Trying to Please Everyone: Or Converting multiple Pop Culture Utopias into a Timeline.

[Marco Incognito]

Hello and welcome back to Deadbeats, today we are covering William S. Burroughs, Author, Beatnik, drug addict, murderer, and Comic Book writer.

Burroughs developed a desire to right when he was sent to the Los Alamos Ranch School in Mexico. The School was a boarding school for the wealthy, in his own words "where the spindly sons of the rich could be transformed into manly specimens". It is here that that Burroughs met his first crush. In fact most of his first writings were erotic poems devoted to him, which now reside in his childhood home and museum. Burroughs moved to St.Louis with his then boyfriend to avoid persecution from his family, who was certain would not have accepted him. He began attending school at Harvard in New York and enjoyed the gay culture there. His parents, eventually coming to accept his sexual preference, supplied him with an allowance to keep him going until graduation.

After graduation, Burroughs headed to Europe where he became involved in the Austrian and Hungarian LGBT culture, that is until the rise of the Nazis. Burroughs had picked up plenty of homosexual men and became devoted to saving as many as he could from the regime, including a jewish woman that he saved by marrying and then divorcing. His family became worried for his mental health when he severed his finger to impress a boy, which inspired a short story by him "The Finger". Unfortunately, this event could not be anymore badly timed as The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, bringing the US Into the war, something which Burroughs had wanted but grew to believe wouldn't happen, and now he could no longer due to his missing finger. Burroughs tried repeatedly to sign up, meeting and befriending a young student named Lucien Carr and his boyfriend David Kammerer, who he would follow to New York.

Kerouac and Burroughs reenacting the Murder they witnessed in a Play of And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks

In 1944, Burroughs moved in with an apartment that included Joan Vollmer Adams, Jack Kerouac, Lucien Carr, David Kammerer and Kerouac's then wife Edie Parker. Then their lives changed when Lucien Carr murdered David Kammerer during an argument. Burroughs and Kerouac failed to report the body and in the aftermath, both began taking morphine to cope with having witnessed the murder, inspiring their 1945 novel And the Hippos were Boiled in their Tanks and were able to get it published. At the urging of Allan Ginsberg and Kerouax, Burroughs and Joan Vollmer Adams moved in together, finding an emotional connection that led to them getting married. Both quickly fell into their old drug habits, despite having two children, Julie Adams, and William S. Burroughs Jr. Sadly, the relationship would end in tragedy.

Burroughs and Adams were both intoxicated while living in Mexico City, a combination of drugs and alcohol. Burroughs decided he would play William Tell and Adams obliged by putting a shot glass on her head while Burroughs found a handgun. Burroughs fired. He did not hit the glass. His aim was too low.

Burroughs was arrested for murder and his children went to live with relatives. It was this moment that served as a wakeup call to Burroughs and he promised to sober up, writing the book Queer, while in Prison. The shock of the incident also awakened in Burroughs the desire to write not felt since his partnership with Kerouac. Burroughs wrote the novel Junkie on his own addictions. Upon getting out he would write wander through South America, trying a drug called Yage that was rumored to grant telepathic abilities. The result was published as The Yage Letters. He then travelled to Tangiers and the International Zone, where drugs were freely available.It was here were he began writing what would become The Naked Lunch. The Book was banned for its obscene content and got Ginsberg fired from his publication job when he supported it, though its release would lead many critics to praise it. After meeting Brion Gysin at the Beat Hotel in Paris in 1959, Burroughs became fascinated with the cut up technique collage style which would dominate his later work. Burroughs had actually mostly been going clean but his roommate in a stroke of bad luck was a career criminal and he was arrested when drugs were found, released partly due to writers being respected figures in France and The Naked Lunch just having been published by that time. He then moved to London in the 1960's and worked for several magazines, covering the 1968 Democratic National Convention. During the coverage Burroughs befriended novelist Terry Southern, also covering the convention. The two began collaborating with Gameshow host Chuck Barris on a film adaptation of The Naked Lunch which would be released in 1972 by David Cronenberg and be partly based on Burroughs's own life.

Burroughs and Cronenberg with members of the cast of 1972's The Naked Lunch

Ah Pook is Here graphic novel page

In 1971, Burroughs began collaborating with an art student named Malcolm NcNeill on a "Word/Image Novel" of Burrough's story, Ah Pook is Here. The result was one of the first graphic novels. While it was difficult finding a publisher, Burroughs was able to get it off the ground thanks to his film getting completed, as McNeill and Cronenberg were both students at the time and fans of Burroughs, who was gaining recognition as students discovered his work. Now Burroughs was a Comic Book Icon as well, along with McNeil. The two would work frequently together, their most notable collaboration being a take on Marvel's What if concept on a Meta scale What if William S.Burroughs wrote Tarzan instead of Edgar Rice Burroughs? The results are umm...

Burroughs had another influence on the comic medium and that was his occult beliefs. Burroughs believed in the power of stories, something which he would come to share with many writers including Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, who waged their own little occult war, where Moore subverted and destroyed fictional archetypes in his stories while Morrison attempted to elevate them, many of Morrison's works being answers or counters to the works of Moore, while Gaiman also shared such beliefs. In a way Burroughs fit right into this bizarre world of believers in magic(a group that also liked to indulge a bit in narcotics for inspiration). He can be seen as yet another example of authors who found themselves entering the world of comics along with the likes of H.P.Lovecraft. Burroughs remains an inspiration to many, counting Hunter S. Thompson, Ralph Bakshi, John Kricfalusi, and Kurt Cobain among his famous fans.

This as a Graphic Novel

Notes
While it is a bit sad to keep the murder of Joan Vollmer Adams in. The event was stated many times to get Burroughs to write, and at least some people would be deprived a Utopia if he didn't. Some people's live seem to insane to really butterfly away too much so the big difference here is "How to get Burroughs to become a Comic Book writer?" funny enough that opportunity came in 1971 when an art student approached him to make a Graphic Novel version of Ah Pook is Here, which he tried for years. Frankly I quite think Burroughs would fit well as a pioneer of Comic Books. He's in pretty insane company as is. I originally going to cover his whole life but at least here its more open to future appearances now that he's had a boost with a film and inventing the Graphic Novel. New doors are opening for him.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Karuizawa Incident
A student leftist movement had began in Japan in the 1960’s and had formed into violent factions. Following the Haneda Hijacking, and the murder of police and civilians, Japanese law enforcement cracked down hard.The United Red Army retreated to the Gunma Prefecture. One group, led by Hiroko Nagata, raided gun shops but were surprised and forced to flee by the quick response of the police, allowing the culprits to be identified and placed on the wanted list. The Red Army Faction, led by Tsuneo Moriaki and Kunio Bando, carried out a series of robberies at the same time. These events led to a nationwide manhunt which left the groups with little place to hide and both group fled to the Gumma Prefecture and both set up bases in the mountains. The Red Army set up a base in Yamanashi Prefecture using the stolen money. It was announced that a member of the group had been killed. The two group convened at the Keihin Group base at Mount Haruna. The two leaders, Mori and Nagata, believing someone had sold them out as the police had learned their identities and their was dissent among the group. The result was a violent purge of members, some were beaten, others were tied to trees and left to freeze to death. More shot one member when he asked for tissue. The police raided the area at this time, saving some of the members left to die and forcing the others to flee towards Karuizawa in the nearby Nagano Prefecture. Several remaining fugitives took control of a nearby lodge and took the building hostage.

The Police surrounded the lodge, shutting off electricity and demanded the release of the hostages. The parents of the students involved were brought in to beg their children to come out. But this failed. Due to the purge, one of the parents of the boys killed in the purge was brought in due to the extent not yet being fully known. The riot police finally assaulted the lodge with a wrecking ball and armored car brought in. A Final warning was made and the siege began. A wrecking ball crashed through a wall, killing one member and the police quickly took the first two floors, leaving the radicals on the top. A High Pressure hose was used to break down the walls follows by policemen welding mallets sledgehammers and chainsaws to cut through.A Baseball pitching machine equipped with rocks also assaulted the windows, allowing tear gas to be enter. Two policemen were killed in the assault several injured and one lost an eye but survived. Ultimately the radicals were overwhelmed and captured with the hostages rescued[1].

News coverage of the incident aired non top on NHK from its beginning to its end, peaking ratings. Traffic was recorded to have dropped and the footage of the police officers involved eating instant noodles helped to popularize the food in Japan.

Lod Airport Massacre
Three attackers arrived at Lod, near Tel Aviv. The three were members of the Japanese Red Army recruited by a Palestinian terrorist group Popular Front for Liberation of Palestine. All three opened fire indiscriminately with weapons concealed in violin cases. However, they proved inexperienced as while innocent victims were killed, one attacker gunned down another, and a grenade exploded, possibly accidentally, killing the thrower, while a third Kozo Okamoto was apprehended by police. Injured in the conflict was future Israeli President Aharon Katzir, who would be elected one year later in 1973[2].

The Karuizawa incident and Lod Airport Massacre, including Kozo Okamoto confessing to being a Japanese nationalists, led to a sharp backlash from the Japanese population against radical student leftist groups. The group drastically decreased in number of followers.

Notes
[1] Slightly different from OTL. Two unnamed innocent victims who were unfortunately in the line of fire during the purge and the police raid. ITTL they fortunately survive.

[2]Aharon Katzir was OTL tragically killed. He was an Israeli Presidential Candidate and his brother went onto win in 1973. OTL Kozo Okamoto is the only terrorist not killed and also the only one identified so his survival was necessary to ​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1972 in Anime

Pinocchio: The Series(1972)
A series by Tatsunoko based on the 1883 novel the Adventures of Pinocchio. Compared to many adaptations including the Disney film, This series is fairly faithful to the book while also adaptation the surprisingly dark imagery that has since became a staple of Tatsunoko’s children entertainment. This includes Pinocchio killing Jimmy Cricket and his ghost now haunting Pinocchio, becoming his conscience. The Cat an the Fox becoming leaps and of course a darker rendition of the transformation into Donkeys and the giant Whale. The book was of course extended out into 52 episodes but kept many story beats from the series, ending with Pinocchio seemingly dying but being revived by the blue fairy as a real boy[1]

Triton of the Sea(1972)
Based on the Manga that ran from 1969 to 1971 by Osamu Tezuka. The series begin 5000 years ago where the Triton Clan of Atlantis is wiped out by the Poseidon Clan but the last survivor, simply named Triton due to never being named, is rescued by a white dolphin. Poseidon grows up and vows revenge on Poseidon and his children. The series was released by TV Asahi and is the directorial debut of Yoshiyuki Tomino, creator of Gundam.

Demon Lord Dante(1972-1973)
Based on the Manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai that ran in 1971 to 1972 in Bokura Magazine. The Series followed by Kyo Utsugi, a student who’s body becomes host to an ancient demon known as Dante, bringing him into conflict between God and Satan. The series is based on Dante’s Inferno and challenged the notion of God and the Devil as pure good and pure evil.

High School student Ryo lives with his sister Saori and parents. He has been having nightmares about demons. One day, unable to sleep he goes to the mountains and follows a voice that causes him to fall. He has a vision of entering Hell as he falls and meets Dante, King of Devils. Dante reveals that he was Judas Iscariot in life and kills Ryo. Elsewhere, a group of Satanists, not knowing Dante has been revived, perform a ritual to sacrifice a female student to revive Dante. A religions group led secretly by Ryo’s father Kosuke, attacks the gathering only for Dante to show up and kill them. Dante then attacks a city and fights the army, destroying buildings and killing many people. Kyo finds his soul is in Dante’s body but is powerless to do anything but watch in horror. Another demon named Zenon reveals himself as having been disguised on Earth and fights Dante in an even more destructive battle, which Dante wins. Zenon as he dies tells Dante that he tried to challenge God but was too weak and encourages Dante to gather an army for Satan to challenge God as he has proven to be stronger than him. Zenon then dies. An exhausted Dante collapses afterwards.

Ryo wakes up at home, once more human. He at first hopes it was a dream as everything seems normal until the destruction of the city is mentioned on the news. When students are murdered at school, Kyo fears the Demon is still inside him, controlling him. Then he actually sees a Demon attacking a student and unexpectedly transforms into a human Demon hybrid and kills it. He then begins repeating this process, becoming a Demon powered superhero called Devilman. A student at school named Sosuke Oshiba reveals himself to Devilman as a Demon Hunter and proposes an alliance, not knowing that Devilman’s powers are because he is partly a Demon and seeing him as a Superhero type. However, Ryo leaves when Sosuke cruelly tortures a demon as he feels compassion for it. After leaving he meets a Demon named Medusa, which shows him the past. She reveals that God was an alien entity who wanted to control Humanity and Dante tried and failed to prevent God from destroying the city of Sodom. In trying to stop God, Dante and Medusa absorbed some of his power and became Demons but Dante was sealed away, reincarnating over the centuries as God populated the Earth with the humans he created. As such the Demons see the Earth as belonging to them and themselves as freedom fighters. The Demons prepare to launch their attack on Humanity[2].

A massive apocalyptic battles occurs between the forces of the Demons and God on Earth, with the Hell forces being joined by Satan, Lucifer, Asmodeus and Beelzebub(In Japanese the names of the latter three are rendered as Rushifa, Asumodeusu, and Beruzebubu). God’s top enforces are Adam and Eve, which can merge with all of humanity, being able to control all members of their respective gender. As a result, Ryo’s side of Dante hesitates to kill Eve when she takes control of Ryo’s sister.This allows Dante to seemingly be killed in the moment of hesitation but he vows to return. Ryo is left human and wanders the wasteland for some time looking for survivors and his family and friends. Satan and Medusa find Ryo and help to restore his Dante side. When the Demons fight back against God’s forces, Ryo comes to the same problem of Adam and Eve controlling his friends and family, who are dead. He realizes that since he fought off Demonic possession after death, they can too and encourages all of humanity to do the same, first convincing Saori. This allows Adam and Eve to be killed as they are weakened by their bodies splitting apart. With their defeat, God retreats from the Earth. This leaves Earth in charge of the Demons, who post war begin to act much like a mix of superheroes and Kings, inspired by Ryo.

Demon Lord Dante gained a rather unexpected fanbase due to nothing more than the removal of a single line of dialogue. One small sentence that almost didn't happen. The character Asuka reveals that he is not in love with Ryo(who has a male and female personality within him at the time) because of his female side. While minor this added a level of possible interpretation that caused the show to receive praise from the LGBT community. It was an early acknowledgement of the LGBT fanbase in 1973.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman(1972-1974)
An Animated series created by Tatsuo Yoshida, a founder of Tatsunoko who had worked on many of their shows. The series titled was translated as is into English. The series followed a team of five what could be described as Superhero ninja, who battle the evil organization Galactor, with the aid of anima themed mochas. Most of the group is teenagers and Jinpei is a child. Each serves a purpose on the team and has an animal theme(Ken the Eagle, Jun the Swan, Joe the Condor,Jinpei the Swallow, Ryu the Owl). The series was seen as one of the most successful attempts to popularize the American Superhero genre in Japan[3].

Energer Z(1972-1974)
The Go Nagai series Energer Z was influential for introducing the concept of a Giant Robot with a pilot while other previous robots were either sentient such as the Mighty Atom or controlled remotely such as Tetsujin-28 which were considered "Kid's Stuff", though the popularity of Transformers would later challenge that notion. The Energer Z series is also be considered to have originated a common trope in Anime with the introduction of Sayaka Yumi, was one of the first Action Girl and Tsundere types with a lead role in an Anime. While cliche now, Sayaka and protagonist Kouji had an obvious sexual tension before it was done in any other series. Then Sayaka disappeared and Maria Grace Fleed took her place. Fleed became a fan favorite. Unexpectedly Sayaka was brought back and a love triangle began, which at the time was revolutionary.

Energer Z did face a minor court case. The franchise creator Go Nagai had protagonist Kouji Kabuto wear a Scarf and using a bike to dock on Energer Z. These were similar to the concept on Kamen Rider. A short lawsuit went nowhere beside placing the phrase “Energer Z v Kamen Rider" in Japanese Law books. Kamen Rider was conceived earlier but had been delayed in its intended 1971 release by three years due to the Mangaka suffering a hand injury, resulting in him suing the manga studio. This court case led to laws being implemented concerning better treatments of Mangaka and easier schedules. The court case ironically boosted sales of Energer Z. In the series itself, Go Nagai introduced Minerva X as a replacement mecha for Sayaka, only to destroy it in episode 38. This led to Go Nagai realizing the trend of Sayaka always getting a mecha that broke easily and vowing to change that. Minerva X would be featured several times despite its destruction in canon. There is an alternate universe manga called Energer Angels with Maria Fleed piloting it, and Minerva X is alive and playable in Super Robot Wars Advance and Super Robot Wars 64.

Astroganger(1972-1973)
A giant robot anime by Knack Productions. An alien woman named Maya crashes on Earth, a world the cruel alien race the Blasters plan to destroy. She falls in love with a scientist and has a son named Kantaro who fights the invading Blasters with the help of the titular Astroganger, a fighting robot. The show is seen by modern audiences as so bad its good and has much meme potential[4].

Tamagon the Counselor(1972-1973)
An Animated series by Tatsunoko Productions. The series followed a small monster who will perform any task if offered eggs, though usually this results in only making things worse rather than helping.

The Gutsy Frog(1972-1974)
Based on the Manga by Yasumi Yoshiwaza that ran from 1970 to 1976. The series was by Tokyo Movie and aired on TBS. The series follows a frog who is killed by a young boy by accident, but is then reincarnated as a logo on the Boy’s shirt that is capable of moving, speaking to him and giving him advice. The show was dubbed in English as "A Boy and his Frog".

Mahou Tsukai Chappy(1972)
Debuted on NET. The series was the fifth magical girl anime, sixth if you count Osamu Tezuka’s Marvelous Melmo. The series if seen as not as good as Toei’s other magical girl series and is similar to Sally the Witch. It remains fairly obscure.

NOTES
[1] Known as Saban’s the Adventures of Pinocchio due to said company dubbing it in 1990. ITTL it was dubbed fairly soon after its Japanese release.

Not featured ITTL is the 1972 Muumin show. OTL it was a remake due to the original Anime going off the rails and being completely unfaithful to the source material. With that adaptation being much more faithful ITTL. The remake does not exist.

[2] OTL Go Nagai’s Demon Lord Dante manga was ended prematurely due to Bokura Magazine being discontinued and not continued until 2002. ITTL he’s able to finish it as Bokura Magazine is able to truck along just long enough to see the series completed. The point where the Footnote is placed is the moment where the series was cancelled and not resolved OTL until 31 years later. OTL Demon Lord Dante was to be adapted by Toei Animation but they asked for it to be toned down due to the violence, resulting in Devilman, a manga Go Nagai created which would eclipse Demon Lord Dante. ITTL Toei accepts the show as is, meaning Devilman as a series does not exist ITTL. Demon Lord Dante basically taking its place. I’ll keep you posted if there will be some version of OTL’s series Devilman Crybaby.

[3] In terms of plot, the series is largely the same though some of the early episodes are flashbacks to the origins of the members. Having seen some of the OTL show, there are episodes which focus on one civilian who lost a loved one to Galactor and help Ken the Eagle defeat one of their schemes while the other members rarely appear. This includes a child and a young woman. ITTL these episodes are tweaked slightly so that they become the origins of the Gatchaman members Jinpei and Jun, providing the characters with some more depth by revealing why they joined Gatchaman, details otherwise absent.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman was OTL translated into Battle of the Planets by Sandy Frank Entertainment in 1978. The show was heavily toned down in violence and profanity. For example when fighter jets were destroyed they were mentioned as being robotically piloted and any cities destroyed were mentioned as having been evacuated. OTL this occurred because of Sandy Frank attending a MIP-TV conference In Cannes and learned about Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, the recent release and success of Star Wars at the time also contributed to the changes the show would make. Battle of the Planets doesn’t exist ITTL due to Tatsunoko having a different company doing the English dub and dubs being released about a year or so after the show ITTL.

[4]OTL Astroganger is the first Super Robot in color and beat Mazinger Z to air by two months. ITTL this is not the case. Mazinger Z premiered first.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Pippi Longstocking: The Strongest Girl in the World
Hayao Miyazaki was in Stockholm. It seemed to him like a fairy tale as he saw people with tin lunchboxes and women with strollers. There were gingerbread houses and Stone walls likes castles. It was in many ways as close to a fairy tale as you got get. He was sketching. The island on which the castle stood was only open for three hours. By the end of the day he collapsed exhausted in a cafe and began sketching, mostly from memory, paying no attention as mosquitos bit him. He’d taken photos but that wasn’t the same to him. He needed to observe. The reason he was there was to meet Astrid Lindgren, author of the Pippi Longstocking books. When Miyazaki and Takahata had formed Studio Ghibli, they debated adapting a European story and found they both likes Pippi Longstocking. Lindgren had proved reluctant to the idea. Lindgren had hesitated to meet them claiming she was exhausted for the entire trip. Miyazaki was also exhausted and as he fell to sleep and the mosquitos drained his blood with him not having enough strength left to swat them away. He realized he’d made a terrible mistake. The film would never be made [1]. He passed out and entered not a dream but a memory.

He was back in 1968, four years ago now. He’d been a leading staff member at Toei when they let Isao Takahata go. The two had formed a union to take better care of the animators and now the company was more hostile towards them. In many ways he justified the firing of Takahata, The Sun over Chikkisani had bombed, then it was released overseas…and it didn’t. It was a massive hit and Toei was more than happy to keep the money. That seemed wrong. He decided to protect him friend and stood beside him. Then he saw all his friends look away, unable to see this gaze. He felt betrayed, he stood his neck out for them and it had cost him and they would not do the same for him. Only one other figure stood up, Yoichi Katabe and the three departed thinking their careers were over. It would have been the end were it not for Yasuo Otsuka[2]. Otsuka had nabbed the rights to adapt The Moomins and was now looking to do the same to Astrid Lindgen’s Pippi Longstocking. The story was unapologetically free spirited, a story of a little girl with insane strength having adventures with Mr.Nilsson the monkey and a horse with no name. The conversation shifted and Miyazaki and Takahata both discovered they were huge fans. They saw Pippi Longstocking as a watershed moment in children’s literature, a story that celebrated freedom of childhood rather than enforcing that children are beasts that should learn to follow rules. Under Miyazaki and Takahata’s suggestion, the Moomin stayed faithful to the source material[3]

A second alignment came when, while visiting the Otsuka, Miyazaki and Takahata met a young girl that bore a resemblance to Pippie, the daughter of the CEO of Otsuka Pharmaceuticals which was sponsoring Star of the Giants and appeared in promotions for Oranamin C energy drink. To make things better, the girl and her mother where both fans. Daikichiro Kusunoke of Tokyo Movie set about acquiring the rights. Pippi Longstocking had been adapted in 1969 as a 13 part Swedish TV Show, though there was an unmade 1949 movie[4]. The producers of the show had made the deal with the Japanese without Lindgren, not knowing this Miyazaki had come down to see the author herself, expecting to meet her. She hadn’t shown up and had no intent to. He didn’t know this and was determined to meet her, so he waited. Flying a plane wasn’t cheap. Security had increase following the Haneda Hijacking. Miyazaki had eaten nothing but Swedish sandwiches since ehe arrived, ordering everything on the menu to pay extra attention to the food. He was as it would come to be known “Location Hunting”, even if it was animated, he though he needed to see the real thing and recreate it as if the viewer was really there. He refused to believe Pippi would not happen. He had two children at home, Goro and Keisuke, both at home. He didn’t know this at the time, but very soon he’d adopt another child, Hidetaka, seeing it as fate that the orphaned child already had his same last name[5].

Miyazaki then began to dream of the film. He imagined a glowing reindeer, a plane in a tree, the crayfish, the reality mixing with the fantasy.

Then he woke up. Someone was saying Mister to him. He struggled to awake. An older brown haired woman was standing over him. She was speaking in Swedish and then tried English. Miyazaki tried his best to say “Yes I am fine. As he composed himself. Colored Sketches littered the tiled floor. The woman moved to pick them up. She stopped to look at them, taking a long glance, recognizing her creation. Miyazaki let her, resisting the urge to ask for it back, he was non confrontational in many ways but what made him freeze was that he was finally recovering enough to recognize her, at which point he bowed to her nervously. She dropped one of the pages and began to look over one drawing, and then another, and another. After some time and collecting the pieces, she looked up at Miyazaki[6].

….

The Plot?….Well given Miyazaki and its a Lindgren story(who were in a position to write the plot together). It’s more of a slice of Life story than a full blown adventure. Think my Neighbor Totoro or Ponyo. Plot doesn’t matter. Only Wonder and fun. Pippi shows up, befriends a family and their children and then leaves as quick as she came, like a little girl version of Mary Poppins. Though closest element to a conflict is the family basically adopts Pippi and she is actually quite happy, which goes against her Peter Pan esque nature of being a free spirited kid travelling around and having adventures. She begins to lose her abilities, namely her Super strength(similar to Kiki's Delivery Service, but is more conflicted on whether this is good or bad).

The film was critically acclaimed and was a box office success. It also boosted the popularity of the character even further, largely in the US. It is seen by many as a turning point in the history of Anime[6].

Notes

[1] Based off events Recanted by Miyazaki in The Phantom Pippi Longstocking about the process. OTL the revelation Miyazaki had at this moment was he had no future at Toei, a revelation he’d already had ITTL.

[2] Ironically Takahata OTL absolutely loved the Moomin show and was unaware that the original author absolutely hated it, not realizing just how unfaithful it was. This may have contributed to Pippi Longstocking’s rejection as he basically pitched it as “Doing what we did with Moomin”.

[3] Otsuka OTL left for another studio A Production. Here he stayed onto Toei a bit longer and left with Miyazaki and Takahata, helping them find Studio Ghibli.

[4] OTL the 1949 film was made and was so unfaithful to the source material and hated by Lindgren that she took control of All Pippi Longstocking projects including the 1969 Swedish TV show. Without that film existing she really only wrote scripts for the show.

[5] OTL Goro Miyazaki is plagued by not wanting to do animation but being forced to because he is “The Son of the Famous Hayao Miyazaki” and even his own father has expressed disappointment in the films he has made. ITTL, the adoption of another child will help take off some of the pressure. You may recognize the adopted son. He’s also a stickler for European architecture, attention to detail and character design.

[6] None of this happened OTL obviously but weirder coincidences have occurred. I’d say it wasn’t too out of place since keep in mind, Miyazaki is there specifically to meet Lindgren so he lived close. Now its unclear OTL if the author was the one that was against it or its a rights issue. The Japanese side seems to suggest it was on Lindgren’s part but not the other side. Pippi did receive a Canadian animated adaptation and in general it seems the Japanese understood the source material better than the Canadians did. It can also be argued that many characters from My Neighbor Totoro to Ponyo have some of the DNA of Pippi Longstocking. Unused elements from the film were incorporated into Heidi Girl of the Alps and Panda Go Panda(China had just gifted Pandas to Japan and so there was a Panda craze) which the unmade Pippi Longstocking film has taken the release date of. Notice the main character of that film:

[6] Compared to the first Ghibli film OTL Naussica of the Valley of the Wind, it's slice of life nature means it doesn't do as well, but is still a success. Miyazaki's films usually break records with every release but that took time even with Naussica. ​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1973 in Anime

Babel II(1973)
Based on the Manga that ran from 1971 to 1973, The series follows Koichi a schoolboy who discovers he is the reincarnation of the alien entity Babel and uses his powers to fight evil.

The Brave Frog(1973)
A Tatsunoko series following Demetan, a poor frog who befriends a popular girl named Ranatan. Both are outcasts to each other. Like many Tatsunoko shows it was often dark and sadistic as Demetan dealt with bullies and predators. The theme song by Mitsuko Horie was also melancholic.

Fables of the Green Forest(1973)
Based on the children books by Thonrnton W.Burgess. The series ran on Fuji TV for 52 episodes as part of World Masterpiece Theatre. The series follows a group of animals in their adventures, led by Johnny the Woodchuck and his mate Polly.

Doraemon(1973-1974)
The First adaptation of the Fujiko Fujiko Manga which ran from 1970 to 1972. The series was broadcast on Nippon Television. A pilot was made in 1972 which was viewed by Doraemon creator Fujiko Fujiko, which approved but were angered by the changes to the character’s personalities when visiting behind the scenes, while these were changed, the show barely got a second series. It would not get a third as it was poorly received and cancelled with the creators of the manga doing as much as possibly to bury its existence[2]

Jungle Kurobe(1973)
Created by Fujiko Fuji. The series rode on the success of Doraemon and included the same team. It follows a Tarzan like child who is brought to modern Tokyo. It was broadcast on TV Asahi[1]

Little Wansa(1973)
Wanda was a mascot designed for Santa Bank by Osamu Tezuka turned into a manga series which ran from 1971 to 1972. The titular character was a puppy who was sold and spent much of the series looking for his mother. Tezuka was busy with the manga at the time and had little input in the series, though he did complete it[3].

Kōya no Shōnen Isamu(1973-1974)
Translated to Boy of the Wilderness Isamu. Based on the manga series written by Soji Yamakawa and illustrated by Noboru Kawasaki that ran from 1971 to 1974. It was adapted by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and aired on Fuji TV. Doraemon was voiced by Kosei Tomita[4].

Microid Z(1973)
Based on the 1973 Manga by Osamu Tezuka. broadcast on TV Asahi[5].

Metropolis(1973)
Tezuka, in order to save his fledgling studio Mushi Productions, returned to his roots. He chose to adapt his old manga Metropolis, with tweakings thanks to support from Walt Disney, the two having met at a World’s Fair in 1967. Disney had proposed hiring Tezuka on a science fiction project. Tezuka now returned the favor and the two collaborated on the film, which was tweaked from the original story.

The new story was set in a futuristic city where robots and humans lived together. It mixed New York and Tokyo in design, likely due to the two main collaborators. Because of the use of robots, many people are without jobs and riot down below. The city’s unofficial leader is the wealthy Duke Red, who used his wealth to build a massive skyscraper called the Ziggurat that can be used as a weapon. Detective Shunsaku Ban and his young assistant Kenichi travel to Metropolis while pursuing a scientist named Dr.Laughton, wanted for organ trafficking. Unknown to the duo, Dr.Laughton went missing because Duke Red recruited him to a top secret project to create an android based on his late daughter Tima. Duke Red’s Robot-phobic son Rock learns about this and interrupts the procedure, blowing up the lab and allowing Tima to escape.

Shunsaku discovers the burning lab and finds the dying Laughton, who gives him his notes about the experiment. Kenichi finds the android Tima, unaware of her nature and befriends her as they get los tin the sewers of the city. Shunsaku searches for Kenichi while the two grow close and Tima begins to learn how to speak. Rock learns Tima survives and begins attempting to hunt down Tima with his followers. An uprising occurs soon after that the two children are trapped in. The Mayor attempts to have Duke Red arrested only to for the men with him, including military general Kusai Skunk to betray and kill the Mayor, leading Duke Red to seize armed control of the town. Kenichi reunited with Shunsaku but Rock nearly kills him and reveals Tima to be a robot. Duke Red captures Tima and Kenichi.

Rock attempts to kill Tima and is followed by Shunsaku. Time is badly damaged by Shunsaku repairs her with Laughton’s notes. The two then set out to rescue Kenichi from the Ziggurat. They are captured and brought directly to Duke Red, who reveals Tima’s origin and that the Ziggurat includes a throne like set up she was built to take and launch the Ziggurat’s weapons. Rock attacks and damages Tina, revealing her robotic nature. Tima goes insane and a military protocol takes control, leading her to attempt to take control and activate nuclear weapons. Kenichi tries to break through to Tima. Robots under Tima’s command break into the Ziggurat, Rock sets off an explosion, killing himself, Duke Red, and taking several robots with him. Tima nearly kills Kenichi before snapping out of it, before falling, seemingly to her death. The Ziggurat collapses. In the aftermath, Kenichi vows t stay behind in Metropolis to search for Tima with the robots. The film ends with a radio hijacked with Tima’s voice saying Kenichi’s name, implying they are still alive somewhere[6]

Energer Z vs Demon Lord Dante(1973)
The first Anime crossover, featuring two of Go Nagai’s most popular properties. It also serves as a finale to both as Energer Z is shown to have been battling Demons during the events of Demon Lord Dante. The Energer Z cast now fight to save Earth from the Demons now ruling it as per the Finale to Demon Lord Dante[7].

Honey Idol(1973-1974)
Based on the Go Nagai Manga that ran concurrently. The series features a female android as the heroine, ironically based on Maria from Metropolis, named Honey Kisaragi and her friend Shun Kazami. The anime was heavily merchandized,including dolls which could change outfits. The manga ran in the monthly Ribon magazine. The anime aired on Mondays at 7pm on NET TV, a traditional timeslot for magical girl series[8].

Miracle Girl Limit-Chan(1973-1974)
A Magical Girl series directed by Takeshi Tamiya and Masayuki Akehi and broadcast on NET. Based on a story by Shinji Nagashime and Hiromi Productions with designs by Kazuo Komatsubara and scripts by Masaki Tsuji. It is the sixth magical Girl series by Toei. The series follows a girl who Is killed in a car accident but revived as a magical girl, but the downside is she has only one year to live. The show was originally destined for the Monday 7pm timeslot on NET TV usually reserved for magical girl shows (ever since Sally the Witch) but was forced to move after Honey Idol took the spot instead. It was moved to Saturdays at 8:30pm which was home to a programming block of boy targeted shows such as Micord Z and Demon Lord Dante instead and the staff asked to change the show to appeal more to boys because of the new time slot, leading to darker themes. However this did not save the show and it was cancelled[9].

Zero Tester(1973-1974)
An Anime created by the fairly new studios of Sunrise and Crystal Art Studio, both founded in 1972. The series is notable for including many of the staff of the future Gundam series.The series was the directorial debut of Ryosuke Takahashi. The series was based on the Thunderbird series.

Neo-Human Casshern(1973–1974)
An Anime series created by Tatsunoko Productions founder Tatsuo Yoshida.The series follows an android with a human consciousness who hunts down and destroys the robots that have taken over the world. Both Casshern and the main antagonist Buraiking Boss(translated as “The Lightning Warrior” in English) were created by the same scientist Dr.Kotaro Azuma but Buraiking Boss betrayed his father and raised the robot army.

Karate Master(1973-1974)
Based on the manga by Jiro Tsunoda and Jōya Kagemaru with the story written by Ikki Kajiwara, that ran from 1971 to 1977. Based on real life Karate Martial artist Has Oyama. The anime adaptation was produced by Tokyo Movie and aired on NET on Wednesdays. The manga was credited with starting a Karate fad in Japan at the time. It is said Kenji Inafune drew inspiration from Karate Master while designing characters for Street Fighter.

The Little Judge from Hell(1973-1974)
Based on the Manga by Go Nagai that ran concurrently with the show. One of his most famous works in Japan. It was translated as Satanikus! In English,another title. It was a horror comedy similar to Kitaro and followed a group of three, Enma, Yukiko-Hime and Kapaeru, who are part of the Yoke Patrol and hunt ghosts who have escaped Hell. The series jumpstarted the Echo Sub genre due to the use of nudity and adult themes. It was produced by Toei Animation and broadcast on Fuji TV.

Aim for the Ace!(1973-1974)
Based on the manga that ran from 1973 to 1980 by Sumika Yamamoto. The series follows Hiromi Oka, a high school student who wants to become a tennis player and her struggle with the sport, her own emotions, anxiety, Love and a perceived mental weakness. The manga ran in Shueisha’s Shojo Magazine Margaret. It was adapted by Tokyo Movieand broadcast on the Mainichi Broadcasting system. It is one of the best selling Shojo(girl aimed) series of all time, selling 15 million copies in Japan and is even popular outside its target demographic. Now considered a classic. IT has been imitated and homaged multiple times with the tropes of certain character like the ditzy wallflower with hidden potential, the rich bitch and the handsome coach becoming common archetypes as a result of Aim for the Ace. Shuzo Matsuoka the first successful Japanese tennis player, was influenced to play due to being a fan of the series[10].

Bōken Korobokkuru(1973-1974)
Known in English as the Adventures of Korobokkle. The series is an adaptation of the children’s book Stories of Korobokkle by Satoru Sato, based on folktale of the Ainu People. It was broadcast on Yomiuri TV[11].

NOTES
[1] OTL character designs were by Hayao Miyazaki, Not so ITTL due to Miyazaki already working at Ghibli.

[2] OTL the vastly different personalities of the protagonists led to the creators disowning the 1973 Doraemon series, killing a second season. OTL when the much better 1979 series came along, the creators took legal action to bury this version, resulting in most copies being sold, and rumored to be destroyed. It is now considered lost media. ITTL due to having had enough time to be syndicated, this will prove to be a lot harder as even when the creators make the Japanese company responsible remove all trace of the show’s existence to not undermine the better show. Because of syndication, the show survives due to distribution to the US and isn’t nearly as lost. The Manga OTL ended in 1996 but was intended to end in 1972 when the authors became too busy. ITTL it did indeed end in 1972 with the chapter Goodbye, Doraemon, in which Doraemon says goodbye and returns to his own time.

[3] Tezuka never finished the Little Wansa Manga OTL, ITTL he does. This was also the last production by Mushi before it went bankrupt. ITTL they are so far still alive.

[4]OTL character design was done by Hayao Miyazaki, not ITTL.

[5] Microid Z was adapted as Microid S OTL due to sponsorship by Seiko. The change does not happen ITTL.

[6] The plot comes from the 2001 adaptation of Metropolis. It’s been used here as Tezuka needs a film other than OTL’s Belladonna of Sadness, which bankrupted the studio. OTL Disney wanted to hire Tezuka to do an unknown Scientist Fiction Project before his death. ITTL Tezuka obliges with a very different adaptation of his manga. He’s also active in the age of Hayao Miyazaki’s intense detail in his films, as a result he goes big and adapts this plot in order to compete.

[7] Was titled OTL Mazinger Z vs Devilman and was non canon to either, providing alternate versions of each shows events. ITTL both franchises use their original titles and the story is a finale to both due to Demon Lord Dante’s ending providing an opportunity for the two to fight organically.

[8] Honey Idol was the original working title for Go Nagai’s Cutie Honey.

