3.8.6) Yashima (episode 5 & 6)

Operation Yashima takes its name from the Yashima Battle, year one of the Bunji era (1185), during the Genpei wars. According to the legend, during the battle, the samurai Yoichi Nasuno ( aka Nasu no Yoichi), while riding his horse in the water, hit the red fan of his enemy Tamamushi with an arrow from long distance, thus resolving the battle. Analogy with the Yashima operation is evidently the need for an accurate long distance shot (from behind 'the water' of lake Ashino) to resolve the battle. Moreover, Yashima, written with different characters, can be read as "the eight countries", an ancient way to call the entirety of Japan. Though confirmation is not given, an analogy between this and the need to use the energy of the entire Japan to feed the positron rifle can also be considered appropriate.

That's it. I guess we can use some of these tidbits in the commentary.

Originally posted on: 27-Jun-2004, 14:51 GMT

[Reichu [ANF]]

I rewatched "Andromeda Strain" fairly recently. I remember it being torturous the first time (years ago), but the second go-thru was actually very interesting, probably because NGE has predisposed me to find that sort of extreme geekiness interesting. I'll probably pick up the lame-o, zero-extras DVD sometime (less than $10, can't really complain there...). That way, we'll have a good source of screencaps for later on in the commentary, when we inexplicably note all of these references.

This one I can't verify, because I haven't read the book. Maybe somebody else knows more about this.

Well, one of us could always read "The Terminal Man"... It's Michael Crichton, so it should be a pretty fast read. Stupidly enough, I think I recently let a free (and hardcover, to boot!) copy slip right past me, but nevermind that...

The most interesting connections are not mentioned in the FAQ though. In Andromeda Strain, when the scientists finally manage to analyze the organism, it becomes clear to them that it works like a microscopic reactor - it can turn energy into matter and matter into energy directly, without any waste. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't the S2-engine transfrom matter to energy the same way?

Honestly, most of that S2 crap is way beyond my thinking capacity. We ought to hunt down that Karybdis guy.

Also, in the final scene of the movie we see a new, mutated version of this lifeform. Normally it resembles a conglomeration of tiny triangular shapes, but the basic shape of the new version has become a hexagon.

Crap, it did? I'd better order that DVD.

Hexagonal patterns are already present in the Daicon opening animation, the very first work of Gainax

"Daicon", hmm, isn't that mentioned in those documents Fuyutsuki finds in #21? But about this Daicon opening animation, how would one go about finding this? I wanna see!

and the shape is there also in Gunbuster (though I can't remember whether it was hexagonal or octagonal).

I honestly can't remember either. We'll have to nag Sharp-kun for some screenshots or something.

Of course, the whole geeky atmosphere of the movie was very similar to ep. 13 of NGE; not much action, but lots of psedo-scientific babbling and technology gone wrong.

The way they both ended struck me as being vaguely similar, as well... Gave me a kind of "That's it? It's just over?" feeling.

I ought to go through some of Sage's site myself... I remember reading around there eons ago, but once I discovered that the things on the Evas' shoulders weren't called "utility units" (isn't that the term he uses?), my brain dubbed the site "evil" and I never went back.

(This information was excerpted from the Evangelion Encyclopaedia, included with the Italian edition of the Evangelion TV series video release, authored by "Gualtiero Cannarsi". Text supplied by "Ebj")

I've heard Wigs mention this "Evangelion Encylopaedia" before... What the heck is this, anyway? Is it canon, like a translation of some official source?

Ikuhara Industries, episode 7: Among the flower wreaths offered by firms invited to the Jet Alone presentation, one is by "Ikuhara Electronic Systems". Kunihiko Ikuhara is the name of a young director famous for working in various series and the second movie of the anime TV series Sailor Moon, and he's a friend of director of Evangelion Hideaki Anno.

Heh, I was skimming through the first half of the series yesterday (mostly gathering information to reply to your e-mail, Niko ) and I noticed this one. So Anno couldn't get Ikuhara on board, but he had to reference the guy anyway.

"This is Adam, this is the first human being", episode 8: The line by Gendou Ikari (possibly slightly different from my translation from Italian) that closes his encounter with Ryouji Kaji in episode 8 is exactly the same of that by the cruel Gargoyle character from Fushiji no Umi no Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water series, also by Gainax (episode 37).

Wayneiac, or someone else who has seen "Nadia", can you elaborate on this one? Is there something called "Adam" in this series, as well?

