Future Boy Conan 

After the world is nearly destroyed by a war, a young boy and his friends must fight to save the world from those who seek to conquer what is left of civilization.

Stars:

Noriko Ohara, Masatô Ibu, Mieko Nobusawa

Cast

Series cast summary:
Noriko Ohara	...	Conan 26 episodes, 1978
Masatô Ibu	...	Opening Narration 26 episodes, 1978
Mieko Nobusawa	...	Lana 25 episodes, 1978
Kazuyo Aoki	...	Jimsy 23 episodes, 1978
Ichirô Nagai	...	Captain Dyce 23 episodes, 1978
Rihoko Yoshida	...	Monsley 19 episodes, 1978
Takuzô Kamiyama	...	Dongoroth / ... 16 episodes, 1978
Tetsuo Mizutori	...	Kuzo / ... 15 episodes, 1978
Masato Yamanouchi	...	Dr. Bliack Lao - Lana's Grand Father / ... 13 episodes, 1978
Iemasa Kayumi	...	Lepka 12 episodes, 1978
Hiroshi Masuoka	...	Gutch 12 episodes, 1978

Storyline

The story takes place in the 21st century, 20 years after World War 3. The world as we know it has been destroyed, and 12 year old Conan lives on an island with his grandfather, believing they are the only two survivors of the war. But one day Conan discovers an unconscious girl on the beach. She is 11 year old Lana, and she's fleeing from the evil rulers of Industria, who want to kidnap her and use her as a bait to convince her grandfather (who has fled from Industria himself) to give up the lost secret of solar energy, which would allow Industria to rule over the world. After Lana is kidnapped from the island, Conan decides to rescue her and sets sail to Industria.

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Plot Keywords:

character name in series title | three word series title | boy | girl | 11 year old | 

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Genres:

Animation | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Loosely based on "The Incredible Tide" by Alexander Key. It is rather difficult to find this book today. The basic premise is same, but the story in the anime is mostly Hayao Miyazaki's original. In the book, Conan is 14 (in the anime he is 11), and doesn't have superhuman strength like Conan in the anime does. Miyazaki said he didn't like the book very much. When the project was brought to him, he made sure that he could change the story however he wanted.

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Connections

Referenced in Daicon IV Opening Animation (1983)

User Reviews

One of the greatest TV series

Highly dramatic and engaging, this TV series was near perfect and shows Miyazaki's talents for the first time he directed something. Interestingly, Miyazaki's characters that he developed in this TV series served as prototypes for the films he made. Indeed, this TV series is actually one 26 episode long film with many subplots that constitute each of the episodes.

Also, it is impressively dramatic considering it was a TV series marketed for children. The Japanese animated TV series were always much more dramatic and complex than American animated TV series, but in the 1970's anime it was still in its early stages and wasn't as well developed as it became in the 1980's, when it's range expanded to all demographic groups.

An excellent TV series, indeed, one of the most powerful ever made. Yes, I said powerful for an animated TV series from the 1970's, because it is.

Details

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

4 April 1978 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Future Boy Conan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nippon Animation Co.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

24 min (26 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1