DNA² (DNA Squared) DVD

Junta Momonari has a problem that makes high school social life especially complicated: he is violently, physically allergic to girls. Any romantic or sexual stimulus from a female sends him sprinting for the nearest bathroom. His childhood friend and neighbor Ami is the only girl around whom he feels normal, a fact he has carefully avoided examining too closely. His situation becomes considerably stranger when Karin Aoi crashes into his life — literally — a young woman from one hundred years in the future who has been sent back in time on a population control mission. In Junta's era, a man called the Mega-Playboy has fathered over one hundred children, triggering a cascading overpopulation crisis that is still being felt a century later. Karin's job: fire a DNA-altering bullet at the Mega-Playboy before his biological legacy can begin. She fires. She has hit the wrong person. Instead of neutralizing a womanizer, she has accidentally triggered the Mega-Playboy gene in Junta himself — transforming a boy who couldn't look at a girl without getting sick into an irresistible, charismatic force of nature who draws women to him against their will, including Karin, who now has to undo what she has done before the man she accidentally created becomes the very catastrophe she was sent back to prevent.

DNA² is a 12-episode television series plus three-episode OVA produced by Madhouse and Studio Deen, directed by Junichi Sakata, and based on Masakazu Katsura's manga — the creator of Video Girl Ai and I"s. It aired on Nippon TV from October to December 1994, followed by the OVA from February to June 1995. The opening theme "Blurry Eyes" was performed by L'Arc-en-Ciel; the ending theme "Single Bed" by Sharam Q. Originally licensed in North America by Central Park Media and released across five individual DVD volumes from February 11 to October 14, 2003, each containing three episodes. Vol. 4 includes a notable bonus featurette "Dubbing Against the Clock: Making the English Dub with Voice Actor Liam O'Brien." The series went out of print with CPM's 2009 bankruptcy and was later re-licensed by Discotek Media in 2013.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Junichi Sakata
Original Manga: Masakazu Katsura (Video Girl Ai, I"s; serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha)
Studio: Madhouse / Studio Deen
Opening Theme: "Blurry Eyes" by L'Arc-en-Ciel
Ending Theme: "Single Bed" by Sharam Q

Japanese Cast:
- Keiichi Nanba as Junta Momonari
- Mina Tominaga as Karin Aoi (Tenchi Movie 2: Daughter of Darkness, Moldiver)
- Hiroko Kasahara as Ami Kurimoto
- Hekiru Shiina as Tomoko Saeki (Haunted Junction, Battle Skipper, Nadesico)
- Takehito Koyasu as Ryuuji Sugashita (Slayers, Escaflowne, Gate Keepers, Fushigi Yugi, Z.O.E. Dolores I)

English Dub Cast (Central Park Media — New York):
- Liam O'Brien as Junta Momonari (Night on the Galactic Railroad, RG Veda, Descendants of Darkness, Captain Tylor OVA)
- Rachael Lillis as Karin Aoi (Pokémon, Night on the Galactic Railroad, Maetel Legend, Revolutionary Girl Utena)
- Lisa Ortiz as Ami Kurimoto (Night on the Galactic Railroad, Maetel Legend, Gestalt, Captain Tylor OVA, Alien Nine)
- Dan Green as Ryuuji Sugashita (Descendants of Darkness, Captain Tylor OVA, Pokémon)

DVD Volume Breakdown (Central Park Media)

- Vol. 1 — Metamorphosis (Episodes 1–3): Art/Sketch Gallery, Trailers
- Vol. 2 — Confrontation (Episodes 4–6): Art/Sketch Gallery, Trailers
- Vol. 3 — Mutation (Episodes 7–9): Art/Sketch Gallery, Trailers
- Vol. 4 — Crossfire (Episodes 10–12): "Dubbing Against the Clock" featurette with Liam O'Brien, Art/Sketch Gallery
- Vol. 5 — Evolution (OVA Episodes 1–3): Art/Sketch Gallery, Trailers

DVD Features

- Art & Sketch Galleries (all volumes)
- DNA² Trailers (all volumes)
- "Dubbing Against the Clock: Making the English Dub" with Liam O'Brien (Vol. 4)
- Central Park Media / US Manga Corps Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: D・N・A² ～何処かで失くしたあいつのアイツ～ (Dī En Ei Tsū: Dokoka de Nakushita Aitsu no Aitsu)
Runtime: ~375 Minutes (Complete Series — 12 TV Episodes + 3 OVA Episodes, 5 Volumes)
Director: Junichi Sakata
DVD Release Year: 2003 (U.S. Release, February 11 – October 14 — Central Park Media); out of print since 2009 CPM bankruptcy; re-licensed by Discotek Media 2013
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): October 7 – December 23, 1994 (TV) / February 21 – June 25, 1995 (OVA)
Publisher: Central Park Media (US Manga Corps)
Rating: 13+
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Romantic Comedy, Sci-Fi
Themes: Time Travel, DNA Alteration, Mega-Playboy, Masakazu Katsura Manga, L'Arc-en-Ciel Opening Theme

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.