In the first attack to the seventh angel, Eva 02 jumps over and destroys an abandoned building on the Suruga coast with a sign on top that says "Studio Fantasia". The name and the logo on the sign belong to an animation studio involved as associate productor in the Gainax OAV series "Otaku no Video".

Suruga coast, eh? (:wonders where that bit of info came from: ) I heard somewhere that Studio Fantasia actually did animation work for this episode, which could possibly indicate that they included the reference to themselves -- but that could always be a load of bat guano.

In this series' credits appears the name of the same Shinji Higuchi that is responsible for the story boards of episode 9 of Eva, something visible in the humorous situations and the generally bright atmosphere of the episode, relatively uncharacteristic for the rest of the series.

And Shinji Higuchi is apparently who Shinji-kun was named after, as well...

Of course that isn't the only Eva-reference in Otaku no Video; probably the funniest one I can remember offhand is the briefly sighted Mr. Megageek, who escapes the film crew while carrying an Eva-paperbag (probably filled with other merchandise-junk).

"Otaku no Video" was from 1991, so how could it have NGE references in it? Temporal paradox, maybe...

That's it. I guess we can use some of these tidbits in the commentary.

Hells yeah!

Originally posted on: 27-Jun-2004, 16:09 GMT

[tv33 [ANF]]

"This is Adam, this is the first human being", episode 8: The line by Gendou Ikari (possibly slightly different from my translation from Italian) that closes his encounter with Ryouji Kaji in episode 8 is exactly the same of that by the cruel Gargoyle character from Fushiji no Umi no Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water series, also by Gainax (episode 37).

It is very similar...





And does this look familiar to anyone? (You can’t tell form the picture but that is actually very large, just about Eva sized I would say.)



No doubt Nadia had an influence on how Anno made Eva.

Ever wonder what Ritsuko would look like in a plug suit? That is a picture of Electra, another character in Nadia, who actually shares a lot in common with Ritsuko, she's just more personable though.

Originally posted on: 28-Jun-2004, 03:11 GMT

[Reichu [ANF]]

And does this look familiar to anyone? (You can't tell form the picture but that is actually very large, just about Eva sized I would say.)

Whoa... With the bluish skin, he looks kind of like a Simulation Body [which weren't really blue, it was just the lighting], only with all appendages in place. And the cloth-over-the-head is suspiciously similar to this.

But, just curious, why would the "first human" be gi-normous? (Or should I just watch Nadia myself and find out?)

On a side note, Gendou's line in #08 never made sense to me, but that's probably a matter for elsewhere.

Originally posted on: 28-Jun-2004, 03:40 GMT

[tv33 [ANF]]

But, just curious, why would the "first human" be gi-normous? (Or should I just watch Nadia myself and find out?)

I wont spoil anything for you (Though I guess I kind of already did, but you asked for it! ) Nadia is a good show, and anyone who is a fan of Anno should see it. It’s much more light hearted then Eva, kind of a "fun for the whole family” thing. (Well maybe not a western family, seeing as how long shots of naked 14 years old just don’t fly.)

Maybe I am seeing things that are not there, but there will be snips of dialog that sound like they are straight out of Eva. I am sure Nadia must have influenced how he created the events and characters of Eva to an extent.

They just released the first half of the series in a box set of sorts and the second will be out soon. Both sets would cost about 60 all together, which is not bad for a 39 episode show.

Originally posted on: 28-Jun-2004, 04:33 GMT

[musashi1600 [ANF]]

This one I can't verify, because I haven't read the book. Maybe somebody else knows more about this.

The novel of "The Andromeda Strain" was written by Michael Crichton. A reference in another Michael Crichton novel, "The Terminal Man" describes the installation of a stimulation device as identical to how Ritsuko connects with Casper.

I have read The Terminal Man[/u], and yes, there is a similarity in the brain-computer connection. This is how it goes in a nutshell:

A man is selected for an experiment where a computer is connected directly to his brain. He was in a car accident a few years earlier, and as a result, suffers epilectic episodes of extreme violence. To treat his condition, a miniature computer is connected to either 20 or 40 points in his brain. (Not sure which.) The needles used are quite similar to the ones used in Eva. The computer is designed to send an electrical impulse to stop the episode when it starts. Unfortunately, the experiment goes horribly wrong.

I'd say more, but I don't want to spoil things.

