A great new way to watch Tezuka anime has recently appeared, and it's all 100% free and legal!
Viki, a website with international video entertainment, authorized for streaming with crowd sourced subtitles, is now offering the the complete 80's Astro Boy series, the Black Jack anime, and the sequel series, Black Jack 21.
The 80's Astro Boy has been legally streaming in other forms before, but what makes this special is that this is the Japanese release rather than the English dub. All 52 episodes are accounted for, including he original versions of the first and second episode, which were edited and combined into one episode for the English language broadcast. So, this may be the first time some of you have seen the full origin of Atlas! This was absent from the region 1 DVD release. I haven't gone through it all, but I imagine other episodes may have scenes missing from the English version. These episodes even feature the original Japanese title cards.
Unfortunately, due to the nature of crowd sourced translations, there are some mistakes in the subtitles. One embarrassing instance has the famous villain character call himself "Skank" instead of "Skunk". However, by registering for an account, one gains access to a subtitle editor, and so the translation can be continuously improved upon by the users watching it.
This is one of the bigger developments in Astro-Fandom for quite awhile! Plus, we get Black Jack 21, which has never been streamed with English subtitles before. This is very exciting stuff, and it bodes well for future releases of more Tezuka shows and other classic anime.
Let's dig into the archives and take a look at this classic Astro Boy oddity, the Mighty Gun!
Yeah, basically it's just a standard sci-fi-esque plastic suction cup dart gun with an Astro Boy sticker on it. Real original. But what is quite interesting is the young Atlas target it comes with. Because we all remember the time when Astro shot Atlas with a gun, right?
Continue reading "Mighty Gun"...
Found this recent article about the Chinese animation business, which details some of the obstacles the industry has faced and some of the measures taken by the government to promote it's home grown cartoons while limiting the exposure of foreign imports.
Surprisingly, this article does not mention Imagi at all, in spite coming off the heals of recent shake-ups at the company. What is mentioned, however, is a very interesting fact that I was not previously aware of. The 1980's Astro Boy anime was one of the very first foreign produced cartoons granted entry into China. Here's a video I found of the Chinese Astro Boy theme music.
I always knew that Astro was a popular and important character with Chinese people but now it really makes sense. Of course, this was a double edged sword because it opened the floodgates for Japanese animation in China but at the expense of the country's own cartoon business. Now, such things are highly regulated by the government and China's animation industry is trying to catch up.
I love cartoons and I really enjoy going through the rich history of Japanese anime but I know next to nothing about Chinese animation. I would like to learn more and I think that all animation can only benefit from being shared and allowing new cultural influences while still exploring a cultural identity.
Growing pains of China's animation movie
by Wu Chen
BEIJING, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Freelance writer Wang Xin watched James Cameron's new movie Avatar in December during her visit to America. She was moved by the story and amazed by the 3D effects of the half-animated movie.
The film reminded Wang, a 29-year-old cartoon fan, of a Chinese-made animated movie The Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf she watched at the beginning of 2009.
The film told the story of several goats who were fighting their enemy, the Big Big Wolf, who covets fresh mutton for his family.
It cost 6 million yuan to produce and fetched more than 80 million yuan (11.76 million U.S. dollars) at the box office.
In addition to children, many white-collar workers liked the film. "How to marry a husband like the Big Big Wolf" became a hot topic on the Internet.
The singer, Yafeng, made a song about the desire. He explains why the wolf was worthy of love. "I love you more than loving myself... although I'm very hungry, I will let you take the first bite when I catch a goat..."
There were at least eight domestically-produced animated films last year in China, making it a "blowout" year for China's cartoon films according to critics.
Yin Hong, professor and director of the Center for Film and Television Studies of Tsinghua University, said the production scale of China's cartoon industry has been expanded to more than 140,000 minutes of animation this year, which formed the foundation for many films.
He contributes the growth to the continuous efforts of the government, which set up supporting policies to boost domestic animation industry.
