Animation Source Forums

I am pleased to see the poll question has gone up for Star Blazers! I hope that those who wonder what this is about check back to my post on page one of this topic, so they have an understanding about what they're being asked to vote upon.

Let's not leave one of Japan's greatest anime series, and one of its very first, in the dust! Vote for Star Blazers Source!

Pros:

• The first two series in the Star Blazers cartoon milieu depict the people of Earth overcoming incredible odds, and facing down the extinction (or subjugation) of its people, through acts of heroism and dedication. And love is also a common theme.
  
• Unlike almost all other anime series, Star Blazers has a recurring, ordered storyline which has real depth of character, adventure and drama. (Along with occasional humor).
  
• As noted in my original post, it has similarities to both Star Trek and Star Wars.

Cons:

• In the original Japanese version, like some other anime series, there is gratuitous violence, bloodshed and death (which is completely cut out of the dubbed versions shown in other parts of the world, especially Europe, Canada and America). The only character deaths witnessed in the dubbed versions are handled without violence, and in a very dramatic and respectful way.
  
• In the original Japanese version, there is some subtle inference that the storyline of the first series is an allegory for the World War II conflict between the United States and Japan, from the Japanese perspective (radioactive bombs and all-out war against a population facing overwhelming odds). The Japanese version of the first series has a long, drawn-out sequence describing the "heroic" exploits of the original Japanese World War II battleship Yamato.
  
• The edits required to eliminate things which, in the Japanese version, are unpleasant result in the first series ending very abruptly in the dubbed versions.

The cons, of course, might seem overwhelming. However, these cons are really only evident in the original Japanese footage, and do not show in the dubbed versions (specifically the English-dubbed one). I saw the series first when I was a teenager, and I never ever got the impression that it was preaching to me about how Japan was an innocent victim of American aggression during World War II (and I did not learn of that allegory in the original Japanese version until much later, when I read fan material on the internet). Nor did I ever see anything violent, gory or bloody in the footage (and any blood seen was what you might expect from a bad cut at worst...nothing worse than that). If you don't buy (or rent, if that is even possible) the original Japanese versions (the movies or the series themselves) you won't ever see that stuff.

Overall, Star Blazers (the English-dubbed name for the series) is a positive show...a three-series anime cartoon in which the first two series, especially, are all about the triumph of the human spirit (heroism, dedication, and love) over seemingly insurmountable odds.

EDIT: Two people (so far) voted "no"? I wonder if they even looked at the material I posted on page one! I certainly hope they didn't vote unadvisedly. Sheesh...

I appreciate that. And I think you won't be disappointed.

Accepted...for what?

I'm not basing my decisions on making this or that site according to these polls; I have said that I allowed this topic only for "fun", for stating what you would like.
Besides, popular series/films will always get many positives votes, so this shouln't be a criterion.

Sorry about that, but I don't want people thinking this topic will determine what will be done.

Does that mean none of these suggestions will happen?

Accepted...for what?

I'm not basing my decisions on making this or that site according to these polls; I have said that I allowed this topic only for "fun", for stating what you would like.
Besides, popular series/films will always get many positives votes, so this shouln't be a criterion.

Sorry about that, but I don't want people thinking this topic will determine what will be done.

Does that mean none of these suggestions will happen?