10 Lost Anime From Various Decades (Part 3)

It’s been about 6 months since i last talked about lost anime. As i stated prior there’s dozens of lost anime from various decades but some of which aren’t always that documented compared to bigger examples such as the lost 2007 film of “Phantom Blood”. Today i wanted to share some more lost anime with very little of this being comprised of entries that i previously went over since i don’t wanna sound like a broken record. I’m not entirely sure if there’s gonna be a part 4 to this blog but in time that might be possible. For now i still managed to find some very interesting entries that i hope you guys will enjoy. So with all that being said, let’s get on with the blog shall we?

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#AnimeHunters

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1.)One Piece (Partially Lost 2001 Ocean Dub)

“One Piece” is arguably one of the most acclaimed Shōnen series with a legacy that’s not meant to be overlooked whatsoever. The series has been known as one of the longest running Shōnen Jump titles, outliving most of it’s previous competitors. The anime was given a decent run on 4Kids during the mid 2000s but prior to the company gaining the license for the series, Toei Animation themselves had wanted Ocean and Funimation to create a dub for the titular series. The first one to attempt this feat was Ocean who had previously done dubs for acclaimed shows such as “Dragon Ball Z” and “Gundam Wing”, both of which aired on Toonami by this point. This first version of the Ocean dub had the usual hallmarks of 2000s localization such as name changes and cartoonish sound effects that’s totally out of place for a show like this. A second attempt by Ocean was done a bit later in a different part of Canada which featured a far more faithful script and kept most of the original music from the show. Funimation’s first attempt at dubbing “One Piece” came a bit later as a pilot with a much different cast until the one we all know now started in 2007. Currently there’s only a few clips on YouTube that features all three dubs and the odds of any of them being found is pretty much up in the air for the time being.

2.)Maruhi Gekki Ukiyo-e Senichiya (Lost 1969 Anime Film)

The 1960s would be the decade where several innovations in anime kicked off. First was the advent of televised anime through 1963’s “Astro Boy” and the birth of the magical girl and mecha genre taking place here. Traces of more adult and mature anime could be dated back to this decade where Osamu Tezuka had released a film titled “A Thousand and One Nights” and this entry, “Maruhi Gekki Ukiyo-e Senichiya “. The film was made by a studio called Leo Productions and was very much a risqué project during it’s time. “Maruhi Gekki Ukiyo-e Senichiya” took place in Edo era Japan and featured a story that was rather violent and suggestive for it’s time since things of this nature wasn’t much of a common thing just yet. In fact, the film ended up having horrible reviews from critics due to the explicitness of the movie. Leo Productions eventually did some re-edits but the damage had already been done and the film was pulled from several Japanese screenings after only 10 days of it’s release. Somehow it got a home media release a decade or two later but still managed to become lost. As of now it’s not entirely certain if it’ll show up online and clips or screenshots from the movie are pretty much nonexistent.

3.)The Osamu Tezuka Awards Special (Lost 1999 Anime)

Osamu Tezuka made a name for himself in his long and winding career as the “Godfather of Manga”. His history can be somewhat complicated but his contributions to both manga and anime isn’t really something that should be underestimated. So in the years following his death in 1989, several anime based around his work continued to be made. In 1999, a television special aired in Japan called “The Osamu Tezuka Awards” that was made by Tezuka Productions in order to commemorate his legacy as well as celebrating the fact that the new millennium was around the corner. The special itself was like you average ceremony but with anime characters from his work. Categories included “Best Actor” or “Best Acress” among others that aren’t entirely known. The special itself was only 25 minutes in length and hasn’t been rebroadcasted on Japanese television since it’s initial airing but several different cels from this special have made the rounds on auction sites. Footage of the special however is totally lost so the only thing we can truly go off of besides articles is the cels and whatever rare photos that are out there.

