, also known in the West as ''Planet Busters'' or ''The World of the Talisman'', is a 1984

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening o ...

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

(OVA), which was released on VHS and

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kin ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the C ...

by, variously,

Streamline Streamline may refer to: Business * Streamline Air, American regional airline * Adobe Streamline, a discontinued line tracing program made by Adobe Systems * Streamline Cars, the company responsible for making the Burney car Engineering ...

and

ADV Films A.D. Vision Holdings, Inc. (known simply as ADV and also referred to as ADV Films) was an American multimedia entertainment distributor headquartered in Houston, Texas, and founded in 1992 by video game fan John Ledford and anime fans Matt Gre ...

. The Japanese DVD was released by video game publisher

Atlus is a Japanese video game developer, publisher, arcade manufacturer and distribution company based in Tokyo. A subsidiary of Sega, the company is known for video game series such as ''Megami Tensei'', ''Persona'', ''Etrian Odyssey'' and ''Tra ...

on March 25, 2005. It is based on the manga ''Birth Planet Busters'' by

Yoshinori Kanada was an influential Japanese animator originally from Nara, Japan. He is best known for his popular 1984 work ''Birth'', one of the first (after Dallos) original video animations released in the market. Though he did not create many character desi ...

published in 1983. It is based on a far

futuristic The future is the time after the past and present. Its arrival is considered inevitable due to the existence of time and the laws of physics. Due to the apparent nature of reality and the unavoidability of the future, everything that currently ...

planet where four

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any ...

band together to try and unlock the power of the ultimate weapon which can either save humanity or destroy it. Against

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...

s and strange races, they sweep the vast planet to reach their goal.

Summary

Aqualoid was a prosperous planet, but an attack from a mysterious life force, the Inorganics, transforms it into a

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

shell of its former self. When Nam finds a mysterious sword, he is suddenly the object of a planet-wide chase. With the Inorganics closing in, will Nam and his friends discover the secret of the sword and save their world? Or will they destroy Aqualoid in favor of a new Birth?

Production

acted as one of the OVA's key animators. Another noteworthy animator on ''Birth'' was a young

Hideaki Anno is a Japanese animator, filmmaker and actor. He is best known for creating the anime series ''Neon Genesis Evangelion'' (1995)''.'' His style is defined by his postmodernist approach and the extensive portrayal of characters' thoughts and emoti ...

, who would go on to direct ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko Production, Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo fr ...

''.

English dubs

Two English dubs of ''Birth'' exist. The first was licensed in 1987 by Harmony Gold and released by

Streamline Pictures Streamline Pictures was an American media company that was best known for its distribution of English-dubbed Japanese animation. History Founding Founded in Los Angeles, California, in late 1988, Streamline Pictures was one of the first No ...

in North America and the United Kingdom under the title ''The World of the Talisman''. According to ''

New Straits Times The ''New Straits Times'' is an English-language newspaper published in Malaysia. It is Malaysia's oldest newspaper still in print (though not the first), having been founded as ''The Straits Times'' on 15 July 1845. It was relaunched as the ' ...

'', it briefly aired in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Malays ...

in late 1987. The OVA was later retitled yet again to ''Planet Busters''. Harmony Gold's version changes some of the character names, tones down some of the more surreal Japanese humour to appeal to a younger audience, and contains more American-style dialogue, alternate music composed by Randy Miller and additional voice-overs. The second dub by

, released on DVD on July 13, 2004, is much more faithful to the original Japanese version.

Characters

In order of appearance - ADV (2004) / Streamline (1992, 1987) / Japanese (1984) * Monga - Matt Hislope / __ /

Fuyumi Shiraishi was a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. Career Fuyumi was previously affiliated with Aoni Production and after she left Aoni and joined Ken Production founded by the late Kenji Utsumi until the time of her death. Death Shiraishi di ...

* Mu-nyo -

Cyndi Williams Cyndi Lou Williams is an American voice actress and script writer. She has mainly appeared in anime series by ADV Films. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Actress for her performance in Kyle Henry's film, '' Room ( ...

/ __ /

Chika Sakamoto is a Japanese voice actress who is affiliated with Arts Vision. Filmography Television animation ;1980s *''Captain Tsubasa'' (1983) – Sanae Nakazawa *'' Cat's Eye'' (1983) – Ai Kisugi *''Nine'' (1983) – Yukimi Yasuda *''Super Dimension Ce ...

