Cancelled shows

[Aaron Gerow]

According to news reports, a new animated version of Matsumoto Reiji's 
Captain Herlock has been cancelled before it even it the air. The new 
version of the show, the original of which aired in 1978, was to be aired 
by Anime Theater X, a pay channel on the SkyPerfectTV satellite system, 
until Matsumoto objected to its iconography and demanded it be cancelled. 
Apparently the evil forces in the anime use a super weapon that strongly 
resembles the Jewish Star of David. Matsumoto refused to have his 
characters associated with a work that could offend people of another 
religion.

Speaking of cancelled TV shows, the children's action show, Ultraman 
Cosmos, was cancelled after the star was arrested for having committed 
blackmail two years ago when he was a minor. This causes major problems 
for other companies since the Ultraman series is spun off into many other 
products ranging from toys and books to videos and live performances. 
Shochiku was also scheduled to release an Ultraman Cosmos movie this 
summer and is considering whether to cancell that or not.

Aaron Gerow
Yokohama National University
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