English Anime

Translations

For the latest news about upcoming DVD releases of Tezuka series, visit our News Page. Next release to come: Two Unico movies from New Galaxy Anime.

Find in-print English releases easily through our Amazon.com Tezuka List.

ANIMATION IN ENGLISH:

The following Tezuka anime have been released in the US in English translations, some dubbed only, others dubbed and in the original Japanese with English subtitles. All of these may be obtained at most major anime vendors. For online purchases, I recommend Rightstuf.com, since they have good discounts on an enormous selection of anime, and they have themselves translated and released several Tezuka series including the very first:

  • The Astonishing Work of Tezuka Osamu Short Film Collection
  • Astro Boy TV 1966 (dub only except for episode 1, 20, 32 and the ending: 193)
  • Astro Boy TV 1980 (First 2 episodes are cut into 1)
  • Astro Boy TV 2003 (dub only)
  • Black Jack 1st OAV (10 episodes; dub only VHS, bilingual DVD)
  • Black Jack 1st movie (bilingual)
  • Black Jack: Four Miracles of Life, online release on Crunchyroll
  • Black Jack TV, online release on Crunchyroll
  • Jungle Emperor Leo movie (bilingual)
  • Kimba the White Lion 1st TV series (dub only except for episode 1)
  • Metropolis movie
  • Motion Magazines (watch manga before you buy) on Crunchyroll
  • Phoenix TV
  • Wonder Beat Scramble first 2 episodes on Crunchyroll. A contest is held to find a translator for the rest.

Note also that several of the above series may be downloaded legally from iTunes.

OTHER REGION DVDS

  • Astro Boy TV 1980 (REGION 4) Australian boxset. Dub only with first 2 episodes complete and uncut in Japanese with subtitles on extras DVD.
  • Astro Boy TV 2003 (REGION 3) Korean boxset. Episodes 1-24 except #20 in Japanese with subtitles.
  • In the Beginning... Stories from the Bible (REGION 2) Japanese DVDs include English dub.
  • Phoenix 2772 (REGION 4) Australian DVD
  • Triton of the Sea (REGION 3) Taiwan boxset. Subpar subtitles.
  • Triton of the Sea 2-part movie (REGION 3) Taiwan boxset. Same subtitles as above. There is also a Hong Kong release with subtitles of unknown quality.

LIVE-ACTION

  • Dororo
  • Sleeping Bride (REGION 2) UK DVD
  • MW (REGION 3) Hong Kong DVD
  • NHK's The Secret of Creation documentary bundled with Elen McCarthy's Art of Tezuka Osamu book.

DETAILS:

ASTRO BOY (original Black & White)

The original black and white Astro Boy TV series was made in 1963 through 1966, and was the first ever anime cartoon series. It should be noted that Osamu Tezuka was in certain ways disappointed by the Astro Boy TV series because of its tendency to put happy endings onto the darker stories, but they are wonderful little episodes. See also the Tezuka World listing for it here.

ASTRO BOY (1980s Color)

The first in-color Astro Boy series aired in Japan in 1980 and in the US not long after. This was for many Americans the first anime they saw. The stories maintain several of the themes of the original manga, including issues of human-robot relations and environmentalism. It was released in a very affordable bilingual DVD boxset by MANGA Entertainment, and can be ordered here. See its Tezuka World listing here.

ASTRO BOY (2003)

A new Astro Boy TV series was made in 2003 to celebrate the official birthdate of Astro Boy, who according to the original manga years before, was to have been born on April 7th 2003. This series is composed largely of original stories modeled on original Tezuka manga issues, both Astro Boy and other series. It features a number of interesting secondary characters, including the usual Lamp and Ham Egg, but also Rock, the Phoenix, and the Rainbow Parakeet. It was licensed for TV release by WB, and a few episodes did air in their Saturday morning time slot. It is in print in the US in dub-only DVD format in a 5-disc boxset from Columbia, available here. It is too recent to be listed on Tezuka World, but we will post an analysis as soon as possible.

BLACK JACK (OAV)

The original Black Jack OAVs (Original Animated Video) are a set of ten episodes made in 1993. The episodes tell original stories, not from the Black Jack manga, but closely based on it. The first six episodes were released in the US first on dubbed VHS, and later the full set of ten was released in a bilingual DVD edition by Central Park Media. They can be obtained on individual discs, or in two boxsets, the first containing episodes 1-6 on three discs, the second containing episodes 7-10 on four discs. It is most affordable if purchased as two boxsets, the first containing episodes 1-6 on 3 discs, the second containing episodes 7-10 on 2 discs, which must otherwise be purchased on four individual dvds at $17 each. The Tezuka World information about the Black Jack OAVs can be found here. For episode summaries and analysis, see our Black Jack pages.

BLACK JACK (movie)

The Black Jack movie was made in 1996. It has the same style and cast as the Black Jack OAVs, and like the OAVs is an original story not adapted from a manga issue. It is available in a bilingual DVD from MANGA Entertainment, which can be ordered here. Tezuka World information about the Black Jack movie can be found here. For an analysis, see our Black Jack pages.

JUNGLE EMPEROR LEO (movie)

This is the movie made from the Kimba the White Lion series. It was made in 1997, and is available in the US in a bilingual DVD released by Media Blasters, available here. It should be noted that there are several films based on this series, as well as a TV series and some specials, and all of them are referred to both as Jungle Emperor Leo and as Kimba the White Lion, depending on whom you ask. You will find the Tezuka World listing for this particular version here.

