This was something of a curiosity pick. Back when I was a wee littl'un in the mid-to-late 90s (well, all right, a teenager), I had a pal who would introduce me to new animes every now and again (he also introduced me to South Park; his folks had cable and he had recorded it on VHS and brought it over). Back then the pickings were slim, usually the result of whatever Manga Entertainment (which is somewhat misleading title for a company that only put out anime OVAs and movies) and a few smaller localization companies with publishers could license to VHS tape. Evangelion, Akira, City Hunter, Ghost in the Shell, Cowboy Bebop, the 1983 Golgo 13 movie and Ninja Scroll were particularly memorable, and I still have some affection for all of them today. A slightly odder tape was for a little series called Dragon Half, which were two half-hour OVAs based on a much longer manga serial.
Dragon Half tells the tale of Mink, a girl from a small village who has a major crush on singer, actor and royal knight Dick Saucer (yep). Unfortunately, because dragons killed Dick Saucer's parents, he is also a vengeful dragon hunter and Mink just so happens to be the titular dragon half: the result of a dragon mother and a human father. Mink learns of a legendary potion that can turn her into a full human being, giving her a chance with Saucer. She and her two friends Rufa the elf and Pia the dwarf (and Pia's pet fairy mouse, Mappy) leave the village to search for the potion.
The anime just so happens to be a parody too, and a particularly insane one. Like someone crossed Final Fantasy with Looney Tunes. It probably hasn't aged too well, and boy howdy does it have some adolescent Team Ninja-esque depictions of its female characters, but it really opened my eyes to the sort of wacky anime parody humor that would eventually become more widespread with stuff like Excel Saga, Cromartie High, Magical Witch Punie-Chan or Bobobo. I usually put links at the end, but here are the OVAs in question: Episode 1 and Episode 2. It'll be easier to follow what's going in these screenshots if you get a sense of what the show is like.
Though I wanted to see what a video game adaptation of Dragon Half would be like (among other things, the anime and manga makes a lot of video game references and jokes), I also wanted to give something back to all the anime fans on the site. For all my mocking of the ubiquitous anime cutscenes in these TurboGrafx-CD games, I am a fan of the format, though not a particularly obsessive one. I suppose I'm the Daywalker equivalent of an Otaku, in that I go outside occasionally (sorry! I'll be good).
Dragon Pink is Something Completely Different. This is Not a H-Game, I Swear
Cute MGM logo joke. Unlike most parody animes, Dragon Half very much errs on the side of western humor. I wasn't kidding about the Looney Tunes comparison.The intro gravely intones the events up to this point in the manga (I believe in 1993 it was about two-thirds the way through the story, and considerably further ahead than the OVAs got). This tall fellow is Azetodeth, the legendary demon king and the antagonist of the manga. In the anime, there's a joke that his scenes were cut for time.Azetodeth's lieutenant Titan (who also happens to be a dragon, and Mink's maternal grandfather) destroyed the only item able to seal away Azetodeth: a magical gourd prison.But because this is a fantasy story, the shards of the gourd split into three mystical treasures. It becomes Mink's task mid-way through the manga to track them down and reform the gourd.Once the intro's done being serious, we get these little interviews with the various cast members of the manga to bring new people up to speed.This is Princess Vina, Mink's main rival for Dick Saucer's affections and a secret slime half (like a dragon half, but far less imposing). She's pretty much the B-Ko of this franchise. Wait, does it help if I use an obscure anime to refer to another obscure anime? (The guys behind her are Rosario, a failed wizard who uses dirty tricks; King Siva, the bald monarch and Vina's father; and Migu, Azetodeth's middle child who was summoned by Vina and is under her control.)She reveals the reason why Migu's under her command: She took a polaroid of him in his teddy bear jammies.This is Pia and Mappy. She's also conducting interviews.Though, uh, Mink's parents aren't around to comment. A running gag is that Mink's dad Rouce is a lazy lecherous asshole and is frequently beaten up by Mana, Mink's Imperial Red Dragon mother.Pia's father Mario (yes, that Mario) just faints constantly instead.Oh lordy, what are you wearing Mink? Mink can't seem to get an interview with Dick Saucer's cousin Sonic (yes, that Sonic).Bufu's around, but...Well, Bufu doesn't really say anything. She's one of a group of four elemental minor antagonists, and Bufu