M.A.S.K.: An Undercover Anime Series from the 80s
I recently came across these two Kenner toy commercials from 1986 for M.A.S.K. (which stands for Mobile Armored Strike Kommand and shouldn’t be confused with the 1995 animated series based on the the Jim Carey film The Mask) and was surprised to discover that this classic 80s kids series was in fact anime! The series was produced by DIC, but the actual animation was produced by three Japanese studios: KK C&D Asia, Studio Juno, Studio World and Ashi Production. Of course they weren’t alone back then, many anime studios did work for American series — the best example would be ThunderCats from that era.
While the show wasn’t my personal favorite from that era, it actually did quite well and 75 episodes were produced from 1985 until 1986. Although the series never did as well as other hits from that period like G.I. Joe and The Transformers. Because the show was driven by toy sales there was a wide range of action vehicles that all had their own specific rational. There was also a series of comic books based on series which were put out by DC Comics from 1986 until 1987.