Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Aren't Tezuka and Ishinomori Anime Popular In The West?
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0nsen
 Posts: 256 |
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That's actually one of the very first anime I've ever watched. Scarred me so horribly that I quit watching anime for a couple of months. Like I said, I know a couple of hundred of anime from before 1981, otherwise I wouldn't make the bold statement that all of them suck. Of course, your mileage may vary. Other people report that the following anime are rather good, but I strongly disagree in each case and assert that all of them in fact suck balls: Gundam 0079, Nagagutsu o Haita Neko, Uchuu Kaizoku Captain Harlock, Gegege no Kitarou, Ashita no Joe, Mirai Shounen Conan, Ginga Tetsudou 999, Versailles no Bara, Akage no Anne and Cutey Honey. @DmonHiro I'll give the new show a try eventually. Though, not because I expect much, but because I watch every available anime eventually. And "sweet kid that really wants to do the right thing" does raise a red flag for me. I prefer anime with neutral to evil protagonists. Like Overlord or Youjo Senki. |
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belvadeer
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I've had both people and friends tell me they don't watch Tezuka anime specifically because of the art style. Kind of shallow. It's that whole "anime looks like this, not that!" attitude.
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Alan45
 Village Elder Posts: 9967 Location: Virginia |
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I tried to read and watch Black Jack and didn't care for it at all. My dislike had nothing to do with the idea that "all anime should look like this, not that". Rather I found that the serious subject matter and the cartoony, kiddy character designs simply didn't work together. The more I tried to read, the more irritated I became.
There is much too much anime and way too much manga to waste time on something I don't enjoy. I understand the historical significance of Tezuka's work and would watch a show concerning the roots of current anime with brief clips from significant shows. Watching a long TV series of the stuff, no. Life is too short for that. |
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Songster01
Posts: 73 |
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Wow, as someone was a pre-teen/teen when anime of the late 1970s/early 1980s was broadcast in the US, the OP has nailed the reasons why anime was such a breath of fresh air to me. There was continuity and character growth, and the stakes were high because characters could get injured or even die. Apart from a few classic Bugs Bunny cartoons American mainstream animation was almost uniformly abysmal back then.
I can see why the fanbase now is largely from the 1990s and later, given how hard it was to encounter anime series or films in the US until then and even the later 1990s pale in comparison to what has become available in the 21st century. For me there was a near absence of anime in my life for over a decade (mid-1990s-mid-1990s) and then the growing presence of Studio Ghibli in NA and seeing part of an Escaflowne episode on YTV inspired me to try again to reconnect to anime by looking around for video shops that had a much larger collection of anime to rent than most shops of the period. TG I lived in a city that had one! As for Tezuka, I vaguely recall seeing a couple episodes of the White Lion, but there wasn't the consistent access for me. So I associate Tezuka with challenging manga. I bought Vertical's edition of Buddha and enjoyed it despite my heart getting stomped on routinely. I also bought a couple other vintage series Vertical brought out including Terra E. I preferred the artistic style of Keiko Takemiya and other artists of the Year 24 Group to Tezuka, so I can see why in anime it would be even harder to connect to his work. I never felt bad that there was no Buddha anime, for example. And it's not that I hate the artistic style of all pre-1990s anime and manga; it's just that it was T's narrative skills that drew me in, not his art. TL;DR: vintage anime to me were the 1980s sci-fi dramas of my childhood that OP mentioned; Tezuka to me = vintage manga that I wasn't able to access until Vertical began bringing out his works. T wasn't super compelling to me artistically, rather it was his stories that grabbed me. So no huge need to see them animated for me since they worked fine as manga. |
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FinfoxAelia
 Posts: 36 |
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Apologies for nitpicking, but there have actually been two animated films based on Tezuka's Buddha. |
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Songster01
Posts: 73 |
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Ah thanks for the correction! No need to apologize, as people should have the correct information. I should have double-checked that before posting. I guess that underlines my lack of need to see Buddha animated at least. ^^;; |
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FinfoxAelia
Posts: 36 |
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Ah, no worries then. I've never seen the films personally, and I don't really have any plans to. They don't look terrible, but they aren't Osamu Tezuka's Buddha even if they put his name in the title. Although, I suppose I feel that way because I am not a fan of trying to modernize the look of old manga. This is probably why I don't care to see new interpretations of his or Ishinomori's work. Er, sorry. I went off on a little too much of a tangent there. |
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EricJ2
 Posts: 4016 |
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IOW, Black Jack takes on a dark, compelling case that challenges his maverick medical skills...and then Pinoko does the Home Alone expression again. 
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FinfoxAelia
Posts: 36 |
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It's been a very long time since I read Black Jack, but I remember liking the cutesy art and comedy put together with the macabre subject matter. But, I understand why that sort of thing isn't for everybody. |
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5480 |
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13595 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Back in the 1960s, the original "Astro Boy" aired on NBC. While I don't know what the Nielsen Ratings for it were, it had to have been popular enough for it to air 104 of 193 (Japanese version) episodes on NBC.
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niji9t
 Posts: 18 |
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Doesn't it all come down to personal taste eventually? I personally like older anime. Rose of Versailles, for example, is one of my favorite anime of all time. We simply weren't exposed to Tezuka and Ishinomori. People complain about the style being 'too old', yet have nothing against Disney movies from the 40's and 50's being outdated.
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Tuor_of_Gondolin
 Posts: 3524 Location: Bellevue, WA |
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Maybe some people, but I detest the old Disney style animation. I respect the fact that it helped start the industry as a whole, but it does nothing (good) for me. |
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 5480 |
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Kirben
Posts: 53 Location: Australia |
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A major problem on the Tezuka side, is lack of English translations for manga. A wider variety of manga was translated to English, only after several kickstarter attempts. The limited book runs of the kickstarters, mean there is little chance of anyone even coming across any Tezuka manga of interest.
The anime side of Tezuka isn't much better, with many series lacking any English translations, or stuck with ancient horrible English dubs. Only the Black Jack OVAs and several movies are available uncut. Older series like Astro Boy (60s, 2003), Kimba and Princess Knight are still only available via English dubs. The lack of any recent English dubs, means even a series with wider appeal to families like Black Jack (TV), has no chance of even been seen either. I think Astro Boy 2003s was the last chance, but the English dub was butchered and the video was even cropped in the USA. I would really like to see The Three-Eyed One and Triton, along with uncut versions of Astro Boy (2003) and Kimba myself, but I doubt that will even happen officially. |
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