This animated series scarred me for life - hopefully in a good way. For anyone unfamiliar, Star Blazers is, in my humble opinion, the best animated cartoon series ever. I'm sure as an adult, I'd laugh at the plot points and logic - after all, it is about a World War II Japanese battleship flying through space to save the Earth - but having said that, it's a series that offered a much more complex story than your typical kids' show. There were unexpected twists and reveals as the series progressed - not to mention (pardon the pun) stellar music. While the animation itself is minimal at best, nothing beats the build up to firing the wave motion gun. An updated live action Star Blazers feature film has been bouncing around from studio to studio for years, but has yet to materialize. Below are a couple of video links - the indelible main titles from season one, and the firing of the coolest sci-fi weapon ever - the wave motion gun. My guess is that the preachy speech about the wave motion gun [read "atomic weapons"] is not accurately translated. Enjoy - and hurry, Star Force, there are only 365 days left to save the Earth!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMcrep48Wz0&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty-1zWsXFNs
