Based on the Lensman novels by E. E. Smith, “Lensman: Secret of the Lens” shares a very similar narrative to “Star Wars” (to the point that the books must have influenced Lukas when he was writing the script) but still remains very much Japanese in a number of ways.
Kim Kinnison is living a peaceful life as a farmer with his father, when one day, a runaway spaceship comes at a high speed towards their farm. To rescue him, Kim jumps onboard the ship and manages to land it safely before it crashes. On board the ship he finds a severely injured lone survivor who, with his dying words, begs Kim to take something of his to the Galactic Fleet. He then transfers the object attached to his arm onto Kim's arm. The thing turns out to be a Lens, the instrument of a group of guardians of the galaxy called Lensmen. Although it should have been impossible to be transferred to someone else from the original owner, Kim has one attached to him now, which, essentially, makes him a Lensman.
Other than giving Kim unknown powers it also contains vital information for the victory of the Galactic Fleet over the evil Boskone Empire. Kim must now use the spaceship Britannia to bring the Lense to the Galactic Fleet. But this is not an easy task when Lord Helmet of the Boskone Empire is willing to use everything in his power to stop him. Thankfully, Kim has a number of friends who eventually end up helping him. Bearded near human Van Buskirk, who also serves a comedy relief character. Clarissa MacDougall who serves as a romantic interest, scream queen and as a wink to Japanese notions of sensualism particularly the concept of “tentacles”. Worsel, another lensman who is probably the coolest character of them all, being a flying alien green dragon, and finally, DJ Bill, an old punk who is definitely the feistiest.
Evidently, the similarities with “Star Wars” are numerous, particularly regarding the origin of Kim and the way he becomes a lensman. As the movie progresses, however, and particularly after the appearance of Worsel, the Japanese anime elements become at least as intent. The slapstick humor, the disco planet, the almost constant, and quite fast unfolding battles, the overall absurdness of the story, and the fact that the protagonist gets his share of punishment all move into the same direction. Most of all however, the presence of the villains and particularly the humongous Lord Helmuth, showcase that this is actually an anime, with the intricacy in their design and overall demeanor being one of the best aspects of the series, along with the presence of Worsel.
At the same time though, the movie shows its age intently, with the battle scenes looking totally unremarkable on occasion, with the exception of the final one, while the main protagonist is as vanilla as possible, essentially leaving any kind of attraction to the secondary characters. Considering that “Macross” and “Akira” just came a few years later, this impression becomes even more intent, highlighting the lack of quality in the technical department. The concept of the ‘disco planet' somewhat compensates, but definitely not fully.
As such, and despite some positives here and there, “Lensman” emerges as a title currently only addressed to hard core fans of retro anime.
