Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko (幻夢戦記レダ, Genmu Senki Reda) is a direct-to-video anime (OVA) film released in Japan on March 1, 1985. It was also released in theaters on December 21, 1985.
It became a hit, selling more than 30,000 units in 1985 when it was released, and was also released in theaters on December 21 of the same year in conjunction with Vampire Hunter "D".
Synopsis[]
For a year and a half, Youko Asagiri has fostered an unrequited love for one of her classmates. To express her affection, she composes a piano solo that she plans to show him when she confesses. When the moment of truth comes, however, Youko is not brave enough to speak to her classmate, and the ground suddenly swallows her up!
In an instant, Youko finds herself in the mysterious realm of "Ashanti." She quickly makes friends with a talking dog named Lingam, who explains that Ashanti is a sister realm of "Noa," the realm that Youko came from. The two worlds were once connected, but they were separated long ago by the warrior Leda to protect the people of Noa. Now, Youko's arrival has temporarily opened a path between the realms, which the evil forces of Zell intend to make permanent.
The forces of Zell steal Youko's cassette player under the belief that it is the mythical "Heart of Leda," a necessary artifact for their nefarious plans. However, Youko manages to evade their capture by transforming into Leda's warrior. With these new powers, will she be able to protect the people of Noa and return to her world?
Publication Book[]
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Volume | Light Novel Vol. 1 |
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| Released Date | May 1, 1985 | |
| ISBN | 978-4-06-190029-5 |
OVA[]
An English release of the film was acquired by The Right Stuf International in February 1997. It was officially released in North America on both subbed and dubbed VHS formats in May 1997. The OVA was republished on November 27, 2000 The company has yet to release the OVA on DVD in the region.
- Production Staff
- Original idea - Kaname Productions
- Director - Kunihiko Yuyama
- Screenplay - Junki Takegami, Kunihiko Yuyama
- Character design/Animation director - Mutsumi Inomata
- Animation Coordinator - Toru Kageyama, Shohei Ohara
- Mechanic design/image setting - Takahiro Toyomasu
- Art Director - Tadami Shimokawa
- Director of Photography - Shigeo Sugimura
- Music - Shiro Sagisu
- Sound Director - Noriyoshi Matsuura
- Main animators - Mutsumi Inomata, Toru Kageyama, Takafumi Hayashi, Kazuaki Mori, Teji Doki, Hideki Tamura, Shinsaku Kozuma, Kouji Ito, Hiroaki Goda, Hiromi Muranaka, Takahiro Toyomasu, Shohei Ohara
- Producer - Satohiro Nagao
- Production - TOHO, Kaname Production
Genmu Senki Leda was released in VHS format in North America in May 1997 by The Right Stuf International. The film was re-released in 4K alongside a special edition bundle in Japan on June 19, 2019.
Character[]
Yoko Asagiri composes a piano sonata to show her love to a young man. While listening to the song on a Walkman she passes him but doesn't dare to confess. Then she is transported to a fantastical world. There she meets a talking dog. While talking to the dog, she sees off in the sky a reflection of her world. She then discovers that she can transport herself between the worlds while listening to the song. Then her walkman is stolen by strange men riding mechanical creatures who attack her. Yoko then transforms into a powerful sword-wielding warrior and defeats them.
They meet a young girl named Yoni who explains that the floating castle, Garuba, nearby is ruled by Zell, an evil man using Leda's power for evil. He wishes to open a portal to the world of Noa to conquer it. Yoni leads her to a giant robot named the Armor of Leda that can transform into a ship called the Wings of Leda. Zell's floating towers attack and Yoni's giant robot, Rubber Star, is destroyed during the battle. Yoni and Yoko then fly to Zell's castle. They confront Zell, who erects a force field separating Yoko from her friends. Zell tells her that she came to this world because she wanted to escape from her world.
Zell captures her friends and puts Yoko to sleep to use her to help control the portal machine. There Yoko dreams that she is dating a young man. Instead of walking past him, she started talking to him. When Yoko realizes her life with the boy she loves is nothing but an illusion, she breaks the spell, rescues her friends, and the machine overloads. Zell, in anger lunges towards Yoko. Yoko stabs him, killing him. While the castle is destroyed Yoko and her friends escape. Yoko then returns to her world. Upon her return, she sees the boy and runs after him to talk to him.
Abilities[]
She suddenly inherits the power of Leda, the goddess who once ruled the land of Ashanti, and is awakened as a "warrior of Leda" and forced to fight. She is transformed by being swallowed by a giant flower that looks like an insectivorous plant. She is bewildered by her awakened powers, but immediately defeats the frogmen. To return to her original world, she has to fight against Zell, a former Leda priest who is planning to invade the real world. Yoko can perform a piano piece that only Leda Warrior can control "Leda Heart", a combination of sounds that controls Leda Power.
