When I Was Your Age

My kids love Japanese anime. But they laugh at me when I tell them that I watched animation shows from Japan when I was their age.

While they watch series such as Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, Ouran Highschool Host Club, Soul Eater, and Black Butler, shows that are just too strange for me, go well beyond my ability to suspend my disbelief, I watched a futuristic show about five orphans who had supernatural powers and who fought off invading forces from outside our solar system.

Considering I was totally immersed in Star Trek, Batman, and Spider-Man, it wasn't a stretch for me to be hooked on Battle of the Planets.

But when my nearly 14-year-old and 12-year-old daughters took a quick look at the show's intro, they laughed and said, "That's not anime. That's just a cartoon."

Hmph, I said.

Here's the show's intro.



Like lots of animated shows of my generation, the heros were always able to defeat the villain's evil plans, without defeating the villain himself. And G-Force, as the the fivesome was called, did that week after week. Their arch-enemy, Zoltar, could scare the heck out of a young kid. And, as the series continued, Zoltar became more complex, more interesting. Always seen in a masked costume, Zoltar wielded some mystery.

When Zoltar was unmasked, I was blown away.

When my girls see this animation from the 70s, they laughed. And, yeah, it does look kind of cheesy, now.

But I'm not about to start watching their shows.

Or will I? I'm not their age anymore, but I'm still young at heart.