Takarajima

--The review contains spoilers--


Story 10/10


You all probably know the original book from Robert Louis Stevenson "The Treasure island". Well, as this anime is based on the book, you would assume that the story is pretty much the same. You're right, it is, except that in my opinion it's a little bit...more exiting. Those who have read the book know that the pirates didn't find the treasure because Ben Gunn had already dug it out and hidden at another place. It's completely different in the anime. Here, is the secret of the treasure much more puzzling, an amazing quest left by the famous ... captain Flint. So, the search of the treasure becomes altogether more exiting and has a lot of more adventures in it.

Art 10/10

Before you question the fact that I have put a 10 here, I remind you to consider that the anime is from the year 1978! To my mind the art is very good, especially when you look at the pirates. Nowadays a bunch of pirates is just a bunc of pirates, but here - look at them - they are drawn with their own characteristics, so each pirate has a look of it's own and stands out from the other pirates. I think it's admirable.

Sound 8/10

And again, I have to remind you that the anime is from the year 1978, so I won't comment nothing more on this behalf. Except, that I find the soundtrack very suiting for the different situations in the anime.

Character 10/10

Again - individual characters, that is what I found very appealing in the anime. Look at the unimportant pirates - they all have a character of their own, although they aren't the main persons in the anime.
And of course the most colorful character - Long John Silver! If you read the book first you'll see that this Silver is more appealing. If you watch the anime first, you'll see only this kind of Silver character in the book later as you read it. In my oppinion the Silver from the anime is much more the friend and father figure that Jim seaks. That's why a third of the anime occurs on the ship (the travel from Bristol to the Treasure island), that is the time when the two characters Silver and Jim become close, so you'll understand their later actions better.

Enjoyment 10/10

Imagine everything you wan't from a pirate story - it's all there! Amazing adventures, sword and gun fights, an exciting treasure hunt, rum, gold and pirate songs, treason and friendship, the sea and a mystic island. Do I have to explain more? :)

Overall 10/10

Well, as you can see, I personnally think that this is one of the best animes I ever seen. Of course, the difficulty now is to get it. I managed to find and download only the first 7 episodes. Those who understand German, have it a lilltle bit easier - you can find the anime in Youtube dubbed in German.
So, I hope this was helpful to you and you'll enjoy the anime as much as I did.

This is Treasure Island, the classic book brought to life in anime.

This is one of the best classics i can possibly think of. Staying really close to the story it really brings the story to life for me. The show executes the atmosphere greatly too. The music,background noises and sound effects are well selected and timed to create some of the most dramatic and lighthearted moments i can imagine.

The character portrayal of long john silvers is a very lasting impression. It really shows the duality of his character while maintaining his opposing force threw the entire series. Jim is depicted a bit annoyingly tho, a ... real brat at times but that's part of the charm when you have a unlikely hero.

The art is great for its time and aged well i think. In my opinion classic anime art is great and i prefer it more too the overly used CG but that's my opinion. Like most classics it uses a warm and bright color pallet most of the time but it is no stranger to deeper shades of blue,purple and black to showcase darker moods.

In summation this is a 10, the story is a great classic novel so you can't really go wrong. The art and sound are done well and really belong in the show. The characters are likable and lasting, Silver is one of my favorite characters in anime of all time. So start watching this and you will be surprised at how much you will love this show.

This is about 'Treasure's Island' by Stevenson but the thing is... Is this worth it to watch? I think that's correct. However, it has good and bad things so I'll summarize a little what I'm talking about without spoiling the fun:

(+) The story itself is nice, the characters are memorable and you can empathize with them. There's not black or white about this, you could change sides from time to time while watching this. The opening and ending songs are melancholic and nice, it really has that classic nice vibe so no issues about it either. For a 70s animation it really has nice quality, ... and the director is a famous one. He even directed Black Jack and Ashita no Joe so you can't go wrong with this TV series.

(-) Now the thing is, it's the total of 26 episodes the proper lenght for this story? The main flaw about anime studios, is that someone has put money into it, so the number of chapters always dictate what to add or what not. There are many filler scenes that had to show the real work from this team and so it could lead to boring arcs or episodes throughout this series. Also, some things are dated, although not necessarily incorrect taking into account the era is this based on, like children doing things that they shouldn't do for example.

Another fault that I saw, that I found a little concerning, is that one of the characters in the poster doesn't have much relevance in this series so they should have replaced it with another character that indeed was more important.

This is indeed an adventure story and fortunately a nice version although not perfect.