MEGAZONE 23 PREMIUM BOX. SBLL-32. taxco タクスコ / 株式会社マイカルハミングバード (MYCAL Hummingbird). Distributed by バンダイビジュアル株式会社 Bandai Visual. Released May 21, 1993. ¥18,000 (税抜¥17,476). Three CLV discs. 6 sides. 264 minutes total. Stereo (Disc 3: mono). MULTI-AUDIO. NTSC. Copyright: ℂあいどる・アートミック.
Disc 1 — メガゾーン23. 1985. Director: 石黒昇 Noboru Ishiguro. Original character design: 平野俊弘 Toshihiro Hirano. Special guest design (Eve): 美樹本晴彦 Haruhiko Mikimoto. Action director: 篠田一郎. Mechanical design: 柿沼秀樹/荒牧伸志 Shinji Aramaki /宮尾岳. Music: 長谷川康雄/鈴部郁郎. Studio: アートランド/アートミック. Cast: 久保田英人 (矢作省吾), 川村万梨阿 (高中由唯), 富永みーな (村下智美), 宮里久美 (時雨イヴ), 塩沢兼人 (B-D). 20 CLV chapter stops.
Disc 2 — メガゾーン23秘密ください PART II. 1986. Director: 板野一郎 Ichiro Itano. Original character design: 梅津泰臣 Yasuomi Umetsu. Special character design (Eve): 美樹本晴彦 Haruhiko Mikimoto. Mechanical design: 荒牧伸志 Shinji Aramaki. Music: 長谷川康雄/山田勝久. Studio: 株式会社AIC/アートランド/アートミック. Cast: 矢尾一樹 (矢作省吾), 川村万梨阿 (高中由唯), 宮里久美 (時雨イヴ), 千葉繁 (ライトニング), 塩沢兼人 (B-D), 速水奨 (白鳥少尉). 22 CLV chapter stops.
Disc 3 — MEGAZONE 23 (English Version) PART II. 1987 international production, mono audio. Produced for international distribution. 95 minutes. Originally released in Japan as W78L-1007 (Polydor, April 5, 1987).
Booklet included in box: newly drawn illustration by 美樹本晴彦 Haruhiko Mikimoto; introduction essays for Part I and Part II with cast and staff reference; character settei sheets for both productions; Mikimoto interview. 描き下ろしイラスト&制作協力: 美樹本晴彦. 構成・執筆: 秋廣泰生. デザイン: プランニングGM. 制作担当: 柳川由加里.
SBLL-32 / taxco
taxco (タクスコ) was the LaserDisc label of MYCAL Hummingbird (株式会社マイカルハミングバード), formed in 1992 when retailer Nichii rebranded as the MYCAL Group. Distribution was handled by バンダイビジュアル Bandai Visual — the SBLL catalog ran in partnership with Pioneer LDC. The Premium Box collects the two original OVA productions and adds a third disc: the English international version of Part II, produced in 1987 for overseas distribution and originally released back to Japan as a separate Polydor LD (W78L-1007). The back cover spec note — STEREO (特典映像:モノラル) — marks the distinction: the Japanese discs are stereo; Disc 3 is mono.
Box outer back — black background. Three disc labels at upper left: DISC 1 (メガゾーン23, red), DISC 2 (メガゾーン23秘密ください PART II), DISC 3 (※特典映像収録 / MEGAZONE 23 English Version PART II). Credits strip at bottom: 発売 taxco タクスコ/株式会社マイカルハミングバード, 販売 バンダイビジュアル株式会社. Specs: SBLL-32, 長時間ディスク/CLV, 6面/264min, カラー/NTSC, STEREO (特典映像:モノラル), MULTI-AUDIO. 税込価格¥18,000 (税抜¥17,476).
Disc 1 front jacket — メガゾーン23. Dark charcoal background. Eve (時雨イヴ, green hair, holding microphone, hand raised to face) occupies the upper field. メガゾーン23 title in red lower right. taxco label logo lower right. LaserVision logo lower left. The Eve image on each disc jacket is identical in pose — the title treatment and color field change between discs.
Disc 1 back — left half white, 20 named CLV chapter stops: Chapter 1「メイン・タイトル」through Chapter 20「エンディング」. Key stops: Chapter 3「ガーランド」, Chapter 11「イヴの正体」, Chapter 12「イヴの呼びかけ」. Right half red, DISC 1 header. STAFF: 演出 石黒昇, オリジナル・キャラクター・デザイン 平野俊弘, スペシャル・ゲスト・デザイン 美樹本晴彦, メカニック・デザイン 荒牧伸志 et al. CAST: 久保田英人(省吾), 川村万梨阿(由唯), 富永みーな(智美), 宮里久美(イヴ), 塩沢兼人(B-D).
Two Productions
Part I and Part II are different productions that happened to continue the same story. 石黒昇 directed Part I with アートランド. 板野一郎 took over Part II at AIC — Itano is the director whose action choreography defined early OVA action sequences; Part II reflects that register throughout. The character designs diverged accordingly: 平野俊弘's Part I designs, 梅津泰臣's Part II. 荒牧伸志 Shinji Aramaki designed the Garland mecha for both. The one constant across both productions: 宮里久美 as Eve, and 美樹本晴彦 as the designer responsible for Eve in each.
