Prefectural Earth Defense Force

Director
Keiji Hayakawa
Production
Shogakukan
Country of origin
Japan
Format
OVA
Running time
4 episodes
Year
1986

Prefectural Earth Defense Force

By Stephen Lerch
2nd Apr 06

Prefectural Earth Defense Force is a single episode OVA series (split into 3 mini episodes and a fourth “bonus” episode) from 1986.

This review covers the R1 ADV release which is available exclusively through their website and one other online retailer.

Synopsis may contain spoilers.

Short Synopsis:

Prefectural Earth Defense Force (called PEDF from now on) is an off beat comedy action show which revolves around a secret organization called the Telephone Pole Group deciding they wish to rule the world. How do they start? Well, rather than starting big and going for a big city such as Tokyo, they pick an unknown town in an unnamed prefecture of Japan to begin their world domination.

The PEDF is created to fight the Telephone Pole Group. The members include a high school teacher, Roberi, 2 male students, Morita and Sukekubo, along with a female student, Akiko. They are soon joined by an 8,000 horsepower cyborg, Santin, that was built from an Indian car crash victim without his knowledge, and who also hates the Japanese.

Can they defeat the Telephone Pole Group, or is the world doomed?

Video:

As is typical of ADV’s releases, the video is compression and artifact free.

The show itself, coming from 1986, seems well preserved and presented. There are a few small instances of dust or dirt showing up, but they are minimal and don’t detract from the show at all.

For those wondering, the opening and ending titles all in their original Japanese with soft subtitles. Even the show’s title card remains in its Japanese format with a uniquely drawn English Prefectual Earth Defense Force soft subtitle appearing on top of it. The English version of the credits come after the final Japanese credits roll. The English credits are generic style ADV credits with a white scroll on a black background.

The animation is smooth and in the older 80s style, not the bishounen/bishoujo style of 99% of the shows released today. It works really well for this particular show.

Audio:

There are 2 audio options here, but NOT what you are expecting.

The first audio option is Dolby Digital 2.0 Japanese. This is the content portion of the show.

The second audio option is English audio commentary; there is no spoken English dialog option with this release.

As far as the quality of the Japanese 2.0 mix, it is rather well done. No drop outs, no real whine or hiss. Another typical for ADV. Given the single audio option it would have been nice to get an LPCM stereo mix, but it is only a small complaint.

Extras:

The video extras include previews for other series and a very well done and detailed set of translator notes that give you an insight into the inside jokes and Japanese cultural references seen throughout the show.

The other extra is the other audio option mentioned above, the English language audio commentary with David Williams, Janice Williams and Matt Greenfield.

Packaging:

The picture on the cover is a nice depiction of the female bad “guy” Baradaki with the PEDF members holding onto her arm with a tiny Earth being spun like a basketball on her other hand. The title for the show follows a decidedly Star Wars motif, as the fonts used for the Prefectural Earth Defense Force logo look like something seen on the cover of a Star Wars box.

The back of the box has a silly, yet mostly fitting description of the show itself. There is a quote at the top that says “Before there was Excel Saga… there was PEDF.” They could have done without that, since in my opinion the connection would only be relevant for someone who picks the box up in a brick and mortar store. Since this is an ADV online exclusive, it won’t be picked up in a brick and mortar store out of curiosity.

There are also a series of 12 images from within the show which are well chosen for their depiction of the action and weirdness contained with the plastic case.

Final Analysis:

PEDF is best described, if anyone can find anyway to really describe it, as an action comedy.

The premise is really silly and unexpected. A defense group set up from high school students to stop a group, called the Telephone Pole Group, from taking over the prefecture and then the world? This definitely is not normal.
I applaud ADV for releasing what is a niche in such a tremendous fashion. It is a high quality release all around. They released a niche title in a niche fashion, as this is only obtainable in a few select places. I hope this doesn’t relegate the release to obscurity and works well for them, as it would be very nice to get other releases that while may not justify the expense incurred via an English dub, are still worth releasing and things English language fans will enjoy.

50 minutes of light fun.

If you have the means, this title is certainly worth checking out.

-- Stephen Lerch 2nd Apr 06

Prefectural Earth Defense Force Images