Original subtitles

ORPHEUS OF THE STARS Hoshi no Orpheus

Based on "Metamorphoses" from Ovid

WINDS OF CHANGE

The Heavens.

We came out of them, riding on this Earth of ours,

and we move under them and through them,

every day of our lives.

But there are all kinds of heavens.

There's the astronomers heaven, and the rockets heaven.

and the heaven of religion, and the heaven of lovers.

And also the heaven of mythology.

This is the one you're looking at now.

The heaven of the myth makers of ancient Greece and Rome,

who created their own gods, in their own images.

And also created their own story of the creation.

Their creation was beautiful, and powerful, and majestic,

and so were the gods, and goddesses and mortals

with whom they populated their new world.

But they were also spirited and turbulent.

And the gods, not withstanding their magical powers,

they had all the human frailties.

Ambition. Hate. Greed. Jealousy. Anger. Petulance. Vengeance.

It has been thousands of years since these myths were invented,

and first told, and written, and sound.

And in that time, there have been hundreds of variations of these stories,

by poets and artists, both great and small.

There have been fairy tale versions, and modern versions and musical versions.

Here is still another version.

Meet our newborn hero, Master Wondermaker.

He doesn't look like a type to stand up against obstacles and monsters.

In this first of five episodes, which will play all the leads.

But, if the ancient assyrians could make deities

that were part bull, and part eagle and part man,

and the Aztecs could make demons out of serpents,

we've got to suppose that it's possible to make a

terrific adventurer out of a boy.

In this episode, he plays Actaeon, the mighty hunter of greek mythology.

A good eye, a strong arm, a steady hand, a dead pigeon.

These are Actaeon's hounds, as ferocious a pack has ever brought us tag to them.

And this is Forest Primeval.

Now, if we know Actaeon, this hare is a prime candidate for rabbit stew.

Hm. Don't afford to waste ammunition, not when you only have one round.

What's this? A bull? A horned dragon?

It's a wild bull! The crushing ball.

Alley-oop! Well done, Master. We couldn't have done better ourselves!

Maybe this bull could be stuffed and mounted.

The tusks would look great over my mantlepiece.

On the other hand, with bore meat, getting $52 drachmae/pound...

What a marvelous piece of plumbing out here, in the middle of nowhere.

A fountain spouting fairies!

Genuine greek fairies, with wings!

And an eagle! If it's an eagle.

I've never can be too sure in these enchanted places.

Whatever it is, it's taking a lot of flat from these fairies.

It could become a bald eagle if this keeps up.

Oh, no! It's not an eagle. Not with a tail like that.

Why, it's a griffon!

It would be hard to tell, from this aspect, that you are looking at a genuine goddess.

But that's just what she is. Diana, the goddess of the hunt.

♪ You gave me dreams (And, love, my love dreams) ♪

♪ I carry them all White hills and waterphones ♪

♪ You gave me dreams (And, love, my love dreams) ♪

♪ To sweet to be ♪

♪ Magical things that children see ♪

♪ Alone ♪

♪ So we love a dream And when I hold them tight ♪

♪ They follow my days and warm my nights ♪

♪ With you in my eyes I still can fly ♪

♪ Secretly I touch ♪

Oh, no!

♪ the sky ♪

Right off, she recognizes Actaeon, the mighty hunter,

and she assumes, from his gaping, that he must be a dirty young man.

Hell had no fury like a goddess who's been peaked at.

♪ You gave me ♪

♪ dreams ♪

And now, sir, I'm going to make a few changes around here. Including you!

Birds of a feather, flight together!

Plant forms, change into flamingos!

Indolent unicorn, on your feet, get off the ground!

A restless vegetation, turn into dragons!

You don't fool around with the goddess of the hunt, the daughter of Jupiter!

You invaded my privacy!

I am in a fury and I am getting madder by the minute!

I'm going to change you, Actaeon, into something you'd rather not be.

Winds of Change, blow and swirl!

Increase from mother dail to stone!

On the move, nature! Day turn into night!

I'm mad! I'm plenty mad!

All right, stop blowing! Be quiet!

I have an important announcement to make.

