Anime of the Year 1970 - Cleopatra

There aren't masterpieces inside 1970 anime for me, but among scores of 6 I'd choose one that has a full English translation, and thus Cleopatra .

1. Attack No.1 アタックNo.1 [1970-I] Tokyo Movie Shinsha (Dropped 3/104) Tags: Shoujo Drama, Sports Kozue is a middleschool girl and enthusiastic volleyball player. Her dream is to play in the Japanese national volleyball team. During the series she makes it from the school district league up to the Japanese volleyball finals, step by step till the international volleyball championship. But the faster and higher Kozue climbs the career ladder up, the more she gets confronted with the dark side of success: too high expectations, self-conceit and envy are progressing towards serious problems. This spokon shoujo actually features team members heavy interaction from the start, but it's still quite simple/naïve and girls don't have memorable personalities.    Overall Rating: 4/10

2. Chibikko Remi to Meiken Kapi ちびっ子レミと名犬カピ [1970-I] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Drama, Slice of Life This is a faithful if compressed adaptation, telling the story of Remi who is sold off to Vitalis the travelling musician and his band of performing animals. It has musical numbers typical this era of Toei films, some awkward slapstic, plenty of scenes tailored to pull on the heartstrings, and very smooth animation. Overall a pleasant film that's interesting to watch for the technical aspects; but the story leaves much to be desired, being on the melodramatic-maudlin side. The later Dezaki/Sugino version is very different, with 52 episodes for the story to breathe in and far more compelling storytelling. Again a very simplistic tale of searching for real parents. Maybe TV series that came later will give more depths to it, but in this state I see zero point in watching it.    Overall Rating: 4/10

3. Ashita no Joe Tomorrow's Joe あしたのジョー [1970-II] Mushi Production (Dropped 6/79) Tags: Shounen Action, Drama, Slice of Life, Sports Joe Yabuki is a troubled youth, whose only solution to problems is throwing punches at them. What he lacks in manners and discipline, he makes up for with his self-taught fighting skills. One day, while wandering the slums of Doya, Joe gets into a fight with the local gang. Although greatly outnumbered, he effortlessly defeats them, drawing the attention of Danpei Tange—a former boxing coach turned alcoholic. Seeing his potential, he offers to train Joe into Japan's greatest boxer. At first, Joe dismisses Danpei as a hopeless drunk; but after the trainer saves his life, he agrees to live with him and learn the art of boxing. Unfortunately, Joe's personality makes him an unruly student, and he often falls back to his old ways. To survive the harsh world of his new career, Joe needs to trust his mentor and master the techniques taught to him. However, the road to becoming a professional boxer is rife with struggles that will test his mettle to the end. This anime tried to give a proper 2-episode intro, a wide cast of companions and unusual gangster hooligan protagonist a bit similar to great teacher Onizuka. For a spokon anime it's very unconventional and that's why piques interest. But it's still the story of getting stronger without serious twist involved  and in each episode there is usually just one plot that occupies most of the time. So can't call it a masterpiece level. Overall Rating: 6/10

4. Konchuu Monogatari Minashigo Hutch The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee 昆虫物語みなしごハッチ [1970-II] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/91) Tags: Adventure, Comedy, Drama Hutch is a small honeybee who got separated from his mom when his home was destroyed by invading wasps, and he now desperately wants to find her back. It's the beginning of an adventure that will make him meet all kinds of friendly insects who try to help him out, but unfortunately for most of them, they will not survive the end of the episode... Thanks to humor it's way better than just analogue of Kimba the white lion, just in the world of insects. Still it's just aimless and plotless adventures, so the score can't go any higher.    Overall Rating: 5/10

5. Akakichi no Eleven 赤き血のイレブン [1970-II] TV Tokyo, DOGA Productions (Dropped 3/52) Tags: Team Sports At Shinsei high school, soccer is almost a combat sport and new team coach Teppei Matsuki is a fully paid up sadist who will push his team as hard as necessary to win. Headstrong school bad boy Shingo Tamai and his friend Ohira are determined not to be bullied into joining Matsuki's team; instead they set up a squad of their own, and at first play just for fun and struggle to keep up with Matsuki's team. As their skills progress, they play other teams and get stronger and craftier, until they face the crack Asakase high school squad and its star player Misugi Yan in the schools' final. In a tangle of subplots involving old rivalries and injuries, and a mixed-race player seeking his identity and his lost mother (who turns out to be in jail), Shingo develops his skills as a center forward and looks forward to playing a visiting Brazilian squad. He is seriously injured in a game, but his talent, which even the legendary Brazilian Pele recognizes, is equaled by his determination. With the help of a friend of his old rival Matsuki, he recovers to help the team to victory. Definitely melodrama rather than a sports series proper, this is the first in the line of Japanese soccer soaps that stretches to Captain Tsubasa and beyond. Based on a manga by Ikki Kajiwara and Kosei Sonoda. Spokon with more traditional school hooligans. It's actually rather nice as it focuses on drama around characters and soccer instead of soccer itself. I see the appeal, but it lacks humor to become something bigger. Overall Rating: 5/10

6. Bakuhatsu Gorou Goro the Terrible ばくはつ五郎 [1970-II] Tele-Cartoon Japan (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Comedy, Sports The non-athletic head of the school newspaper department participates in various club activities, including a number of sports clubs, with disastrously hilarious results. Super school boy concept is too simple, as for me. Vast use of humor helps a lot, but it's not omnipotent. It's still just episodic stories with some morale at best. Protagonist is clumsy and hesitating and charismatic, but still has ways to go compared to Onizuka. Overall Rating: 6/10

