While more Faux Ghibli images continue to swamp social media, Politics, and ADs, fans will be able to watch one of Hayao Miyazaki’s first solo directorial projects, Future Boy Conan. This animated series is finally making its way onto the streaming scene in eight days, according to a new press release from IndieWire.
Future Boy Conan found a new streaming home on RetroCrush, a subscription-based service for classic anime. The first episode of the series will premiere on Friday, April 18, followed by weekly releases of the remaining 25 episodes. Meanwhile, episodes of the series will air on the free, ad-supported, streaming television (FAST) version of RetroCrush on April 20, 22, and 27, as part of Hayao Miyazaki-themed marathons. This news came after the 47th anniversary of the TV anime’s first air date on April 4, 1978.
Future Boy Conan is an animated adaptation of American science-fiction writer Alexander Key’s 1970 novel The Incredible Tide. It made its debut on NHK-General on April 4, 1978, and ended on October 31, 1978, consisting of 26 episodes. The animation was produced by Nippon Animation, seeing the directorial debut of Hayao Miyazaki, who also contributed to character designs and storyboards. It also included future anime creators like Isao Takahata (storyboards, directing) and Yoshiyuki Tomino (storyboards) who also worked on the television series. It may have been seen as an unsuccessful show at its time, but it did get a sequel in 1999 but did not include Miyazaki, many of its themes of humanity’s relationship with the planet and its characters would continue to be part of Hayao Miyazaki’s future works such as Castle in the Sky, Princess Mononoke, and certain elements and scenes were referenced in his latest film, The Boy and the Heron. A fun fact about this series is how much of a cult classic it has become, even inspiring many to become Animators, which played a big role in Sumito Ōwara’s Slice-of-life manga, Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! Which foundation of the main character’s love of anime, is central to the story, its anime adaptation is available now on Blu-ray and to stream on Crunchyroll.
The show would be unseen in the United States, until 40 years later, when GKIDS (the current distribution rights holder for most Studio Ghibli films) would license the series in 2021, commissioning a 4K restoration and an English dub. A Blu-ray set of the series was released later that year, along with a 4K UHD collector’s edition set in 2022. Cineverse Chief Content Officer Yolanda Macias released a statement that is available to read on IndieWire.
Twenty years ago, a terrible war fought with magnetic weapons caused the earth’s axis to tilt, and earthquakes and tidal waves destroyed civilization. Conan is born into this new world, raised by his adopted grandfather on an isolated island. But his life is forever changed when a mysterious girl named Lana washes ashore, pursued by shadowy operatives who seek to use her in a new scheme to control what’s left of the world.
Source: IndieWire
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