As the Crescent Moon is my witness,

I'm going to punish the mighty Actaeon,

as a lesson to all those who sneak up

uninvited to lear at undressed females of whatever species,

be it goddess, or mortal, or amphibian fairy.

Here I come, Actaeon.

Nothing can help you now.

You trespasser, you Batinski! You middlesome kingnut.

How dare you wet your feet in the sacred waters of Diana's tepidarium?

Take this for your troubles.

And troubles you will have, believe you me!

Wood look different, somehow.

Why, there am I? Faithful hands, waiting for me?

Good dogs! Go, buddies!

He calls them, but how can they recognize his voice?

His whole identity has changed, and that includes his vocal chords.

And there ends the sad story of Actaeon,

the mighty hunter who became the hunted.

Having become venison, Actaeon had no star or constellation named after him.

But Diana is associated with a Heavenly Body.

Aside from her own, that is.

She's not only goddess of the hunt, but of the Moon too.

In our next story,

Wondermaker appears in the role of a very talented musician, named Orpheus.

His specialty is the lyre.

And they say that when he's in good form, he can move a crocodile to tears.

Here in these pleasant groves, Orpheus has just been married to Eurydice.

All through the night, they celebrated with their friends, in good Greek fashion.

And now they're going off to live happily ever after,

or some reasonable approximation of that.

For a trained musician, he certainly is careless with that instrument.

What's this? A burning bush?

Uh, a pretty sneaky way to introduce a serpent.

And this one is up to no good, because it has come from the Lower World,

better known as Hades.

And is reputed to have an enormous appetite.

It's no fun to lose a bride and a lyre at the same moment,

so you can understand why a sensitive musician would feel badly.

Only the leaves were witnesses,

and maybe this one knows something that Orpheus doesn't.

Like, where the serpent took Eurydice when she disappeared.

By now, he's beginning to realize that his bride

has been whisked off to the Underworld.

At least the leaf seems to be guiding him in that direction.

♪ If I had a home ♪

♪ It would be with you ♪

♪ Life would be so warm ♪

♪ And love so true ♪

♪ Summer forever is all we see ♪

♪ If there were a home ♪

♪ for me ♪

♪ And if I had wings ♪

♪ We would cross the clouds ♪

♪ Riding on the wind ♪

♪ We laugh out loud ♪

♪ Funny, the dreams your memory brings ♪

♪ Wishing now that I ♪

♪ had wings ♪

♪ You gave me dreams (And, love, my love dreams) ♪

♪ I carry them all White hills and waterphones ♪

♪ You gave me dreams (And, love, my love dreams) ♪

♪ To sweet to be ♪

♪ Magical things that children see ♪

Now, since the guiding leaf has left Orpheus

without so much as a by your leaved...

He'll have to find his own way.

And, as you can see, it's pretty confusing.

Especially when you come to a fork in the road, and there's no sign.

Nothing but a big rock in the middle.

But this rock seems to be evolving...

By the sweat of Hercules!

It's none other than Cerberus, the two-headed dog!

Maybe they... or it... can point the way to Hades!

Suddenly water, water everywhere!

The general direction when you're going to hell is down.

Even into the briney deep.

♪ And the drop of voice Sounding every mind for an answer ♪

♪ For anything kind For anyone singing new lullabies ♪

And the briney deep seems to evaporate very quickly in this region.

♪ Wondering Star Child Star Child, Star Guy ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child ♪

Children imprisoned in a bird cage?

No doubt a punishment for evil deeds on Earth.

Or perhaps for having stolen eggs from a parrot's net.

Maybe Orpheus can spring them from limbo.

♪ Look into their eyes Never hide your own from the children ♪

♪ Are always alone and always their hearts are more than they see ♪

♪ Reach across the night Those who dare to try have the power ♪

♪ To fly in the sky and travel together ♪

♪ Higher than high ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child Star Child, Star Child ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child Star Child, Star Guy ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child Star Child, Star Child ♪

♪ Wondering Star Child Star Child, Star Guy ♪

Eureka! A room full of ice cream, candy cupcakes,

tutti frutti and banana royals!

Why? Hell can't be such a bad place, after all!

A Tabasco Sunday!

My Gods! It's the snake again!

