List of Anime on US TV (Pre-Sailor Moon)

[danth78]

Hey all!

Today I was thinking about an anime I saw a few times long ago (like 15 years at least) on KAIL Fresno (Channel 53) called Dragon Warrior. It was awesome! I guess they were trying to capitalize on the Dragon Warrior NES games of that era. I could only get the channel on the antenna a few times, but I've recently downloaded the whole series subtitled (under the Japanese name, Dragon Quest). But there were so many more old, obscure anime shows that came on back then!

We all know Voltron and Robotech, but what other, lesser known anime was shown on US Television before Sailor Moon, Pokemon, Dragon Ball Z, and the general anime explosion in the US?

Here's what I can think of:
Astro Boy / Tetsuwan Atom
Speed Racer / Mach Go Go Go
Transor Z / Mazinger Z
Gatchaman / Battle of the Planets
Star Blazers / Yamato
Macron 1 / Srungle & GoShogun
Robotech / Macross, Southern Cross & Mospeada
Dragon Warrior / Dragon Quest
Technoman / Tekkaman Blade

I'm sure there are tons more. I remember some shows that had a more wholesome, Ghibli type look, something involving a gnome, and one that had a mermaid. Can anyone help complete this list?

If anyone wants, we can do another post-Sailor Moon list, but it's gonna be big!

[Jimmie M]

How about these?

Marine Boy
Princess Knight
The Little Prince
Kimba The White Lion
Gigantor

[DiRF]

One I remember from my childhood on Nick Jr... I only found out a couple years ago that it was, indeed, Anime...

Fushigi no Koala Blinky / Noozles

..and of course there's Tetsujin 28 / Gigantor

[Yukino Miyazawa]

Captain Harlock (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2511)
The Mysterious Cities of Gold (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=385)
Mighty Orbots (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2618)

[2old2care]

8 Man/8th Man

[monkeebiz]

Prince Planet
Johnny Sokko

[Daniel_Perales]

Captain Harlock (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2511)
The Mysterious Cities of Gold (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=385)
Mighty Orbots (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=2618)


I wonder if "Mighty Orbots" counts since it was produced for american tv.

I remember "Thunderbirds 2086 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze18d-3g3aI)", and "Saber Riders and the Star Sheriffs (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxz3rxtaKI0&feature=related)"


Danny

[DocWatson]

See these sources:

• Glen Johnson's '60 Anime (http://home.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/index.htm) (Australia-centric, but covers the Anglophone world)

• "Fifteen Years of Japanese Animation Fandom, 1977–92" (http://books.google.com/books?id=u3K0z7s0Z7cC&pg=PT1&dq=1880656922&client=firefox-a#PPA22,M1) in Patten, Fred. Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Berkeley, Calif.: Stone Bridge Press, 2004, pp. 22–43.

[Keith Palmer]

I want to mention "Thunder Sub" (originally "Blue Noah") because I saw parts of it as a kid, but it was showing on a local, Canadian station, and I don't believe it got a very wide release...

[mighty_vespa]

My only memory of Dragon Warrior/Quest on US TV was, uh, a scene at the lake. Yeah. That's all I remember. Strange, I know. Please don't ask. :sweat:

[Garasharp K7]

I want to mention "Thunder Sub" (originally "Blue Noah") because I saw parts of it as a kid, but it was showing on a local, Canadian station, and I don't believe it got a very wide release...

I know it got a European release as I saw it on tv here in Ireland back in '88 or so. Same goes for Macron 1 and Captain Harlock. I'm not certain, but the version of Macron that ran here didn't have any Srungle footage. At least I don't remember any.

Did Ulysses 31 get a US release at all?

[GundamWingMan]

I think Voltron was on TV before Sailor Moon.

[Daniel_Perales]

Did Ulysses 31 get a US release at all?

I actually do remember this being aired here in NYC back in the early to mid 1980s (it was on channel 5 when it was still called WNEW-TV). Didn't last pretty long.


Danny

[danth78]

Found some more:

The Littl' Bits
Adventures of the Little Mermaid
Maple Town
Samurai Pizza Cats

[arromdee]

Sailor Moon wasn't actually the first series of the mid-90's anime boom. IIRC, the first one was Ronin Warriors.

[Digital Boy]

Force Five:

Starvengers (Getter Robo)
Danguard Ace
Grandizer (Grendizer)
Spaceketeers
Gaiking

Other shows from before Sailor Moon:

Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs
Goldwing

[jcrharris]

Hey, the Ronin Warriors dub of Yoroiden Samurai TRoopers beat Sailor Moon to air in the US by 4 months so that counts! ;)

As for Mighty Orbots, it was made for US TV but did get a Japanese VHS release.

Also you can add the original version of Tekkaman which got dubbed and aired on some local Northeastern UHF channels.

James

[Njr Scrawl]

Was the English dub of Tanoshii Moomin Ikka shown on US TV before Sailor Moon?

[Prede]

Anime on U.S. TV before Sailor Moon? Well that's ganna be a short list. Still you guys all missed the anime the Sci-Fi channel played in the early 1990's (unless they played after Sailor Moon started to air on TV, but I don't think so, not sure when Sailor Moon started to air :sweat:). Most of it was from CPM, but some Streamline stuff and other company stuff showed up there too from time to time. They played anime on Saturday Mornings btw. They called it "Saturday Anime" I think. How original :laugh: . Of course I'm too young to have actually watched most of it. I would have only been a few years old when the stuff aired :sweat: (born 1989, but I remember watching Sailor Moon, DBZ and Pokemon and the like :P ). So I'm going by what I know about CPM, what I remember hearing about from people, this (http://innermind.com/sfc/index.html) TV channel schedule (which doesn't go nearly as far back as I need it too), and wikipedia/ann here.

Series that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel's "Staurday Anime":

Dominion: Tank Police - CPM
Gall Force - CPM
Project A-ko - CPM
Demon City Shinjuku - CPM
Gall Force - CPM
Odin: Starlight Mutiny - CPM
Roujin Z - CPM
Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer - CPM
Venus Wars (multiple times) - CPM
Record of Lodoss War (only the first three episodes) - CPM


Robot Carnival - Streamline
Akira - Streamline
Casshan: Robot Hunter - Streamline
Lily C.A.T - Streamline
Vampire Hunter D - Streamline
Robotech - Streamline
Lensman - Streamline/Manga Ent
8man After (the edited OVA Series) - Streamline


Galaxy Express 999 (movie 1 and 2) - Viz Media
Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture - Viz Media
E.Y.E.S. of Mars - Celebrity Home Entertainment (??who??)
Iria: Zeiram the Animation - Media Blasters
Armitage III - Geneon
Green Legend Ran - Geneon


Wizards (non-anime, adult cartoon by Ralph Bakshi [the "Fritz the Cat" guy]) - 20th Century Fox

[danth78]

I just remembered Superbook, the show where little kids traveled to places from the Bible.

[DocWatson]

E.Y.E.S. of Mars - Celebrity Home Entertainment (??who??)
These guys (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celebrity_Home_Entertainment).

[Jimmie M]

I just remembered Superbook, the show where little kids traveled to places from the Bible.
There's also The Flying House which was about a scientist & two kids in a time-travelling house thrown back in time to the New Testament era. IIRC both shows used to air back-to-back on TBN.