Worlds Within Worlds...

First, sorry for being so light on blogging as of late. I have a couple of things coming down the pipeline, but life off-line has kept me pretty busy lately. However, I can't help putting up an entry for this:

The timeless classic that spawned the hit series' G-Force and Battle of the Planets, Gatchaman is the action?filled story of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, five young heroes who must come together to defend Earth from the threat of Galactor, an international terrorist group fronted by a mysterious outer space being, and its army of mechanized menaces! Skilled in the art of ninjitsu, and equipped with special weapons, powers and the amazing spacecraft, the Phoenix, the Gatchaman team joins with the International Scientific Organization (ISO) to battle both deteriorating conditions across the Earth and the evil Galactor's attempts to conquer the entire planet. The all time classic series comes to North America uncut and uncensored for the first time in Gatchaman!

I never really had the chance to see Battle of the Planets or G-Force as a kid, but it is always great to see classic titles like these come out in their original form in the US.

As for what is already out, be sure to check out the three Gundam movies from Bandai (the original series minus the filler), the SDF Macross series from AnimEigo (see what Robotech was made from), Crusher Joe also from AnimEigo (very fun space opera), Armored Trooper Votoms (classic mecha), and Saint Seiya (gloriously cheesy classic fighting show).

I'm sure there's a lot of titles I'm forgetting, but please don't be afraid to try out some of the older anime releases. The animation may not be as slick as today's computer-painted series, but they usually have quite a lot of charm, and frequently a very good story. Out of the above, I only saw Robotech as a kid, so I'm not just talking from nostalgia. Don't be agist! Give a classic anime series a chance... :)