Ah, the Godfather. Pluto himself!

Pluto knows Orpheus is looking for his bride,

but it'll take some very special pleading to spring her from Hell.

So what does Orpheus have to offer?

His lyre? So strumm it!

Tears?

Crying? Can Pluto have a heart?

There, reflected.

This is the stairway that will lead you back to Earth.

Go, Orpheus! Go up this staircase and on it you will find your Eurydice.

And, because you moved me with your music,

I will permit you to lead her back to the Upper World.

But... Do not look back at her, until you have reached the top!

Look only at her reflection in my crystal tear.

Do not look back! I'm warning you!

Don't shake it, you fool! You'll upset her!

Now, see what you've done!

No, no, no! Don't go back!

Don't you remember your instructions?

Alas, poor Orpheus,

who said our star couldn't play tragedy.

There is nothing in the heavens to remind us of the lovers,

but the music of Orpheus lingers in the hearts of all mankind.

Our hero takes on a new role.

This time, he will play the part of one of the gods.

And here he comes now.

Now, this may look like a comet, but it's not.

It's the God who holds the Olympus speed record,

and we hardly need mention his name.

It's Mercury, the winged god.

And he has just come in time to see the wind up of a festival,

in which lovely handmaidens bring gifts to lay at the feet

of the Statue of the great Athena.

Now here, coming up in the rear, are three sisters.

Herse, she's the blonde.

Aglauros and Pandrosos.

And note that Aglauros has kept right on, but Herse stops to pick her up.

And know there is nothing that can move the heart of a god

as much as a true act of kindness.

But he's also smitten for other reasons.

In fact, if we read him right, it's love at first sight.

And who can blame him? She's a vision of delight.

In white, naturally.

Oh. There's no trifling gift that.

That's not just goldplated. That is solid!

Aglauros suspects that her sister is trying to show her up with such a fancy gift,

but all she has to offer is a small banana and a couple of apples,

stolen from a neighbor's tree.

I've got an idea!

I'll just wait till everyone leaves.

Those eyes do look kind of spooky.

Oh! That's just an optical illusion.

Later, that evening.

Sorry, fleet. But this house is off limits.

Only us girls live here.

But I come bearing a rose for the girl of my dreams up there!

Would you take this to her from me?

Well, hm... What's it worth to you?

How about five gold kablan keys?

Okay. It's a deal.

What a fool.

As you know, a goddess doesn't stand still for an insult.

Even if she's a statue made of marble.

She's on her way to punish Aglauros,

with the help of the goddess of envy,

who has plenty to be envious about,

since she looks like a fright.

Under the rules of these ancient stories,

Athena can assign cases like this

to such evil deities, as Envy.

Now, because the goddess Envy,

who is mixing this brew, finished last in the myth horrible contest,

Athena, by the same rules of Olympus, may not even look at her.

Athena will have to give instructions from the wing, so to speak,

while standing outside the entrance to Envy's laboratory.

She tells Envy to be a good bad witch

and to go to the bedside of Aglauros right away

and give that girl a stiff dose of a jealousy venom,

for which there is no known antidote.

You now have a pact with the devil, deary,

and I'm going to seal it with a kiss.

Come here.

Envy is in your heart now, and believe me,

it's a lot worse than hard brain.

Uh, have yourself a terrible nightmare, deary.

What was that?

Oh, adorable sister. Just call me if you need me.

What goes on in the Mind's Eye?

Can be just as Envy, making as what one sees in the eye's eye.

Observe that our hero is a gentleman.

He could have zoomed in through the bedroom window,

but he chose the front door.

It seems that Aglauros has ideas of her own

when it comes to our winged god.

What? Asking Mercury to receive stolen goods?

You will pay for your treachery by the power of my magic wand!

Out of my way, evil witch!

Moral: if you have nothing but Envy in your heart,

you're bound to crack up sooner or later.

Wondermaker assumes the role of Perseus.

Perseus is apparently in no hurry to get anywhere.

Although, we happen to know that he's bound for

the palace of a no goodnik king, named Polydectes.

Now, this Polydectes has a crush on Perseus's mother,

but he doesn't want the boy around to get him in the way.

