Leiji Matsumoto's The Cockpit

[slerch666]

Well, it was only a matter of time before I tracked it down on R2 DVD and after finding it and spending... a lot... on it, I finally received my copy of The Cockpit.

I have to say that over all... I was rather impressed.

For those that don't know, The Cockpit is a 3 episode OVA that focuses on the effects of war on soldiers... to put it simply. It actually is a lot deeper than that, but that's the gist of the series.

The first episode focuses on a pilot who is asked to escort a bomber on it's bombing run. Unfortunately for him, his old girlfriend and her father are there and are to ride in the bomber he is escorting. His old girlfriend breaks the secrecy and the reason she and her father are there is because they are running a NUCLEAR bombing run! She asks him to lead her and her father into death, as this would be better than being remembered throughout history as the greatest evil.

The second episode focuses on a pilot of another kind; a pilot of an Ouka, or a human guided rocket. Basically it was a bomb with a rocket and a cockpit attached that was dropped from a bomber and guided by a human rider. Crazy stuff there.

The last episode focuses on a young man who assigned to a encampment on the other side of the island they are protecting. When he gets there he finds out the encampment has been destroyed. He winds up riding his motorcycle with a survivor from the encampment in an attempt to make it back to the other side of the island where their main base is.


I will say there were quite a few things I didn't understand as the dialog was rather complex. Hopefully littleharlock and Helen have seen these, or someone who has seen the VHS subbed (or was it dubbed only?) US release can correct anything I've gotten wrong.

So the series had a VHS release (in Japan and US), a Japanese LD release and a Japanese DVD release. The English VHS tapes are... impossible to find. The Japanese LDs aren't overly rare, but don't show up often and then you have the DVD edition which seems to be quite a rarity. If the DVD isn't rare, then it is the fact that no one who has it seems to be willing to part with it. Having finally seen the series, I can certainly see why a person who owns it, likely a Matsumoto nut to boot, wouldn't want to give the DVD release up.

The DVD has some video issues (some dot crawl and eps 2 some of the colors seem over saturated), but over all is really well done. I love the Matsumoto cover and the artwork on the reverse side is equally as exquisite.

If you can get a copy or have access to it and can see it, I can't recommend it enough.

[DocWatson]

I've saw it fan subbed several years ago. Note that all of the stories take place during World War 2, and are told from the German, Japanese, and Japanese viewpoints, respectively. The pilot in the first story looks like Harlock, and flies a Focke-Wulf Ta 152 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focke-Wulf_Ta_152), the successor to the FW-190; the intention of the bombing run is to drop a German nuke on the Allies. The third story takes place on an island that the Americans have invaded. That's what I remember beyond what you've already posted.

[littleharlock]

The Cockpit is one of the IMO greatest series Leiji Matsumoto ever created. I remember reading an interview with him where he was asked which of his works is the most precious to him and he answered with The Cockpit being his most precious one even more than his (definitely more popular) Leijiverse stories (not that he didn't try to connect the story of Senjô, The Cockpit, Hard Metal, etc. with the Leijiver itself *cough* Waga Seishun no Arcadia manga *cough* though). And looking at Matsumoto's personal history and reading (or watching the three chapters that have been adapted into anime) this series it's clear that Matsumoto threw in a lot of personal experiences and views on war and the consequences war has on humans into The Cockpit (i.e. his latest contribution to this series, Jigoku Tunnel in which he told the story of his childhood during WWII, or the story of The Cockpit about a manga-ka in the harsh world of WW2).
However it's IMO a pitty that aside from these three excellent stories no other chapters of the series had been adapted into animated format yet though.

<regarding The Cockpit Episode 1 - "Seisouken Kiryuu">
This is by far my favorite story among those three. It has been animated by Studio Madhouse, featuring Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Juubei Ninpuchou, Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust, etc.) as director *and* character designer! The music by Masahiro Kawasaki for this episode just fits the mood perfectly (heck I turn into a crybaby by the end of this episode almost everytime I re-watch it ^_^"). The seiyuu such as Emi Shinohara (as Melhenna) and Horiuchi Kenyuu (as Leutnant Erhardt von Rheindars) did an excellent job in portraying the tragic/desperate situation of the characters IMO.

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slerch666 said:
The first episode focuses on a pilot who is asked to escort a bomber on it's bombing run. Unfortunately for him, his old girlfriend and her father are there and are to ride in the bomber he is escorting. His old girlfriend breaks the secrecy and the reason she and her father are there is because they are running a NUCLEAR bombing run! She asks him to lead her and her father into death, as this would be better than being remembered throughout history as the greatest evil.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wonderful job in summarizing the episode slerch! Some little additions though if you don't mind.

