The Japanese have a somewhat … peculiar track record in adapting American properties. One need only look at the Japanese version of Spider-Man, in which he ends up with a giant transforming robot, to realize that one might have a bit of trepidation in knowing that another Marvel property is to be adapted into an anime. Even in current day their track record is rocky; I'm really not sure that the world needs a bishonen Wolverine, and the X-Men anime has serious flaws. So Kathleen and I were a bit dubious about [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Primeval
October 18, 2013 By 1 Comment
You spend your entire career planning for just about every crisis imaginable - up to and including alien invasion - then this happens. So much for thinking outside the bloody box. -- James Lester The first episode of Primeval opens up like a classic monster movie flick; a young woman in trouble, chased by something we don't see clearly but is definitely huge and hostile, and then a quick chase sequence which indicates our momentary heroine is a goner. But Primeval is nothing like your [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Yoroiden Samurai Troopers
May 24, 2013 By 1 Comment
The anime Saint Seiya, which I discussed some time back here, gave rise to an entire subgenre which I call "God-Warriors" – young people chosen by something on deific level to battle god-level threats, generally in a "Five-Team" configuration. This of course owed a great deal to the "sentai" shows of the same era, but Saint Seiya codified it for its generation and a number of other shows quickly followed – some following its lead, and others trying to take off from it and go in another direction; its influence can be seen in [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Gensomaden Saiyuki
May 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment
It's well-known that we're willing to take our cultural heritage and rewrite it in amusing ways; red-bearded, bearish, Norse warrior god Thor becomes a tall, blonde warrior speaking faux-Olde English in the comics; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is remade as a gang war in modern times; the world of Greek Mythology is mixed up with Egyptian, Roman, and a bit of Wuxia film for Xena, Warrior Princess. The Japanese are no less willing to do this to our cultural heritage… or their own. Saint Seiya was a peculiar, to say the least, [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Jonny Quest
April 19, 2013 By 7 Comments
In 1964, Hanna-Barbera decided to try an action-adventure based animated television series, and asked comic-book writer and illustrator Doug Wyldie to give them a treatment of an animated version of Jack Armstrong, All-American Boy, a popular radio drama from the 30s through 1951. As it turned out, they couldn't get the rights to Armstrong and asked Wyldie if he could create a similar show treatment with original characters. Wyldie took the basic idea of the old Jack Armstrong adventures – a young boy and his friend or relative on [ Continue reading... ]
[Not] On my Shelves: Mighty Max
March 13, 2013 By 3 Comments
Mighty Max was a short-lived cartoon (one year in the early 1990s) which deserved far more recognition than it got. It shares with ROM:Spaceknight the distinction of being inspired by a toy line, but the toy line in this case was rather more successful than the show. The basic plot of Mighty Max was relatively simple, if peculiar: the eponymous Max is a young boy – specific age not given but he appears to be maybe 13-14 – whose mother is an archaeologist. The latter is important as this is why he's able to read the [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Doctor Who
March 11, 2013 By 10 Comments
I cross the void beyond the mind The empty space that circles time; I see where others stumble blind To seek a truth they'll never find. Eternal wisdom is my guide; I am – The Doctor. --Jon Pertwee, 3rd Doctor The longest running and one of the most influential science-fiction television shows ever created, Doctor Who is a titan amidst pygmies, larger than life in every direction and three times as confusing. Beginning in the early 1960s as a children's adventure show, it quickly drew a much more diverse and [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Mobile Suit Gundam Wing
January 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment
The Gundam series is one of the longest-running and most successful anime/manga franchises in Japan. Starting with Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979, the Gundam franchise spans multiple television series, OAV series, movies, video games, novels, manga, and virtually any sort of merchandise one can imagine (and probably some you can't). Gundam itself is credited with changing the old "giant robot" genre from stories about a boy with some inexplicable and often personified superweapon to a story of war and politics which happened to feature [ Continue reading... ]
On My Shelves: Airwolf
January 2, 2013 By 8 Comments
File A56-7W. Top secret. Subject: AIRWOLF, a Mach-1 plus attack helicopter. Sought by governments friendly and foreign, AIRWOLF has been hidden by test pilot Stringfellow Hawke - to be returned to the government only if his brother, St. John, an MIA in Vietnam, can be found… Backed by unmatched firepower, AIRWOLF is a weapon too dangerous to be left in unenlightened hands. Finding AIRWOLF is your number one priority. END OF FILE. The 1980s saw several "gadget as star" shows, with the most well-known probably being Knight [ Continue reading... ]
Under the Influence: Star Trek: The Original Series
December 21, 2012 By 4 Comments
"Space… the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds… to seek out new life and new civilizations… to boldly go where no man has gone before." There is perhaps no piece of science fiction more well-known, more roundly mocked, and more completely loved, than Star Trek, the original series. Today it may often seem quaint, old-fashioned, sometimes even wince-inducing, but in its day it was a groundbreaking and shining example of what [ Continue reading... ]
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