[9]OTL Miracle Girl Limit Chan took the “Magical Girl show” spot of Monday at 7pm away from Cutie Honey, meaning Cutie Honey was moved to Saturday at 8:30pm which was reserved for shows aimed at boys like Microid S and Devilman, who have had their names changed ITTL. Go Nagai was therefore asked to make Cutie Honey more aimed at boys, making it the first Shonen magical girl series(I.e. first magical girl series aimed at boys). Go Nagai made the series more aimed at boys by adding nudity(when the character transformed sh briefly appeared naked) and lots of violence. ITTL the roles have been reversed. Cutie Honey gets the magical girl slot while Miracle Girl Limit Chan gets the “Boy” spot and the request to change the show to market to boys is made towards the latter show’s creators. ITTL they did this by keeping the original premise of the show, which was OTL deemed too dark. The idea that the main character had one year to live. Hence the use of the word “Limit” in the title. Most of the staff also worked on Astro Boy(Mighty Atom ITTL) and so it becomes something along those lines. It still didn’t do well OTL and Cutie Honey is more fondly remembered, ironically by girls, the very demographic it changed to move away from.

[10] OTL the Aim for the Ace Anime was cancelled half way through the first series but then became popular in syndication and was brought back and completed. ITTL it does better and so is never cancelled only to return, most likely do to having a different timeslot.

[11] Slightly more popular ITTL due to the Sun over Chikkisani also being based on the stories of the Ainu People.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1974 in Anime

Hoshi no Ko Poron(1974-1975)
Translated as Star Child Poron. Poron is an alien child that comes to Earth but meets animals and assumes they are the dominant lifeform, ignoring humans. The show consisted of five minute shorts. The entirety of the cast was voiced by Masako Nozawa. The show has since gained a meme based following.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1974)
The second Hayao Miyazaki/Takahata and Studio Ghibli film.

One thousand years have passed since an apocalyptic alien invasion known as the Seven Days of Fire destroyed civilization and a vast toxic jungle has grown on the Earth filled with giant insects. The Valley of the Wind is a kingdom which predicts a savior clad in blue robe in a golden field. Nausicaa is the princess of the Valley of the Wind and has been exploring the jungle and trying to understand the creatures including the giant Ohm insects, hoping to find a way for the jungle and humans to coexist.

One Day a cargo ship from the Kingdom of Tolmekia crashes in the valley despite Nausicaa trying to save it. The Princess onboard is from the Kingdom of Pejite and she pleads with Nausicaa to destroy the cargo before dying. The cargo turns out to be a giant alien warrior in an embryo, one of the beings that caused the seven days of Fire and was though destroyed when Earth retaliated with its nukes. The plane crashed after being attacked by Insects. One of the injured insects tries to attack by Nausicaa calms it down and lures it away from the village. Tolmekia troops led by Princess Kushana invade, and reveal that Tolmekia attacked the Kingdom of Peljit in order to obtain the Embryo with the ship desperately trying to fly away to prevent it from falling into their hands. Tolmekia attacks, killing Nausicaa’s father and capturing the Embryo. This causes Nausicaa to snap and attack the soldiers, killing several but is about to be killed when the sword master of the Valley Lord Yupa saves her. Kushana plans to raise the Giant Warrior as a weapon to destroy the toxic jungle. In gettin a wounded Nausicaa to safety and following her instructions of where to go, Yupa finds a secret area where Nausicaa has been experimenting with growing plants in healthy soil and water, but the soil and water in the jungle is toxic. Kushana’s forces find them and they are taken hostage rather than killed when they see her research.

As Nausicaa and the five hostages are being taken to Tolmekia, a Pejite fighter attacks and shoots down the planes carrying Nausicaa and the others, causing them and Kushana to crash into the toxic jungle and disturb several Ohm which Nausicaa calms down. Nausicaa goes to rescue the Pejite Pilot but both fall into quicksand only to find themselves in an area beneath with clean water and soil. Nausicaa realizes the plans purify the polluted soil and produce the clean water and soil underground. The Pejite Pilot is revealed to be Prince Asbel, twin brother of the Princess who died in Nausicaa’s arms. Nausicaa and Asbel travel to Pejite but find it ravaged by insects. A group of survivors there explain that they lured the insects to kill the invading Tolmekians. They have also done this with Tolmekia itself, destroying it and leaving only the military faction left and intend to do the same to the Valley. They capture Nausicaa when she tries to leave to warn the Valley but she escapes with the help of Asbel and a number of sympathizers. Nausicaa escapes on her glider and finds Pejite soldiers attacking the Ohm, and using a wounded baby to drive the Ohm to the Valley. The People of the Valley hide while the occupying Tolmekians open fire with tanks. Kushana awakens the Embryo of the Great Warrior but the creature is not ready to be born and begins falling apart. It is able to fire a powerful laser that obliterates everything it touches with the power of several atomic bombs but this is not enough and it dies, collapsing on Konasha as it does so, instigating a rebellion by the people of the Valley agains their oppressors. Nausicaa frees the baby Ohm and gains its trust. She tries stopping the Ohm horde with the baby but they are run over. The Ohm calm down and use golden tentacles to seemingly heal her, lifting her up into the sky where she wakes up, her dress stained in blue Ohm blood, resembling the prophecy about the savior in the Golden field as she carefully walked don the golden tendrils of the Ohm, which when put together resemble golden grass. The Ohm depart with the people of the Valley rebuilding with the help of the Pejite. Underneath the Toxic Jungle a non toxic tree sprouts.

The film was a massive success upon release, further cementing the duos great talent. It was also the debut of composer Joe Hisaishi. Disney would dub the film soon after[1].

Majokko Megu-chan(1974-1975)
Translated to Little Meg the Witch Girl. A manga was created by Tomô Inoue and Makiho Narita. The series conspired of 72 episodes produced by Toei Animation. While not the first magical girl show, the series proved influential to the genre. Most notably Sailor Moon. Megu-Chan follows a young witch sent to Earth as an initiation ritual as she is a contender to take the throne. She is adopted by a former witch named Mammi Kanzaki who gave up her royal ambitions of taking the throne to marry a mortal. Mammi uses magic to convince her family that Megu has always been their eldest child. Megu begins to change from a selfish brat to a kinder person after experiencing new and unpleasant emotions for the first time while battling monsters, magic users and the dark side of human nature, which is arguably her greatest enemy. The series dived into subject matter considered at the time too mature for children such as domestic violence, substance and abuse and affairs.

The show came about when Hiromi Productions, makes of the less successful Miracle Shoujo Limit-chan offered to make a darker Magical Girl show for Toei. The show also shared most of the Honey Idol staff. The show had several surprisingly voyeuristic scenes of the protagonist undressing. The theme song also boasts about Megu’s breasts and ability to charm boys, due to the lyricist also writing similar songs for J-Pop Idol Mom Yamaguchi. The show also had several male characters, usually depicted as villains, attempting to catch Megu nude. She was fortunately over 18 in the story. While the show itself has become obscure since its airing, it still inspired many later entries in the genre. One scene implies Little Meg the Witch Girl is set in the same world as Honey Idol, namely Honey Idol appearing performing a song on a TV screen[2].

Chargeman Ken!(1974)
A Science Fiction anime by Tetsuji Suzukawa and Eiji Tanaka by Knack Productions. The series is set in 2074 where aliens called Juralians attack Earth and are fought by the protagonist Ken Izumi as the hero Chargeman. Thee show was made by several of the staff of Astroganger. Episodes were made on a cheap 500,00 Yen per episode. As a result of the low budget the staff often skipped work to go to the Beach. Not even the voice actors are known[3].

Getter Robo(1974-1975)
Based on the Super Robot Manga by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai that ran concurrently. Produced by Toei Animation. The series was broadcast on Fuji TV. Go Nagai revived his original concept of creating a team of three which combined into a robot capable of changing into three different forms. The three protagonists are teenagers Ryoma Nagare, Hayato Jin, Musashi Tomoe, who pilot an Eagle, Jaguar and Bear respectively, each built for different terrain. They battle the Dinosaur Empire, a race of Dinosaurs which moved underground and now seek to reclaim the Earth[4].

Jack in the Beanstalk(1974)
An animated film by Group TAC and Nippon Herald films, in fact it was their first feature film. A musical fantasy film based on the fairy tale with a screenplay by Shūji Hirami. The plot is slightly different as Jack finds that a Witch has brainwashed a princess into marrying her giant son and sets out to save her after climbing the Beanstalk. The film would get a boost when it was chosen to appear in World Masterpiece Theatre[5].

Great Energer(1974-1975)
The Sequel to Energer Z following its success and the end of its run from 1972 to 1973. It was animated and released by Toei Animation. The series follows where Energer Z vs Demon Lord Dante left off. Energer Z protagonist Kouji Kabuto has seemingly died and his son Tetsuya Tsurugi is being raised as his successor, piloting a new Energer called Chogokin Z(Super Alloy Z). A new threat to humanity emerges in the Mycenae Empire and his battle beasts. Tetsuya is joined by a teammate in Jun Hono, a half japanese, half african American girl piloting the Venus Ace Energer robot. In a climactic battle, the original Energer is destroyed to the horror of Tetsuya(it is framed in a cinematic way as if he is watching his father die through the machine as the melting robot appears to shed a tear). Tetsuya is able to overcome his depression and fear to defeat the Battle Beasts and save the world. While not as successful as the original Energer, the series was still popular and successful, spawning a line of toys and merchandise.

Urikupen Kyūjotai(1974)
A Television series by Tatsunoko and directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa. The title was translated into Urikupen Rescue Team. It follows a rescue team in the fictional kingdom of Urukupen who rescue animals.

Hurricane Polymar(1974-1975)
A series by Tatsunoko Productions created by Tatsuo Yoshida. The protagonist Takeshi is given a special suit made of a polymer that allows him to shape shift, including into vehicles.

First Human Giatrus(1974-1976)
Based on the Manga by Shinji Sonoyama that ran from 1965 to 1975. It had two spinoffs focusing on supporting characters. Shinji Sonoyama won the 1976 Bungeishunjū Manga Award for Gag Manga[6]

Asteroid Ship Icarus(1974-1975)
The idea for the series is credited to Yoshinobu Nishizaki,Keisuke Fujikawa, Eiichi Yamamoto and Aritsune Toyota. It is a Live Action Series or tokusatsu, inspired by novels Methuselah's Children and Toyota's own Desecrated Earth along with then successful shipwreck films The Poseidon Adventure and Japan Sinks and the novel Lord of the Flies. The plot concerned a crew of humans from all over the world living in a hollowed out Asteroid as it seeks a new planet called Iscandar for humanity to live on following Earth becoming inhospitable due to an invasion. There was infighting among the crew and the threat of Alien robots called the Rajendora, who are revealed to have come from a home planet devastated like the Earth had been. The series invited many comparisons to the later series Galactica(1978-1980). Eiichi Yamamoto oversaw production. The Robots were fleshed out and several nods to World War II were added including the battle near Neptune paralleling Germany passing the Maginot Line. It is one of the most influential Tokusatsu series.

The series consisted of 52 Episodes, which oversaw the declining health of Captain Okita and the transformation of the young orphan Susumu Kodai into a mature adult and his romance with Yuki Mori. The series shifted to focus on the Icarus and a new generation of characters with the older cast serving as their mentors. The Show included an outer space version of Auschwitz, A baby born on the Icarus, Tension between the people on the Icarus and Dessler as Icarus looked for a new home planet, and a touching story focusing on the Space Battleship Arizona(a nod to the most famous of the American ships sunk at Pearl Harbor). This led to the introduction of an interstellar empire based on America. There was also a romantic interest for Sanada and more focus and development for Captain Dan Hammer, along with a look at the Shalabart religion. The series still cut down much such as the journey to Iscandar, though did feature the introduction of Captain Harlock, who was Susumu Kodai's brother[7]

Calimero(1974-1978)
Callimero is based on a character that appeared in the Italian show Carosello during advertisements. A popular icon in Italy, Calimero is a black chick in a family of yellow chickens who wears half of his egg shell on his head. At the end of each episode it was revealed Callimero isn’t black, just very dirty and would be cleaned by the advertised cleaning product of the day. Toei Animation picked up the license to produce. The English release is known for its catchy country sounding theme song[8]

Notes
[1] The film replaces the OTL, Heidi, Girl of the Alps in release date. OTL the film was made by Takahata after Pippi Longstocking failed. Since it didn’t ITTL there’s not need to make the film. Naussicaa was Ghibli’s first film OTL but was made in 1984, meaning it’s now 10 years earlier. Miyazaki OTL made a Lupin III episode called Wings of the Albatross with basically a proto Naussicaa in 1980. Since he started working on the show ITTL, something similar happened, resulting in early Naussicaa. I didn’t go into detail as the plot is similar to OTL. Joe Hisaishi made his TV debut on First Human Giatrus. He went on to do the music for all but one Miyazaki film. The same applies ITTL except he has started much earlier along with Ghibli.

As for Heidi: Girl of the Alps. It’s OTL reception has been given to TTL’s Pippi Longstocking. It’s still a classic to this day, draws Japanese tourists to Sweden, stamps with the character appear on posts, and Japanese bands cover the theme song.

[2] OTL the show was surprisingly sexual for the time, though this is based on Honey Cutie doing the same thing. ITTL Honey Cutie basically did the same thing as this show so most of the influence which Little Witch Meg had is now had by TTL’s Honey Idol.

[3] OTL Chargeman Ken! Became popular when it was randomly included on a DVD Box Set by Line Communications. Which does not happen ITTL, depriving the world of at least one source for memes.

[4] Getter Robo is famous for introducing the concept of a team of heroes each with a Mecha that can combine into one single Mecha. OTL Go Nagai conceived the idea but was vetoed from using it in Mazinger Z. ITTL Go Nagai had more creative freedom and did indeed use it, so this show did not introduce the concept.

[5] OTL Heidi Girl of the Alps aired as part of World Masterpiece Theatre and is seen as the best thing they’ve ever played. Heidi doesn’t exist ITTL due to Pippi Longstocking being made, which ITTL was featured as part of World Masterpiece Theatre in its television debut in 1973 and it was a megahit. This year however, since they rely on adaptations of European tales, which are fairly scarce this year OTL besides Heidi, they were forced to pick Jack and the Beanstalk, which in general is just weird. So while 1974 was their best year OTL thanks to Heidi, ITTL 1973 was their best year thanks to Pippi and 1974 is their worst year instead thanks to Jack and the Beanstalk.

[6] Joe Hisaishi began his career OTL on First Human Giatrus in 1974. He would later do the music of all but one Miyazaki film, starting with Nausicaa. ITTL, interestingly he still does the music on Nausicaa despite the film coming out 10 years earlier, it’s just that it’s his first film. He still did the music on all but one Miyazaki film ITTL too, as he hadn’t started working until after Pippi Longstocking was released, making it the only film he didn’t work on.

[7] OTL this concept became Space Battleship Yamato, with the robots replaced by aliens and the asteroid replaced by a the World War II era Yamato retrofitted into a space vessel. The changes came about due to the the overseer of the project changing twice. First it was Eiichi Yamamoto, then Toshio Masuda, who worked on the World War II film Tora! Tora! Tora!. ITTL he never became director on that film as he did so after Akira Kurosawa was fired(Due to attempting to change the script, which was meant to depict both sides of the Pearl Harbor attack and he was rewriting the American portion which had its own director, and casting not actors but investors to fund his future film). ITTL Kurosawa played nice and made the film, so he doesn’t have that credit. Due to Eiichi Yamamoto staying on, Manga artist Leiji Matsumoto isn’t brought on to rewrite the series into “Space Battleship Yamato”. The series ran longer than OTL for the planned 52 episodes.

[8] ITTL the Calimero theme song is somewhat similar sounding to OTL’s Canyonero song from the Simpsons episode “The Last Temptation of Krust”.

And now for one show that has been butterflied away: Barbapapaa. Barbapapa was conceived OTL as a 1970 Children’s book by French-American Couple Annete Tilson and Talus Taylor. It came about when Talus Taylor, who was American overheard a child at Luxembourg Garden saying “Baa Baa Baa Baa” asking for “Barbe a Papa” which is French for Cotton Candy and translates to Daddy’s Beard because of what it visually looks like. Taylor and his wife Annette Tilson then brainstormed the character. Due to thelarge number of coincidences this required(The trip to the Garden on that day, the random kid asking for Cotton Candy, Etc…), Barbapapa does not exist ITTL. The butterflies got him. Probably because he was made of Cotton Candy.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Doctor Who

The Baker Era

Season 12
Robot
Space Station
The Ark in Space
The Sea of Fear
The Sontaran Experiment
Genesis of the Daleks
Revenge of the Cybermen

"Robot" had Tom Baker convince Barry Letts that it would be a great idea for the robot to sing "There's An Old Mill by the Breeze", as the actor, Michael Kilgarriff, had a lot of knowledge of music hall songs. The robot is commanded to sing in the section.

"Space Station" by Christopher Langley is set on a far-future space station during a period when mankind is no longer living on Earth. Leads into the Ark in Space.

"The Ark in Space" concerns a massive space ark carrying cryogenically-frozen humans, which has been invaded by the Delc. The Delc are fungi, grown from spores floating in space. The primary Delc take the form of floating heads, while their servitors appear as headless bodies. The Delc are impervious to most harm because any impact just causes the release of more spores. Fortunately, the Doctor eventually discovers that the Delc are susceptible to electrocution, and ultimately knocks the primary Delc out into space with a golf club. The character Vira is black and possibly Haitian(originally intended).

"The Sea of Fear" by Brian Hayles. The TARDIS lands on an island where the ape-like Simiads and the amphibious Zelons are at war. The conflict is being provoked by technicians from Research Inc under the command of Director Korbyn. Research Inc has travelled back in time from Earth City in the far future in order to determine which of the two races is an ancestor of Man. Once this is known, any denizens of Earth City who manifest the other race's lineage will be purged under the orders of the Great Leader. But the Great Leader knows that he is of Simiad strain and has planted an agent, Dr. Rojel, amongst the Research Inc staff to tip the scales against the Zelons. However, the Doctor discovers that pollution from the Research Inc facility is having a degenerative effect on the Simiads — which Korbyn tries to cover up by activing a self-destruct mechanism. The Doctor stops him by using the TARDIS to scramble the signal, and reveals that the Simiads and Zelons are actually two forms of the same race.

"The Sontaran Experiment" was set in the future, an idea of Bob Baker and Dave Martin was to incorporate some relics of human civilisation to imply that the story was actually set where London had once stood — for instance, by having the top of Nelson's column poking up out of the ground in homage to Planet of the Apes (1968). A subplot that revealed Styre was controlling Vural's mind was kept in.

"Genesis of the Daleks" originally had an idea by Terry Nation that was rejected due to being too similar to earlier Dalek Stories. Terrence Dicks suggested doing a Dalek origin story. The Doctor's meeting with the Time Lord takes place in a lush garden. The role of a Kaled officer named General Greiner was kept(OTL it was replaced by Ravon) while Sevrin was paired with a second Muto named Marrass. Terry Nation had the Mutos be much more bestial in appearance, their forms usually hidden by their rags. Episode three contained a subplot where Sarah contracts radiation poisoning, a nod to a similar story strand in "The Daleks". Episode five has more action in the Dalek incubator room and ended with the Doctor's question of whether he had the right to destroy them. The Thal soldiers are originally boys aged 15 or 16 to illustrate the youth of those fighting in the war.

"Revenge of the Cybermen" follows Gerry Davis's original script with space station Nerva as a sort of galactic service station with a casino, whose gold is used against the Cybermen. Most of the action took place on board the Nerva beacon. The Nerva crew included a scientist named Anitra Berglund, and Warner(Female ITTL). The Cybermen have been smuggled onto Nerva by Kellman before the story begins, with the aim of destroying a gold-rich asteroid in the station's vicinity. Kellman has betrayed a group of miners (led by a man named Evans, and also including Jones and Williams) who have been marooned on the asteroid for a quarter of a century; they eventually kill him by dynamiting a tunnel. The Doctor manages to reprogram the Cybermats to destroy the Cybermen using gold dust he has retrieved from the asteroid. The Cybermen appear much earlier, explaining the presence of the Cybermats on the Beacon(OTL they do not arrive until the end of Part Two, so how the Cybermats got onto the Beacon is never explained). Cybermen costumes from "The Invasion" were used(OTL only two suits had survived and in poor condition). Realizing the old and outdated versions of the suits were impractical, the BBC wished to create new ones. The Original Star Trek Series had ended its 5 years Mission and had a large budget in its own right, more than Doctor Who, so a second crossover was proposed in which the Cybermen would be the antagonists, created by the Star Trek team. Star Trek having been finished meant the Crossover would be entirely a Doctor Who story, plus the BBC would get to keep the Cybermen suits.

Season 13
Terror of the Zygons
the Angarath
Planet of Evil
Pyramid of Mars
The Android Invasion
The Eyes of Nemesis
Fires of the Starmind
The Menday Fault
The Brain of Morbius
The Seeds of Doom

"Terror of the Zygons" placed a far greater emphasis on the Skarasen and the loch.

"The Angarath" by Eric Pringle. Concerned a race of people offering human sacrifices to sentient rocks.

"Planet of Evil"has Sorenson dying after falling into the pit, though Sorenson was seen as a victim of the planet's influence rather than an evil man in himself.

"Pyramids of Mars" follows Griefer's original script where the Doctor and his companion attend a conference on food reserves at the British Museum, along with The Brigadier (who it was suggested might be killed off during the adventure). The Doctor's friend Professor Fawzi and his partner, Dr. Robertson, are there to unveil their work on a new type of grain which can flourish on the surface of the Moon, thereby solving the world's hunger problems. However, the conference is soon attacked by the crocodile-like Egyptian god Sebek and his army of mummies. Sebek and his master, Seth, are aliens who came to Earth millennia ago intent on conquest, but were placed in suspended animation via a powerful artifact called the Eye wielded by Horus, another of their kind. Having reawakened, they now intend to replace Fawzi and Robertson's grain with one which will result in the Moon's disintegration — which, in turn, will have catastrophic effects on Earth. The Doctor manages to locate Seth's resting place beneath an Egyptian pyramid, and is assisted by Horus and another deity, Isis, in defeating Seth and destroying the probe in mid-flight. Ernie Clements survives the story.

"The Android Invasion" The Brigadier appears in this story, replacing Colonel Farraday. A key plot element is that the Kraal androids were in fact mirror images of the people they were imitating, and this was how the Doctor deduced that “Sarah Jane” was actually a robot. Terry Nation had the Kraals be somewhat insectoid in appearance. Harry died saving Sarah.

"The Eyes of Nemesis" by Brian Hayles. On an alien planet, an old beggar named Lakdem is pursued by Myrron androids, but is immune to their destructive weaponry. The TARDIS materialises, and the Doctor is captured by the Myrron commander, Torr. Sarah takes Lakdem back to the TARDIS, where he sheds his skin to become a younger man. Together, they rescue the Doctor and Lakdem sets the coordinates to take the TARDIS to his planet of origin, the secret world of Oinos. There, he reveals that he is also an android originally created by the Kraals: one of Thirteen Watchers tasked by Death and infused with awesome power to wander the universe and observe its progress. However, Torr has tracked the TARDIS to Oinos and reveals that he serves the Celestial Toymaker, who desires Death's power for himself. The Doctor challenges the Toymaker, and the distraction allows Lakdem to accelerate time around the Myrrons, destroying them utterly.

"Fires of the Starmind" by Marc Platt. Information in the Time Lord libraries is stored on photons. A sentient star uses this as a means of invading Gallifrey.

"The Menday Fault" by David Wiltshire. The Doctor and Sarah Jane join the crew of the Thor, an experimental nuclear submarine attempting to set a new depth record by entering the Fault of Menday in the Bermuda Triangle. The Fault turns out to be a passageway to a subterranean world, and the Thor is captured by a race called the Suranians, led by Zorr. The Suranians' world is lit by a glowing cloud of gas that is beginning to fade, and so Zorr wants to use the Polaris missiles aboard the Thor to invade the surface world. He threatens Sarah's life to force the Doctor's cooperation, but she is saved by Nephus, a merman-like Trelw. Nephus' people are being mind-controlled by the Suranians, but the Doctor manages to destroy the transmitter, inciting a rebellion. Nephus kills Zorr, and the Thor is able to the return to the surface world.

"The Brain of Morbius" is the Terrance Dicks' version, which involves a space criminal called Morbius crash-landing onto a planet, and his robot servant — who lacks any sense of aesthetics — assembling a new body for him from other aliens, in ignorance of their vastly differing physiognomies. Dicks drew partly upon the costumes for the Clawrantulars, creatures which had appeared in Seven Keys to Doomsday, for the crab-like elements of Morbius' new body.

"The Seeds of Doom"brings the Brigadier and Benton back for the final episode.

Season 14
The Hand of fear
The Dreamers of Phados
The Face of Evil
The Talons of Weng-Chiang

When Sarah Jane Smith's actress Elisabeth Sladen was ready to leave the show, one proposed idea for her departure was to have her Killed Off for Real as the Sudden Downer Ending of a serial. A seemingly dead enemy would have managed to shoot her, with the Doctor breaking down and embracing her body upon realizing what happened. The last scene would have taken place the next morning, with other characters seeing her funeral pyre burning just as the TARDIS was dematerialising.

"The Hand of Fear" has the original outline set in the 1990s, at a time when technology and the military are forbidden. Sarah is sent to live in a commune while the Doctor is despatched to a labour camp. There he meets the aged Brigadier — now part of EXIT, the Extraterrestrial Xenological Intelligence Taskforce — and discovers that an anthropologist named Mountford has unearthed a mysterious fossilised hand. The hand takes control of Mountford's mind and forces him to transport it to the Nuton nuclear reactor, which is in the process of being decommissioned. There, the radiation allows the hand to regenerate into its original form: a creature called an Omegan made of teryllium, which has travelled to Earth from inside a black hole. It transpires that there are actually two Omegans at work on Earth, representing different factions of their people. The “hawk” Omegans wish to destroy humanity, while the “dove” Omegans simply want to remove mankind as an interstellar threat. They have accomplished this by slowly devolving men into ape-like Trogs, which manifested itself early on as the backlash against science. Sarah is now undergoing the same transformation. This is undone, however, when the “hawk” Omegan (who crashlanded on Earth, necessitating his reconstitution at Nuton) destroys his “dove” counterpart. He then flees Earth in the other Omegan's spaceship, having configured Nuton to explode and obliterate the planet. At the last second, the Doctor manages to redirect the power of the blast to fuel an experimental rocket called the Icarus. Brigadier Lethbridge Stewart commandeers the Icarus and uses it to pursue the Omegan, ultimately sacrificing himself by ramming the enemy vessel head-on, preventing it from impacting with the Earth. The Episode also includes key character, Lieutenant Hawker. Along with the calcified hand, an Omegan spaceship (referred to as “the Monolith”) is discovered at the start of episode one, and became central to the storyline, serving as the location of the adventure's climax. The separate factions of Omegans were excised. Baker and Martin also introduced a new supporting character, in the form of a Time Lord named Drax. An untrustworthy Gallifreyan mechanic who wants to steal the TARDIS. Drax became a possible recurring character.

"The Dreamers of Phados" by Chris Boucher. Set on a colony ship which has been home to a civilisation spanning many generations.

"The Face of Evil" has Tomas named Loke and has a more prominent role though Leela still gets more focus.

"The Talons of Weng-Chiang" reveals The true identity of Weng-Chiang as the desiccated, decomposing Master, this justifies the time cabinet and the plan to restore himself through the life energy of others.

Season 15
Horror of Fang Rock
The Invisible Enemy.
Image of the Fendahl
The Sun Makers
Killers of the Dark
The Krikkitmen
Invasion of Time

"Horror of Fang Rock" This story, the Season 15 opener, was written as a replacement for a vampire-based story by the same writer called "The Vampire Mutations" because the BBC's classic serial adaptation of Dracula was set to air in 1977 and they thought Who doing a similar story would take the shine off of it. The Vampire mutations would be released later.

"The Invisible Enemy" has K-9 depart with the Doctor and Leela.

"Image of the Fendahl" has Max Stael shoot himself on-camera.

"The Sun Makers" has The Collector as a large, corpulent figure, which is why Hade calls him things like "Your Immensity". Director Pennant Roberts had the giant credit cards featured in the story resemble Barclaycards. Veet's lines instead go to a character named Rashif.

Scenes from the Episode depicting the race of Cat People.

"Killers of the Dark", by David Weir. Concerned a race of cat people originally native to Gallifrey(OTL this was an idea cut due to going over the budget, with a scene involving a giant stadium full of cat people often cited. The show's bigger budget allows it to be made and it leads into the Season Finale in which the Time Lords are revealed to not be originally from Gallifrey).

Title Card for the Krikkitmen

"The Krikkitmen" by Douglas Adams. Two million years ago, the inhabitants of the planet Krikkit built a race of androids called the Krikkitmen to wipe out all life in the universe. They were stopped by the Time Lords, who trapped Krikkit within a temporal prison. Now, however, a group of Krikkitmen which escaped the Time Lords' sentence are trying to reassemble the components of a key which can free Krikkit — components of which happen to resemble elements of the Earth game of cricket, itself actually a reflection ro the ancient war. The Doctor and Sarah stumble upon this plot when they see the Krikkitmen steal the Ashes during a test match at Lords. They then travel to the planet Bethselamin to foil the next step in the Krikkitmen's quest. This idea was later revived in Adams' third Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy book, Life, the Universe and Everything, which crossed over with Doctor Who later on when it received a Television adaptation with the idea being that several Krikkitmen split off, one group being defeated in Hitchhiker's and the other in Doctor Who.

"The Invasion of Time" kills off Leela, who dies defending the Doctor from the Sontarans. The story was written by Robert Holmes. It was revealed that the Time Lords were not native Gallifreyans, but rather had been permitted to construct their Citadel there in return for ensuring that the planet's populace lived in total comfort and security. It was these indigenous Gallifreyans that Leela met following her banishment. The Doctor's actions as President threw the Time Lords into open civil war, and part two ended with several rebellious Time Lords threatening to execute the Doctor. The Vardans also betrayed the Doctor, ordering his annihilation at the close of episode three. After Leela's departure, Elisabeth Sladen was approached to return to the series as Sarah Jane. However, she declined, and thus Romana was created instead.

Season 16
The Ribos Operation
The Pirate Planet
The Stones of Blood
The Androids of Tara
Shield of Zarak
The Armageddon Factor

"The Ribos Operation" has the jethrik as being more important because its actually a source of incredible energy which could power a fleet of spaceships.

"The Pirate Planet" followed Douglas Adams' original outline, which involved a planet which is being mined by the Time Lords, who use a giant aggression-sapping machine (disguised as a statue) to pacify the natives. One Time Lord (stuck in the slow-time field, in the midst of his last regeneration) becomes trapped in the statue and absorbs all the aggression, inducing him to turn against his people. He causes the mining devices to hollow out the planet and now plans to make it dematerialise and reform around Gallifrey. Adams uses a drug addiction allegory, about a company which preys on people who fear death by offering machines which can slow time for them — but at an exorbitant price. The company goes bankrupt, however, leaving one old lady in need of a source of fantastic energy.

"The Stones of Blood" The Ogri(the stone creatures worshipped in "The Angarath) return, revealed to rocky-skinned humanoids who looked like regular stones only when stationary. The Ogri simply crush people. The Megara are depicted as floating metal orbs.

"The Androids of Tara" by David Fisher has Tara populated by animals resembling creatures of legend, such as unicorns (which might be natural or mechanical), and has Till as a dwarf rather than a hunchback.

"Shield of Zarak", aka "The Doppelgangers" or "Shield of Zareg", by Ted Lewis. Dealt with the notion that legendary heroes might, in reality, have been the antithesis of the way history would ultimately portray them. Apparently, the specific example planned was to have the Doctor and Romana encounter Robin Hood in their search for the fourth segment of the Key to Time, only to discover that the alleged hero was actually a blackhearted villain. Lewis was unfamiliar with Doctor Who and it was clear that the scripts needed work. He had also begun a descent into alcoholism amidst marital difficulties, and was drunk when he met with Graham Williams and Anthony Read to discuss the script. Fortunately he sobered dup by the next meeting and the idea was refreshed into a more suitable format.

"The Armageddon Factor" has the reappearance of Drax, this time becoming an elderly eccentric similar to the aged prisoner from The Count of Monte Cristo. Both Atrios and Zeos are populated. Astra (originally “Reina”, a name later changed to avoid confusion with Prince Reynart from "The Androids of Tara") was an astrophysicist who had discovered the Shadow's planet lying between the two warring worlds. The conflict had arisen because Atrios and Zeos blamed each other for a catastrophic shift in their orbits; they were being egged on by the Shadow, known as “the Presence” on Atrios and “the Voice” on Zeos. The Doctor was forced to use the makeshift Key To Time to temporally freeze both planets' armies. The Shadow's own shadow turned out to be the sixth segment of the Key To Time. His plan was to use the powers of the Key to pit one half of the universe in war against the other half. The Doctor stopped the Shadow by unfreezing the Atrian and Zeon armies and giving each the coordinates of the Shadow's “Castle of Evil”. The Black Guardian is not yet introduced, the Doctor simply decided that he did not trust the White Guardian with the Key, and consequently scattered the six segments again to prevent anyone from controlling it. This was changed when the actor couldn't reprise his role.

Season 17
Destiny of the Daleks
The Doomsday Contract
Erinella
The Tearing of the Veil
the Valley of the Lost
City of Death
The Gamble of Time
The Creature from the Pit
Shada

Graham Williams and Douglas Adams seriously considered having Romana be played by a different actress in every story in Season 17, before deciding that it would be too much work and too stressful on the writers. Romana was written into a scene in which she was injured and regenerated.

"Destiny of the Daleks" takes place mostly at night. K-9 was trapped in the TARDIS due to a rockfall, while the Daleks searched for Davros because he can supply information about special circuitry which will help them break the deadlock.

"The Doomsday Contract", aka "Shylock", by John Lloyd. While vacationing on Cimmerian II, the Doctor is summoned before the Altribunal of Coelare Coelum, an intergalactic court. He has been called as a witness in a millennia-old case in which the Plenum Trust Corporation (whose Executive Vice President, Smilax, is an old friend) is opposing the purchase of the Earth by Cosmegalon and its unscrupulous owner, Jugend Bruisa. Plenum had been testing the Spondilas Chamber — an incredibly powerful device capable of polymorphing matter — when Cosmegalon bought the Earth via dubious means. Now Smilax fears that Chamber falling into Bruisa's hands. In court, the Doctor gives evidence that the Earth is home to intelligent life, which by law would nullify Cosmegalon's ownership. He is sent to Earth to retrieve a human as proof. Arriving in mediaeval Yorkshire, the Doctor is prevented from completing his task by the monstrous Children of Pyxis, who have been despatched by Cosmegalon. Fortunately, he is saved from death by the timely intervention of Smilax, and does manage to spirit away the Spondilas Chamber. Nonetheless, with the Doctor having seemingly failed, the court rules in Cosmegalon's favour. However, the Doctor tricks Bruisa and the Children of Pyxis into travelling to modern-day Earth near a missile base, where their ship is annihilated.

"Erinella", aka "Dragons of Fear", by Pennant Roberts. The Doctor, Romana and K9 arrive on the planet Erinella. There, the Doctor is immediately arrested and accused of poisoning a local noble. Indeed, everyone seems to recognise him, despite the fact that he's never been to Erinella before. Romana and K9 retreat to the woods where they meet Og, the keeper of Erinella's dragons. Meanwhile, the Doctor discovers that the true murderer is a Queen who is scheming to control all of Erinella. Moreover, he has accidentally arrived on the planet later than he was meant to. He escapes and travels back in time to set in motion the events that he has already witnessed. Romana convinces Og to send the dragons against the Queen, while the Doctor tricks her into confessing her crimes.

"The Tearing of the Veil" by Alan Drury. An evil force pursues the TARDIS to a Victorian vicarage, where the vicar's widow is being defrauded by phoney spiritualists. As supernatural phenomena grip the vicarage, the con artists are killed off one by one. Even K9 is apparently torn apart by a poltergeist, while much of the Doctor's life force is drained from him, turning him into a disinterested crank wandering about in his nightgown.

"Valley of the Lost" by Phillip Hinchcliffe. The Doctor and Romana travel to the jungles of Brazil, where they come upon a Luron scout ship which crashlanded in 1870. The vessel emits a bubble of time which has kept the surroundings preserved as they were then — including a lost city of gold, inhabited by Maygor savages who worship the only Luron survivor, Godrin, as their deity. Godrin convinces the Doctor to bring him to London, but once there uses modern technology to send a signal to the Luron fleet to commence an invasion of Earth. The Doctor and Romana manage to infiltrate the Luron mothership and take control of its power source. Faced with destruction, the Lurons agree to abandon their invasion.

"City of Death, Douglas Adams, was set in 1928 with the Doctor and Romana, aided by Bulldog Drummond-esque detective "Pug" Farquharson, on the trail of the stolen Mona Lisa. The story started with a close-up of the Doctor and Romana which pulled back to reveal them standing high atop the Eiffel Tower(OTL this was abandoned when the special lens rented for the sequence from a Spanish firm could not be made to fit the BBC camera). The artist who sketches Romana in the café was is a much more prominent figure called Bourget, who is in league with Scarlioni(Cut from the finished version).

The Gamble of Time, David Fisher, Continues off from City of Death, pursuing Scarlioni from Paris to Monte Carlo where his partner, the Baroness Heidi, is using time travel technology to cheat at roulette at the casino to fund Scarlioni's time travel experiments. The Doctor and Romana ultimately discover that Scarlioni is trying to journey back to prehistoric Earth and prevent the time bubble explosion in order to save his fellow Sephiroth, who are dying from an illness he believes is caused by radiation from the accident. However, the Doctor discovers that the culprit is actually the common cold virus, to which the Sephiroth have no immunity. Scarlioni agrees to let the time bubble accident happen, in order to spark the genesis of life on Earth. This episode was originally writeen

"The Creature from the Pit" follows David Fisher's original outline which revolves around Adrasta's attempts to claim the TARDIS for herself. K-9 eventually takes Adrasta away in the TARDIS, returning her — cowed and defeated — at the story's conclusion. Upon initially being thrown into the Pit, the Doctor is attacked by Hellyn, a former member of Adrasta's team of engineers. In the final episode, a battle fleet from Tithonus arrives, threatening to destroy Chloris with a photon missile. Erato and the Doctor travel into space in Erato's ship, and the Tithonian weaves a spacesuit for the Doctor, enabling him to reach the missile and disarm it.