* Rasa - Alexis Chamov / Sandra Snow /

Miina Tominaga , better known by her stage name , is a Japanese actress, voice actress and singer from Nishi-ku, Hiroshima. She is currently attached to Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society. Tominaga is best known for her roles in ''Sazae-san'' (as Ka ...

* Kim/Keen - Bradley Carlin / Ryan O'Flannigan /

Kaneto Shiozawa Toshikazu Shiozawa ( ja, 塩沢敏一, Shiozawa Toshikazu, January 28, 1954 – May 10, 2000), better known by the stage name Kaneto Shiozawa ( ja, 塩沢兼人, Shiozawa Kaneto), was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. At the ...

* Bao/Mo/Pao - James Phillips / Greg Snow / Ichiro Nagai * Nam's Ostrich -

/ __ / * Nam/Talon - Brent Werzner /

Tony Oliver Tony Oliver is an American voice actor best known for voicing Rick Hunter from ''Robotech'', Lancer from ''Fate/stay night'', and Arsène Lupin III from '' Lupin the Third''. He helped produce the live action shows ''Mighty Morphin Power Ranger ...

Kazuki Yao Kazuki (written: , , , , , , , , or in hiragana) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese wrestler *, Japanese anime director *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese footballer *, J ...

* Arlia - Gemma Wilcox / __ /

Keiko Toda is a Japanese actress, voice actress, singer and narrator from Nagoya, Aichi. Her most famous role is the voice of the children's hero Anpanman on the long running anime ''Soreike! Anpanman''. She was also the voice of Thomas the Tank Engine in th ...

* Orange Mole - Robert S. Fisher / __ / * Inorganic Biker #1 -

Robert Matney Robert Matney (born 1976) in Dallas, Texas, is VP of Strategic Partnerships at Yonder (company). He has worked as a social media analyst and practitioner, web developer, actor (stage, voice), theater director, and currently lives in Austin, ...

/ A. Gregory / Ryunosuke Ohbayashi * Inorganic Biker #2 - Matt Hislope / __ / Yusaka Yara * Inorganic Biker #3 - Robert S. Fisher / __ / Kozo Shioya * Village Girl/Child - Samantha Inoue-Harte /

Rebecca Forstadt Rebecca Forstadt is an American voice actress, best known for playing young female roles in various animated series. After studying theater at Orange Coast College, in Costa Mesa, California, Forstadt began her acting career by working at Knott's ...

Noriko Tsukase was a Japanese voice actress and chanson singer active during the 1970s and 1980s. Her most popular roles included Spank in '' Ohayō! Spank'', Miss Alphonne in the original ''Cutie Honey'' TV series and Non (as well as Furu-Furu the cat) in ''Maj ...

* Grandma/Mother - Mary Agen Cox / Lisa Michaels / Reiko Suzuki * Grandpa/Father - Garry Peters / __ /

Joji Yanami Joji (じょうじ, 丈二, or 譲二, 城二, 譲治 multiple variants) is a Japanese masculine given name. It is also the Japanese pronunciation of the Western name "George" (ジョージ). It commonly refers to: * Jōji, an era in Japanese histo ...

* Inorganic Biker Kid/Kooni - Jeffrey Mills / __ /

Masahiro Anzai Masahiro Anzai ( ja, 安西正弘; ''Anzai Masahiro'') (26 November 1954 – 15 March 2021) was a Japanese voice actor and actor. Biography Anzai graduated from the . He retired from acting in 1997 due to his treatment for diabetes, which caused ...

* Monster Octopus - Robert S. Fisher / __ /

Miki Takahashi is a Japanese voice acting in Japan, voice actress and singer. Together with her friend Chika Sakamoto, she participated in the third incarnation of the radio show Animetopia. She is a member of SplashDream. Anime TV *''Around the World with Wi ...

* Giant Inorganic - Vinnie Moxpar / __ / Yoko Kogayu * Monga's Tribe - Bigjyl, Jim Damm, Robert S. Fisher, Samantha Inoue-Harte, Wil Ragan, Jessica Simon, Ben Turrabiarte, Racel Vasquez, Dominic Vitucci, Kenny Weigel

References

External links

* * {{Ann, anime, 2662, Birth 1984 anime OVAs ADV Films Anime with original screenplays Films set on fictional planets Science fiction anime and manga Single OVAs