represents "Air". After some brief technical difficulties, the party is ready to resume their quest for the Pido Potion and the three treasures needed to reform the gourd.Man, those are some determined-looking heroines.Oh, and before I forget, this is "The Mighty" Damaramu. He wasn't always a head on a tiny mechanical body.Welcome to Dragon Half! Man, that was a lot more exposition than usual. I haven't even said what kind of game this is.If you guessed "Dokapon knock-off", congratulations. You must've Googled it while I was spending all that time setting this game up.Dokapon, for the uninitiated, is a cross between a board game and an RPG. Characters fight monsters, earn XP and gold, and can go to shops to buy better equipment and healing items. The player determines how far they can move at the start of each round (it's a regular dice roll, but they present it with these cards).This is the store screen. I have no idea what any of this means. Obviously, I don't imagine I'll do so well at this game.As well as Mink's group, there's Mana's group (which contains Rouce, Mario and Rufa's father Link) (Yes, that Link). She was fortunate enough to win a free item from this square. The yellow squares have random effects, either causing something good or bad to happen to those who end their turn on them.The red squares are combat. I bumped into Navel-09, a gynoid who was programmed very badly.Rufa's ostensibly a magic-user, but she's effectively useless at it. Her only means of attack is being overly sexually aggressive. (I swear this isn't a H-Game.)The player has some choice over who in the player's party gets to attack next, but it doesn't seem to affect a whole lot because the HP total is shared. This time, Mappy is the one sent out.Being a fairy mouse, Mappy is a lot stronger than he looks.I believe this was Vina's party. Those yellow spaces, man. Risky business.Mana's party lucks out on a free Inn visit. I'd assume that restores their HP, since those two letters are the only thing I can make out.Well, that doesn't seem fair. No "GFB Industries" logo on this one.Mink's party had the misfortune of bumping into Damaramu. I have no idea what he does, but he follows the party around from now on.The last of the four parties is the one comprised of those elemental antagonists I mentioned earlier, who I believe is lead by Melami Flare, the fire-based one. Anyway, they all just got eaten by that thing.Fire, earth, water and air, in that order.And here they are again fighting a mimic.To expand on the combat some more: It's largely random. The opponent and party takes turns attacking, and the long bar underneath the portrait decides how much damage they do; you have to try to stop it at peak power as it whizzes up and down. If you've ever played that Megaton Punch mini-game from Kirby Super Star, you know the deal.Anyway, this lot knock the poor thing out. Each battle grants XP, though I didn't see anyone level up. Or maybe I did. I can't read this stuff.Meanwhile, Vina's party comes across Broud, a villain from the manga. Broud is a plant creature that is limited in what it can do, being rooted to the ground and all. It got sat on by Vina in their first encounter.This is the result of a particularly low offensive power bar meeting a high defensive power bar. Though you usually get off a weaker attack, if the disparity is too great the attacking character just falls flat on their face and does no damage.As you can see, Mink's party is forever followed by Damaramu. Can't seem to shake the guy.Here's Vina's party in full again. It's the same group that was with her during her interview, so I won't reiterate.They have the misfortune of bumping into this minor villain from the manga. Her name is Petit Cathy.All right, before I leave (because I have no idea what I'm doing), here's Mana's party just so we're all covered. Rouce is the greatest swordsman in the kingdom but refuses to lift a finger to help; Link is a lot like his daughter, in that his magical skills are somewhat to be desired; and Mario can barely stay conscious. I guess dwarves don't have good circulation in this world.
I guess this one was a bit of a whiff, though if I knew what the hell the game was saying I think I'd be way into it. I'm not kidding about being a fan of this manga/anime, as goofy as it all is, and I find the Dokapon series to be fairly interesting from the outside looking in, though I imagine it's one of those board games that can last a while. I dig all of its presentation too, for sure. Especially the jokey RPG battles.
Well, if I can't take the occasional Octurbo entry to indulge my curiosity every once in a while, then I'm just going to end up going nuts. Thanks for bearing through this with me. And check out those OVAs if you have a spare minute, I still like 'em (the jokes pick up in episode 2).
