Spirit of Wonder: Miss China's Ring DVD

Somewhere along the coast, on an island that feels borrowed from a Victorian storybook, a young Chinese woman known to everyone simply as Miss China runs the Tenkai — a small restaurant and boarding house by the sea. She has two tenants. One is Dr. Breckenridge, a magnificently impractical inventor chronically late on his rent, whose workshop upstairs is always humming with the latest in impossible machines. The other is Jim, a quiet, handsome watchmaker's apprentice who has quietly captured Miss China's heart — though she is convinced, through a perfectly understandable series of misunderstandings, that he has eyes only for the pretty flower girl at the market. The good doctor's newest invention, a Space Reflex Telescope, may or may not be capable of reaching the moon. Jim has a plan. Miss China has no idea what's coming. And the world, just this once, has a Spirit of Wonder.

Spirit of Wonder: Miss China's Ring is one of the most quietly charming OVAs of the early 1990s — a 45-minute period fantasy that feels like a Jules Verne story retold as a gentle romantic comedy, suffused with warmth, lovely period design, and a genuine sweetness that is almost completely absent from anything else being made at the time. Based on Kenji Tsuruta's acclaimed anthology manga serialized in Kodansha's Morning and Monthly Afternoon magazines, the OVA was produced by Ajia-do Animation Works and directed by Mitsuru Hongo, with music by Kohei Tanaka.

 The North American DVD release by AnimEigo in 2001 had an extremely limited print run and the license expired shortly afterward, making original copies genuinely scarce and collectible.

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Mitsuru Hongo
Original Manga: Kenji Tsuruta (serialized in Morning / Monthly Afternoon, Kodansha)
Character Design / Animation Director: Yoshiaki Yanagida
Studio: Ajia-do Animation Works
Music: Kohei Tanaka (Bastard!!, Battle Athletes, One Piece)

Cast:
- Noriko Hidaka as Miss China (Catnapped!, Ranma ½)
- Hiroyuki Shibamoto as Jim
- Michio Hazama as Dr. Breckenridge
- Yuriko Fuchizaki as Lily (Bastard!!, Ruin Explorers)

DVD Features

- AnimEigo Program Notes
- AnimEigo Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: スピリットオブワンダー チャイナさんの憂鬱 (Supiritto obu Wandā: Chaina-san no Yūutsu)
Runtime: ~45 Minutes (Single OVA Episode)
Director: Mitsuru Hongo
DVD Release Year: 2001 (U.S. Release, AnimEigo — Limited Print Run)
Original Release Date (Japan): June 3, 1992
Publisher: AnimEigo
Rating: Unrated
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Romance, Fantasy, Comedy, Period Drama
Themes: Victorian-Era Whimsy, Mad Science, Unrequited Love, Moonlit Adventure, Jules Verne Homage

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.