Hit Anime Series 'Star Blazers' Goes Live Action in New Movie

1980s anime hit "Star Blazers" has been adapted into a live-action movie titled "Space Battleship Yamato." That was actually the official title of the Japanese TV series before it was re-tooled and dubbed for American audiences. This news brought up another question. What other anime television shows would be great to see on the big-screen in a live action version? Several come to mind right away.

"Battle of the Planets"

This television show was originally titled "Gatchaman" before it was imported to the U.S. as "Battle of the Planets" and "G-Force." The G-Force team is made up of five young adults who protect the Earth from the evil clutches of the planet Spectra and its leader Zoltar. Zoltar is constantly attacking Earth using robots and his troopers armed with laser guns. G-Force battles them using their super powers and futuristic weaponry. It was created by Tatsuo Yoshida and was originally televised in Japan starting in 1972. "Battle of the Planets" is considered one of the 100 greatest animated shows. There have been attempts at making a new CGI film by Warner Bros, but they have been cancelled.

"Superbook"

One of the most bizarre yet successful combinations for an anime TV series was created in 1981 by a strange team-up of Japan's Tatsunoko Productions and the U.S.'s Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). "Superbook" told the tale of a boy named Christopher Peeper who discovers a talking magical Bible "Superbook" (Timebook). It is capable of sending him, his friend Joy, and his clockwork toy robot Gizmo back in time to the early events of the Old and New Testament. The idea of mixing sci-fi and fantasy together with Biblical stories would still be considered as controversial and unique as it was when the show first aired. The series was criticized by many conservative American Christian groups for condensing Bible stories and possibly confusing child audiences by introducing two modern characters and their robot into Biblical history.

"Voltron"

"Voltron" was another of the most popular anime television series. It premiered in 1984 and featured a group of young pilots whose vehicles would combine to form a giant super robot. This robot named Voltron protected the planet Arus from the Robobeasts of the planet Doom. This show was based on the Japanese cartoons "Beast King GoLion" and "Armored Fleet Dairugger XV" and created by Peter Keefe. Footage from the original Japanese episodes was re-edited, removing several violent scenes, and dubbed in English for an American audience. "Voltron" was recently re-launched as an animated series for Nicktoons, providing a great foundation to garner interest from producers to make a big-screen live-action version of the show.

The marriage of live-action and animation through the advances in CGI would make things impossible even 10 years ago possible today. It would be no great feat to see the animated worlds of these 1980s shows come to life before our very eyes. Thanks to technical breakthroughs made by filmmakers like James Cameron and George Lucas through their "Star Wars" and "Avatar" films the sky truly is the limit.

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