Bit the Cupid (partially found episodes and original audio of anime series; 1998)
Bit the Cupid is a Japanese anime series produced by Group TAC. Featuring character designs by Susumu Matsushita and CG animation, it was the first anime to exploit a digital pipeline and laid down key foundations future anime production would later make use of.[1] The show ran for 48 13-minute episodes on TV Tokyo between April 1995 and March 1996. The show would later be dubbed in various countries in the late 1990s, eventually receiving an English dub.
The show quickly fell to obscurity. Several home video releases were made, however all of them sold poorly. The show's aforementioned obscurity meant that although all tapes were easily purchasable, they were priced as low as 100¥ with no one buying them. A small search and digitization effort was done in August 2022, but slowed to a crawl due to the rarity of the tapes. Currently, as of August 2024, 31 out of the show's 48 episodes have been found.
Japanese Audio
Previously, the only footage that remained of the original Japanese audio of the series prior to 2022 was the show's opening that was uploaded back on YouTube in 2008, and a rip from a CD single of the show's second ending theme Blueberry Passion.
On June 18th, 2022, YouTuber Lee's Video Store Of Obscurities would upload episodes 1-8 of the series that came from a VHS rental tape, where it would subsequently be digitized and uploaded to their YouTube channel. Two days later, on June 21st, 2022, they would upload episodes 12-19 of the series to their YouTube channel.
Two months later, on September 24th, 2022, the latter user would upload episodes 9-12 and episodes 38-41 on their YouTube channel.
A year later, on October 5th, 2023, Lee would upload episodes 42-48 on their YouTube channel. This leaves episodes 20-37 currently missing
Chinese VCDs
Bit the Cupid would be released on VCD in Chinese-speaking regions with differing titles. It's believed the entire series was published on VCD, but only 15 episodes[2] have been known to be released in the format, evidenced by a listing of all the VCDs.
These would later be ripped by a user to youku.com. Several custom PSAs in Chinese were included in the batch. A rip of Episode 28 is believed to have come from a VCD, but it was appended by the uploader with a copy of the Japanese ending. These went unnoticed until 2021 where it would be reuploaded to YouTube by Mel's Reupload Hole with an added description.
English Dub
On January 13, 1998, the Fox Family Channel announced their inaugural lineup of television shows. This included an English dubbed version of Bit the Cupid set to air in the morning hours.[3] Produced by Saban Entertainment, the dub was directed by Marc Handler and featured Richard Epcar, Tony McDougall, Jerry Gelb, Frank Catalano and Lex Lang.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
When R. Martin Klein was interviewed in 2022 regarding his voice acting career, he briefly went over the dub and its subdued release.
"Bit, uh, there was Bit the Cupid, which... never went anywhere! But I did every episode, we did the entire series, and somehow it was on briefly, but it disappeared."
There were no home video releases of this dub, with the only available footage online coming from a 1998 Fox Family upfront promo.
Episodes
# | Title | Air date | Status |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ビット誕生! | Apr 20, 1995 | Found |
2 | パンドラより愛をこめて | Apr 27, 1995 | Found |
3 | バッカスの嬉しい贈り物 | May 4, 1995 | Found |
4 | 翔べ!イカロス | May 11, 1995 | Found |
5 | あぶない熟年ゼウス | May 18, 1995 | Found |
6 | 愛しきビーナス人形 | May 25, 1995 | Found |
7 | アンドロメダ騒動記 | Jun 1, 1995 | Found |
8 | クモ女!アラクネ | Jun 8, 1995 | Found |
9 | 軍神マルスの大戦争 | Jun 15, 1995 | Found |
10 | ナルシスが好き! | Jun 22, 1995 | Found |
11 | アルテメスの秘密 | Jun 29, 1995 | Found |
12 | パパはアポロン? | Jul 6, 1995 | Found |
13 | パエトーン!炎の戦車 | Jul 13, 1995 | Found |
14 | ヘルメスのサンデル | Jul 20, 1995 | Found |
15 | 決定!世界一速い天使 | Aug 3, 1995 | Found |
16 | 青銅の巨人タロス | Aug 10, 1995 | Found |
17 | 戦争ロボットの優鬱 | Aug 17, 1995 | Found |
18 | 聞こえた!心の交響曲 | Aug 24, 1995 | Found |
19 | 立ち上がれ!タロス | Aug 31, 1995 | Found |
20 | 知恵ある男シシュポス | Sep 7, 1995 | Lost |
21 | 騙された死神ハデス | Sep 14, 1995 | Lost |
22 | 怪物メデゥーサの首 | Sep 21, 1995 | Lost |
23 | 巨人アトラスと約束 | Sep 28, 1995 | Lost |
24 | ゴルゴン姉妹に御用心 | Oct 5, 1995 | Lost |
25 | 戦慄!メデューサの首 | Oct 19, 1995 | Lost |
26 | ヒヤシンスはライバル | Oct 26, 1995 | Lost |
27 | 黄金の殺人フリスビー | Nov 2, 1995 | Lost |
28 | 可愛い人魚ガラティア | Nov 9, 1995 | Partially Found (Chinese dub) |
29 | ボセイドんからの招待状 | Nov 16, 1995 | Lost |
30 | 恐怖の海底遊園地 | Nov 23, 1995 | Lost |
31 | 海は怖いな不思議だな | Nov 30, 1995 | Lost |
32 | 牧神パーンはモテ男 | Dec 7, 1995 | Lost |
33 | ヘラのラブラブ大騒動 | Dec 14, 1995 | Lost |
34 | 鳥の国からきたオリー | Dec 30, 1995 | Lost |
35 | 空飛ぶ戦艦を狙え! | Dec 30, 1995 | Lost |
36 | 鳥の王国オルニポリス | Jan 4, 1996 | Lost |
37 | 国王テレウスの正体 | Jan 11, 1996 | Lost |
38 | ドキドキお化け屋敷 | Jan 18, 1996 | Found |
39 | お化けビットの逆襲 | Jan 25, 1996 | Found |
40 | ビッシリ地獄の恐怖! | Feb 1, 1996 | Found |
41 | 嫌われ者よ永遠なれ! | Feb 8, 1996 | Found |
42 | ハデスの思い出裁判 | Feb 15, 1996 | Found |
43 | ゼウス・千年目の運命 | Feb 22, 1996 | Found |
44 | 危ウシのバーベキュー | Feb 29, 1996 | Found |
45 | 狙われた虹の女神 | Mar 7, 1996 | Found |
46 | 勇気だ希望だレインボー | Mar 14, 1996 | Found |
47 | バイバイ・オリンポス | Mar 21, 1996 | Found |
48 | ビットの誕生日! | Mar 28, 1996 | Found |
Surfaced Content
References
- ↑ Bit by Byte by Bob Johnstone, Retrieved 4 Aug '24
- ↑ Chinese VCD that lists 15 episodes being made
- ↑ FOX FAMILY CHANNEL UNVEILS KIDS SCHEDULE Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ Marc Handler Resume Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ Richard Epcar Resume Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ Tony McDougall - Voices.com Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ Jerry Gelb - Voiceover Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ Frank Catalano Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ Alexis Lang Biography Retrieved 10 Jul '18
- ↑ R. Martin Klein interview Retrieved 4 Aug '24