#65: Dragon Half (1993)

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Director: Shinya Sadamitsu

Screenplay: Shinya Sadamitsu

Based on the manga by Ryusuke Mita

Voice Cast: Kotono Mitsuishi as Mink, Mariko Kouda as Rufa, Rei Sakuma as Vena, Yasunori Matsumoto as Dick Saucer, Akio Ohtsuka as Damaramu, Kaneto Shiozawa as Rosario, Kenichi Ogata as King Siva, Kikuko Inoue as Mana

Viewed in Japanese with English Subtitles

Synopsis: In a fantasy land lives Mink the Dragon Half, father a dragonslayer and mother the red dragon he fell in love with, who desires to find a "People Potion" that'll allow her to be fully human, in love with the dragonslayer/pop idol Dick Saucer who, unfortunately, is a mortal enemy of dragons like her. Neither does it help the evil king Siva wants her mother, involving both his incompetent advisor Rosario, and a greater danger of his own daughter and a slime half, half girl half slime, named Vena who has magical abilities and hates Mink with a vengeance.

As mentioned in previous reviews¹, one of the most frustrating experiences with anime is an older title, usually an OVA with an enticing premise, which barely covers the source material, has no ending and never got a follow-up and/or remake. Usually they were planned as mere tasters for the source material. Dragon Half, however, was originally meant to be longer but was one of the rare cases of a straight-to-video work clearly cancelled only after two episodes. It would've barely covered the Ryusuke Mita manga, but in its current form as only fifty five minutes altogether, these episodes are a paltry amount. Dragon Half nonetheless is clearly loved in the West even to the point it was got brought back out again on DVD in the 2010s by Discotek.

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Seeing Dragon Half finally, that's not a surprise. This is a slice, common as a delicacy in anime, of mad and hyper energised comedy. The difference is the premise, taking the piss out of the tropes of Western high fantasy. Japan has anime based on tropes more common the Lord of the Rings series and Dungeons and Dragons - usually serious work like adaptations of Berserk or Record of Lodoss War (1990-1), literally adaptations of D&D campaigns turned into their own fantasy books, the franchise that OVA started even including its own comedy spin-off Rune Soldier (2001). However Dragon Half goes further, not only in this fantasy world inexplicably having pop idols and CDs and television, despite being medieval, but in archetypes defying expectations. The dragonslayer, rather than killing the female dragon, took her hand, ran off together and sired our protagonist Mink, who is a little ditzy but a strong girl who just happens to have dragon traits like a tail. Her friends include an elf whose ancestral wand is practically a friendly fire weapon, and the diminutive dwarf girl whose pet hamster turns into an enormous monster if enraged. The evil wizard who helps the king brings his own bucket of dried ice for introductions, the King having married a slime who took the People Potion and sired Vera, a slime half born like a blob like her mother only for magic to assist her. Even Dick Saucer, the Bishōnen (beautiful young) male who sings his own theme tune and is voiced by Yasunori Matsumoto as the debonair and heroic heartthrob...only to be constantly undermined, even by a laxative slipped to him by complete accident.

The character designs, transferring the manga's, help. Elegant to the point of being absurd - large eyes, wildly vivid colours, eyelashes so pronounced they're visible beneath hair. Appropriate for fantasy, until the characters constantly distort shape for the gags. Following the principles of animations of the nine old men of Walt Disney², and making them proud, the cast of Dragon Half are practically made of elastic but never lose their distinct character silhouettes or appearances. Another form of gymnastics comes from the voice acting. Whilst you can occasionally hear an awkward transition, Dragon Half for the most part really emphasises the incredible talent of Japanese voice acting. Case in point, Mink's voice Kotono Mitsuishi is more well known for Misato Katsuragi, a very important character from the Neon Genesis Evangelion franchise who functions as a comedic character early on, usually due to her constant alcohol consumption, but especially by The End of Evangelion (1997) is a character from Mitsuishi radically different in genre and tone from Mink. The best actual example however of the vocal gymnastics comes from Rei Sakuma as Vena, the feminine villainess who's elegant in manner, only to turn to a raspy shout when angered and the character design distorts. As the character designs change shape, the voices do and are as much why the anime is funny. As I watch more anime again, I am even learning to appreciate the original Japanese voice actors' work, especially in comedy, in spite of language and referential differences.

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The fact, sadly, Dragon Half is so short however means this is all a slither. Episode one is meant to introduce all the characters including Damaramu, the warrior sent to kill Mink who, alongside the strange quirk of a couple of characters here being able to pull light sabre swords from their temples, can even survive the circumstances of the conclusion due, as described in Episode 2, to his unique anatomy about a small brain. However the abrupt end of this series does leave this the only episode a lot of these characters have, such as Mink's parents, introduced playing dragonslayer vs. dragon much to their daughter's annoyance, who are interesting in themselves. The whole subtext of Mink's mixed heritage, blatantly there, is also neglected as the series never went any further than Episode 2. It's an obvious issue dealing with ethnicity even if through the backdoor of fantasy - when there are moments in high fantasy which are deeply problematic for myself (such as how orcs have ended up, usually the villains, being portrayed as sinister "others") anime has had a nice, applaudable side even if it's not clearly intended, of dealing with protagonists who are half human and half being. Dragon Half's not the only work, even outside the comedy fantasy drama, that has had a "halfbreed" protagonist, and whilst many don't have a literal People Potion, which can turn a slime into a woman and marry a king, stories have nudged this topic a lot. Sadly, only two episodes long, even a series meant just for humour cannot deal with this plot point integral to the story, as Mink goes on a quest for said potion, any further than hint at it.

The second episode, Mink having to enter a tournament of death to earn money for a transport ticket, is where the virtues of a full series as a comedy are hinted at, manic slapstick and everything else possible on the table. A character, the son of a villain we never see, even has to watch the first episode on video mid-scene to realise his accusations against Mink were deleted from that previous episode, which is where you learn nothing would've out as a gag in this series. All alongside one of the best executed diarrhea gags possible, which isn't below the episode but succeeds, and further proof of Rosario being an utterly useless magician. It does also have fan service, the final shot of the whole work Mink topless, but for all the complicated issues with sexuality to write about in anime, this is at best someone who is only annoyed the circumstances happened in front of a large crowd and still punts someone off into a lava pit like a badass regardless of her embarrassment. Dragon Half isn't different in the pace and type of humour of a lot of anime comedy, but especially with the constant character distortions, OVA level of quality animation, and the general sense of lunacy at hand, it's a tragedy that its only in existence as two episodes.

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If at least for the end credits as well, which is immortalised within only two episodes by itself, the anime should've lasted longer. Composed by Beethoven with new lyrics, the lengthy song about what Mink is going to have for dinner, not to eat her egg and offering the calamari instead, is an earworm to admire, especially when it has a kabuki break in the middle, than another with a choral hymn and weird bird flying over in the credits animation. Its indulgent, exceptionally silly but itself exemplifies the creative and immensely funny material at hand.

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1) Examples like Five Star Stories (1989) which was reviewed HERE.

2) Research them and their rules of animation, as it'll make what an anime like Dragon Half does an actual art form as well as more fun.

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