Crusher Joe is quite possibly the best and most ideal scifi adventure that only works in pure animation rather than liveaction. Its something that Ive been sleeping on for years and Im absolutely stunned at how this movie isnt mentioned frequently in conversations when it comes to retro anime. Drawing inspiration from the greatest of the eras mediums including Star Wars Space Battleship Yamato Super Dimension Fortress Macross Dirty Pair Indiana Jones Dune James Bond and others. Some may even say this might have everything and truthfully? They wouldnt be wrong. However its certainly more than just nonchalantly paying tribute to this and that or whatever Yoshizaku Yasuhiko and his team could think of its more of a confident flex and smart understanding and fusing of both Western and Japanese media of its time. Crusher Joe doesnt necessarily try to be innovative or bring the medium forward in any specific way its definitely more on the lines of being a straightforward easytofollow very fun cartoonish swashbuckling rollercoaster ride set in the vast premises of outer space and alien planets where even the supposedly ragtag group of space mercenaries or Crushers in this context are far from being the ideal role models and the villains are just wickedly evil as one would expect and its a group of baddies you want to witness losing so badly. The movies runtime is filled with bombastic action sometimes quite mesmerizing visuals and snappy and witty dialogue. The attention to detail in all of the spaceships and planets of this fictional world as well as the intention to mimic complex real camera movements is simply impossible to ignore: it must have been jawdropping for audiences in 1983 and still holds up crazy well even in 2025. Some reviews suggested that maybe the movies a bit long to maintain the viewers interest but outside of the slower opening once this show steps on the gas pedal it simply both never slows down and shows any signs of fatigue. In fact I was kind of surprised how quickly this wrapped up without any confusion or unsolved plot elements. Hell I cant even recall when was the last time I actually burst out laughing at anime that wasnt a straightup comedy/parody. This shit slaps so hard. Funnily enough my friends keep saying that whenever I announce something for a group watch without prior discussion and voting it usually ends up as a banger time for our group and yeah I think they are correct about this phenomenon. and who wouldnt want a bazooka gf coming to save your ass in space hm?