Thirty years after debuting in the U.S, the indelible Ruby-Spears Mega Man cartoon has been released in Japan for the very first time. Rebranded as Rockman USA, all 13 episodes of the show's first season are now available for purchase on Amazon Japan, Video Market, Fuji TV, and other streaming platforms. The second season will probably follow in no time at all.
Although a single episode was previously included in a 2003 promotional DVD set for corporate investors, this marks the first time the entire series has been officially accessible in Japan. Capcom is marketing it as “A Rockman that no one knows about!” The release includes Japanese subtitles, though character names remain consistent with the U.S. version.
Although a single episode was previously included in a 2003 promotional DVD set for corporate investors, this marks the first time the entire series has been officially accessible in Japan. Capcom is marketing it as “A Rockman that no one knows about!” The release includes Japanese subtitles, though character names remain consistent with the U.S. version.
While this news might not be particularly groundbreaking for longtime English-speaking fans (although I've got some news for you about the show to share in 2025 that I think you'll like), it’s a pleasant surprise for our friends overseas. No doubt, they'll be joining us in the affectionate ribbing we’ve all come to enjoy about the show.
I know frames were given away as part of a contest in Japan some time ago. Is it really that obscure over there?
ReplyDeleteThe 5 inch figures were also available in Japan as well.
DeleteNow that I didn't know. Interesting.
DeleteAlso I think the correct term would be cels? Oh well. Prices for them are ridiculously high on Ebay...
I also want to mention that about seven years ago, I used to browse the Japanese Yahoo auctions looking at dojins to buy, and I found was a lot for individual issues for the Archie Comics run of Mega Man; not just active listings, but sold listings too. They even put the emphasis that these were "American Manga" and listed them under Mega Man (メガマン) rather than Rockman (ロックマン). To further prove the point, I've heard on old forums that the Japanese audience do have an interest in anime dubbed in English, such as a sincere fondess for Monica Rial as the voice of Sakura in Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle or to watching the English version of Haruhi season 1 "Mystery Science Theater 3000-style". Take it with a grain of salt, of course, as I forgotten the web addresses due to lost data, but I think they will be at the very least curious to see how a video game was adapted in Western television.
DeleteEither way, this is delightful.
ReplyDeleteThis is just great
ReplyDeleteNow all we need is a Blu ray release of the series.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely, I’d buy the series on Blu Ray. If it ever gets a new release with all of the concept art that has been found the last 10-15 years as extras that would be a instant purchase for me.
DeleteThat's funny.
ReplyDeleteHope they have fun with it.
bro ain't mario 2 😂
ReplyDeletei get super mario USA
DeleteWhat does Mario Bros 2 have to do with Mega Man?
DeleteIt's simple: There was a game called "Doki Doki Panic" in Japan; it was brought overseas and changed into "Super Mario Bros. 2"; that then was brought to Japan and because they already had Super Mario Bros. 2, it was called "Super Mario USA" to explicitly spell out that this was from the USA. The same logic applies to this cartoon: The Japanese fans know the games as Rockman, we overseas fans know it as Mega Man, and the cartoon is called Mega Man, so it is being called "Rockman USA" to let them know this is from the USA.
DeleteNow our friends out east can understand true sacrifice: risking yourself for Mister 𝓛𝓲𝓷𝓬𝓸𝓵𝓷
ReplyDelete...and being goaded into taking off your helmet.
DeleteAt least it wasn’t a helmet malfunction like in Starship Troopers. R.I.P. Breckinridge.
DeleteGreat! Now Japan can see what they have been missing out on. At the same time, for once, I feel bad for Sonic fans. They have probably never seen Sonic 06 and therefor don't know Sally Acorn is.
ReplyDeleteSonic 06...? Don't you mean Sonic SatAm?
Delete@6:45 AM Different anon here, last I heard SatAM was still very popular, and interest in the IDW comics has even sparked some to go back and read through the Archie comics series. Sally Acorn is definitely not obscure in the slightest.