The Dirk Gently series does not exist, as it came about due to a strike preventing "Shada" from being entirely filmed and the plot was used in that series. Here Shada is completed(Unused footage was used in "The Five Doctors" OTL but here is included in the actual episode( A Big Finish Audio story uses the script but the Eighth Doctor instead). The famous scene where the Doctor is chased by the orb while on a bicycle takes place at night.

Season 18
Meglos
State of Decay
Warrior's Gate
Into the Comet
The Psychonauts
Sealed Orders
The Keeper of Traken
Kinda
Logopolis
The Doctor and the Baker

"Meglos" retains Lexa's self-sacrifice as a more dramatic end for the character.

"State of Decay" has an old woman Time Lord hermit who tells the Doctor about the Great Vampire. Subplots involving townsfolk nocturnally wandering the forest like zombies and rebellious citizens being found with bat-like bite marks on their necks. Adric's character is introduced "an Artful Dodger in Space", though in his relationship with the Doctor, which lasted until the Fourth Doctor regenerated.

"Warriors' Gate" opens with an attack on the Privateer by an "Antonine Killer", which led to the ship becoming trapped at the Gateway. A crewman named Nestor is included. Stephen Gallagher's original script is intact. Romana does not depart.

"Into the Comet" by James Follett. Involved monsters attacking a race of beings who live inside Halley's Comet, unaware that there is anything beyond it.

"The Psychonauts" by David Fisher. The Doctor battles the Nephilim, creatures who travel through time in sleeping units shaped like sarcophagi.

"Sealed Orders" by Christopher Priest. A political thriller set on Gallifrey in which the Doctor is seemingly ordered to kill Romana by the Time Lords. A complex plot involving time paradoxes results in the appearance of a second Doctor (who dies) and lead to Romana's departure; it also involved the idea of time running into itself, resulting in one TARDIS existing inside another. Baker proposed that the series allow the Doctor to have a romantic moment with one of his companions, albeit as a joke. (Baker's idea: that the companion kiss him, the Doctor act shocked, but then decides he likes it and asks to be kissed again.). This idea was accepted and done with Romana II actress Lalla Ward.

"The Keeper of Traken" follows Johnny Byrne's original outline and is set in a mediaeval-type society, divided between the scientific Greys and the zealous Blacks, led by Hellas and Zorca, respectively. Zorca summons a being called Mogen he believes is a demon, but whom the Doctor later realises is the last survivor of a race of super-beings with fantastic mental abilities. Mogen wants to take control of the powerful Source in order to use Traken as the launching pad for galactic conquest. Zorca frames Adric for murder, and the cliffhanger for episode two originally involved the Doctor, Adric and Hellas on the brink of execution, about to be crushed between blocks of steel. A key element of part four was a stolen component from the TARDIS, which Mogen uses to construct a time disintegrator with which he plans to kill the Doctor.

"Kinda" is a Fifth Doctor story OTL, however it was intended to be a Fourth Doctor story and originally depicted the Doctor as a wise old sage. Here it is indeed a Fourth Doctor story.

"Logopolis", as per the plan of John Nathan-Turner, reintroduced a familiar companion to the regular cast to ease the transition from Tom Baker to Peter Davison after the former's seven year tenure in the lead role. Both Elisabeth Sladen and Louise Jameson were asked to to ask if they would like to reprise their parts as Sarah Jane Smith and Leela respectively. Neither were interested in going back to the programme, so Tegan was created instead.

"The Doctor and the Baker",John Brosnan. Brosnan was at the time writing for the magazine Starburst. He pitched the idea of the Doctor landing at the BBC Television Centre and meeting Tom Baker, the two working together to combat a threat. The episode became very meta as the Master's latest plan threated the entire Multiverse. This episode marked both the depature of Tom Baker, and the Doctor's regeneration.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Blade(1974)​

Starring Richard Roundtree as the famous Vampire Hunter.

Shang Chi(1977)​

A Film starring Bruce Lee in titular role.
​

Dazzler(1984)​

Dazzler(1984)​

1984's Dazzler was among the trippiest Superhero films ever conceived with KISS appearing alongside Marvel Superheroes to help save the world from an evil enchantress. The project was made as a deal between Marvel and Casablanca Records. Among the celebrities teaming up with the marvel heroes were KISS, Cher, Donna Summer, and the Village People with Robin Williams playing Bo Derek's love interest and Rodney Dangerfield as three lawyers that were the personification of an eldritch horror.

The film served as a vehicle for the introduction of Dazzler, played by Bo Derek, whom was modeled after the actress. While the film was more of a cult classic than anything else. Marvel itself, deemed the film too surreal and feared association with it.​

Howard the Duck(1986)​

George Lucas was able to nab Ralph Bakshi, who turned the film into something resembling Fritz the Cat in town, allowing Bakshi to take pot shots at Disney(which is also something Howard the Duck's original creator(and by extension Howard himself, loved to do). Lucas has admitted if he couldn't make it animated, he'd have tried to make it live action.

Roger Corman was approached to do a Spider-Man movie but the brief option expired. Marvel then offered Spider-Man to Cannon Films with Tobe Hooper to Direct. Hooper was currently working on Invaders From Mars and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and so was unavailable. The heads of Cannon films, Golan and Globus then went to writer Leslie Stevens, creator of The Outer Limits, and it became clear they had not ever heard or even bothered to research the character, just made assumptions they believed were right. In Stevens' story, a corporate scientist intentionally subjects ID-badge photographer Peter Parker to radioactive bombardment, transforming him into a hairy, suicidal, eight-armed monster. This human tarantula refuses to join the scientist's new master-race of mutants, battling a succession of mutations kept in a basement laboratory. Naturally, Stan Lee pulled the plug on this version and had a new screenplay written by Ted Mewsom and John Brancato, which introduced Doctor Octopus, who is created in the same accident, an explosion that radiates a Spider that bites Peter. Doctor Octopus attempts to recreate the experiment, an effort to gain the Fifth Force, threatening to engulf New York and the world. Joseph Zito, who had directed Cannon's successful Chuck Norris film Invasion USA, replaced Tobe Hooper. The new director hired Barney Cohen to rewrite the script. Cohen, creator of TV's Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Forever Knight, added action scenes, a non-canonical gesture for the villain, gave Doc Ock the catch phrase, "Okey-dokey", and altered his goal from the Fifth Force to a quest for anti-gravity. Producer Golan (using his pen name "Joseph Goldman") then made a minor polish to Cohen's rewrite, which removed the "Okey-dokey". Zito scouted locations and studio facilities in both the U.S. and Europe, and oversaw storyboard breakdowns supervised by Harper Goff. Cannon planned to make the film on the then-substantial budget of between $15 and $20 million.

Zito cast actor/stunt man Scott Leva as Spider-Man's stunt double. Bob Hoskins was to play Doctor Octopus. Stan Lee wanted to reprise his role as J.Jonah Jameson. Lauren Bacall and Katharine Hepburn were approached for the role of Aunt May with Hepburn winning out. Peter Cushing was cast as Justin Hammer, a corrupt Businessman who incurs the wrath of Doctor Octopus. Adolph Caesar was cast as a Police Detective later revealed to be named George Stacy, who was to be killed by Doctor Octopus in the film. Scott Leva continued to promote the film. The Film would fall through at the last moment, due to a failure to find a director for the picture.

Around 1989, Stan Lee and Chris Claremont entered in talks with Carolco Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment to make a film adaptation of the X-Men comic book series, with James Cameron as producer, Kathryn Bigelow as director and Gary Goldman as writer. Bob Hoskins was originally going to play Wolverine, but both realized that if there were ever crossovers, Bob Hoskins playing Doctor Octopus(which he was still possibly slated to do if the Spider-Man film was made) and Wolverine would have been confusing. Instead they had the ingenious idea of hiring actor Paul D'amato, who had inspired Wolverine's creation, after his appearance in the Canadian comedy Slapshot, to play Wolverine himself. Actress Angela Bassett was to play Storm. However, Stan Lee himself derailed the film's creation when he and Cameron talked and Lee piques Cameron's interest in making a Spider-Man film instead.

The Punisher(1987)​

The film stars Sylvester Stallone as Frank Castle. Bidgette Nielson as the film's love interested Lynn Michaels, Liam Neeson as Jigsaw, Bruce Campbell in a small role as Daredevil, Sigourney Weaver as Typhoid Mary, Kurt Russell as Nick Fury(an old war buddy of Castle's in the film) and Rutger Hauer as the assassin Bullseye.The film's main antagonist is Jigsaw, a mob boss responsible for the death of Frank Castle's family, who survives a battle with Frank that leaves his face horribly scarred. Also appearing in the film is the Russian, played by Dolph Lundgren, who has a drawn out memorable fight with Castle in his apartment building. Unlike the OTL film, the Punisher iconic Skull logo is front and center(The fake Trailer above basically filled out the film as I only decided on Stallone as the Punisher).

Captain America(1988)​

Released by Universal Pictures. The film starred Jeff Bridges as Captain America and Peter Fonda as the Red Skull. Also featured in the film were The Falcon, Baron Zemo and Bucky Barnes. The film began with with Captain America being frozen in battle with the Red Skull and Baron Zemo, and waking up in the modern day, finding out that both villains are still alive and control a secret government organization. He also discovers that his old friend Bucky is now an elderly man who married girlfriend Peggy Carter. In the present, he teams up with an army pilot and member of a special unit called the Falcon and the two heroes defeat the Red Skull and Baron Zemo.

There is a Joke in the Comics from this time in which Captain America and the Punisher fight each other. Preparing for a second fight, both watches the other's movie. OTL the heroes cringe at how bad the films are. ITTL jokes are made about the actors playing the heroes instead and how they look nothing like the characters.

Ant-Man(1991)​

An Ant-Man film created by Disney starring Michael Douglas as Hank Pym and Catherine Zeta Jones as Janet Van Dyne. By the same creative team as Honey I Shrunk the Kids which ITTL never received a sequel, leading Disney to accept the request from Marvel to make this film, provided the cast of the latter film appeared as well.

Doctor Strange(1992)​

OTL this film became Doctor Mordrid when the rights expired. Without that happening, the film stars Jeffrey Combs and has Dr.Strange being sent to Earth by the Ancient One to battle Baron Mordo and prevent him from releasing Dormammu on the world.

She Hulk(1992)​

A She-Hulk live-action motion picture was released in 1992 with Larry Cohen as writer and director. Brigitte Nielsen played the title role. In order to explain She-Hulk existing before a Hulk Movie, the Incredible Hulk TV Show was made canon to the film. Bruce Banner was caught and forced once more to stand trial. Matt Murdock could not reach him in time. Instead, Jennifer Walters offers to defend him(she is not his cousin in the film as this would lead to her not being allowed to defend him if this was the case). When assassins gun down Walters and she is hospitalized, Banner offers to give a blood transfusion, transforming Walters into She-Hulk. The Hulk was once again played by Lou Ferrigno.

James Cameron's Spider-Man(1992)​

Production began on James Cameron's Spider-Man. Toward the end of shooting True Lies, Variety carried the announcement that Carolco Pictures had received a completed screenplay from James Cameron. This script bore the names of James Cameron, John Brancato, Ted Newsom, Barry Cohen and "Joseph Goldman(OTL this was a confusion of Manaheim Golan's pen name, and Marvel Executive Joseph Calamari). Arnold Shwarzenegger was originally to play as Doctor Octopus but was dropped from the script, later appearing in the second film. Cameron instead introduced Electro and Sandman. Cameron's treatment or "Scriptment" as he put it, was 57 pages long. Electro and Sandman were villains. The original script renamed the character of Electro as an evil billionaire named Carlton Strand and The Sandman was simply named Boyd. This was changed to be more comic accurate(Electro being Max Dillon and Sandman being Flint Marko), and Norman Osborn was added as a villain, though he did not don the Goblin costume, simply fulfilling the corrupt businessman role. Electro was played by Lance Henrickson. Sandman was played by Michael Biehn. All three villains, with the exception of Osborn, being actors Cameron had used in the Terminator. Maggie Smith played Aunt May, Robin Lively played Mary Jane Watson. Stan Lee wanted to return as J.Jonah Jameson but Cameron replaced him with R.Lee Ermey.

R.Lee Ermy as J.Jonah Jameson without mustache
Osborn attempts to recruit Peter Parker(Leonardo DiCaprio) and uses the Sandman and Electro as his enforcers. Peter also begins to commit to a relationship with Mary Jane, who he reveals his identity to. The film uses profanity and has a scene of Spider-Man and Mary Jane having sex on the Brooklyn Bridge. These elements gave the film an R Rating. Spider-Man in the film has organic webbing. The villain tempts Spider-Man into joining his "master race" of mutants; from the original screenplay and rewrite, weird electrical storms causing blackouts, freak magnetic events and bi-location; from the Ethan Wiley draft, a villain addicted to toxic super-powers and multiple experimental spiders, one of which escapes and bites Peter, the bite causing a hallucinatory nightmare invoking Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis; from the Frank LaLoggia script, a blizzard of stolen cash fluttering down onto surprised New Yorkers; and from the Neil Ruttenberg screenplay, a criminal assault on the New York Stock Exchange. The film was a huge hit upon release, being lauded by critics. Siskel and Ebert gave it "Eight Legs Up".​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1975 in Anime

A Dog of Flanders(1975)
An Adaptation of the 1872 novel by Ouida( a pseudonym of Maria Louise Ramé). The series ran for 52 episodes and was produced by Nippon Animation. It follows a boy and his dog in 19th century Holland. The series premiered as part of World Masterpiece Theater. Extensive research was done to be accurate to 19th Century Flanders. The show aired on Fuji TV. It is fairly faithful to the book. The theme song remains popular to this day.

Great Energer vs Getter Robo(1975)
A series by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa, crossing over both series. Like Energer Z vs Demon Lord Dante, it is an in canon crossover. The series focuses on an alien monster attacking Earth. The casts of Great Energer and Getter Robo both have a rivalry with each other but are reluctantly forced to work together to defeat this monster.

Hans Christian Andersen’s the Little Mermaid(1975)
Based on the 1837 Fairy Tale. The series it is fairly faithful to its source material.

La Seine no Hoshi(1975)
A series by Sunrise released on Fuji TV. It lasted 39 episodes. In English it was translated to “Star of the Seine”(Seine is a river in Northern France). The series is loosely based on the. 1963 film, the Black Tulip, itself based loosely on the Alexandre Dumas novel the Black Tulip. It was created by Mitsuru Kaneko and directed by Masaaki Osumi and Yoshiyuki Tomino. Written by Soji Yoshikawa with character designs by Akio Sugino with music by Shunsuke Kikuchi. The story follows Simone, a heroine who creates the identity of La Seine No Hoshi. Donning a red mask to battle aristocrats after they killed her parents.

Don Chuck Monogatari(1975)
Translated into Don Chuck Story. The series was by Knack Productions. It aired on Tokyo Channel 12.

Gamba No Nouken(1975)
Translated to Adventures of Gamba. Based on the 1972 novel The Adventures of The Adventurers: Gamba and his fifteen Companions by Atsuo Saitoh and directed by Osamu Dezaki. It was broadcast on Nippon TV and animated by Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Madhouse. The series followed a brown mouse named Gamba who meets a mouse named Chuta who has been injured and asks Gamba to help him protect the residents of an island from the invading Noroi Clan.

Getter Robo G(1975-1976)
Created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa and produced on Toei Animation as a direct sequel on Fuji TV. Mattel released a toy collection based on the series. The plot centers on a new threat in the Hundred Demon Empire threatening Earth after the defeat of the Dinosaur Empire and the death of Musashi Tomoe. The three machines included the Getter Dragon, Liger, and Poseidon.

Tekkaman: The Space Knight(1975)
A Series by Tatsunoko Productions. In the future of the 21st century, Humanity is searching for a Second Earth after being forced to abandon their original planet. An alien race known as “Walderians” attack them. Dr.Amachi augments a human to become a Tekkamean and battle the alien menace. The series ran for 52 episodes[1]. It was adapted by William Winckler Productions, which stayed as true to the original Japanese as possible, with little editing of violence as possible and maintaining the original Japanese music and sound effects. Plans were made to dub the 1975 Anime series Tekkaman. William Winckler Productions declined to adapt the series unless toys were made. Tatsunoko relented and toys were produced for the American market, beginning a trend of toys accompanying every release of a new Show. WWP thus licensed Neo Human Casshern and Hurricane Polymar with toys as well.

Arabian Nights: Sinbad’s Adventures(1975)
A 52 episode series. Directed by Fumio Kurokawa. Produced by Nippon Animation. Based on Sinbad the Sailor. Sinbad in the series is a young boy, the son of a merchant from Baghdad forbidden from going on adventures by his uncle Ali but given a talking bird named Shera. Sinbad goes on an adventure with his uncle but is lost at sea when a whale attacks the ship. When he gets home he learns his parents disappeared after going to search for him and goes out to look for them. On his journeys. Sinbad meets and befriends Aladdin and Ali Baba and encounters many creatures like the Roc, Mermaids, Lilliputians and so on as well as reenacting several stories from 1001 Arabian Knights. Sinbad ultimately battles a sorceress who has ensnared his family, freeing them upon her defeat.

Naughty Ancient Kum-Kum(1975-1976)
A series created by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko and Metropolis Director Rintaro. It was broadcast on TBS. It follow a naughty boy in Prehistoric Times that pranks other prehistoric people and creatures.

Time Bokan(1975-1976)
Airing on Fuji TV Saturdays at 6:30pm, Time Bokan ran for 61 30 minute episodes and produced by Tatsunoko Productions in partnership Topcraft. The plot begins with Dr.Kieta, who invents an insect shaped time machine called Time Bokan. He tests it but then during his trip, the time machine returns without him, with a talking parrot and a gemstone called a Dynamond. His assistant Tanpei willingly goes in the machine to find the professor. Tanpei encounters villains after the Dynamond.

Steel Jeeg(1975-1976)
Created by Go Nagai and Tatsuya Yasuda, directed by Masayuki Akehi and produced by Toei Doga. Directed . It aired on NET and ran as a manga.The series follows Hiroshi Shiba, who is turned into a cyborg by his father Professor Shiba after being mortally wounded. Shiba uses a an ancient and powerful relic from the Jamatai Kingdom. Queen Himika of the Jaatai kingdom reawakens and and seeks out the bell to use it to conquer Earth, killing Professor Shiba. Shiba uploaded his brain into a supercomputer and provided Hiroshi with a robot, Steel Jeeg, to battle the Jamatai Kingdom.

Raideen the Brave(1975-1976)
A super robot series produced by Tohokushinsha, Asahi News Agency and Sunrise and airing on NET. The Demon Empire, after Millennia of sleep, awaken to attack Earth. A boy named Akira Hibiki is summoned to the location of a giant robot built on the lost continent of Mu, Raideen. Akira is revealed as a descendant of the people of Mu and helps Raideen battle the Demon Empire. The series featured the first robot with mythical origins rather than origins based on science. Raideen is also depicted as sentient. He was also capable of transforming and his toy, released in January 1975 by Popy, was the first example of a toy that could transform. The future creator of Gundam, Yoshiyuki Tomino worked on the series, along with Yasuhiko Yoshikazu for the first time since they worked together on Wandering Sun. The show found immense success in America as well. Mattel released toys for the series and Marvel Comics released a licensed comic.

Uchu Enban Daisenso(1975-1977)
Toei Doga wanted a their entry in the Energer Z series. Go Nagai instead pitched a stand alone series which became Uchu Enban Daisenso. Go Nagai has gone on record to say he does not consider the serious part of the Energer franchise(not to say it isn’t canon, just that it shouldn’t be considered an entry in the Energer series but as its own thing). The series was translated into Battle of the Space Saucers. The series depicted an alien race called the Yaban fleeing their dying home planet and invading Earth. Fortunately one of the survivors of the destruction of Planet Fleed, Duke Fleed, had fled o Earth after stealing a robot named Gattaiger, who now uses Gattaiger to protect the Earth against his own people in their invasion. The series was Produced by Toei Doga and Dynamic Planning and broadcast on Fuji TV. Mattel released a toy line. The series had a large level of popularity in the Middle East, France and Italy. Toei, in a repetition of a smaller element in what caused Miyazaki and Takahata to leave in 1968, refused to pay Go Nagai royalty for overseas sales. Nagai sued Toei for the royalties but Toei, remembering the Miyazaki and Takahata debacle, caved in and paid Nagai, keeping him on. However, the relationship between Nagai and Toei was already strained as is as he had sued in 1972 for injuring his hand due to Toei’s mistreatment of him, leading to changing laws in the country. It seemed the relationship between the two couldn’t take another hit[2].

The Adventures of Pepero, Boy of the Andes(1975-1976)
A 26 episode series that aired on NET Network. The series follows the young boy Pepero, who goes on a journey looking for his father, who went missing looking for El Dorado.

Laura the Prairie Girl(1975-1976)
A Series based on little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Notes
Maya the Bee was released this year OTL but was release five years earlier ITTL. This ironically means it ends ITTL the year it started OTL.

[1] OTL Tekkaman was intended for 52 episodes but was cancelled after 26 due to low ratings and losing its sponsor. It does just good enough ITTL to conclude.

[2] OTL Uchu Enban Daisenso became its own film. However, it was conceived as a spinoff of Mazinger Z by Go Nagai. As stated Toei wanted another installment in the series but Go Nagai wanted a separate spinoff, leading to Grendizer, which fans criticized for having a very loose connection to the series. ITTL Go Nagai got his wish. While its a common misconception that show did badly, that’s only because it did less well than other Mazinger installments. ITTL it is instead compared to his other series due to having no connection to Mazinger Z.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1976 in Anime

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn(1976)
Based on the Mark Twain books, the series adapted the first two novels. The adaptation of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer portion was faithful. The Second part, the adventures of Huckleberry Finn took many more liberties. Huckleberry Finn’s father is much more abusive and Tom Sawyer helps him escape and fake his death. As a result Tom Sawyer is a character in the book for most of the adventure while he was absent for most of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The adaptation thankfully treated the black escaped slave character Jim with respect. He is the only adult and does everything he can to protect the boys, at one point, preventing them from seeing a dead body, which he buries. The boys must save him when he is captured in the conclusion of the series[1]

From the Apennines to the Andes(1976)
An Animated series directed by Isao Takahata and part of Studio Ghibli which aired on Fuji TV. Loosely based on the novel Heart(Coure) by Italian author Edmondo De Amicis. The film aired as part of World Masterpiece Theater. The series was dubbed in many countries and was an immediate success. Countries that received a dub and within which it was an instant success include Iran, Portugal, Brazil, Peru, Spain, Venezuela, Colombia, Germany, Chile, Turkey, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Arab World, and Israel. The plot centered on a boy named Marco who lives in Genoa, Italy in 1881, during a depression period. His father, Pietro Rossi manages a hospital that treats poor patients and so the family struggles financially. His mother Anna Rossi, goes to Argentina to work as a maid but then her letters home stop coming after one letter says she is sick. With his father busy and his older brother an adult in Milan, Marco runs away from home to find hid mother, taking with him his brother’s pet monkey Amedeo and they sneak onto a ship bound for Brazil. He arrives in South America and has many adventures trying to uncover the mystery of what happened. He find out the letters from his mother were stolen by his uncle. A common theme is how human kindness is rewarded. For example, at one point Marco has struggled for some time to make enough money to buy a train ticket, but learns a young girl is dying and needs an operation and sacrifices the money he has to pay for her operation, risking a dangerous journey on foot. This pays off as when he finds his mother alive but very sick and in need of an operation, the kindness of those he helped comes back and they learn of his predicament and help pay for the operation, reuniting the family[2]

Grendizer Z(1976-1977)
A Series created by Go Nagai and Gosaku Ota as the third installment of the Energer Franchise. The titular robot could transform into a jet. The main antagonists were the Gaira aliens, who seeked to conquer Earth in secret from an arctic base. Scientist Dr.Yan was captured and forced to create a robot for the invaders but he allowed his daughter, Rita to escape with his creation Grendizer Z. Rita went to Tetsuya Tsurugi for help and he joined the battle. The series had toys made by Popy[3].

Devine Demon-Dragon Gaiking(1976-1977)
Gaiking was one of the few series to use real locations outside Japan in its setting and the first to have a mobile carrier for the robots. It also had toys by Mattel. Gaiking was the first of Toei’s series not based on an existing Manga. The invading aliens are called the Dark Horror Army, who come from planet Zela, which is facing destruction by a black hole. Their invasion of Earth is opposed by the Super Robot Gaiking and the carrier Daikū Maryū, which sported Dinosaur based designs. The pilot of Gaiking was former baseball star Sanshiro Tsuwabuki, who had latent psychic abilities but was the only one with such bailies to survive due to the experiments in using them and assassination by alien agents, which injured him and ended his sporting career.

The series however, got Toei into legal trouble. While the studio claimed the original idea was by Kunio Nakatani, Akio Sugino and Dan Kobayashi. It was actually conceived by Go Nagai, who was not credited as Toei didn’t want to pay royalties. This began a legal battle in which, seeing it as the third strike, following the 1972 court case on Go Nagai suffering injury to his hand due to overwork, and this second case of not crediting him so soon after the previous one. Go Nagai left Toei, still attempting to sue them.

Little Lulu and Her Little Friends(1976-1977)
An adaptation of the American comic strip by Marjorie Henderson Buell. Directed by Fumio Kurokawa. The series was produced by Nippon Animation.

Abaranger(1976-1977)
A mecha Anime by Tatsunoko Productions. It was the first Anime to feature a female lead main character(if one does not count Grendizer which only partly featured Rita alongside Tetsuya). Like Tatsunoko’s Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, this series features a group of young adults fighting an invasion by rock people from the center of the Earth. The show faced bad timing as it aired in the same time slot as Uchu Enban Daisenso on Fuji TV and the game show Up Down Quiz on Mainichi Broadcasting System. What saved the show was Go Nagai’s departure from Toei and his announcement that he would work on the series. The toy line was made by an independent company in Takara’s Magnemo toy line. The toys could combine and transform like in the show, something which was previously difficult to accomplish with series like Getter Robo[4].

Galactic Warrior Apolon(1976-1977)
Based on the Manga created by Tetsu Kariya. The series featured 15 year old orphan Akira as the pilot in defeating the demons with the power of the 108 stars of Destiny[5].

Reideen the Superior(1976-1977)
The Toei Staff, collectively known under the pseudonym Saburo Yatsude, later known for the creation of Golion, had long wanted to make a Reideen sequel, which was finally sold by Tadao Nagaham to Takashi Lijima. The new threat of the series were aliens from the planet Campbell[6]. It was animated by Nippon Sunrise like the original, produced by Toei Animation and aired on TV Asahi(formerly NET, having been bought by the newspaper Asahi Shinbun)[7]. The network also began airing Tatsunoko’s the Adventures of Pinocchio[8].

Magne Robo Gakeen(1976-1977)
A series by Toei which aired on TV Asahi. The series begins with Doctor Kazuki learning of an invasion of Earth by the Izaru and builds a robot.His daughter Mai becomes the pilot along with Takeru Hojo, Takara released the Robotman Gakeen toy in the Henshin Cyborg robotman series[9].

Dokaben(1976-1979)
A Baseball Manga by Shinji Mizushima that ran from 1972 to 1981. The series was immensely popular in Japan, possibly the most popular sports manga of all time, holding the highest number of volumes at the time. The series follows Taro Yamada and his teammates Iwaka, Tonoma, and Satonaka on their High School Baseball team in Takaoka Middle School, though they transfer to Meikun High School due to their skills in the sport. The art style was unique for the time. The characters were made very rubbery with more movement and speed lines were used along lots of black and simple body figures.

Castle in the Sky(1976)
The third film by Hayao Miyazaki. Myazaki visited a coal miners strike in Wales in 1972 to prepare, drawing similarities to the coal miners in Japan.

An Airship carrying a young girl named Sheeta, who is being watched by government agent Muska is attacked by Captain Dola and her air pirate sons, who seek Sheeta’s blue crystal pendant. Sheeta escapes by jumping off and floats down thanks to the pendant. She is found unconscious by a boy named Pazu, who takes her to his home. Pazo has pictures of sightings of the floating City of Laputa taken by his father. Pazu mentions the legend about how an explorer named Gulliver(possibly Pazu’s father) discovered the floating City and that the inhabitants were fascinated by the stories he told about life beyond the floating City and ultimately abandoned Laputa, which too many had become too perfect and dull. Pazu and Sheeta are attacked by both Dola’s Pirates and Muska’s men. They fall into the mine but the amulet saves them by slowing their fall. Sheeta reveals to Pazu that she is a member of the Laputa royal family that left the city and the two groups are after he for her amulet. Muska captures them and takes them to a fortress where he reveals a broken Laputa robot, intending to make Sheeta reveal Laputa’s location as he is shown to have an amulet himself but needs two to point to Laputa’s location. Sheeta agrees if they let Pazu go, which they do. He ends up joining up with Dola’s Pirates since they plan to rescue Sheeta. Sheeta casts a spell which activates the amulet, which points in the direction of Laputa. The robot is activated and it wreaks havoc until it is destroyed by the military airship the Goliath. Pazu rescues Sheeta but Muska steals the Amulet. The two children join Dola’s pirates in pursuit. They see a storm which Pazu recognizes from his father’s stories as concealing Laputa and asks the pirates to fly into it. The Goliath attacks them and the two children fall off into the clouds.

Sheeta and Pazu find their fall has been broke by Laputa’s gravity. It is a land where nature and animals thrive in the abandoned ruins, including a robot which is still active as plants and animals grow on it and is friendly towards them. The tranquility is interrupted by an explosion as the Army attacks. Muska pursues Sheeta while Pazu frees the captive Pirates.Sheets is cornered in Laputa and reveals he is also a member of the royal line. Using Sheeta’s crystal he prepareds to activate the dormant robot army on Laputa and use them to conquer the world, betraying his own men and destroying the Goliath when they realize what he is doing and try to stop him. Sheeta is horrified and steal back the amulet before running away, giving it to Pazu through a crack in the wall while Muska chases her to the abandoned throne room. Sheets rebuffs Muska’s claims as the people of Laputa chose to live on the Earth because that was where they belonged. Pazu arrives and with Sheeta, uses the crystal to tell all the Robots to help them but Muska with his own crystal counters this, leading to the robots fighting each other and against themselves. Sheeta and Pazu come up with the idea to make the robots self destruct, which they do. They whisper the command and Muska asks what they said before the robots begin exploding as he panics and begins telling them to stop but is too late. The explosion cause the floor under Muska to collapse and he falls to his death. Pazu and Sheeta nearly fall but are saved by tree roots which remain floating. Laputa is devastated from the explosions.The children are saved by the Pirates who took back their craft and grabbed some of the treasure before they left. The pirates and children then flew away as Laputa ascends further and further away, seen reaching stationary orbit above Earth.

Disney once more dubbed the film. It was a massive hit[10].

Candy Candy(1976-1979)
Based on the Novel series by Keiko Nagita, which ran from 1975 to 1979, running concurrently with its anime adaptation. The series follows Candice “Candy” White Ardley. A blonde girl with freckles, pig tails and green eyes. The manga was illustrated by Yumiko Igarashi and worked on the Japanese Magazine Nakayoshi. It was made out of a desire to recreate the “Masterpiece” that was Pippi Longstocking using the classic European literature style popular at the time, aimed mostly at young girls. The series won the 1st Kodansha Manga Award in 1977 in the Shojo(aimed at girls) genre, and was adapted by Toei Animation.

Candy is an abandoned orphan, taken up in an orphanage, who at the beginning of the story in the 20th century, says goodbye to her adopted best friend Annie and goes off to cry, meeting a mysterious boy on a hill that comforts her, though she doesn’t know who he is. When she is adopted, her adopted family, the Leagans, treat her poorly as a servant and falsely accuse Candy of stealing, sending her off to the family farm in Mexico where she is saved by William Ardley, a member of a wealthy family who tutors Candy into adulthood. Candy is sent to St.Paul’s College in London and meet several girls, including the Leagan children who try to have her expelled. This leads to Candy’s friend Terry Granchester, taking the blame and being expelled in Candy’s place. Candy decides to leave soon after and both travel to the United States where Candy serves as a nurse in Chicago during World War I. Terry became an actor but an actress named Susanna saved his life during an accident and becomes disabled, dooming her acting career. Terry is left to take care of a now suicidal Susanna rather than look for Candy. Candy discovered what happened without being told by Terry and sacrificed her own happiness to leave Terry. She then returned to Chicago.

Candy began to care for a WWI vet with amnesia named Albert, gradually falling in love with him. When his memory returns he reveals that he was the boy on the hill she met at the beginning of the story. The two begin a relationship. Candy then receives a newspaper revealing Susanna has died and a letter from a T.G.(most likely assumed to be Terry Granchester) that is a statement of love to her. Candy is left uncertain of whether to go to meet him or remain with Albert. The story flashes forward to an epilogue where Candy, now older, is happy with her choice and is with the man she loves. It is not revealed in the novel or the Manga who she ended up with and remains a mystery for the ages[11].

Notes
[1] OTL only the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was adapted. Here they go ahead and adapt both books similar to Laurie the Prairie Girl. As stated this means adding Tom Sawyer to the events of the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Originally there is a plot where Finn meets Sawyer’s relatives and pretends to be him and when Tom Sawyer shows up he plays along. This is tweaked a bit as the relatives see Finn first and mistake him for Sawyer. Since Jim has been captured this allows Sawyer to try and rescue Jim. Unlike the novel. the Anime doesn’t use the N word.

[2] Largely same as OTL though it was called 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother. The rumor will spread that Takahata had a fascination with monkeys ITTL due to his involvement with Pippi Longstocking, who also had a monkey as does the protagonist of this film. There's likely a monkey named Takahata as a one off joke in an Anime ITTL.

[3] Groizer X OTL was a side project to the next Mazinger Z installment. ITTL because Go Nagai got the side project he wanted to make. TTL’s Groizer X was rewritten from a side project to the main project with Groizer X resembling OTL’s Grendizer Z in both series and titular robot. Admittedly one complaint is Tetsuya shares the spotlight with Rita as the main character since this is her story. OTL it had toys by Namco rather than the most popular at the time Popy. Due to being a Mazinger Z installment ITTL, they went with Popy instead.

[4] OTL the series was called Gowappa 5 Godam with Abaranger being a working title. As ITTL it got crushed in the ratings. ITTL I threw it a Go Nagai shaped bone.

[5] OTL the Anime adaptation added many elements such as making the protagonist an American football play and more super robot elements, including adding more UFO elements. ITTL its much more faithful to the manga.

[6] OTL the staff who worked on Combattler V were pushing to make a sequel to Raideen the Brave but were forced to make Combattler V instead. ITTL they succeeded, butterflying away Combattler V. A consequence of this is it may have just killed the Robot Romance trilogy of which Combattler was the first entry. Though it may have just been postponed.

[7] I admit I hadn’t thought of how the TV Channels themselves would be affected by butterflies and had kept in NET’s transformation into TV Asahi. Here’s a brief history on what I’d change regarding TV stations in Japan.

A brief history. NHK and Nippon TV were launched in 1953. Most of the program was seen as vulgar and criticized by well known critic Sōichi Ōya. This led to several education focused TV stations opening after Ota complained the programs made the people of Japan into idiots. Among the stations founded were NHK educational TV and Tokyo Education Television as a tentative name before it changed to Nippon Education Television and started broadcasting in 1959. New stations appeared: New Japan Broadcasting Company(OTL renamed to Mainichi Broadcasting System Inc), and Nishinippon Broadcasting(OTL they went under but returned after given financial support from Asahi Shinbum, becoming Kyushi Asahi Broadcasting. NET began airing programs on both including the wedding of the Crown Prince Akihito and Empress Michiko. Due to by law needing to devote 50% of its airtime to education programming and 20% children’s programming, NET began to fall apart to 5% viewership. Worse, Unlike OTL, Television Nishinippon did not switch to become part of FNN/FNS, so NET never had a chance to increased their own allowed time. What saved NET was passing off foreign animated shows and films as educational, namely teaching children about growing up, the cultures and English literature. Finally it shook off its restriction legally and In 1960 it changed its name to Nippon Entertainment Television(OTL it became NET TV, ITTL due to shaking off the shackles earlier, it became Nippon Entertainment Television, but is usually abbreviated as NET TV anyway).

The change led to a clash between Hiroshi Ogawa of Toei who wanted more entertainment programs and Yoshio Akio from Obunsha who wanted more education programs as was intended when the station was created, fearing the station had become the very thing it was supposed to counter. Ultimately Akio won and forced Ogawa out, damaging the power of Toei. Since that point, NET TV’s ratings, including those of foreign films, began to rise. NET TV still broadcasted Educational programs but for a limited time in the mornings. In 1969, they shifted all their programs to color. In 1973, the Ministry of Posts abolished laws about requiring educational programming but NET kept on at a limited capacity(OTL they did not and abandoned education programming the same month). Then in 1975, Nikkei Newspaper sold NET TV to TV Asahi and it became TV Asahi.

[8] Piccolino no Bokan, an anime series adaptation of the Adventures of Pinocchio has been butterflied away due to Nippon TV gaining the rights to broadcast Tatsunoko’s version. There’s no need to to remake it now. Personally thought, I see about 10 years or so to be the ideal time for a remake, even of a classic story. At least every decade or so technology has improved enough that there’d be a noticeable visual improvement.

[9] OTL the Henshin Cyborg line was terminated in 1974 and the Victory Series and Robotman line became part of the Microman series. ITTL Gakeen appears in the Henshin Cyborg line.

[10] There are some adverted butterflies here when it comes to Castle in the Sky. OTL a robot resembling the ones in Castle in the Sky appeared in a Miyazaki written episode of Lupin III. Something similar happened ITTL but years earlier. Myazaki also had OTL worked on a series called Future Boy Conan in 1978 which had similarities to Castle in the Sky, but has not ITTL so Castle in the Sky is visually close to that film as well as its OTL counterpart. Another very close call to Butterflies is that Myazaki went to Wales for research during the Coal Miner’s Strike in 1984 to prepare for OTL’s 1986 released Castle in the Sky. However there have been multiple Coal Miner’s Strikes in the UK, including one in 1972, which may have been the one Miyazaki witnessed ITTL while researching for Castle in the Sky.

[11] OTL the Epilogue was added in 2010 by the author, and according to her was what she would have made without restrictions(drafts of the story dated to the 1970’s support her claim). ITTL it is included due to her having more creative freedom. While Candy is a few years older in the Anime when she meets the boy on the hill(6 or 7 in the Book, 10 in the Anime), another anime only change, her pet Raccoon, doesn’t exist ITTL, being created for the anime. Also OTL the Italian version added a very fanfictiony ending where Candy meets Terry at the train station and they ended up together. Neither the author nor Toei had anything to do with that version. that ending doesn't exist ITTL outside of italian fanfiction.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

The rewrite of the Prequels is a combination of Banditincorporated and Belated Media's takes.

