In 1973, Mushi Productions, Osamu Tezuka’s first studio, shut its doors. The decline of Mushi Pro would serve as a catalyst for massive growth in anime over the next decade. In 1968, Tezuka would leave the studio he created to rival Toei Animation and begin Tezuka Productions, an associated studio focusing on manga.
1968 would also see Group TAC formed by Mushi alums Atsumi Tashiro, Susumu Akitagawa and Gisaburō Sugii. Originally envisioned as a sound design studio, Group TAC was the first of several major studios to splinter from Mushi Pro. Four years later in 1972, more Mushi alum would splinter off to form studios Sunrise and Madhouse.
After the bankruptcy, Mushi Pro alumni would form Shaft in ’75, Pierrot in ’79, and Kyoto Animation in ’81. Mushi Productions would reform in ’77, and this new version of the company is still active today. The modern incarnation of the studio provides assistance to other studios on large projects, but Mushi Pro would never again see the prominence it held for much of the ’60s.
Mushi Pro’s business centered around Tezuka until he stepped down. They adapted his works, and he made many creative decisions. The studios that rose from Mushi’s ashes would take a different approach. Sunrise and its contemporaries took a producer-driven approach similar to Toei. This increased freedom would lead to landmark changes in anime.
While these new studios found their footing, an older company began to pick up momentum. TMS Entertainment (that stands for Tokyo Movie Shinsa) was founded back in 1946, but it didn’t get into animation until 1964. By the early ’70s, it was producing a lot of anime for television. Among these titles was Ashita no Joe. Based on the boxing manga of the same name and the predecessor of Megalo Box, Ashita no Joe would be one of the most popular titles of the early ’70s.
TMS Entertainment also brought Lupin III to the screen. Based on the work of mangaka Monkey Punch, Lupin III would have two anime by TMS in the ’70s. While the first in 1971 was not popular enough to last long, the sequel in ’77 proved very popular. Ghibli founders Miyazaki and Takahata did time at TMS and other studios during the ’70s, including working on Lupin III and Miyazaki’s directorial debut in film The Castle of Cagliostro.
Takahata and Miyazaki also worked at Nippon Animation during the ’70s. Takahata would create Heidi, Girl of the Alps at Nippon (then Zuiyo Eizo) in ’74. Based on a Swiss novel from 1880, the show proved much more popular than anticipated and has been translated into numerous languages.
Heidi was forerunner to a series of shows spearheaded by Takahata and Miyazaki called World Masterpiece Theater. The shows were all based on classic Western children’s literature.
Shows like Heidi and Vicky the Viking (also from Zuiyo Eizo) would become popular in Europe. Networks in Spain, Italy and France were all interested in anime because it was offered to them at a low price.
Popular shojo shows at the time included Nippon Animation’s The Rose of Versailles and NET’s Candy Candy. Both were historical romances based on manga. Candy Candy was set in the U.S. and Mexico prior to World War I. The Rose of Versailles followed Oscar, a woman disguised as a man and working as a palace guard for Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution.
The ’70s also saw a growing trend toward sci-fi and giant robots. Toei produced an anime of Go Nagai’s influential Mazinger Z in ’72. Group TAC would produce Space Battleship Yamato beginning in ’74.
Sunrise geared its studio toward the production of mecha anime. Robot anime was technically challenging, but it offered lots of opportunities for toys and merchandise. Sunrise produced 15 titles before Yoshiyuki Tomino’s Mobile Suit Gundam in 1979.
Though there were many of them, sci-fi anime struggled in the ’70s. But across the ocean in 1977, Star Wars would make waves. Thanks to the massive, worldwide success of Star Wars, sci-fi and space operas would be increasingly in demand over the years to come.
May 10, 1975, Sony released the first Betamax equipment in Japan. The following year, Victor Company of Japan would release the VHS. Betamax reached the States in November of 1975. VHS came to America in 1977. As these home video formats gained traction and became increasingly available to consumers, anime would be radically changed.
I’m shorter on research time today, so this post is about 600 words shorter than yesterday’s. Tonight or tomorrow, I think I’ll have our first manga addendum. Until tomorrow!
chasetriesagain.com 