DeleteI can confirm that the younger generation have taken an interest in the older comics run: three months ago, I was at a community college fair selling comics that were duplicates in my collection, and a group of kids and teens came up to my booth to check it out. At first, they were confused why I had two Sonic series next to each other, but I explained that the first series from Archie Comics were his early adventures when the original Genesis games came out and the second series from IDW are based on his most recent games. After I said that, one guy bought a one-shot of Sonic's 900th adventure from me, and over the subsequent visits, I've sold several issues of comics; one bought 7 IDW issues at $4 each, while others bought a handful of Archie from issues 35-38 at $6-$8 a piece (seriously). Last time I was there, a girl who bought one comic was talking to her boy friend about the Archie run and mentioned Sally a couple of times. So yeah, there is definitely an interest in the old Sonic comics.
Delete6:45 AM
DeleteYou're right, my bad.
10:29 AM & Rock-X
My bad, I meant Japanese Sonic fans.
I wasn’t saying Sonic Sat Am is a bad show, I just meant the poster was mentioning 06 and Sally when she isn’t in Sonic 06.
DeleteSonic SatAM cliffhanger reaction in a nutshell:
DeleteAll right! All right! Next season!
*Sad sonic fan turns off the TV*
Hey, wait. What happened? What happens next? Come on! Let’s see the Season 3 premiere!
Sad Sonic Fan: That’s it.
What?
Sad Sonic Fan: The show was cancelled after that.
Part 2:
DeleteWait. What about the void and the Freedom Fighters and the doomsday machine? I that was a great show! I mean, why cancel it?
Sad Sonic Fan: Two words, low ratings. Once Sonic get his own anime, children only wanted Chris to have more screen time than him.
I know how that feels. But still, Sonic got his own live-action movie series. I mean, look at all this merchandise!
@1:07/5:06
DeleteAs someone who loves SatAM *and* Toy Story 2: bravo! Though Power Rangers would probably be a better expy for Sput Nik (Ben Hurst always seemed to cite that show as a ratings rival).
I'd love to hear Japan's reactions to the Lion Men...
ReplyDeleteThe 95 series is still 10,000 times better than Fully Charged and the new 5 minute clip.
DeleteAgreed. I'd watch this over either.
DeleteI thought the 5 minute clip was actually really good given the time constraint. I'd love to get a series with proper 20 minute episodes.
DeleteI was hoping for it to be dubbed, honestly. I’d kill to hear “Kung-Fu Cut Man” in Japanese.
ReplyDeleteIt would’ve been interesting. Probably even more unhinged and ad-lib heavy, like most America-to-Japan 90’s cartoons.
DeleteOh man, I would have loved to see that.
DeleteA Chinese dub existed in the 90s that no one has uploaded.
Delete@5:43 Well dang, son. More lost media, eh?
Delete@Rs Protoman, I have the vcd’s they are on and plan on ripping them and uploading them sometime.
DeleteHave you visited the Lost Media subreddit yet? If not, maybe you can share your story of the Chinese dub of Mega Man: perhaps there's someone else that knows about it as the users are always looking to find things that were lost once and then found and lost again.
Delete@9:02 AM Interesting, do you collect foreign releases or are Chinese?
Delete@Rock-X, I've never really used Reddit so I'll have to checkout the lost media thread. The Vcd's used to be on older Mega Man fansites in the late 90s and early 2000s but are largely forgotten these days.
Delete@3:16 am, I actually found them in a video game store back in the late 90s as a kid and had to have them, I'm not Chinese. Just wanted to watch the show again back then even if I didn't understand the language because it's Mega Man.
Haven’t we put japan through enough?
ReplyDeleteDon’t even go there, this show is way better than Fully Charged and the new 5 minute short.
DeleteThe cheese will continue until morale improves!
DeleteConsidering the series is way better than the crap people are praising now, I think you have it backwards.
DeleteThis show has never deserved the hate it gets from the purists.
DeleteBoring.
ReplyDeleteThis $h1t deserve to be banned from the world, we need the OVA series.
ReplyDeletenow that's what I call edgy
DeleteAgreed, OP.
DeleteThis could have interesting ramifications for the future. For Character mods of Mega Man X DiVE Offline, we could have Character mods featuring RS Mega Man, Roll, Proto Man, and a skin that turns Mega into Brain Bot, or even a character mod of Brain Bot himself! But in order for that impossible dream to be dreamed and made reality, Character models have to be made, first, and the only recommendation I know of, JC Thornton is the only guy I know of that's skilled enough to do it, and he don't do it cheap, even for a freelancer!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that Rockman USA was streaming at all does bring up interesting possibilities for future character mods in Mega Man X DiVE Offline.
ReplyDelete