Sweet Dreams

Does this couple remind you anyone?



( One more pic )

They're totally Helios and Chibi-Usa, right? I mean, of course they're not exact clones, but their coloring is similar -- even if Helios' hair is more white than blue -- and the long strands of hair framing her face kinda look like Chibi-Usa's pigtails. It's not just me, is it?

So, who are they really? Olivier and Ohri from a fun 2-part OAV I watched last night called Gestalt. And the similarities don't just stop with a vague physical resemblence. Olivier is a priest, and Ohri is a sorceress who is voiced by none other than Kae Araki, who was Chibi-Usa's seiyuu! That Kae Araki connection really blew my mind because even though I thought there were moments when Ohri sounded a bit like Chibi-Usa, I just assumed my brain was playing tricks on me because of their similar looks. Then I saw that saw that it really was Kae Araki while watching the end credits and squeed. Sadly, Taiki Matsuno did not play Olivier. (How awesome would that have been?) Takehito Koyasu was his seiyuu instead, but that's only a minor disappointment, because he's just amazing. (Love Takehito Koyasu! He's one of my favorites.)

You know, a part of me wonders if Naoko Takeuchi was a fan of Gestalt and maybe took inspiration from the characters to create Helios and Chibi-Usa. The OAV came out in 1997, but the manga it's based on started in 1992, just around the time she started Sailor Moon, so it's not totally out of the question. Speaking of which, it looks like the manga was released here a couple of years ago by Viz. I may just check it out. The OAV ended in a decent enough spot, but two episodes definitely wasn't enough to cover all eight volumes. By the end, I was intrigued enough to want to see the rest of the story, which reminds me a bit of Slayers. (Now that I think about it, rather than Chibi-Usa, Ohri's personality reminds me more of a more competent, less annoying Marina, with maybe a pinch of Lina thrown in for good measure. And Olivier is like a male Sylphiel, only more assertive.)

On second though...maybe not. Just read a review of the first volume at ANN, and it seems like Ohri is actually male, which kills my Chibi-Usa/Helios comparison buzz. (Although I wonder how the mangaka -- Yun Kouga of Loveless fame, BTW, so the BL is kind of expected -- explains the obviously real boobs... You can't exactly fake them in the outfits he/she wears. Magic, I guess?) Looking back, I guess it was kind of hinted in the OAV as well. I just didn't really get that part. Oh, well. The story still interests me, so who knows? Maybe I'll give it a shot after all, even though BL isn't something I'm interested in. I don't know.