Forum - View topicThe Mike Toole Show - A Leijiverse of Possibilities
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Mr Adventure
Posts: 1598 |
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Speaking of Captain Harlock, whatever happened to the CGI film that they teased a trailer for a while back? I was feeling pretty hyped for that.
I've been getting into Yamato and Captain Harlock recently. The Yamato remake is looking sort of awesome, if a bit expensive on Blu-ray. |
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GATSU
Posts: 15309 |
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N.R.:
Disagree, but that's not why he didn't become popular here. I'd say the Macek dub of Harlock quashed his chances more than anything.
I'm guessing you're citing the VHS tapes as a reference for your argument.
They're faster than Hugo, and that's good enough for me. Also, if they didn't find an audience, then Discotek would've never licensed Harlock in the first place. |
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Bamble
Posts: 130 |
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Always loved the Matsumoto series, although I ultimately preferred Yamato, which, despite Mr. Matsumoto's key involvement, does have a different feel than his own works, which really supports Nishizaki's status as the true "guiding light" for the show.
Harlock was popular enough back with early U.S. anime fandom to even make it to a mainstream magazine cover, but the licensing of the series never panned out at the time despite Toei's best efforts since English-dubbed anime was an infinitesimal product back then.
The most (unitentionally?) amusing thing about Gun Frontier to me is how everyone, especially women, react when Tochiro gets naked, with every single instance leading to a comment on how "well built" he is underneath his clothes despite his stature - just because he's Japanese. Yeah, with this and The Cockpit, there's an undisputed element of strong nationalism; unsurprisingly this is the first thing to be downplayed in many of his animated adaptations.
They seem to stand the test of time successfully enough in Italy and France, etc., where Harlock and Galaxy Express were successfully dubbed and broadcast on mainstream TV. That's why France has some of the latter-day series like Space Symphony Maetel and Submarine Super 99 translated in their entirety on home video while they steadfastly remain unlicensed in the U.S. More particularly, that's why Interstella 5555 was produced in the first place! Also, speaking of which, contrary to your link, Captain Harlock was, somewhat infamously, licensed back in the day by Harmony Gold, where it made it to the air as Captain Harlock and The Queen of a Thousand Years. Ironically didn't get a lot of airplay in the U.S., but Harmony Gold did syndicate it abroad for a few years. Plus, clearly between the limited broadcast of Harmony Gold's Harlock, the old Ziv videos, and general positive feelings toward the characters that dominated much of early U.S. anime fandom, there must have been some genuine interest that successfully sustained a range of U.S.-produced Captain Harlock comics from 1989-1993. Indeed, the comics only ended when they did due to tragically unforeseen circumstances regarding the license. I'm pleased that there's still enough interest in some of the classic Matsumoto anime properties that Discotek in particular have taken it to release many of his works. I'm also curious, probably now morbidly so, about S'More's forthcoming release of Galaxy Express 999 TV, but fully expect it to be hardsubbed. Despite these ventures into his classic series that Toei have been trying to sell to the English market for decades, it still appears that some of the newer anime works like Galaxy Railways II will remain unlicensed due to his character designs appearing very idiosyncratic compared to the standard range. They're not old, but they look old, which can be the kiss of death. |
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N.R.
Posts: 232 |
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Harmony Gold never released the series Captain Harlock. It took Captain Harlock and another Matsumoto series called Queen Millenia, mixed the two together in strange ways, rewrote the script, changed the names of the characters and replaced the Japanese soundtrack with their own Americanized soundtrack. So the link is correct - the original Captain Harlock series was never shown in the U.S. |
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Craeyst Raygal
Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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Matsumoto remains a tremendous staple of my "re-watch" diet, even as I start to wind down on the anime that I watch. In particular, I have Arcadia of my Youth on VHS and DVD which I have in heavy viewing rotation because I love the mentality it presents.
I introduced a young friend of mine to Matsumoto using Arcadia, and it didn't take long for her to understand the timelessness of the Leijiverse mentality which is so clearly spelled out by Phantom H. Harlock as he dumps his fuel to make one more attempt at the Stanley Witch. "I will stake all that I am on this last ten minutes." Perhaps that's why Matsumoto's work is considered so out of date. Much like Superman or Captain America, who are routinely held up as anachronisms when compared to their "modern" counterparts, the pure idealistic heroism of Harlock is just a brief step out of time. |
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khaos1019
Posts: 93 |
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I've only seen bits and pieces of the Leijiverse, but have always been interested in it, so this was a really fascinating article. I also really liked how you described the timeline as myths and legends. That makes so much sense when you consider all of the inconsistencies throughout the different properties.
Also, the "Donald Duck/Leiji Matsumoto Family Tree" is absolutely brilliant. |
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Shenl742
Posts: 1524 |
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"There comes a time in every boy's life when he must decide whether to become a man...or a potato"
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cat_clan
Posts: 67 Location: Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico |
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I think the article underestimate the popularity of Yamato at its time. I mean we are talking about a TV series, made movie, that basically shaped the first generation of self-aware Otaku in Japan. The popularity of the franchise was so over the top, that Animage magazine was created just to satisfy the necessity of those fans. That Anime alone basically created the new generation of fans of Anime that kept pushing the Anime industry until Gundam arrived at 1979.
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penguintruth
Posts: 8461 Location: Penguinopolis |
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If Nishizaki was the Bob Kane of Yamato, Matsumoto was the Bill Finger.
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Soundmonkey44
Posts: 1243 |
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Personally I enjoy Leiji Matsumoto's stuff. Kind of sad it doesn't get more love in the states.
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yamiangie
Posts: 465 |
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I was around 12 and i sat though Galaxy Express 999.
So local TV in Hawaii doesn't count I guess. Most anime got spotty airings if it got brought over from what I understand from when they bring the old time fans on the Anime World Order podcast http://www.cornponeflicks.org/harlock/kiku-tv.html |
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N.R.
Posts: 232 |
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Well yes, anime had spotty airings and there were even local channels in the U.S. that showed anime in Japanese without subtitles. I hate to say this but I do believe Hawaii is different. Its proximity to Japan made is "special" when it comes to anime and I do know for a fact that it received much more "anime love" than the rest of the U.S. did during those early grassroots anime years. |
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nhat
Posts: 922 |
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I just saw Queen Emeraldas on DVD and I don't feel like tracking the other 2 episodes. Can anyone tell me why the last 2 wasn't released here?
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yamiangie
Posts: 465 |
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I get how you are going with that artical you linked to about Harlock being to old to pick up but i feel that the writer failed to consider the ongoing popularity of say Once Piece and the release of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger as signaling a good time to roll out the one that inspired a lot of it. |
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belvadeer
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I'm really sorry to point this out, and it might be the most surprisingly distinct coincidence because I'm sure Matsumoto's recycled designs have earned him some hate, but Maetel has an axe in her head. XD
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