At the beginning of this episode we see an aerial battle (or dog fight is the correct term for such battles if I'm not totatlly wrong *no native speaker*). <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>During this fight between Erhardt, a fellow comrade of the German Luftwache and two British pilots, we see that the battle ends with Erhardt's fellow comrade being shot and Erhardt himself managing to eject from the cockpit of his aircraft in order to escape death. This action of "escaping the battle" by Erhardt is considered cowardly by the fellow German soldiers (as one noted when he saw Erhardt still alive). He lost his "honor/reputation" among his comrades by then...however his superior offers Erhardt a last chance to regain his status among the Luftwache. Escorting a *very important* transport to Peenemünde with a Messerschmidt plane. As easy and clear as this job may sound at first, Erhardt soon gets into great personal conflicts with this job as it involves his former fiancee Melhenna and her father Prof. Bachstein. As it turns out later (after Melhenna and Erhardt have a little chat about old times and why Melhenna had to leave Erhardt) the cargo of the plane Erhardt has to escort to Peenemünde is a nuclear bomb which Bachstein and his daughter Melhenna created (and which the Nazi's do have understandable high interest in). The night before the journey to Peenemünde starts, Melhenna asks Erhardt a favor. He should stop them from arriving in Peenemüde. IIRC Melhenna said that they (she and her father) created something that will bring darkness to the world, which (in the hands of the Nazis) will crush cities like Moscow in a matter of seconds.</span>
As said I love this episode and even though I probably re-watched it about 10-20 times since I bought the jp. The Cockpit Collection DVD, it keeps me hooked everytime I re-watch it. The inner conflict of Erhardt in this story is just awesomely twisted and also portrayed that way. Should he <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>fullfill Melhenna and her fathers wish to vanish with their evil creation? Or should he do his job as he was told to?</span> I think the reason on why he actually considered to <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>properly escort the plane to Peenemünde was rather that he regains his reputation than he didn't wanted his loved Melhenna to die just after he was finally reunited with her.</span>
Wonderful adaption. Unfortunately the Soundtrack for The Cockpit is long out of print as well (like the jp DVD Collection itself) and with the success this OVA adaption had among fans you can imagine the prices the OST is sold these days (I tried to bid for it second hand 3 times now and always lost when it reached the 6,000 Yen+ area &gt;_&lt;).

More comments on the other episodes later on.

so far
yours
littleharlock

[slerch666]

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littleharlock said:
Wonderful adaption. Unfortunately the Soundtrack for The Cockpit is long out of print as well (like the jp DVD Collection itself) and with the success this OVA adaption had among fans you can imagine the prices the OST is sold these days (I tried to bid for it second hand 3 times now and always lost when it reached the 6,000 Yen+ area &gt;_&lt;).

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That's OK, some tool is trying to sell it for 40,000 I believe it was on Amazon Japan's market place...

[mcarocks2003]

I'm also a huge fan of the 'The Cockpit'. The first episode is also my favourite and i've watched it around 9 times.

What strikes me the most about this short piece of animation is the poetic dialogue. Not only is the script so well writen, but every word is so perfectly captured by the voice actors.

There are so many metaphors too <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>like when the fiancee Melhenna is talking to Rheindars about their past and you see her look down into her tea as form of reflection. I also noticed the tea is tinted red in the light which i feel symbolises their lost love.</span>

There's so much to this 23 minutes of animation, i feel i could write a whole essay on it. I defintly recommend finding a script or subbed copy of this just so you can see all the dialogue you might have missed.

[slerch666]

The first episode was actually the one I understood the most dialog in actually. It appears there is another option for English subbed version, other than VHS. When I have less coming in I will probably look into get it.

[DiGiKerot]

[ QUOTE ]
slerch666 said:
So the series had a VHS release (in Japan and US), a Japanese LD release and a Japanese DVD release. The English VHS tapes are... impossible to find. The Japanese LDs aren't overly rare, but don't show up often and then you have the DVD edition which seems to be quite a rarity. If the DVD isn't rare, then it is the fact that no one who has it seems to be willing to part with it. Having finally seen the series, I can certainly see why a person who owns it, likely a Matsumoto nut to boot, wouldn't want to give the DVD release up.

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It had a UK release on VHS from Kiseki as well (I have it somewhere, but since I don't actually have a VHS player now, I can't watch it ^^;). I think they might have actually released it on DVD as well, but in one of their hideous direct-VHS-dump transfers coupled with some other completely unrelated and inappropriate show...

[mcarocks2003]

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DiGiKerot said:
It had a UK release on VHS from Kiseki as well (I have it somewhere, but since I don't actually have a VHS player now, I can't watch it ^^;). I think they might have actually released it on DVD as well, but in one of their hideous direct-VHS-dump transfers coupled with some other completely unrelated and inappropriate show...

