Sol Bianca

Sol Bianca (ソルビアンカ) is a two volume anime OVA series released in 1990 and 1992 by director Katsuhito Akiyama in association with AIC. Sol Bianca: The Legacy is a remake of this series.

The name of the OVA is also the name of the ship that serves as both the home and the interstellar headquarters for an all-female band of notorious pirates. Thanks to a stowaway who hides himself aboard their ship following one of their raids, they learn of the ultimate treasure: the Gnosis (pronounced "G'Nohsis" in dialogue), an artifact reputedly from old Earth itself.

Unfortunately for them, the Gnosis happens to be in the hands of Emperor Batros, the brutal ruler of the planet Tres (pronounced "trez" in dialogue) who is executing great numbers of enemies, real or speculated, as a result of his military occupation of the neighboring planet Uno. Armed with a little luck, a sniper gun that can shoot from orbit, and a technologically advanced ship, the crew of the Sol Bianca are about to make a run for the greatest prize of all.

Technical Merit
Sol Bianca is notable for the fluid animation of the spacecraft of the title; the Sol Bianca itself. As fully animating detailed spacecraft requires a great deal of precise keyframing and time, most anime featuring large spacecraft choose to make use of panning, "sliding" and static shots to portray their detailed ships. The Sol Bianca, however, is very often seen fully-animated, with the camera panning around, under and over the ship as it moves through space. Shots such as the first view of the craft warping in during the opening minutes of the first OVA display fluid animation on par with or perhaps exceeding scenes in animated movies such as Akira.

Characters

 * April Bikirk: A skilled pilot and a crack shot, she is the first officer of the Sol Bianca. A headstrong and honorable individual, she will often fight to help others.


 * Feb Fall: Captain of the Sol Bianca and oldest of the group. She is fond of drinking and usually leaves the physical action to April and Janny.


 * Janny Mann: Heavy gunsmith with all sorts of weapons. She's a hot tempered, foul-mouthed young woman that is easily irritated by many people. Most of her past is unknown.


 * June Ashel: Hologram expert with computer skills. She was found inside the Sol Bianca by April. She appears to be an android with human emotions. She does not enjoy combat seeing how dangerous it is, and is usually the first to panic when danger does happens.


 * May Jessica: A new crew member, as well as the youngest, who pilots a mecha suit. She was brought inside the Sol Bianca by its power. April decided to help her find her parents on Earth, only to find out from her uncle and aunt that May's parents have been killed by another group of pirates. She then decided to go with April and the others as a new crew member, acting as the ship's chief engineer.

Turbo CD game
A single game was released based on the movie for the Turbo CD on June 29, 1990 by NCS. As the movie was only initially released in Japan, and due to the failings of the TurboGrafx-16 in America, the title was never released in North American markets. The format is a role-playing game.

English
April Bikirk - Kim Sevier Janny Mann - Sue Ulu May Jessica - Kimberly Yates Feb Fall - Laura Chapman June Ashel - Tiffany Grant Batros - Trisdan McAvery Rim Delapaz - Jay Zeidman Melanion Delapaz - John Swasey Rammy - Steven Blum (as David Lucas)

Japanese/Seiyū
April Bikirk - Rei Sakuma Janny Mann - Minami Takayama May Jessica - Miki Ito Feb Fall - Yoko Matsuoka June Ashel - Yuriko Fuchizaki Rim Delapaz - Daisuke Namikawa Melanion Delapaz - Tesshō Genda Batros - Takeshi Aono Lind - Tomomichi Nishimura Rammy - Jūrōta Kosugi

DVD release
Sol Bianca is one of the rare cases where the first episode of the show had an English language dub made, but none was made for the second episode. This has been a reason stated by Matt Greenfield at numerous anime convention industry panels as to why a DVD release has never occurred.