In 2000, the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) required local TV stations to get approval from the administration and set quotas for imported cartoons to air on TV.
In 2004, it issued another regulation, stipulating that at least 60 percent of cartoon programs aired in any given quarter had to be domestic.
In September 2006, the SARFT banned all foreign cartoons from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Last February it extended the ban to 9 p.m.
Additionally, the Chinese government has made an annual investment of 200 million yuan in the animation industry since 2006.
Last July, the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued a favorable taxation policy to support the development of comic and animation industry.
It seems the measures have started to pay off.
China currently has some 6,000 companies making cartoons and comics. According to a report from the Ministry of Culture (MOC) last March, the industry now employs more than 200,000 workers and yearly production of animation was up to 130,000 minutes in 2008.
However, besides the lucky "Happy Goat" and the Mainland-Hong Kong co-production McDull, Kung Fu Kindergarten, other animated films, including The Magic Aster, Happy Running, and the 3D Prequel of the Monkey King didn't do so well at box office.
A poll done by the China Youth Daily in November 2008 showed that only 14.2 percent of the nearly 3,000 people polled liked Chinese cartoons the best.
By contrast, 62.4 percent of respondents said their favorite animated films were U.S.-made. Another 45.9 percent favored films from Japan.
Chinese animation germinated in the 1920s with Uproar in the Studio a 12-minute cartoon made in 1926. The first animated feature length film called "Tie Shan Gongzhu," or "Princess Iron Fan," was made in 1941.
Before the 1980s, China made a lot of animated films. Many of them are still thought of as masterpieces today by fans, including The Monkey King, Secrets of the Heavenly Book, and Nezha Conquers the Dragon King. These were adapted from Chinese legends.
The first foreign cartoon introduced to China was Japan's Astro Boy series in 1981. Since then foreign cartoons have flooded into China. Because of their more entertaining stories and better business model, they rapidly took control of the market. That was a low point for the Chinese animation industry.
From 1993 to 2003, China only produced 46,000 minutes of animation. Jin Cheng, a director with the Guangzhou Animation and Cartoon Association, said the main reason for these Chinese films' failure in box office was poor preparation and too much focus on success and money.
"Some animation companies made a film in 9 months. They never paid attention to first-phase layout, not to mention delicate polishing," Jin said.
Many of these films, launched with high expectations and great public relations campaigns, got an indifferent response from the market after hitting the big screen.
To Wang Xin, the movie version of the Plesant Goat was a simple cut-and-paste from its original TV series. "The idea, images, and technology were terrible compared to foreign cartoon movies. The film even didn't have a full storyline," she noted.
She said that today's Chinese-made animation lacks the human touch that earlier Chinese cartoons had.
Many producers prefer to add hot social topics, such as the financial crisis, or popular Internet topics to their movies.
"I feel no sincerity from local animation producers toward their audience," Wang Xin said.
Yin Hong said, under current circumstances, it's reasonable for local producers to avoid competition with their foreign counterparts in terms of technology, special effects and other hard conditions.
"The gap between them is too wide," he said.
Wang Xin blames the gap on the protective policies. "These companies won't make progress without competition. Instead, they will lower the taste of domestic audience as they can only watch low-grade animation. It's a vicious circle," Wang said.
Lu Ming, a cartoonist who publishes his comic books in European countries, said the supporting policy, which regulates how animation producing companies get subsidies according to the time length of their productions, damages the artistic and cultural purchase of producers.
"They became total businessmen, and cartoons were only a tool for them to make money," Lu said.
He used his own experience with his book as an example. Even with well-connected storylines, complicated images, and Chinese cultural relevance, he could not find publishers in the domestic market. He had a stable group of readers in foreign countries.
Yin Hong said at the first stage, the policies did stimulate the expansion of the scale of domestic animation industry, however, the policies only emphasized quantity.
He said the direction should be shifted from competition on cost to competition in quality.
