Giant robots are one of the classic ideas in Japanese media. The two go hand in hand as friends only second to how robots go hand in hand with the toy industry. As a reflection of that, a Japanese government backed report on the history and influence of robot anime, especially on the toy industry, written by critic Ryusuke Hikawa, Sunrise Inc.’s Head of Cultural Promotion Koichi Inoue, and writer Daisuke Sawaki has come out. The report is three chapters across 90 pages each with a different focus. First the cultural effect and response, including the robot strength in the 70s and faltering in the 80s and the generations growing up with these shows who’d go on to scientific and engineering jobs. Second is how the toy industry has been influenced and has influenced robot anime. Finally is a huge list of robot shows from the very beginning with Tetsujin-28 to the modern day.
The report has yet to have been translated, but you can download it in PDF form from Media Arts here. Fan books aren’t that abnormal, but a government issued one is pretty intense. I’d like to imagine a bunch of middle aged men in the Diet building sitting around sweating and going, “Don’t you wish, instead of all these papers and debates, we could just watch some Mazinger for a while?” But, as I said, giant robots have been a Japanese cultural phenomenon across the whole world, so wanting to talk about it makes sense.
(Thanks to ANN for their story about this. Originally from The Asahi Shimbun)
One Pixel Jump 