Yoko's appearance as a Leda warrior. She is without a doubt a Bikini Armor. In addition, while her exposure is quite high, her defense is also quite high, and the attacks she received in the play were almost completely nullified. In the novelization, it was described that even when exposed to high-heat flames, she was only "stimulated to the extent of taking a hot bath". Even when exposed to a certain amount of heat energy, it seems to be able to convert it into light and make it shine and nullify it, possibly "possessing an ultra-high performance energy conversion capability".
YOKO'S SWORD
The armor design is orthodox, exposing a lot of skin but concealing areas that should be hidden. Apart from the bra and pants, the woman is equipped with shoulder armor, neck pads, hand armor from the elbow to the wrist, and boot-like foot armor from the knee down. The bra and pants are often depicted with a metallic texture. However, they may not be made of hard metal, as they do not impair Yoko's movement and sometimes appear as flexible as clothing.
Unlike other characters from the 1980s, who also wear bikini armor, Yoko's body is in a reasonably mature shape, and her breasts (though not huge) are of an appropriate size for her age. This gives Yoko a healthy sexiness that precedes her lewdness, which also makes her attractive.
It is said that Leda's warriors have not only a high level of physical ability but also a tremendously heightened intuition and understanding of things. At least that is how it is described in the novel version by Hideyuki Kikuchi. That is why she can easily ride an air bike steed (aero bike), which is a vehicle of the other world and can successfully move Leda's armor (a giant transforming robot found in the ruins) without any lectures.
In the OVA, there was no explanation as to why she was able to control Stade and Leda's armor, but in the novel version, it was explained that "because she awakened as a warrior of Leda", she acquired the ability to instantly grasp and understand mechanical structures, as well as to immediately assemble and further modify them (as a kind of supernatural ability).
As a warrior, she also wields a straight sword carried at the waist of the bikini armor she wears to fight and cut his way through various enemies. The sword is normally lowered from the waist by the hilt only, and when Yoko holds it in her hand, the tip of the hilt opens to create a blade. The sword's performance as a sword is so outstanding that it can lightly cut off not only enemy robot soldiers but even the fingers of giant stone statues.
LEDA[]
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It was hidden in the "Winged Room of Leda," deep within the "Temple of Leda," the headquarters of the Ledaites. In the "Winged Room of Leda," there is only one pedestal-like chair, which reacts and activates when Yoko, a warrior of Leda, sits down. When Yoko, a Leda warrior, sits down, it reacts and activates, revealing its appearance. In the animated film, the rear wall opens to reveal the fuselage of Leda's wings. The pedestal becomes the pilot's seat, folds into the torso, and the wing parts of Leda's wings become its legs, transforming into its robotic form, Leda's armor. The pedestal itself had a windshield, etc. from the start, giving it the appearance of an overtly "cockpit of some kind." In Hideyuki Kikuchi's novelization, Yoko sits on the pedestal and reacts in the same way, but then a thin light (like a laser) is seen on the surrounding rock surface, materials are cut out, and the assembly process begins. As it is, detailed equipment, engines, attitude control devices, etc., are cut out, assembled, built-in, and completed through the manufacturing process to reveal the finished product. At first, the chair does not have windshields, etc., and these are assembled and installed only during the assembly process. The wings incorporate a laser beam cannon. The armor is also hard enough to repel the drills of enemy drill tanks. Inside is a built-in "telepathic computer" (......), which can be accessed by simply remembering the user's name, and which can be used to program enemy mechanics to destroy themselves.   Leda Wing  Leda Armor   Leda Wing: Cockpit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In both the OVA and the novelization, it is used to enter the floating castle Galba, the enemy's stronghold, but since this is not a robot animation, it does not appear in many scenes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A steed is an air bike that appears in "Leda: The Legend of Dreams". In this state, the landing legs are extended and the steed is stationary. When activated, the bike blows air from the lower part of the fuselage to rise to the surface, folds its landing legs, and blows air from the nozzles at the rear of the fuselage to move forward. The maximum speed is unknown, but in the film, it was running at a very high speed. Since it does not use tires, it can travel not only over uneven terrain but also over swamps and water surfaces. The landing legs are also capable of walking and sprinting, so they can land on the ground and run as it is. Equipped with a machine gun on its front, it attacks while running. The villain Zell, his men, and the robots that appear in the film straddle it and ride on it. Yoko fights them, takes one of the steeds they were riding, and controls it as her ride. In the novelization, Yoko's power, now that she has become a Ledda warrior, has modified the machine so that it can reach speeds of nearly 200 km/h. In the 1980s, Nitto released a plastic model of this machine.   | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 《GALLERY》 |
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Genmu Senki Reda II[]
Following the success of this film, plans were made to produce a second film, "Genyume Senki Reda II. Both Toho and King Record were positive about the production, and Toho announced the soundtrack in the form of an image single and image album of the theme song "Yume no Maze" with the announcement, "To be released in theaters in the summer of 1986 (1986).
However, due to various circumstances, this was not realized and the work became a phantom.
External Link[]
- Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko — Wikipedia JP
- Leda: The Fantastic Adventure of Yohko — Wikipedia EN
Trivia[]
to be added.