4.)KochiKame (Lost Short Anime Film From 1985)

Besides the aforementioned “One Piece”, there was a time when “KochiKame: Tokyo Beat Cops” was the longest running manga series in Weekly Shōnen Jump. The series ran from 1976 to 2016 where it earned itself a 373 episode anime adaptation in 1996 and several TV specials. In 1985, Tatsunoko Productions had the chance to create an animated short film that aired at a festival dedicated to the then popular Shōnen Jump series such as “Kimagure Orange Road” which got a full series two years later. One other notable thing about this movie was that it had “Speed Racer” and “Time Bokan” director Hiroshi Sasagawa doing the direction of the film. Several VHS copies were made however they were only available for those who won an unknown contest but those tapes haven’t resurfaced yet. “KochiKame” isn’t exactly an adored series in various anime circles due to a lack of interest, so the likelihood of this being found isn’t really much.

5.)Pokémon: Computer Warrior Poygon (Lost/Unconfirmed Dub From 1998)

“Pokémon” is a franchise that’s been apart of many people’s childhoods for decades. At least at some point in our lives we’ve owned a shirt, toy, or even video games based around the beloved franchise. The anime itself has been ongoing since 1997 and still remains as one of the longest running anime next to “One Piece” and “Doraemon”. One infamous episode that’s been talked about to death would be the “Computer Warrior Porygon” episode that caused over 600 children in Japan to have epileptic seizures. Rather than the anime being cancelled it was put on a 4 month hiatus where it came back and has been ongoing ever since. Once the series made it’s way into America, the episode would be excluded from being dubbed due to the massive controversy in Japan. Despite this, several voice actors and actresses from the show have stated various claims that a dub for the episode was actually made. Some have said the episode was never even intended to be dubbed while others such as the late Maddie Blaustein stated it existed but with an altered version of the scene that caused the seizures. Right now, the various claims from the cast are mostly just speculation from their side or possibly stemming from false memories. For now it’s more likely to say this dub of the episode never really existed and the reason is pretty obvious to put it bluntly.

6.)Jim Button (Partially Lost 1974 Anime Series)

Rintaro by some anime fans is considered to be one of the most acclaimed directors from his time. He’s worked on several notable titles such as “Galaxy Express 999”, “Captain Harlock”, “Metropolis”, and many more. During the 1970s, Rintaro had worked on several different anime including “Jetter Mars” with Osamu Tezuka, and of course the anime adaptation for “Captain Harlock” which has been hailed as an absolute classic. One series of his that’s been lost to time would be his loose adaptation of a German children’s story called “Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer”. The anime itself had a decent run of 26 episodes that ran in 1974 and has several different changes from the original book such as the race of the leading character being changed and somewhat magic oriented elements being introduced that weren’t present in the original book. The anime itself hasn’t been aired on Japanese television in many years and only one episode was available on Youtube. For reasons unknown, the OP deleted it from their channel which means only footage of the opening and ending are available. It’s also one thing to note that the studio behind the anime called Eiken refuse to do a reprint of the show on DVD or even Blu-Ray for that matter.

7.)Obake no Q-Taro (Partially Lost 1965 Anime Series)

Fujiko Fujio were a mangaka duo that created some of Japan’s most beloved series such as the ever-so famous “Doraemon” series, “Ninja Hattori-kun,”, “Perman”, and this entry, “Obake no Q-Taro”. The series featured a ghost protagonist who had a habit of causing trouble and had a crippling fear of dogs which i’m sure made for some great gags in the series. “Q-Taro” and it’s popularity in Japan was a sensation during the mid to late 1960s and even became an inspiration for the ghosts in “Pac Man” funnily enough. So with such popularity, it was only inevitable that an anime adaptation would be made. Three different adaptations were created between the 1960s up until the 1980s. The first two adaptations were made by TMS Productions while a company called Shin-Ei made the 80s iteration which has a greater episode number of over 500 episodes. As of now there’s only one surviving full episode of the first two shows online while the Shin-Ei version is readily available. A re-release of the first two adaptations are up in the air since both authors not only didn’t have the rights to both manga and anime, but both of whom has ed away with Abiko (Fujiko A. Fujio) recently ing away back in 2022.

