So, what was the original target audience of this in Japan? Watching it now, it seems like it was only marketed in the US as a kid's show because of the "animation is for kids" attitude. I think we have Walt Disney to thank for that.
shareWhen STAR BLAZERS was run in Philadelphia, the local stations ran it at either 8:30 AM, or 2:30 PM. These time slots would only allow pre-schoolers, unemployed or retired people to watch the show. And ALL the commercials were aimed squarely at pre-schoolers! I bought my very 1st VCR (a very heavy machine which cost me over a THOUSAND bucks) just so I could tape the show every day while I was at work. Later on, I got together with a like-minded friend who also had a VCR, just so I could "copy-edit" the show and GET RID of those DAMNED commercials!!!
The idea that content should be dictated by format in monstrously stupid. "It's an animated cartoon, therefore, it must be for kids AND ONLY KIDS."
I knew a guy a work once who actually said-- I'm not kidding-- that a show like STAR BLAZERS "shouldn't be allowed to be made". He felt cartoons were ONLY for kids. PERIOD.
My Dad often told me he never liked cartoons. One day I sat him down to watch an episode of STAR BLAZERS. As it happens, it was the "Farewell to Earth" episode. Afterwards, he told me, "THAT'S NOT for kids!" He watched the rest of the story with me (one episode per day). He also watched about half of season 2, but something happened, and he never finished. (This happened a lot with him.) I kinda regret not getting him started with the 1st episode. That way at least (maybe) he could have actually seen an entire season.
I was talking about the original release in Japan and not the English version which was edited for a young audience.
shareThe original Japanese release was also mainly aimed at a young audience, around the 10-12 range. However, after initially failing in the ratings, it got a new lease on life following the release of Star Wars and ended up becoming popular with older audiences as well. Prior to that time, most anime was produced with kids in mind. Yamato was in many ways a breakout hit that proved the medium could be popular with a much broader age group.
-There is no such word as "alot."
I don't think it is aimed at young kids at all. This is basically a war story, and it is heavy with it's subject matter. So much of it will go right over kids heads. Now I'm only familiar with the Japanese language versions, which are supposedly more for "adult" audiences, but I can't imagine how they could edit Yamato to be very kid friendly, other than adding in silly, cutesy voices and editing out all the death and sexual overtones..I mean, even that robot is a pervert!
"IMdB; where 14 year olds can act like jaded 40 year old critics...'