Disc 2 front jacket — メガゾーン23秘密ください PART II. Same Eve image and pose as Disc 1, but with a blue metallic lower band replacing the dark ground. The subtitle 秘密ください ("please keep it secret") runs beneath the PART II designation. taxco logo lower right.
Disc 2 back — left half white, 22 CLV chapter stops: Chapter 1「メイン・タイトル」through Chapter 22「エンディング」. Notable: Chapter 12「イヴとの対話」, Chapter 18「A・D・A・M」. Right half blue, DISC 2 header. STAFF: 演出 板野一郎, 総監督 板野一郎, オリジナル・キャラクター・デザイン 梅津泰臣, スペシャル・キャラクター・デザイン 美樹本晴彦. CAST: 矢尾一樹(省吾), 川村万梨阿(由唯), 宮里久美(イヴ), 千葉繁(ライトニング), 塩沢兼人(B-D), 速水奨(白鳥少尉).
Booklet spread — left half: メガゾーン23 PART II INTRODUCTION. Dense essay text on the production's context and Part II's place in the OVA landscape. Production stills in column. Right half: HARUHIKO MIKIMOTO INTERVIEW (Part 1 of 2). Q&A text covers Mikimoto's entry into the Megazone 23 production after Macross; his approach to Eve's design as a virtual idol who needed to feel plausible. CHARACTER section: settei sheets for 高中由唯, 時雨イヴ, 矢作省吾, B-D, and secondary cast.
The Booklet
Booklet included in the outer box — written and produced for the 1993 Premium Box release, not a reprint of earlier materials. Structure: introduction essays for both parts with character reference material, then a two-part Haruhiko Mikimoto interview running across two spreads. A newly commissioned illustration by Mikimoto appears on the booklet cover (pencil sketch of省吾 and 由唯). The Eve illustration inside carries the credit line 描き下ろしイラスト&制作協力/美樹本晴彦 — new illustration specifically for this release. The essay structure (構成・執筆: 秋廣泰生) treats the two productions as a continuous project unified by Eve rather than as separate OVAs.
Booklet cover — white ground, pencil sketch illustration by 美樹本晴彦 Haruhiko Mikimoto: 矢作省吾 (Shogo Yahagi, upper) and a female character (lower) in close-up portraiture. Soft pencil line, minimal tone. "MEGAZONE 23 PREMIUM BOX" in red. The sketch register contrasts with both the cel-animation style of the disc jackets and the watercolor outer sleeve.
Booklet interior — white ground. Center: small panel of Eve (green hair, microphone, dark background). "MEGAZONE 23 PREMIUM BOX" in red below. ℂあいどる・アートミック. Credits at bottom: 描き下ろしイラスト&制作協力/美樹本晴彦, 構成・執筆/秋廣泰生, デザイン/プランニングGM, 制作担当/柳川由加里. The Eve illustration here is newly drawn for this booklet — not a cel reproduction.
Booklet spread — HARUHIKO MIKIMOTO INTERVIEW (Part 2). Q&A continues: Mikimoto on the character design differences between Part I (平野俊弘 Hirano's cast) and Part II (梅津泰臣 Umetsu's cast); his consistent responsibility for Eve across both productions; the final message to fans. Adjacent: CHARACTER spread with full-figure settei for Part II characters — 時雨イヴ, 村下智美, 高中由唯 with turn-around reference sheets and annotation. Production stills column at left.
Mikimoto and Eve
On Disc 1, 美樹本晴彦 is credited as スペシャル・ゲスト・デザイン. On Disc 2, スペシャル・キャラクター・デザイン. The role is the same: designing Eve (時雨イヴ) while the main character design went to a different person each time — 平野俊弘 for Part I, 梅津泰臣 for Part II. Mikimoto had designed ミンメイ for Macross; the producers wanted the same hand on Eve. The 1993 booklet interview asks him to explain what that meant across two productions with different directors, different visual registers, and eight years of elapsed time. It's the most specific documentation of his Eve work that exists.
Booklet spread — メガゾーン23 INTRODUCTION. Left: essay on the 1985 production — its position in the OVA boom, the original theatrical release. Production stills column. Right: CHARACTER section for Part I — full-figure settei with annotation for 時雨イヴ, 村下智美, B-D, and supporting characters. The booklet presents both productions through their character material, with Eve as the reference point in each section.
Eve (時雨イヴ) carries the same voice (宮里久美 Kumi Miyasato) across both productions while the main protagonist (矢作省吾) is played by two different actors — 久保田英人 Hideo Kubota in Part I, 矢尾一樹 Kazuki Yao in Part II. The change marks the tonal break between the two productions. 石黒昇's 1985 film and 板野一郎's 1986 sequel are different in register, in visual approach, in studio, in almost everything except the premise they inherited and the character who animates it.
Disc 3 is mono. The English version of Part II was produced for international distribution in 1987 — released back to Japan the same year as a separate Polydor LD (W78L-1007), then collected here six years later. MYCAL Hummingbird's decision to include it treats the international production as archive material rather than novelty, which is what it had become by 1993. The booklet doesn't address it. It focuses on the Japanese productions and, specifically, on 美樹本晴彦's account of designing Eve across both.
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