Image from Kurt Russell's audition Tape for Han Solo.

Star Wars
"A Long Long Time from Now.
In a Galaxy Far Far Away"
-Opening line of Every Star Wars film.

George Lucas approached Disney with his pitch for initially American Graffiti. However Disney preferred his other ideas, presumably because Walt was working on ideas to prevent Tomorrow Land and Epcot from becoming outdated in a few short decades as technology marched on, which is why Disney suggested the change to imply Star Wars was set in the future rather than the past as Lucas intended(though the vague wording also makes it possible it could be set in the future). Disney offered to fund American Graffiti in exchange for supporting Lucas's Star Wars. It was a gambit that payed off. Star Wars was an unrivaled success, going onto win Best Picture that year. The film began with the capture of Princess Leia(Carrie Fisher). Two droids named R2D2 and C-3PO escape(Kenny Baker and Anthony Daniels). They come into the possession of Luke Skywalker(Mark Hamill) and go out in search of the Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi(Toshiro Mifune). The two hired two smugglers, Han Solo(Kurt Russell) and Chewbacca(Peter Mayhew). The group rescues Princess Leia from the Death Star in space, but Obi-Wan is killed by Darth Vader(James Earle Jones). The others regroup with the rebel race and launch an attack that successfully destroys the Death Star.

Following the success of Star Wars, George Lucas was approached by De Laurentiis to direct the Flash Gordon film, attracted by Star Wars winning the Oscar for best picture. Directing a Flash Gordon film was Lucas's lifelong dream and he accepted. He reluctantly left Disney and the Star Wars license behind but the door was left open for him to return. He would pass directing the Star Wars Sequel Empire Strikes Back to his film school mentor Irvin Kershner. Control of his company Lucasfilm was handed to his longtime business partner Gary Kurtz in Lucas's absence.

Gary Kurtz
Disney released touched up versions of the films years later to improve the film quality, but changed very little else(Han still shoots first). With Lucas's blessing, an original copy of the film now resides in the Library of Congress. Kurtz cancelled Lucas's plans for a Star Wars Holiday Special(though the designs including those of the Wookies, their homeworld of Kashyyk and the Bounty Hunter Boba Fett he liked well enough to save, later incorporating them into the films proper).

George Lucas's Flash Gordon, though with a different cast.
George Lucas's Flash Gordon had many factors working against it. The first was the release of a Porn Parody titled Flesh Gordon, which made it harder to take the actual product seriously. The Second was Lucas being forced to overhaul parts of the film, including actors. He kept those such as Timothy Dalton and Brian Blessed along with the soundtrack by Queen, but he recast the star as Harrison Ford. Lucas had liked his audition for Han Solo, but the part had ultimately gone to Kurt Russell. This was a blessing for Russell as he hoped to break free of being typecast as a Disney kid. Surprisingly it actually worked. The changes made by Lucas were largely to cut down the comedy and make it a more of a Scifi-fantasy series. He also removed elements such as Flash Gordon's golden football. The Character of Ming the Merciless had been a target of the Chinese "Cultural Revolution", an effort by Chinese creators to rewrite Western created characters to be less offensive with the added rule that the characters must maintain their allignments and remain evil if they were evil and good if they were good. Fu Manchu, the Yellow Claw, the Mandarin, and Ming the Merciless were all subjected to this. With Ming it was easier. He was an alien and so he was given a more alien appearance, something which Lucas immediately grabbed onto in his portrayal.

Before Empire Strikes Back , two continuations existed that are contenders for the first example of Expanded Universe material. Alan Dean Foster, the ghostwriter of the novelization, wrote a sequel that could be adapted if the original Star Wars bombed called Splinter in the Mind's Eye. There was also a Marvel Comics series adaptation and continuation. Empire Strikes Back was written by Sci Fi Author Leigh Brackett, who created several iconic elements such as Luke's new mentor being a crazy old man, Obi-Wan returning as a ghost, the Emperor being a true villain, and Luke having a sister(while leaving it vague as to who it was). Brackett did however accept the twist that Vader was Luke's father.

Empire Strikes Back
1980 was ironically a year which saw a Lucas Film vs a Lucasfilm as Flash Gordon and Empire Strikes Back clashed at the box office. Flash Gordon, while a decent film, was defeated by the second Star Wars film. The reception proved to Lucas he was an average director when not collaborating with other brilliant directors. Lucas chose to take a more of a Behind the scenes role along with his wife Marcia Lucas, who had won an Academy Award for her film editing in American Graffiti and a BAFTA Award for her editing in Taxi Driver. Lucas did occasionally provide lore and ideas, which Gary Kurtz, the new head of Lucasfilm, one of the few people willing to say no to Lucas, was free to use or discard at his leisure.

Irvin Kershner, Empire's director, did not want to commit to another film after three years of working on the previous film. Kurtz approached Steven Spielberg, Lucas's choice, who was more than happy to(OTL Lucas had not credited Irvin Kershner for Empire, breaking DGA rules and preventing Spielberg from directing. Kurtz did not make this mistake). Other Directors approached were David Lynch, David Cronenberg, and Paul Verhoeven, all of which turned the role down, having styles too different to direct(Verhoeven commented if he did direct the Jedi would immediately start Fucking). Kurtz was unhappy with Lucas's pitch for the story. Lucas wanted a joyous celebration while Kurtz wanted an ending that was bittersweet but poignant. Lucas's take was driven by toy sales and not good storytelling which Kurtz saw as "the Cart trying to push the Horse".

Revenge of the Jedi
The plot of Revenge of the Jedi begins with R2D2, Leia, C3PO and Lando breaking into Jabba's palace to rescue the captive Han(while a dramatic situation, Han's fate was conceived because of Kurt Russell's agent demanding a costly amount to bring him back, leading to the agent's eventual firing by Russell). When Leia is captured, she summons rebel forces to attack Jabba's palace and rescue Han. Han however has doubts about continuing to aid the rebellion and plans on leaving until he hears that the Empire is converting the Wookie homeworld of Kashyyk into a new capital, Had Abbadon, a process which includes a form of terraforming to wipe out the forests on the planet. The Rebels infiltrate the Capitol while Luke goes off on his own to confront Vader. The battle on Kashyyk features the Wookies, including Chewbacca's family, attacking Stormtroopers. Han and Lando have a final battle with Boba Fett(who while having a minor role was quite popular and later advertised as Han Solo's nemesis), where Han is wounded but Lando is able to reach the Millennium Falcon and fire on Boba Fett, who appears to explode, his flaming empty helmet landing on the ground. The wounded Han sacrifices himself in the explosion that destroys the Empire's terraforming machine The Empire is defeated without the Planet's destruction. Luke defeats Darth Vader, and while the Emperor nearly kills him, Vader has a change of heart and kills the Emperor, dying soon after saying his goodbyes to Luke. Luke returns and he, Leia and Lando mourn Han's passing. In the Epilogue, Leia is revealed to be pregnant(implied to be with Han's child) and now has the difficulty of restoring order in the Empire's absence. Luke meanwhile walked off into the sunset, like the cowboys of old. And with that, The Star Wars trilogy came to a close.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1977 in Anime

Planet of the Apes(1977)
Based on both the original 1963 book and the 1968 Film Adaptation. Adapted by Studio Madhouse. The series premiered on World Masterpiece Theatre and aired on NBC. The film has an interesting origin dating back to 1972’s Pippi Longstocking. That film began a Monkey craze. While small due to the cost and rarity of Squirrel Monkeys, other monkeys were also popular. Sweden, which had once suffered problems with pet monkeys, allegedly had a government official call Japan and warn them about the Monkeys. While a rumor. It was later proven correct when declassified years later and the audio became public. Soon after throughout Japan, there were reports of Monkey attacks, one even got a hold of a Katana.Some people set those monkeys loose or allowed them to escape, causing damage to the ecosystem that was fortunately contained, making Japan join one of the few countries to declare war on an animal[1].

The Mighty Atom(1977-1978)
Airing on Fuji TV. A remake of the 1960’s The Mighty Atom series made in order to introduce the character and series to color. The series was made by Osamu Tezuka and adapted many of the original stories. It was distributed by Walt Disney, who saw The Mighty Atom as “Japan’s Mickey Mouse”. The series was noticeably darker than its predecessor but carried over the same themes of a robot with a heart. The English version kept some of the more violent moments including in one episode, Atom being beheaded and appearing to die, but being later repaired thanks to being a robot. There was a heavier focus on action compared to the 60’s show. The show also aired all 52 Episodes. At Tezuka’s request, the original actors from the 60’s show were kept. Its success led to Tezuka making plans for adaptations of Black Jack and Buddha [2].

Mechander Robo(1977)
A series produced by Tokyo Agency and animated by Wako Productions. The show was constantly facing bankruptcy and sponsors pulling out their support until Go Nagai joined productions after departing Toei and helped turn the series around. It aired on Tokyo channel 12. The series begins with an alien race attacking and taking over 95% of Earth. Doctor Shikishima builds a robot: Mechander Robo to fight the invaders. The protagonists mother was transformed into a cyborg now leading the hunt for Mechander Robo on the invaders side. The series had an interesting gimmick for fights. The Aliens had a defense system of satellites around the planet which would take three minutes to fire if they detected Mechander Robo, meaning each fight had a time limit of under three minutes[3].

Planetary Robot Danguard Ace(1977-1978)
Created by Keiji Matsumoto with Dan Kobayashi and directed by Tomoharu Katsumata via Toei Animation and airing on Fuji TV. Danguard Ace is set in a future where Earth’s natural resources have been depleted and they now seek out a mysterious tenth planet called Promete. However, the evil Mr.Doppler takes control of the army and the Tenth Planet for himself. Earth’s forces are defeated by Doppler’s own army, all except for one remaining Mecha, the titular Danguard Ace. Takuma Ichimonji becomes its pilot. He is the son of a man who betrayed the Promete exploration team, leading to their deaths and now seeks redemption. Many noted the similarities between the series and Space Asteroid Icarus.The series was adapted faithfully by William Winckler, who’d also adapted Tekkaman as faithfully as possible. Marvel comics produced a toyline for the series[4].

The Rose Flower and Joe(1977)
A short animation by Takashi Yanase(Creator of Anpanman). The short follows a kind dog who falls in love with a pink rose and decides to protect it from danger with his life as other animals try to destroy it. The ending is very bittersweet.

Attack on Tomorrow(1977)
A Sequel to Attack No. 1 with several of the staff including the director Kurokawa and the writer Yamazaki returning. Inspired by the then recent success of the Japanese Women’s Volleyball team at the 1976 Olympics, the protagonist of Attack No. 1, Kozue Ayuhara, has gone from a high school student to an Olympic athlete competing at the games, going from clashing with rival schools to rival countries[5].

Chogattai Majustu Robo Ginguiser(1977)
Often shortened simply to Ginguiser. Produced by Nippon Animation and Ashi Productions. The series premise revolves around the “Spheres of Anderes” created by an alien Empire called the Sazoriani to defeat an enemy race called the Plasmani. In the present, the Sazoriani want to retrieve the Spheres from Earth, where the last battle took place and on which the weapon was used. A descendant of the alien race, Plasman, built the titular Mecha Ginguiser and gave the four robots that combined to form it to four children to battle the aliens. The series would have remained obscure were it not for the Mecha Internet community discovering and taking a liking to it.

Supercar Gattiger(1977-1978)
Created by Hitoshi Chiaki and Inspired by the manga Hideharu Imamites. Produced by Wako Productions. The series began with Professor Kabuki revealing five advanced combining vehicles and their drivers, only to be murdered for his secrets by the criminal organization the Demon Empire. The team then sets out to oppose the plans of the Empire and save the world.

Chodenji Robo Combattler V(1977-1978)
A Series by Toei Animation and animated by Nippon Sunrise. It is the first part of the Robot Romance Trilogy. Toei had been asking for a new Mecha series since the same team completed Raideen, but allowed them to finish that series first in exchange for an original property. “Combattler” is a portmanteau of the words Combine, Combat and Battle. The V in the title represents both “Victory” and the number 5, the number of pilots. At the time of its production NET TV became TV Asahi. The toy company Popy proposed the idea of a gun like finishing attack which was approved by Tadao Nagahama, who had complete creative control. The plot was inspired by From the Apennines to the Andes, though the creators had the main characters search for their father instead of their mother. Nagahama brought on Shinya Sadamitsu and Yoshiyuki Tomino as producer and art director. Airing on TV Asahi, the series replaced Raideen the Superior.

The plot revolves around a distant planet called Boazan, which is centuries ahead of Earth. The planet is separated by a caste system where those with horns are the elite and the hornless are treated as slaves. The Chief Science Minister La Gour is exposed as a hornless pretending to have horns by the convincing Zu Zambajil, who wants power for himself. Hornless rebels free La Gour, who attempts an insurrection but is defeated with La Gour fleeing to Earth and starting a family under the name “Professor Kentaro Goh”.

When Boazan makes contact with Earth, Got returns as an ambassador asking for peace but disappears and is presumed dead. The Boazanians invade and devastate Earth under now Emperor Zu Zambajil. To face this overwhelming threat, the three children of Professor Goh: Kenichi, Daijiro and Hiroshi along with new members Ippei and Megumi, where all are given Professor Goh’s greatest creation, the Combattler, to fight the invaders[6]

The series had a huge cultural impact. In addition to “Combattler” becoming common slang for when machines combined into one, such as “Combattler Series” or “Combattler Anime”. The series also may have started a revolution.

The series aired in Indonesia, Cuba and the Philippines. In the latter, President(and dictator) Ferdinand Marcos banned the series, calling it violent and harmful to children. However, many saw the show as being banned due to its revolutionary themes. Marcos attacked Japan in the press for the perceived attack. On a whim, the Japanese Government chose to look into Marcos and to their shock, discovered that he and his family had been Japanese spies during World War II. They chose to publicly reveal their files on him. This exposed the lies Marcos had told about his military service, already heavily debated. He was a traitor.Riots led mostly by teens, some of which called themselves “Combattlers” broke out. The changes that came afterwards saw the Marcos government fall apart, completed with the election of Benigno Aquino to the Presidency and the return of Democracy[7]

Did An Anime cause a revolution? Snopes would say no Many would say that it was destined to happen because of many political changes. Another rumor built around this is that allegedly upon hearing of Combattler’s impact on the Philippines, A sequel was immediately greelit. Nagaham allegedly said something loosely translated as “Let’s see what Dictator we can overthrow this time.”

Monarch: The Big Bear of Tallac(1977)
Based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Thompton Seton. Directed by Yoshio Kuroda and Broadcasted on Asahi Broadcasting Corporation.

Balatack(1977-1978)
Produced by Toei Animation. The series follows five teenagers, Yuji, Yuri, Mac, and Dicky as they fight an evil alien force with the titular combining robot Balatack. The series aired on TV Asahi on Sundays between 18:00 and 18:25. It was loosely based on Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and its sequel, using a similar team of color coded fighters.

Space Asteroid Icarus(1977 Film)
A Film adaptation of the TV show, also in live action, compressing its plot to film length. It was directed by Toshio Masuda and Noboru Ishiguro. It was the most expensive live action film at the time. It was released a few months after Star Wars and this likely helped the film, as it was seen as “Japan’s Star Wars” outside of the country. It even outperformed Star Wars at the Japanese Box Office, becoming a huge success[8].

Ippatsu Kanta-kun(1977-1978)
Created by Tatsuo Yoshida of Tatsunoko Productions in partnership with Topcraft. It aired on Fuji TV. Kanta Tobase loves baseball but his mother has forbidden it due to his father dying in a baseball accident. Despite her protests, Kanata does not given up and continues to follow his dreams.

Temple the Balloonist(1977-1978)
Created by Tatsuo Yoshida of Tatsunoko Productions. Airing on Fuji TV. Temple(based on Shirley Temple) is a young girl who one day gets los then a hot air balloon she is on blows away, separating her from her parents, who she sets out to find, along the way meeting the drummer boy Tam Tam and making many animal friends.

Yatterman(1977-1979)
A series by Tatsunoko Productions and the last one worked on by Tatsuo Yoshida before his death of Liver Cancer. The series aired on Fuji TV. Originally intended as the second part of the Time Bokan series, it instead became its own entity, delaying its production, which was due to the show having little in the way of Time Bokan elements. The Series follows the search for the Skull Stone, the pieces of which are scattered around the world. Once assembles they will reveal the world’s largest gold deposit. The villainess Doronbo and her minions search for the Stone while being opposed by two masked superhero children, Yatterman and Yatterwoman, along with their robot Yatterdog. The show is a satire of the Sentai genre, the villains are incompetent and seek only to become rich. As a result, Doronbo is often considered one of the main characters alongside Yatterman. There are also parodies such as Yashington(of George Washington) and the region of Yametai, an ancient country in Japan which is a parody of Yamatai, but also means “I want to Stop”.

In the News
Tatsuo Yoshida. Head of Tatsunoko Productions, has been diagnosed with Liver Cancer. At the suggestion of his Doctor, Yoshida has stepped down as head of Tatsunoko Productions to lighten his workload. as the stress was causing health problems. Yoshida was born in 1932, growing up in War Torn Japan as a self taught artist and working at local newspapers in Kyoto. He became a manga artist. An early work was adapting Superman Comics into Manga or “Supermanga” as it came to be known. A Manga by his brother Toyoharu Yoshida, Judo Boy, was adapted, which inspired Yoshida to find Tatsunoko Productions with Yoshida and his other brother Kenji. When Yoshida’s own Manga Mach Go Go Go won the Shogakukan Manga Award in 1966. He chose that as the first series to be adapted and it became a hit. After this Yoshida committed himself fully to creating anime for Tatsunoko. His credits include Oraa Guzura Dado(1967), Dokachin the Primitive Boy(1968), Judo Boy(1969), The Genie Family(1969), Science Ninja Team Gatchaman(1972), Casshan(1973), Hurricane Polymar(1974), Tekkaman: Space Knight(1975), Abaranger(1976),Ippatsu Kanata-Kun(1977), Temple the Balloonist(1977) and Yatterman(1977). Tatsuo Yoshida has been succeeded as head of Tatsunoko by his brother Toyoharu[9].

Nobody’s Boy: Reimi(1977-1978)
Based on French Author’s Hector Malot’s 1878 novel Sans Famille(Without Family). The series follows a young boy traveling with a group of player sin hopes of raising enough money to see his foster family again.

Lupin the Third Part II(1977-1978)
Produced by Studio Ghibli and airing on Nippon TV. Miyazaki was reluctant to return but the owners of the name wanted to continue and the prospect of international adventures intrigued Miyazaki, leafing to his final contribution to the series in a 1978 film before handing it off as he felt his desire for art was holding the series back and it now wanted to be taken in a different direction. It needed to grow as a franchise and go off on its own. Moe too the original cast was kept in. Some changes include Goemon becoming a member of Lupin’s team. Bob Bergen returned to providing Lupin’s English voice. A problem arose concerning copyright when Maurice LeBlanc’s estate attempted to sue, but this fell apart as the show never explicitly stated Lupin was directly related to Arsene Lupin, LeBlanc’s creation[10].

Dinosaur War Izenborg(1977-1978)
Produced by Tsubarya Productions and airing on TV Tokyo . The series is similar conceptually to Getter Robo as Dinosaurs reappear on Earth in the then future year of 1986, led by Dinosaur Satan Gottes and seek to reclaim the Earth and wipe out humanity. The d Force assembles to protect humanity. The crew were badly injured and turned into Cyborgs referred to as “Aizenborgs”.

Super Machine Zambot 3(1977-1978)
A series by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Yoshitake Suzuki with character designs by Yoshikazu Yosuhiko. Produced by Sunrise. An ancient being known as Gaizok destroyed the planet Beal with the three families of Jim, Kamie and Kamikita. The families contrasted machines to battle the inevitable Gaizok invasion of Earth. The show became interesting as it took several realistic looks and deconstruction of the genre. It started off as a seemingly normal Super Robot Anime as was so popular at the time, but instead it provided elements such as explaining logically why children needed to be the pilots of these specific Mechas, child abuse, showing the civilian casualties caused by the villains and the heroes despite their attempts to reduce casualties, leading to the public distrusting the heroes and blaming them for the invasion. Several protagonists were also killed in the end. The series is seen as a forerunner towards the much Darker Gundam that was on the horizon and would inspire a shift in the Mecha Genre as a whole. Sotires in the genre became more mature, sophisticated and darker, not that those three always came together[11].

Wakakusa no Charlotte(1977-1978)
Translated simply as Charlotte. Produced by Nippon Animation and based on an original story by the screnwriter Shun’Ichi Yukimuro and not an existing Manga or novel. It was Nippon Animation’s first Shojo series. It replaced a Dog of Flanders in the Weekdays 4pm Timeslot. Charlotte is a young girl who lives a wonderful life when things gradually get worse and worse, beginning with the arrival of a package from her though dead mother and her father dying, along with Charlotte meeting a strange boy. Despite mediocre ratings, it was allowed to complete its series, ending at 26 Episodes.

Angie Girl(1977-1978)
Produced by Nippon Animation and directed by Fumio Kurokawa, airing on ABC. The series followed a Gypsy girl traveling Spain looking for her mother, once more inspired by From the Alpennines to the Andes[12].

The Snow Queen(1977)
A Disney Film but made in collaborations with Mushi Productions including Osamu Tezuka. The film begins with the creation by devils of an enchanted mirror that shows only the ugliness of the world. When the devils went to show it to God’s face he smashed it and the shards fell to Earth and lodged in the eyes of people. One fell into the eyes of Kay, a young boy and he runs away from home, eventually being brough to the Snow Queen. His friend Gerda sets out to stop him. Disney had in the past created a half live action and half animated film on Hans Christian Anderson starring Danny Kaye in 1952 but couldn’t fit the Snow Queen in, leading it to be adapted in full later on[13].

Notes
[1] OTL Rascal the Raccoon was released, based on the 1963 book. The series focused on a boy raising a wild raccoon, though it proves to be a difficult pet and he eventually releases it to the wild. The popularity of the series led to many people in Japan buying pet Raccoons, not native to the country. Unfortunately, they quickly discovered what the protagonist of the anime did and saw how difficult they were. Unfortunately, they took another page from the Anime and let them go, causing huge damage to the ecosystem as the raccoons had no natural predator and caused countless damage to temples and historic landmarks. An attempted purge of raccoons in the country sadly failed. As a result Rascal the Raccoon isn’t as popular nowadays but the Japanese seem to have no grudge towards him and he remains a mascot in some places(In the anime, Rascal is depicted as adorable while also as a realistic animal with Masako Nazawa “voicing” the creature).

None of that happened ITTL due to butterflies. The Monkey madness that took its place ITTL happened around the release of Pippi Longstocking and was less bad since Monkey’s aren’t a cheap pet. The incident in turn led to Planet of the Apes being made adapted instead of Rascal the Raccoon. So the show that started an animal controversy has been replaced by a film created by one. Also by an amusing coincidence(and I didn’t plan this), The original books of Planet of the Apes and Rascal the Raccoon both came out in 1963.

Oh and also this butterflies away the 1975 Return to the Planet of the Apes Animated Series since the creators basically just exported the work to Japan.

Madhouse was the selected studio to bring this project to life just for pun. As Chartlon Heston said in the 1968 film “This is a Madhouse! A Madhouse!”.

Finally below is a video example of an incident in Sweden involving a pet Monkey just to give an idea on why its a bad idea:

[2] OTL Osamu Tezuka wanted to adapt Astro Boy into color, but Mushi Productions went bankrupt and Tezuka’s characters went into questionable copyright status, forcing him to make the “Very Similar” to Astro character of Jetter Mars for Toei. Reception to Jetter Mars was mixed because some saw him as an Astro ripoff when they could just have the real Astro and others accepted him as his own thing. Tezuka lost interest both when reception was mixed and he got the rights to his characters back, making the Astro Boy series he wanted in 1980. Regarding the 80’s show, OTL in the English dub only one of the 52 episodes was not dubbed and cut out. It’s a two parter revolving around the villain Atlas. As a result there is a continuity error in the English version since only the second part of the two parter was shown. ITTL all episodes were shown.

[3] OTL Mechander Robo struggled financially as stated, leading to it recycling much animation. I chose to keep it and not butterfly it away for one reason. Not because it was popular in Korea though that may have helped. It’s appearance in the Video Game Super Robot Wars. Yes, the Smash Bros of Mecha franchises, Super Robot Wars includes Mechas from across pop culture, more so ITTL. In that series, Mechander Robo has a gimmick where any fight with them has a time limit. Tweaked a bit ITTL as the series is a fighting game and not turn based, but when the timer hits three minutes, the battlefield will basically be nuked by the aliens from its home series. ITTL Super Robot Wars is more of a multiplayer fighting game with slightly different cutscenes depending on just how close the match is to when the bombardment commences, such as the winning Mecha barely escaping the attack if its down to just a few seconds.

[4] Due to Matsumoto not working on what would become Space Battleship Yamato OTL, this is instead his most famous Anime Series, on par with the popularity of OTL’s Space Battleship Yamato. The comparisons with the live action Astroid Ship Icarus are more easily forgiven here because of the different medium as Asteroid Ship Icarus is live action ITTL.

[5] OTL Attack on Tomorrow, despite sharing many of the same staff as Attack No.1 and being about a girl playing volleyball, was not a sequel to Attack No.1. It was inspired by Attack No. 1’s popularity but the similarities ended up killing the show as it was too similar to its Predecessor, leading to low ratings and only 23 episodes. ITTL they embraced the similarities and made it a sequel, leading to greater success from fans who want to see the characters all grown up. The Olympics depicted are most likely the 1980 Olympic Games just to make the character a bit older as Attack No. 1 ended in 1971 with the character still a high schooler. Making it the future on release date. What could go wrong with setting a series during the Olympics in 1980?

[6] Raideen the Brave’s sequel was made ITTL, and Combattler pushed back. Since the former used the latter’s OTL villains, the resulting Combattler series becomes a combination of itself and its own sequel Voltes V. As if that’s not confusing enough. ITTL the character of Heinel does not exist as OTL he was created to satiate studio requests.

[7] Ok a lot to explain. OTL Voltes V was banned after a few episodes by President Marcos in the Philippines and the generation that protested are called the Voltes V Generation. ITTL the revolution that overthrew Marcos occurred earlier and its good timing. If you think an Anime causing a revolution even allegedly is ridiculous I’d like to point out that the TV show Dallas caused a revolution in Romania.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hotel-dallas-shows-how-tv-865438/

Marcos ITTL had a slightly different life but his father OTL was arrested for helping the Japanese. Marcos himself was arrested with his family OTL but pardoned as the Judge was a former criminal with a similar history that had reformed and believed Marcos deserved a second chance like he had. Different Judge ITTL means he is found guilty. During the Japanese invasion, like OTL he has somehow escaped prison through unknown means, but mentions being freed from the Japanese. Post War he is elected in 1965, boasting on claims of being the most decorated War hero of the Philippines. Claims which are later revealed to be false. ITTL he was a Japanese spy and Japan exposes this, leading to an earlier overthrow in 1977 instead of 1986, Finally, Marcos’s eventual successor ITTL Benigno Aquino Jr, was a rival of his he “Probably” had assassinated

[8] OTL Space Battleship Yamato was an animated film compiling the Anime Series. It also held the OTL record for most expensive animated film, supposing Takahata’s Horus, Prince of the Sun from 1968. ITTL that title goes to Castle in the Sky. Just about every Ghibli film tends to break that record and they may have begun early but that doesn’t mean that changes.

[9] While I usually try to avert deaths. I couldn’t find any indication to what caused Tatsuo Yoshida’s Liver Cancer. If it was caused by smoking he could’ve given that up earlier but I couldn’t prove for certain. His career is slightly different as he won the Shogakukan Award in 1972 for Honeybee Hutch, ITTL he won in 1966 for Mach Go Go Go. He was also succeeded by Kenji, not Toyoharu due to Toyoharu’s Judo Boy series winning an award ITTL. A minor note is OTL Yoshida did work on a Superman manga adapting Superman Comics. ITTL however it crossed over with the “Batmanga” at the time while before Superman stories featuring Batman were adapted weirdly due to Batman being less popular in Japan.

Shogakukan Manga Award Winners(Continued from the 1966-1967 in Anime Post).

OTL:

1966: No Award Given
1967: Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae, Shotaro Ishinomori
1968: Animal 1, INakappe Taisho, Noboru Kawasaki
1969: Fire! Hideoko Mizuno
1970: Glass no Shiro, Mask Watanabe, Gag Ojisan and Oya Baka Tengoku, Ryuzan Aki (tie)
1971: Hana Ichimonme,Shinji Nagashima, Minashigo Hutch, Tatsuo Yoshida)
1972: Tōchan no Kawaii Oyome-san and Hashire! Boro, Hiroshi Asuna
1973: Otoko Doahō Kōshien and Deba to Batto, Shinji Mizushima
1974: The Drifting Classroom, Kazuo Umezu

ITTL:

1966: Mach Go Go Go, Tatsuo Yoshida
1967: Sabu to Ichi Torimono Hikae, Shotaro Ishinomori
1968: Attack No 1, Chickako Urano
1969: Doraemon, Fujio F.Fujio
1970: Lone Wolf and Cub, Kazuo Koike
1971: Demon Lord Dante, Go Nagai
1972: Lady Snowblood, Kazuo Koike
1973: Barefoot Gen, Keiji Nazawa,
1974: Getter Robo. Go Nagai

[10] The Situation with Lupin III is very different ITTL. Lupin the Third OTL was cancelled but became popular in syndication. The second series to an extent tried to bring Lupin back to his violent routes but ITTL Miyazaki’s popularity since the end of the first Lupin series means his version is essentially ‘The definitive Version” and the owners of the Lupin character are smart enough to realize making him a Manga accurate violent sociopath would alienate their core audience. Also Miyazaki isn’t the kind of guy to make very many sequels and wants to do new things. He has one idea, OTL’s Castle of Cagliostro, and then he’s done with the series being sold to someone else who can better handle it. Essentially Lupin III wants to be franchise but Ghibli doesn’t really do things that way.

[11] OTL Zaram 3 was rejected and did not do well. Evidently audiences weren’t ready for a deconstruction of the genre. ITTL…they are. Usually when someone make something deconstructing a Genre, It Ironically ends up reviving the genre as people try to imitate it. Scream did this for the horror Genre, Watchmen for Superheroes, and Neon Genesis Evangelion for Mecha. Expect all Mecha series to suddenly get darker and deconstruct the genre too.

[12] OTL Angie Girl changed for unknown reasons to become about Sherlock Holmes’s niece trying to solve a mystery on her own. That change did not occur ITTL.

[13] OTL an anime adaptation of the Snow Queen film was released but not by Mushi Productions. Disney conceived a Snow Queen FIlm following a failed attempt to make a join Disney/Live Action film that Goldwyn would partly adapt OTL. Disney died and the idea evolved into Frozen. While the details will likely be altered when I cover Disney, Frozen will not exist ITTL due to the Snow Queen being made.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Star Trek: Phase II
It had been ten years since the premiere of Star Trek, and six years since it had ended. The franchise was kept alive. by the fans and their conventions, by what they created, and in the Gold Key Comics. Gold Key was an independent Comic Company outside of the big two of Marvel and DC, both of which were trying to buy Gold Key for the Star Trek license. Being smaller Gold Key's quality was less than the two giants of the industry, which frequently fought to obtain it. They were also limited from telling continuations of the series by Gene Roddenberry's mandate. eventually it was decided to create a new series. The format of a miniseries came about after the success of Roots.

The announcement was made at a Star Trek convention in 1977 and blew everyone's mind. The series was still going strong in syndication. Gene Roddenberry had moved on to The Questor Tapes, but still had input, which continued to be ignored by the producers.Producer Gene L.Coon had passed away and the miniseries was dedicated to his memory. Getting back the cast was as easy as paying them more money. Nimoy, while reluctant was offered the chance to direct several episodes, which was a passion for him, and accepted. George Takei was on the Los Angeles City Council, but in universe he commanded his own ship, the Excelsior and so was given a justified reason for his reduced scenes, shooting them all on the bridge of the ship and then briefly together with the crew.

Now the question was what would this new series be about? 8 episodes would be the determined amount of episodes. Pitched episodes included "The Naked Time" which involved aliens using a planet as a garbage dump. Harlan Ellison wrote an episode about a reptillian race threatening to use time travel to erase humanity, with the Enterprise travelling back in time and the moral quandary of if it is right to destroy one race to save another. Then came Robert Silverberg's "Billion Year Voyage" in which the Enterprise was guided by a mysterious future race. These ideas would be combined.

Persis Khambatta as Ilia

The Miniseries is date to take place in 2176, with the original series being dated as taking place from 2166 to 2171. A Mysterious planet has appeared in the middle of Klingon, Romulan and Federation territory. All three send ambassadors to the location. Spock learns that the President of the Federation(played by John F.Kennedy), is resigning to be replaced by Spock's father Sarek, which would offer the position of ambassador of Vulcan to Spock. This means he will soon give up his position as Captain of the Enterprise. Some familiar faces have joined Spock on the new Enterprise along with some new ones. The female Vulcan M'benga was included along with the newcomers of Commander Will Decker, son of Commodore Matt Decker killed in the episode "The Doomsday Machine" and the psychic Ilia. The first episode shows what the cast has been up to in the 5 years since the end of the 5 year mission. They all get together to celebrate the 4th of July and the launching of the newly built Enterprise II. Everyone is present when a distress signal is picked up. Spock decides to go to investigate the event, meeting Sulu's excelsior there.

Concept art by Ralph McQuarrie

A mysterious planet called Aurora V has appeared in the middle of Klingon, Romulan, and Federation space. An excavation site of the planet discovers advanced technology from an ancient civilization and a fight over it threatens to begin with a faction in each other three groups being involved, most notably is Toshiro Mifune as a Klingon nemesis to Spock, a choice to give him an enemy like Kirk had. It was a good year for Mifune as he had also appeared as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars, as well as Ralph McQuarrie, who did art for both as well. Kirk and Spock comment on how peace was just achieved and how very nearly the three powers came close to destroying each other again.

Phase II was the last true series to feature the Original Cast. From then on the cast would appear in films. Gene Roddenberry had proposed a rejected idea for a film involving Klingons using the Guardian of Forever to assassinate John F.Kennedy but this was rejected. A new Producer came on named Harve Bennett. Bennett was assigned to Star Trek and confessed he never watched the show. He proceeded to sit down and marathon the entire series while taking notes, including the Miniseries. The Episode Space Seed resonated with him and the teases at the end of the episode as Kirk and Spock wonder what it would be like to come back to the planet Khan was exiled to Ceti Alpha V and see what Khan built. Upon finishing the episode declared...." We must go Back ".​

 

[Marco Incognito]

"Alright I'm almost done with Star Trek: Phase II, now I just need to...wait a minute...."

(Checks Page Number)....42.

42?...42?....Why do I feel like that number means something...

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy​

Douglas Adams was working for the BBC and creating comedy sketches. Adams was asked to pitch a radio sitcom to premiere in 1977. Originally it was meant to be a more common sitcom but when someone proposed giving it a science fiction twist, Adams realized he'd been waiting for the idea. He'd worked on Doctor Who. The Idea was called "Ends of the Earth" and would have the Earth being destroyed differently in every episode. Adams realized he needed a character who knew the earth was going to be destroyed and remembered an idea he had while lying drunk in a field in Austria. He came up with the Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy, an idea that was in his head since a trip to Greece in 1973.

Ford Prefect and Aleric B.

Adams conceived of the human character of Aleric B. intentionally given the human character an alien sounding name, and paired him up with an actual alien named Ford Prefect, who had mistakenly thought cars were the dominant lifeform on earth when he arrived and took on his name as a result. Ford Prefect has befriended Aleric and rescues him before Earth is destroyed. Aleric is usually shortened to "Al" or "Al B." The Program was recorded in stereo. Adams had several scripts for Doctor Who greenlit and would attempt to balance his work on both before passing it on to the producers. Adams had written the parts of Aleric and Ford wit actors Simon Jone and Geoffrey McGivern in mind and they were cast(cast is same as OTL).

The Series was adapted into a television series, receive novel adaptations, a Text adventure game and also a film. Its success could be attributed to right place, right time as 1977 would also see the release of Star Trek: Phase II, the miniseries sequel to Star Trek, and Star Wars. Adams would have a hand in all adaptations. Adams had a unique approach to adaptations and was perfectly fine with altering the story to fit into a new medium rather than remaining faithful. He even wrote the novels and episodes of the TV Series himself. A Problem arose when Adams planned to use of the Krikketman, which he'd created for Doctor Who, while he was legally allowed to use them, his story had to be rewritten since the plot he had in mind was too similar and the idea was mostly cut. Instead, Adams, wrote the third book(after The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and The Restaurant at the End of the Universe), to be "So long and thanks for All the Fish" in which Aleric and Ford are rescued by Zaphod and Trillian and transported into the future, expecitng to find no Earth after it was destroyed in 1977, but to their surprise, they are instead on an intact Earth where there shouldn't have been one. The Dolphins have all disappeared and left behind the message that forms the book's title. Aleric at one point throws himself off a cliff to cause a near death experience, his life flashing before his eyes and seeing how all the events in the last three books come together. He also meets a man with the skill to break open oysters and a talking Brockian Ultra-Walrus with an embarassing past. The plot become about stopping the Vogons from destroying the Earth again once they realize it's still there. The Vogons therefore become the villains of the next book Mostly Harmless, which has the darkest ending of the series where Earth appears to be destroyed while everyone is on it.

That depressing note would have been where the series ended had Adams not had second thoughts. He realized fairly quickly while writing the Dirk gently book The Salmon of Doubt that elements of it worked better as a Hitchhiker's story(OTL he realized this but much later, sadly he did not have enough time to complete either before his death). Adams was also scared by the discovery that he had Coronary Artery disease and was getting treatment, fearing he would die before completing Hitchhiker's as he wanted. Thus, the series received a 5th and Final Book, becoming "A Trilogy of Five" as Adams put it, with the release of Don't Panic, where it is revealed the Earth was not destroyed but teleported away, leading to a multiversal adventure that sees the final defeat of the Vogons and a happy ending for the characters, complete with Aleric's house still being there, a cup of tea, and the ultimate question of Life, the Universe and Everything being revealed(to the characters, not the readers).

