toddly6666

I think Miyazaki is not only a genius, but his talent is truly alien. It's unexplicable how he has made so many masterpieces.

I just finished watching Miyazaki's FUTURE BOY CONAN on DVD (with an excellent English fan subtitles DVD) and I just did not expect this to be his best piece of work ever. I heard little things about this show here and there over the years, and I believed that it wouldn't be that great since it's somewhere between his Lupin film and that childish Panda show he worked on. How wrong I was. The storyline and animation is top notch equal or even better than any of his later films. FUTURE BOY CONAN has great animation, perfect story, written more for adults than for kids, it's funny, too intense, dark, violent, and emotional.This is my favorite now along with Princess Mononoke and Kiki's Delivery Service. But I think this show is the best out of all his works.

FUTURE BOY CONAN can be called a show, but it's nothing more than a perfect 11-hour-long film. I have never seen an animated show with so much perfect character development in my life. I also have never seen an animated show with the best choreographed action scenes. I consider this animated show the "Matrix" of animated action. I've seen a lot of action movies, but Miyazaki has somehow made every single conflict/action scene in this show hand-sweating intense. Remember the scene in Empire Strikes Back where Luke is hanging on for his dear life after getting his hand chopped off by Vader? Well that's how many of the action scenes in FUTURE BOY CONAN feel - extremely nerve-wracking and intense. He works wonders with heights and peoples fear of heights. As an animator, I'm amazed how he can achieve acrophobia or vertigo in a 1970s animated cartoon. He does it. Miyazaki knows how to make animation connect to our emotions like no other director.

For the Miyazaki fans or animation fans that haven't heard about this show, just buy the dvd (email me for info on where to get an English-subbed version). I really don't want to talk about the story or the characters. I don't want to ruin it for anyone. But trust me, if you haven't seen this show, you will be making a huge, huge mistake, missing out on one of Miyazaki's greatest pieces of works.

I love Transformers, G.I. Joe, and M.A.S.K., but FUTURE BOY CONAN is the best cartoon show ever. Nothing even comes close to this.

Will M

curious. did you watch the R3 dvd? if so where did you buy it?

WTK

I own the R3TW boxset. It's a great looking boxset. It's a must see for any Ghibli fans. You get to see how some of the concepts/ideas that gets created for future projects.

And for the record, there haven't been any official/legit English subbed or dubbed releases for this series. It has been broadcasted/dubbed in numerous languages around the world. And as far I as I know, the English dub was broadcasted via Animax Asia (should be for SE Asia / India).

WTK

Which version? Hong Kong, Korea, or Taiwan? The HK one should still be widely available. I believe the Korean one is OOP. The Taiwan one should be available with a few online retailers. Places to check are the like sof YesAsia and JSDVD Mall.

toddly6666

Will and WTK, I sent you messages about the DVD...

Is there any chance of a USA or UK DVD release of this show? It's wierd that it hasn't been done because Miyazaki directed this whole show - it's not like he was a little bit involved in this, as he was in Puss N Boots, The Norse God, Panda Panda, Animal Treasure Island, which are all available on good English subtitled dvd versions...

The Bus

Yep. I saw this show a few years after it originally aired. Only recently did I try to get into it again.

I asked about this a few years back and no one had any clue what it was.

WTK

I would say no in the current condition for the N. American anime industry. I think think the length of this series is part of the reason that this haven't been licensed. And it may be a tough sell for something that was made in the late '70s. Anime studios tend to stay away from the older anime series nowadays. I just can't see anyone taking a risk of releasing something like this. As much as I love this series, I don't think it will sell in the US. Even if someone manages to license this (for the US), there is the whole trademark issue as well. Who knows, maybe someone will take a chance some day. And I'm not sure about UK though. I would think they will have a better chance than the US.

Puss 'N Boots and Animal Treasure Island are licensed to Discotek. Panda Go Panda is/was licensed to Geneon (likely expired). The Norse God is not licensed here in the US, but it is licensed over at UK. The comparison to these movies may be not abe a fair one. Future Boy Conan is a TV series and thus the running time is much longer.

Never say never though...

toddly6666

I also think they may not be able to market this show because there are some scenes in this show which can't be marketed to "conservative" American children. To make money off this show, I think distributors think they have to market it to kids, but they can't because there are too some nonorthodox scenes in this show and they are afraid there will be some angry parents saying stuff about it:

1. Extended butt scene: the scene where Conan is beat by a wood plank - and they show his butt glowing because it's so sore. Disney and Pixar would never do that. I didn't mind this scene, but that was still pretty surprising for

2. tons of violence (some blood, a lot of guns, deaths)

I think this show would be rated PG-13 if it got a rating.

All they got to do is slap Miyazaki's name all over the DVD and it should sell.

Ash Ketchum

I've seen a few episodes in Japanese with no subs. Interesting show, esp. for Miyazaki fans and fans of WATERWORLD/"Drowned World"-themed sci-fi. I don't know that I'd class it above any other Miyazaki films, though, at least from a visual standpoint. It's a transitional work for him, with seeds of future works in it, on a par with his Lupin III TV episodes, but not a masterpiece.

toddly6666

I recommend u to just buy the dvd with english subs - its the dialogue and story that drives this show. Its not a show to watch without subs.

WTK

I watched the series in Mandarin originally. I think I may try to watch it in Japanese w/ Traditional Chinese as the subs one of these days.

fujishig

It's not those scenes that they have to worry about... companies have no problem editing scenes to get stuff marketable to kids. The problem is that the series is so old that kids wouldn't watch it. And they would have to spend money on a dub if they want kids to watch it.

I'd be hard pressed to think of many pre 90's series that are still being released today in a new domestic releae. Even 90's series have a tough road. For instance, Gaogaigar aired in 1997, and didn't do jack in sales, and the dub was abandoned halfway.

Miyazaki's name may sell DVDs, but it also jacks up the licensing cost, I'm sure.

Dragon Fly

I've always wanted to see Future Boy Conan, but the fact that it's not available on DVD here kind of makes it tough. I wonder if anyone will ever release it? On another note, has anyone seen Ponyo yet? Looks interesting, but the trailers seem kind of lackluster.

Thrush

Thanks for the heads up. I'm a huge Miyazaki fan and had zero awareness of this show. After the 1st ep it seems very reminiscent of "Castle in The Sky".

toddly6666

only that it turns out that it's a hundred times better than Castle in The Sky. Where are you watching it with English subs - online?

Thrush

Are we allowed to talk about fansubs?

Dragon Fly

Not really no. We endeavor to keep things legit.