My name is Matt, and I have a problem: I¡¯m a grown man who thinks way too much about giant robots.
Actually, I¡¯m just kidding ¡ª it isn¡¯t a problem at all. Japanese robots literally changed the course of my life. Without robot anime, manga and toys, I wouldn¡¯t be speaking Japanese or even living in Tokyo. I wasn¡¯t alone in my childhood fascination with giant robots, as is apparent when looking at Hollywood blockbusters by directors Guillermo del Toro (the current hit ¡°Pacific Rim,¡± which Japan Times film writer Giovanni Fazio reviewed last week) and Michael Bay (the ¡°Transformers¡± film series). But every Japanese toy I managed to get my little hands on fueled a smoldering realization that somewhere far away from my native Maryland was a nation of people who thought robots were as cool as I did.
In spite of decades of economic stagnation and shrinking market share for its products abroad, Japan still retains its mystique as a technological wonderland. Robots play no small part in this phenomenon. Alongside all the cameras, televisions, Walkmans and other baubles of the bubble era, legions of high-tech robot heroes flooded American shelves and airwaves.
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