All five Books would be adapted in the forms of Radio and Television. For Radio, the time is took to release all five books was not a problem as sound alikes could be found, for television this proved to be more complicated due to the actors clearly aging, even if they did agree to come back or were replaced. Then in 1982, Adams negotiated the film rights with Ivan Reitman. While he was occupied with Dan Ackroyd for the idea that would become Ghostbusters, he did suggest Bill Murray in the role of Ford Prefect(OTL Billy Murray,Dan Ackroyd and Reitman were all pulled away for Ghostbusters, resulting in a film adaptation of Hitchhiker's being delayed until 2001. ITTL Ghostbusters features a still alive John Belushi, meaning Murray is free). The film was directed by Mel Brooks, who was interested in doing a Sci Fi parody at the time though more of Star Wars and would at a later time. The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was released in 1984 and is a largely self contained film with the Vogons as the antagonists and elements from all parts of the series, giving the film an ending which sees Earth restored by the Planet builders of Magrathea and the Vogons defeated. Brooks and Adams felt that it should stand on its own and turning it into a series would turn it into "The very thing it was parodying". Brooks was reluctant to commit to a sequel if one came. Reitman on the other hand offered to direct as Commitments by the cast of Ghostbusters(namely Eddie Murphy), meant a sequel to that film would be delayed.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1978 in Anime

Nobody’s Girl: Remi(1978)
A series by Nippon Animation, released as part of World Masterpiece Theater. Since it was a sequel to Nobody’s Boy: Remi. A deal was made. Nobody’s Boy: Remi aired on World Masterpiece Theater first and was followed after It concluded immediately with Nobody’s Girl: Remi. It is based on the novel En Famille(which translated to With Family) by Hector Malot, who also wrote “Without Family” or “Nobody’s Boy”. This novel was also called “Nobody’s Girl”. To tie into the success of Nobody’s Boy: Remi. The series was renamed to Nobody’s Girl: Remi. It made a bizarre but interesting choice of making the series a sequel to the first. To do this, Remi was revealed to have been a girl. A retcon from the previous series but not one necessarily contradicted. Remi, now revealed to have been a girl pretending to be a boy to get adopted, is lost and seeks to reunite with her family. The series takes on an entirely new meaning in the present day that made the series more popular. A girl that spent her life acting like a boy because the world was unfair to her. A character coming out as a girl to her family, fearing what they will think. These elements has resonated with transgender groups in the modern day[1]

Ringing Bell(1978)
Based on the storybook created by Takashi Yanase, creator of Anpanman, who also directed the film. The film has a dark and violent story for a children’s film which led to criticism as it scarred kids who watched it. Ringing Bell was produced by Sanrio and shown alongside an American 1977 film called the Mouse and his Child. The film centers on a lamb named Chirin who’s mother is killed protecting him from a wolf. Chirin vows revenge and hunts the Wolf but is quickly and easily defeated each time. He then surprises the Wolf by asking him to train him. The Wolf, interested, amused and wanting a challenge, accepts. Years of training turn Chirin into a ruthless killer, having forgotten his quest for vengeance. Then Chirin and the Wolf attack the other lambs and Chirin snaps back at the Wold, leading to a fight where Chirin kills the Wolf with his horns. The Wolf is actually happy to have been beaten, declaring Chirin a wolf like him. Chirin is alienated by his own flock out of fear at what he’s become and returns to the wild. He is never seen again but the ringing of his bell can be heard on some nights.

Space Pirate Captain Harlock(1978-1979)
Set in the world of Spaceship Asteroid Icarus(The titular protagonist is later revealed to be the brother of the protagonist of Spaceship Asteroid Icarus). Created by Leiji Matsumoto. The series follows the titular Captain, an outcast turned Space Pirate who rebelled against Earth’s government when it was subjugated by alien invaders and now battles a human empire with this Pirate Ship the Yamato. The series was adapted by Rintaro(Director of Metropolis)[2] and produced by Toei Animation.

Brave Commander Daimos(1978-1979)
Produced by Toei Animation with aid from Sunrise and a toy sponsorship by Popy. Tadao Nagahama based the series around Romeo and Juliet. Inspired by the darker shift in the genre, the “Invading Aliens” are actually refugees from the planet Baam headed towards Earth to negotiate peacefully only for peace talks to fall apart when their leader is assassinated. The pilot of the Super Robot Daimos meets and falls in love with a mysterious girl named Erika, who is revealed to be the daughter of the dead Baam-Seijin Leader. The series combined Mecha with martial arts. With martial artist Kazutoshi Takahashi providing reference to the Martial art poses. The series lasted 50 episodes to focus on the Daimobic Base crew helping the Beam Empire settle on Mars.The Series aired on TV Asahi, replacing Combattler’s Timeslot. The Popy ties created were die cast and could transform as in the show. There were also replicas os some of the cars seen on the show. While not nearly as revolutionary, except perhaps to the Genre, Daimos as still a success and seen as a worthy successor to the previous Combattler. Future projects were put on hold when Nagahama and his wife contracted Hepatitis while traveling to the Philippines, where they received a warm welcome due to Combattler’s impact. Nagahama’s wife would tragically pass away from the disease while Nagahama would survive. The personal tragedy left him in a state of depression for some time. In the Philippines the event is sometimes referred to as “Marcos’s Revenge”suggesting the Spirit of the deceased Dictator Nagahama’s anime helped overthrow seemed revenge out and, unable to harm him, took his love’s life instead[3].

Starzinger(1978-1979)
Written by Leiji Matsumoto and directed by Yugo Serikawa. The story is a Sci-Fi retelling of Journey to the West. The series follows Aurora, Princess of the Moon and her three cyborg companions Kugo, Djorgo, and Hakka as they travel to the Great King planet to restore the galaxy energy. The series was produced by Toei Animation and aired on Fuji TV.

The Incredible Tide(1978)
A Post apocalyptic film produced by Nippon Animation and released on NHK. It is an adaptation of the 1970 Alexander Keys novel The Incredible Tide. Conan is a boy who lives in a small island on an Earth ravaged by World War II, which threw the Earth off its Axis. He discovers a new society has appeared very different from the one he knew and goes onto travel this new world. Miyazaki was critical of the film not liking its depressing tone with its children protagonists saying “You can tell adults how awful the world is, but you should never tell children the world of hopeless. You should tell them there is hope and that they can make it better.”[4]

High School Baseball Ninja(1978)
Based on the Manga by Shinji Mizushima that ran from 1975 to 1977. The series follows High School Student Ikkyū Sanada, who though he knows nothing about the sport, turns out to be amazing at baseball, due to being the descendant of a Ninja.

Haikara-San: Here Comes Miss Modern(1978-1979)
Usually translated as simply “Here comes Miss Modern.” A Shojo Manga by Wiki Yamato. Based on the Manga that ran from 1975 to 1977 by Kodansha in the magazine Shojo Friend, which won the 1st Shogakukan Manga Award for Shojo in 1977(The Shogakukan Manga Award had in 1977 added three categories, Shonen (aimed at boys), Shojo(aimed at girls) and Children’s. The Anime was made by Nippon Animation aired on TV Asahi.

The series follows Benio Hanamura, a 17 year old School girl in 1920’s Tokyo. She is a feminist by modern standards. She practices Kendo, drinks Sake and dresses in western clothes rather than traditional japanese, dislikes housework, reads book, and campaigns for women’s rights. Her friends include Tamaki, a woman who is equally invested in women’s rights as her but act more feminine and Ranmaru, a man who grew up playing female roles in a Kabuki theater and has acquired very feminine traits. Benio is horrified to learn she has been assigned to an arranged marriage and begins to do everything to humiliate her soon to be husband Shinobu. It is revealed that Shinobu’s grandmother fell in love with a member of the Hanamura family but was unable to marry him due to their social standings and died alone. Benio’s plans to ruin the marriage fail as Shinobu genuinely loves her and she starts to fall for him, until he is sent off to war. Benio becomes a reporter to be able to cover the war, meeting Tosei, her sexist boss who is revealed to hate women due to traumatic abuse by his mother as a child but actually gets along well with Benio because of how unfeminine she asks. She falsely hears Benio is dead and attempts suicide by drowning in Sake, only succeeding in getting drunk before deciding to move on.

Years later a Russian Noble Couple visits Tokyo and the Count is revealed to be an amnesiac Shinobu, who believes he is the husband of Countess Lalissa, who lost her husband’s who was also Shinobu’s twin brother. Benio is faced with ruining the Countess’s Happiness as she is dying of Tuberculosis and believes Shinobu to be the dead man…Then the 1923 Kanto Earthquake hits…Lalissa is injured and tells Shinobu the truth before she dies. After Lalissa dies, Shinobu runs to save Benio under the rubble she is trapped under. Benio’s boss Tosei saves them both. Beni and Shinobu finally marry.

The series remains popular to this day in Japan, seeing frequent reprints alongside Candy Candy.The Anime had character designs by future Ranma 1/2 director Tsutomu Shibayama. The ratings for the show almost led to its cancellation until the all female musical theatre group Takarazuka Revue approached the creators with the offer to adapt the story, having taken a liking to it. Candy Candy was also adapted. This announcement helped save the show[5].

The Adventures of the Little Prince(1978-1979)
Based on the children’s book The Little Prince by Antione de Saint-Exupery. Animated by Knock Productions. The series aired on TV Asahi. Yoshikazu Yasuhiko directed the series. 39 episodes were made. It is an extension of the book’s plot. The Little Prince lives on a small planet. He falls in love with a single rose capable of speech, but then feels the rose is taking advantage of him as he does everything for it. He then travels to other similar small planets with people on them and then to Earth, where most of the adventures take place. The Little Prince finally decides to return to see his rose and explains to a pilot he met on his journey that in order to return to his world he must give up his corporeal body on Earth. The Pilot is unsure if he believes this despite the strange thing the Little Prince has demonstrated to be able to do. A Snake which told the Prince he could take him back home finally bites the Little Prince at his request and he falls over, or at least his body, disappears, leaving it uncertain and up to interpretation if the Little Prince is dead or not.

Science Ninja Team Gatchaman: The Movie(1978)
Inspired by the success of Spaceship Asteroid Icarus. It was decided by Tatsunoko to create what would become known as “Compilation Movies” combining elements from the show into a film. In this case Gatchaman. Sandy Franks, who was simply passing by a convention when he noticed it. He originally wanted to rename it “Battle for the Planets” but decided against this as Gatchaman already had a following in the US. Gatchaman proved fairly easy to adapt as the series was fairly episodic. The film if anything could act as the series finale with Galactor defeated at its end.

Uchu Majin Daikengo(1978-1979)
Shortened to Daikengo internationally. The series was produced by Tori Pro and an uncredited Toei Animation and Studio New. Tori Pro was a studio launched by Jinzo Toriumi, who had just left Tatsunoko Productions along with Satoshi Suyama and Akiyoshi Sakai. The three believed that Tatsunoko would go downhill after Yoshida’s death and like Miyazaki and Takahata had done, they too could find their own studio. The series follows Space Genie Daikengo, who flies through space in order to establish peace. Onbard is Prince Ryger who fled his planet to defeat a menace and save his people, Cleo, the daughter of a corrupt Prime Minister and two small robots named Anike and Otoke. The main villain is the evil Lady Baracross and her army, which they battle with the aid of the titular Daikengo. The series aired locally on Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting on Fridays at 5pm. It was a hit and Takatoku Toys went on to get the rights to make more toys based on other properties.

Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3(1978-1979)
A show by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate. Animated by Sunrise. Airing on Nagoya TV the show rode the coattails of the early success of Zambot 3 and this show had most of the same staff. The hero Banjo Haran was based on James Bond. He was given a butler named Garrison Tokida as homage to Batman’s butler Alfred. The series begins with Scientist Sozo Haran conducting research on Mars where he creates androids with the ability to think for themselves. They call themselves Meganoids and rebel, killing the doctor and his family except for his young son Banjo Haran. Banjo escapes with the robot Daitarn 3 built with super metals from Mars and takes up fighting against the Meganoids. Like Zambot 3, the series shows being a Mecha pilot is not fun and the Meganoids are also shown to have personalities of their own rather than stock foot soldiers to be slaughtered.

Farewell to Spaceship Asteroid Icarus(1978)
The Sequel to 1977’s Live Action film adaptation(made concurrently with that film). The film continues the story by having the Icarus crew be confronted by the Gamillas, the aliens who created their robotic enemies and now seek to conquer Earth, led by Zwordar the Great. The crew is aided by the woman Teresa. The Gamillas even revive the Icarus crew’s most hated enemies, the Rajendora. A massive battle destroys the forces of both Earth and the Gamillas and the Icarus, Asteroid covering. In the final battle, Susumu Kodai tells the survivors to flee before sacrificing himself by piloting the Icarus directly onto the Gamillas Home Planet. The Gamillas were drawn as reptilean for a reason. Thus concluding the live action series in a bittersweet manner[6].

Ore Wa Teppei(1978-1979)
Based on the Manga by Tetsuya Chiba that ran from 1973 to 1981 and won the 1st Shogakukan Manga Award for Children. The series followed Teppei Uesugi, who lived with his father in the forest searching for buried treasure. His father died, leaving him alone. When his uncle finds him he is taken back to society where he is revealed to belong to a rich family with many siblings, forcing him to reenter civilization. In the anime Mask Nozawa played Teppei, amusingly her most famous role would be another wild boy.

Majokko Tickle(1978-1979)
Made by Go Nagai under Nippon Sunrise and airing on TV Asahi. The series is close in style to Honey Idol or Sally the Witch, being created for an audience or pre teen girls. The series brought back the magical girl genre, which had disappeared since 1975’s Majokko Megu-chan. Masaki Tsuji scripted several episodes, being a long time friend of Go Nagai who worked on Demon Lord Dante, Dororon Emma-sun and Honey Idol. The series was the first to feature a “Split” to the hero as the human teenage girl is a different person to her “Sister” the heroine she transforms to. This was possibly inspired by the Pink Lady Pop Duo, who performed actions in Unison and were popular in the late 70’s. The duo even performed the soundtrack and were featured in animated form in one scene where the characters watched their performance. Tiko is a shy schoolgirl who received a book from her father on her eleventh birthday. When she opened it she released a mischievous fairy called Tickle. Tickle and Tiko get a long well and Tiko wishes Tickle could be her friend. This results in Tickle casting a spell that makes the family think Tickle is Tiko’s sister Tickle is mischievous but also much more confident, but doesn’t know how to handle situations that can’t be solved with violence, which Tiko helps her with. Today Majokko Tickle remains an obscure work like Honey Idol[7].

Galaxy Express 999(1978-1981)
Based on the Manga by Leiji Matsumoto that ran from 1977-1981, which won the Shogakukan Manga Award for Shonen in 1978. Inspired by the 1934 Kenji Miyazawa novel Night on the Galactic Railroad. The series is set in a world where humans can transfer their minds to robot bodies. Impoverished ten year old Tetsuro Hoshino, wanting to live forever and can do so if he boards the Galaxy Express 999 space train. Tetsuro and his mother try boarding but Count Mecha and his gang kill Tetsuro’s mother while they try to board the train. Tetsuro himself nearly died but wakes up by a fireplace in the home of a beautiful and mysterious woman named Maetal who looks exactly like his dead mother. Maetal promises to give Tetsuro a ticket to the train if he kills the Count. Tetsuro does so by breaking into his mansion and flees onto the train with Maetel, becoming fugitives On the journey, Testsuro meets many people, robots and aliens. He finds that most of the people who became robots either regret it, are miserable, or have become horrible people. There is also the reveal of Maetal's true identity.

Tetsuo and Mattel arrive at the Planet Prometheum, the planet’s final stop. Tetsuo is shocked by the cruelty of the robot people there and asks a dying robot man about life there. Tetsuo mentions Maetel’s name and the man is horrified, revealing Maetel is the daughter of Queen Prometheum, the ruler of the Machine Empire. Tetsuo confronts Maetel and angrily storms off. Maetel is revealed to be plotting the downfall of Prometheum with the help of her father, who’s mind was transferred to the Pendant Maetal had and talked to throughout the Journey. She destroys the Machine Empire with Tetsuo’s help. Afterwards Tetsuo and Maetel wait at a train station with Tetsuo planning to go back to Earth and change it for the better. Maetel disappears for a moment and leaves a letter saying they are parting ways and she can’t go with him. Tetsuo boards the train and the two part ways.

Gatchaman II(1978-1979)
The Direct sequel to the original Science Ninja Team Gatchaman set two years later(which would be 1976 in universe). In the finale to the original show, Leader X was defeated and Condor Joe was seemingly killed in a self sacrifice. However, Leader X mutated a young girl to become Gel Sadra, the new leader of Galactor. The return of the Organization also leads Gatchaman and the International Science Organization to return to active duty. The team is introduced to a new member called Getz the Hawk. The first episode shows Galactic killing his family and him wanting revenge, similar to the origins of the other members, however in the last moments of the first episode, he is revealed to be a Galactic agent planted onto the team. The team is also confronted by a mysterious figure, later revealed to be a still alive Joe the Condor. He was found injured and dying by an ex Galactor scientist and revived. Said scientist also believes that the same battle killed her husband and daughter, not knowing that her daughter has become Gel Sandra. When the Science Ninja team find out about Joe’s survival they try to bring him back but Getz the Hawk frames Joe for being brainwashed by Galactor. Joe ends up accidentally killing Getz, who’s last act is to frame Joe for his murder, leading to the Gatchaman team to believe Joe’s too far gone and actively try to kill him. In the end, Gel Sadra is defeated and contained and Joe’s name is cleared. Sandy Frank attempted to translate the series, not realizing it was a sequel, leading to a bizarre version which was overshadowed by higher quality dubs.

Treasure Island(1978-1979)
An Adaptation of the 1883 Robert Louis Stevenson novel of the same name. It is a fairly faithful adaptation, though it does change the framing device. The original book was simply told by Stevenson. The Anime changes it so a father, later revealed to be an adult Jim, is telling his son a story after the son shows a fascination with pirates, leading him to tell the story of his own experience with pirates[8].

Captain Future(1978-1979)
An adaptation of the Pulp Science Hero who appeared in his own Pulp Magazine from 1940 to 1944. Though created by Mort Weisinger and Leo Marguiles, the majority of the stories were written by Edmond Hamilton. The series features the titular Captain Newton, real name Curtis Newton and his adventures in space. The series made many wild assumptions about the solar system including planets and moons as sustaining life and alien races. Though Hamilton avoided answering what year the series was set whenever possible the year 1990 did get out. The series was adapted by Toei Animation with Hamilton’s blessing. 13 stories were adapted in 53 episodes. Despite the difference culture, the stories were true to the original down to the bizarre explanations which had become outdated such as the depiction of the Moon. The series was also translated into many more countries, landing Hamilton a following in France, Latin America, Spain, Taiwan, the Arabic World and so on and Hamilton soon found himself immensely popular[9].

Lupin The 3rd: The Castle of Cagliostro(1978)
There was a desire among the Lupin the 3rd staff to revive the series more faithfully to the Manga. Problem was this would make the character far more dark and gritty than the current owners Studio Ghibli were willing to allow. Miyazaki and Takahata were already reluctant to work on the series and tweaked it heavily from its original concept. Simply put, Miyazaki felt like he wasn’t the right fit for the series and it was time to let Lupin go. A bidding war started which was ultimately won by Tatsunoko, which was seen as a good fit for the style of comedy mixed with violence that the creators of the show wanted. The second series had barely been approved by Studio Ghibli, only when it was suggested the cast would go international rather than local, which piqued Miyazaki’s interest. He ultimately decided on returning to give Lupin a fond farewell in movie form. Since Miyazaki had brought Lupin to animated life, it felt much like sending a son on their own way to make their own path.

In 1968, Lupin III and Daisuke Jigen are involved in a chase with money, only to find the money is fake. They track it down to Cagliostro and see a girl running away from some men. While she is captured, she leaves Lupin a Signet ring. Lupin recognizes the woman as Clarisse, the princess of Cagliostro, who the Count of Cagliostro is forcing into an arranged marriage so that he can inherit the ring she has. The Count and the Princess both have a ring that when they combine will reveal the location of the fables treasure of Cagliostro, which the Count wishes to inherit.

A squad of assassins try to kill Lupin and Jigen but they escape and Lupin announces his intent to steal Clarisse(something he does to every famous treasure he intends to steal, making it more impressive when succeeds). Lupin summons Goemon Ishikawa XIII and intentionally tips off his nemesis Koichi Zenigata to provide a distraction. Lupin disguises himself as Zenigata and enters the castle while the real Zenigata is trapped In the castle catacombs. Lupin meets Fujiko Mine, who he also invited and is undercover. Lupin sneaks into Clarisse’s tower and gives back the ring. The Count ambushes them and sends Lupin down a trapdoor, only for the ring he gave Clarisse to be a fake which he uses to mock the Count.

Lupin encounters Zenigata in the catacombs and they align to help each other escape. They defeat assassins sent after them and find the source of the counterfeiting. Zenigata escapes with the evidence while Lupin starts a fire. He is wounded trying to escape and Clarisse if forced to offer the ring in exchange for Lupin’s life. The Count attempts to kill Lupi anyway by Fujiko Mine saves him. Lupin reveals to his companions that ten years earlier his life was saved by Clarisse after he was injured trying to find the treasure. Zenigata’s superiors refuse to reveal the Count’s Counterfeiting due to the possible political repercussions, forcing him to team up with Lupin’s gang to defeat the count.

Lupin disrupts the wedding between the Count and Clarisse and rescues her. Zenigata leads Fujiko Mine posing as reporter to the Count’s counterfeiting. The Count corners Lupin and Clarisse inside of a giant clocktower where they battle among the gears. The Count takes the ring and pushes Lupin and Clarisse off but they fall into the lake. The Count uses the two rings on the clock but his hand is caught in the mechanisms and he is crushed to death by the arms of the clock when they come together. The Lake drains to reveal the lake filled with ancient Roman Ruins, the treasure. Clarisse tells Lupin that she doesn’t want him to go and says she wishes she could be a thief like him but Lupin says she is too kind, pure and innocent and that they must part ways, believing that it isn’t goodbye. It’s only goodbye for now. Lupin says goodbye and jumps into his car with his friends as they take off with Zenigata chasing behind and vowing to Catch Lupin next time, all of them barely able to hid the smiles on their faces as they drive off into the sunset. And with that Miyazaki said goodbye to Lupin[10].

Notes

[1] OTL En Famille was adapted into The Story of Perrine. Nobody’s Boy: Remi would be remade into Remi, Nobody’s Girl, which changed the main character’s gender. ITTL Nobody’s Girl: Remi is the sequel.

[2] Rintaro worked on Metropolis in 2001 OTL. ITTL he worked on it much earlier, which is not impossible as his career began in 1952. Captain Harlock was originally going to be introduced as the brother of the protagonist of Space Battleship Yamato, but since Matsumoto was not involved in that series ITTL, the character was introduced later. He also got to use his idea for naming a spaceship Yamato by making it Harlock’s ship. That and Spaceship Asteroid Icarus introduced a galactic government based on America, making the connections far from subtle ITTL, and yes since Space Asteroid Icarus was Live Action, Captain Harlock is live action as well.

[3] OTL Tadao Nagahama and his wife contracted Hepatitis while traveling abroad. His wife survived but he did not. ITTL their fates are reversed.

[4] OTL this film was called Future Boy Conan and was the directorial debut of Hayao Miyazaki who was working at Nippon Animation after leaving Toei Animation. ITTL he went onto find Studio Ghibli earlier. This radically changes the film. Miyazaki’s version had a profound influence on him and environmentalism and adventure would resonate in his later works as he changed the film to an upbeat adventure as his belief is you should encourage children to change the world and enjoy it, not discourage them with how hopeless the world is. Without him the tone is much darker, closer to the original book and its more obscure compared to OTL.

[5] OTL the adaptation of Here Comes Miss Modern ended sooner due to low ratings. The Anime version revealed that the Russian Count was not Shinobu but Lalissa had found the real Shinobu indeed and he and Benio reunited with an epilogue explaining the rest. The Takarazuk Revue did adapt this series but in 2017.

As for the rewards. OTL the series won the Kodansha award for Shojo. To simplify things, the Shogakukan is basically the only one, or at least the main one, the Oscars of Manga if you will. It also opened up categories for Shonen, Shojo and Children at this time so its been changed go have won in that Shojo category.

[6] Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato was the animated sequel to the 1977 film and intended to end the franchise but fan backlash led to another film undoing its events. This will not be the case here.This means Space Battleship Yamato II. Considered the best by many in the series as it brought back the characters and retconned the end of Farewell to Space Battleship Yamato and has some of the best animation in the series by Studio Nue, is butterflied away but wasn’t going to happen anyway due to the franchise being live action ITTL. However I hope that the fact that TTL’s version is basically Japanese Star Wars in terms of popularity helps to ease the pain and would have some very impressive effects due to being the most expensive Live Action films in Japan at the time.

[7] Majokko Tickle OTL was interesting in how different it was compared to Go Nagai’s other stuff. No Nudity. No blood and gore. No dark themes. It shows Go Nagai can actually write for teen girls and also provides an idea tonally of what TTL’s Cutie Honey is like as without being asked to change it to be for boys, the two shows had the same audience.

[8] ITTL this is the first time the story of Treasure Island has been adapted into Anime due to Animal Treasure Island being butterflied away. It was Miyazaki’s idea while he was at Toei but ITTL he left before that point. The reason he hasn’t made it yet? Well its because, and Geekhis Khan beat me to this…Miyazaki is going to be involved ITTL’s Treasure Planet.

[9] OTL Edmond Hamilton died in February 1977 of complications from kidney surgery. ITTL he survived which was fortunate for him as OTL and TTL he soon became famous as Captain Future was adapted in an Anime and Star Wolf into a Tokatsu(live action show). Here he gets to enjoy his newfound fame. At age 74, when he travelled to France, Japan, Italy or Germany, he will be recognized, given the red carpet treatment and shown respect until his eventual death.

[10] OTL the Lupin film The Mystery of Mamo came in 1978 and Castle of Cagliostro in 1979. Mystery of Mamo was a hit but Castle of Cagliostro was not. ITTL their release date has been changed and Cagliostro is the hit due to Miyazaki being more well known ITTL. Miyazaki did return to the Lupin franchise OTL despite the fitting end Cagliostro would have been and directed a few episodes, one of which has a girl that looks like Nausicaa and a robot that looks like the one from Castle in the Sky, and has airplane scenes similar to Porco Rosso. ITTL it will be the last time Miyazaki works on the franchise.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Meryl Streep as Ellen Ripley, done by Lurch Jr on Deviantart​

Alien(1979)​

The cast included Harrison Ford as Captain Dallas, Meryl Streep was cast as Ellen Ripley(OTL the death of her boyfriend John Cazale has died and Scott chose not to approach her), and Brad Davis as Kane. Ripley and Melkonis(Lambert OTL) are in a relationship as Director Ridley Scott believed the future would have more sexual freedom. The only one not in a relationship was Ash, a line of which alludes to him not being interested. Another element is the future technology on display. Other details added are small robots called "Mice' running through the ship to fix things"(Cut OTL for budget concerns). Parker and Brett also used a small vehicle affectionately called the "Flying Bedstead" where Parker noticed one of the seals damaged, later causing problems with the Nostromo landing on the planet Acheron(LV-426 OTL). Melkonis also had a holographic computerized map inside the space suit.

The plot begins when the crew discover a derrelect Engineer ship on the planet Acheron, which was investigating a strange alien pyramid and brought alien eggs from the ship abroad before things seemed to go wrong. The interior of the Engineer ship also has a blink and you'll miss it easter egg of a mural depicting a Xenomorph's life cycle. The mural was made by H.R.Giger.

An alien lifeform is brought onboard when a facehugger attaches to one of the crewmates, which lays an egg in the form of a Chestburster, which escapes and reappears full grown. The creature's next victim is Harry Dean Stanton, who is given some humorous lines while looking for the ship's cat such as "Kitty, kitty, kitty", and "Fucking cat". Brett was killed when the Alien's inner jaw, plunged into his chest and tore out his heart.

Ford as Dallas was given a scene of confronting Ash with his suspicions and Dallas sending Ash into the vent against the alien possibly to see if the alien would kill him and refusing to give him the key to shut down Mother. The alien begins to kill off the crew. A Decapitation is shown on screen and described as "horrible, like a chicken". The alien also used a human as a shield against a flamethrower.

After Dallas is seemingly killed and Ash takes the Computer key from him, Ripley confronts Ash about the missing computer access key and Ash says Dallas never gave it to him. Ripley sneaks into Ash's room to search for it and is startled when Kane's corpse bangs against the window, having become caught in an antenna array. When Ash attacks Ripley, Lambert and Parker confront him and discover he is a robot after decapitating him in a fight. Ash reveals that they cannot kill the alien as its acid blood would damage the ship and kill them all and that there are eggs onboard that would survive.

Melkonis is killed next when the alien tries to drag her through a vent but she dies of a heart attack, with the alien said to have eaten her according to Dallas when he is found alive in the nest by Ripley. Dallas and Brett are implied to be turning into eggs. Ripley mercy kills them and escapes on the shuttle known as the Narcissus after setting the Nostromo to self destruct. When Ripley discovers the alien stowed away on the shuttle the fight scene begins when both are nearly sucked out into space with Ripley managing to shoot the creature in the head. the alien survives this and tries to claw at the hatch after Ripley gets back inside but is incinerated by the engines. The sequel hook is an egg shown on the craft.

Storyboards by Ridley Scott himself of the final battle.

Aliens(1986)​

Ripley is discovered and brought to Earth Station Beta. She reunited with her elderly daughter, who she has a videophone conversation where her daughter blames Ripley for abandoning her. Ripley has a nightmare about being attacked by the alien on the Nostromo. She is then introduced to her lawyer Carter Burke(Stephen Lang). Burke tells Ripley to act calm and controlled during the court hearing. No one believes her(the Alien egg stuck onboard appeared to have been forgotten but it is then revealed that the egg's discovery is being kept hidden by Weyland Yutani. Meanwhile the planet Acheron now has a colony which contact is lost with, with a rescue team sent there being jumped by facehuggers. Ripley joins the second team sent, which includes the android Bishop, who was created by the Tyrell Corporation[1]. The mercenary group also includes one other woman Vasquez(Linda Blair). Ripley briefs the team and even lampshades the sexual design of the creatures, calling the facehugger "essentially a walking sex organ", to which Hudson quipped, "Sounds like you, Hicks".

When Ripley lands she cannot bring herself to leave the APC but she then realizes being alone is worse and runs to the rest. She is jumpscared by Wierzbowski putting his hand on her shoulder as Hicks asked him to keep an eye on her and both go inside where the aliens attack them but Ripley discovers a young girl named Newt, the sole survivor. There are also different breeds of alien, including albino versions that sting and cocoon people called "Warriors" while the black ones are "Drones". the pilot Gorman is paralyzed by a Xenomorph as the APC prepares to leave, though he turns the APC's turret gun and blows apart the Xenomorph before he is pulled away and the APC crashes, leading to the famous "Game Over Man! Game Over!" from Hudson.

The team battles the Xenomorphs, including climbing through the complex airducts while fighting them off. Ripley encounters the Warrior Xenomorphs while rescuing Newt. Ripley, Newt and Hicks escape after being cocooned and are rescued by Bishop, though the Xenomorph Queen stows away and is shot out of an airlock by Ripley after a battle with the Power loader. The epilogue reveals that Weyland-Yutani has been shut down as Bishop, Ripley, Hicks and Newt prepare to return to civilization, unfortunately the film ends on a dark cliffhanger, revealing that the base near Earth where Ripley was taken after her discovery is now under siege as the egg that stow awayed with Ripley hatched.

The game also had a notable Video Game adaptation by id Software which allows the player to control either Ripley or Hicks. The Game was used as the basis for the DOOM franchise, as ID Software wanted to own an original copyright[2]

Alien Invasion(1992)​

Ridley Scott returned to direct. Several writers created drafts including William Gibson, Eric Red, David Twohy (think Pitch Black with Xenomorphs) and Vincent Ward.

Gibson's script began with a Commando team boarding the Sulaco and getting attacked by facehuggers and then following Hicks and a rebuilt Bishop where a virus with alien DNA becomes virtual and turns a space station into a Xenomorph before Ripley returned.

Eric Red' script began with the commando team finding everyone dead and the action moving to a small US town where the Xenomorphs invaded before the town is revealed to be in a biodome with the alien virus plot involved.

Twohy's script was set on a prison planet with inmates being experimented on and an inmate named Styles trying to escape.

Vincent Ward's script had Ripley crashland on a planet made of wooden inhabited by monks, with one of them giving Ripley CPR to drive a chestburster out of Ripley's body and into his. The monks also used communal toilers with no doors and one eaten by an alien as it emerged from a toilet.

The Final story was a combination of all these scripts. All four survivors returned, namely: Ripley, Newt, Hicks and Bishop. The four are brought into the Space Station which is shown to house many different facilities, being a small colony above Earth. It includes a small town, a church, and a prison, effectively being a space station city, allowing many different ideas to be used as the Xenomorphs overrun the place. The new character of Clemens(Richard E.Grant) is introduced as a Doctor that treats the survivors when they arrive amidst the chaos. Ripley is plagued by several terrifying dreams, one of a chestburster emerging from Newt and one of a Xenomorph attacking Ripley in the shower.

Brand new Canon fodder is introduced except rather than Marines they are inhabitants of the space station. The lives of the inhabitants were saved when the base went into lockdown and so they have not seen the aliens and don't believe Ripley and her group when they try to warn them. Instead a gang of criminals that were freed in an attack on the prison led by the Sadistic Golic has been attacking and the survivors until he is subdued and restrained. The other new members: Andrews, Aaron, Dillon and Morse go into tunnels in search of two other survivors: Boggs and Rains after Golic has been restrained. They find no bodies but there are scratch marks on the walls and blood, some of which drips from the vents. Dillion and Morse begin to believe Ripley about the alien but Andrews does not. Ripley talks to Celemens, who reveals his backstory of being a doctor that euthanized his own pregnant wife when she was in a terrible accident that left her in a coma with no chance to recover, giving him a motivation to help Ripley and Newt.

Several barnyard animals and animals in Zoos are the host of Xenomorphs, allowing new designs for the alien[3]. The biggest and most impressive is nicknamed the Dragon Xenomorph, seemingly from a Crocodile. Grolic is able to escape and release the Dragon Xenomorph by accident. After learning the Dragon Xenomorph is free, William, Eric and Christopher seal off the room and spread disinfectant and plantkiller hoping to keep it away only for a smaller Xenomorph to get in and kill them. The main group try to lure a new large Xenomorph known as" the Dragon" into a toxic waste dump area but many are killed in the process even though the plan succeeds. It is discovered that a hive is being made and to reach it the group must go underwater. For the underwater scene H.R.Giger designed an aquatic facehugger capable of swimming with webbed digits. Newt almost drowns in the film in a hard to watch moment but Ripley is able to save her.

The crew discover the killing caused by Golic in the abattoir and a traumatized Eric but also the eviscerated corpse of Babe. They then find Golic cocooned to the wall by the Dragon and leave him when the Dragon comes, supposedly to his death, but he is able to escape.

Ripley's group enters the Hive. Dillion and Morse find a cocooned Andrews, who begs to be killed. When they are attacked, Dillon pushed Morse through a door before it closed to save him from Xenomorphs, who then kill Dillon. Morse refuses to go and battle the dragon out of fear and flees, meeting a team sent to recover the creature from the fledging Weyland Yutani. The team also meets Golic, who promises to take them to Ripley through the abattoir littered with the people he killed. Bishop confronts the team and asks about the rest, which Golic claims were killed by the Dragon but that one of the crew has a Queen inside them, which the Weyland-Yutani team brought a cage to contain. In the final battle Morse sacrifices himself to destroy the Nest and the Weyland-Yutani team while Hicks sacrifices himself after he is infected. Ripley, Newt and Bishop escape to earth with the space station exploding behind them, preventing the aliens from reaching the planet. The Epilogue shows Newt being adopted and saying goodbye to Ripley.

The film has a novel adaptation written by Alan Dean Foster(OTL he turned down the job as he tried to rewrite the film to have Newt survive).

Alien vs Predator(1997)​

Almost ten years after Freddy vs Jason, a second Horror Crossover graced the screen. An Adaptation of the the first storyline of Alien vs Predator from Dark Horse Comics, released in 1989. The film is set on the planet of Ryushi, which has recently been colonized. Unknown to the human inhabitants, the Predators or Yautja tribe use the planet as a hunting ground and introduce the Xenomorph species there, likewise not aware humans are not present. The protagonist is Machiko Noguchi, the Weyland Yutani administrator there who is shown to be far friendlier and laid back to the workers than they expected. The people on Ryushi raise cattle to export to other solar systems. Cattle which are soon infected by Xenomorph eggs as the Yautja brought a Queen to the planet. An encounter with a humans leads to one Yautja being killed and the other Yautja vowing revenge, despite the protests of the older and wiser member of the party, an experienced hunter nicknamed "Broken Tusk". By the way all of the scenes involving the Predators are conveyed without dialogue. "Broken Tusk" teams up with the humans to protect them, teaming up with Machiko to survive the fighting and kill the Queen and rogue Predators. In the end, the settlement is dead as is the Queen and all the Xenomorphs. Broken Tusk lies dying and uses a broken Xenomorph finger to leave a mark on Machiko so that the Predators will identify here. Some time later, Machiko, living alone on the planet with the head of the Queen tied to the front of her house is approached by a group of Predators, who recognize Broken Tusk's Clan symbol and bring her with them into the hunt[4]

After this film, both killers seemed to enter cryostasis for more than a decade. Though the Universal Studios them parks did release the nightmare fuel inducing Alien: Encounter Ride. Likely the closest you could get to a true Xenomorph experience.

Alien: Engineers(2012)​

Jon Spaihts completed his script in 2009. The script would make the film a direct prequel to Alien. Spaihts convinced Scott not to hire Damon Lindelof, believing that Lindelof would just complicate things.

In the Story, an alien race known as an Engineer sacrificed himself to infuse his DNA on human caveman in 12,000 BC, in a ritual where black scarab like bugs ate the Engineer alive. The Engineers resembles the Space Jockeys from the first Alien film and were earless. In the future setting, The Engineers were being investigated by Weyland Industries, who sent a ship called the Magellan(OTL's Prometheus) with the film's action occurring on Archeron, the location from the first film. The crew included Jocelyn Watts(Shaw OTL), Martin Holloway(Charlie Holloway OTL) played by James Franco, technicians Chance and Ravel and the mercenary Shepherd. There is also the film's antagonist, the Android David. The crew use white Astronaut Suits and the Magellan can split into parts.

