Presentation PA #58

21st CENTURY: THE CENTURY OF ROBOTS? As we enter a new century and millennium, I sometimes wonder what kind of history is waiting for us. I just received a letter from my Japanese friend in Tokyo, telling me that Sony's robot dog (which isn't cheap... over $2,000.00) is quite popular -- its brand name is "AIBO" (means "Buddy", like President Clinton's dog's name). Little did I ever dream that I could witness such an era when I was a child! A robot dog in a house? Am I witnessing Dr. Osamu Tezuka's "Astroboy world" already? Human science history is changing our lives much more rapidly than we ever thought we would. But wait! The middle aged people today in North America or in Japan have grown up with science fiction shows and I'm almost certain that those shows (Star Trek, Mazinger Z, Gundam, Astroboy... just to name a few) have influenced their way of thinking! In 1997, IBM super computer "IBM RSI 6000 SP" has beaten the top world human champion of chess, and when I saw this incident on CNN-TV, I thought, well... the time has come! Humans make mistakes, but machines don't. For that reason, the Robots will be with us from now on, and they're here to stay. They are made to last; it's called "OPEN-R": they can take any parts and change them. Just like Gundam (and many other robot shows), there was the "core-fighter" and various parts could be switched to make a gun cannon, or guntank, spaceship, flying fighter, etc!

So, there is a question. North American youths have grown up with all sorts of science fiction TV shows and movies (Star Trek, etc.) and it seems to be natural for them to live with science. But how did Japan achieved it and became "The Robot Kingdom" without any fuss whatsoever? My answer is definitely: Astroboy (Tetsuwan Atom), thanks to Dr. Osamu Tezuka who made all of us believe that the Robot culture was quite possible! I'm sure that the people of the 19th Century could hardly imagine what we humans have today (all those electronic products), so I'm quite excited about what the future progress of science could do for our daily lives. I'm sure that we will definitely have this Robot culture in a very near future, for robots can be of great help in case of natural disasters (such as a fireman-robot, etc.). The automobile company HONDA (who already created the P2 & P3 humanoid robots) is now asking the public what kind of robots people would like to have in their households. Do you have any ideas, or would you like to have a pet-robot?

In fact, the Gundam world might be very close, with robots which can co-exist, help and do what humans can’t do! Isn't that exciting to imagine? Here at Protoculture, we will continue to cover for you mecha-oriented series, like Gundam (check our next issue: a GUNDAM special)!

Miyako Matsuda

The past year has been busy and, oftentimes, quite hellish. Despite the negative effects that such a crazy pace could have had on my mental & physical health, I am rather satisfied with this year's production. I hope you have been, too. And there is also the book (Anime: A Guide to Japanese Animation (1958-1988)), on which we are still working hard, that will be released soon (in the beginning of 2000). Of course, we were not the only ones to be busy. The entire anime industry (here and in Japan) have been quite busy in 1999. There are so many anime releases that it is difficult to cover everything! That's so incredible! The anime releaser that distinguished itself the most this year was probably Bandai Entertainment (AnimeVillage.com) for its great selection of titles (Escaflowne, Blue Submarine No 6, Brain Powered, Silent Möbius, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star , etc., and, of course, GUNDAM!). However, we must also give a honorable mention to A.D. Vision (so many titles!) and Pioneer (for releasing something else than Tenchi and El Hazard, at last!). Media Blasters also released many good titles (but I only wish they would send us some screeners; if so, we would gladly review their stuff). I must finally mention that there is a new trend: Japanese live-action movies. Most anime releasers now have a line of live-action titles -- which is good. Now, if 2000 is to bring an even biggest harvest of anime, I’d better get some rest...

All our staff wish you more great anime for 2000, a merry Christmas and a happy (and bug-free) new millennium (don’t party too much and don’t overdose on Pokémon)!!

Claude J. Pelletier