Nov 18, 2020
Back in the early days of anime, before even I was born, there was a series of anime released based off of literary classics. They started out as the Calpis Comic Theatre and have had many names since. Dog of Flanders, Anne of Green Gables, Heidi and Tom Sawyer were all adapted into anime and those are just a few notable examples. It all started with Moomin in '69 and the most recent one was released in 2009. The one I'm looking at is from 1981 as part of the World Masterpiece Theatre series and it's based off of the Swiss Family Robinson. Which is
...
a story we all know the basics off. A Swiss Family gets shipwrecked on a deserted island and has to build a life for themselves while awaiting rescue. So, let's look at how the anime format treated the story.
Story:
The anime has the same basic story as the book. A Swiss family finds themselves shipwrecked on a deserted island. I'll say right now, the basics are there but it's not a faithful adaptation. For one thing, the Father's occupation is different. The number of children is different. Their ages are different and in this version they have a daughter instead of all sons. The anime also gives a very different reason for their journey and has build up leading to the storm instead of opening with it. I could go on, but for all of our sanity, I'll just stop comparing it to the book and look at it as a stand alone work.
The biggest problem with the narrative is actually one the book and anime both share. Namely, this family is unnaturally good at wilderness survival. You have a family that's well off with no real background in building shit or surviving in the wilderness and they're all really good at building canoes, giant tree houses and everything else they need to live comfortably. The only explanation we get for how the father can manage is that he read about this stuff once. And if anything, the anime is more egregious because in the book they had four children with the youngest being eight. While in the anime they have three and the youngest is so young he's completely useless. The kid is all of three. Acting like he'd be anything more than a total burden in a survival situation is just breaking suspension of disbelief.
On the positive side, it is interesting seeing this small family trying hard to survive in punishing circumstances. I also do like the addition of a second group of castaways in the second half of the series. And there is a nice sense of fun, particularly where Flone is concerned. She pretty consistently finds ways to enjoy herself and the situation. And there is a definite improvement over the book in how they get off the island. The family is just a lot more proactive and has a lot more agency whereas in the book they just kind of wait until someone finds them and then some decide they like living on an island where the only other living humans are their relatives.
Characters:
My big gripe with the characters is Jack. And you might be thinking, cut the character some slack, he's three. No. Because he is quite literally everything that's wrong with small child characters. He's loud, annoying as hell and contributes nothing of value whatsoever. Every time this kid was shown in peril, I knew he was going to survive but didn't want him to.
Flone, in contrast, shows how to do a child character well. She gets into trouble and has her moments where she's a bit annoying but she's also a very fun character with a plucky, adventurous spirit. You can forgive her worst moments because she's a delight most of the time.
The parents and older brother are a bit bland but fine. The pair of castaways that join them later, Tam Tam and Mister Morton are actually pretty interesting characters. They give you enough information about their history that you can ascertain their situation without bogging you down with flashbacks or long exposition about them.
Art:
The artwork shows its age. Honestly though, the old style still looks quite good in terms of the characters, backgrounds and the nature scenes are quite nice. It won't be for everyone, certainly. There's definitely a portion of the audience that can't stand things that look this dated. My only real gripes with the art are that some of the animals look pretty bad and there are quite a few scenes where you see the characters from a distance and they look very blobby and undetailed. The wolves look nothing like wolves. The kangaroos you see at the end look awkward as hell. Even the cuscus looks quite rough and you see that one all the time.
Sound:
The acting is largely well done. Matsuo Yoshiko, Furuya Toru, Hirai Michiko, Kobayashi Osamu, Shioya Yoku and Nagai Ichiro all give capable performances. Matsuo in particular. The one bad performance comes from Kousaka Makoto. Here's the thing. I don't blame her. She's voicing an obnoxious three year old who shouts constantly. Find me someone who could do that and give a strong, subtle performance.
The music is fine. My biggest issue with it is just that it's a bit over the top and repetitive. Like, any time there's an intense moment they play the same ten second loop because that's their "intense" music and after a while I just got sick of hearing it.
Ho-yay:
There is none. A good deal of that can be attributed to it being about a family. But, to be honest, I'd be surprised to find an anime from the early 80s that had ho-yay in any meaningful way.
Areas of Improvement:
1. Lose Jack or age him up. Having an older child, say eight, would allow for a more complex, less annoying character. So, instead of him being the worst part of the anime he might be tolerable.
2. Have a greater variety of music. Playing the same short loops across fifty episodes just results in them getting old.
3. Give us a better explanation for the father's skills. Tell us he worked construction before studying medicine or something. It wouldn't be the greatest explanation in the world but it would be better than him reading about building once.
Final Thoughts:
This anime has its moments. It has some definite elements that affect enjoyment. Like the shitty three year old character. But it is a fairly enjoyable romp with a sense of adventure. Flone is a good character and the art, as dated and bad with animals as it is, still does look pretty good. In the end, I'd give this one a 6/10. If you're really curious to see The concept of the Swiss Family Robinson turned into an anime, I'd give it a watch. It's not an anime masterpiece but it's decent enough.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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