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As a member of the underground anime scene, starting in the late 70s, I have a different perspective. Harmony Gold did nothing to actually promote anime, beyon

As a member of the underground anime scene, starting in the late 70s, I have a different perspective. Harmony Gold did nothing to actually promote anime, beyond hyping their own products. Robotech was the English translated anime that happened to be on air in the US when the necessary conditions for the anime explosion were in place. Those conditions were: Affordable VCRs (in the 70s, they cost as much as a small car). The Usenet / internet (for coordinating, sharing information, and creating tape sharing networks). Low cost computer video platforms for subtitling (e.g. Amiga + Video Toaster). In terms of popularity, people forget that Speed Racer, Kimba, etc were broadcast on network television, and had far more impact on popular culture than Robotech, which was syndicated. Captain Harlock ironically what got me interested in anime in the late '70s. It was not widely broadcast in the continental US, until Harmony Gold's despicable hack job which came after Robotech. One source of subtitled anime in the 70s was from Hawaii, which has a significant Japanese population. But to get that required having contacts with one of those very expensive VCRs.

rekabis 2y ago
> Harmony Gold did nothing to actually promote anime, beyond hyping their own products. Robotech was the English translated anime that happened to be on air in the US And because it was in syndication, smack-dab in the centre of at least one major TV network that had Saturday morning cartoons, it was in front of _tens of millions_ of young children. That is why I highlight Robotech, instead of all the other series that came before it. Yes, Astro Boy and The White Lion came earlier, but they mostly showed on PBS and in non-standard time slots. I don’t recall them ever showing in the 0800-1100hrs Saturday morning time slots on any regular channel. But Robotech did. Captain Harlock was available in Canada, but only in Québecois, and again - not in a standard time slot. You had to wake up at 0630hrs on Saturday morning to catch it on channel 12, which few kids did. So yeah, I don’t dispute that the other factors you mentioned helped, but it was the time slot on Saturday morning which was the rocket fuel that made all the difference.
lowbloodsugar 2y ago
What they did with “Battle of the Planets” o_0

rekabis 2y ago

> Harmony Gold did nothing to actually promote anime, beyond hyping their own products. Robotech was the English translated anime that happened to be on air in the US And because it was in syndication, smack-dab in the centre of at least one major TV network that had Saturday morning cartoons, it was in front of _tens of millions_ of young children. That is why I highlight Robotech, instead of all the other series that came before it. Yes, Astro Boy and The White Lion came earlier, but they mostly showed on PBS and in non-standard time slots. I don’t recall them ever showing in the 0800-1100hrs Saturday morning time slots on any regular channel. But Robotech did. Captain Harlock was available in Canada, but only in Québecois, and again - not in a standard time slot. You had to wake up at 0630hrs on Saturday morning to catch it on channel 12, which few kids did. So yeah, I don’t dispute that the other factors you mentioned helped, but it was the time slot on Saturday morning which was the rocket fuel that made all the difference.

lowbloodsugar 2y ago

What they did with “Battle of the Planets” o_0