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Sunday, 05-Jul-2009 12:28:22 CDT
History
of Anime in the U.S.
The Star Blazing 70's
In the 1970's, another wave of anime swept
through the US. While it didn't have the same sort of cultural impact
that the first one did, it's far closer to most fans. It began with
the (primarily East Coast) phenomena of Star Blazers (Yamato), although
in some markets the influence of Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman)
was even more pronounced. These two series, arriving fairly close
together in the US, took two different routes in their Americanization:
Star Blazers was frequently dead on accurate when it came to plotlines
and dialogue.
For those of you who are wondering, the Japanese equivalent of the
Earth saving "Cosmo DNA" was even MORE inane in the Japanese version
so we can't blame Westchester Films for that one. There were cuts
in the second episode (where the US Navy sinks the Yamato and we
see its gallant crew fighting off those evil Grummans and such)
and some others, but for the most part the show arrived here intact.
Dialogue, of course, was altered to reflect the West's perceived
backlash against the entire crew of the Yamato drinking Sake during
critical events, and the entire suicide-mission aspect of the story
was significantly toned down. Still, the strength of the original
shines through in those first two series: they're still a treat
to watch today.
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