Galerians: Rion (ガレリアンズ：リオン, Garerianzu: Rion) is a 2002 animated OVA based on the 1999 PlayStation video game Galerians. Originally released by Enterbrain in Japan in three episodes, Galerians: Rion was later combined into a single feature, licensed for the North America by Image Entertainment, and broadcast on MTV2 on 3 July 2004.[1]
| Galerians: Rion | |
| ガレリアンズ：リオン (Garerianzu: Rion) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Science fiction, horror |
| Original video animation | |
| Directed by | Masahiko Maesawa |
| Written by | Chinfa Kan |
| Studio | Enterbrain, Polygon Magic |
| Licensed by | |
| Released | 24 April 2002 |
| Runtime | 73 minutes |
| Episodes | 3 |
Galerians: Rion is set in the 26th century, and the human residents of Earth are under attack from a supercomputer called Dorothy. Intent on eliminating the human race, Dorothy faces some stiff competition from Rion Steiner, a teenager with superhuman powers.
Plot
editA 16-year-old boy named Rion one day wakes up in a hospital observation room. Having no memories of his past or how he got there, a mysterious voice of a girl begs him to save her. While he is trying to escape, he discovers he has psychic powers.
Using this ability he kills off the staff and hospital security. He finds out he needs to take drugs for not losing control; using different drugs gives Rion a different ability. Rion discovers that in the hospital, they are having human experiments, named "G Project", related to his powers. He also finds out information about himself.
Having finally escaped, he goes home, memories coming back to him, but is interrupted by G Project experiments/monsters and a Galerian named Birdman. He soon finds the girl who called out to him is a childhood friend named Lilia, who is also the daughter of Dr. Pascalle, a colleague of Rion's father, who wants to help Rion destroy an artificial intelligence named Dorothy. Dorothy was a super computer program made to serve humans. However, she started to wonder why she should help humanity. One of her creators, Dr. Steiner, told Dorothy about the existence of God and how humans must serve their creator as she must serve humans. Dorothy responds to this by starting a secret program to create super-humans named Galerians, plotting to use them to kill off humanity and rule Earth being served by her Galerians. Throughout the story, the Galerians are also after Lilia, as she has a virus program implanted in her brain as a safeguard against Dorothy.
Dorothy sends her Galerians after Rion and Lilia. It is up to Rion to kill the Galerians, destroy Dorothy and save humanity. Rion comes face-to-face to the last Galerian, Cain, who is a clone of the real Rion, and he finds out the horrible truth: he himself is a Galerian – a clone of the real Rion who died a while ago. Killing off Cain, Rion confronts and battles Dorothy and uses all his powers to destroy her.
Lying in Lilia's arms, Rion says his last words and dies. In the end, the scene changes. In a completely white area, Rion is seen sitting down with his head low and finally disappears into thin air, symbolizing his death.
Voice cast
edit| Character name | Japanese voice actor | English voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Rion Steiner | Akira Ishida | Dave Wittenberg |
| Lilia | Shiho Kikuchi | Kari Wahlgren |
| Birdman | Takehito Koyasu | Peter Doyle |
| Rita | Yuka Imai | Lia Sargent |
| Rainheart | Kenichi Suzumura | Dave Mallow |
| Cain | Akira Ishida | Dave Wittenberg |
| Dorothy | Ryōko Kinomiya | Laura Coyle |
| Elsa Steiner | Miho Yamada | Kari Wahlgren |
| Drug Dealer | Masahiro Okazaki | Steve Cassling |
| Dr. Rem | Tomomichi Nishimura | Michael McConnohie |
| Dr. Steiner | Kinryū Arimoto | Michael McConnohie |
| Dr. Pascalle | Kazuo Oka | Dave Mallow |
DVD release
editGalerians: Rion was released on DVD in Japan in three separate volumes on 24 April 2002.[2] The OVA saw a North American DVD release on 6 April 2004 and a UMD release on 25 October 2005. The DVD was packaged with a 14-song soundtrack featuring music from the English version of the OVA. The musical artists include Slipknot, Skinny Puppy, Adema, Godhead, Sevendust, Fear Factory, and Andy Hunter.[3]
Track listing
edit- "Co-Dependent" by Adema
- "The Hate in Me" by Godhead
- "T.O.A.B." by Sevendust
- "The Unseen Tears of the Albacore (Evil Remix)" by The Vandals
- "Gently" by Slipknot
- "Archetype (Remix)" by Fear Factory
- "Go" by Andy Hunter
- "Lust" by Balligomingo
- "Spasmolytic (Deftones Remix)" by Skinny Puppy
- "The Mountain" by DevilDriver
- "Heaven" by Opiate for the Masses
- "Beautiful Misery" by Freakhouse
- "Hey Kid!" by The Ataris
- "Elevate" by Balligomingo
References
edit- ^ "Galerians: Rion on MTV2". AnimeNewsNetwork.com. 30 June 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ "ファミ通.com エンターテイメント/DVDピックアップ『ガレリアンズ：リオン volume 1 覚醒』". Famitsu.com (in Japanese). 19 April 2002. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
- ^ "Image Entertainment Unveils New Era of Anime Soundtrack With Galerians: Rion". AnimeNewsNetwork.com. 10 March 2004. Retrieved 8 August 2009.
External links
edit- Official website (in Japanese)
- Galerians: Rion at IMDb
- Galerians: Rion (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia