Star Blazers Got Me Through The Shittiest Year Of My Childhood

[RandySF]

I was a happy child, but I didn’t have such a happy childhood. Other kids didn’t get my weird vibe, especially in elementary and middle school. And one year in particular, we moved to a new city and a new school, and things got ugly. Only one thing kept me from losing my shit: Star Blazers.

When I think back to that year of my life, Star Blazers is pretty much the main thing I remember, because most of the other memories are a blob of pure awful. Star Blazers was the Americanized version of Space Battleship Yamato, an anime series from the 1970s. These dubbed and heavily-edited versions of Yamato were airing pretty heavily in syndication in the 1980s, including every weekday afternoon on Channel 56 in Boston (also the home of the legendary Creature Double Feature.)

Every day when school ended, I would take off running. I was out of the chair before the bell even tapered off, and into the hallway. I ran like my life depended on it, because there were kids I wanted to avoid running into after school at all costs — but also, I knew if I made it home without being terrorized, I had Star Blazers to look forward to.

When I write about bullies and feeling isolated in my new book All the Birds in the Sky, I’m thinking back to that time in my life. And when I think about mad science and magic helping my two main characters to survive being misfits, I’m definitely remembering how Star Blazers gave me an escape.


http://io9.gizmodo.com/star-blazers-got-me-through-the-shittiest-year-of-my-ch-1691333606

[jesskirablue42]

1. anime

I kind of almost remember that show.

I do remember Robotech, though, even though I was older when I watched it, I loved the continuing storyline.

[mrs_p]

2. I was young when it was on

But it made an impression on me that's stuck for decades. Now I have the song in my head.

[pansypoo53219]

3. i had uncles. i was immune.