Tatakae! Osper

The 53 episode black and white series Tatakae! Osper based on a short manga from the previous year, was the first of only three tv anime series by the studio Nihon Hoso Eigasha. The film masters went missing and only the opening and one episode have been recovered in recent years. The mangaka Koichi Yamano had previously written episodes of Astro Boy and Big X, and was best known for his sci-fi short stories.

The opening is a sample of what purports to be the premise of every episode of the series- Osper fighting his enemy from his home under an alien sea, Drome, who is bent on destroying Earth.The single found episode- episode 41- is incredibly shaky. With only the one episode found, it's unclear if the show's filming system was poor, if bad equipment was used, or if the transfer process to digital caused this issue. I would recommend passing on this for anyone who gets motion sick.

 

41's final shot

The episode revolves around evil moths made by Drome that are eventually neutralized by good moths Osper's lady friend helped with. We see a variety of Osper's powers, including laser feet, and while I enjoyed the final shot of the episode, the story boarding and animation, even for the era, feels stiff. Fans of lost media and shonen stories should seek this out, and maybe one day we'll find another episode.

The evil Drome

Osomatsu-kun (1966)

In the winter season of 1966, the Osomatsu-kun premiered. The 56 episode anime started with the production company Children's Corner- a short lived Toei offshoot company- before being moved to Studio Zero due to quality issues. Osomatsu-kun was based on the comedy manga by Fujio Akatsuka, which ran for 34 volumes from 62-69. This popular series saw a remake in 1988, and in 2015 a sequel series that aged up the titular protagonist and his brothers from 10 years old to mid-20s NEETs. Japanese DVDs were released in 2016 for the series' 50th anniversary. While the first full anime in color had premiered the season before, Osomatsu-kun was still produced in black and white.

Osomatsu-Kun 1966

Osomatsu is the eldest of identical sextuplets, however the 60s series does not primarily focus on the 6 boys. Those familiar with later incarnations will be surprised to see character traits established immediately that will carry on for over 50 years, such as their friend Chibita's love for Oden. The iconic and often parodied Iyami's Shee~ quickly appears, making its mark on anime history. 

Shee~!

 

 The episodes are two skits per half hour, and the first three episodes treat us to; a robber disguised as a dog stealing from Chibita and the local professor Dekapan building a tin man who goes haywire, two of the brothers are tricked into a fish scam by Iyami (who makes a fine merman) and Chibita joins a band of Arabian thieves, local fishmonger- and father of Totoko- enlists the boys to attack a fish thieving cat and Iyami teaming up with Chibita to stea and torment the boys.

Merman Iyami

The visual comedy is amusing, though the animation is not noteworthy even for the era. The broadcast prints went missing for some time, so the audio and video quality may be grating to those who do not appreciate dirt on their images and static in their noise. If you watch any amount of anime, you will run into Osomatsu-kun and Akatsuka-san references, be it in Pokemon of Toriyama's Dr. Slump, so some familiarity with the gags and characters would be recommended for even a casual anime viewer. 

The Beatles's John Lennon Shee-ing

 

While nowhere as extensive as Tezuka's Star System, Akatsuka is also known for his re-use of character designs across his many works, with one of most notable being Osomatsu's Totoko and the titular Himitsu no Akko-chan, one of the earliest magical girl anime.

 

While the 80s remake tends to be higher quality, and the 2015 sequel far more popular in English-speaking circles, any version of Osomatsu should be experienced to best round out one's reference to an important building block in anime.

Jungle Emperor

The 52 episode Jungle Emperor, or Kimba the White Lion, was, like many early Tezuka productions, made by Mushi Productions. The three volume source manga completed more than a decade before in 1954, and would see two more television adaptations, three films, and an OVA. This 1965 version has seen two English dubs, one the following year in 1966 from NBC, and another in 1993 from Canada. The dubbed series was release on DVD in the United States from Nozomi in 2015, and a Japanese dvd release as of 2008.

This is the series many anime fans, myself way back in 2003, were told was ripped off by Disney for The Lion King. There are similarities, more than I think can be excused by both being semi-dramatic series about lions in a savanna, but the son of Osamu, who had passed in 1989, says the two are different enough. The saving grace of the Lion King may be the lack of humans while Kimba can speak with them. 

Kimba seeing his dead mother in the stars in episode 1

 

 

e some good looking animals. styalized but distinct in their species god damn industrialization. tezuka sure knew how to reuse animation and we're not even 5mins in finish them kimba dad. hunt the hunters wait baby kimba was born on a boat in a cage? poor baby unrelated human rights are fucked huh some good use of color hot tdamn rip furry dilf ...rip the baby lion that just jumped into the middle of the sea hes fine but mama isnt swim montage.... insert song? trippy sequence? butterflies? nice wait is this also a new song for the ed? with full original animation? is this the first of what people think of as eds? hot damn THE HYENAS HAVE A DANCE NUMBER? WITH A SONG? fuckin hunters man. i see why the lion king comparisons. some of the animal choices are awfully similar gasp s numan?? who is nice??? get outta here i gotta look at these colors the push in frames are a weird choice... im guessing them come from olddd movies good animation on the boat changing course night is blue wait theres a scar character... kimba used sand attack so after 2 episodes we have a body cout of...3? at least? ah. sexist dreams. women only care about beauty and not a man's flute that giraffe looks dapper as fuck nooo let them keep the hatttt and now theyre dying can rhinos have moustaches? so kenichi can just. understand kimba now. also kenichi metropolis! well... kenichi star system dude really got lost in the jungle, lost his woman, almost died, and started teaching animals to sing simple educational songs. if miss langtree didn't have jimmy brown... what is this prince ass post kenichi MONKEY BRIDGE? 

 

Hustle Punch

f hustle punch 26 toei jpn dvd based on a manga maybe? same info floats around incredited can't confirm myself furries orphan junkyard furries foil other furries except the villian wants to replace the city with a town in honor of his ancestors... is he trying to reclaim stolen land? is he ainu? damn that bear has a hard head Hannah-Barbera looking art oh professor wants to be a roman emporer. and he's an inventor. so a more useful musk some fun set designs cat is a twink yeah okay some good comedy and nice shots and sets the sidekicks are being given the chair.... aww the gang is cute the ed animation is simple but nice and actually moves and isnt repeated animation. same song as the op though jolf wait the window joke was gooood. theres some good comedy here alright okay treats in the shape of their own faces is cute the cat on skates to be lazy and make up the height difference is good! so we have humans.... and some animals...are criminals... bad guys universe wait does the pig wear an eyepatch for edgy looks? chunni pig. much love stamp counterfiting is not a common villian motif need a ride? k.o. a friend and call an ambulance