Mega Man’s best animated series is finally getting its proper due overseas as the 1994 United States animated show is now available for streaming in Japan for the first time in decades. It’s been a great time to be a fan of TV shows from the 1990s and 2000s as many of them are finding new life with new revivals, releases and more that bring back these classics in a new kind of way. Now it’s Mega Man‘s turn as the original animated series that introduced United States fans to Capcom’s Blue Bomber has gotten its international streaming release at last.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Like many other popular franchises at the time, Mega Man made the jump from video games to animation with a full blown animated series produced by Ruby-Spears Productions. Known as “Rock Man USA” in Japan, this animated series was previously exclusive to the United States. But now it’s been announced that this classic animated series will soon be taking over Japan as it is now streaming for the very first time in the territory with platforms like Prime Video and more with Japanese subtitles. Check out the official announcement trailer for the release below:
What Is Mega Man USA?
Originally created by Ruby-Spears Productions and Ashi Productions, Mega Man debuted on TV back in 1994. The series ran for two seasons with 27 episodes before it came to an end, and introduced fans to a whole new take on the popular Capcom video game franchise. For many in the United States, this was the first real time that the video game hero took on a different form. The animated series introduced Ian James Corlett as the voice of Mega Man himself (and the voice of his robotic dog, Rush), as he took on Dr. Wily’s Robot Masters over the course of those two seasons.
The original Mega Man animated series was also one of the first efforts bringing Mega Man to screen as it wasn’t until Mega Man NT Warrior that we saw a full anime series for the franchise later to coincide with the launch of Mega Man Battle Network games years later. These might be more fondly remembered by Mega Man fans in the years since, but this classic animated series really needs its just due after all these years for legacy alone.
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What’s Happening With Mega Man Now?
Unfortunately, it’s a pretty awkward time for Mega Man as a franchise overall. Capcom doesn’t currently seem interested in releasing new games for the franchise, and that also means there are no adaptations for the franchise in the works. There was a brief return for Mega Man as part of the recent Secret Level streaming series with Prime Video (which now has Season 2 in the works) that also showcased a bunch of other animated video game adaptations in a new anthology series, but it’s been a long time since Mega Man has been at the center of his own animated adventure.
But now that Mega Man‘s original animated series will be making its mark in Japan across multiple streaming services, there’s a chance that this could be the start of an even bigger movement for the franchise in the years to come. Mega Man might not be as active of a pop culture icon that he was in the 1990s and 2000s, but the return of animated series like this are a great sign that there is still very much a vested interest in the Blue Bomber after all these decades.
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