What Shonen Jump Was Like 30 Years Ago 

"JoJo's Bizarre Adventure was Fist of the North Star if written by a crazy person " You're not wrong

"Jojo's Bizarre Adventure was fist of the north star written by a crazy person." That's probably the best description of early JoJo's I've ever heard...

“Invincible heroes” Johnathan Joestar fucking dies

I had the privileged of apprenticing under the creator of Fist of the North Star, Tetsuo Hara, from 2005-2007. I was an assistant illustrator on the FOTNS prequel, Fist of the Blue Sky. We actually shared a studio with City Hunter's creator, Hojo-sensei. It was amazing to be surrounded these Shonen manga legends... but the life style was completely insane.

You:You're already dead. Me, an intellectual: You're late in realizing it, from the moment our fists met, you were already enchanted by the Death God.

"You're late in realizing it, from the moment our fists met, you were already enchanted by the death god." Holy shit, that's fucking hilarious. I can't believe that's real.

Me going into this video: 'I'm sure this will be a fascinating retrospective on Jump.' Me 15 minutes into this video: 'I gotta to see this anime about dogs.'

The change in Jump is similar to Kung fu movies in a way. Kenshiro is like Bruce Lee, how he inspired heroes who are virtually invincible and made some knock offs. Then comes Dragon Ball. Goku being Jackie Chan in which you get a comedic hero who gets his ass kicked, but learns to become stronger in the end.

Saint Seiya isnt undervalued in the west, only in USA. Here in Peru and in Latin America the series is actually overapreciated.

I'd like to point out that Saint Seiya's contributions to shonen didn't go unappreciated in the West. maybe in the US but in Latin America it is absolutely LOVED. And some countries in Europe too.

Saint Seiya, after Dragon Ball, is the most well-known anime in Brazil. I'm surprised that it isn't famous in the USA.

FUN FACT: Kenshiro of Fist of the North Star & Kinikumon were both voiced by the same actor, Akira Kamiya. Come to think of it, he voiced a LOT of heroes from 80s action anime, including City Hunter's Ryo Saeba and Roy Fokker from Superdimensional Fortress Macross

"JoJo's bizarre Adventure was fist of the northstar if written by a crazy person" LOL

Seiya is not undervalued "in the West". It's undervalued in english speaking countries. South Americans and Europeans LOVE Saint Seiya.

Fist of The North Star is criminally underrated. We wont have JoJo without it.

I'd like you to do a "Why You Should Watch Fist of the North Star"

Run, WEED!

SAINT SEIYA is extremely popular here in South America.

I don't mean to be rude but you have a lot of people watching you so I'm sure others will use your vid as a reference when it comes to certain perceptions of the 80s series you mentioned & I wish to clarify some misinformation. I'm assuming from the heavy usage of 1986 movie & the clip of Kenshiro vs thug fight, that you haven't seen/read the series in its entirety. While Kenshiro is an invincible manly symbol that's just the surface level of who he is. Ken did lose fights & failed to save lives. Much of the problems of the series was it's beginning as many foes weren't any match for Ken but even as early as chapter 10 it created a very tragic event for his character. He would later be joined with allies Mamiya, Rei, Shu, & others but many of Ken's friends & family would permanently die. With the appearance of villains like Raoh & Souther that's when the series takes a sadder tone even forcing Ken to learn a new move which determines the outcome of his final fight with Raoh. Admittedly, the series overstayed its welcome from Fist Of The North Star 2 & corresponding manga chapters, Kenshiro is more than just the tough guy beating up bandits, he's a very sad person who's often compared to Guts during his black swordsman days. Even when Ken finally wins he's left with no one at the end of his journey. He saved the world at the cost of his happiness.

The dog from the manga you mentioned Ging is in Saint Seiya and so is the bear antagonist! I wasn't expecting to have a revelation like this watching. It's in the Asgard arcs Fenrir fight, Fenrir was rasied by wolves and Ging saved him from that bear which also killed Fenrir's parents! Same name, same scar, same giant bear. If it's not a direct crossover its a perfect copy.

