Future Boy Conan (未来少年コナン, Mirai Shōnen Konan) is a 1978 television anime series loosely based on Alexander Key’s 1970 novel The Incredible Tide. The series was produced by studio Nippon Animation, and the staff credits include director Hayao Miyazaki, screenplay writers Akira Nakano, Satoshi Kurumi & Sōji Yoshikawa, and music composed by Shin’ichirō Ikebe. The series first aired in Japan on April 1978.
Background:
“Twenty years ago, a terrible war fought with magnetic weapons caused the earth’s axis to tilt, and earthquakes and tidal waves destroyed civilization. Conan is born into this new world, raised by his adopted grandfather on an isolated island. But his life is forever changed when a mysterious girl named Lana washes ashore, pursued by shadowy operatives who seek to use her in a new scheme to control what’s left of the world.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, December 2022.
Many will be familiar with Hayao Miyazaki for his work over at Studio Ghibli as well as the classic Lupin the Third: The Castle of Cagliostro film, but he also worked on a few television shows back in the 70s with one of those being Future Boy Conan.
Future Boy Conan is a classic anime series that has inspired and been referenced countless times over the decades since, and in the past few years it had received a 4K digital restoration. This restoration is also how the English-speaking territories were finally able to license the series, since it was assumed that it couldn’t be licensed due to costs or other factors.
Future Boy Conan first saw an English release with GKIDS over in North America in 2021, but then Anime Limited licensed the series not long after, opting for a 4K Ultra HD release instead. This also marks the first time an anime series has been released in the west on the 4K format.
That said, Anime Limited were supposed to have released the second half back in the Summer, since Part 1 was released in June 2022 but for some reason it took about half a year later to finally release the set.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
Anime Limited split the series into two parts, and similar to the Gundam UK model we had a rigid box for Part 1 and now a booklet for Part 2.
The 92-page book is an essay-type format written by Dr. Jonathan Clements and Andrew Osmond, that goes into detail about the series from beginning to end, and also the history of its production. This layout is similar to Anime Limited’s Momotaro set for those who like that type of format.
As this is essentially the equivalent of a standard set, the back cover does feature information and BBFC content while the front cover however has no logo similar to the Gundam collector’s editions.
The collector’s edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £79.99 (the higher SRP is due to the distributor bringing the series onto the 4K Ultra HD format for the first time anywhere in the world, so there’s also costs to make that happen). A standard edition Blu-ray collection is also available to purchase for those who don’t want the 4K discs.
Physical Contents:
- UHD Amaray packaging
- 92-page Book
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 19th December 2022
The collector’s edition Part 2 release for Future Boy Conan contains episodes 14-26 across two 4K Ultra HD discs and 2 Blu-ray discs. The audio options for both formats include Japanese with English subtitles and the new English dub from Ocean Studios commissioned by GKIDS. English SDH subtitles are also available for both formats.
Like Part 1, the 4K UHD discs are encoded and authored by the folks over at MediaOCD. While the series was given the 4K digital restoration treatment, it is presented in Standard Dynamic Range (SDR) format as well. As for the playback, the white subtitles (plus blue subtitles for on-screen lyrics) are unlockable during playback, and the disc is all region. Worth noting that the 4K discs are also being used for France (as Anime Limited also has French rights), therefore the French dub and French subtitles are also included.
The Blu-ray discs were also encoded and authored by MediaOCD, which is interesting considering the discs were already available via the North American release by GKIDS who released the series on Blu-ray a while back. As for the playback, the subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the disc is locked to Region B players.
4K Ultra HD Specs:
| Languages | English, French, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 French DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 1.33:1 aspect ratio SDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH, French |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English, English SDH |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 2 BD-50s |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- English Trailer
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 2:
- English Trailer
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Future Boy Conan Part 2 is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack can be acquired through Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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