"Instead of getting money from just making out an animation, the producers have to consider more about market response, which will force them pay more attention to improve the animation's quality," he said.
He also said policies should encourage the integration of companies and the development of brand and reputation.
As they develop the quality of domestic animation, they will attract larger audiences. As the market grows, local producers will have more space to focus on creativity, Yin said.
Here's a little musical interlude I just discovered on YouTube that should brighten up your day. It's a piano cover of the end theme from the 1980's Astro Boy anime series. Catchy tune and great job by the pianist!
Brings back great memories for those of us that grew up with the show, doesn't it?
The Sci-Fi Block is now presenting a great article that will serve as a primer or re-introduction to the rich history of Astro Boy. This retrospective on the character touches upon pretty much every iteration of the story, starting with the manga and moving onwards to each of the 3 TV series, noting the story themes and what makes each of them unique. On board to help set the scene is the amazing Ada Palmer from Tezuka in English.
Even if you've been a fan for a long time, this article is certainly worth checking out. And if you're new to all this, it's a great place to start. Read "A Brief History of Astro Boy" on The Sci-Block.
Haven't seen any Astro Boy anime yet? Well, now you might not have an excuse!
Every single episode of the English version of both the 1980's and 2003 Astro Boy anime series is now officially avaiable on Youtube, for free and 100% legal. These aren't bootlegged episodes uploaded by fans and split into 3 parts. These are the real deal, in good quality, strait from the legitimate source. You'll just have to suffer through the mild discomfort of watching some ads to enjoy them.
As is the often the case with streaming video, there may be region lock-out issues preventing you from watching. I am in Canada and I can watch the 80's series perfectly, but can not watch the 2003 series at all (same as with Hulu). But, for those of you who can watch, you're in for a treat.
In 1980, the Mighty Atom returned to Japanese airwaves in full color with a brand new anime series. As with the original 60's series, this version would also be translated released around the world. Here is the opening sequence in English.
Despite its cute animation style and upbeat theme music, this particular version of the story is actually quite dark. This time around there was to be less of a focus on super hero antics of the 60's version and more attention paid to the serious issues and messages that Osamu Tezuka was trying to convey in his original manga. The result was a show that featured many characters dieing and several episodes ending on a real downer! Tezuka did not devote as much of his time to this series as he should have and he was unhappy with the result. He didn't think his staff understood what he wanted and complained that Astro came across as too much of a goody-two-shoes!
Oddly enough, there are actually two different English dubs of this show. One was shown in the US and Australia, and another was shown in Canada. Most characters in the Canadian version have different names than the other version. What really lets the Canadian version apart, though, is that every episode had an additional sequence where Astro would talk to a computer named "Geronimo" about what happened in that episode. There was always something intentionally wrong with what Astro said, encouraging viewers to write down the mistake and compare with their friends. This Canadian version was the one that I watched as a kid, and was probably the first anime I ever saw. Even at a young age, I could tell that there was something different about this show when compared to other cartoons of its time.
52 episodes were made, but there are only 51 episodes in English. The first two episodes were compressed into one for the English dub. I'll be exploring what happened there in the future.
The entire series is available on Region 1 DVD from Manga Entertainment, which contains both the US English version and Japanese audio. The picture quality on these disks is extremely clear considering the show's age. For those of you in Austrailia, Madman Entertainment released a box set of their own, which has many more features than the US release.
Maybe this is just for sentimental reasons, but the 80's version of Astro Boy is probably my favorite. It had brought us action, creativity, and thought-provoking messages through each unique adventure. Even though the 60's version was the original and the 2003 version had great animation, I think the 80's version is the definitive animated expression of the Mighty Atom.
This site is dedicated to everything Astro Boy, the works of Osamu Tezuka, and other related anime & manga. Whether you're an old-school fan, a newcomer, or anything in between, AstroBoy World is bound to offer something interesting for you.