We need more/better scans of old manga.

So one of my friends told me about this time he found this dog anime by accident that involved a dog trying to fight a bear, only watched one episode, forgot the name, and never saw it again. My friend told me about this years ago, and now here I am, watching this, and thinking "holy fuck, that's the dog anime Patrick was talking about!"

“Everything changed, when the Dragonball nation attacked”

Thank you for the City Hunter nod!! A buddy got me into it like a decade ago, but never encountered anyone else who has seen it. Such a great 80s, early 90s anime.

15:56 OH MY GOD! It's Danny! How did you survive being set on fire, boy?

The "edgy protagonist, not family friendly" trend started way back in the 60s mainly as a result of the student rebellions of the time. Osamu Tezuka talks about it in the beginning of Astro Boy volume 19. Series like Ashita no Joe & Devilman from the 70s featured characters that had both manly elements and soft elements, visually and in terms of personality.

Please cover/review Silver Fang/Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, the series deserves more recognition. It's basically Fist of the North Star but with Dogs and it's got a pretty interesting story too. Also, about Fist of the North Star, it's not exactly a power fantasy, since Kenshiro isn't 100% invincible, he lost a lot of fights throughout the series and had to learn to discipline himself as a result.

I loved this video so much as it was and then when you closed with Gin I literally had tears in my eyes...no one ever talks about Gin and it holds a special place in my heart. I read as much of it as I could but also wish it took off more on the English adaptation/translation side. THANK YOU SO MUCH! T_T

The scary depressing times we are living in currently is why the superhero genre in both the east and west is so popular. The idea that someone will show up and save the day is really appealing. Did research on this for a Psychology thesis.

For those wondering Fist of the North Star ran in shonen jump 1983 - 1988 Dragonball ran 1984 - 1995

This is probably my most re-watched video of Eyepatchwolf's, the history of this publication is fascinating. Loving insight on what exactly worked with these different series' and what the public demanded back in that era, I really hope he continues with these. I would love any sort of retrospective on Shonen Jump's competitors (Weekly Shonen Magazine and Shonen Sunday) cause I think its worth a video on them trying to keep up with Shonen Jump's towering rise in popularity.

I'd actually love to see a whole episode about Kinnikuman.

You forgot one more very important reason why manga like Fist of the North Star were so popular: Rival magazines were pulling in big numbers because of various popular romance series (like Mitsuru Adachi's Touch and Urusei Yatsura.) The higher-ups at Jump were considering to go along with the trend but eventually decided against it, because it would go against their principles. As a counter to this popular trend they released manly manga like Hokuto No Ken and JoJo's. These types of manga were becoming popular because they were so different from the mold at the time.

2:42 Into the realm of GUTS and testosterone? Is that a Berserk reference????

This was an AMAZING video. Hope to see more just like it. Pacing, tone and everything was on point.

Awesome video, excellent historical run-through and representation of the 80s in your video. Nice jams too. Retro-wave is amazing.

We can also see that popular modern manga, like say, My Hero Academia, sort of reflect that clash between young underpowered protagonists and the invincible heroes of yore, with for example Deku's relationship with Almight

An interesting fact about the weed manga and anime is that it was somehow very popular here in Finland, as it ran on finnish tv along other childrens programs. Everyone my age (20) is familiar with it here :p

This was really interesting! I also got some of those Jump reprints out of curiosity, and it's a fascinating read to see what kinds of series come into serialisation at what times. The idea of the softer, more shojo artstyle allowing a wider range of viewers was something that continued especially into the 1990's. I think I remember seeing that there was a rise of 'bishonen' characters around that time to tap into that market. Demographics are fascinating.

A very well executed video on the history of "Shonen jump"! You're by far my most favorite Anime related RU-vidrs!

That dog anime looks hype as fuck.

