Yuusei Kamen

Yuusei Kamen 3 volume manga ran alongside the 39 episode anime from Eiken and was released on dvd in Japan in 2013.

 

Yuusei Kamen

The species from a counter earth- Pineron- make contact, and from an inter-species romance  is born our protagonist Peter. When the rocket Peter's human father was in explodes over the alien planet, it starts a war between the two, and aliens on earth like Peter's mother are sent to concentration camps. A masked hero then appears to defend Earth from the more technologically advanced Pinerons.

 

 

 

 

The explosion over Pineron

 

 

 

From that premise, you may be reminded of how the United States created concentration camps for Japanese citizens during World War II, with the last one having been closed 20 years before this anime premiered. The aliens in this series are only distinguished from the earthlings by star shaped marks on their faces, which our mixed-race protagonist also sports. This should bring up questions about plot holes, but we need some excuse for Peter to be free to be the masked hero defending earth. 

Peter and his star

In these first three episodes, we see mothers and babies being taken away for being different, fighting done not as a necessity but as part of a hostile take over, and a general prepared to die despite the family waiting for him. As Yuusei Kamen- Star Mask- Peter is our classic shonen protagonist, saving the day and stopping evil, but his screen time is limited in a way that helps the series focus on its reflection on the atrocities of war. These can be downplayed by some of the comic relief characters that feel like obligations to the story rather than a part of it, but that seems par for the era.

Yuusei Kamen

 If you enjoy the drama of space war anime, but can tolerate a lack of mecha, this is a series for you. It can be an oddly somber look at war's reality for a 60s anime aimed at young boys, and the animation is nice for the time period.