Radio City Fantasy



Radio City Fantasy (街角のメルヘン) is one of the first OVAs, scripted by Takeshi Shuto at 18 years old.

In the 1984 OVA, a young artist named Hiroshi falls in love with his muse, a moody pale-skinned girl with something he sees as special. Phantasmagorial surrealist segues ensue. This avant-garde anime is known as "Machikado No Meruhen" or "Street Corner Fairytales" in Japan, and is named so in hopes of people confusing it with the 1962 Osamu Tezuka short film "Aru Machikado no Monogatari".

It should be noted that Yoshitaka Amano designed the characters in one of his earliest gigs.

Tropes related to the film:

 * Attempted Rape
 * Bob Haircut: Hiroshi's muse has one.
 * Crash Into Hello
 * Deranged Animation
 * Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: Hiroshi's muse is strikingly pale with black hair.
 * Genre Busting: A surrealist avant garde romantic comedy? Sure.
 * Gratuitous English
 * Gratuitous French: Combined with English for a pretentious yet nonsensical introduction.
 * Jukebox Musical: 17 different songs from the same J-POP artist scores the movie.
 * Lady in Red
 * Mind Screw
 * Perky Goth: Hiroshi's muse
 * Smoking Is Glamorous
 * Title Drop: Both titles; one in conversation, one written on graffiti in the background
 * What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: Particularly the sprouting wings at the end.
 * What Do You Mean It Wasn't Made on Drugs?: The art is reminiscent of Yellow Submarine and other trippy sixties pop art, and then there's the plot...