# The Mightiest Hero Of them all Returns This Fall! My Childhood hero! YAY! With Link. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2003, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601 "2003-05-02T12:33:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BraheSilver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@BraheSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BraheSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/21 "2003-05-03T00:10:13Z")
Was I the only person opening this thread with the expectations of hearing about the Legend of Zelda? With Link, indeed… ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/22 "2003-05-03T00:12:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BraheSilver \* > \*\*Was I the only person opening this thread with the expectations of hearing about the Legend of Zelda? > \*\* Yes. Yes, you are. ;j ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/23 "2003-05-03T00:35:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pugluvr \* > \*\*Am I the only one to remember Gigantor? \*\* No. I remember…a giant flying robot? And the little kid had a remote control doohickey to make him do what he wanted, right? That is one of my earliest, earliest TV memories. Must be 1968 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Laughing\_Lagomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laughing_Lagomorph)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/24 "2003-05-03T00:49:24Z")
**pugluvr** , at the bottom of this page is a link to hear Gigantor’s kick-ass theme song: [http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/gigantor.htm](http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/gigantor.htm) ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/25 "2003-05-03T00:51:38Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by BrainGlutton_ > Was Astroboy the first anime ever? I know it’s the only one I’ve seen that was made in black-and-white. And it seems to have set the tone for the graphic style of all later anime The first _half-hour_ TV anime, according to [this site](http://espanol.geocities.com/gapc/animetv-jp/index_e.html); it debuted in Japan in 1963. Stylistically, Tezuka’s influence is incredible. He isn’t called the “God of Manga” for nothing. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Umbriel \* > I must say that I don’t have entirely positive feelings about a _remake_. Heaven knows what 21st century youth culture sensibilities and political correctness will mutate it into. Not all the changes will be bad, though. I recently saw a few shots from a remake of _Cyborg 009_, which has an African character in it. You can imagine what he looked like back in the Sixties in Japan, a country notorious for its persistent use of racial caricatures in popular media. (BTW, how is it that Mr. Popo managed to make it into the American version of _Dragonball_?) His design was toned down for the remake, and he actually looks quite cool and tuff now. This is an example of political correctness in the original and intended sense, yay, and I’m glad to see Japanese animators are recognizing changing attitudes. Personally, I welcome this current boom in retro anime. I’ve been a fan since I was a tyke in the early Seventies (Hawaii residents were lucky to have stuff like _Captain Harlock_ direct from Japan, subtitled for local TV!), but my interest in the genre has waned because of the type of titles being groomed for import. There are too many magical cutes and girls with guns and giant robots and neko-people and gotta-catch-'em-alls and edgy sf dramas and fighting shows where the characters power up for three episodes before throwing a punch. I long for the sense of wonder and adventure of the old shows. (And if anyone accuses me of wallowing in nostalgia for a show I haven’t seen since diaperhood, please note that I watched my tape of the _Astro Boy_ pilot episode just a few weeks ago. It’s every bit as charming as it was thirty years ago.) ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/26 "2003-05-03T00:51:41Z")
Astro Boy!!! Yay! I didn’t grow up with **Gigantor** , but I did watch _Johnny Sako’s flying robot_, as well as Ultraman & Speed Racer. I pray they don’t remake Speed Racer; it would be wrong on so many levels. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/27 "2003-05-03T01:00:50Z")
**jack@ss** , they already have remade _Speed Racer_. The original Japanese company, Tatsunoko, was behind it, no less, and Nickelodeon was broadcasting it this year. It was cancelled in Japan during its original 1997 run. I wept. It was like watching the death of my favorite kitten. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/28 "2003-05-03T01:05:58Z")
Alright, admittedly it **did** suck. GOD, did it suck. The redesigns are butt-ugly, they turned it into another merchandising cartoon, Trixie was just another useless toon female, and that time-travel plotline made me… _arrrrgh…_ Sorry, I had to shove my head into the toaster oven to keep it from exploding. ---
**Author:** ![Umbriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9de053/32.png) [@Umbriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Umbriel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/29 "2003-05-05T18:16:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BrainGlutton \* > \*\*Was Astroboy the first anime ever? I know it’s the only one I’ve seen that was made in black-and-white. And it seems to have set the tone for the graphic style of all later anime. \*\* As MineFujiko points out, it probably was the first. The other black-and-white proto-anime shows I remember from my youth were **Prince Planet** , and **Tobor: The 8th Man**. Here’s a [link to the site](http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/anime_tv_series.htm) that Laughing Lagomorph’s **Gigantor** theme song link came from. It has good basic data on all of the early anime I remember, and lots that I never saw, for the edification of all those reading this link and scratching their heads. MineFujiko’s posts seem to encompass pretty well the plusses and minuses of remaking this stuff. While it may be best to clean up some of the more blatantly racially offensive stuff, once the P.C. corps gets started, there’s the risk that little will be left standing. I have fond memories of the “Ajibaba” character from Prince Planet, for example, but I’m sure he’d take all kinds of flak today as a stereotype of both Arabs (though he was technically from another planet) and the elderly. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/30 "2003-05-05T20:04:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stonebow \* > _off to find his vhs collection of the original TF series_ Bah, _real_ TransFans have the [original cartoons on DVD.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000063K17/qid=1052165356/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-5884391-3697548) Preferably the collectors’ edition boxed sets. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2003, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601/31 "2003-05-05T20:42:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*Bah, _real_ TransFans have the [original cartoons on DVD.](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000063K17/qid=1052165356/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/104-5884391-3697548) > > Preferably the collectors’ edition boxed sets. 😉 \*\* Like me. Yes, I got it in the collector’s DVD. Eat yer heart out, **stonebow!** Transformers _are_ cool, but can’t compete with Astro! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-mightiest-hero-of-them-all-returns-this-fall-my-childhood-hero-yay-with-link/172601.md?page=1)