Unconventional doesn’t always work but I’m always curious to see what new thing is being attempted and ways in which it can be explored and built upon. Original series are able to do this more than your usual standard adaptations so the arrival of the Neo Ranga series was very appealing. The show, an original creation written by Sho Aikawa, was one that laid things out differently as it was made up of forty-eight half-lenth episodes that ran from April ‘98 to September ‘99. This meant a slower pace and a gradual immersion into the world that you felt more and more invested in as time went on – and as the situations changed across all of that. When ADV Films picked it up at the time and moved forward with it they dug into the kind of curious design of the show, especially since the cover artwork was “controversial” at the time with the flesh blacked out on them.
Airing as part of the Anime Complex block on WOWOW, the studio Pierrot animated series delivered a different kind of kaiju series. It’s principally focused on the Shimabara sisters, young women that ranged from thirteen to twenty-four who are very much invested in taking care of each other. Just the age range alone helps to shift the dynamic in all of this as Minami as the eldest takes on a motherly role but has to remember at times that she’s not truly that, especially with Ushio as the middle daughter with the whole sense of right and justice that colors her view of the world. They’re both good contrasts to the youngest in Yuuhi who is the most serious of them all in her darker ways as she knows how to manipulate others into what she wants.
The distinctive elements of their personalities provide for a breakout of the larger elements of most people in the singular fashion and that connects to how their world is about to change. The arrival of Joel to their household is the pivotal point as he represents the Barou, an indigenous people that live on an island in the Pacific. He’s bringing the sisters their as their older brother had married into the royalty there before he died, which has now made them the hereditary rules. There are obvious issues with this from a Western point of view but in the construct of the series, it works well as the sisters become hugely protective of the island and its residents that are very much isolated in most ways.
Where they really stand apart is in that there is an island god called Neo Ranga there, which knows that they’re now the rulers and it places them under its protection. The girls spend some good time there initially but end up returning to Japan where everything becomes far more complicated. It’s in this area that I absolutely adore the show as it focuses on how they, as the rulers, create a kind of ambassadorial problem which leads to an embassy, jurisdictional issues, and a host of interesting politics around it all that they have to navigate. Some of them handle it better than others as you’d expect but I love watching the way they balance everything and let their strengths stand out as much as their weaknesses.
Bringing this sixty-foot tall creature to Japan is something that also works well because it’s a place that is more willing to accept such things culturally, at least within the show, and that makes for a lot of good material. Each of the sisters and the growing group that exists in their protectorate zone digs into a lot of the pros and cons that come with it, not looking at just all good or all bad. That there are kids that are excited is great and that there are adults that see the real threat to their livelihoods works just as well since there’s so much to explore. And where it does this in the half-length format it doesn’t let a lot of things go on too long in the smaller explorations while building its larger picture of how it impacts so many people in so many ways.
Neo Ranga doesn’t age too well in some ways but there are elements that still stand out well and distinctive. The Neo Ranga design and how they interact with it is a huge plus since it’s not like it’s a cute character to play with and without any dialogue to it, there’s so much communicated through body language and the interpretation of the girls. Especially since much of it is through Ushio, the one that outwardly comes across as the most connected to it. The show definitely has an older look to it with a grimy and overcast approach to much of the weather and design but that hits a sweet spot in really setting the atmosphere – and a strong contrast to the dance and tribal elements that we get with the Barou themselves.
ADV Films released this a couple of times over the course of their license but it’s been long out of print since they closed up shop. I believe the last version of it released was a complete collection in 2008 after they did the run of singles. The show was one that hasn’t had a Blu-ray release in Japan but the DVD singles and sets are still floating around on the secondhand market. It’s one that I do hope can find a new release in high definition as it’s along the cusp of when things started transitioning in how anime was produced. It’s such a niche little show though that I don’t hold out much hope at this point, especially as we’re past the twentieth-anniversary of it.
Neo Ranga may struggle in some areas with modern audiences but it holds a special place in my heart from a different time and place. It’s one that I hope will get picked up again and introduced to a new audience.
