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Glorious Retrofuture from Japan, Part Two


"QUANTUM SHOT" #839
Link - article by Avi Abrams




These are very rare and beautiful visions, published in Japan in the 1930s-1960s

We are continuing our ever-popular series of extremely rare and fantastic retrofuture finds from Japan (read the first part here), boldly exploring the fertile territory of science fiction art and futuristic illustrations from a country of unlimited dreams and super-charged imagination.

Robotic spaceship helps astronauts in distress:


(this illustration, and the ones below, are from the "Shonen Sunday Magazine", 1969)


Submarine robots help with the deep-sea rescue:





Firefighters need a flying robot like this:




Another robot from the "Robot Age" series ("Shonen Sunday Magazine", 1969) is this mechanism from the "Journey to the Center of the Earth":




"Fantastic Voyage" anyone? This microscopic robot operated within a human body:




Robots on the "Robot Age" assembly line, from the pages of 1969 "Shonen Sunday" magazine:




This robot seem to be enjoying its babysitting responsibilities:




1970s Advertising Looking Like Science Fiction Art

Here is a familiar sci-fi image: a huge spaceship hovering over the city; only this time it is a giant.... air-conditioning unit:




And this cross-section of a National portable hi-fi unit looks like a technical manual for the "Millennium Falcon", or some other cool spaceship:




Epic Battles and the Ends of the World

Rocket warfare from a nuclear-powered NAVY vessel - seen on the 1964 illustration:




Warfare spreads into the Arctic, featuring an amphibious ice-breaker super tank!




A very intense apocalyptic image from the pages of the "Young Magazine", 1968:




It seems that these Lost Civilization armies (Aztecs, Mayans?) are battling flying "Kinder Surprise" dispensers:


("Shonen Magazine", 1969)


Dramatic wormholes, portals and crashes! -




These aliens are totally inscrutable and mysterious:





And now aliens are attacking! -






We love this classic streamlined rocket toy! What a beauty:


(image via)


Perhaps the Weirdest Illustration of Them All

What is this?? Water battle against the malevolent Spongebob Squarepants? -


(illustration from the "Shonen Sunday Magazine", 1969)


(most images are sourced from Japanese sites, including 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Article by Avi Abrams, Dark Roasted Blend.


READ THE FIRST PART HERE! ->

CONTINUE TO "DRB RETROFUTURE SERIES" ->




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YOUR COMMENTS::

8 Comments:

Blogger Jim said...

The streamlined rocket toy is the Planet Express from the TV show 'Futurama'

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Blogger Unknown said...

Wish I could read Japanese...

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Anonymous W said...

The apocalyptic pictures say that they're about the destruction of the continent of Mu.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The "Arctic ice-breaker tank" bears a very strong resemblance to Thomas Poulter's Antarctic Snow Cruiser..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_cruiser

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Babysitting robot looks like he is getting ready to spear the kid who is lying down.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

The scowling squares look like concertinas. Perhaps it's a war between jazz and folk musics.

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Anonymous Anonymous said...

From what I can read, the last picture with the square robots is about a robot riot squad that can be used when demonstrations get out of hand, or it can even be used as sort of a protective wall during fires and such.

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Blogger James Vaughan said...

...wow - just wow!

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