Compared to OTL, most of the more idiotic character moments are butterflied away due to most being introduced by Lindeloff and then Scott cutting out explanations for them. Fifield and Millburn, who are not in charge of mapping the Engineer Facility, become lost due to having no signal. Another example is that David is shown to have been reading the bible and decided to read all of humanity's religious texts, which led him to have a low opinion of Humanity. It's also implied that Vickers wanted to sabotage Weyland Industries and chose an incompetent and unqualified crew on purpose, setting them up to fail.

Fifield became infected with black scarabs which turned him into a human/Xenomorph like creature, though he broke a Xenomorph's neck one handed, but could still speak. When Fifield was shot, another crewmate Vickers, was killed by acid from his wounds and Fifield was killed by Watts soon after losing his mind.

Deleted Scene to provide some idea of the Fifield as a human/Xenomorph monster

The crew then discover the Engineers wished to terraform the planet and Weyland industries wanted to obtain their terraforming machines to terraform Mars. the crew also discovered the Engineer rooms were not empty and gloomy but filled with Holograms only the Engineers could see, and the android David. Unfortunately, the Engineer Crew has come into contact with the Xenomorphs after finding them inside a pyramid structure belonging to the Yautja and the Xenomorphs are unleashed. Several new fan nicknamed species emerge due to the Engineers being infected including an "Octo-Facehugger", a "Beluga-Xenomorph" and an "Ultramorph". A member of the crew, Holloway, is killed by a chestburster while having sex with Watts. The Engineers also began killing the crew with alien technology including guns. Watts, the sole survivor, departs the planet, choosing to keep the discoveries there secret, kicking off the events of Alien.

Dakota Fanning as Newt

Hicks not looking so good.​

Alien: Awakening(2017)​

Directed by Neil Blomkamp, who created concept art for the film as well. The film depicts the Earth being devastated by Xenomorphs and old versions of Newt and Hicks(who's death was only implied in Alien Invasion) trying and failing to stop the aliens arriving on Earth, only to once more team up with one of the survivors of the aliens attacking Earth, Ellen Ripley. Special praise went to Dakota Fanning for playing an older Newt[5].​

Footnotes​

[1]OTL the reference was meant to be to Cyberdyne Systems from Cameron's own Terminator series but it was realized that if the implication was that the two were set in the same world than Judgement Day may have already occurred and Cyberdyne Systems likely would not survive after Skynet was taken down due to their hands in creating it. Tyrell Corporation on the other hands was more likely to still be around.

[2] I couldn't bring myself to butterfly away Doom, which was meant to be an Aliens game. My logic is that if their licensed game was such as hit, the company would want an IP they actually own. You know to make all the prophets.

[3] Giger was really enthusiastic about returning and submitted and built new alien designs that were ignored even as the filmmakers claimed to want to make something "more Giger than Giger" so it felt fair to in this version with so many new Alien designs to bring him onboard as a sort of "I'll take em....Which ones?.....All of them" moment.

[4] Alien vs Predator from what I can tell was changed due to Isaac Perlmutter OTL so without his involvement the original idea is used.

[5] It is suspected that the short film Zygote is the closest we got to Blomkamp's planned Alien film, complete with Hicks and Newt expys.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1979 in Anime​

Unico(1979-1980)
Based on the Shojo Manga by Osamu Tezuka that ran from 1976 to 1979. Adapted by Mushi Productions under Tezuka himself. The titular character is a baby Unicorn with the power to make anyone happy. Unico’s first friend was the girl Psyche in Ancient Greece. Psyche is said to be so beautiful that the goddess Venus became jealous and deciding that Unico is making Psyche happy, abducted him, Venus then commands Zephyrus, the god of wind to take Unico far away to the hill of oblivion, which takes away one’s memories, in this case Unico’s ones of Psyche. However, Zephyrus has a change of heart and lets Unico go, Unico is left to wander with only vague memories of Psyche, traveling the land and making people happy. Unico on their journey befriends the little devil Beezle, who eventually learns to accept friendship only for Unico to be taken away by Zephyrus to protect him. Unico then encounters a black cat named Chao that wants to become a witch and goes on a journey to help her achieve her dream[1].

Anne of Green Gables(1979)
An entry into Nippon Animation’s World Masterpiece Theater. Based on the 1908 novel of the same same by Lucy Maud Montgomery. However it was directed by Isao Takahata, making it an unofficial Studio Ghibli film in many people’s eyes, The series follows Anne Shirley, a girl at an orphanage, accidentally sent to a couple called the Cuthberts who requested a boy, as time passes, Anne becomes an irreplaceable member of the family. Takahata stayed faithful to the original stories in contrast to taking liberties such as with From the Apennines to the Andes. Miyazaki also did some brief work on episodes. Yoichi Kotab, another person who worked on From the Apennines to the Andes, was brought back. Eiko Yamada provided the voice of Anne and would become a staple of World Masterpiece Theater. The show was well received in Japan and boosted attention of the source material. It often appears on lists of Best Anime series, at least those who rely on audience polls.

Bannertail: The Story of a Gray Squirrel(1979)
A Series by Nippon Animation based on the 1992 Children’s book Bannertail by Ernest Thompson Seton. It was directed by Fumio Kurokawa and aired on TV Asahi. The series followed a kind orphaned squirrel raised by a mother cat who goes on adventures in the forest. It proved popular among younger viewers in the Arabic and Persian worlds as well as Spain, Latin America, and Portugal.

Daikyouryu no Jidai(1979)​

Translated to Age of the Great Dinosaurs. A Toei Animation series distributed by Ishimori Productions and directed by Shotaro Ishinomori and Hideki Takayama. It revolves around a group of kids transported back in time that are now forced to live in the Age of the Dinosaurs. The show has since become a mime, prior to that it was obscure.

Zenderman(1979-1980)
Part of the time Bokan series produced by Tatsunoko, who also produced Yatterman. It aired every Saturday from 6:30 to 7pm on Fuji TV. Directed by Hiroshi Sadagawa. The series follows Dr.Monja a scientist searching for the elixir of Life, which will grant immortality and eternal youth. He built the Time Tunnel and sent a team of youngsters to search for it through time while another group, the Akudama Trio, is after the same thing.

Doraemon(1979-2005)
A Children’s series created by Fujiko F.Fujio, based on the Manga of the same name, intended as the successor to the previous 1973 anime. Produced by Shin-Ei Animation and airing on TV Asahi. The creators attempted to have every mention of the 1973 Doraemon pulled but due to the series finding syndication in the US, this would prove impossible. The original studio Nippon TeleMovie Productions was going bankrupt and sold the original cels and storyboards to collectors while publicly claiming to have destroyed them in a kerosene fire in front of Fujiko F.Fujio at their request. The show would be rediscovered years later. Doraemon 1979 was released in the US courtesy of Ted Turner. Doraemon is a cat robot from the 22nd century that is sent back in time to protect Nobita Nobi by Nobi's future grandson, Sewashi Nobi. This is because Nobita would have grown up to be a man that fails, his company going bankrupt and his sons facing financial difficulties. Doraemon therefore helps Nobita improve as a person and help him in daily life. Other cast members include Shizuki Minamoto, who would become Nobita's future wife, as well two sometime bullies and sometime friends of Nobita named Gian and Suneo. Plots from episodes usually have Nobita using one of Doraemon's gadgets in a way that causes problems[2].

Nutcracker Fantasy(1979)
A joint Japanese American-Stop Motion film produced by Sanrio based loosely on Tchaikovsky’s the Nutcracker. Directed by Takeo Makamura and Shintaro Tsuji. The film would be nominated for a Saturn award. The style is similar to Rankin and Bass productions. While it is debatable. It is considered the first Stop Motion Anime to many.

Mobile Suit Gundam(1979-1980)
Mobile Suit Gundam was released in 1979. created by Yoshiyuki Tomino. Set in a Fictional universe using the fictional calendar of Universal Century year 0079, the Principality of Zeon declares independence from the Federation on Earth and declare war. Fighting occurs on every continent on Earth and in space colonies. Zeon has gained Mobile suits as weapons. Half of humanity perishes and the war reached a stalemate. At the start of the story, a new Federation Warship called the White Base arrives at a secret research base but are ambushed by Zeon forces. A young boy named Amuro Ray finds a Federation prototype RX-78-2 Gundam[3] after The original Gundam is destroyed by a Grunt Unit, and fights back using the suit, defeating the Zeon forces. Amuro then devotes himself to protecting White Base and its civilian crew. Zeon lieutenant Commander Char Aznable becomes a recurring antagonist to Amuro, who kills members of Zeon's Zabi family including Miharu, a love interest towards the character of Kai. Amuro also accidentally kills his love interest Lalah Sune during a battle with Char. Char pilots a Unit known as the Kikeroga and drops the colony of Luna II on Earth in a devastating and shocking moment[4]

Despite poor sales, the series was allowed to finish its planned 52 episodes. What helped was that the merchandise for the show sold rather well and the release of a Compilation Movie(condensing the series into film length) proved there was a market. In that same year, the 35-year-old eldest son of Bandai founder Naoto Yamashina, took over as company president. The younger and more aggressive Yamashina sought to operate Bandai in a way patterned more after an American company, going so far as to fire many of his father's senior executives and replace them with younger people closer to his age. Bandai began releasing model kits based off Gundam. Gundam's success in the West led to the proposal of a Gundam live action movie to capitalize on the success of Star Wars.

Ultraman: The Anime(1979-1980)
The first even animated incarnation of Ultraman. The series was worked as the same time as Gundam and is a continuation of the the live acton Ultraman series[5].

The Rose of Versailles(1979-1982)
Based on the Manga series written by Riyoko Ikeda. It originally appeared in the manga Magazine Margaret from 1972 to 1978. The series is a historical drama set during the French Revolution, focusing mostly on Marie Antionette and fictional character Oscar Francois De Jarjayes, commander of the royal guard. Creator Riyoko Ikeda joined the New Left in Japan, joining the Japanese Communist Party, which was partly inspired by the ideals of the French Revolution. Ikeda began her Manga career in 1967, mainly writing Shojo. Ikeda would become a member of the Year 24 Group, named after those born in 1949, the 24th year of the Showa era. Ikeda was nearly invited onto the Haneda Hijacking but declined. The terrorist attacks by the Communist Party of Japan led her to leave the movement. She studies the French Revolution for two years and proposed a biography of Marie Antionette to Shuiesha. It received little support but was published in the magazine Margaret. Ikeda relied frequently on fan feedback. This led the character of Rosalie to be replaced by Andrew when Rosalie proved to be unpopular. Ikeda’s depiction of Marie Antionette was that of a common Shojo protagonist, seeking love and being fairly innocent in contrast to most depictions of her. Her rivalry with Madame du Barry is also shown. The commander of the Royal Guard was made a woman as Ikeda felt she couldn’t convincingly write a man. The character became extremely popular and eclipsed Marie Antionette as the main character.

Rare for a Manga series at the time, but the characters were shown clearly aging. Ikeda ultimately chose not to kill Oscar but keep them on for a bit longer. The series continued and depicted the entirety of the French Revolution including the storming of the Bastille, Marie Antionette’s death and ending with the crowning of Napoleon as Emperor, who became a character in the series prior to the finale though towards the end Oscar and Andrew were killed off which is seen by many fans as one of the saddest Anime deaths at the time with many fan fiction rewriting the series to spare the two.

The series was popular enough to be adapted by the Takarazuka Revue which continue to this day and was translated into English and French. The Takarazuka Theater even has a statue of Oscar and Andre at its front. It also received a live action film adaptation by French director Jacques Demy the same year it became an Anime. It’s popularity in France led to Ikeda being awarded the Legion of Honor by the French Government for promoting French History and Culture. The Anime series adaptation was produced by TMS Entertainment and aired on Nippon TV, directed by Tadao Nagahama. After it’s success, Ikeda announced a sequel following Napoleon [6].

Galaxy Express 999(1979 Film)
Continuing a trend started in Live Action by Space Asteroid Icarus and Gatchaman. It was decided to turn Galaxy Express 999 into a “Compilation Movie” or a movie version of the show. Leiji Matsumoto, despite Galaxy Express 999 being animated, insisted on inserting Space Captain Harlock into the series despite him being introduced in Live Action. Warlock was produced by Toei and Galaxy Express 999 aired at around the same time. As Harlock was on TV, Farewell to Spaceship Asteroid Icarus crashed into theaters. Lei Matsumoto had worked on the film conceptually and with three successes under his film it was now he felt the perfect time to make Galaxy Express 999 a film. Toei hadn’t produced an animated hit for theaters since 1968’s The Sun Over Chikkisani. The Problem with adapting Galaxy Express 999 was that the Manga wasn’t finished yet. Since Matsumoto was working on both, the film ran the risk of spoiler the Manga’s end due to needing to be a self contained version of the story. Matsumoto therefore decided to make two films with the first film being an untitled part one, ending ambiguously as Maetel and Tetsuro continued their adventure.

The film opens with the same basic set up of Tetsuro living in the slums and seeing the train arrive. Tetsuo and his mom talk about boarding the train together and some time is spent setting up Tetsuro’s unpleasant life. He and his mother try boarding it but are captured by Count Mecha, a human hunting cyborg. Tetsuro fight s desperately to save his mother but is unable to injure the count and he kills his mother. Tetsuro is left for dead. He awakens to find he is being cared for by a woman named Maetel, who says she can get him on the train if she comes with him and he agrees. Tetsuo’s new motivation in this version is to get a robot body as he believes that will make him strong enough to kill Count Mecha.

The first stop is Saturn’s Moon of Titan, which has been made hospitable but has no laws and is anarchy. Maetel is kidnapped by bandits and Tetsuro is given a gun, hat and Poncho that belonged to her son Tochiro Oyama(a character from Captain Harlock). Tetsuro confronts the leader of the bandits Antares and reveals that they too have suffered under Count Mecha, who killed most of their families and offer to help Tetsuro in his mission, telling him to look for Emeraldas.

On their next stop of Pluto, they find people who have become machines and a miserable, having preserved their human bodies in the ice. Tetsuro is nearly drowned by the machine people but is saved by Maetel. After leaving they pass the ship the Queen Emeraldas and Tetsuro fires on them in order to get their attention. A fight ensues until Emeraldas sees Tochiro’s things and reveals she knows Tochiro and where to find him at their next stop. Tetsuro goes off into the wild and finds a dying Tochiro, who’s contracted an illness but after learning his mother sent Tetsuro, tasks him with activating a machine to transfer his mind into the supercomputer of the Yamato, the ship of Tochiro’s best friend and Tetsuro’s childhood hero Captain Harlock. Tetsuro buries Tochiro and leaves his hat at his grave but on his way back is attacked by Count Mecha and his gun stolen. Tetsuro is left for dead. He tries to confront the gang again at a saloon but before they can kill him he is saved by Captain Harlock. The two then meet up with Maetel and Emeraldas, who told Harlock about the boy looking for Tochiro. Emeraldas leaves without saying anything after being told Tochiro has died.

Tetsuro heads to the Time Castle in which Captain Mecha resides. He is shocked to find the taxidermied remains of his mother mounted over a fireplace. Tetsuro then encounters and fights Count Mecha with Antares arriving to help. Antares helps to distract Count Mecha’s man to allow Tetsuro to pursue the Count. Tetsuro shoots off one of Count Mecha’s arms. Antares sacrifices himself to save Tetsuro from Count Mecha but tells Tetsuro not to trust Maetel with his dying breath before exploding, allowing. Tetsuro to shoot Count Mecha in the head, killing him. Tetsuro reunited with Harlock and Maetel and reveals he no longer wants a robot body but wants to destroy Mechanization. Maetel and Tetsuro part ways with Harlock. Tetsuro then says goodbye to Maetel and vows to change the Earth for the better[7].

Hana No Ko Lunlun(1979-1980)
Translated into English a The Flower Child Lunlun. A magical girl series by Toei Animation. The Dub was done by William Winckler productions, known for the dub of Tekkaman and respected among Japanese Animation companies for his as faithful as possible translations. The series aired on TV Asahi. The story begins by explaining that plant spirits and fairies used to live in harmony with humanity until the rise of Humanity forced the plant spirits to leave to another world called the Flower Star. A talking cat and dog are sent to Earth to find a person to recruit to find a magical flower, the symbol of Flower Star’s ruling family. In France the two meet Lunlun Flower, a tomboyish orphan who lives in a flower shop with her paternal grandparents. Her mother is revealed to be descended from the Flower Star People and hey ask Lunlun to join them, which she accepts. She then goes on a Journey with the cat and Dog to find the flower and run into a pair of villains who want the flower for themselves. Lunlun is followed and helped by a flower photographer, which she develops a crush on and vice versa. He is confirmed later to be the Prince of Flower Star in disguise and asks Lunlun to be his queen. Lunlun refuses as she loved his identity as Serge and the Prince willingly returns to the Serge identity and leaves the throne to his brother.

Kujira no Josephina(1979)
Translated to Josephina the Whale. A Shonen series based on the book by Spanish writer José María Sánchez Silva. In the 1950’s Santiago, a boy living in Madrid, creates an imaginary friend in the titular Josephina the Whale.

Future Robot Daltanious(1979-1980)
The third entry in what is considered the Robot Romance trilogy created by Tadao Nagahama. The series aired on Tokyo Channel 12 and was produced by Toei Animation and Nippon Sunrise. In the distant future of 1995, the Earth has been conquered by the Zaar Empire with al cities destroyed. A war orphan name Kento and his companions find the cave of housing the secret base of Doctor Earl from the planet Helios and his robots, which when piloted can combine to form Daltanious. Doctor Earl entrusts Kento with saving the world and defeating the invaders. The robot in the series was the. First to have a Lion’s head on the chest as well as the use of a Mechanical Lion, which would become quite common. As with all other Super Robot Anime titles, the toys were done by Popy[8]

Space Carrier Blue Noah(1979-1980)
This series, depending on who you ask is either a spiritual successor or a ripoff of Spaceship Asteroid Icarus, funny enough by one of the original co creators. Yoshinobu Nishizaki. The series is set in 2052 where the Earth is at peace until aliens called the Death Force attack it, forcing a small band of survivors to search or a new home planet. The show has since faded into obscurity due to its similarities. Unlike the original Spaceship Asteroid Icarus, this series had to compete with Galactica, a live action show with a similar premise. The Earth is restored to normal and the aliens defeated at the series conclusion. Amusingly, later works in the Spaceship Asteroid Icarus universe reference the the title ship(it appears in the background of one shot), though its up for interpretation if this means the series is canon or if its just an Easter egg.

Lupin the Third: Mystery of Mamo(1979)
The first Lupin the Third Project developed by Tatsunoko. The film was intended to be more faithful to the Manga than the Miyazaki adaptation was, which would have had to be censored. The same staff was assembled with Yasuo Otsuka, a mentor or Miyazaki and Takahata, working on the film. Soji Yoshikawa did the storyboards and directed. Atsushi Yamatoya also worked on the film. Tsutomu Shibayama, who had created the character designs for the 1969 original pilot returned. Fuji Ohno returned to provide the jazz soundtrack and the main cast returned. Tatsunoko gave the film a budget comparable to major live action films. Mamo, a character from the manga was adapted for the first time. His appearance was based on Paul Williams’ character in 1974’s Phantom of the Paradise, who looked like a monster, a little boy, and an old man all at once according to the staff.

The Story begins with Inspector Zenigata entering a dark castle in Transylvania on the hunt for Lupin the Third, who he believes is after Vlad Tepes’s treasure. He opens e up a tomb to find Lupin jumping out with a cape and fake fangs which Zenigata calls Lupin’s “Dracula Cosplay” before chasing him through the castle. Lupin escapes and the title is dropped. The film picks up again with Zenigata following Lupin to Egypt, believing that he is searching for another treasure in an ancient tomb. He finds out that objects said to grant immortality are being stolen, both from Tepes’s tomb and a Mummy’s tomb. However, Lupin and his allies find someone else is after these objects and Lupin believes that whoever wants to live forever can’t be a good person. After a clash in Egypt, they also clash once more over the Philosopher’s Stone in Paris where they run into Fujiko Mine, who steals the Stone in order to infiltrate the villain’s side and gain their trust. Fujiko Mine meets Mamo, the leader, who finds the Stone Fujiko stole was a fake.

Mamo’s men ambush the Lupin gang and a fight ensues as Jigen and Goemon believe Fujiko betrayed them. The gang travel towards the ocean believing Fujiko is in trouble. They attempt to rescue Fujiko but she seems to betray them, causing Jigen and Goemon to leave as they believe Lupin’s been compromised by his feelings for Fujiko. They are later shown to be making their own plan independently to avoid risking Fujiko learning the plan through Lupin or anticipating it if Lupin came up with it. Fujiko is revealed to have planted a clue on Lupin to where Mamo is and he follows it. Jigen and Goemon are abducted by American Agents who explain how dangerous Mamo is, they do decipher Fujiko’s clue that Mamo’s base is on a Caribbean Island. Mamo is revealed to be an evil billionaire that wants to destroy all life on earth and restart it with himself as Adam and Fujiko as Eve, the two being made immortal by him. Lupin steals the Sorcerer’s Stone and flees with Fujiko. The US Army attacks Mamo’s base while Jigen and Goemon go inside and reunite with the group. Goemon has a brief sword battle with Mamo’s bodyguard Flinch, who is cut to pieces but revealed to be a robot, but Goemon breaks his sword in the process which falls into Lupin's hands when Goemon drops it and it falls down a chasm in the base. Mamo tries to rig a nuclear bomb to launch and begin his plan after taking Fujiko hostage but Lupin has rigged the bomb to explode. Mamo is pinned to the bomb by Lupin with the broken part of Goemon's sword and Lupin grabs Fujiko before fleeing and reuniting with the rest before the island explodes, taking Mamo with it. In the aftermath the characters reunited and flee from Zenigata into more adventures[9].

Taro the Dragon Boy(1979)
A film adaptation of a Japanese For Tale and a novel based it by Miyoko Matsutani. It originally started as a puppet series on Japanese television. In 1979 it was turned into an anime. Taro loves to eats sleep and fight. He has no direction in life until a Tengu(In Japanese Mythology a heavenly being similar to an angel that usually takes the form of a Monkey or a bird) gives him a special potion that makes him as strong as a hundred men but only when he is helping others. Taro thus begins helping others and begins to enjoy it. He saves a girl named Aya from the demon Akaoni and helps collect firewood while enjoying his super strength. His grandmother tells him his mother was turned into a Dragon and he searches for her but then the Demon Kurooni captures Aya. Akaoni agrees to help Taro save her as Kurooni was bullying him into attacking the villages. Aya then helps Taro search for his mother and find her. Her name is Tatsu. She reveals she was punished for hogging food away from the village for her unborn child. Taro then begins to help the villagers. Tatsu appears to die soon after, but is then transformed back into a human as the curse if lifted.

The New Voyages of Captain Harlock(1979)
Matsumoto, inspired by the 20 years later setting he introduced Captain Harlock into for the Galaxy Express 999 film, revived the character. The series allowed Matsumoto to combine Space Asteroid Icarus, Harlock and the Galaxy Express 999 settings together. The series includes flashbacks to explain what happened in the intervening 20 years. Because it was technically a sequel to Space Asteroid Icarus, it attracted many fans of that series disappointed with the ending, especially due to the Studio New animation and the return of Gamilas leader Desler as a cyborg after his seeming death in Farewell to Spaceship Asteroid Icarus. The character returned and became the nemesis of Captain Harlock, the brother of the deceased protagonist of Spaceship Asteroid Icarus, making their battle personal. However, rare for the time, Desler isn’t just a simple villain and goes through character development of his own. As a new even greater threat, the White Comet Empire, surfaces[10].

Aim for the Ace!(1979)
A Compilation film of 1973’s Aim for the Ace. The film was directed by Osamu Dezaki, written by Keisuke Fujikawa, with music by Koji Makaino and produced by Yutaka Fujioka with Tokyo Movie releasing, Toho releasing it to theaters in Japan. It was intended to test the waters for a new series originally intended to be a remake of the 1973’s series, but the popularity and release of Attack No. 1’s sequel Attack no Tomorrow, led to the planned series being rewritten into a sequel to the original.

Mighty Atom: Super Train(1979)​

Created for a Charity event on Nippon Television. Tezuka saw a chance to combine most of his characters together in a massive crossover movie. Tezuka regularly reused characters for his works, seeing them more as actors that can be cast as different roles. However, American audiences were less used to this and Tezuka believed this would cause confusion, for example the character of Rock had played the villain in Metropolis but in other Tezuka works sometimes played the hero. A such Tezuka set about writing. A story to crossover all the characters in a way that tied into all the series he wrote that they appeared in. Among the crossed over franchises are:

The Mighty Atom: Who’s recently concluded his appearance in color and as Tezuka’s most famous creation, receives top billing.

Black Jack: From the then ongoing Manga that began in 1973. Black Jack is a doctor who travels and will usually operate on anyone, though he usually charges ridiculous prices. While he’d yet to have had his own Anime series, he did appear as a guest star in an episode of the Mighty Atom, which he’d also done in the 1960’s series, so he’d already been established as living in Atom’s time period.

Princess Knight: The 1967 to 1968 show.

Jungle Emperor Leo: The 1965 to 1967 show

Metropolis: The 1973 film.

Don Dracula: A Manga released the same year revolving around Count Dracula and his child Vampire daughter being accidentally sent to Tokyo where slapstick comedy involving the Vampire ensues as they are also hunted by a relative of Van Helsing.

The Three Eyed One: From a Tezuka Manga that ran from 1974 to 1978. It followed a young boy named Hosuke Sharaku born with a third eye that he was forced to keep covered by a bandage. When the bandage was removed he became evil and tries to conquer the world with his magical powers and evil genius but became a kind boy is the bandage was stuck back on. It was revealed he was the descendant of an ancient civilization of similar people that tried to destroy the world.

The Plot takes place in the early 2000s, albeit the futuristic version that served as the setting for the Mighty Atom. Detective Shunsaku Ban is called to meet someone at a mansion but finds the man dead at his mansion. The assassin, who is wearing a costume, attacks him and then attempts to flee. A fight in the rain ensues and Ban cracks the assassin’s mask, revealing his face. He is knocked out during the storm. He awakens being cared for by Black Jack, who he mistakes for an assassin due to his scarred appearance. He is shocked further by the bill. As they are talking, the TV shows footage of the unveiling of the new Supertrain the Marine Express which will make a trip from Metropolis to Tokyo. However, the train is said to be able to travel through time as well as underwater and underground. It is mentioned that Mighty Atom’s father Dr.Ochanomizu, and the reformed Dr.Tenma worked on the train with Duke Red(from Metropolis), the latter of whom died before it was completed as per the events of the Metropolis film, and even then was becoming less and less involved in the project. Shunsaku Ban sees the assassin on the footage covering the train’s unveiling and leaves in a hurry, Black Jack follows him because he didn’t pay his bill.

Shunsaku Ban reunited with his nephew Kenichi, who is revealed to have been staying with Ochanomizu and Atom while Shunsaku Ban got a job as a teacher. Kenichi found Tina but badly damaged and Ochanomizu has been working on repairing her, having brought her from Metropolis to Japan to help fix her into a robot like Atom. It’s also mentioned Ban was a teacher at the school Mighty Atom goes to, which was because Tezuka reused Ban’s character model for the role in the 1977 Mighty Atom series, meaning that continuity wise, Metropolis took place after the Mighty Atom series). Black Jack confronts Ban but they reach a deal when Ban reveals the assassin he is pursing a man with a massive reward, which would pay off Black Jack’s bill and he proceeds to join the group. Atom recognizes the man as Ham Egg, the cruel circus owner that abused him once. Ham Egg is revealed to have captured Jungle Emperor Leo and intends to sell him in Tokyo when the train arrives. Jungle Emperor Leo also hates Ham Egg as in his home series, Ham Egg was the one who shot his father.

Prior to boarding the Marine Express, Tina and Kenichi are attacked by what appears to be Rock, which surprised them as Rock is supposed to be dead(while he did die in Metropolis, the film mentions his death as well as that of Duke Red’s during the news report covering the Marine Express while Kenichi is mentioned to have found Tina in Metropolis badly damaged, changes made so that even if a viewer hadn’t seen 1973’s Metropolis or any other of the shows then they would not be lost). Kenichi and Tina board the train at the last moment as a result of the chase when Atom rescues them. However several beings are seen boarding the train including a mysterious cloaked figure, his minion, a Vampire and his daughter, and Rock himself, who is badly damaged, revealing his sunglasses conceal robotic eyes.

After the train takes off several murders on the train begin to happen(of other Tezuka supporting characters besides the main ones). The culprits are revealed to be the stowaways. The mastermind is revealed to be Hosuke Sharaku, who has embraced his evil side. He found Rock and revived him as a cyborg, promising to make him fully human if he cooperated, specifically so Rock could crash the train which Rock accepts is a suicide mission out of hatred for what he’s become. Atom during the ride befriends Choco, the daughter of Dracula and the Vampire’s own incompetence leads to his easy defeat. Ham Egg is defeated by both Jungle Emperor Leo and Mighty Atom and Atom, who can speak to animals due to his programming, convinces Leo not to kill Ham Egg, though Ham Egg ends up dying son after anyway when Sharaku kills him for his failure. Sharaku however succeeds in his intended plan of sending the Train back in time to the era of the three eyed Civilization he is the last member of, intending to lead them to conquer the world. He succeeds, stranding the characters in the past while he disappears. The characters discover they’ve arrived in Sapphireland, home of Princess Knight. Sharaku meets what’s left of his people in the past and leads them to attempt an invasion of Sapphireland with the cast preparing to help defend the Kingdom, including Rock, who Sharaku honored the promise of and turned into a human, and Don Dracula, who was betrayed but survived. Princess Sapphire reveals that land has been under attack by the Sharaku’s people, who are mentioned as being the spawn of Demons, which led her to recruit a Demon hunter(Dororo) as well as be added by the mystical being Unico. It is explained that under Sapphireland is the mythical creature known as the Phoenix, discovered after part of the castle collapsed to reveal its sleeping form(implied to have happened during the final battle of Princess Knight). Sharaku intends to use the Phoenix’s ability to revive the dead to bring back the entirety of his civilization and conquer the world. The final battle commences(resulting in visuals such as Atom and Tina fighting side by side and Princess Knight riding Jungle Emperor Leo into battle). Sharaku’s people as shown to be “Glass Cannons” as explained, reality warpers tend to focus so much on altering things in front of them that they don’t bother altering themselves, meaning they are basically still human and can be killed if caught by surprise, allowing the cast to kill the Sharaku Gang by working together to surprise the attackers such as Shunsaku with a well placed Bullet to the third eye, Atom’s butt machine guns surprising one, Don Dracula biting one, and Black Jack injecting one with a syringe). With his forces being defeated, Sharaku attempts to reach the Marine Express. Tina’s presence in the train activates a protocol created by Duke Red and a message from him revealing his plan to have Tina destroy the train as he believed it could be used against him. Tina nearly gives into her programming and destroys the train but Atom and Kenichi stop her. Rock dies attempting to save Tina and Kenichi from Sharaku, who simply “Unmakes him” having brought him back to life. Atom is badly injured by Sharaku and is forced to crawl to the Marine Express and enter it to activate it, transporting himself, Sharaku and the others back into the future, however, the train comes apart as it is traveling and while one portion with most of the passengers returns to their “Present”, the portion with Atom and Sharaku splits off and is left drifting in space, where it approaches the sun. Atom uses the machines of the Train to pin Sharaku down and both plunge into the sun and are destroyed.

While the passengers find themselves back in their own time, they briefly mourn Atom, until the Phoenix appears before Atom and brings him back to life as a show go gratitude for their help in saving it, before it takes off once more. Black Jack reveals he took a coin from the past which when scanned is now worth millions(a nod to a 1960’s Cartoon episode where he did something similar). The final scene has the cast take a picture together which the film freeze frames on as the credits roll[11].

Notes

[1] Unico was never made a series OTL. It had a movie that was a pilot for a planned show that never materialized and two other films. ITTL with Tezuka running Mushi Productions and the success of Mighty Atom, he is able to get a Unico TV Show made without the need of a pilot since he's the boss.

[2] The 1973 Doraemon is largely considered lost OTL while ITTL it is not due to syndication. Ted Turner also wanted to bring Doraemon to America but never did while ITTL he does.

[3] Unlike OTL the Gundam is fully White ITTL as Tomino wished to homage Stormtroopers

[4]a story event Planned OTL but removed. It predates the OTL Axis Asteroid drop by 13 years, which is the birth of the trope “Colony Drop” though ITTL Spaceship Asteroid Icarus my have stolen its thunder and it snow called the Asteroid Drop. A minor note is the original Gundam was not successful and was cancelled before it finished until the toy sales proved successful and it was brought back, ITTL it at least got to finish its first series.

[5] I skim the details on this one since they’d likely be covered when I get to the Ultra Series Proper in Live Action TV, but the short answer to how the Ultraman series has changed is that the creator originally had plans for each series to be a take on a different genre. Ultra Q was a Twilight Zone style series, Ultra Seven was a Lost in Space style story and Ultraman was a superhero story. As a result any story with Ultraman in the title is uniquely part of that Superhero series specifically. The creator Eiji Tsuburaya lived longer ITTL as he took his doctor’s advice to take a break and not overwork himself. He also got his wish for the Ultraman series that later installments would have the capsule be transferred to a new person every series, keeping continuity. As a result when the Anime The Ultraman(sometimes with a star in the title OTL) came around it’s not set in its own continuity but in the same continuity as the rest of the series, which means it depicts a classic looking Ultraman in animation.

[6] OTL Ikeda killed off Oscar and Andre in Rose of Versailles, the two most popular characters, leading to a sharp decline in sales and she was forced by her publisher, who received mountains of fan letters asking for Oscar and Andrew to be brought back to life, to end the series. ITTL Ikeda kept the characters around for a bit longer and they outlive Marie Antionette(Symbolic as the two basically usurped Marie Antionette as the main characters of the Manga and now that she is dead they become the main focus). They still die but at the very end. OTL Ikeda later asked to finish the series and did so for six years. ITTL the Manga’s length is essentially its OTL length plus the six years it took her to write the rest years later. I was going to make it 10 years long as a joke about how the series is as long as the actual French Revolution but decided against it. It ending in 1978 works better as it means the show knows how the series will end, which helps in its production. They know what characters are important, they know what fans liked or didn't like. They can plan how to space out the plots for the episodes etc.

[7] Matsumoto considered splitting Galaxy Express 999 into two movies OTL but ultimately did not. The first film was to end after Tetsuro got revenge and the second film was the rest of the story focusing on Maetel's origins and the final destination of the Galaxy Express. ITTL he did split it in two, meaning there will be a sequel. As for continuity, Matsumoto has always been very lax on that(OTL Captain Harlock is in 2977 but has crossed over with other series regardless of when they are supposed to take place. Space Battleship Yamato is in 2201. Galaxy Express is in 2221). ITTL since Captain Harlock is a spinoff to Spaceship Asteroid Icarus, it is set around the same time that show is set in 2201. Galaxy Express 999 takes place in 2221, 20 years after both series, so the Harlock characters are 20 years older and also explains why Tetsuro looks up to Harlock as he’s been active since before Tetsuro was born and grew up hearing stories about him.

[8] Due to a different Production order, mainly the making of a sequel to Raideen the Brave, Tadao Nagahama’s Robot Romance Trilogy, which consisted of Chodenji Robot Combattler V, Chodenji Machine Voltes V, and Tosho Daimos OTL was pushed back, so now elements from the later series show up in the next installments, creating sort of a mix of series, as a result Chodenji Robot Combattler V was the first(with bits of Voltes thrown in), then Brave Commander Daimos, and the third is now Mirai Robo Daltanious, which wasn’t part of the trilogy OTL, except since Nagahama does not die in 1980 ITTL, the idea the three shows are a trilogy isn’t really thought of since he’s able to create more works.

[9] Since TTL’s Mystery of Mamo is being made by Tatsunoko ITTL, most of the OTL insane stuff is out, such as Mamo cloning Hitler and Napoleon(Hitler showing up for a like a brief moment. Lupin encounters him, nervously salutes, and Hitler just walks away and that’s it. Personally I’d have had Lupin pull out a gun and shoot Hitler), Mamo being revealed to be practically older than human history but surviving via cloning, and finally be revealed to be a giant brain that blows off into space. Instead Tatsunoko made him more or less a James Bond villain close to Moonraker’s Hugo Drax, who wanted to destroy all life on Earth except for a select few to repopulate the Earth and had a big burly henchman. Part of this is Miyazaki’s influence means Lupin is nicer. He’s a lot more like Wolf from the Bad Guys where he can’t resist the urge to do the right thing despite being a thief. Even if you move away from that, its still in his DNA ITTL. So Lupin is now actively stopping a villain’s plot. Fujiko Mine was hit with this as well as while she tries to act like her femme fatale version she’s also been Miyazaki’d and its mostly a cover so she can help Lupin from the inside. Now as for how the film did, it’s doesn’t do as well as Cagliostro. A reversal of OTL where Mystery of Mamo was a hit but Castle of Cagliostro wasn’t. Part of this is Miyazaki being a bigger name and also the plot being seen as a bit too similar as it involves saving a girl from marrying the main villain. I do like the irony that TTL’s Lupin is essentially the opposite of Manga Lupin and OTL’s Mystery of Mamo Lupin. If the two ever met they’d be mortal enemies.

[10] A Combination of OTL’s Yamato:The New Voyage and Space Battleship Yamato II. Matsumoto, who OTL cared little for continuity now loves it ITTL as it allows hims to explore many more of his ideas at once. Instead of Yamato II retconning the ending of Space Battleship Yamato as OTL, we have a continuation, which is personally a better way to retcon something, don’t say it never happened but use good writing to find a way to make it work. In this case because Captain Harlock is a sequel to TTL’s Space Battleship Yamato, It attracts fans of that series but is also better written as the disliked death of Yamato’s main character now fuels Harlock’s desire to avenge him by killing that series’s main villain when he finds out he is still alive. Harlock as a result of appearing in a live action show, getting his own live action show, appearing animated in Galaxy Express 999 and now getting his own Animated show, is much more popular ITTL.

