Ask John: Will There Ever Be Any Future Retro Hero Story Anime?

Question:
Do you think “Future Retro Hero Story” ever will be animated or brought to the states in manga format? Seems like it’s taking forever for the creator of Outlaw Star to make up his mind to bring the new manga over here so why not focus on the spin-off series?

Answer:
When you say “Future Retro Hero Story,” I’m assuming that you’re referring to the “Uchuu Eiyuu Monogatari” (Space Hero Story) manga because, according to both Yahoo Japan Book Shopping and Amazon Japan, there is no existing manga titled “Future Retro Hero Story.” The Uchuu Eiyuu Monogatari manga, which had the English language sub-title “Future Retro Hero Story,” apparently concluded in 1996 with its eighth volume of collected manga, a year before the debut of the three volume Outlaw Star manga. Outlaw Star is subtitled “Future Hero Next Generation,” so, if anything, the 3 volume Outlaw Star manga is the spin-off series rather than the other way around.

Considering how old Uchuu Eiyuu Monogatari is, and the fact that creator Takehiko Itoh and Morningstar Studio haven’t created any new anime since 1999’s Angel Links, I don’t anticipate seeing Future Retro Hero Story animated any time in the future. With more manga being licensed for American release all the time, I’d assume that there’s certainly a chance that the Uchuu Eiyuu Monogatari manga will see an official English language release someday, but I’d also assume that we’ll see the Outlaw Star manga licensed for English language release before Uchuu Eiyuu Monogatari simply based on Outlaw Star’s greater name recognition and sales potential.