"saint seiya is a series which contribution for the shounen genre is undervalued in the west" Not in Brazil. In Brazil the anime adaptation from Saint Seiya singlehandedly started the anime boom in late 90s, even before pokemon or dragonball.(I've also heard it's very popular in France) By the way, I've heard that the dog series in the end of the video is very popular in Finland

i got so excited when you started talking about ginga! it was my entire childhood. it's a cult classic in finland and apparently other nordic countries as well. very overlooked series!

Thank you for covering this forgotten era to many anime/manga fans. This is my favorite era. I hope to see your video about Hokuto No Ken's impact on manga and anime. Keep up the great work Modem boy John.

Saint Seiya's contribution to shonen wasn't undervalued in the west, just in the English market. Latin America loves saint seiya to the level that the figures here are imported and pirated to death.

Ginga Nagareboshi Gin has a huge fandom in Finland, The cover of the manga volume you showed was actually the one published in Finland. But the opening you showed was Ginga Densetsu Weed, which is sequel series about Gin's son. Yeah the opening is good but the Gin's own anime and atory is much more brutal and epic, most of the English if not all rips are from Finnish origin and have some Finnish sectences on the subtitles here and there. But please make yourself a favor and go to see the original Ginga Nagareboshi Gin (Silver fang) opening and its soundtrack. ❤❤❤ The creator is also aware of his Finnish fanbase and has travelled here quite of a many times :'>

I also find it interesting how big of an impact this period also had on the japanese gaming industry as well. With popular American action movies like "Escape From New York" inspiring Hideo Kojima to make the Metal Gear series, it paved the way for a lot of gaming industry standards as we know it today. It's hard to believe that something like those cheesy action flicks could inspire decades of immensely popular titles that came after it, but I wouldn't want it any other way.

I think this is one of your best videos, I love the editing, all the clips and pictures, the delivery, all siiicck.

Kinnikuman, Hokuto no Ken, Sasigake Otokojuku, City Hunter, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.. .god damn the 80's were GOAT

I love Saint Seiya I grew up watching it, now that I live in New York City I can easily make conversations about with people from Brazil, France, Mexico, Turkey my native Peru and now that Netflix is bringing it back I can't wait to watch it with my son

City Hunter is one of my favorite anime/mangas of all time. I'm a huge fan of Miami Vice and City Hunter really reminded me of it with a tinge of the "Manime" flavors mentioned throughout the video. On another note, I do miss these kinds of Manga/Anime. Sure, you had guys like Bean Bandit aka Riding Bean in the 90's. But rarely do you see guys like Cobra the Space Pirate nowadays. P.S. I'm not saying I dislike shonen characters that meet the "Manime mold". I am quite fond of Dragon Ball (not Z), and Yuyu Hakusho. I'm also fond of shows that are more meant for girls like (the underrated martial arts manga/anime mentioned here) Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl.

I nearly cried when you mentioned Gin! My god does that series need so much more exposure! Personally for me the only shonen show in my opinion that sort of ripped that off is Makibao, another shonen manga about a tiny horse competing in horse races. No idea if it was in Shonen jump though, it is a great part of my childhood.

Another Spectacular video, Got me PUMPED up too lol great work

I think it's interesting how the rest of the world has never heard of Weed/Ginga and the other series by the same mangaka, since in Finland, where I happen to live, they belong to the classics that exposed many kids to anime for the first time. It even aired on TV dubbed which is something that doesn't even happen with the most popular series nowdays. And even back then even Sailor moon never got a tv run. I'm not sure why it was such a big thing here (and still is, to a level, since one the mangaka's series is still being published here).. but I'm glad it was and rest of the world has missed out on some great stuff.

i'm a lifelong massive fan of ginga nagareboshi gin. it's such a treat to hear you talk about it. i've been having a terrible last couple of days and you really put a smile on my face. thank you.

This was quite a fascinating topic and video, its interesting how much the genre can change in the same decade.

