In 2008 there is a world war with weapons far more devastating than atom bombs, and as a result continents shatter and disappear into the sea. 20 years later an extraordinarily strong 11-year-old boy named Conan, living on a tiny island together with his grandfather, finds an unconscious girl on the beach, and this is the beginning of a great adventure.

The girl's name is Lana and she is the same age as Conan. She has escaped from an industrialized continent called Industria. She had been kidnapped from her own island, High Harbour, because the head of Industria wants to get to her disappeared grandfather, Dr. Lao, who holds the key to a great power. Soon after Lana has arrived to Conan's island, an airship with soldiers from Industria comes and takes her back. Always the hero, Conan sets out to rescue Lana, and on the way he makes lots of interesting friends and enemies. Among them is another wild boy named Jimushi (arguably Jimusy or Jimsy), who is almost as strong as Conan; the rough necked captain Dice, who turns out to have a soft and goofy side too; Monsley, a strong-spirited female Industrian military commander; and Lepka, the cruel leader of Industria.

Since the director, Hayao Miyazaki, is the same as in the anime classics Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro (Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro), Kaze no Tani no Nausicaa (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind), Tenkyu no Laputa (Laputa - Castle in the Sky), Tonari no Totoro (My Neighbour Totoro), Mononoke Hime (Princess Mononoke), and now recently Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi (Spirited Away), it is not surprising that it is a great series. It seems everything Miyazaki touches turns into gold. Future Boy Conan was his directional debut and he couldn't have made a much better job. If you have seen Miyazaki's other works then you will notice a lot of themes that he has later used in his films (For example, there are scenes of flying in the sky in all his movies except Mononoke Hime).

The story is loosely based on a book called The Incredible Tide by Alexander Key, and the story is good, but it is not so much the story as the characters that make it a really great series. Conan is one of the kindest souls who ever walked the planet, has superhuman strength when it is needed, and he can use his feet and toes better than most monkeys. Jimushi is a wild boy with a big appetite and he and Conan makes a great team, both when fighting Industrian military and when just having fun. Dice is just a mean selfish man at first, but he turns soft when he runs into Lana. He is like a cross between two of my all time favourite anime characters - Lupin III and inspector Zenigata (you can read about them in the Lupin III review if you don't know about them). The remaining characters are not half as colourful, but that is just as it should be. If everybody were like Conan he wouldn't seem as fantastic.

The Hayao Miyazaki Web