Originally posted on: 28-Jun-2004, 06:58 GMT

[Dr. Nick [ANF]]

"Otaku no Video" was from 1991, so how could it have NGE references in it? Temporal paradox, maybe...

I'm talking about the second OAV, More Otaku no Video (they're both on the same DVD). Apparently the first OAV was created 1991 or 1992, but I don't know about the second one.
Now it is possible that my memories are once again messed up, so I won't guarantee that paperbag-thing right now, but the date of the Second Impact is definately there; I remember it being something along these lines: "September 13th, 1999 - A nuclear waste disposal facility located on the Moon explodes", and of course the whole Earth is flooded to hell.

I'm not really sure myself what the Daicon animation really is and I'm not going to spend my precious dialup-time searching for background info. I found a crap-quality version of it through the Edonkey network while I still had an apartment with a broadband connection, but gone are the days of glory... *weeps*

Originally posted on: 28-Jun-2004, 07:41 GMT

[MDWigs [ANF]]

I'm talking about the second OAV, More Otaku no Video (they're both on the same DVD). Apparently the first OAV was created 1991 or 1992, but I don't know about the second one.

Both Otaku No Video OAV's were released pre-Eva (both in 1992 IIRC). This is a case of Eva making a reference to ONV rather than the other way around. There are quite a few in-jokes that are references back to old Gainax productions...

Which leads us to...

I'm not really sure myself what the Daicon animation really is and I'm not going to spend my precious dialup-time searching for background info. I found a crap-quality version of it through the Edonkey network while I still had an apartment with a broadband connection, but gone are the days of glory... *weeps*

Ah Diacon. Ok I'm doing this all from memory becuase on my at home and so don't have access to my notes on Daicon, so please forgive me if I make a few minor mistakes.

Hiroyuki Yamaga, Takami Akai and Hideaki Anno (and a few others I can't remember right now, those three at least were all students of the Osaka College of Art) were all volunteer staff members for the Daicon III convention in Osaka in 1981 and they got together to produce the short opening animation for the convention's opening ceremonies.

There are two Diacon Openings, one for the 3rd convention and one for the 4th. The Daicon III opening was rather primitive, the IV opening was much more expressive (it was to the tune to ELO's "Twilight" and is what I consider the first real Anime Music Video). It also parodied everything under the sun, typical Gainax style. IIRC Anno did the animation while Yamaga directed, but it could be the other way around. It featured the original Bunny Girl (parodied later by Gaianx themselves in ONV and FLCL). It's has dated really well, especially considering when it was made and the fact it was produced in a garage. I could write a whole lot more here (and I will, later) but I'm on the clock!

Just some final comments. In 1982 these guys founded "Daicon Film", an a amateur film production company and produced features such as "Aikoku Sentai Dainippon (Patriotic Taskforce Great Japan)", "Kaettekita Ultraman (Return of Ultraman)", and "Yamata Orochi no Gyakushuu (Revenge of Yamata Orochi, the Eight-Headed Serpent)". Very low-budget cheesey stuff indeed.

Eventually becuase of the success of the Daicon openings Yamaga (then 24) was given millions by Bandai to direct Wings Of Honneamise and Gainax Studios was formed to produce it.

Check out http://www.gainax.co.jp/soft/daicon/opa.html for more details.

Originally posted on: 30-Jun-2004, 16:13 GMT

[Dan [ANF]]

Now it is possible that my memories are once again messed up, so I won't guarantee that paperbag-thing right now

I haven't watched ONV recently, but I'm pretty sure its a Ranma bag the fan coming from a swap meet/comic shop/etc. is carrying (if this is who you mean).

And I think I even know the exact picture, because it stuck in my mind really well. It has female Ranma, Akane, and Shampoo all dressed up maturely, and one of them has their fingers crossed or something.

Originally posted on: 30-Jun-2004, 18:18 GMT

[Dr. Nick [ANF]]

Oh great. Well, the only thing I can say for my defence is that it was a really crappy quality DivX-version. I'm definately gonna buy the dvd though, it's a great OAV.

Dan, at least treat my scalp with a dignity, mmkay?

Originally posted on: 01-Jul-2004, 07:34 GMT

[Dan [ANF]]

sorry, i didnt mean to be harsh.
if it makes you feel any better, I got the exact picture wrong

But yea, you should buy it, that way you can break up the interviews from the anime if you want to

Originally posted on: 01-Jul-2004, 15:43 GMT