Actually, that OP wasn't from Gin anime, it was from Weed, which is a sequel to Gin. And yeah, it's a case of an author using a word in its more... innocent sense (aka "the resilent little plant that just won't die"), rather then the... weed-weed. Heh. That mention of Astro Boy got me thinking... I hope you'll talk about Tezuka's works someday. The Star System alone is video-worthy.

Saint Seiya still is the second most popular anime here in Brazil, after DBZ. Everyone around 20-30 years old knows it. Hell, even up to this day you can't go to a anime convention or something like that without seeing people dressed up in Saint Seiya costumes or singing it's theme song (being honest, it's Brazilian theme song it's simply amazing, if you understand Portuguese do check it out). Not all of the West doesn't appreciate it's influence, as here in Brazil it basically kick-started the anime fandom

Hi, Amazing content. Great regarding all aspects : visual, voice, topic, references, structure,... Thank you very much, I was starting to lack new content (I'm French so I was limiting myself to Fench Otakus). All the Best from Paris's suburbs. Keep delivering! ;)

Great Video! Always love these more history oriented ones. One thing I find funny is that Saint Seya is as big, if not bigger, than Dragonball in Brazil. But as influential as it is, in most videos from other western countries it's rarely mentioned.

I absolutely adore anime youtubers who take the time to explore classic franchises and just exclusively focus on what's new or what's in the period between the early 2000s and 2010s and that's a huge reason why you're one of my top 3 favorite anime youtubers ^_^ As for hugely underappreciated animes,I highly recommend Iganu Kabamaru,I still remember fondly my time with it watching the series when it got an arabian dub of all things here in the middle east during the early 90s and to this day I still go back and watch it while still having a good time with it

Just a heads up. The opening for the show about dogs was actually the OP for Ginga Densetsu Weed, which is the sequel to Ginga Nagareboshi Gin which stars Gin's son Weed. The actual OP to Gin is here ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Q4_mrdCI6Rw.html&ab_channel=ShadowDragonBoss which is also really good, just SO 80's it hurts

This is absolutely excellent researched video.

fantastic video, a video on classic animes to watch is in order, this was a great retrospect video

"RUN WEED!" Jokes aside, Super Eyepatch Wolf is surprisingly buff from what I assumed lol

Dragon Ball was initially an antithesis of what it would eventually become....how ironic.

You got me binge watching your content. 3/3 on videos by you that I've watched and fallen in love with.

I love your videos especially this one. Right now I'm working on a huge essay about American, european and japanese comics in comparison, so this was really interesting for me. :)

Omae wa mo shindeiru NAANII?!

_Hehe. Ginga is considered a classic series in Finland, like Fooly Cooly, Samurai Champloo or anything from Adult Swim really is concidered a classic in America. One of the screenshots in this video, with the text "Hopeanuoli" is one of the manga volume's cover in Finland. It's truly a magnificent series, what deserves more love internationally, and it was quite a shock for me to hear ages ago that the series most of my friends irl grew up with, almost nobody would have heard it anywhere else._

As a brazilian, I must say, Saint Seiya was not overlocked in the whole west. Saint Seiya; which is known here in Brazil as "Os Cavaleiros do Zodíaco"; The Knight of the Zodiac in english; is consider one of the anime responsible for "The Rise of Anime" of 80's and 90's in Brazil.

Always a pleasure to see a new video from you, mate.

>Hotline Miami music. I knew you had good taste

Actually, that intro is from Ginga Densetsu Weed (Silver Fang Legend Weed) which is about Gin's son the eponymous Weed. The anime you're looking for is Ginga Nagareboshi Gin (Silver Fang: The Shooting Star Gin; I love the translations of these titles) which of course has the old anime feel but is still really good (the opening is also really good in my opinion). Other than that, great video!

Hey man. It's been 2 years. It's been even longer since this shonen jump. I saw the thumbnail and teared up. That was so long ago. Yet it feels like yesterday. Good times.

The best Anime channel of all time by far. U put so much efforts to the video. It's fenomenal. I enjoy every time. I wish my country have someone like you. But we have none. Anyway good fucking job mate, u r incredible!