[/ QUOTE ]

The UK dvd release is one and only version i have. It is indeed mastered from the same vhs copy. Neither UK versions have the original staff interviews that the US vhs tape had though.

EDIT - wow huge coincidence but i just got an email reply from Urban Vision stating they do not have the license to 'The Cockpit' anymore so they can't release a dvd.

[Njr Scrawl]

Another title for Animeigo to ponder.

Somehow I think their final choice, if one is made, will be personal to Robert Woodhead, family &amp; staff.

[Legion]

[ QUOTE ]
Wrath of the Njr said:
Another title for Animeigo to ponder.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd hope for MB rescuing this license and releasing it on DVD with Urban Vision's dub.

[Njr Scrawl]

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Legion said:
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Wrath of the Njr said:
Another title for Animeigo to ponder.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd hope for MB rescuing this license and releasing it on DVD with Urban Vision's dub.

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Any company would do /images/graemlins/happy.gif If AE or MB could also get Midnight Eye Goku (Cobra has been mentioned already) I'd be happy. I have a pre-owned Manga UK Goku &amp; it could do with a re-license.

[slerch666]

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Wrath of the Njr said:
Any company would do /images/graemlins/happy.gif If AE or MB could also get Midnight Eye Goku (Cobra has been mentioned already) I'd be happy. I have a pre-owned Manga UK Goku &amp; it could do with a re-license.

[/ QUOTE ]
Except 4Kids or Manga...

[Njr Scrawl]

4 Kids would not go near Goku!

Manga could though. I can't remember if the UK dub was their own or UV's. More likely their own since Vampire Hunter D &amp; Cobra had UK dubs.

[littleharlock]

Let's come to the second episode of The Cockpit. While I still consider the first one to be the best out of these three, the second one isn't any less impressive.

&lt;The Cockpit Episode 2 "Onsoku Raigeki-tai"&gt;

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slerch666 said:
The second episode focuses on a pilot of another kind; a pilot of an Ouka, or a human guided rocket. Basically it was a bomb with a rocket and a cockpit attached that was dropped from a bomber and guided by a human rider. Crazy stuff there.


[/ QUOTE ]

Again great job in summarizing it. Just wanting to add some little details if you allow.
In episode 2 we're jumping from the German soldier story to the Japanese side during WW2. As slerch already said <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>this story introduces us to a young Ouka pilot named Nogami. The rather young soldier is very loyal about his duty and wants to complete his task in battle for the sake of Japan. However at his first chance of actually piloting the Ouka bomb, they get attacked by Americans and before he can start his bomb his superior knocks him out and throws him overboard (with a parachute of course ^_~). Landed on Japan he realizes (as ironic as it may seem) that he, the Kamikaze pilot, is the only living survivor of the aerial battle! However Nogami soon gets another chance to pilot the rocket.</span>
Just like the first episode of The Cockpit, this one has a bunch of sad yet wonderfully staged scenes. Even though it's only abut half an hour time to tell the basic plot, director Takashi Imanishi managed to make the audience sympathize with Nogami. I'm not trying to say that one will understand the reasons for Nogami's actions though. However you can't help but sympathize with Nogami when <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>he tells his new team members about his dream about flying to the moon with a rocket.</span>
The final minutes of this episode however are even more ironic as the end to the previous episode and support the question of who's the winner in war and wether winning does matter in the end (a question Matsumoto often "asks" the reader in The Cockpit mainly by the bittersweet endings those stories usually have). As we learn by the ending narration of this episode <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>the day Nogami finally has his chance to pilot the Ouka rocket sucessfully for his much loved country is also the day Japan surrenders</span>.

Btw. silly sidenote, this episode has been animated by Janco Visual (Madhouse animated episode 1 and the third and final volume has been produced by Visual 80). As mentioned before (IIRC) each episode has been done not only by a different director but also a completely different staff (i.e. music for this episode has been done by Akira Inoue).

so far
yours
littleharlock

[mcarocks2003]

My highlights of this episode are:

<span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>When the amateur soldiers are looking up at the stars while listening to some music played on a harp by a mysterious woman in the distance. They talk about what they would have been had they not had to fight a war.

Probaly the most powerful thing about this episode is the main character knows hes going to die one way or another. The fact that he's prepared himself for death comes off as very noble yet heart breaking.

And lastly at the very end, we see a picture of the myterious woman with her gentle harp playing softly in the background which confirms it was infact the main character's lover. </span>

I must also say kudos to the narration in all the episodes, everything is summarised so clearly yet poetically (as is most of the character dialogue).

[Dream]

ah yes; the anime based off Matsumoto-san's "Battlefield" manga.

i still haven't seen this yet- i must procure this somehow and fast as Madhouse animated [most of] it. /images/graemlins/happy.gif