KIMBA THE WHITE LION (1965 TV series)

This is the first TV series of Kimba, also known as Jungle Emperor Leo. It was made in 1965, and was the first anime broadcast in color. It was first released in the US first in a dub only VHS set by Right Stuf. Here is its Tezuka World listing. The new dvd boxset, released by Rightstuf, features the original Japanese version of episode 1, and the remastered US dub versions of the full 52 episodes. It can be ordered here. Another, earlier dub-only DVD Kimba set, also the same 1965 series, was released a couple years ago by Rhinomation. It contained none of the original Japanese, and had poor picture quality with badly distorted color and no extras. It is now out of print, and has been replaced by the digitally-remastered Kimba set.

METROPOLIS (movie)

The Metropolis movie was made in 2001 by Katsuhiro Otomo and Rintaro. It is not a direct adaptation of Tezuka’s Metropolis manga, but encorporates elements of other Tezuka manga into the simple Metropolis story, drawing particularly on Nextworld and on Phoenix volume 2 ("Future"). It enjoyed a limited theatrical release in the US and is available in a bilingual DVD from Columbia, which can be ordered here. The original soundtrack is also available legally in the US, from DOMO - it does not include the finale song "I Can't Stop Loving You." This extremely complicated work is too recent to have a listing on Tezuka World, but here is its official movie web page, and we will post a more detailed analyses soon, tracing it to its roots in various Tezuka manga.

PHOENIX TV series

The recent thirteen-episode Phoenix TV series, from 2003-4, has been released in Germany. It has also been licensed for release by the American Anime company, Mediablasters, and the first DVD will be released October 30. Plans are also in progress for Phoenix TV to air on PBS. Phoenix TV is a very faithful adaptation of several story arcs of the Phoenix manga, though it does not cover all of them.

OBSCURE AND OUT OF CIRCULATION

Princess Knight and Ambassador Magma both had brief British video releases, more than ten years ago. These VHS tapes are now long out of print and almost impossible to find. Similarly, several works of Tezuka were dubbed in English and released in the US in the 1970s and 1980s, including the Unico and Saiyuki movies. These old adaptations were very liberally translated with many obvious changes made in the dubbing, and generally not released on video, or if they were, they are now next to impossible to track down. Hopefully, with the growing popularity of Tezuka's works in the US, they will see fresh releases with better translations. One occasionally finds vhs copies of the US dub of Tezuka's Bible Stories for sale used, but they are long out of print - they exist both in English and Spanish dubs.

OTHER LANGUAGES

In the 1970s through 1990s a number of Tezuka anime aired in dubbed form in Italy, France, and Turkey. These included Princess Knight and Astro Boy. No vhs or DVD releases of these translations are currently known to be in circulation.

In addition, many works of Tezuka aired in China dubbed in Chinese, and have been printed in Chinese editions. Since readers of this page are unlikely to have a better reading knowledge of Chinese than they do of Japanese, we will not cover the Chinese versions min any detail.

A WORD ABOUT FANSUBS AND BOOTLEGS

It is possible to obtain translated copies of a number of Tezuka series which have not been licensed for US release in fan subs or bootleg editions. While we do not wish to condone any illicit distribution of Tezuka series, it is appropriate here for us to discuss exactly what these are, so you can recognize them when you see them.

Fansubs are copies of Japanese TV episodes, with subtitles added in by amateur fans. These videos are usually distributed over the internet through various download sources, such as BitTorrent or IRC. Fan Subs are usually distributed for free, with no money changing hands, and many fan sub groups make a point of never distributing fansubs of series which have been licensed for US release. Often Fansubs are the only translated source of anime not yet licensed for US release, but it is also true distribution of fansubbed anime, especially of licensed series, interferes with the legitimate sales, and can consequently diminish the number of new series which get licensed. Please keep in mind while you hunt for Tezuka that if you find a source offering to let you download the recent Black Jack anime or the not-yet-released Phoenix anime without paying for them, these are certain to be fansubs and not legal copies. The 2003 set of short animated Black Jack online videos could be downloaded legaly in Japan, and with a cover price of $7 per download or $30 for the full 11 episodes - I do not know how to download them from the US. AnimeNewsNetwork Report.

Bootleg DVDs are illegal copies of Tezuka series ripped onto DVD and sold. If you search on eBay or other online sources, you will find a great variety of these DVD sets, offering both unlicensed series not available in the US, and series which have been released legally in the US. The majority of these discs come out of Hong Kong, and they tend to have very poor English translations, almost to the point of being incomprehensible. The discs tend to have very nice packaging, though, with barcodes and corporate logos, making it difficult to tell the difference between bootlegs and legitimate releases. I know many people who have fallen into the trap of ordering anime DVDs online, only to discover upon their arrival that they were bootlegs. These bootlegs can usually be identified by the fact that they are coded region ALL instead of region one, and that they have English and Chinese subtitles and usually no English dub track. If you are considering purchasing a DVD boxset of anime and are having trouble telling the bootlegs from the legitimate discs, check against rightstuf.com or another legitimate seller of anime to make sure that the packaging on the disc you are about to buy has the same cover as the legal release. When in doubt, simply get your anime from a stable vendor like Right Stuf or AnimeNation, or even Amazon.com, where you will not be in danger of accidentally purchasing bootlegs.