#211: Dragon's Heaven (1988)

 

Director: Makoto Kobayashi

Screenplay: Ikuyo Koukami

Voice Cast: Iemasa Kayumi as Shaian; Yuko Minaguchi as Ikuuru; Daisuke Gouri as Orionis; Kei Tomiyama as Elmedain

Viewed in Japanese with English Subtitles

 

In the curious world of eighties OVAs, where anything could be commissioned as a short work or mini-series in the Japanese economic bubble, Dragon's Heaven is a fascinating demonstration of this, as this curious hybrid of a sci-fi anime story, live action and behind the scenes footage is something you would not sell like this a decade later even for the nineties OVA market. The beginning is not even animation but a stop motion version of Shaian, the conscious battle armour in the centre of this tale, which you will learn is a painstakingly put-together human sized model for the production, shot and moved just for a tiny scene of stylish live-action material. It sets up the main work of this OVA only fifty or less minutes long, and never was there a work where you literally could not have this commissioned this way a decade onwards. You would have to go out of your way as an independently made animated work in the 2000s onwards to produce this, or a strange short experimental television/online series to produce something like this again.

This is more so as the actual animated narrative, whilst of its country in tropes, also looks unique. This looks like a Mœbius art work, in lieu to Jean Giraud, the legendary French comic book author/graphic artist if interpreted in human character designers by Japanese tropes from the eighties. Dragon's Heaven is a striking work to look at, painstakingly animated as a result. Even the story, whilst slight, has its own little idiosyncrasies you could have run with. Namely that the central giant robot is actually sentient, with full consciousness than artificial intelligence, who when his pilot is killed in a conflict decides to hibernate. He is awoken by Ikuuru, a young woman, much later and they begin to immediately bond as a cute friendly couple, only in mind he will have to get her ready for the army he was facing originally. Strangely tied (least in the fan made subtitles for this obscurity) to being the Brazilian army of all things in this alien sci-fi world, which is repeated throughout, one of their members, another sentient robot that does not need a pilot, has plans with his squadron to invade her desert home and the main duo are the only force to stop them.

It is purely an aesthetic work, and a tech otaku or two working in lovingly rendered depictions, but it is compelling. Not surprisingly, whilst he directed one or two things, director Makoto Kobayashi is mostly as veteran mechanical designer and figure of various tasks on anything from Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy (2004) to even the Urotsukidôji franchise. He also wrote and drew the source material, so this was a personal property for him. The reference to European comics, and especially Mœbius, is justifiable too. The story you get is a simple one that purely on a visceral level is exquisite. It is, whilst slightly, to also see its amusing touches, where the robot is a conscious figure who will still be embarrassed by Ikuuru being naked, comfortable to bathe in front of him, or just hanging out with her at an intergalactic cafe outside with no one batting an eyelid, even if Shaian is bigger than most human beings as a battle mech in a tiny chair.

The slightness of the story - which is an artist's work of elaborate robots and a battle suit for Ikuuru - does not detract from how this combines its distinct style with something as ridiculous as a giant freaking gun called a Dragoon which bursts hellish laser flame, a work which I could have happily had a feature length work or a longer OVA project from. This is before you are reminded of Dragon's Heaven being a curious OVA production as, for a forty plus minute work, ten minutes after the credits is the behind the scenes footage of the crew working on the live action footage. Adding to this is knowing there were many fascinating titles like this from this era you can uncover - California Crisis: Gun Salvo (1986) for example is as fascinating for its visual style and Americana aesthetic, or To-Y (1987), a cult title even for fan subs - many of which were never released in the West officially. There are many which have very idiosyncratic art styles, narratives or are experiments like this of being three short pieces in one. Trying to sell this in the modern day is entire undercut by its short length, and whether the master materials have survived, but with mind experiments still transpire, it would be fascinating to see this project which combines live action tokusatsu footage, a unique sci-fi action narrative visually and behind-the-scene footage, and image if an animation studio ran with such a premise with a longer length even in terms of structure. Certainly, Dragon's Heaven is memorable just for this let alone the virtues of the material.