7. Otanoshimi Anime Gekijou おたのしみアニメ劇場 [1970-II] Fuji TV, Studio Zero (Dropped 0/26) Tags: Comedy Based on the original story by Studio Zero. Not found  Overall Rating: 0/10

8. Nippon Tanjou 日本誕生 [1970-III] Mushi Production (Dropped 0/5) Tags: Historical A history of Japan with the main characters as animals. Not found   Overall Rating: 0/10

9. Cleopatra クレオパトラ [1970-III] Mushi Production (Dropped 3/13)  Tags: Historical Sci-Fi In the far future, earthlings come across the foreign planet of Pasatorine. Few things are understood about the planet, but it is clear that earthlings are not welcome there. However, the inhabitants of Pasatorine have initiated something called the "Cleopatra Plan." Puzzled why an alien planet would name a plan after a woman from Earth, the military decides to send three soldiers' minds back to the past to study Cleopatra's life. The Kingdom of Egypt, led by the drunkard Ptolemy, is threatened by Julius Caesar and the Roman empire. In an attempt to save Egypt, Cleopatra, the younger sister of Ptolemy, chooses to undergo a procedure that makes her body irresistible to Caesar. Caesar is immediately smitten and desires to rule Egypt with Cleopatra at his side—but little does he know that she intends to assassinate him as soon as she can. Second ecchi , and it follows steps of Senya Ichiya Monogatari in a lot of ways even with Osamu Tezuka as director, same experimental, same weird transformation scenes, same loose retelling of known events with all kinds of weird plot moves. Very similar graphics-wise as well. Again, it's a memorable parody, but without any serious concept behind it. Thanks to all the parody and additional humor I'd even rate it as 6, but not higher as there is not actual sense or big idea behind it all, just entertainment. Overall Rating: 6/10

10. Kaitei Sanman Mile 海底3万マイル [1970-III] Toei Animation (Finished 1/1) Tags: Adventure, Fantasy Returning home from an ocean trip, young Isamu meets the beautiful sea-dweller Angel on a volcanic island. Attacked by a fiery dragon, Isamu and Angel escape on the observation boat See Through, and Angel invites Isamu to see her undersea kingdom of Atlas. From the start I thought it reminded ghost ship Soratobu Yuureisen, and at times it almost felt like direct plagiatry. This time plot hardly goes anywhere, so musical is partially incorporated. But now there's some humor it , so I can rate it a bit higher. But it remains just an adventure story. Overall Rating: 5/10

11. Mahou no Mako-chan Mako the Mermaid 魔法のマコちゃん [1970-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 3/48) Tags: Shoujo Fantasy, Romance Mako is a young siren and daughter to the King of the Sea. In a stormy day she rescues the young sport Akira from a wrecked ship, but ends up falling in love with him. So, with help from the Witch of the Sea, she's transformed into a human, and becomes a highschool student who helps everyone with her strong sense of love and justice and her magical pendant, the "Tear of the Mermaid." It's difficult for me to evaluate a shoujo without substantial humor. As a school shouojo with just protagonist in the focus it reminds Himitsu no Akko-chan the most of all previous ones. And I see nothing special in it. Overall Rating: 5/10

12. Kick no Oni Demon of the Kick キックの鬼 [1970-IV] Toei Animation (Dropped 2/26) Tags: Shounen Combat Sports An arrogant karate master named Tadashi Sawamura enters the kickboxing ring to prove his superiority, only to be beaten into a coma by a practictioner of the new art. After recovering, his trainer Endo convinced Sawamura to study kickboxing in order to regain his honor. The series is loosely based on the real-life exploits of champion kickboxer Tadashi Sawamura. Dead serious and boring kick-boxing spokon starting with a defeat. Overall Rating: 4/10

13. Inakappe Taishou General Inakappe いなかっぺ大将 [1970-IV] Tatsunoko Production (Dropped 3/104) Tags: Comedy, Sports A comedy about a country boy that travels to the city to study judo. He ends up meeting the daughter of a prominent dojo and her judo skilled cat. Each episode features 2 stories. Humor is rather decent, but nothing special. Protagonist is sort of simple-minded. Other characters are also just surface-scratching. Feels too childish. Overall Rating: 5/10

14. Norakuro のらくろ [1970-IV] Eiken (Dropped 3/26) Tags: Comedy Norakuro is a black dog enlisted in the "Mokenrentai" (Fierce Dog Brigade), an Imperial army of dogs fighting in a war against the enemy Monkey Army. Norakuro is a stray black-and-white dog in an army of white dogs who blundered his way while being a Private Second-Class. This series was relatively faithful to the comics. One big change, however, was the addition of the army nurse Miko, whom Norakuro had a crush on. For this series, Norakuro was voiced by Nobuyo Ooyama, who would later become noted for voicing Doraemon. I felt like I saw black and white pre-war anime of it, and it indeed turned out to be an old military franchise parodying USSR and USA in the form of animals. Watching it nowadays feels very weird and out-of-time, humor is either too simple or too specific to enjoy. Overall Rating: 4/10

15. Otoko Doahou! Koushien 男どアホウ! 甲子園 (Dropped 0/156) Tags: Action, Sports The story of a dim country boy who dreams of making it to the high school baseball championships in Koshien. Each 10 minutes episode ran from Monday to Saturday. Not found Overall Rating: 0/10

16. Ijiwaru Baasan いじわるばあさん [1970-IV] Knack Productions (Dropped 0/13) Tags: Comedy, Slice of Life Based on a 1966 manga by Sazae-san creator Hasegawa Machiko. This is another slice-of-everyday-life tale, centered around a spiteful old woman who causes trouble for neighbours with her constant bumbling and grumbling Not found   Overall Rating: 0/10

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