So he's figured out a scheme to get rid of Perseus.

A search and destroy mission to find Medusa.

The only trouble is Medusa is so fierce,

that if anyone even looks at her, he will turn to stone.

Indeed, that's just what has happened,

more than once, to fellows a lot bigger and tougher than Perseus.

Uh. It's no joking matter to be stoned like that.

All right, lad. Take this sword, compliments of the house.

It's very sharp, and can cut through a neck like a stalk of celery.

Yes, you!

Go north by northeast.

♪ Where are you going Going, Perseus? ♪

♪ Where are you going Going, Perseus? ♪

♪ Hey, is this somebody waiting for you in the trail of the stars? ♪

Pretty good mountain climbing for a kid.

This is, at least, a 45° slope, and he's not even wearing crampons.

♪ Or are you dreamers always in danger, wherever you are? ♪

♪ Gonna find Medusa ♪

We can get very hot in Greece in the summer.

♪ Gonna find Medusa ♪

♪ Gonna find Medusa ♪

♪ Where are you going Going, Perseus? ♪

♪ Where are you going Going, Perseus? ♪

Just how an old man, with one crutch,

trembling from fall, ever made it to the top of this mountain,

is just one of the wonders our man Perseus

will encounter before the day's over.

♪ Where are you going Going, Perseus? ♪

♪ Chasing dreams was the ruin of too many others like you ♪

♪ Gonna find Medusa ♪

♪ Gonna find Medusa ♪

♪ Gonna find Medusa ♪

Oh, wait! It's Hermes, better known as Mercury!

He took the form of that old man to test Perseus!

Let's streamline your hair.

Rev up your shoes.

Now you can be just as aerodynamic as either.

♪ (Gonna find Medusa) Where are you going, going, Perseus? ♪

♪ (Gonna find Medusa) Where are you going, going, Perseus? ♪

♪ Born only this morning ♪

♪ Blessed by your lucky star ♪

♪ You're ready to fly Just to give it a try ♪

♪ Discover who you are ♪

♪ World ready and waiting ♪

♪ You can set it a glow ♪

♪ Faster than sound ♪

♪ But if you don't leave the ground No one will never know ♪

♪ Future legend Bone of the sky ♪

♪ Future legend Learning to fly ♪

♪ Future legend Now you're ready to see it through ♪

Ready for take off!

♪ Future legend Bone of the sky ♪

♪ Future legend Learning to fly ♪

♪ Future legend Legend, legend ♪

♪ Future legend Bone of the sky ♪

♪ Future legend Learning to fly ♪

♪ Future legend Legend, legend, legend ♪

♪ Future legend Bone of the sky ♪

♪ Future legend Learning to fly ♪

♪ Future legend Legend, legend, legend ♪

♪ Future legend Bone of the sky ♪

♪ Future legend You're learning to fly ♪

♪ Future legend Legend, legend, legend ♪

What's this? A flash flood?

And an old lady in distress!

Whoa-ho! This is none other than Athena!

Daughter of the great Zeus himself!

Perseus, if you have any hope of finding Medusa,

you must not look directly at her, or you'll be turned to stone.

Also, you'll need a shield. Take mine.

To find Medusa, you must seek the three witches with one eye between them.

Is that clear?

Poor things. Having to pop that eye in and out.

Not that there's much to see around here, but still.

I'm going to sneak up and snatch that eye,

and hold it for ransom until they give me directions.

Hee God, their eye has disappeared and they can't even look for it!

You can't blame them for being upset.

How would you feel if you had five missing eyes,

and a boy came along and snatched the only one you had left?

In exchange for the ransom eye,

the witches give Perseus directions to Medusa country,

with a warning to watch out for falling stones.

Travelers who've been petrified.

Beware of everything they warn him, especially Medusa and her sisters!

Wait a minute. This can't be Medusa.

This doll? Now, why would anybody want

to badmouth a charming young lady like this?

Blonde. Pure blonde, and that's very rare in Greece.

So what's all this suvlaki everybody's been giving out about serpents in her hair?

Why she's the prettiest thing on the peninsula, and demure too.

The least I can do is to pay my respects, like any well-bred greek boy.

