is a two-volume original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 (OVA) anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series released in 1990 and 1992 by director

Film director

A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...

 Katsuhito Akiyama

Katsuhito Akiyama

' is a Japanese animation director, screenwriter, and storyboard artist. He often works with Shinji Aramaki and Hideki Kakinuma.- Films :* Elementalors * Armitage III: Dual Matrix - OVAs :...

 in association with AIC. Sol Bianca: The Legacy

Sol Bianca: The Legacy

is a 1999 miniseries of six episodes loosely based on the original Sol Bianca and employing computer generated animation. This version is a re-imagining of the ship and crew of Sol Bianca, and does not follow the continuity of the original...

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

Gnosis

Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...

 , 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 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

Akira (film)

is a 1988 Japanese animated cyberpunk science fiction film directed by Katsuhiro Otomo, written by Otomo and Izo Hashimoto, and starring the voices of Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama and Taro Ishida. The screenplay is based on Otomo's manga 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 happen.

• 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

Role-playing game

A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...

.

English

April Bikirk - Kim Sevier

Kim Sevier

Kimberly Robertson, a.k.a. Kim Seiver, is an American voice actress. She has done voice work for ADV Films-Roles:* Blue Seed - Moe Fujimiya, Reiko Kanbayashi* Burn Up W - Chisato* Dirty Pair Flash - Yuri...

Janny Mann - Sue Ulu

Sue Ulu

Sue Ulu is an American voice actress specializing in English voice dubs for anime. She is best known for voicing the role of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi in the English dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion. She also has performed local theater in the Houston, Texas area. She moved to Los Angeles in 1999 to pursue...

May Jessica - Kimberly Yates
Feb Fall - Laura Chapman

Laura Chapman

Laura Chapman is an American voice actress working with ADV Films and Seraphim Digital Studios, known for her roles in the English-language dubs of anime series....

June Ashel - Tiffany Grant

Tiffany Grant

Tiffany Lynn Grant is an American voice actress and script writer who is known for her English-dubbing work with the former ADV Films on such anime films and television series as Neon Genesis Evangelion, in which she voiced the character Asuka Langley Soryu...

Batros - Trisdan McAvery
Rim Delapaz - Jay Zeidman
Melanion Delapaz - John Swasey

John Swasey

John Swasey is an American actor, voice actor, ADR Director, and Script Writer who works at Funimation Entertainment, ADV Films, Seraphim Digital, and OkraTron 5000...

Rammy - Steven Blum

Steven Blum

Steven Jay Blum is an American voice actor known primarily for his work in anime dubs and video games, using his distinctive deep voice. Among his credits include the voice of Spike Spiegel of the anime series Cowboy Bebop and Mugen of the anime series Samurai Champloo...

 (as David Lucas)

Japanese/Seiyū

April Bikirk - Rei Sakuma

Rei Sakuma

is a Japanese voice actress employed by 81 Produce. She is best known in Japan for her voice work in the long running children's series Soreike! Anpanman; her most famous role in the English-speaking world, however, is probably as the Chinese Amazon Shampoo in Ranma ½.-Notable voice roles:*Akabon...

Janny Mann - Minami Takayama

Minami Takayama

is a popular Japanese singer and voice actress. She was married to manga artist Gosho Aoyama on May 5, 2005 but they divorced on December 10, 2007. Minami is also a member of the pop group Two-Mix, and a part of DoCo when it was active....

May Jessica - Miki Ito

Miki Ito

is a Japanese voice actress.-Notable voice roles:*Air Gear 2006*Angel Links 1999*Ashita no Nadja *Aishiteruze Baby *Battle Angel Alita *Battle Athletes Victory...

Feb Fall - Yoko Matsuoka

Yoko Matsuoka

is a Japanese voice actress from Tokyo. She is affiliated with 81 Produce.-Television animation:*Ashita no Nadja *Belle and Sebastian *Demashita! Powerpuff Girls Z *Digimon Tamers...

June Ashel - Yuriko Fuchizaki

Yuriko Fuchizaki

is a veteran Japanese voice actress and stage actress from Tokyo. She is a graduate of the College of Fine Arts at Nihon University a member of the talent agency Re-max. From 1987 to the beginning of 1989 her roles were credited under her real name - the reading is unchanged.Fuchizaki's roles...

Rim Delapaz - Daisuke Namikawa

Daisuke Namikawa

is a Japanese voice actor who is affiliated with Across Entertainment.He started acting in 1984. He is sometimes mistaken for fellow voice actor Daisuke Hirakawa, as their names only differ by one character when written in kanji. Despite his wide range of voice casting, he is usually cast as young,...

Melanion Delapaz - Tesshō Genda

Tessho Genda

is a Japanese voice actor. He is employed by the talent management firm 81 Produce. When he debuted, he used his real name, . as artist name. Because he had experience with ballet, he was known by the nickname "Pirouette Genda."...

Batros - Takeshi Aono

Takeshi Aono

is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Asahikawa, Hokkaidō affiliated with Aoni Production. He graduated from Hokkaidō Asahikawa Higashi High School....

Lind - Tomomichi Nishimura

Tomomichi Nishimura

is a Japanese voice actor who works for Arts Vision. He is most known for the roles of the narrator of YuYu Hakusho, Anzai-sensei , Shibaraku Tsurugibe , and Jamitov Hymem...

Rammy - Jūrōta Kosugi

Jurota Kosugi

is a Japanese voice actor. His deep voice is often used for rough and imposing characters. He is well known for playing the role of Sukashii from Kyattou Ninden Teyandee and Asuma Sarutobi from Naruto....

DVD release

Sol Bianca is one of the rare cases where the first episode of the show had an English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 dub

Dubbing (filmmaking)

Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...

 made, but none was made for the second episode. This has been a reason stated by Matt Greenfield

Matt Greenfield

Matt Greenfield is the American co-founder of the now-defunct ADV Films. Originally an avid fan who ran an anime club in Houston, Texas with John Ledford , he and Ledford founded ADV Films in 1992. ADV Films began as an importer of anime, marketing primarily to the existing network of anime fans...

 at numerous anime convention

Anime convention

An anime convention is an event or gathering with a primary focus on anime, manga and Japanese culture. Commonly, anime conventions are multi-day events hosted at convention centers, hotels or college campuses. They feature a wide variety of activities and panels...

 industry panels as to why a DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

release has never occurred.