Anime: Mirai Shounen Conan

show review

by ThatAnimeSnob on 2011-05-11 12:18

Watching this show is like learning where other later and more famous shows took good ideas from. Future Boy Conan (FBC) has lots of elements and themes most would think they were first in later shows. While watching, I came to see the prototype story for anime such as:
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (also done by Miyazaki so it makes sense)
- The initial Dragonball (Goku’s early adventures are very similar, only without the superpowers)
- Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (especially the deserted island and the megalomaniacs with the technology)

Being the first is enough to give it historical value but it doesn’t necessary mean it’s a good show on its own. Most would simply think it’s a simpler version with worse artwork and move along. Well no, that is not entirely true because even after the hundreds of children’s adventures I have seen so far, Conan belongs in the top ten. For example:
- Although the characters and the animation are very reminiscent of World Masterpiece Theater series, such as Heidi of the Mountains or Nobody’s Boy Remi, the actual storyline is far more complicating and exciting than any WMT, show without ever belonging to a different target audience. It’s still a family oriented anime.
- Although there are lots of retro children’s adventures with interesting settings and action, such as Peter Pan or The Mysterious Cities of Gold, FBC still feels more epic in proportions because it concerns the future of mankind and its possible extinction. All the rest were mostly about kids having silly treasure hunts.
- Even if I broaden the field of comparison to include any adventure, modern or retro in general, FBC is still getting on the very top of the list. For a 26 episode show, it packs an interesting story, a solid ending, zero fillers or summaries, and no parts that feel like they were made by different teams. How many adventures can you think of which are filler-free, with complete stories, and with consistent on-going storytelling? I could think of none. That makes Conan the ultimate form of adventure.

But even the above do not prove anything other than this show being a well made adventure. That does not mean it is entertaining because many shows full of fillers and stalling are still very entertaining for most. What if the action of this show is boring or the scenario uninteresting? Once again fear not for it is perfect for the audience it was made for. It is not overly complicating and doesn’t exactly pack any unexpected plot twists but it is otherwise a story anyone can follow without a problem.

It is true that by today’s standards it will feel too simple and with crude visuals but for me good directing and likable characters beat that. FBC is done right; almost perfect. Skip that; for the era it was made, it IS perfect.
- The themes of the story are very familiar to those who know of Miyazaki’s works, especially Nausicaa and Princess Mononoke. It has to do with ecology, mankind foolishly bringing upon itself its own doom with technology, children as protagonists, and as always, it has to do with flying machines. All that are interesting to see in any show and being a season long show, they are given proper time to be looked upon better.
- The action scenes are full of motion and even strategy, without ever raw power, magic, superpowers or other improbable technologies being overused as panacea to any problem. That makes them far more interesting to watch than most other shows which are full of random energy beams and special attacks.
- No fan catering. Rather obvious remark but considering how most modern shows desperately throw in all sorts of crap in a futile attempt to keep us interested EVEN in shows for kids, FBC never tries to do that. Shows respect from the part of the animators.

Anyone saying it doesn’t look good because it doesn’t neon glow magic swords or cool inner demons is an idiot. The show aims at simplicity and does a fine job for its time. Nothing is drawn too detailed but that does not mean it’s bad if it works properly in the context of the series. And it does in this case. The BGM is somewhat similar in fashion; no screaming and hate and drums and shitz. It is all done in midi and ballads for lyrics. Nothing amazing but fitting for the mood of the show.

The entire cast is practically likable stereotypes. They feel simple as personalities in overall but within the context of the series they are acting as they should.
- The lead boy Conan is the shonen archetype, very close to Goku from Dragonball minus the battle-crazy attitude. He is otherwise always ready to support his beliefs and fight if necessary. In fact, he is a very nimble fighter if he needs to be and uses mostly trickery to win. I can’t say he has anything that sets him apart from his mold and he doesn’t develop in any way but his determination and attitude are enough to become almost immediately likable.
- The lead girl is Lana, whom the villains in the show want to capture so her grandfather will be blackmailed into sharing his technology with them. She remains the archetypical damsel in distress and Conan is forced to save and carry her around at least a dozen times. She also doesn’t develop in any way but her determination to sacrifice herself if needed for the good of her people is noteworthy.
- The main duo was perfect from the beginning so they never needed further development. The same cannot be said for the secondary villains, who begin as selfish criminals and obedient soldiers but along the way they realize their way of life is only bringing the world closer to destruction and slowly change to more compassionate and friendly types. They are to say affected by the determination of the main duo.