[11] Undersea Super Train: Marine Express OTL did feature characters from Tezuka’s works, but they were radically different and basically alternate universe versions. Astro Boy didn’t know he was a robot. Princess Knight was Queen of the ancient continent of Mu, Rock was the hero, Dr.Ochanomizu was a jerk and so on. Which I'm not against as once again Tezuka saw his characters as actors that took on different roles. The plot involved the train and then traveling to the ancient land of Mu and battling Sharaku. The only person to return to the present was Shunsaku Ban in the original story. ITTL more Tezuka properties have been adapted and so there’s more to live up to, so there’s a lot more focus on Canon Welding all the series into a massive Crossover but maintaining continuity. Added into this version is Kenichi and Tina, Unico(Who has his own series ITTL) and Dororo(who ITTL was a megahit warranting his inclusion). OTL the film had Rock and Princess Sapphire end up together but that doesn’t happen here due to Princess Sapphire’s series having her end up with her canon love interest. Which means Rock gets a death by redemption instead.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Anime in 1980
Due to the success of Galaxy Express 999 and Gatchaman. Compilation Movies Post 1979 became more common, usually created with the express goal of condensing a series from show length into film length. These helped to make some anime more accessible as those who couldn’t commit to a full show could watch the film instead. Some, mainly those by Toei, reused animation from the original show, though some used original animation and the plot was rewritten to work in the different runtime.

Compilation Movies released this year:
Tomorrow’s Joe- The ambiguous ending of the original is remarkably kept intact.
Nobody’s Boy: Remi-By the same studio and director. It also kept the surprise twist revealed in its sequel.
From the Apennines to the Andes- Miyazaki helped touch up the animation as a favor to Takahata.
Cyborg 009-Somewhat easier as the series started with a film, meaning the film is a remake and conclusion as well as an anniversary celebration.

The Wizard of Oz(1980)
An Adaptation of the 1900 L.Frank Baum novel airing on World Masterpiece Theatre and the first American adaptation on the show. Taking a queue from the 1939 film, the story begins in Black and White and transitions to color, but with the film switching from monaural Vistavision to Quadraphonic Cinemascope[1].

The Little’ Bits(1980)
A 26 episode series produced by Tatsunoko Productions in cooperation with TV Tokyo. Directed by Masayuki Hayashi and produced by Ippei Kuri.. The series enjoyed popularity in Europe,the Middle East and Spanish speaking countries. It was often compared to the Smurfs. The series follows a race of tiny people living in a village, focusing mainly on the children. Willbit is the main protagonist and is in love with Lillabit but clashes with Snagglebit over her affection. All characters follow the “Bit” naming scheme. The most controversial of the characters was “Drunkabit” which in the original Japanese was depicted as Drunk, something unchanged in the English dub to some controversy. Despite “Drunkabits’ alcoholism he proves to still be a caring father to Lillabit , who he adopted after her parents died and is respected as the town doctor. The plot of the last two episodes has the children characters learn her parents are alive and were exiled and go to search for them. They are revealed to belong to a warring tribe called the Wanderbits that nearly drove the Bits to extinction. In the end after Lillibits parents help save the children and turn on their tribe, they are allowed back into the village. Immediately after an earthquake, actually a man walking by, causes devastates the village and everyone is forced to work together to rebuild. Liillibit is also show not be able to talk to animals and recruit their help such as Snuffly the flying Squirrel and Blue the Hedgehog. The show frequently touted messages and morals for children, including messages on family and prejudice[2].

The Wonderful Adventures of Nils(1980-1981)
Based on the 1906 novel of the same name by Swedish author Selma Lagerlof. It ran for 52 episodes on NHK and was produced by Pierrot(it was their first animated series as they were founded in 1979, sticking true to the original but adding a pet hamster and more scenes to Smile the Fox, adding cut animal sidekicks. It was directed by Hiyasuki Toriumi. Nils Holgersson is a 14 year old boy who is lazy and disrespectful and loved to bully the animals on the farm. One day while home alone, Nils captures a Nils, a gnomelike creature in Scandinavian folklore, who turns Nils into a Tomte himself along with his pet hamster, granting him the ability to talk the animals. The animals all try to get revenge on the shrunken Nils for their torment on his hands. Niles escapes by jumping onto a goose named Morten’s back, as Morten wants to join the flock. As a result her is taken along for a ride as they fly and adventure across Sweden,encountering other animals and Nils begins to learn lessons about helping others and not being selfish. Nils also learns from the Tomte that if he changes his ways, the Tomte might change him back.

Maeterlinck’s Blue Bird: Tyltyl and Mytyl’s Adventurous Journey(1980)
Based on the 1908 play by Maurice Maeterlinck. Directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa with character designs by Leiji Matsumoto and running for 26 episodes. The series is set in a German speaking country in the 1970’s and follows 12 year old girl Mytyl and her 13 year old brother Tyltyl as they attempt to catch the Blue Bird of Happiness which would bring them eternal happiness with the aid of the fairy Berylune. They are followed by a cat and dog named Shanet and Tyrol who are given anthropomorphic forms and the ability to talk by Berylune.

Invincible Robo Trider G7(1980-1981)
A series created by Hajime Yatate and produced by Sunrise. Narration was provided by Ichirou Nagai, who did the narration on Mobile Suit Gundam. Takeo Watanabe and Yuushi Matsuyama wrote both the soundtrack for Mobile Suit Gundam and Trider G7 but they were later discovered to have sampled other tracks to finish it on time. The series attempted to be as realistic as possible to prove a Mecha Giant Robot scenario. The world is attacked by an alien invasion of Giant Mechanized robots. The robots only kill and cannot communicate but several are taken down and researched. While the fear they will return is present, that fear does not seem to materialize but the nations of the world still prepare(one character theorizes that because space is so vast they likely will never encounter the robots or the species who invented them and first contact was just a fluke. He also doesn’t believe the aliens intended to be hostile invaders as any intelligent species would at least try to make peaceful contact first rather than invade immediately. Another belief is that the Mecha design wouldn’t have taken off if it wasn’t proven to work as designing human shaped machines for combat would be deemed impractical over Tanks and Ship designs.

America, the Soviet UNion, and China are the ones to build Giant robots, as they are the only world powers with enough resources, money, land and people to undergo this endeavor. Other nations in the world begin to fight amongst themselves to gain the resources necessary such as a war in South America as Brazil invades its neighbors. Canada and Mexico allow the US to annex them. The European Union grows much tighter while Africa and the Middle East has factions fighting amongst themselves to be the one to united the lands(though India succeeds in building a Mecha called Vishnu which devastates Pakistan). China has conquered Korea and attacked Japan but America sees China as too valuable an Ally in the war with the Machines and cannot help. Japan however, begins to fight back and win, making some nervous that they have become an imperial power and making America and the Soviet Union hesitant on joining aside. Japan gains its first Mecha in the titular Robo Trider G7 due to a scientist studying the machines defecting to the country. Adults are initially used to pilot the Mechas but China begins to employ Child soldiers(including the removal of the one child policy) and Japan is forced to do the same when the Home Islands are invaded and they need all able bodied pilots. One such child is the protagonist Watta[3].

Rescueman(1980-1981)
Directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa. Produced by Kenji Yoshida for Tatsunoko Productions. The series is the third in the Time Bokan Series(Yatterman is seen as not counting). It follows three individuals Atachi, who wants to become the most beautiful woman in the world, Sekobitchi who wants to become the greatest scientist in the world, and Duwarusuki, who wants to be the greatest hero in the world. The catch is that all three are villains and are obsessed with their own ambitions rather than doing any actual good. In a twist, three time patrollers were killed and passed on the power to time travel not to worthy successors but to these three villains, who freely tamper with history when they realize that time travel creates an alternate universe where there changes stick instead of risking the space time continuum or altering their own. The three still end up being accidental heroes such as opposing an evil queen to kill her because Atachi thinks she is prettier than her, Sekibitchi proving his genius by solving a problem, or Duwarusuki genuinely doing good. The inspiration for the series came specifically because Doronbo and her gang where the most popular part of Yatterman and the popularity of Lupin the Third[4].

Back to the Forest(1980)
A TV Special airing on Fuji TV based on the children’s novel Jakobus Nimmersatt by German author Boy Lornsen. The story focuses on animals who’s forests are being torn down by humans, forcing them to declare war.

Monchhichi(1980)
Based on the line of Japanese stuffed Monkey toys made by the Sekiguchi Corporation that were released in 1974 and licensed by Mattel, which brought them over to the US. Tokyo 12 adapted the series[5].

Lalabel, the Magical Girl(1980-1981)
A Magical Girl series by Toei Animation that aired on TV Asahi. The series followed a Magical girl named Lalabel who lived in a magical world until a thief named Biscus stole several magical tools. She startles the thief and the tools fall through a portal into the human world. Lalabel falls through and is found by an elderly couple called the Tachibanas, who let her stay with them when they find out she is an orphan. Lalabel escapes until she can capture Biscus. She attends school with the granddaughter of the Tachibanas Teko and begins to fall in love and growing happy on Earth. In the finale she defeats Biscus and all the magical items are used up, rendering both human, meaning Lalabel stays on earth.

Doraemon: Nobita’s Dinosaur(1980)
The first animated Doraemon Feature film. Based on a Doraemon story of the same name by Fujiko Fuji (who also wrote the script) and directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi. The pilot centers on Nobita, wanting a pet, using Doraemon’s time machine to abduct an egg, which hatches into a Plesiosaur that eventually becomes too big to hide after Nobita puts it in a pond and then a lake. After being forced to reveal what he did. His friends and Doraemon transport the Plesiosaur back in time but are attacked by a group of what turn out to be Dinosaur hunters from the 24th Century. Nobita takes the time machine and hides it in what later turns out to be the Loch Ness in Scotland before he retrieves it once they’re clear of the hunters. They then bring the Plesiosaur back to its own time period but the time machine is destroyed by the Dinosaur hunts and the group is forced to make their way through the Bering, or the land bridge between Asia and North America that broke apart to split the continents, encountering Dinosaurs along the way, to reach a point where the time machine parts where left on an earlier tripe, eventually defeating the hunters, saying goodbye to the Plesiosaur and going him.

Phoenix 2772(1980)
Based on the Osamu Tezuka Manga, which features the encounter of various people throughout history with the titular Phoenix. The film is set in the distant future of the title. The Earth is dying due to lack of resources and climate, leading humans to be created in test tubes and assigned roles by computers. Godo was born as a cadet and raised by a robot made named Olga. Rock. The dictator candidate for Prime Minister(“Played “ by the Metropolis antagonist), sends Godo to kill the capture the Phoenix as its blood will heal the Earth but Rock actually wants to drink the blood and become immortal. Godo is troubled by the mission as he views all living things as sacred. He is further conflicted when he learns Olga will be destroyed. He is also in love with Rena, who is the bride to be of Rock. Godo and Rena are caught and Godo is sent to a labour camp in Iceland where he meets Doctor Saruta, who plots a way to escape, find the Phoenix and save the world. The two are saved during a breakout by Olga and Pincho, a pet of Rena’s she commanded to help rescue Godo. On a ship, the crew find the Phoenix but it is too powerful and shapeshifts into various monsters. Godo hears that Rena married Rock and gives in to despair, leading to the crew being killed one by one including Saruta. Godo freezes and cradles Olga after she is killed. Godo’s declaration of love leads to the Phoenix also calming down into a smaller peacock live form and speaks to Godo, making a deal to grant one wish and revives Olga on the condition he gives the Phoenix something. It then disappears after reviving Olga and the two see the Phoenix createa paradise like planet for them to live on. Godo still wants to return to Earth and gathers food from the planet to go back only for Rock to arrive there to capture him along with Rena, who seems happy with Rock. Rock goes into the planet and finds the Phoenix there and tries to kill it, causing the planet to begin to shake and collapse, killing Rena and blinding Rock. The Phoenix is revealed to have possessed Olga as part of their deal and asks to be killed so that Godo can drink its blood and become immortal but he refuses, instead asking for his life in exchange for the revival of the Earth. The Phoenix agrees and Godo collapses dead into Olga’s arms with the Phoenix leaving Olga’s body soon after. And the planet exploding. The Earth is shown to be recovering with plant life as human ships begin to arrive. Godo is seen being revived as a baby being held by a human version of Olga as the ship arrive.

The film was distributed by Toho. It was seen by American critics as well drawn and imaginative but two long in parts with scenes that could have been cut. Many fans who saw Mighty Atom Super Train were hoping it told the origin of the Phoenix, which it did not. Despite its flaws it won the San Diego Comic Con Inkpot award in 1980(an award voted on by fans at Comic Con, usually given to an installment in a franchise with a large fandom, in this case animated films)[6].

Twelve Months(1980)
Directed by Yugo Serikawa, Kimio Yabuki, and Tetsuo Imazawa. Produced by Toei Animation in partnership with Soyuzmultfilm from Russia. Based on the fairy tale of the same name by Samuil Marshak with music composed by Vladimir Ivanovich krivtsov performed by the National Petrograd Philharmonic. The plot follows a spoiled young queen that asks for a bouquet of Galanthus, a spring wildflower in the winter in exchange for a reward of gold. A greedy woman of the evil stepmother variety sends her young stepdaughter Anja instead of her own daughter to fetch it. Anja knows it is impossible but is forced outside and nearly freezes to death but is awoken by a light from a bonfire and meets several spirits revealing themselves as personifications of the twelve months. When Anja tells them her task they take pity on her and temporarily bring spring to allow the flowers to grow but she cannot say how she got them. Anja returns and presents the bouquet but the queen is not satisfied and demands to see where she got the flowers.

Space Emperor God Sigma(1980-1981)
A series created by Toei’s Television Division but produced by Academy Productions. Popy, which now ha da contract with Bandai for toys. Tadao Nagahama and Takashi Ijima planned on departing Toei along with Katsuhiko Taguchi. The series was set in 2050 AD where mankind had advanced into the stars but were then attacked by the Elder, aliens who’s planet had been conquered in the future, now using time travel to come from 2300 AD and obtain Earth’s Trinity Energy, which was used to conquer their home in their own time with God Sigma being Earth’s main defense. Due to the popularity of dark series, the angle that the aliens were desperate and that the future humans were an evil conquering empire was addressed as it made the morality far less black and white.

Captain(1980)
Based on the manga by Akio Chiba which ran concurrently with another Chiba Manga Play Ball. It aired on TV Asahi. The Manga ran from 1972 to 1979. The Manga swapped out protagonists as when a character graduated from school, they left and a new protagonist started their journey. While this worked for the Manga, the Anime kept one due to its shorter run[7].

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table(1980-1981)
A series based on Arthurian Legend, specifically the Once and Future King but merging most versions together. Produced by Toei Animation and consisting of 30 half hour episodes. The series covers the entirety of Arthur’s life, beginning with the death of his father plunging the sword into the stone and his death and his body being taken to Albion[8].

Fisherman Sanpei(1980-1982)
Based on the manga by Takao Yaguchi that ran from 1973 to 1983. The series was adapted into 109 episode on Fuji TV. It’s simple premise and slice of life setting likely contributing to its longevity.

Don Quixote(1980)
A 23 Episode series directed by Kunihiko Yuyama based on Miguel De Cervantes’ Don Quixote and airing on Tokyo Channel 12[9].

Toward the Terra(1980)
Based on a Science Fiction Manga by Keiko Takemiya that ran from 1977 to 1980. The series proved difficult to classify, the author was female but it had a broad appeal and in a first for a manga series, it was ultimately chosen to declare it the General winner since it qualified for both anyway, winning the award in 1979. Upon conclusion in 1980 it was adapted by Toei Animation and director Video Onchi.

The plot is set in the 31st century where humanity us ruled by Supercomputers called the Super Dominance which selects certain humans. This occurred after a war on Earth and Pollution rendered Earth inhospitable. The Supercomputers also select parents for children. A race of humans have evolved as psychics and now seek to exterminate the super computers while rescuing as many as possible from being brainwashed or killed. Earth or Terra is seen as the promise land and they believe it is no habitable and wish to one day return there.

Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! (1980)
Translated as roughly “Good Luck! Tabuchi-kun. The series is a baseball gag series similar to American comic strips with four panels called a Yonkoma, created by Hisaichi Ishii, it ran in Manga Action nMagazine from 1978 to 1979 and after it ended, Ishii went onto create more baseball gag comics. The main characters based on Professional Baseball player Koichi Tabuchi. Since there was little to no plot to the strips. It was adapted into one Animated film, made up mostly of gags with a weak plot, like the Bad News Bears of Anime.

Space Runaway Ideon(1980-1981)
A television series Produced by Sunrise and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino immediately after his success on Mobile Suit Gundam and aired on TV Tokyo. The series is set in the year 2300, where mankind has begun colonizing other planets. On the planet Solo in the Andromeda Galaxy they find the remains of several tanks which can combine into a Mecha and a Spaceship. They restore the machines but cannot get the tanks to move. An alien civilization called the Buff Clan came across the planet Solo. Among the group is the young daughter Karala, who vanishes along with her assistant Mayaya. The Buff Clan suspect the humans were involved and attack. Cosmo Yuki, the protagonist,, jumps into the tanks with his friends, which activate on their own and combine to repeal the Buff Clan. Another attack is sent and the leader of the Military force Bes Jordan has the Odeon tanks equipped with weapons while the Buff Clan obliterate the cities on Solo and try to capture the Ideon. Karala and Malaya are mistaken for colonists and taken to safety with the others. The Odeon pilots include Tekuno, Bento, Cosmo, Kasha, and Moera. Karala and Mayaya are discovered to be aliens and Mayaya is killed but Yes allows Karala to live. She tells everyone the legend of Ide. The power of Ide once save the buff clan and they’ve been searching for it with the energy powering Ideon and the solo ships. The Solo ship fights the Buff Clan in Space on the planet Saurus and confront Buff Clan commanding officer Gije in his own mobile suit. Orders are received that Karala can be killed for associating with humans.These orders lead Buff Clan member Abadidi to chase the Solo Ship only to be killed. Harulu, Karala’s sister takes control. Karala tries to make peace with Harulu on a nearby planet but is rejected and is shown to be willing to die, earning the respect of the Solo Ship crew.

The Solo ship arrives on the planet Ajian and the Buff Clan attacks commence with Ideon destroying missiles fired on Earth, but destroy much of the planet itself. The Solo ship engages Harulu’s ship and the latter is destroyed. Harulu reunited with Daram Zuba, a former member seeking to overthrow the Buff Clan Emperor with Gije’s help. The Solo Ship heads to earth by chased by Daram but cannot be allowed on Earth for fear of bringing the war and stop at the moon to use a supercomputer there to study the Idea power. Several children sneak onto the Ideon and it becomes stronger to protect the children, developing more weapons. One character attempts to take advantage of this by putting children as the pilots but the Ideon’s cannons suddenly fire without warning, killing her, illustrating the Ideas thinks that’s a bad idea. Gilje is betrayed by Zaram and tries to join the Solo ship but few trust him even when he kills Daram in battle. The Solo Ship leaves Earth and continues to repel attacks from the Buff Clan. Moera is killed and Gilje takes his place as an Ideon pilot. As the deaths mount, including Gilje in a battle, the Ideon begins to change to become more and more powerful. In one attack, Karala is taken and discovered to be pregnant with Bes’s child. The leader of the Buff Clan Doba vows to kill his own daughter. While the Solo Ship makes a move to rescue her, allowing Karala to escape in the chaos with Ideon attacking. Doga declares the Ideon to be destroyed, causing his own soldiers to turn on him before they themselves are killed by the Ideon, unaware of this. A handful of survivors escape at the Solo Ship crashes and destroys the base on the Ideon[10].

Space Warrior Baldios(1980-1981)
A Series by Ashi Productions and Kokusa Big-sha. The series ran for 39 episodes. The series is set in a future world where pollution forced humanity underground. The Emperor is assassinated by Zeo Gattler and his followers, who frame a team of scientists who found the solution for the planet’s decay. Gattler’s followed destroy the work of the scientists , loads the population on a fortress and sets off to conquer a new planet. The son of the leader scientist Marin Raygun, tries to escape but in doing so is caught in Algol’s Warp drive and arrives in the year 2100 , where Gattler’s army attacks a martian colony and he joins the military organization Blue Fixer and their Mecha, the Space Warrior Baldios. Gattler devastates the Earth by causing the polar ice caps to melt. This causes Marin Raygun to realize that Gattler was responsible for the disaster that forced them to leave via a closed time loop and has a final battle where he kills Neo Gattler.

Do your Best Genki(1980-1981)
Based on the manga by You Koyama that ran from 1976 to 1981. It is a sports series about a boy raised by a single father who wants to be a boxer like him. It was made by Toei Animation and won the Shogakukan Manga award for Shonen in 1979.

Makoto-Chan(1980)
Based on a comedy manga that ran from 1976 to 1988 about socially awkward kindergartner Makoto Sawada with a series filled with toilet and adult humor. The animated film adaptation was directed by Tsuomu Shibayama(who mostly directed Doraemon) and distributed by Toho.

The Tomb of Dracula(1980)
Based on the Marvel Comics series of the same name that ran from 1972 to 1979. The plot is a greatly condensed version of the series which had little overarching story. The summarized plot is that Dracula crashes a satanic ritual intended to sacrifice a bride to Satan and takes her as his own. Dracula find he cannot bite the girl as she resembles his long lost love from he was Vlad the Impaler. Satan vows revenge and tries to steal her back. Meanwhile the descendants of the Harkers and the Helsings come together to defeat Dracula but are approached by the worshippers of Satan. Satan's followers lure Dracula into a trap where the windows a boarded quickly by crosses and a Silver crossbow bolt is fired, Dracula turns into mist and the bolt shoots and kills Dracula's wife and his unborn son. He is able to assist his wife in escaping. A Satanic ritual is conducted in which Dracula is stripped of his powers but the Satanists kidnap his wife. Dracula, stripped of his powers leads to a surreal scene of Dracula eating fast food, specifically a cheeseburger and fries for the first time in full outfit and appearances. Dracula returns to Transylvania to be turned again and gain the strength to save his wife while Satan intends to possess his dead child, originally intending to sire an Antichrist. Dracula fights a vampire but due to having the cross burn his hand as Vampire before he became human, he now has an unhealed cross shaped scar on his hand which he uses to melt a vampire's face with his touch. He is once more transformed and cuts the injured hand off before engaging the Satanists. The Helsing and Harker group, having been previously betrayed by the Satanists and unaware of their true nature, attack. Dracula kills the Antichrist, cutting off Satan's connection to the mortal world before Helsing blows himself up with a bomb in a wheelchair, seemingly killing Dracula and allow Dracula's wife and the Harkers to escape. The film has become a source of memes in the present day due to over the top acting and bad animation[11].

Nextworld(1980)
Based loosely on a 1951 Osamu Tezuka story, though ironically he wrote the script for the film. The Manga was considered the last part of a trilogy with The Lost World and Metropolis as the first and second installments. All three installments feature Shunsaku Ban and his nephew Kenichi as the main characters. Lost World wasn’t adapted as the premise involved traveling to an alien planet populated by Dinosaurs and was likely to similar to film adaptations of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s the Lost World.Tezuka, as he’d done with Metropolis, rewrote Nextworld. The original story had involved atomic tests during the Cold War creating mutant animals. That decided to leave earth before the two superpowers of America and the Soviet Union blew each other up. Now it was a sequel to both Metropolis and Mighty Atom: Super Train once more follow Kenichi and Tina. Kenichi was aged up into a teenager while Tina was shown to still a child to create drama as she did not age while Kenichi did. The film addressed the idea of a Cold War Hot scenario in the future, as the original story was written in the 1950’s at the height of the Cold War paranoia. The protagonists are now involved to stop an international incident from escalating into World War Three due to an evil Supercomputer intending to launch nuclear weapons[12].

The Monster Kid(1980-1982)
Based on the Manga by Fujiko A.Fujio that ran from 1965 to 1969 on TV Asahi and TBS in the US. The series follows a young monster kid who lives with the adult monsters of Dracula, the Wolfman and Franeksntein and they are forced to live in a modern suburban area and end up battling other monsters summoned by the Demon Group Demonish. The series was made largely due to the success Fujio’s other creation Doraemon was enjoying.

Muteking, The Dashing Warriors(1980-1981)
Proced by Tatsunoko Productions for Fuji TV. The series follows Twelve Year old Tin Yuki who’s father was laughed at for predicting alien would invade. Ran met an alien sheriff named Takoro who was chasing space criminals seeking to become masters of the Earth. Ran becomes the hero Muteking to thwart their schemes. The series was unsuccessful in the US.

Ojamanga Yamada-kun(1980-1982)
Based on the Comedy Manga by Hisiachi Ishii. The series lasted for 103 episodes on Fuji TV. Episode consisted of 3 7 minute stories on Sundays from 7 to 7:30pm.

Black Jack(1980-1981)
With the success of the Mighty Atom, Tezuka’s second most popular character, Black Jack, was adapted to the screen by Mushi Productions[13].

Gigantor(1980-1981)
An in color remake by Tokyo Movie Shinsha of Mitsuteru Yokoyama’s manga Tetsujin 28-go. It was directed by Tetsuo Imazawa produced by Shigeru Akagawa and Tora Horikoshi. It aired on Nippon Television with Fred Ladd adapting all 51 Episodes into English. Despite the timing, the creators insisted they were not inspired to revive the 60’s icon due to the success of the Mighty Atom. Though the proximity of the remakes did lead to Tezuka considering a crossover between the two[14].

Adieu Galaxy Express 999(1980)
The sequel to the 1979 film. On Earth, an unknown amount of time later, Tetsuro on Earth receives a message from Maetel that seems to be a cry for help and once more boards the Galaxy Express 999. On the way there Tetsuro reunited with Captain Harlock and reveals his intentions. Harlock gives him a signal flare to fire if he needs help but it needs to be fired into space. Tetsuro reaches reache the final destination of the Galaxy E xpress 999 which to his shock is a planet named Maetel, the mechanization homeworld. It is here that Tetsuro realizes that Maetel originally intended to bring him to the planet to sacrifice him and turns him into a mechanized slave, one of many and that Maetel did this multiple times(flashbacks to first film show the two first meeting and then departing mixed in with previously unseen scenes of the two). Tetsuro angrily slaps Maetel when he learns the truth, that she originally intended to sacrifice him, but is captured by Maetel’s mother Queen Prometheum. However, Maetel saves Tetsuro and reveals her intent to destroy the planet using a weapon created by her father, the engineer of the city. Maetel hesitates to do so but Tetsuro does activate the destruction of the planet and shoots the signal flare that allows Harlock and Emeralds to arrive to rescue them as the planet collapses. Maetel reveals that the body of Tetsuro’s mother was used to provide Maetel with a body of her own and departs to Pluto where her true body is preserved, promising to reunited with Tetsuro in her own body and they once more say a tearful goodbye.

Notes
[1] OTL the Adventures of Tom Sawyer was released in place of Wizard of Oz. Because the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn adapted both that book and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer ITTL, there is no need seen for a remake(I’d say at least more than ten years before remaking something and that previous adaptation was in 1976, hit 1986 and then we’ll talk), and so this series is butterflied away, leading World Masterpiece Theater to choose something different in its place. Since ITTL they’ve yet to adapt an American story(OTL their first was Rascal the Raccoon which was butterflied away). They choose Wizard of Oz, allowing them to employ the change where the film switches from monaural Vistavision to Quadraphonic Cinemascope to simulate the wonder of entering Oz, an effect Space Battleship Yamato III did OTL. They do not outsource the production ITTL as they previously did that with Jack and the Beanstalk and that was a failure, making World Masterpiece Theatre more hesitant to endorse another created work.

[2] OTL the name of Drunkabit in English was Snoozabit and they dubbed him as always being sleepy rather than drunk. Naturally this is controversial ITTL, but it did try to teach kids to be careful when adults are showing signs of being drunk, that they may not be in control of what they do and tried to squeeze a lesson in there.

[3] FYI I made pretty much all of this up. Despite the mission statement of “trying to be a realistic Mecha Series”, Robo Trider G7 still follows, a Robot Invasion of Earth, a scientist who defected from the villains, builds a robot, dies and passes the robot to a child main character. It took the “realistic” Mecha angle and did my own take on it. ITTL its more inspired by Tomino’s other work and the more successful Gundam. I imagine ITTL there’s an Alternatehistory.com timeline which imagines a similar premise as the series occurring in 1940, meaning America, the Nazis, the Soviet Union, and Japan are the world powers building Mechas with different leaders in charge complete with historical figures as Mech pilots such as General Patton, Elvis Presley, John F.Kennedy and world leaders getting their own Mechs for Stalin, Hitler and the US President.

[4] Rescueman has been tweaked compared to OTL and the heroes are now basically the villains as a nod to the villains of Time Bokan usually stealing the show anyway, justified by them not being too evil beyond being thieves and incompetent at that.

[5] Monchhichi toys had a boost in sales ITTL thank to Pippi Longstocking and TTL’s 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother popularizing monkeys, making them more successful, and the Monkey craze allowed the company to bill their toys as “Don’t buy a real monkey. Buy a stuffed Monkey. They’re much easier. They don't throw feces and won't bite you.”

[6] Phoenix 2772 does better ITTL due to Tezuka being more famous and it being just a year after the Phoenix appeared in Mighty Atom: Super Train so more people recognize it. ITTL Alan Moore’s League of Extraordinary Gentlemen composites the Tezuka’s Phoenix with the Phoenix Force of X-Men fame.

[7] Captain was adapted into a film first. Changed to an anime as a concept such as rotating protagonists would really only work as a series.

[8] OTL King Arthur as a series was released OTL in 1979 followed by a sequel, King Arthur: Prince on White horse which had the characters in a futuristic setting. My plan ITTL is to delay that version so that it becomes an Anime adaptation of the similar premise of the Comic Camelot 3000 which debuted in 1983.

[9] This series was of the funny animals variety OTL with animals in the main role. Personally I think you should have at least one faithful adaptation before you go the talking funny animal route. That’s not why Animal Treasure Island was butterflied away, that was just a coincidence based on the logic of Miyazaki leaving before he suggested the idea.

[10] A Significantly more upbeat ending even if its still a sad one than OTL where the TV show and the film ended differently but both with the everyone dying and shown to be reborn. The first destroys both races and the second destroys the universe.My guess is Tomino is in better health thanks to Gundam doing a lot better and so he decided to give the series a happier ending. Thing is OTL this series was the heavyweight champion of downer endings and inspired Hideakki Anno’s Neon Genesis Evangelion. ITTL by changing it things are going to be very different down the line for Evangelion. Also ITTL the series sells better but OTL the DVD box set was overproduced and when the second boxset and movie came out they produced less, resulting in the opposite problem of 80,000 to 120,000 yen DVD boxes. Here with Gundam being a success it sells better helped by lacking a downer ending.

[11] The plot is changed slightly to make a bit more sense but I personally enjoyed the OTL film on an ironic level. You can watch the film on YouTube but this review of it I think illustrates my points:

[12] Nextworld is Radically different from OTL due to the success of Metropolis, with the same people involved, meaning the plot changes to be a sequel. I imagine it being some combination of Metropolis and the Sum of All Fears.

[13]OTL an Astro Boy series in color aired at this time, since the series debuted earlier in 1977, its position is replaced with Tezuka’s second most popular character Blackjack, who already made a recent appearance in Mighty Atom: Super Train so audiences are familiar with him.

[14] OTL Gigantor and Astro Boy both had in color remakes at the same time, ironically given they premiered the same year. Not ITTL once again due to Mighty Atom’s earlier in color debut so there's an argument to be made that the Gigantor staff remade the show because of Mighty Atom's success even though they didn't do that OTL.

And now for those who have been Butterflied Away

Be Forever Yamato. Has been butterflied away as TTL’s equivalent Space Asteroid Icarus, never needed to retcon its ending away. The effect where the film switches from monaural Vistavision to Quadraphonic Cinemascope when the Yamato enters the Double Galaxy is used ITTL for the Wizard of Oz instead. Space Battleship Yamato III is butterflied away for the same reason and also because Matsumoto is working on Galaxy Express 999's film sequel.

Tomorrow’s Joe 2. A continuation of the OTL Anime. ITTL the Anime was completed and a compilation movie was released leaving no need for Tomorrow’s Joe 2 to exist and any kind of sequel after the Manga's point would go against the author's intentional ambiguous ending. Instead two series would later be released show two possible futures are the Manga's ending. It's kind of like how OTL there is a comic book series where Archie marries Betty and another where he marries Veronica released at the same time.

Ganbare!! Tabuchi-kun!! Another Film. Butterflied away due to personal reasons. Two films of the same franchise the same year seems redundant especially for a comedy.

I have one more thing before we finish with 1980. I'll give you a hint. It's a Miyazaki film, but one that he didn't make OTL but wanted to. One that...quite frankly sounds bizarre on paper. And yes it's getting its own post. Because I have some Concept Art.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

Oooooo, furries.

Funny you should say that.

Rowlf(1980)

Rowlf was an American comic written by Richard Corben. It is filled with over the top violence, nudity and gore. Naturally it was a perfect fit for Heavy Metal. The Comic is set in a quasi fantasy sci fi world. There’s a princess with a canine companion need Rowlf. The dog loves the princess. Then she is kidnapped by Demons. An evil Wizard falsely believes Rowlf killed the princess and tries to turn him into a man so he can confess but ends up accidentally turning him into a half human half dog hybrid. The now half man half dog, his own best friend, Rowlf sets out to save the Princess from the Demons, who have tanks. Rowlf gets his paws on some guns. And its off to the races mowing down enemies with blood and gore galore and some nudity too(Rowlf recalls the Princess bathing in a lake naked).

Naturally Hayao Miyazaki wanted to turn it into a movie.

Granted Miyazaki hasn’t always been kid friendly, heck at the time Nausicaa was a stretch and his later films also attested to that but this one really took the cake. Corben has written a proposal but admitted that adaptation would prove difficult to Japanese audiences but would be a hit in America. Miyazaki drew up some concept art. Now to be clear, Miyazaki has always taken “liberties” with stories he adapts, Pippi Longstocking was a rare exception. It was his first film and he greatly respected the source material, but otherwise if he adapts something, it’s going to come out looking far different than what went in. The story was changed. The Princess had a style similar to the previous film Castle of Cagliostro. Rowlf is drawn a lot cuter and lovable even when wielding a gun. Corben hesitated. He wasn’t against the idea of animation since one of his Stories would be adapted in the film Heavy Metal far more faithfully at around the same time. Also he’d seen Naussicaa and enjoyed it so while not giving the project his blessing, he gave it a shrug, and thus Rowlf was born.

Among the changes Miyazaki made to the story was softening the romance idea from Rowlf’s lust toward the Princess towards the platonic and unconditional love. The King character received more focus and was shown as incompetent. It is he that demands Rowlf be cursed and the wizard is far nicer as a result. Miyazaki’s themes are illustrated in the Demons use of modern weaponry agains the serene and beautiful Fantasy setting. The film ultimately ended up sharing many similarities with Nausicaa. Nowadays however it’s seen as un underrated film in his filmography[1].

Also yes, The Muppet Show couldn't resist parodying it with their own Rowlf in a similar setting on a quest to save miss Piggy.

"It's time to meet your maker on the Muppet Show tonight."

Notes
[1] A film planned OTL but pitched in 1980. ITTL it was pitched earlier due to Miyazaki’s better standing. Comparing it to OTL films is a bit tricky. I’d say it would have elements of the main character’s transformation in Howl’s Moving Castle, the film I imagine its closest to in terms of reception but lacks a romantic love plot and is as violent as Nausicaa. Most of the design from the cancelled Rowlf went to the later Nausicaa OTL, which has the side effect of making the design of Rowlf and it very similar but also refined somewhat. The films already a bit too bizarre and likely doesn’t do that well but is still at least considered a Miyazaki classic. So it has the reception of OTL's Howl's Moving Castle. It's too out child unfriendly for most Miyazaki fans and alienated fans of the original stories, making it a runt of the litter.​

 

[Marco Incognito]

1981 in Anime

Heart(1981)
A series continuation of From the Apennines to the Andes by Studio Ghibli and Takahata, the movie being based off only one chapter of the original book. Takahata chose to return and adapt the rest of the series. The series follows the rest of Enrico Bottini’s life as a boy, telling heart warming stories. Naturally World Masterpiece Theater was delighted to have the chance to release a sequel to the original beloved film[1]

Hashire Melos(1981)
Translated to Run Melos. Directed by Tomoharu Katsumata that ran for 68 minutes. Based on the 1940 short story by Osamu Dezar. The story is set in 360 BC and follows Melos, a greek man arrest for conspiring agains the King and is given three days to travel to his sister’s wedding while a sculptor named Selinentius that Melos just met but the authorities confuse for a friend of his, is taken hostage to ensure Melos returns. Melos is innocent of the crime he is accused on in the film as opposed to being guilty in the original story. The king promises to pardon Melos if he can make the trip to and back but many things hamper Melos’s journey.

Yattodetaman(1981-1982)
The Fourth Installment in the Time Bokan Series by Tatsunoko Production and directed by Hiroshi Sasagawa. Airing on Fuji Tv. The series is set 1000 years in the future. The King of the land of Fir has died and one faction led by Prince Kamaro, princess Mirenjo and two minions, mechanic Julie Kokematsu and guard Alan Sukadon conspire to takeover. However, the rightful ruler is sent on a mission through time and space to find the mysterious Firebird and the villains go on the journey. Princess Karen and her robot dog Daigoron travel to 1981 and recruit the ancestors of the King Water Toei and Kotomu Himekuri for help in stopping the villains and catchingg the Firebird with Wataru becoming Tarrodetaman.

Golden Warrior Gold Lightan(1981-1982)
A Tatsunoko Mecha series that aired on Tokyo 12. Directed by Koichi Mashimo. The series ran for 52 episodes. It was popular in Hong Kong and was released there around the same time. The series follows a young boy named Hiro Takai who gains a goblin lighter that can transform into a sentient gold robot. He id given the mission to stop an alien invasion of Earth by King Ibalda.

Beast King GoLion(1981-1982)
Directed by Katsuhiko Taguchi for Toei Animation and airing on Tokyo Channel 12. The Series is set in 1999. The Gaira Empire has taken over the planet Galra. At the same time Five pilots, Akira Kogane, Takashi Shirogane, Isamu Kurogane, Tsuyoshi Seidou, and Hiroshi Suzuichi return to Earth to find that is has been devastated in a Nuclear War. They are ambushed by the Galra Empire and forced to become gladiator’s in Emperor Daibazaal’s Arena. They escape and arrive on Altea where they learn about the robot GoLion, which was separated into five pieces resembling giant robot Lions capable of flying through space. Fala, the Princess of Altea recruits the five. World Events Productions, founded by Ted Koplar in 1980, was searching for Anime to dub and came across GoLion and made a deal to dub it. As part of the deal the series was adapted faithfully[2].

