Tales of Byston Well: Garzey's Wing is a three-episode OVA created by Yoshiyuki Tomino of Gundam fame, and produced by J.C. Staff and BMG Japan. It was released in 1996, and is a Spin-Off of the older Aura Battler Dunbine, despite taking place in the world's past.
The story centers around Christopher Senshu, a half-Japanese, half-American young man out of high school who is seeking entry to college. One day after an argument with his friend, a motorcycle ride leads Chris past the Shiratori shrine, and his eight-bell necklace starts to rattle. Suddenly out of nowhere, he is struck by a giant, glowing goose spirit, and swept away into the world of Byston Well. But he has no time to get his bearings. Instead he is swept immediately into the conflict between the Metomeus Tribe and the Ashigaba Army, who have until now kept them enslaved. As it turns out, Chris has been summoned by the priestess Hassan to be the legendary holy warrior, Garzey's Wing. This role grants him the power of glowing wings that appear from his ankles and allow flight. Because of the shrine he passed, however, he is convinced this must all be the work of the spirit of Yamato Takeru no Mikoto.
But things aren't even that simple. Chris hasn't been transported wholly to Byston Well; only his spirit has, splitting him into a separate existence while his physical body remains in the real world. The two soon discover the ability to communicate via the bell necklace, and as Chris struggles with the conflict he's been thrust into, his real self must search for ways to help him there, and hopefully find a way to reunite mind and body.
Garzey's Wing received a stateside release and English dub by the US Manga Corps division of Central Park Media, which is so entertainingly bad that it must be heard to be believed
and gives the incoherent plot an additional layer of Narm. It was largely unknown among Western anime fans until it was covered in a 2007 Anime News Network column on "Buried Garbage", and has since been shown at conventions and gained a cult following, earning a reputation as anime's equivalent of The Room (2003).
This anime provides examples of:
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Chris' spirit is brought to the other world without his clothes, but his genitals are obscured by a large black spot.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: When Chris is transported to the other world, he asks if The Narrator is a ghost.
- But Not Too Foreign: Chris is only half-American, his other half being Japanese.
- Cold Ham: Most of the dialogue is screamed at full volume with no inflection whatsoever.
- Drugs Are Bad: Chris warns that drugs are "a bit dangerous."
- Full-Name Basis: Chris always refers to Yamato Takeru no Mikoto by his full title, even when you would realistically expect him to use a shorter form.
- Give Me a Sword: Leelince throws swords at Chris twice when the one he's using breaks. Once he actually circles around to get it, but the other time it winds up ignored.
- Horse of a Different Color: The Ashigaba Army rides dinosaurs known as War Beasts.
- I Meant to Do That: Chris claims this when he falls off a horse.
- Informed Attribute: Rumiko informs us that Chris is so easy-going. He doesn't really act like it.
- Large Ham: The dub's voice acting is incredibly hammy, when it isn't Dull Surprise. And somehow, sometimes when it is, too.
- Losing a Shoe in the Struggle: The ferario is grabbed by two soldiers who attempt to rip her legs off and kill her, but they only succeed in ripping her boots off, as she escapes by Giving Them the Strip.
- Naked First Impression: Not the usual way - rather, Chris shows up nude in Byston Well, and has to fight that way for a bit.
- Not the Fall That Kills You…: Done with a bag of gada powder rather than a person, but the principle still applies.
- Our Fairies Are Different: Ferarios, little winged fairies from Kastunga Hill. They're widely viewed as mischievous tricksters.
- Stuff Blowing Up: Chris's real world self tries to get the one caught in Byston Well to make gunpowder, assuming he'd just be able to get the materials needed for it. As it turns out, an equivalent already exists in the form of gada powder.
- Translator Microbes: Chris remarks on how he can understand the Metomeus Tribe despite them speaking another language.
- Trick Arrow: The Metomeus Tribe gets the idea from Chris to dip their arrows in explosive gada powder, and later the drug powder used to calm War Beasts.
- Unicorn: Having a forehead horn seems to be usual for the horses in this world.
- Wrecked Weapon: Chris breaks two swords in the course of combat, and also snaps the string of an old bow.
