Early Saturday Morning at Otakon 2024, the con hosted a
special video marathon of Anime that they dubbed “Saturday Morning Cartoons.” The titles they presented were in keeping with
the spirit of early morning Anime on a day I’m sure many of us would love to
sleep in like the original Astro Boy and the 90s short lived Mega Man Series
(they also threw in some retro commercials like the toys for Return of the Jedi
and a promo for the launch of the original Legend of Zelda on the NES). I only sat in on a couple of segments but
they were a fun way to start the day. Funny
thing, I forgot I did a Top 5 on todays chosen topic over a year ago (gimme a
break, I’ll be hitting the 500
th Mark early next year I think). So you
can check out the original list here (
http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2023/03/t5w394-top-5-saturday-morning-cartoon.html)
before checking out todays Top 5 Wednesday: my Top 5 Saturday Morning Cartoon
Anime (Part 2).
A lot of the titles on this list are more old school so I’ll
get the most recent title by comparison out first.
Honestly, I’ve never gotten what the deal is
with Beyblade: it’s just two disc bashing together being made into the most monumental
event of all time.
Granted, Yu Gi Oh,
which is on my original list, is very much in the same vein except with
Childrens Trading Cards.
So I get why
this caught on with kids first getting into Anime.
Also, wont lie, the opening theme is kind of
a banger.
#4-Space Battleship Yamato
Long before the days of Gundam and Macross, we had this
epic space opera from the king of the Space Opera Genre, Leiji Matsumoto.
Dubbed Star Blazers in the US, Yamato is one
of the granddaddys of scifi Anime.
Featuring beautiful animation, intense battleship and dogfighting action
in space, the adventures of the Yamato and her crew definitely feel like something
worth getting out of bed super early to check out.
And, much like Gundam and Macross, Space
Battleship Yamato is still going strong today with remakes and sequels still
coming out regularly.
#3-Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
Before Power Rangers existed, we had this super fighting
team of youngsters with attitude and a bird themed aesthetic. These five chosen
youths take on the evil terrorist organization Galactor with an assortment of
nifty gadgets, mecha and their own kick ass fighting skills (they are technically
Ninjas after all).
Like I said,
Gatchaman is very Super Sentai in essence (though it predates the first Super
Sentai by about three years and even inspired one of those series that I should
really do a First Impression on later this year).
In the US, the show was adapted into several
iterations including Battle of the Planets, G-Force and Eagle Riders but no
matter how theyre presented, Gatchaman is still a kick ass group of heroes that
light up every kids Saturday Morning viewing experience.
#2-Speed Racer
Once you hear that riff of the opening theme, you know
what’s about to come on and what fun is about to unfold.
Speed Racer is one of the earliest Anime to
get major exposure in the US in the late 1960’s.
Even decades later, it’s a fun flashback to
how exciting the world of Anime would be with a unique Animation style, incredible
races and action sequences and that dub, oh boy you think Godzilla and Gamera
dubs were hilarious, Speed Racers infamous English Dub is the stuff of legends
from the robot like line delivery to those laugh out loud over exaggerations
like a simple gasp.
This show is a
classic worth checking out.
#1-Dragon Ball
While we all know Dragon Ball Z to be one of the major
Titans of Anime, few remember that its parent series did run in syndication in
the US very, very briefly. I remember
seeing commercials for it and wondering just what this heck this show with a cool
theme song (Get that Dragonball) even was and where I could watch it. I think I caught maybe one episode before
slowly collecting the original English Dub of the first season on VHS. While it’s not quite as epic in scale as DBZ,
the original Dragon Ball is still a classic adventure Anime with plenty of
action, laughs and thrills that set the stage for one of the longest lasting
and still ongoing legends in Anime.
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