T.P BON

Largely unfamiliar with the source material, but I am aware of Fujiko Fujio's impact on the industry and their heraled success with the iconic Doraemon. Bones' 90th Anniversary re-adaptation of a hidden classic covers familiar ground, which I think play to the show's strengths. The episodic nature captures a nostalgic viewing experience, while using exploration of historical time periods as the main hook, i.e. Magic Tree House, Time Warp Trio. Plots revolve around travelling backwards in time to save an ordinary person from demise. It's not a wholly original concept, but it's one I'm fairly certain was much more of a novelty at the time ... of the original's debut.

Each episode's narrative has you being spoonfed retroactive tidbits of human melodrama in the vein of, say, To Your Eternity. Bon is a fairly simple-minded protagonist and acts as a decent conduit for a child audience (clumsy, slacks off, but bursting with heart); yet, the series does delve into a lot of historical violence that gives the impression of a family show with surprisingly more adult themes. Its exploration of said themes, however, feel mostly surface level, intent on the resolution of children's programming that resets the status quo, rarely dragging conflict into the subsequent episode, with some exceptions, including the finale.

As a result, this is a difficult recommendation for the more hardened anime fan wanting a "mature" show, but its appeal is steeped in a nostalgic factor that is certain to capture the attention of audiences craving an accessible "comfort show" with mild educational value and a cutesy, "retro" artstyle thrown into the mix.

TP Bon is an adaptation of a manga of the same name made by beloved mangaka Fujiko F. Fujio, who also made Doraemon. At first glance, his cartoony and childish style may make think this is very similiar to Doraemon, but this series does get dark at times of how it focused on historical aspects. Every episode Bon, Ream and Puyonyon travel backs in time to save small and insignificant life throughout the history of humanity and each episode they have to find a solution on dealing such issues, Bon can be somewhat annoying times due to him being a member of the team, while ... Ream being the a reliable guidance for heling him during each mission and Puyonyon being the additional member of the team provides comedic to ease the seriousness of heavy historic moment.

The series can be somewhat educational as it does provide information about certain time-period they traveled into, however, there are some moments of the series, such the witch hunt episode displayed the torture of the witch suspect during the 15th Century or a WWII episode where the crews tries save a former kamikaze pilot can be pretty intense for young audience. Despite that, the series does provide uplifting conclusion for each of characters they saved, so it does balance the heavy aspect of the history. If you want a fun story about time travel while saving people, this is a great series to watch. Not to mention there's an official English dub, so it might be a great introduction to Fujio's work first time for a lot of audience.

I'm a fan of remakes of older manga/anime, over the years had a lot of fun with Gegege no Kitaro, Akuma-kun, Time Bokan, Tiger Mask, Cutie Honey, Warau Salesman, not to mention Urusei Yatsura. I also generally enjoy Bones productions; yes, even those with original scripts. Time Patrol Bon, though, doesn't really do anything special.

It's a series commemorating 90th anniversary of Fujiko Fujio's birthday, a legendary mangaka whom many will recognize as the author of Doraemon. So why T.P. Bon was picked for that occasion instead of something more prominent? Your guess is as good as mine.
Time Patrol Bon is, unfortunately, not outstanding in any ... way. Pretty average, rather episodic, family-friendly plot is supported by basic characters and quite simple animation you probably wouldn't expect from Bones. I guess the historical trivia might be a hook for some, but that aspect is pretty run-of-the-mill as well. I suppose that explains why I didn't hear about the series until two months after its premiere despite being on the look out for stuff like this.

Easy recommedation if you're a fan of Fujiko Fujio, cautious one if you like series with retro vibes or light stories involving time travel, a definite pass if you're looking for something meaty with interesting ideas.

At the time of writing of this review (less than two weeks before the second half of the series would be released) there wasn't much buzz around T.P. Bon. I'll leave it up to you to decide whether it's because of series' mediocrity or Netflix's flawed model of releasing and promoting their anime OVAs.