Inochi no tabi is Japanese for "life's journey." The anime series "Uchuu Senshi Baldios" came into mine in 1980, and has been part of the trip ever since.
"Baldios" and I both debuted in Japan on June 30, 1980--"Baldios" as a TV series, and me as an exchange student. That evening, finally reaching a hotel near Haneda after clearing customs (a visa was required just to enter Japan from the U.S. back then), the rest of the exchange students trooped off to the welcome dinner. I begged off sick, holed up alone in the hotel room--and then flung myself down in front of the TV, eager to find some actual Japanese cartoons! Tuned in just in time to catch the ending of a special on the "Ashita no Joe" movie. And hot on its heels came the first episode of "Uchuu Senshi Baldios."
It was the first time I'd seen an anime opening title in Japanese. I had collected the Shogun Warriors toys that Mattel had repackaged for U.S. consumption, and had imagined what the original Great Mazinger and Getta Robo and Gaiking and ComBattler must be like...but the "Baldios" opening titles and theme song were nothing like that.
And in the episode, characters actually died! I had imagined that things like this were cut from the sanitized versions of "Yamato" and "Gatchaman" being aired in the U.S.--but actually seeing it happen was a shock, especially for someone raised on "Crusader Rabbit" and "Scooby-Doo." The stunningly alien goings-on had my mind racing, trying to dope out what was happening. And then came the ending theme, so sad-sounding... What the heck had I just seen? And could I see more of it?
Fortunately, it turned out I could, thanks to my host family being sympathetic to my anime-ogling needs. ;^)
Being apart from my family for the first time (and remember, this was back in the Dark Ages before the Internet), and trying to cope with culture shock, I really came to identify with Marine, the story's protagonist, in the weeks that followed. To this day, "Baldios" reminds me of that old disorienting feeling of trying to figure things out and get along in a world that parallels your own in so many ways but yet is so jarringly different in others.
"Baldios" outlasted my stay. Once back home, trying to find the rest of its episodes, its movie compilation, and anything at all else to do with it was pretty hopeless in those dawning days of anime fandom in the U.S. To own an actual "Baldios" cel seemed like a downright impossible dream...but in 1982, Ed Noonchester made that dream come true by selling me a Marine cel with background from his own collection!
I only found two more "Baldios" cels in the U.S. over the years (but I did finally get to see the whole darn TV series, thanks to its Japanese LD box set release in 1993). In 2000, though, I was able to move to Japan to work--and have been searching out "Baldios" goodies here ever since!
Although I can't share my first three "Baldios" cels (they're currently in storage in the U.S.), I've been lucky to find several more here in Japan. Posting them will be a fun chance to write about them (and rewatch episodes in the name of research ;^) ), and I hope someone else out there might enjoy seeing them, too.
News & Updates
12/17/2008
Oops, sorry, work's been crazy with the holidays looming! Tonight I added a cel from the movie.
12/3/2008
Added a cel from the movie.
11/25/2008
Added a cel each from Episode 24 and from new animation done for the Baldios movie.
11/22/2008
Hey-heyyy, finally got a new scanner! First up is a cel from Episode 17.
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