Future Boy Conan — Every Miyazaki Obsession Starts Here
Twenty six episodes of post-apocalyptic adventure where you can read a character's entire personality from how they jump.
1978 · TV series · 26 episodes · Nippon Animation, NHK
The premise — The sea took everything
Nuclear war has left Earth almost entirely underwater. Conan survived an astronauts' failed escape as a child; when Indastria's soldiers take a girl named Lana, he goes after her.
Why it works — Read the jump
You learn who these characters are from how they land. Weight, recovery, the half second of hesitation before a leap: the personality arrives in the body, ahead of the dialogue.
The storyboards — Four names on boards
Hayao Miyazaki directed the series and boarded it, alongside Yoshiyuki Tomino, Isao Takahata and Keiji Hayakawa. The staging thinks in distance: where a body is, how far it has to travel.
Physical comedy — Gags with consequence
The funny scenes are built from motion, not punchlines. A chase turns because somebody misjudges a gap, and the joke and the danger land in the same second.
The long form — 26 chapters
Serial length buys detours a two hour film cannot afford. The quieter, plot-light episodes are where the adventure earns its stakes.
Who it is for — Adventure first
Anyone who watches animation for movement, and anyone curious how a drowned world plays as adventure instead of despair. Suitable for kids without being written down to them.
The verdict — Worth all twenty six
1978 television with a director's fingerprints on every landing. Watch it for the bodies in motion; the plot exists to keep them moving.
Filed under adventure, drama, science fiction.
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