The 2nd Dimension

Friday, June 23, 2006

Teknoman Nostalgia

I just got done watching an episode of Teknoman on the latest Newtype DVD and there was just something very refreshing about it, though it took me a while to put my finger on exactly what it was.

At first I thought it had something to do with the fact that I've seen the show somewhere before. I know I saw it broadcast on TV, but I can't remember what channel it was. I do know that it was a good number of years ago, maybe on the Sci-Fi channel or something. I was surprised to see it on the DVD because I'd totally forgotten about it until now. But after I'd been watching the show for a while I realized that it wasn't the familiarity that was so refreshing after all.

The show was a traditional (by US standards anyway) superhero vs. super villian storyline, and that's what made it so refreshing. After years of watching anime that blur the lines between good and evil by making flawed heros and sympathetic villians, it was a nostalgic shock to see something where the good guys were righteous and the bad guys were uncompromisingly evil with little grey area inbetween. I can kind of now understand why some people prefer US comics and animation over Japanese, since that polarization of good and evil can be attractive compared to the vagueries of other things. And it's comforting when you know who exactly to root for and against and good is good and bad is bad and no matter how superhuman-powerful the bad guys may be you can always feel safe in the knowlege that they will get a butt-whupping by the end of the show.

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