8.)Yuri on Ice!!!: Ice Adolescence (Cancelled 2017-2024 Anime Film)

“Yuri on Ice!!!” is a series that i’ve been quite familiar with over the years even before i became the weeb that i am today. Sadly i never got the chance to watch it since i have other shows on my plate but i’ll probably get to it before the year is over. But to get back on topic, “Yuri on Ice!!!” has achieved critical acclaim from most anime fans and ever since it’s conclusion in 2016 they’ve been anxiously waiting for a follow-up to the beloved series. Back in 2017, MAPPA had announced that the series would be getting a film that didn’t have a clear release just yet. It’s title would be announced somewhere in 2018 with a release date in 2019 being confirmed. Sadly, 2019 wouldn’t be the year the film got released but a re-release of the teaser from that same year came out in late 2020. The film as of the making of this blog has been cancelled with not much talk from MAPPA of going through with the project. All we have of the film is just a teaser trailer and some visuals. Maybe there might come a day where it gets put back into production but as of now the film is mostly canned.

9.)Kyubi no Kitsune to Tobimaru (Lost 1969 Anime Film)

As the 1960s were coming to a close, there were several anime films that saw a release with most of them not exactly fairing too well. This could be explained by the growing popularity of television in Japan that caused a slight decline in movie goers. 1969’s “Kyubi no Kitsune to Tobimaru” ended up being somewhat of a casualty but for different reasons entirely. Film creator Gentaro Nakajima initially wanted to make a live action film but Daiei Films turned down his proposal. Eventually Nakaijima would use his own money to fund the project and approached Toei Doga (later named Toei Animation) to produce and animate his script into an anime film. Surprisingly Daiei Films actually agreed to distribute the movie and the film itself finally got released. Unfortunately for Nakajima, the film only ever aired once in a Japanese theater due to Daiei’s poor promotion of the movie, causing it to be relegated to almost total obscurity for many years. The film’s negatives were once in the hands of Nakajima during his lifetime until his death in 1992 while his son Yojiro had ownership of the negatives. Sadly he would take his own life in 2001 following a scandal involving bribery which means the original 81 minute negatives are totally lost now. A 16mm print of the 68 minute versiondoes exist and has only had very private screenings in Japan where it’s safely in the hands of the Tokyo Metropolitan Library as of the making of this blog.

10.)Mime (Lost Pilot for Unproduced 1988 Anime Film)

Shōji Kawamori is a name that’s better known in the mecha community given that he’s responsible for the “Macross” series. His contributions to the genre are quite pronounced and has gone on to become staples in the world of anime. Once “Macross” had wrapped up, Kawamori would later go on to work on other shows in the following years such as “Escaflowne” and “Earth Maiden Arjuna” with his continuing installments to the “Macross” series. In 1988, Kawamori created a pitch pilot for a film that was a far cry from what he had done years ago with a story that focused on a teenage girl with elements of slice of life and fantasy elements throughout the movie. This pilot supposedly had a 3 minute runtime with the film being announced in Animage Magazine a year later in 1989 that was accompanied by screen-caps from the pilot. Visually it looks so much more different than what Kawamori had done with “Macross” so it’s a real shame this never got off the ground. Unfortunately this movie got cancelled in 1990 due to Kawamori feeling as though the film would be too similar with what was being released during that time, most notably “Kiki’s Delivery Service” being released just a year earlier. So far there’s no footage from this pilot and the only thing that’s left is just scans from the Animage article including some illustrations and screen-caps.

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And that about wraps up this blog and i really hope you guys enjoyed this one. It’s not all the time that i get the chance to actually talk about lost media regarding anime. As i said before, not every lost anime is going to be well documented online so i usually have to work with whatever’s available online. I’m sure that as time goes on i’ll have more material to work with for another installment of this series. For now i’m still in the midst of doing more blogs with one that i’m working on revolving around the various English dubs of “Dragon Ball Z” so stay tuned for that one. Anyways, what’s your favorite piece of lost media that’s related to anime? Let me know in the comments below! Make sure to like and share this post with your friends as well as to check out my other blogs where i make anime/manga reviews, chronicle anime history, discuss anime related news, and make opinion pieces regarding the medium and the industry itself. See ya~!!