Uh-oh.

Anybody, repeat, anybody who looks on the face of Medusa,

even if it's only a reflection, will be turned to stone!

And there are no exceptions, sorry.

These are the two sisters of Medusa.

You can see a certain family resemblance.

Oh! There's life left in the old head yet.

Look at that! From serpents into a horse!

Or is it an eagle? Or is it a dragon?

Why, it's all three! But mostly horse.

And his name is Pegasus.

A lick of the tongue, a brush of the wing.

You can see Pegasus obviously likes the kid.

And off they go! A winged horse and his passenger,

to become fixed stars in the heavens.

Two separate constellations, Perseus and Pegasus.

And next time you see a meteor shower in the month of August,

remember that they're called perseids, after Perseus.

Here we are. Back from Hell and in Helas again,

which was what Greece was called in those days.

And here is Wondermaker again,

but this time in the role of young Phaëton, the cart driver.

You'd never guess, to look at him,

that he's the son of a very important deity.

Helios, the Sun God.

It is Helios who drives the flaming chariot across the heavens every day,

and without whose expert horsemanship,

the Earth would be plunged into perpetual night.

It's scandalous when two asses try to make an ass of their master.

Ah, there's Helios guiding his chariot across the sky,

with a steady hold on the rain.

Maybe they could take off.

Their ears are long enough to make wings.

No, that asinine, they're not.

They know that they're not after to flying.

Down the western sky, towards sunset.

And rest until morning.

They are now in the parking mode,

and will stay that way until the sun rises.

But this son has risen even earlier.

And he has a plan, which he will put into action as soon as dawn breaks.

Meet lovely Aurora and her cousin.

They go through this routine every morning.

Pyrois, Aeos and Phlegon. Ah, what Beauties.

Now, Helios has specifically forbidden his son Phaëton to go near the animals.

But how convenient the dad is a little late getting to work this morning.

Must have overslept.

Hey! If ever there's a chance to make off with this rig, it's now.

There's the ignition!

It's a little slow warming up.

See? See? There's nothing to it!

Hey, man! Hey, gods! This is fun!

This up and down stuff may amount to a little detour,

but so what? We've got all day!

Under the sea... Oh, yes, the road to Hell again.

Dad did mention the reflection of sunlight from the water.

Toss them through this noble animal that something is wrong here.

Hey, horses! There's the problem!

A kid at the rains!

A shaver, an amateur!

A donkey driver, a crazy back there.

We'll show the whipper snapper a thing or two.

He's not going to control us!

♪ Got a hot shot of trouble inside me ♪

♪ Ain't got no time to panic obey me ♪

♪ It's like it gets all life Gonna find me, dare me ♪

♪ Turn me away ♪

♪ All my life blood is turning to lava ♪

♪ And it's burning my body and soul ♪

♪ 'Cause it's all that I know It's a fire that's rolling ♪

♪ Out of control ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Fire!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Red Hot!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ I can take you ♪

♪ No turning around on forever ♪

♪ It'll shake you ♪

♪ Follow me now down the river ♪

♪ Delve it right now ♪

♪ I just up and swallow forever ♪

♪ And I feel like a tower of flame ♪

♪ It's a part of me Something inside me is howling ♪

♪ Calling my name Oh, oh ♪

♪ On the red blazers raging inside you ♪

♪ You belong in this river with me ♪

♪ I'll master your soul Let the fire fold you ♪

♪ Burning you free Oh, oh ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Fire!) ♪

There he goes.

The same actor who you saw in the starring roles

of Perseus, of Actaeon, and Orpheus, and Mercury.

But now he's a falling star.

Not a bad way to go.

♪ Red Hot River ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Go her!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Fire! You'll see, you!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Fire me down to the river!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ Oh! Red Hot River of Fire (Take me! Fire! Higher!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Red Hot!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River Ooooh ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Fire!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Red Hot!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River Oh yeah ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ Oh! Red Hot River of Fire (Take me! Fire! Higher!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Red Hot!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River Ooooh ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Higher!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Red Hot!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River Oh yeah ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Fire!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Oh!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River of Fire (Red Hot!) ♪

♪ Red Hot River ♪