Future Boy Conan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Future Boy Conan | |
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| 未来少年コナン (Future Boy Conan) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Drama, Science Fiction |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Hayao Miyazaki |
| Studio | Nippon Animation |
| Network | NHK, Animax |
| Original run | 4 April 1978 – 31 October 1978 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
Future Boy Conan, also known as Conan: The Boy in Future (未来少年コナン Mirai Shōnen Konan?), is a 26 episodes anime series by Hayao Miyazaki, which first aired in April 1978 across Japan on NHK. It was later broadcast across Japan by the anime satellite television network, Animax, who later aired translated and dubbed the series into English for broadcast across its respective English-language networks in Southeast Asia and South Asia. The series was also translated in Spanish and was broadcast all over Latin America in the early 80s and 90s.
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[edit] Story
The story is based on the novel The Incredible Tide by Alexander Key. The story begins in July 2008. Mankind is faced with the threat of extinction. An ultra-magnetic weapon, far more devastating than any nuclear weapon known, had destroyed half the world in a single instant. The earth's crust was rocked by massive movements, the earth was thrown off its axis, and the five continents were torn completely apart and sank deep below the sea.
The attempt by a number of people to flee to outer space failed. Their spaceships were forced back to the earth and vanished, shattering their hopes. But one of the spaceships narrowly escaped destruction and crash landed on a small island which had miraculously survived the devastation. The crew members of the spaceship settled there, as if they were seeds sown on the island.
After years, a boy named Conan was born. He was a new life in the desert, a ray of light in the darkness of the annihilated earth.
The series is about Conan's and Lana's adventure. Among the few survivors were those who started the war who continued their fighting by taking over the remains of the devastated planet. Conan and his friends fought against them in several ways including using the power of communicating with animals.
[edit] Influence
Many believe that the characters of the series were the prototype for the characters of Miyazaki's later artwork Castle in the Sky (known as Laputa: The Castle in the Sky in Japan).
This anime is also notable for being one of the rare anime to be broadcast on Japan's state-run public broadcaster, NHK, and its popularity in Japan paved the way for other anime to be broadcast on NHK, such as GAINAX's Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (which was based on the same Miyazaki plot outline that became Castle in the Sky, and thus could be considered a spiritual cousin of Conan). Because NHK is commercial-free, Miyazaki did not need to create "eyecatches" as commercial bumpers for the series, but he did so anyway, and the result was the famous eyecatch known as the "Slot Machine."
The series was edited into the form of two theatrical movies.
The series has also been successful in Europe, including in Italy (Conan il ragazzo del futuro), France (Conan le fils du futur), and Portugal (where it was shown in the original Japanese with Portuguese subtitles). In addition, a Spanish dub of the series was shown in the U.S. and Latin America, on Univision. As well, the series was aired in many Arab countries in the 1980s with much success, dubbed into Arabic (Adnan wa Lina - "Adnan and Lina") with a translation done in Kuwait. The Arabic dub was rerun in Iraq as recently as 2003. The series is unfortunately little known in the English-speaking world, as it has never been distributed in the U.S. or the U.K. outside of fansubs.
Despite the title of the series and the male lead's name, it has nothing whatsoever to do with Conan the Barbarian or with Gosho Aoyama's manga and anime Detective Conan ("Case Closed" in America). The names "Conan" & "Lana" (in Japanese "Konan" & "Rana") may have inspired Gosho Aoyama to call the girlfriend of his Detective Conan character similarly "Ran" (renamed "Rachel" in the English dub).
[edit] Characters
- Conan
- The main protagonist of the series, Conan, is a 10 year old boy who grew up on Remnant Island, raised by his grandfather. Conan is very strong, and can even hang from a ledge using only his toes. Conan is telepathically linked with Lana.
- Voiced by: Ohara Noriko (Japanese), Marco Guadagno (Italian), Brigitte Lecordier (French)
- Lana
- Lana is the first non-Remnant Island inhabitant, and the first girl, that Conan sees. Lana is the granddaughter of Dr. Lao, and Lepka wants to use her to get Lao to tell him the secret of solar power. Lana is referred to as possessing 'ESP', allowing her to communicate with a seagull 'Tikki', as well as sense the presence of her grandpa.
- Lana comes from High Harbour, and the first part of the series involves her and Conan trying to get there.
- Voiced by: Shinozawa Mieko (Japanese), Monica Cadueri (Italian), Amelie Morin (French)
- Monsley
- A young commander of Industria's armed forces, Monsley is the second non-Islander Conan sees. Piloting the flying boat Falco, she follows Lepka's orders by helping capture Lana, and eventually leading the invasion of High Harbour. Ultimately, Monsley renounces Lepka's ambitions, and joins with Conan against him.
- Dyce
- Dyce is a citizen of Industria, and the captain of the ship Barracuda. He was ordered to kidnap Lana prior to the start of series, but let her escape due to his obsession with his captive. Dyce is initially a comedic villain in the show, but eventually becomes one of Conan's allies.
- Voiced by: Jassem El Nabhan (Arabic)
- Jimsy
- A wild boy living alone on the first island Conan arrives at, Jimsy quickly becomes Conan's first 'companion', helping him rescue Lana. Jimsy is a master hunter, and motivated by his stomach.
- Voiced by: Abdulrahman El Aqul (Arabic)
- Lepka
- The head of administration of Industria, Lepka technically serves under the Industria High Council, a group of scientists. However, over the course of the series, he becomes the sole dictator of Industria, and the primary antagonist. Lepka desires to extract the secret of solar power from Lao to power his weapons, allowing him to rule over what remains of the world.
- Dr Lao
- The grandfather of Lana, and originally a member of the Industrian High Council, he defected after he learned of Lepka's ambitions. He believes that the people of Industria must be taught to discard their weapons, and begin new lives.
[edit] Japanese Voice Actors
- Mieko Nobusawa- Lana
- Noriko Ohara- Conan
- Hideyuki Tanaka- Cheet, Luke
- Hiroshi Masuoka- Gutch
- Hiroya Ishimaru- Orlo
- Ichirô Nagai- Dyce
- Iemasa Kayumi- Lepka
- Issei Futamata- Pasco
- Junji Chiba- Jun
- Kazuyo Aoki- Jimsy
- Keisuke Yamashita- Talcoth
- Kôhei Miyauchi- Garu
- Masako Saito- Meizel
- Masaru Ikeda- Bosco
- Masashi Amenomori- Mo
- Masatô Ibu- Narrarator
- Masato Yamanouchi- Doctor Rao
- Matsugoro Mita- Kay
- Noriko Tsukase- Tera
- Norio Wakamoto- Tokeh
- Rihoko Yoshida- Monsley
- Rokuro Naya- Territ
- Takemi Nakamura- Sean
- Takuzou Kamiyama- Dongoroth
- Tetsuo Mizutori- Kuzo, Luca
- Yasuo Muramatsu-Ei
- Yoku Shioya- Garu's Son, Saku
- Yoshito Yasuhara- Luke, Ai Sakuma
- Harumi Murakami
- Hidetoshi Nakamura
- Kaneto Shiozawa
- Kiyoko Shibata
- Kyonosuke Kami
- Masako Saito
- Masaru Ikeda
- Masashi Amamori
- Tetsuo Mizutori
- Yoku Shioya
- You Inoue
- Youko Asagami
[edit] External links
- Bandai Visual's official Conan website
- Nausicaa.net page on Conan
- High Harbour - Conan Fansite (French, Japanese and English)
- Future Boy Conan (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
