風魔の小次郎 聖剣戦争篇 — The War for Sacred Swords. CBS/Sony Group, CSLW 1305 through 1310. Six CAV single-sided volumes, 30 minutes each, ¥3,900 per volume. Released in pairs: September 21 (Vols.1–2), October 21 (Vols.3–4), December 1 (Vols.5–6, delayed from November 21). No booklets. No inserts. One episode, one disc, one color per jacket: orange, blue, gold, purple, green, red.
Masami Kurumada's 風魔の小次郎 ran in Shonen Jump from 1982 to 1983, a ninja-clan rivalry story between the Fuma and the Kouga. 聖剣戦争篇 is the second OVA arc — preceded by 夜叉篇 (CBS/Sony, June–August 1989, same director and production team). This arc shifts the mythology into Kurumada's cosmic register: ten sacred swords, two factions called COSMO (秩序) and CHAOS, a war fought across generations and past lives.
The Series
Six CAV volumes, 30 minutes each. CBS/Sony Group CSLW 1305 through 1310 — cross-referenced on the obi as 38LS 4027–4032. ¥3,900 (税込) per volume, レンタル禁止. Digital audio stereo. No insert in any volume; the packaging is the disc, the obi, and the jacket.
Obi strip Vol.1 (CSLW 1305) — orange. Series release schedule with thumbnail images of all six covers. CBS/Sony Group, September 1990.
Back cover Vol.1 — 第1話「草薙衆」. Orange field with translucent sword watermark. Full staff/cast: 監督・うえたひでひと / キャラクターデザイン・荒木伸吾, 姫野美智 / 制作協力・J・Cスタッフ / 制作・アニメイトフィルム. CSLW 1305, CAV, 1990.
Obi Vol.2 (CSLW 1306) — blue.
Obi Vol.3 (CSLW 1307) — gold.
Obi mid-print — Vols.1–2 now available; Vols.3–4 October 21; Vols.5–6 still November 21.
One Episode Per Disc
Each volume contains one 30-minute episode on a single CAV side. CAV at 30 minutes leaves roughly half a side unused — the format was chosen for frame-access quality, not capacity. The color system makes each disc's place in the series identifiable without reading: orange is Vol.1, blue is Vol.2, and so on through the six. Vol.3's English label reads 'COSMO' — the series' term for the Order faction's power, borrowed from the Saint Seiya cosmology Kurumada had been building since 1986 and applied here to 秩序 (Order) versus カオス (Chaos).
Front cover Vol.3 — 'COSMO.' Gold field. 第3話「秩序」. CSLW 1307. October 21, 1990.
Back cover Vol.2 — 第2話「十聖剣」. Blue field. Same back-cover design template across all six volumes: episode title, staff block, cast block, CBS/Sony and LaserDisc logos. CSLW 1306.
Front cover Vol.4 — 'SHUKETSU.' Purple field. 第4話「集結」. CSLW 1308. October 21, 1990.
Design Language
Character design by 荒木伸吾 (Shingo Araki) and 姫野美智 (Michi Himeno) — the same pair responsible for Saint Seiya (Toei, 1986–1989). Himeno had been with Araki's studio since 1974. Their vocabulary is specific: the angular jaw, the feathered hair, the eyes that tilt slightly upward under a strong brow. Applied to 風魔の小次郎, the result is a series that looks, at a glance, like a Saint Seiya OVA. The single-character portrait on each jacket is the format they used for Saint Seiya's Bronze Saint individual releases — same composition logic, different franchise.
Obi Vol.1 variant — orange. Updated status text after Vols.1–2 confirmed available.
Obi Vol.4 (CSLW 1308) — purple.
Obi Vol.4 updated — Vols.5–6 still listed as November 21.
Back cover Vol.3 — 第3話「秩序」. Gold field. 作画監督: 荒木伸吾. CSLW 1307.
Production
Lead producer アニメイトフィルム (Animate Film), the production arm of the Animate retail chain. J.C.Staff provided 制作協力 (production cooperation) — animation staff under Animate Film's credit. The studio was in its fourth year of operation during 夜叉篇 and its fifth during 聖剣戦争篇, with no TV production credits yet. Screenplay: 小山高生 (Takao Koyama). Music: 今泉敏郎 (Toshiro Imaizumi). Theme: NIGHT HAWKS (CBS/SONY RECORDS). Director across all twelve OVA episodes of both arcs: うえたひでひと (Hidehito Ueda).
Front cover Vol.5 — 'HOUOHTENBU.' Green field. 第5話「鳳凰天舞」. CSLW 1309. December 1, 1990 (delayed from November 21).
Back cover Vol.4 — 第4話「集結」. Purple field. 作画監督: 荒木伸吾. CSLW 1308.
Obi Vol.5 (CSLW 1309) — green.
Obi updated — December 1 confirmed for Vols.5–6: '第1〜4巻 絶賛発売中!! / 12月1日発売: 第5・6巻.'
Obi updated — same December 1 schedule, second print run.
Front cover Vol.6 — 'RINNE TENSEI.' Red field. 第6話「輪廻転生」. Five characters in a group portrait — the only volume to break from the solo format. CSLW 1310. December 1, 1990.
Back cover Vol.5 — 第5話「鳳凰天舞」. Green field. CSLW 1309, CAV, ¥3,900.
The Complete Set
A complete 聖剣戦争篇 six-volume set trades in the ¥4,000–6,000 range with obis intact. In collector lots it typically appears alongside 夜叉篇 (six volumes, 1989) and the 2001 single-disc special 風魔反乱篇 (50 minutes, no LD release); a 13-disc complete OVA lot sold for ¥5,870 in 2022. The DVD release (SME Visual Works SVWB-7080/7081, July 2001) groups three episodes per disc. No streaming release exists.
Six and Done
風魔反乱篇 (2001) appeared on VHS and DVD only — no LaserDisc was produced. The CBS/Sony LD run of 風魔の小次郎 stops at CSLW 1310, December 1, 1990.
Obi Vol.6 (CSLW 1310) — red. Final volume in the CBS/Sony color sequence.
Back cover Vol.6 — 第6話「輪廻転生」. Red field. 作画監督: 荒木伸吾, 佐藤敬一, 芽野京子. 製作・著作: CBS・ソニーグループ・ムービック. CSLW 1310.
The obi strips document the production delay directly: three versions were printed as the release schedule shifted. The original obi lists November 21 for Vols.5–6; an intermediate version keeps November 21; a third confirms December 1. CBS/Sony printed corrected obis at each stage rather than inserting errata. All three versions are present in this scan set.
Loading...