Funimation brought out their SAVE edition of Desert Punk back in November 2016 and they’ve just now brought out an “available now” trailer for it, which is weird but welcome as I love to talk about this quirky show. The series was one they brought out in singles about a decade ago and had Viridian editions of as well – remember that branding? Now, it’s part of the S.A.V.E. line, though sadly DVD-only as no Blu-ray has been produced yet, but it’s a full twenty-four episode series that’s priced at $24.98 before any discounts. So, a buck an episode for some silly action fanservice show that turns serious from time to time. Totally worth the splurge!
Extras for the set include the Original Japanese Extras (Making of the Live Action Opening, Interview with Takatori Hideaki, Scenes from the Studio, Desert Punk Campaign Caravan, Survival Game Course, Desert Punk Survival Game Part 2, Desert Punk Side Story, Tokyo Animator College, Yuka Special Interview, Desert Punk Radio-Final Show Public Taping Footage, Desert Punk Video Treasure Vault), Desert Parody (original Japanese DVD artwork), Main Character Cast Auditions, Life in the Desert (character profiles), As Seen on TV Episodes 1 &, 16 (Japanese broadcast video and audio), U.S. Actor Commentary, U.S. Director Commentary, Bloopers, Punkisms, Textless Songs, Trailers
Check out our Ten Years Later article about the series from 2014.
Originally airing in 2004, the series was directed by Takayuki Inagaki based on the series composition by Hiroshi Yamaguchi. Takahiro Yoshimatsu worked on the character designs and served as the chief animation director with the animation produced at Gonzo.
The Japanese cast includes Chihiro Suzuki as Sunabōzu, Chiwa Saito as Kosuna, Jiro Saito as Fuyuo Kawaguchi, Norio Wakamoto as Amagumo, Tomoko Kotani as Junko Asagiri, Wotoya Kawano as Haruo Kawaguchi and Yasuhiro Takato as Akio Kawaguchi.
The English cast includes Eric Vale as Kanta “Desert Punk” Mizuno, Luci Christian as Kosuna, Callie Young as Junko Asagiri, Cole Brown as Narrator, Jamie Marchi as Natsuko Kawaguchi, Jeremy Inman as Fuyo Kawaguchi, Justin Cook as Akio Kawaguchi, Kenny Green as Rain Spider, Mike McFarland as Haru Kawaguchi, Randy Tallman as Kaoru Kaizuka and Stephanie Young as Junko Asagiri.
Plot concept: The Great Kanto Desert is a place of extremes where a hero dies an anonymous death and a villain goes down in a blaze of glory. And then there’s this guy.
Meet Kanta Mizuno. He’s not your typical hero and his methods are not always honorable, but he’s the closest thing to a good guy the desert’s got. Self proclaimed as the Desert Punk, he’s out to make a name for himself as the best handyman for hire.
No job is too tough, no opponent too nefarious Once Desert Punk’s on the job, it’s as good as done!
Get the job done. Collect the money. Repeat
