Friday, March 11, 2011

JAPANESE POP CULTURE INFLUENCES

JAPAN is on all our minds today what yesterday's tragic huge earthquake and tsunami. So I thought I'd post a quick fun list of kickass JAPANESE POP CULTURE that made its way over to the U.S. last century (@1955-1995) and influenced little Jimmy Smash.

In no particular order....

VOLTRON
---
ASTRO BOY
---
SPEED RACER
---
SHOGUN WARRIORS TOYS
---
NINJA SCROLL
---
MIGHTY ORBOTS
---
GATCHAMAN
(aka BATTLE OF THE PLANETS)
---
BATTLE ROYAL HIGH SCHOOL
---
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION
---APPLESEED
(and other Masamune Shirow masterpieces)
---
AKIRA
---
MODERN SAMURAI
(represented here by the X-Men's Silver Samurai)
---
SUNFIRE
(yes, from an American comic,
but his character was from Japan & I related to him)

--- MACROSS/ROBOTECH
--- THE NINJA
(represented here by Storm Shadow)
---
SEVEN SAMURAI
(and other Kurosawa films)

---
DIACLONES
(what became Transformers: Gen 1)
---
GODZILLA
& THE MONSTER ISLANDERS

---
and thanks to:
GRANDPA SMASH
(for bringing the Smash genes from Japan to America)
-----
Any not on my list that influenced you?
(assuming you didn't grow up in/near Japan)
Share em in the Comments section!

15 comments:

Red Jimsmash said...

Benihana

Tim said...

Vampire Hunter D, Ghost in the Shell, Godzilla, Gamera, and Fist of the North Star to name a few :-)

Anonymous said...

Mobile Suit Gundam! The Mazinger and Getter Robo Sagas. Detroit Metal City. And the Thundercats intro!

Astroluc (Find me on Tumblr and Instagram @Astroluc) said...

Thunderbirds 2086 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbirds_2086 (I knew them before I knew of the orig. puppet Thunderbirds)

and (of course!) Nausicaa (by Hayao Miyazaki -- though I admit I was introduced to this by the butchered abomination known here as "Warriors of the Wind" ... but hey, I was 10; and it was all we had ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wSba9hwCaU&feature=related

Jim said...

Forgot 'Appleseed' & some others. I'll updat the post on Monday.

Kapibara said...

I dont see Daimos on your list. Without Daimos, arguably coolest japanese robot, this list is just a shitload of bullcrap.

Jim said...

The post is not a "TOP ##/BEST OF" list... its merely a list of Japanese Pop Culture that influenced me as a child in the 70s & 80s. It's what I was exposed to here in the US, albeit limited. Because of this fact, I don't think it can be judged as "a shitload of bullcrap". Unless you were being absurdly playful - its difficult to read tone with just text.

Unknown said...

GRANDIZER!!

ULTRAMAN

STARVENGERS

Jet Jaguar

But mostly GRANDIZER!!
http://chuckdiamond.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

100% GRANDIZER!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm3x5W3-Tj8

Kapibara said...

Hey, no offense meant on my side ;). I might have misreaded your intention. To be honest, I'm the last guy on this sorry planet to criticize someones sentiment. So, to the conclusion, I apologize for this rather unpleasant misunderstanding. And next time I'll try to use emoticons in messages.

Jim said...

Cool. I get so much hate mail sometimes I misread tone & respond half-cocked. All good! :)

allen etter said...

All of the movies I have produced (sadly only 5) have been wildly influenced by the Japanese culture. Everything from the Seven Samuri (sp) to Apple Seed to Battle Angel Allita (pretty sure that was Japanese) to Lone Wolf and Cub and the way both Battle of the Planets and Star Wars affected my child hood fantasies...(Star Wars was hugely influenced by Japanese film)...I owe a great debt to the art of Japan...recently been digging the work of Hiroshige and Utamaro!

allen etter said...

Samurai...wow...sorry for the spelling error.

Kapibara said...

Hate mails? Dude, this is one of the best pop culture blogs. I highly regard your opinions, though many of them stand in opposite to my own. And I bet hate mails in USA are fairy tales in comparison to comments on the Old Continent ;). You Americans dont know shit about animosity :D.

Anonymous said...

Power Rangers!! (Super Sentai)