Future Boy Conan: The Complete Series [Blu-ray]

A must watch for HM fans. Solid transfer too. Looked great in HD. Lots of content to watch for the price.

Few animated shows have the attention to detail of Future Boy Conan. It has great story lines, interesting characters, and great animation. I would say this was a labor of love rather than a job for the ones involved with this show.

I'm revisiting an anime I watched as a kid back in the 80's (when I lived in Europe) many times a series such as this one is impossible for me to share with my U.S. friends. I know in the 90's they tried to bring it here via Streamline Pictures but they had a series of legal issues with the good folks back in Japan and it fell apart. Now finally we get a proper U.S. release (for me to share with my friends) and man the 4K scan looks so crisp. The U.S. voice actors are pretty good overall, can't complain. But you do have the option to switch over to Japanese (with two types of English subtitles as well) The packaging is solid, all 4 discs held together well. And the additional booklet with original concept art was a nice touch. As far as the series itself, it's not 100% kid friendly, there are some adult themes in there you may want to look over, before showing this to little kids (for older kids I think it's fine) Besides that, it's a big adventure by one of the masters of anime, and it's a lot of fun. Animation is also excellent considering it's from 1978.

The only way to see it was on Blue Ray Disk. I saw part of it as a kid, wanted to see the complete series with my kids. Some nostalgia here for sure. My kids say this cartoons are much more funnier than today's dull cartoons. I will add this cartoons are way more charming too. Take in consideration this is a 1978 cartoon, you will see some scenes that are considered not appropriate for kids by today's delicate standards, like the use of guns and smoking. If you are OK for your kids to see it with an 1980's kids eyes, them go for it, it's definitely worth the watch.

The new blu-ray for "Future Boy Conan" contains the original japanese version as well as a new English dub.Rating for the original Japanese Version: 5 out of 5.Rating for the new English dub: 2 out of 5.I've met a lot of people who don't like English dubs of anime and always prefer the Japanese version. I respect these people's opinions, and I understand that there's definitely something wonderful about getting to see animation with the original voice cast performing in the original language. But I'm not the sort of person who doesn't like English dubs. I think a lot of the English dubs for Miyazaki's films have been great! And I was very excited when I found out that there was going to be an English dub of Miyazaki's directorial debut, "Future Boy Conan", which has been unavailable in the US until now.The best word to describe the English dub for "Future Boy Conan": CHEAP. Miyazaki's other films all had dozens of A-list actors performing for the English dub. The dub for "Future Boy Conan" was outsourced to some company and performed by a bunch of people I've never heard of. When the dub cast was announced, I remember some anime fans saying that they recognized the dub company and the names of the voice actors. I remember saying to myself things like "Just because you've never heard of them doesn't mean they won't be good," and "Other people have heard of them, so they'll probably be okay." Well now I've heard the voices for the English dub, and I really don't like them at all. In the English dub the voice for Conan, the main character, is especially annoying. Another important character, Dyce, now sounds like a whiny 23-year-old when he ought to sound like a gruff 45-year-old. Even when the new voices are not annoying, the new dub can still be disappointing since a great deal of the dialogue has been changed in a way that makes it sound completely on-the-nose and hackneyed.There's something else about the English dub that bothers me, although it won't necessarily bother other viewers. "Future Boy Conan" takes place in a post-apocalyptic future, and each episode has an opening sequence where an unseen narrator explains how this new world came about. Magnetic weapons more powerful than nuclear weapons were used, and in the original Japanese version the magnetic weapons tilted the Earth's axis and ripped the continents apart, which caused the Earth to flood. In the English dub we're told that the magnetic weapons caused climate change, which flooded the Earth. So the English dub tells us that the apocalypse was partly due to climate change, even though the Japanese version never mentions climate change. This brings up an important question: is it really okay to change Miyazaki's script? The dub company that changed the script probably felt that they were doing the right thing by inserting their modern political views into this classic work. But I suspect that if the dub had been done by artists instead of by being outsourced to some company, then they may have been a bit more circumspect about changing another artist's work, even if they believed they were doing so for a good cause. The fact that the dub company couldn't resist inserting their political views into the script is just one more way that this dub was CHEAP.I think that the distributor has done a wonderful thing by making "Future Boy Conan" available in the United States. I had read that there were a lot of copyright issues holding up its release. As recently as last spring, things looked hopeless, because it looked as though "Future Boy Conan" would never be released in the US. The fact that we can now buy this on blu-ray is no small miracle. I'm definitely happy that I bought it, and I'm happy to report that it looks just as good as I remember it, if not better. It's one of Miyazaki's best works, and I think everyone should see it. But stick with the original Japanese version, because the English dub stinks. Perhaps one day this work will get an English dub with the quality that it deserves.P.S. The blu-ray comes with a cool little booklet, but there are no other special features worth mentioning.

It’s the first anime I grew up on in the 80s, it’s just as I remember and brings back childhood memories.

Classic Miyazaki series, one of the few he made from start to finish. It echoes elements from Lupin III and the works from Studio Ghibli.

Loved this cartoon when I was a teenager, enjoying re watching it