Hello! Sandybelle(1981-1982)
A series by Toei Animation that aired on TV Asahi. The series was never popular in the US but was in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and Europe, specifically Scandinavia. The series follows a girl who lives in Scotland with her father and dog Oliver. She meets the Countess of Wellington and the arrogant young lady Kitty. The son of the Countess, Marc falls in love with Sandybelle and the Countess gives her a white lily, which reminds her of her mother, which she learns is still alive and goes to search for, who is recovering from amnesia and doesn’t recognize her daughter[3].

Ohayo! Spank(1981)
Translated as Good Morning Spank! Based on the manga written by Shun’ichi Yukimori and illustrated by Shizue Takahashi that ran from 1979 to 1982. The series follows Spank, a go who’s owner went missing and he waits by the beach everyday for him. He meets Aiko Morimura, a high school student waiting for her missing father to return and who recently lost her own pet dog. The two comfort each other and then vow to find each other’s loved ones rather than simply wait.

Doraemon: Nobita’s Spaceship(1981)
Written by Doraemon creator Fujiko F.Fujio. Produced by Shin-Ei Animation and distributed by Toho. It was the second Doraemon film. The film begins severn years before the present where two children named Lopplc and Morina are playing in a park on Koya Koya Planet when an earthquake begins. A ship arrives to save them and they board before the planet is destroyed. A lightning bolt hits the ship and it disappears. Nobita and friends encounter the ship and meet Loppic and Chammy, a rabbit like creature. Loppic(now 12 years old) becomes good friends with Nobita and Doraemon. They learn that a group of planet miners have been going around threatening worlds. Nobita and Doraemon begin to work towards saving each world from the Miners and defeating their corporate boss.

21 Emon(1981-1982)
A series based on a series by Fujiko F.Fujio set in the same world as Doraemon. The Manga ran from 1968 to 1968. The Series is set in then future year of 2018. It follows 21 Emon, who is the 21stin a line of hotel owners who wishes instead to have adventures in space.

Mobile Suit Gundam(1981 Compilation Film)
Following in the footsteps of other Compilation films. Mobile Suit Gundam received one as well with Tomino personally reworking the footage into the first of what would become three films, due to Gundam being more plot heavy and serialized than most other series compiled so far. Tomino changed several elements of the series he was unhappy with. He removed elements he felt were cliches of the genre and removed certain weapons such as Gundam hammer weapon and the G-Armor upgrades with Care Booster support fighters, and Hayato receiving the RX-77 Gun cannon. The release of the film in Japan attracted a large crowd at its premiere, leading to fears it could cause a riot. The Day is seen as a turning point in the history of Anime, known as “The Dat that Anime changed” and became the fourth highest grossing film in Japan that year.

Swan Lake(1981)
Based on the Ballet of the same name by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The first animated film by The Samuel Goldwyn Company. Produced by Toei Animation in partnership with Soyuzmultfilm from the Soviet Union. It was directed by Kimio Yabuki. Tchakovsky’s score was used in the series, which was fairly faithful.

Natsu e no Tobira(1981)
Translates as “The Door into Summer”. Based on the Manga by Keiko Takemiya that ran for one volume in October 1975. It is a short story set in a French Academy where a following a young boy named Marion in love with an older woman named Ledania while Claude is in love with Marion. Two other friends Lind and Jacques begin a rivalry over Ledania. It was adapted by Toei Animation and Madhouse.

Dotakon(1981)
A Comedy manga by Hosuke Fukuchi that ran on Manga Sunday in 1968 and was adapted and broadcast on Fuji TV.

Belle and Sebastian(1981-1982)
Based on the French 1965 novel Belle et Sebastien by French author Cecile Aubry. The series ran for 52 episodes on NHK as a co-production of MK company, Visual 80 Productions and Toho Company. The head writer of the series was Toshiyuki Kashiwakura. The show was the first anime broadcast on Nickelodeon, which launched in 1979. The series shared many of the same staff as Nippon Animation’s World Masterpiece Theater and it is often confused for an entry in the series. The series follows a young boy named Sebastian and his mountain dog Belle in a village in Southern France. Sebastian saved the dog from being put down and the two go on the run from police while searching for his missing mother.

Little Women(1981)
Based on the Louisa May Alcott novel. The series was directed by Kazuya Miyazaki, no relation to Hayao Miyazaki, who’d worked on Honey Idol and Grendizer. It was produced by Toei Animation and aired on Channel 12. Many people falsely believe it was part of World Masterpiece Theater.

Arale-Chan(1981-1986)
Translated simply to Arale in English. Mangaka Akira Toriyama and his editor Kazuhiko Torishina were still relatively new to their professions. Toiryama had difficulty getting a manga off the ground and sought out Osamu Tezuka and Go Nagai among others for advice in improving his writing. Toriyama did write what one story which would serve as the basis for Arale called Ageha-chō Kansatsu Nikki. Toriyama’s first somewhat successful story was female detective story called Tomato the Cutesy gumshoe and this inspired him to write a series starring a female lead. The manga would later provide a likely falsified account of tits own creation process, such as Toriyama wanted to write a story about a doctor and Torishina wanted a robot. It was Torishina’s idea to make the main character Arale. Torishina liked romance while Toriyama did not and it was included largely to appease him. Toriyama did however have to admit that most of his ideas turned out to be good ones. Arale within the story was an android girl created by Senbei Norimaki in a small town of Penguin Village, who acted as a Superhero along with her boyfriend Obatchaman, an incompetent and non powered parody of Superman. The series included a large use of gags, including frequent use of poop in jokes. The series did borrow much from The Mighty Atom and was seen as a parody of it to some extent. Some advertising tried billing the series as “Look out Mighty Atom! Here comes Arale!” Despite Toriyama and Tezuka personally getting along quite well, having a teacher and student relationship and the two series being different enough that their fandoms rarely clashed.

Toriyama and Torishina were not expecting Arale to become as popular as it did but the manga ran from 1980 to 1983. Toriyama wrote the series while working at home with his parents with one assistant who worked one day a week and admitted to making up ideas when Torishina called and asked for the next chapter, sending the rough draft to Tokyo by mail. The series did well, selling a million copies regularly and being awarded the Shogakukan Manga Award for Shonen and Shojo in 1981, but Toriyama wanted to move onto other things and the Chief Editor of Jump and Shueisha refused to allow it to end unless Toriyama could promise a more successful series. One day Toriyama finished a chapter earlier than normal and spent the remaining time brainstorming ideas. He also wanted to be in more control of the Anime adaptation As Arale-Chan’s Anime adaptation took liberties with his own story due to being produced around the same time. The Anime was done by Toei Animation and on Fuji TV on the Saturday 6pm timeslot for five years(a coveted airing time as it meant families would watch it, and most people were available to view it, pretty much guaranteeing success in the ratings). Part of the wide appeal is credited to its use of Toilet and adult humor mixed with compelling storytelling and drama. Still Toriyama was ready to move on. The back of one manga was devoted to answering fan questions and depicted Toriyama and Torishina as robot caricatures of themselves working as Jump. One question towards the end of Arale’s run in 1983 asked what series Toriyama would work on next. Toriyama’s caricature is about to tell them but Torishina silences him by covering his mouth and insisting that the reader stay tuned and buy it when it comes out. Toriyama was only able to get out: “ I am working on a spectacular new series called Dragonb…” before Torishina’s speech bubble blocks it[4].

Furiten-kun(1981)
A theatrical film Based on the Yonkoma Manga(four panel one page jokes like an American comic strip) by Masashi Ueda in several magazines.

Jarinko Chie(1981)
Translated as Chie the Brat. Based on the Manga by Etsumi Haruki, which ran from 1978 to 1997 and won the General Shogakukan Manga award in 1981. The Manga was adapted into a film by Isao Takahata. The film follows the ten year old Chie “The Most unfortunate girl in Japan”. Her father is a member of the Yakuza and runs a small tavern on Osaka. She sneaks out to visit her mother, hoping to reunite her parents and get her father a “Real Job”. The success of the film led to Takahata expressing interest in a TV Show continuation but is too busy with the TV Show adaptation of “Heart” and will begin once that show concludes.

In the News
In other news, Studio Ghibli Producer Toshi Suzuki, a close friend of Miyazaki and Takahata has teased that Miyazaki’s next film is inspired by his own script “Warring States Demon Castle”. Suzuki would later be quoted behind the scenes at Studio Ghibli, questioning Tahata’s choice to adapt Jarinko Chie saying “ After a classic like From the Apennines to the Andes how can you now do a film about a girl cooking eggs on the sidewalk?” [5].

Millennium Queen(1981)
Based on the Manga by Leiji Matsumoto that ran from 1980 to 1983 with Matsumoto involved in the production, therefore conceiving the ending to the Manga in the process. It is a prequel to Galaxy Express 999, depicting the origins of Maetel. While initially conceived as a series, the success of the Galaxy Express 999’s two film adaptations led to it becoming a film instead to capitalize on it and round up the series into a trilogy.

The film begins in 1999, the then future. Professor Amamori discovers a Tenth Planet that will collide with Earth on September 1999 at 9pm 9 minutes and 9 seconds. Th planet is named La-Metal and is revealed to be inhabited by a human like species ruled by Queen Larela, who intends to destroy Earth to prevent the collision with agents led by Andromeda Prometheum, or Queen Millennium who was an agent on Earth for 1,000 years but Andromeda in the human disguise of Yukino Yayoi begins to work with Professor Amamori to prevent both worlds from being destroyed but doing so would require the two worlds to work together. Complicated when War breaks out between the two planets[6].

Tiger Mask II(1981-1982)
A Sequel to the original Tiger Mask which ran from 1969 to 1971. The series followed a new protagonist Tatsuo Aku. An orphan and and an of Tiger Mask revealed to have been the child who’s reaction to Tiger Mask caused him to change his ways and become heroic wrestler. Like the first series, a wrestler adopted the persona of Tiger Mask but Antonio Inoki had retired the role and it went to up and comer Satoru Sayama. Sayama had spent time traveling abroad and had recently returned. He was met both by fans and by other wrestlers with hesitancy that he could match up with the legacy of the original but proved himself by pinning the Dynamite Kid, earning him the respect of Japanese fans and he immediately became a premiere star[7].

GoShogun(1981)
A Super Robot Anime created by Takeshi Shudo and directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. The series is a lighthearted parody of its own genre while keeping a serious tone in contrast to the dark reconstructions of the genre by Tomino. The series is set in the early 21st century. An evil organization called Dokuga led by Lord NeoNeros controls the world. A brilliant scientist named Professor Sanada is taken hostage and forced to work for them but commits suicide, leading his son Kenta to be their next target. Kenta is taken by one of his fathers colleague to Good Thunder, a Flying Fortress made after Sanada discovered an energy with powers both teleportation and the giant robot GoShogun which requires three pilots who travel the world fighting NeoNero’s plans. At the conclusion it is revealed that the energy, called Beamler, use din the robot and teleportation came from space and arrived from a meteorite that landed at the site of the Tunguska 1909 blast. The energy was intended to test humans to see if they were worthy of contact with aliens with NeoNeros using the negative form of the energy. Kenta defeats NeoNeros and takes GoShogun into space to make first contact. GoShogun was the first Anime dubbed by Saban Entertainment(formed in 1980)[8].

The Sea Prince and the Fire Princess(1981)
Based on a story by Shintaro Tsuji. Itself a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet. The God of Water Glaucus and Goddess of Fire Themis fall in love until Argon, Lord of the Winds turns them against each other, starting a war that ended when the highest god struck down Argon, removing his eye, the source of his power and casting him down in to the ocean, giving the eye to Glaucus. Themis at the same time creates “The Holy Flame” near the sea to protect her children from the ocean.

Years later, Glaucus’s son Prince Sirius becomes the heir to the Sea Kingdom and protector of the Eye of Argon while at the same time. Themis’s daughter Malta is about to succeed her as Queen and is entrusted with the Holy Flame. Sirius’s little brother Teak wanders off to the surface but returns to the sea while Sirius ends up meeting Malta who saves him when the Holy Flame seems to attack him and knock him unconscious. Sirius returns home and is made ruler. A giant Japanese salamander named Mabuse tries to take the eye of Argon for himself but is defeated by Sirius. Afterwards Sirius returns to Malta and while both are hesitant they begin to trust each other and eventually fall in love with frequent visits before Sirius has to return to the sea as the sun is dangerous to him. Before he leaves the two share a kiss.

Sirius and Malta are seen together by Teak while giant jellyfish attack the sea Kingdom while Sirius is away and he arrives too late, causing Teak, who was injured in the attack to lash out. Sirius speaks with the wise turtle Moelle but is told to forget Malta. Sirius does go to see Malta again but Mabuse follows. Unable to be with Sirius after being crowned Queen and no longer needing to guard the Holy Flame, Malta throws herself into it when Sirius tries to stop her and both fall unconscious to be rescued by Moelle. Moelle tells them of the past and the two lovers embraced, implying they can be together. Moelle says there is a star where Water and Fire can come together and that a flowers called the Klaeco blossoms there will allow them to be together. The place is called Mobius Hill and the flowers float up the star, indicating the way. The flower blooming will occur during an eclipse where Malta will be made Queen. Mabuse overhears this and flees to report them but Moelle chases after him before revealing where Mobius Hill is. The Eternal flame, unattended, goes out. Piale, Malta’s assistant who has witnessed her love for Sirius, confesses her love for Malta before sacrificing herself to become the new Holy Flame and buy time for her and Sirius to flee to Mobius Hill. The deception is discovered and Sirius and Malta are discovered together by Glaucus and Themis, who forcibly separate the two and imprison them.

Malta is freed by friends of Piale. Teak tries and fails to get Sirius out of prison. Sirius continues to call Malta’s name and earns sympathy from the creatures of the sea. Mabuse attempts to trick Teak into stealing the eye of Argon and using it to break Sirius out in order to steal the eye for himself. Teak tells Sirius this plan and he realizes the deception but Sirius refuses to be given the eye and tells Teak to go to the King, only for Teak to be amused by Mabuse and his gang, who take the eye and use it to break Argon free. Argon goes on a rampage, drawing the attention of Glaucus and Temis to fight and defeat him together. Sirius escapes when his dungeon is destroyed while the destruction also threatens the surface world and Malta. Sirius finds Teak dying after Mabuse wounded him with Argon having killed Mabuse and his followers shortly after being released. Teak tells Sirius to find Malta before he dies. Sirius is late and Malta tries and fails to stop the spores of the Klaesco Blossoms from floating away. Malta is then transformed into the new Fire Queen. Sirius goes on a dangerous journey, losing his eyes when he falls from a collapsing cliff. He finally finds Malta, who has become bitter and she refuses to speak with him. Sirius chases after her as the eclipse ends despite Malta’s warnings about the sun. The sunlight kills Sirius and Malta weeps. She then promises they won’t be apart again and carries his body into the water, which in turn kills her. Glaucus brings their bodies to Themis in the aftermath and the two sides have a joint funeral to bury the two together as they wanted. Glaucus and Themis discuss the possibilities of uniting their kingdoms again. In an epilogue, Moelle finishes narrating the story to children of both fire and water and says they now share a star in the night sky, which appears as both blue and red.

The Enchanted Journey(1981)
Based on the 1970 book of the same name by Atsuo Saito and produced by Studio Korumi. The series follows the domestically raised chipmunk Glikko, who learns from a carrier pigeon named Pippo about chipmunks in the North Forest and decides to leave to join them, facing many dangers[9].

Kyōfu Densetsu Kaiki! Frankenstein(1981)
A 98 Minute film based on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the Marvel Comic Book series. It is a combination of the films and novel. The monster resembles the Boris Karloff version but is depicted more sympathetically. After creating the monster, Dr.Frankenstein tries to destroy his creation, which kills his assistant and falls off the cliff. The monster begins to accidentally kill people but befriends Frankenstein’s family, including his grandfather, a kind old man, and granddaughter.When the monster kills a member of the family again, the family is convinced the monster did it on purpose and are too late to realize the truth. The monster is killed and Dr.Frankenstein in horror commits suicide.

Captain Harlock: The Last Voyage(1981)
The character’s first solo film by Matsumoto. Harlock and his enemy Dressler are forced to team up against a new enemy called the Bolars that threatens the galaxy[10].

Ninja Hattori-kun(1981-1987)
Based on the manga by the duo Fujiko Fujio that ran from 1964 to 1988. The show aired on Shin-Ei Animation. The series follows 10 year old Kenichi Mitsuba who struggles with school due to being stubborn and lazy. He befriends Kanzo Hattori, a kid who is the descendant of famed ninja Hattori Hanzo with his entire family down to his baby sister and his dog being ninjas. Hattori is a good friend towards Kenichi and supports him while trying to encourage him to be better. Kenichi is too lazy to commit to ninja training and relies on Hattori. They had an enemy in Kemumaki, a rival kid Ninja with a ninja cat who tries to put the two friends against each other. Not helping this is Kenichi usually asks Hattori for help getting revenge but he refuses if the reason is petty. One instance had Kenichi claim that a bully of his killed someone, leading Hattori to go after the bully and stop barely short of killing him when Kenichi reveals he lied. Kenichi and Hattori are also in love with the same girl.

SuperBible(1981-1982)
A Christian Anime series telling stories from the Bible by Tatsunoko and TV Tokyo with the Christian Broadcasting Network airing it in the US. To the chagrin of Christian groups, the Anime did not shy away from adapting the darker and violent elements of Bible Stories. The battle between David and Goliath is intense. Job’s life falling apart is depicted as agonizing to watch. The destruction of Sodom and Gamorah is depicted like the atom bomb going off with the people inside turning into salt. The series ran for 52 episodes with 26 episodes used to tell the Old Testament and the other half for the new. The framing device is of a boy named Chris Shephard discovering the titular Super Bible which is a bible that can transport someone into the story described. Peeper and his friends discover a time traveling villain trying to disrupt history and must thwart him every episode. This time traveling villain appears to be a Demon capable of shapeshifting, possibly Satan. In the finale, Chris discovers he is the second coming of Jesus and using time travel, disappears and reappears as an adult to fight the Demon. He appears to die but is revealed to be alive three episodes later and resumes the final battle defeating the Demon and then his friends are pulled out of the book with Chris returning with no memories of what had happened[11].

God Mars(1981-1982)
A Mecha Animation series based loosely on the 1976 Manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. The titular Robot is named after the Roman God of War. The series was popular in Japan, Hong Kong and Italy and ran for 64 episodes. The series is set in 1999 where Humanity has expanded beyond the Solar System. The planet Gishin and its Emperor Zul tries to conquer the Earth and sends a boy named Mars to Earth with a robot named Gaia which can destroy the entire planet and will do so if the pilot dies. Mars grows up being adopted by a Japanese family who named his Takeru and grows to love Earth, going against his purpose to defend Earth instead, joining the Earth Defense Force and fights against his true home. Mars later discovers that he was not the only one sent and has to fight several others, some like him and some not. The series did very well and won the Anime Grand Prix in 1982[12].

Dash Kappei(1981-1982)
Based on the manga by Noboru Rokuda that ran from 1978 to 1982. It was adapted into 65 episodes by Tatsunolo directed by Masayuki Hayashi(known as Rintaro). It aired on Fuji Tv on Sundays at 6pm. It was one of Tatsunoko’s most successful show in the early 90’s and did excellent in ratings which reached 15 to 20%. It was also successful in Italy and the entire manga was released there translated with the original names. It was also popular in Spain and Latin America. The series follows teenager Kappei Sakamoto who is a high school student that joins the basketball team. He is less than a meter tall and has a weakness for women’s underwear. He falls in love with another athlete named Akane. He is challenged in his advances by Akane’s dog Seichiro, who is smart enough to sabotage Kappei’s efforts with his owner.

Galaxy Cyclone Braiger(1981-1982)
A 39 episode Mecha Series. The series was based on taking a scientific approach like Robo Trider G7. Focusing heavily on the science to make Mechas plausible and was made largely by a Korean team with illustrator Kazuo Komatsubara asked to create characters in the style of Lupin III. The story is set in 2111 in a world where the solar system has been colonized and crime in running rampant, leading Team Cosmoranger J9 to be formed to fight the underworld with the Robot Braiger. The heroes are mercenaries. Earth itself if divided by four powers, one of which, Nubia, seeks to destroy Jupiter to create more habitable planets at the risk of destroying the Earth.

Honey Honey no Suteki na Bouken(1981-1982)
Based on the Shojo Manga by Hideko Mizuno. The series lasted 29 episodes and was adapted by Kokusai Eiga-sha(Movie International Company, Ltd). And was released as Honey Honey in the US, European countries and Latina America(the title translates roughly to Honey Honey’s Wonderful Adventures).

The story begins in Vienna in 1907 where Princess Flora is having a birthday. Many suitors come to propose marriage. A jewel thief called the Phoenix comes to steal the Princess’s gemstone, “The Smile of the Amazon” which is a ring the Princess wears. When the thief tries and fails to steal the ring, he comments the princess is not beautiful without the ring. The Princess surprises everyone by hiding the ring(in a fish being served) and promises whoever can find it will marry her. A young girl working as a servant named Honey brings her cat Lily to the party, who eats the fish, accidentally swallowing the ring. This causes Honey and Lily to flee from the suitors, including the Phoenix. Honey is unaware of why the suitors are after her. She then boards a hot air balloon to escape them, continuing the adventure as she travels to various cities from Paris, New York, London, Oslo, Monte Carlo, Tokyo and Gibraltar. Honey falls in love with the Phoenix and views the Princess chasing her as a villain. While the ring is removed by a Veteran. It is discovered Honey is the younger sister of Princess Flora and a new antagonist named Slag is introduced who usurped control of the kingdom, forcing the young Honey to be hidden and placing Flora in charge. The Phoenix saves Honey during which there is an explosion(implied to be the Tunguska Event of 1908). Honey reunited with her father who is working as a gardener in Russia but Honey, her father and the Phoenix are captured and sold into slavery. Honey is sold to an Indian Sultan. Honey discovers a magic carpet in his possession and takes it, flying away to look for her father and the Phoenix. This leads to a showdown in New York as Princess Flora, the Phoenix, the suitors and Honey Honey’s father all converged in the city. It happens to be 1933 when King Kong is set loose in the city and abducts Princess Flora before Honey Honey is able to convince King Kong to let her go and she does. This leads to the Princess allying with Honey as thanks and helping take down Slag. Honey marries the Phoenix. Princess Flora throws the ring away and the suitors go after a dog with the ring in its mouth.

Miss Machiko(1981-1983)
Original title was “The Shame of Miss Machiko” by Takeshi Ebihara which ran from 1980 to 1982. The series was adapted in 95 episodes by Studio Perrot. The series focused on Miss Machiko Mai, an elementary school teacher who is the target for boys trying to look up her skirt or catch her undressing. Machiko usually shrugs these off and genuinely tries to help the students despite their efforts. In the Anime Rihoko Yoshida voices Machiko[13].

Dogtanian and the Three Muskehounds(1981-1982)
A Spanish-Japanese children’s show adaptation Alexander Dumas’s story d’Artagnon and the Three Musketeers. Produced by BRB Internacional and Nippon Animation and broadcast on MBS. The characters in the story are anthropomorphized dogs. In Spain it was broadcast on Television Espanola’s Primera Cadena. The partnership worked well enough that they would collaborate on another series in the future. It was dubbed in English by Intersound USA and broadcast on the BBC. It can be found on Youtube and Netflix.

Ulysses 31(1981-1982)
A French-Japanese Coproduction providing a science fiction update to the greek myth of Odysseus. It is set in the 31st century and consisted of 26 episodes coproduced but DIC Audiovisuel and TMS Entertainment. The plot was created by French executive Jean Chapolin. In the series, Odysseus, who is the Captain of a crew on a spaceship, battles and killed a giant Cyclops to save a group of children. Zeus is angered by this and curses Odysseus and his crew to wander the universe until they find the Kingdom of Hades, where the dead crew members can be revived and they can return to Earth. They meet other figures from greek mythology with a Scifi twist. The show aired in the US on Kideo TV[14].

Urusei Yatsura(1981-1986)
Based on the manga series by Rumiko Takahashi which ran from 1978 to 1987. The series began as a short story called Those Selfish Aliens in 1977 and the actual series was published when Takahashi was 21 years old. The title roughly translates to “Those obnoxious Aliens”. In the story, an Alien Race called the Oni arrive to invade Earth but instead of simply invading they propose a game of tag where if the human player can touch the horns of the Oni Player within one week. The invaders select the human champion. They choose high school student Ataru Moroboshi while the Oni player is Princess Lum, daughter of the leader of the alien invaders, who perpetually wears only a tiger stripe bikini. When the competition starts Lum flies away and Ataru nearly gives up until his girlfriend Shinobu Miyake promises to marry him if he wins. Ataru barely wins the competition by stealing Lum’s bikini top, leading her to cover herself and allow Ataru to grab her horns. Ataru wins but mentions how he is happy to get married, which Lum mistakes for a proposal and accepts on live television. This causes Lum t fall in love with Ataru and move into his house and later the same school. Ataru tries to reconnect with Shinobu, making Lum jealous. Lum also develops many admirers at the school. The series was adapted by Kitty Films and aired on Fuji TV. In 1982, the Anime was ranked sixth in Animage’s reader voted Grand Prix and climbed to Fourth, usually remaining in the top ten for the rest of its run.

Fang of the Sun Dougram(1981-1983)
A 75 episode series created by Ryosuke Takahashi and Sunrise that aired on TV Tokyo. The series begins in a desert on the colony planet of Deloyer where a red haired woman stands before a destroyed robot. The woman hallucinates a group of armed soldiers and the undestroyed robot only for a man named Rocky to lead the girl to safety. The series then flashes back. There is talks of independence from the Earth Federation on the Deloyer colony and a coup in launched. The Governor, Donan Cashim declares martial law and becomes absolute dictator with support from the Federation. A group including the Governor’s son Crinn Cashim rebel using the Combat Armor, the Dougram to fight for independence. The main group is known as the Deloyer 7. The series employs realistic combat armor, support vehicles and military tactics. Like Gundam, Dougram uses a “Space Century” calendar and goes into great detail on the generation of Mechas created and their features such as size weapons and history. It was the first successor to what would become the “Real Robot” genre inspired by Gundam due to sharing production designer Kunio Kawara working on both. The series was a hit, especially surprising due to the focus on Mechanical details, military tactics and slow pace.Merchandising was done by Toymaker Takara, who created plastic model kits, die cast toys. They also released strategy war-games based on the setting with die cast tiny metal pieces. The smaller pieces were released in a Collection series, sometimes with plastic parts that could be attached. Similarly there were also metal endoskeletons which plastic armor could be attached and swapped out. Takara also had Dougam toys with magnets that allowed parts to be connected. The series was released in North America with the toys as well, sometimes packages with similar toys from other Mecha series.

Daicon I(1981)
An Anime Opening short film made on 16mm film that was made for the 1981 Daicon IV Nihon SF Taikai Convention. In fact it was completed moments before its presentation at the morning of the convention. They were noteworthy for the high level of production quality for amateur filmmakers, many of which would go onto find Studio Daicon such as Hideakki Anno, Hiyouki Yamaga, and Takami Akai all students at the time at Osaka University of Arts. The group worked as cheaply as possible at Okada’s home, taking turns with Akai doing the character animations and Anno the Mecha. Osamu Tezuka watched the film and commented “ All there certainly are a lot of characters in that film…there are also a lot of characters that aren’t in the film.” Making the group realize they hadn’t depicted Tezuka characters and they vowed to fix this in their next film. The film directly addresses the convention goers and the Otaku, even somewhat making jokes at their expense. Several elements of copyright are broken such as several American songs. The quality of the openings has led them alone to qualify on top 100 Anime entries. To pay off the debt Video copies were sold, resulting in the invention of the DVA(Direct to Video Anime).

The first Daicon Opening depicted the jet from Ultraman descending down witnessed by a school girl. The School Girl is taking care of a Daikon(a type of radish). The Radish explains that it is an alien ship filled with aliens that need to return home. It can grow things but needs more water to grow living things. The little girl runs to get a glass of water but the sink is not working and the neighbors aren’t home so she goes to the store to get some followed by an alien probe. As she runs out, Ultraman appears fighting The monster Gamora. Several aliens and robots including Godzilla, Gamera, King Ghidorah, Daimajin crash in the background. An alien probe who followed the girl uses technology to bring several of the toys in her backpack to life, including spaceships from Starship Troopers, Star Wars, War of the Worlds, Atragon, Space Asteroid Icarus and Star Trek. To protect the girl and help fight the Kaiju but most are destroyed. The little girl is granted a small mecha and a lightsaber to fight with. The little girl finally makes it to the Daikon and when she delivers the water it turns into a giant spaceship and flies into the air, being revealed to be piloted by the film’s producers. The Spaceship then shape shifts and transforms into the Convention Hall as a way repaying humanity.

The Mecha the little girl uses was a tease for an in progress Starship Troopers anime. While the team was originally planning to disband upon the film’s completion, it was well received and they were now experienced animators with a promise and a desire for more[15].

NOTES

[1] OTL the series Ai noGakko Cuore Monogatari was released(The Story of Cuore, School of Love), though Cuore means Heart in Italian. The series is indeed an adaptation as the same novel partly adapted in 3000 Leagues in Search of Mother, though done by Nippon Animation and Mainichi Broadcasting System. ITTL its done by Takahata instead. Without Heidi existing ITTL he only really has one famous work that’s all his and not Miyazaki’s. So he might be open to the idea of making a sequel to it adapting the rest of the novel.

[2] OTL what happened is World Events Production sampled some Anime and asked for “The One with the Lion” meaning Future Robot Daltanious which had a large Lion head on the chest plate. Due to a misunderstanding Beast King GoLion was sent instead(since it had robot Lions) and the World Events Production staff loved it, leading to it be dubbed into what we know as Voltron. ITTL dubs rights are snatched up immediately in most cases and are usually as faithful as possible, basically OTL’s dubbing practices much earlier meaning the misunderstanding doesn’t happen. However, because there’s an influx of Mecha Anime into America, Voltron will have to fight harder to become popular. Keep in mind that it is largely forgotten in Japan. Voltron ITTL is under the threat of becoming a largely forgotten Mecha Anime among many others, lucky to get a roster slot when Super Robot Wars comes around.

[3] OTL the series originally had the name Sandybelle but at some point the “e” at the end dropped off and it is now known as Sandybell just through cultural osmosis. ITTL it has a Mandela Effect thing to it where people don’t remember whether or not it had an e at the end.

[4] OTL the series was called Dr.Slump, referring to the nickname of the scientist character Senbei Norimaki, who was originally the main character before it became Arale, hence the title change ITTL to reflect it. The series itself is somewhat different due to some Tezuka influence, making it somewhat more Astro Boy esque but with Toriyama’s humor. While Toriyama is usually thought of as being a more intense writer due to Dragonball Z, he did not start off that way and Dr.Slump is noticeably different due to the immature humor present. Still it was a success and I won’t take away someone’s enjoyment of it just because I don’t like scat humor. Also this series is responsible for the existence of the Poop emoji, due to how Toriyama drew it. I am really temped to butterfly away the poop emoji if Toriyama wasn’t so fond of it that he’d likely use it at least once ITTL. I’d say it never catches on.

[5] OTL Isao Takahata directed the animated series adaptation of Jarinko Chie for Tokyo Movie Shinsha and Toho. ITTL however, he is part of Studio Ghibli and is also bust with the “Heart” TV Series since he’d want to be involved with a show based on a film he created and so is not involved. Because of “Heart” the Jarinko Chie TV show which OTL followed the film the same year has been delayed.

As for Toshio Suzuki, OTL he was a journalist and editor for Animage which began a friendship with Miyazaki after interviewing him for The Castle of Calgiostro. When OTL’s “Jarinko Chie” was released Suzuki asked Takahata "After producing a classic like Heidi, how can you now do a film about a girl cooking giblets on skid row in Osaka?”. Ironically he would go onto become the producer for Studio Ghibli.


However it should be noted that OTL as an editor, Suzuki asked for an interview with Takahata and Miyazaki on Hols: Prince of the Sun but was refused. ITTL he was not for TTL’s equivalent for the Sun over Chikkisani and interviewed the two, where they announced they were forming Studio Ghibli. As with their OTL first meeting in 1978, Suzuki and Miyazaki became friends and he became involved with Studio Ghibli much earlier, meaning TTL’s equivalent of his OTL quote referring to Jarinko Chie is a behind the scenes question that comes out years later when he is interviewed for “Making of” special features and laughs about it. The film unmade film mentioned “Warring States Demon Castle” was proposed by Suzuki to Miyazaki OTL in 1981 but was rejected. ITTL Miyazaki agreed though since little is known about it, the film will likely be TTL’s equivalent to Princess Mononoke or close to it.

[6] Millennium Queen is called Queen Millennia OTL(a slight change in how it was translated from the original title. It was a show OTL and not a film and was cancelled due to low ratings. Backed up by the strength of the two others films and the tease that we finally learn Maetel’s origins it does better. OTL Maetel Legend, which contradicted the Queen Millennia was made in 2000 and Queen Millennia is preferred by the fans over it. Maetel Legend will likely not be made ITTL for reasons that will be revealed later on.

[7] OTL Satoru Sayama was the first Wrestler to use the Tiger Mask identity. ITTL he’s the second. So the hurdle isn’t a fictional wrestler becoming a real one but whether he’s a worthy successor. I honestly considered killing off Antonio Inoki in an allusion to Rikidozan’s OTL death where he was stabbed in a fight with a Yakuza member but Inoki OTL had a successful career in politics and many achievements that it would be a shame to butterfly away all that. Art doesn’t have to imitate life that much. I imagine at some point there’s a scene where it is revealed that Sayama didn’t know Inoki was Tiger Mask only that Tiger Mask disappeared after an accident(shown in footage during a wrestling match) and Inoki simply retired the role. This leads to Inoki and Sayama battling over who deserves the identity of Tiger Mask with Sayama losing since he was planning on leaving New Japan anyway and left OTL in 1983, leaving the mantle of Tiger Mask empty, the mask symbolically left propped up empty on the ring floor.

[8] The average Anime series was shorter than US Syndication required(65 episodes required for Syndication versus the average 52 Episodes of an anime). This usually resulted in American distributors editing unrelated Anime together to frame it as a longer story. A practice which doesn’t exist ITT due to different Syndication rules. OTL Go Shogun suffered this fate at Saban’s hand and was merged with Akū Dai Sakusen Srungle (Great Military Operation in Subspace Srungle or Mission Outer Space Srungle) to become Macron 1.

[9]OTL the Enchanted Journey boasted the English voice talent of Jim Backus and Orson Welles. ITTL Orson Welles’s so far sole anime credit is Lord Yupa from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind(OTL it was Patrick Stewart due to Naussicaa’s 1984 release OTL).

[10] Replaces OTL’s Adieu Galaxy Express 999, an arguably unnecessary sequel where a 16 year old Tetsuro reunites with Maetel to take down Queen Prometheum again. ITTL its rendered redundant as elements from the film go into TTL’s Adieu Galaxy Express 999, which is part two of the Galaxy Express 999 compilation movie. Here a Harlock film is made instead but doesn’t do as well as expected similar to how OTL Queen Millennia didn’t do that well. The Bolas are antagonists from OTL’s Space Battleship Yamato III, which doesn’t exist iTTL.

[11] OTL’s Superbook, nowhere near that extreme but I couldn’t resist when I heard Bible Anime.

[12] Slightly different title since having enemies and allies on the same level rather than allies was more interesting. OTL Six God Combination Godmars was featured in Super Robot Wars with a special game over screen based on its home series. ITTL when it is defeated, it will explode. The player controlling God Mars can either fly off and try to explode in space, or explode and try to take out the opponents.

[13] Miss Machiko is slightly different than OTL as it otherwise hasn’t age well due to playing sexual harassment for comedy, especially underage children which could send the wrong message. To counter this Miss Machiko is much smarter and doesn’t just try to shrug it off but does indeed address it and scolds the children while trying to help them flat out telling them that such behavior is not ok.

[14] Odysseus 31 had a pilot. The plot was identical but all the character designs were completely different. ITTL the character designs from the Pilot are used.

[15] Titled Daicon III OTL. Here the Convention’s founding was delayed, making OTL’s third convention the first so that the video is titled the First. The plot of the opening is slightly different due to my attempts to justify all the weird stuff that just shows up with no rhyme or reason.

And now for those butterflied away:

Swiss Family Robinson. World Masterpiece Theater released an adaptation of it this year. ITTL with Takahata making a sequel to From the Apennines to the Andes, they jumped on that instead, butterflying away this adaptation. It may come back if World Masterpiece Theater has an empty slot created by another production butterflied away.

The Fantastic Adventures of Unico. Doesn’t need to exist. Unico OTL had several pilot movies that were never picked up. Since it’s Tezuka’s creation and Mushi Productions is still active and owned by him. Tezuka simply asked for a show to be made and has moved onto other projects.

Ashita No Joe 2. Doesn’t exist due to the Compilation Movies. The next animated entry in the series will be a remaster on DVD and later Blu Ray which includes two separate series on it with the viewer having the choice to choose one of two endings whether Joe lives or dies(Similar to the DVD release of Batman: Death of the Family that was multiple choice).

Dr.Slump and Arale-Chan: Hello! Wonder Island. The crew has decided to focus on the series for the time being which was released at the same time, leading elements of the short film to be reworked into the series.

The Gutsy Frog 2. Given the fairly simple premise. I decided to just butterfly it.

Taotao. The 1981 film is largely forgotten with the 1983 show remembered anyway so ITTL it doesn’t exist.

Space Warrior Baldos. A 1981 film compressing the unfinished and unreleased final 5 episodes of the series was released. ITTL the series completed its run. Butterflying away the film.

The Delayed:

Mobile Suit Gundam II: Soldiers of Sorrow. Sunrise is smart enough to realize the movies would be a big franchise and make the choice to delay the second film for a next year release, which allows animation touch ups and plot reworking.

Jarinko Chie TV Series. Delayed as Takahata wants to see if the movie will do well first before jumping into making a show about it.​