Study focuses on the cultural history of robot anime and its relationship with the toy industry.

The Japanese government recently made available a 90-page document about everything you've ever wanted to know about the history of robot anime and its close relationship with the toy industry. Written by anime critic Ryusuke Hikawa, head of cultural promotion at Sunrise Koichi Inoue, and writer Daisuke Sawaki, the report clocks in at 90 pages and is available through Media Arts Current Contents, a government-affiliated hub for media art covering manga, anime, and video games.

Titled "Nihon Animation Guide: Robot Anime-hen," the report was compiled by Mori Building Co., which has previously also compiled reports on Japanese live-action special effects shows, movies, and other pop culture topics. In addition to these reports, the company also promotes media arts information, hosts symposiums, conducts surveys, and works on archive projects.

The first chapter focuses on the cultural history of robot anime and documents the rise of genre in the early 1960s and its ebb in the mid-1980s. The second chapter discusses the relationship between anime studios and toy makers, while the final chapter features an exhaustingly complete list of robot anime shows and movies in chronological order, starting with the 1963 anime TV series Tetsujin 28-go.

The report, which is sadly in Japanese only, is available to download from Media Arts Current Contents here as a PDF.

[Via Asahi Shimbum]