As we approach the end of the year, we are all very THANKFUL for the success we experienced with Saturday AM, PLUS and Afternoon Web-X. It’s a real testament to both our creators and fans that we have caught on with so many diverse fans of our style of manga webcomics.
I’m often asked about our inspirations and the answers are simple for me, the founder of the whole thing, Frederick L. Jones.
They are:
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM
and’
NARUTO
Fitting as both works are complete opposites of each other. While Naruto is an unquestioned blockbuster and global phenomenon that has captured fans around the world–Gundam is a more sobering affair that to truly appreciate the enduring legacy of the original means you are either old as hell (like me) or that you have come to get underwhelmed at the current anime’s scene of no consequences, no mature relationships and stunning lack of diversity.
Mobile Suit Gundam was the anime that truly grabbed my interest and never let go waaaay back in the early 80’s. Specifically it was non-subtitled VHS tapes of Zeta Gundam. This look of an amazing war story with complex political machinations was just eye-opening to me and forever changed my thought to what anime, manga could be (much less American comics).
Naruto on the other hand simply exploded the anime/ manga concepts to Marvel levels of crazy popularity by riding the wave of Harry Potter fandom (after all, isn’t Naruto Harry Potter with ninjitsu) and Ninja’s (after all, isn’t TMNT still popular??) to deliver an amazingly original manga concept. It is so influential to many of our creators and fans that we even did a recent tribute.
Now both works have upcoming anime’s that are very exciting.
THE LAST NARUTO MOVIE — is the story of how Naruto fell in love with Hinata (who we now know–he married and fathered children with). This is the 1st Naruto film COMPLETELY CANON to the series and my belief is that the series will now “continue” as movies.
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM THE ORIGIN — An equally interesting film is this one subtitled Aoi Hitomi no Casval. This is actually PART I and will focus on the amazingly popular Char Aznable (one of the original anti-heroes/ villains) of anime/ manga and one of the my personally favorite characters of any literature or genre ever. This should be an amazing experience as PARTS II – IV will focus on other characters.
