Originally published at: The anime that was lost to time | Boing Boing
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I remember getting a little older and slowly learning the stylistic and storytelling differences between American animation and cartoons made almost anywhere else. I grew up watching Japanese-animated shows on Nickelodeon like Belle and Sebastian and The Mysterious Cities of Gold, or Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea (which was French), feeling their oddness against the typical Saturday morning toons, but not understanding why.
Edit: Also, this was a fascinating video. Obscure things draw me.
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What’s Japanese for Berenstein Bears?
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Having worked in comic shops for a decade in the late 80s/early 90s, each dusty anime import VHS tape on the video shelf (or behind the counter in the case of Urotsukidoji) cost $20-40 each, which is close to $40-80 in today’s money. That may have hampered interest.
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I was lucky in the late 80s and 90s a mom and pop video store I went to stocked so much anime (in dubs, subtitled and even non-translated.) I think their kid was a fan so the store had everything it seemed available at the time.
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I managed to record the entirety of Robot Carnival on Beta back in the beforetime. I think it was shown on USA Up all Night or something. Tape player died, tape is now gone. But now, I can dial it in and watch it anytime with several sources.
Our generation witnessed the Macross/Robotech war, and lived to tell about it.
But my memory has in it lots of shows that I have not seen since then. But once and awhile, one pops out and hits me right back in the wayback machine part of my brain.
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When I was a kid there were always a few that made it to tv and I liked them. But a short list at best.
Speed Racer. Of course
Gigantor.
Kimba the white lion?
Aquaboy?
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Astroboy 
The 4K UHD version of RC was recently released, and I got my copy a couple of days ago. For me it was well-worth the extra bucks; gorgeous restoration and a bunch of interesting trailers for other anime. I had also discovered RC on UaN, and for a long time I thought there were nine shorts — not eight. Why? When it was shown on UaN, they showed another anime short along with RC. For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of it, having seen it once: a mysterious ship pulls into a dock, and out emerge hundreds of crude Lego-like replicating robots, soundlessly marching into a city and take over. Strangest, most surreal anime I’d ever seen.
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I remember Kimba from the '70s? here in Australia.
Kimba. Making the jungle great.
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That was shown here in the US. Legendary synth-music composer Isao Tomita scored music for it.
Which, at the time, wasn’t necessarily a bad deal for an film. But you were paying the same price for two episodes, less than an hour, for a TV series as well. In other cases you might be paying that much for a single episode of an OVA. It was an incredible struggle as a younger fan. Blockbuster Video helped.
I caught it on the Sci-Fi Channel early on a Saturday morning. It’s probably what solidified my anime fandom, if I’m thinking about it. I grew up with Voltron, Speed Racer, a single tape of Robotech (volume 7, which has the recap episode; but I also collected the novels), and various tapes my brother rented out happened into – with the most notable being Guyver. Robot Carnival, specifically the “Cloud” segment, was something else entirely. Not an action tale but something more artsy. More emotional. My fandom has been chasing that awe ever since. And it’s been fun failing at it.
May have been Astro, but it was definitely under the ocean. I remember him taking oxygen capsules to be able to swim without breathing. He had a red outfit with his hair coming out of the top?
Marineboy?
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Definitely Marineboy!
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I thought it was one of those things that was eternally trapped in some kind of tortuous rights-limbo, never to be seen again. You’d think they’d bring it back to theaters one of these days.
(Sure is dandy that the latest big films are so accessible lately. You don’t even need to find some out-of-the-way film festival anymore.)
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I fondly remember Sci-Fi channel used to have anime weekends a few times a year when I was a kid in the early 90’s. I think that’s where I first saw Vampire Hunter D, Dragon Ball and Star Blazers.
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