Future War Year 198X

Future War 198X-nen was produced by Toei Animation and directed by Toshio Masuda and Tomoharu Katsumata from a script by Kōji Takada, partly inspired by Sir John Hackett's 1982 speculative war novel The Third World War: The Untold Story. Its visual design drew on concept art and posters by illustrator Noriyoshi Ohrai, with costume design by André Courrèges and a score performed by the New Japan Philharmonic; former JSDF Major General Iwano Masataka assisted the production. Before release, the film became the center of a major controversy in Japan: after Toei's own labor union obtained an early script in February 1981 and called it dangerously pro-war, roughly 38 organizations — including teachers' and parents' groups — protested it, some for glorifying war and others for portraying the Soviet Union too harshly. Director Masuda rewrote the film to sharpen its anti-war framing before its October 30, 1982 Japanese release. It was later released abroad under different titles and edits, including Null Zeit in West Germany and Das Ende aller Tage in East Germany, and got no official digital release until a 2018 PlayStation Video edition in Japan. Reviews at release and since have generally been unfavorable, with critics calling its anti-war message unconvincing despite striking key art from Ohrai.