Reverse Thieves is a detective-themed blog and podcast duet by Narutaki (a.k.a. Kate) and Hisui
(a.k.a. Alain). With a character-based and story-based focus they look at all
genres of anime and manga from the origins of the mediums up to the most
current, as well as American TV and comics and many things in between.
They try to emphasize the positive by celebrating titles they enjoy
while promoting little-known gems. Follow all of their reviews and their unique perspective on Japanese culture at reversethieves.com.
1979 was an amazing year for both TV and film anime. It saw the release of seminal parts of franchises like the
Galaxy Express 999 movie and
The Castle of Cagliostro starring
Lupin the Third. It was also the year of
Mobile Suit Gundam and
The Rose of Versailles, two shows on opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of genre and setting.
One
way of breaking down the year would be to divide it into two major
components: historical dramas that looked to the past for tales of
adventure and romance; and in contrast, war stories challenging the
future of planet Earth and the vast reaches of space. A majority of the
shôjo (and even a bit of the
shônen) shows in 1979 used historical
Western settings. At the same time, almost any show not set in the past
was set in a future where soldiers fought against impossible odds as the
last hope for peace.
Mobile Suit Gundam and
The Rose of Versailles
exemplify these two major movements.