The only weakness the anime has is that it is simple in its execution. It doesn’t have amazing production values, multi-layered story or complicating cast, but does make great use of what it has at its disposure. It is enjoyable if what you seek is a well done but not overly exaggerated adventure, with a good pacing and without pointless explosions. In fact, the worst parts end up being the action scenes. I mostly cared to see the interactions amongst the characters. So I do recommend it to all the retro fans and the curious who want to see how well made a children’s adventure can be, even if it was made in the late 70’s.

show review

by mirabile on 2004-04-05 21:40

This is, I think, the best anime I've seen.

After being surprised by the opening (and later, ending) which reminds me of 70's folk music (at least German folklore, just on Japanese), I'm presented with a young boy meeting a girl and having a lot of adventures on a nearly destructed earth.

There's a healthy mix of nature regeneration, techno-babble, good and evil technology, people,
class system, friendship (this one's emphasized, even in the first episode), fighting fun, yet it's still fine (or even valuable) for kids to look at. Being (hm, almost :) an adult myself, I don't think we should exclude ourselfes from that. Conan's got nice foot artistic, makes me want to be able to do it, too...

The story has, obviously, a Happy End, but it ends waaaay to fast. It's, in my eyes, better than anything I've seen, even Berserk, Naruto, Hunter x Hunter (whose great thing is that it has two gems, whereas Jimsy isn't as neat as Conan, but has his strong character, too) and Dragonball (Manga)/DB GT (Anime) don't beat it. The subtitles are a bit out of sync sometimes in the Pazu version, but with what I've learned from watching anime and reading manga for three years, and three short articles about Japanese, I was almost able to fix that myself (most funny part in the last episode: oy obasan = hey honey).

I'm deeply impressed by the will the main protagonists (Conan, Lana and even Lao-hagase) show, yet they don't lose their will to live during the most evil hardnesses, even while almost dying (and Conan isn't just once or twice in this situation). Even said that, they're not monsters with a kind of uber-Powers, they're merely normal people with Telepathy or a bit more of strength (developed by growing up with nature, comparable with Gon of Hunter x Hunter).

The animation is just about perfect - maybe the fights in Naruto are more detailed, but then, mirai no conan doesn't have a manga (in which, for the case of Naruto, the fights are badly drawn) to make a movie of, but is drawn from scratch. It's not really brutal, rather funny (and almost 100% done with feet and guns, yet tricky), and (this is a thing e.g. Metantei Conan doesn't get right) the figures are anatomically correct (hey, you could even estimate height and stuff like that from just watching the anime - hint, Conan's said to be 11 years old).
Compared with standards of today, and taking into account the age of the anime, I could've given it a 10 instead of a 9 and wouldn't grief about it.

About the sound... well, I didn't notice anything strange, except that the lip-sync was off by a small fraction of a second sometimes.

Hmmm... this review's a bit unstructured, so let's do a Conclusion: don't miss it; skip the OP/ED if you don't like it, but watch the first episodes, and you'll like it, whether you're 8 or 80.

show review

by trippitaka on 2003-10-11 18:21

An old anime from miyazaki, but this doesn't at all affect the fact that when it comes to entertainment future boy conan is difficult to beat.

Future boy conan is drawn in traditional miyazaki style with trademarks such as menacing flying machines, contrasting landscapes and fluid movement. It lacks the detail of current computer assisted animes but this does not take anything away from future boy conan. The colours are bright and vivid and animation seemless. High quality all the way.

Along with a catchy theme tune the voice actors vocals fit very well and contain a lot of character. The only negative point is that the female lead can get a bit annoying by shouting out for conan over and over again.

The story moves very well and is very captivating leaving the end of each episode on a knife edge. With plenty of different locations to savour and lots of action to boot, future boy conan charges through the storyline with bravery and gusto. I didn't find myself getting bored or confused at all with this anime which doesn't take its time at all to get going.

The characters are all very individual with a good mix of nasty, nice, funny and idiotic. Its especially enjoying to watch the antics of the captain and jimsy.

This anime will have you rewatching it for sure its full of fun and great to enjoy. If u have either kids or parents they will enjoy it too

show review

by themug on 2003-07-07 22:01

This one is really quite old but it has aged very well. For a TV series from the 70s this has amazing animation (as to be expected by Miyazaki) even if the level of detail is a little low by todays standards, but back then no computer would help with that.

The storyline is simple but effective more focussing on action and events than on characters. Probably aimed for kids it has more than enough to offer to keep us more adult people interested.

I liked it very much, it is pure entertainment. It makes you care about the many travels and adventures of the little protagonists and enjoy the ride.