>2) 1979-1980. Wow, that Starblazers show is like no other cartoon I've ever seen. Too bad there's nothing else like it anywhere.
Oh MAN that takes me back...
It's the winter of 1980, and the family's in the middle of moving from Colorado to California, so there we are at a friend's place in L.A., and there I am, ten years old, with nothing to do but watch unfamiliar TV.
Keep in mind that up to this point the only anime I'd ever seen was Battle of the Planets, and after everything Sandy Frank did to it I don't think that counts as anime anymore.
Certainly I hadn't even realized it was an import. Probably the best thing I'd seen on the tube up to that date was the '70s Tarzan cartoon--anyone remember, the one that was almost faithful to the books?
So there I am, flipping through the channels, when It comes on.
The second- or third-from-last episode of Star Blazers Season Two. Possibly the most emotionally wrenching moment in the whole run of the show.
The Comet Empire has blown up the Moon just to make a point. Earth's government has unconditionally surrendered. The -Argo- is the only ship still fighting, and Wildstar has just rammed it into the Gamilon flagship--and despite his injuries has pulled a gun and staggered onto the enemy bridge looking for Desslok.
That classic confrontation--Derek, Desslok, Nova--
--it blew my ten-year-old mind.
A losing battle, a noble villain, true love... it was like nothing I'd ever imagined a cartoon could be. It SEARED itself into my brain...
And I couldn't find it in the TV Guide! I didn't even know what its NAME was, and when we finally got to our new home it WASN'T ON THE AIR! AAAARGH!
It would be two long years before a local station picked up Star Blazers, and when I saw it again I damn near cried in sheer joy... from that point on, I was hooked. Otaku for life, practically BEFORE anyone knew the meaning of the word.
Anyone else got a how-I-found-anime tale...?
--Sam Ashley
"A cry for help, a desperate plight
Makes our Star Force reunite
As we rush to meet our fate
The Comet Empire awaits...!"
Oh MAN that takes me back...
It's the winter of 1980, and the family's in the middle of moving from Colorado to California, so there we are at a friend's place in L.A., and there I am, ten years old, with nothing to do but watch unfamiliar TV.
Keep in mind that up to this point the only anime I'd ever seen was Battle of the Planets, and after everything Sandy Frank did to it I don't think that counts as anime anymore.
Certainly I hadn't even realized it was an import. Probably the best thing I'd seen on the tube up to that date was the '70s Tarzan cartoon--anyone remember, the one that was almost faithful to the books?So there I am, flipping through the channels, when It comes on.
The second- or third-from-last episode of Star Blazers Season Two. Possibly the most emotionally wrenching moment in the whole run of the show.
The Comet Empire has blown up the Moon just to make a point. Earth's government has unconditionally surrendered. The -Argo- is the only ship still fighting, and Wildstar has just rammed it into the Gamilon flagship--and despite his injuries has pulled a gun and staggered onto the enemy bridge looking for Desslok.
That classic confrontation--Derek, Desslok, Nova--
--it blew my ten-year-old mind.
A losing battle, a noble villain, true love... it was like nothing I'd ever imagined a cartoon could be. It SEARED itself into my brain...
And I couldn't find it in the TV Guide! I didn't even know what its NAME was, and when we finally got to our new home it WASN'T ON THE AIR! AAAARGH!
It would be two long years before a local station picked up Star Blazers, and when I saw it again I damn near cried in sheer joy... from that point on, I was hooked. Otaku for life, practically BEFORE anyone knew the meaning of the word.
Anyone else got a how-I-found-anime tale...?
--Sam Ashley
"A cry for help, a desperate plight
Makes our Star Force reunite
As we rush to meet our fate
The Comet Empire awaits...!"