The Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman DVD

Hiroya Matsumoto just wants to be a great salaryman like his late father. He joins the Right Trading Company, passes his interview, and reports for his first day — only to discover that the department he has been assigned to is the Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman, a secret five-person superhero team protecting Earth from alien invasion in color-coded spandex suits. His color is Red. His teammates are Moss Green, Gray, Sepia, and Salmon Pink. Moss Green considers his color extremely dashing. Gray is deeply concerned about his car. Sepia is a devoted father who buys his daughter stuffed toys and does not think much of the team's weapons. Salmon Pink crushes things without meaning to. Their commander, Kyoko Sakakibara of Human Resources, secretly wishes she could be a Shinesman herself and has strong feelings about four of the team's colors. The alien threat they face is the kingdom of Voice — whose plan for world conquest takes the specific form of corporate expansion, because the king has determined that Big Business is the most effective instrument of planetary domination.

Special Duty Combat Unit Shinesman is a two-episode 1996 OVA directed by Shinya Sadamitsu — the same director as Dragon Half — and produced by Production I.G, based on Kaimu Tachibana's nine-volume manga. It is a loving, razor-sharp parody of the Super Sentai tokusatsu genre, skewering every convention of the format while simultaneously working as a genuinely funny workplace comedy. The opening theme was performed by Hironobu Kageyama, legendary singer of numerous Sentai and Dragon Ball Z themes and later a founding member of JAM Project. The English dub produced in North Carolina by Media Blasters is widely regarded as one of the funniest dubs ever made — praised by fans as "quite simply, perfect" — with a script that takes significant creative liberties to maximize comedy while maintaining the spirit of the original.

The DVD includes both a subtitle track and a separate caption track for the English dub. Released on DVD by Media Blasters (Anime Works) on September 26, 2000. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Shinya Sadamitsu (Dragon Half)
Original Manga: Kaimu Tachibana (serialized in Gakken, 9 volumes, 1993–1998)
Screenplay: Hideki Sonoda
Character Design: Akiharu Ishii
Studio: Production I.G
Opening Theme: performed by Hironobu Kageyama (Dragon Ball Z, JAM Project, Super Sentai franchise)

Japanese Cast:
- Yasunori Matsumoto as Matsumoto / Shinesman Red
- Sho Hayami as Hayami / Shinesman Moss Green (RG Veda, Nightwalker)
- Koichi Yamadera as Yamadera / Shinesman Gray (Cowboy Bebop, Evangelion, Elf Princess Rane)
- Kenichi Ono as Ono / Shinesman Sepia (Nadesico)
- Noriko Hidaka as Hidaka / Shinesman Salmon Pink
- Yoshiko Sakakibara as Sakakibara (Sol Bianca: The Legacy, Black Magic M-66, Princess Nine)
- Hekiru Shiina as Princess Shiina

English Dub Cast (Media Blasters / North Carolina):
- Scott Simpson as Matsumoto / Shinesman Red (Oh My Goddess! OVA)
- David Wade as Hayami / Shinesman Moss Green
- Rick Forrester as Yamadera / Shinesman Gray
- Justin Smith as Ono / Shinesman Sepia
- Tamara Burnham as Hidaka / Shinesman Salmon Pink
- Tracie Dinwiddie as Sakakibara
- Juliet Cesario as Kasahara Hitomi (Oh My Goddess! OVA, Night on the Galactic Railroad)
- Pamela Weidner as Princess Shiina

DVD Features

- Subtitle Track (Japanese script translation) AND separate Caption Track (English dub script)
- Art Gallery
- Japanese & English Cast Credits
- Shinesman Bath Goods Commercial (embedded at episode 1 commercial break)
- Media Blasters / Anime Works Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: 特務戦隊シャインズマン (Tokumu Sentai Shainzuman)
Runtime: ~60 Minutes (Complete OVA, 2 Episodes)
Director: Shinya Sadamitsu
DVD Release Year: 2000 (U.S. Release, September 26 — Media Blasters / Anime Works)
Original Release Date (Japan): February 21, 1996
Publisher: Media Blasters (Anime Works)
Rating: Unrated
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi, Tokusatsu Parody
Themes: Super Sentai Parody, Corporate Salaryman Heroes, Alien Business Invasion, Infamous English Dub, JAM Project Opening Theme

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.