It’s almost that time of the year again - the 74th Primetime Emmy Awards for television are almost here. The list of nominees for this year was released on July 12th, and we combed through the list, so you don’t have to. Amongst hundreds of other nominees in many fields, there are three in particular that are of interest to anime fans.
The Primetime Emmy Awards are for television shows that were released between June 1, 2021, and May 31, 2022. This includes programming that was on regular network television in America, as well as shows that were released via streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, and Hulu. This means there are hundreds of shows that could possibly be nominated, making it even more impressive when anything becomes an award nominee.
The first show of otaku interest to earn an Emmy nomination is Netflix’s live action production of the beloved anime Cowboy Bebop. The show aired on Netflix on November 19, 2021, releasing all episodes at the same time. It received mixed reviews from both fans and newcomers to the story alike, and caused a lot of hot debate in the otaku community over whether the show should have even been made. One of the few things that almost everyone could agree that Cowboy Bebop did right, though, was keeping the music true to the original anime. The opening credits went one step further, keeping not only the music, but also the same style.
Cowboy Bebop has now been nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Main Title Design. The full nomination is for Netflix in association with Tomorrow Studios Karin Fong, Creative Director Kiyoon Nam, Designer/Animator James Gardner, Designer/Animator Merrill Hall, Designer/Animator Kathy Liang, and Designer Lexi Gunvaldson. Next up is Star Wars: Visions. It was first released on Disney+ September 21, 2021, and had recently been green lit for a second season.
The first season of Star Wars: Visions gave Japanese animation studios the chance to create their own one-off episodes, telling an original story set in the Star Wars universe and done in anime style. Many had a strong Japanese cultural influence, too, and the series was very well received. While all the episodes of the show were special in their own right, one episode of Star Wars: Visions had been nominated for an Emmy. The first episode, “The Duel,” is an alternative take on the usual Star Wars world. It’s set in a feudal empire, mirroring Japan’s own history with a sci-fi twist. “The Duel” by Kamikaze Douga and Lucasfilm Ltd. is notated for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program.
Finally, the last thing otaku will be interested in is an episode of the third season of Love Death + Robots, a Netflix original anthology. The third season came out May 20, 2022, barely making it in time for the nomination. Love Death + Robots lets studios from around the world write one-off stories in their own styles that are about, well, love, death, and robots. It’s infamous for violence and adult themes, and also generally well-received.
Episode 9 of the third season, “Jibaro” by Blur Studio has also been nominated for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program. It’s about a gold-plated siren in Costa Rica who kills an entire legion of knights and priests - except one man, who is deaf and cannot hear her screams. Things take a very different turn when he tries to steal her gold. Interestingly, no anime series had been nominated for an Emmy this year despite so many great titles releasing. Not everyone can have the same refined taste as otaku, though, so we will be cheering for Cowboy Bebop, Star Wars: Visions, and Love Death + Robots until next year.
The 74th Primetime Emmy Awards will air on September 12, 2022.
Source: Variety