Battle of the Planets! A cartoon that was unleashed on America after the success of Star Wars. It ushered in a new wave of the popular style of animation. This week, we look back on why it hit the right notes. Plus, Jay tests Shua's knowledge in "Anime or Sushi", on Enjoy Stuff!

Join us on a trip back to an adaptation of a popular Japanese cartoon that got our imagination flowing! This is Battle of the Planets!

News

Ted Lasso will return on March 15

Grab your bottle of Peeps-flavored Pepsi before Easter arrives!

Bill Watterson will release a new graphic novel, years after retiring from Calvin and Hobbes

The Enjoy Stuff-recommend show, Poker Face has been renewed for season 2

Check out our TeePublic store for some enjoyable swag and all the latest fashion trends

What we’re Enjoying

Shua drank the Kool-Aid (or would it be ‘eats the fungus’) and watched the HBO Max hit series “The Last of Us”. This not-quite-a-zombie series includes great action, suspense, and character development. It stars Mandalorian’s Pedro Pascal and Game of Thrones’ Bella Ramsey. If you enjoy dystopian post-apocalyptic shows, you’re gonna love this! Jay started replaying the relatively recent and well-received video game, Jedi: Fallen Order. It has a great story, terrific graphics. And there have been some references in recent episodes of The Bad Batch on Disney+. Check them both out!

Sci-Fi Saturdays/MCU Location Scout

Brad Bird’s iconic classic The Iron Giant is the film on the docket this week on Sci-Fi Saturdays. Meaningful themes, great performances, and cool, stylized art design. Check it out on Sci-Fi Saturdays on Retrozap.com. Plus, stay tuned for the classic Star Trek homage Galaxy Quest, coming this Saturday. 

Enjoy Cartoons!

With the success of Star Wars in 1977, entertainment creators were looking to cash in on the newest sci-fi craze. One company scored big when they bought the rights to a Japanese animated series called Gatchaman. 

Though, it wasn’t quite the feel they were going for. So as it was adapted to American TV, some big changes created almost a different show altogether. Some of the overall story was changed with some violence and style of dialogue was made more kid-friendly. 

Because some was just cut altogether, certain segments with a very familiar looking robot, named 7-Zark-7, was added as a narrator to tie things together, especially after the drastic changes.  

It seemed to all work though, because it became very popular, and even helped future Anime reach the mainstream, such as Voltron and MASK. It’s success also led to a live-action Japanese movie called Gatchaman in 2013.

With all this great Anime fun on the show, Jay decided to quiz Shua with his knowledge by playing the game “Anime or Sushi?” How will Shua do? Does he know his mouth food from his eye candy? Test your knowledge and see how you do!

Are you a fan of Battle of the Planets? Do you know your sushi? Did you read all of these shownotes? First person that emails me with the subject line, “Always Five! Acting as one!” will get a special mention on the show.  Let us know. Come talk to us in the Discord channel or send us an email to EnjoyStuff@RetroZap.com