With the streaming for the Iria: Zeiram the Animation OVA seemingly continuously expanding as it’s been added to multiple services over the years, the show is now getting some new distribution. With the show having been licensed multiple times over the years, and with a new Blu-ray release recently, AsianCrush has now been the latest to onboard the show with its English dub only available here.
The OVA was originally released in Japan throughout the summer and fall of 1994 and was directed by Tetsuro Amino who worked on the script with Naruhisa Arakawa, based on the original work by Keita Amamiya. It also features character designs by Masakazu Katsura and stars Aya Hisakawa as Iria.
Discotek Media brought this out on DVD with improved video quality over the previous releases. The dub stars Stacie Renna, Gary Suson, Elisabetta Spinelli, Andrew Thorson, and Dave Siegel.
The series features “Tokete Iku Yume no Hate ni” by Yayoi Goto as its opening theme song. It’s an opening that still connects well after all these years and shows off some great old-school animation.
Plot concept: Iria is the story of a girl and the Alien being she loves to hate. The series begins with her brother, Gren, taking a job. He is a bounty hunter, and one well known for his incredible skill. Iria, being a skilled apprentice bounty hunter herself, tags along. What is the job, one might ask. It is to find out what has happened to the crew and cargo of a Space Station. Needless to say, nothing is as it seems, and the war between Iria and Zeiram begins in earnest.
