From: "Strong, Lee" <StrongL at MTMC.ARMY.MIL> To: "WSFAList (E-mail)" <WSFAList at keithlynch.net> Subject: [WSFA] Anime - A Cross Cultural Experience Date: Tue, 25 Feb 2003 09:41:41 -0500 Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net> Barry Newton sagaciously noted that Osamu Tetzuka's 2001 anime _Metropolis_ was inspired by Fritz Lang's 1927 film of the same name. Modern Japanese anime is strongly influenced by American (and European) science fiction and fantasy. For example, many "giant Japanese-y robot" films, including the relatively widespread use of powered combat armor, derive directly or indirectly from Heinlein's _Starship Troopers_. The anime version of _Starship Troopers_ is reportedly far closer to the novel than the 1997 Van Verhoven film of the same name. The cyberpunk epic _Bubblegum Crisis_ was inspired by the movie _Blade Runner_. The masterful _El Hazard, the Magnificent World_ was influenced by Ray Bradbury's _Martian Chronicles_, Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom, and _The Prisoner of Zenda_ among others. There are many other examples. European influences on Japanese anime include Jules Verne and _The Neverending Story_.