Mashin Hero Wataru (1988-1989) | Japan | Japanese animation
The anime
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Featuring many elements of role-playing games, the anime Mashin Hero Wataru from Sunrise Studios depicts the adventures of Wataru, a 9-year old schoolboy whose destiny is set to change when a dragon takes him to parallel world ruled by a tyrannic evil being, only to reveal to him he is the long-awaited legendary savior. Accompanied by Lutinor, a powerful robot, Wataru will befriend and join forces with a lazy samurai, a courageous knight on roller skates and a funny ninja princess. His quest will lead him to fight on the 7 worlds, leading to the holy mountain where the evil sits.
Not so popular in Europe, Mashin Hero Wataru remains for many the first touchpoint with robots. In Japan, the initial 1988-1989 series of 45 episodes was extended with two series of 46 and 51 episodes in 1990-1991 and 1997-1998 and several movies and video games.