Justy Tylor likes the easy life, and that's why he decided to join the military. After all, where else do you get free food, board, and clothes? Tylor joins up with the United Planets Space Force after a very embarassing situation with the female AI that gives the entrance exams and is assigned to the Benefits and Pension Department. But he doesn't stay there for long -- when terrorists take a retired admiral hostage, Tylor rushes to the scene (to deliver the admiral's pension check!) and becomes a hero. In gratitude, this man of pure luck is assigned as the captain of one of the fleet's destroyers!
Meanwhile, Earth and the Raalgon empire have declared war on each other over. The new empress, manipulated by a power-hungry fleet admiral, has ordered mobilization to avenge the death of the emperor, supposedly the result of Earth's actions. So now Tylor finds himself and his strange, misfit crew in the middle of an intergalactic war. Can Tylor's luck save the crew of the Soyokaze? Will the crew mutiny against their lazy captain? Will Tylor wake from his nap?
I had great hopes for this television series. With the plethora of pedestrian TV series available (Ranma, Maison Ikkoku, Tenchi Muyo) I was looking for something different. And, thank you Right Stuf, you've delivered. With surprisingly good video and sound quality, the story of Tylor and his misfits delivers an original take on the "alien fleet versus Earth fleet" genre. Tylor is a worthless man, slothful and indecisive. His only asset is his luck -- think of him as Mihoshi's (Tenchi Muyo) older brother. Tylor also has the ability to disarm people (emotionally), which usually allows him to get his way. Other characters are well-written as well, and it is clear even at this early stage of release (I've only seen the first 4 episodes) that character development is at a priority as high as the comedy.
This tends to add a bit of predictability (you pretty much figure Tylor's gonna get out of any mess) while adding a bit of unpredictability (just how is he going to do it?). Here we have the opposite of Tenchi Muyo where our lead male character is constantly hitting on women while being rejected by all of them, although a few show signs of melting at his disarming, charming personality. Animation is superb...just what you'd expect from a Big West (Macross Plus) production. This series pokes fun at other scifi anime...even Yamato and Macross aren't safe from it's pokes and jabs. Keep your eyes here for updates as the series progresses!
Episode Guide
- The Mysterious Irresponsible Man -- Tylor signs up for the "easy life" and ends up destroying the UPSF's Earth mainframe during the process.
- Hey, Ho! The Happy Pensioned Life! -- When a retired admiral's pension check won't get delivered because of a lost change-of-address form, Tylor runs to the rescue only to find himself in the middle of a hostage situation.
- The Ship Sets Sail, but Misgivings Remain -- As a reward for solving the hostage crisis, Tylor is given command of the (worst) destroyer Soyokaze and ends up infuriating most of his crew with his lazy attitudes.
- Enemy! Crisis! We Surrender! -- His crew mutinies, and Tylor's ship ends up warping into Raalgon territory!
- "Angel in White" Begins with an H -- A sexy medical assistant is assigned to the Soyokaze and puts the moves on Tylor...but what are her intentions?
- The Tail of the Lizard's Tail -- The brass give Tylor a medal for his victories...a medal that contains a signaling chip that the entire Raalgon fleet can home in on.
- A Gentleman's Word is His Bond -- Yuriko wins a bet, and now the entire crew of the Soyokaze must clean up their acts and act responsible for 24 hours...including Tylor!
- Life is Short, so Girls Should Kill -- Femme fatale Harumi is ordered to assasinate Tylor and what better time than during the "Miss Soyokaze" beauty contest.
- When You Wish Upon a Flower -- In an attempt to get rid of the Soyokaze once and for all, the admirals demote the ship to frontier patrols in the Demotion Sector.
- Mind's Eye, Half Blind, Headed For a Rough Ride -- Could it be that Tylor has an eye for hidden talents? When boisterous twins Emi and Yumi get his permission to start flying lessons, let's hope he's right or else they might not survive their first time out.
- In Demotion Does a Woman Bloom -- As discipline begins to wane as the Soyokaze continues frontier patrols, Kim and Yuriko are at each others throats over...the dress code?
- The Day the Soyokaze Vanished -- In a strange section of the Demotion Sector, the ship's clock stops and the crew is visited by spectres of the previous crew who committed suicide when they were in the same sector of space!
- Be Prepared, Be Smart, or Be Lucky -- Which is better in battle? Tactics and strategy or blind luck? Tylor proves the latter when a Raalgon admiral attacks the Soyokaze with a small task force.
- Equation of Kindness -- After defeat of the Raalgon task force, the Raalgon Empress begins to see Tylor as more of a threat than a curiosity and Dom is forced to send the deadly Sia-Has and her ship to face him down and capture him.
- Shiny! Happy! (Deadly) Germs! -- Harumi is forced to infect the crew of the Soyokaze with a virus, forcing the crew to surrender Tylor into Raalgon hands for the vaccine.
- Strange Love -- Tylor is brought before the Raalgon high court to face execution and salvation offers itself in a most unusual way -- but then, that's par for the course for Tylor.
- The Unjust Dessert -- While Tylor faces indignity (!) at Raalgon hands, his crew tries to escape quarrantine and rescue their captured leader.
- A Place for Confessions -- The intrepid crew of the Soyokaze pulls a Tylor and engages the Raalgon flagship alone to rescue their captain from the enemy's hands...but what's with the Empress Azalyn and Tylor anyway?
- Sleeping Beauty -- Tylor's brainwashing at Raalgon hands requires a very risky type of brain surgery to reverse. And Yuriko volunteers to help!
- Well Handled Solutions -- Tylor's back, both body and mind...but it seems that it's his body that the women of the Soyokaze want (well, so much for Tylor's mind).
- Paco-Paco Junior -- The captive Azalyn doesn't want to return to the Raalgon fleet, so she announces that she's pregnant with Tylor's child. Yes, that's right. His child.
- Force of One -- With Azalyn returned to the Raalgon, Tylor must face the music for giving up the most valuable prisoner of the war. And in the UPSF, the music is that of a firing range as Admiral Mifune finally gets what he wants...court-martial and summary execution for Tylor!
- The Longest day in Space -- This is it! The final, climactic, and heroic battle between the UPSF fleet and the Raalgon forces. And the UPSF decides that the surest way for victory is to put the only man with a proven track record against the Raalgon in charge. That's right...it's Tylor.
- Snap! Snap! Crackle! Snap! -- Victory is bitersweet when Tylor looses a close friend.
- My Way is the Hard Way -- Tylor has gone AWOL and his whole crew goes out to find him, while some members of the crew receive good news.
- For his was genius no rule could contain -- The secret of Tylor's success is finally uncovered, and a new adventure begins...but will it be on the bridge of the Soyokaze? The Conclusion of the television series.
Credits and Rating
Original Story by: Hitoshi Yoshioka
Director: Koichi Mashimo
Producer: Big West/King Record/VAP/Media Ring
Character Design: Tomohiro Hirata
Art Director: Masaru Satoh
Music by: Kenji Kawai
©1997 Hitoshi Yoshioka/Kadokawa Shoten/Tylor Project
24 minute episodes.
Genre: SciFi/Comedy
Format: Television series. 4 episodes on the first two tapes, 3 thereafter (8 tapes total), availabe on VHS (Sub/Dub) from The Right Stuf.
Rating: 91 (46/22/23) -- Violence. | | | | |
