A look at one of Japan's less successful animation studios.

Back in the feral prehistory of anime fandom, many seeking anime would desperately brave the darkest recesses of that most foetid pit of darkness- the children's section of the video store. There, amongst the clamshelled remains of Walt Disney, would reside the sole representatives of the Japanese anime industry deemed worthy to compete in the American home video market. Naturally these were the days before AnimEigo would pioneer the field of uncut direct-to-video anime releases. Nope; what we had here were Jim Terry's Force Five series of giant robot slugfests, maybe a few stray volumes of Family Home Entertainment's abortive Robotech releases, and a few scattered Z.I.V. versions of shows that deserved better treatment, like Captain Harlock or Candy Candy.

And of course we had Ninja the Wonder Boy. Ah, Ninja the Wonder Boy. Rolls off the tongue, doesn't it? This remarkably inept piece of junk found its way into the tape collections of most anime fans of the Reagan Years. Not because it was good - far from it - but because by God, it was an anime title, and we were anime fans, and therefore we had to embrace it like a recently paroled cousin. Apart from providing fodder for Corn Pone Flicks documentary series BAD AMERICAN DUBBING, Ninja the Wonder Boy, a prime example of "Totally Lame Anime," served only as a Ninja The Whipping Boy for the sarcastic amusement of jaded anime fans seeking the worst of the worst.

But recently Ninja the Wonder Boy sparked a bit of wonder in me. Who animated this piece of junk anyway? Was it in fact one of those crazy Korean knockoffs like Goldwing or Defenders of the Space? Or was it an honest-to God Japanese cartoon from Japan? Careful examination of the Jim Terry credits led me to the studio- Knack. That led me to Google, which led me to the archives of the Anime News Network. And there our story really begins.

As it turns out Knack has the dubious honor of being the driving force behind some of the absolute worst Japanese cartoons ever produced. If they weren't ruining Japan's martial heritage with Ninja the Wonder Boy (Manga Sarutobi Sasuke), they were cluttering up the giant robot field with turkeys like Astroganger and Groizer X or diluting the children's comedy anime market with Cybot Robotchi (American title Robby the Rascal). Not to mention despoiling the memory of beloved live-action heroes with their cheap cartoon versions of Mito Komon and Gekko Kamen ("Moonlight Mask", not the naked Go Nagai one).

Most of their productions share the Knack hallmarks of shoddy, barely-there animation, cheap or non-existent titles, and characters, themes, and mechanical designs suspiciously similar to other, more popular shows of the day.

Some of Knack's storied titles. L-R: Moonlight Mask, Groizer X, Robby the Rascal.

Astroganger is a particular favorite; and by "favorite" I mean "favorite to laugh at". It's the story of a young boy named Kantaro. When danger threatens the Earth in the form of sequentially-numbered aliens in flying saucers, our hero brandishes his medallion, instantly changes into a superhero outfit, and is sucked via energy beam into the guts of a clunky-looking giant robot named Astroganger, who then proceeds to smash the latest alien plot. Astroganger isn't your ordinary robot, he talks, feels pain, and generally makes the audience wonder what the benefit of having a giant robot is if he's grunting every time some monster takes a swipe at him. The kid is attached to the requisite science center which is managed by what appears to be Kentucky Fried Chicken's Colonel Sanders. This early 70s turkey was strip-mining the corpses of earlier, vastly superior shows like Babel 2 and Tetsujin 28, when the rest of the industry had moved on to more sophisticated entertainment, namely Mazinger Z-style robot action.

Not to be outdone in the super robot field, Knack would counter with Groizer X, their version of the Grandizer style transforming robot with lots of attachments and weapons that rides around in a flying saucer type configuration. Nippon Animation Company's Gingaizer would also ape Grandizer's UFO motif. Apart from inspiring some boss 70s diecast toy action, Groizer X has vanished into the mists of time.

If you can't get Go Nagai to work on your robot comedy show, why not get the next best thing - Ken Ishikawa, Getter Robo co-creator and frequently Go Nagai's partner in robot-violence crime? Ishikawa would work on Knack's Cybot Robotchi, the tale of an absentminded, lecherous inventor who builds himself a little robot buddy who gets into trouble a lot. Though this is a Dr. Slump ripoff, it's nowhere near as shameless as the American sitcom Small Wonder. Fact is, Robotchi gets downright wacky; there's an entire village of wacky small-town type robots who struggle against the machinations of a spoiled zillionaire and his sexy henchmen. Released in America as Robby the Rascal, it's a definite curiosity.

When Kamen Rider was heating up the small screen Knack had to cash in. So they did the next best thing, they licensed Kamen Rider's spiritual predecessor, Gekko Kamen or Moonlight Mask if you prefer, for an animated TV series. Unfortunately capturing the zip and panache of Japan's tokusatsu heroes in animated form has never been easy, and it's got to be even more difficult when your studio is Knack and therefore sucks. I saw this show in Spanish on Univision, and unlike fellow Univision series El Nino del Futuro (Future Boy) Conan, Moonlight Mask is inept, clumsy junk.

Editor's note: Knack also produced this fine adult entertainment! Wow!

Ninja the Wonder Boy itself is no prize. Forget contemporary, successful ninja anime series like Kamui and Ninja Sasuke, with their drama and their expressionistic, gekiga inspired visuals - Ninja the Wonder Boy looks like Astro Boy in feudal drag. The show's cartoony designs and kiddy-grade stories are nowhere near Real Ultimate Power when it comes to ninja animation.

But even a broken clock is right twice a day, and Knack managed to knock out a few quality shows and one hands-down international success in spite of itself. Go Nagai himself actually worked on Psycho Armor Govarion, a early 1980s super-robot show with an ESP twist and a neat theme song. Actual Japanese children watched and enjoyed Don Chuck, a long-running series about a beaver who wears overalls. The volleyball drama Attacker You managed to overcome a derivative title with unique and, for Knack, classy character deisgns. And when Knack produced The Little Prince, based on the children's books by French aviator Antoine St. Expury, they managed to score both domestically and around the world. Early adopters of NICKELODEON will remember The Little Prince fondly along with Belle and Sebastain and Mysterious Cities of Gold, not to mention You Can't Do That on Television and the show where they would simply read comic books out loud. What was up with that? Anyway, you can actually get The Little Prince on DVD these days, thanks to niche distributor Koch Video.

So whether you're a sarcastic mocker of lame anime or a nostalgic basic cable viewer with a fond memory of little princes in outer space, you have only one studio to thank, and that's Knack.

The KNACK lineup of stars:

• Don Chuck Monogatari (Don Chuck Stories)
• Momotaro Densetsu
• Psycho Armor Govarian
• Shin Don Chuck Monogatari (New Don Chuck Stories)
• Groizer X
• Manga Mitokomon
• Astroganger
• Attacker You!
• Charge Man Ken
• Cybot Robotchi (Robby The Rascal)
• Hitotsuboshike no Ultra Baasan
• Ijiwaru Baasan
• Gekko Kamen (Moonlight Mask)
• Sue Cat
• The Little Prince
• Manga Sarutobi Sasuke (Ninja The Wonder Boy)