Fun fact, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin was (is) actually very popular in Sweden and Finland. In Sweden it was one of a couple of animes, like Genshi shonen Ryu and the Toei Animated version of Puss in Boots, who got a dubbed version and was released on VHS (this was back when videostores was all the rage, and seeing how animated movies (like Disney) was popular with kids, some companies bought and dubbed anime to cash in). Although here it was known as Silver Fang.

15:38 the op is the sequel Ginga Legend Weed

I just love your videos man congrats!

This was very informative thank you.

16:00 "The discussion about anime and manga doesn't always need to be about whatever is out this season, sometimes it's worth looking back and seeing how we got to where we are, and what we might have missed along the way" YEEEESSSSS!!! My thoughts exactly!

You have no idea how exciting it is to hear someone outside of the fanbase actually talk about the Ginga series. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on the series once you've explored it more. It definitely isn't a ground breaking series or anything but it is a lot of fun start to end.

Great video, only a reminder, you said that Saint seyia was not so reconinzed in the west, but in latin america the two greatest and most popular anime were Saint seyia and Dragon ball, beeing one of the most popular if not the most of the latin america. Keep the good work, you are the best anime youtuber of the youtube haha

This is pretty amazing and well thought out. Also, honorable mention to Ranma One Half. I'm now going to have to watch all your videos. There goes the next few days...

The opening for the dog anime in the end is of Ginga Densetsu Weed, the sequel to Ginga Nagareboshi Gin, not Ginga Nagareboshi Gin itself.

a long time ago, a friend of mine linked me a blog that talks about weird comics that come out in finland, and there was a really bizarre amount of hyper violent sparkledog comics, it turns out the reason behind this is that ginga nagareboshi gin and ginga dentetsu weed were some of the first manga/anime to be translated into finnish, so everyone there tries to emulate it in much the same way DBZ is so popular in south america cus it was one of the first anime to be translated into spanish (apparently there's even a pretty popular DBZ themed taco restaurant in mexico where the waiters wear z-fighter gi uniforms)

This provided a great insight into the reason behind why Kenshiro is Kenshiro that I was previously unaware of. I had actually heard about Ginga Nagareboshi before, but through it's translated anime title: Silverfang. One of the rare cases where anime found its way here during the 1980s. I never saw it myself though, I was watching Starzinger.

Amazing video. I just subbed. Thanks for making it.

Saint seiya was really popular in South America, pretty much everyone here knows the opening in spanish.

Okutojuku : "I'm Kenshisro but I'm a bancho swordsman JoJo's : "I'm Kenshisro but I'm British, I'm also Kenshisro but I'm a Japanese deliquent" City hunter : "I'm Kenshisro but I'm a cop" Super doctor K : "I'm Kenshisro but I'm a surgeon" Toriko : "I'm Kenshisro but I'm a hunter and not as stoic"

One of your best videos yet. Thanks for the huge insight on Japanese 80's hell.

Expectacular video. Extremely informative. I do have curiosity about the manga about the dog and his pack though

You put so much effort and time into videos, an art that is long forgotten today in a time where constant uploads do better in RU-vid. You're a legend, an amazing film maker and I look forward to every upload. Keep it up.

I'll never give up, please talk about Gantz manga/anime and how the anime failed etc :( Anyway, an awesome video as always. Your way of talking and researching made you my favorite youtuber♥

Awesome vid :) as someone who reads the current Shonen Jump every week I love seeing some of its history and trends

My respects for mentioning Saint Seiya! Its not very well known on the US but here in Spain and in the rest of spanish speaking countries in america is considered a very respected classic between the likes of Dragon Ball and Superchampions.

The intro you showed is actually from the sequel story about Gins' son Weed. The story of Gin was animated around 1986.

It really does depress me how so many people won’t look back on the history of film, television, video games, anime/manga, etc.

Your “Current State of Shonen Jump” is one of my favorite videos on this website so i was really happy to see this in my sub box.

This was a very very fantastic video, great job