is the first anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 episode in the Lion Books

Lion Books (manga)

was a 1950s Japanese manga series published by Shueisha into the Omoshiro Book as a supplement. The same company would publish Lion Books II into Weekly Shōnen Jump in the 1970s, which would commonly be referred to as "The New Lion Books"...

 series. It was the anime industry's first attempt at releasing an OVA

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 through famous director Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka

was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

.

Concept

The original concept was to make 26 new anime episodes and canvass them for sale without any broadcast contract with TV stations. "The Green Cat" is regarded as the first attempt to produce an Original Video Animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 release on October 1, 1983. If the episode was finished independently on October 1, 1983 with no other episodes to follow in production, it very well could have been qualified as the first anime OVA. Because there is uncertainty as to whether the VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

 was actually available for sale at the production end date, Dallos

Dallos

is a Japanese science fiction OVA released in 1983, directed by Mamoru Oshii and created by Oshii and Hisayuki Toriumi . It is widely considered the first OVA ever released. The storyline focuses on Moon pioneers and the evolution of mankind.- Story :In a near future, mankind has moved from a...

 is credited to be the first official OVA released by the industry. The Green Cat is known to be screened in the "4th Tezuka Osamu Fan Club Meeting" on October 10, 1983

Story

The story is a mystery about a green cat and a private detective who investigates where it came from. The cat was thought to be good luck, but eventually brought misfortune to all those who come in contact. The story was taken directly from the 5th subtitle of the 1950s Lion Books manga

Lion Books (manga)

was a 1950s Japanese manga series published by Shueisha into the Omoshiro Book as a supplement. The same company would publish Lion Books II into Weekly Shōnen Jump in the 1970s, which would commonly be referred to as "The New Lion Books"...

.

Staff

Director: Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka

was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...

Screenplay: Hiroshi Nishimura

Music: Reijiro Koroku

Art director: Seiji Miyamoto

Animation director: Hiroshi Nishimura

See also

• List of Osamu Tezuka anime
• Osamu Tezuka
  Osamu Tezuka
  was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
  
  
• Osamu Tezuka's Star System
  Osamu Tezuka's Star System
  Over the course of his career, Osamu Tezuka reused the same characters in different roles in different stories. The way that Tezuka used the characters in his "star system" can be seen as somewhat analoguous to a film director frequently casting members of a regular "stable" of actors in different...