Bosco Adventure

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Bosco Adventure


caption = Air ship journey full of friendship, adventures and love.
ja_name = ボスコ アドベンチャ
ja_name_trans = Bosco Daiboken
genre = FantasyInfobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Taku Sugiyama
studio = Nippon Animation
network = Yomiuri TV
first = October 6, 1986
last = March 30, 1987
episodes = 26

Nihongo|"Bosco Adventure"|ボスコ アドベンチャ|Bosco Daiboken is an anime TV series produced by Nippon Animation, mainly inspired by a book "Storie del Bosco" of the Italian writer Tony Wolf, and other books of this author. [Ann anime|id=1229|title=Bosco Daiboken. Accessed 2007-03-19.] The series was very popular in Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and were shown in many European countries (Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Italy, SFR Yugoslavia, Spain, Poland, Russia), America (Canada, Chile, Mexico, ...), and other parts of world like Egypt, Djibouti, Cameroon and South Korea. They were big success in France, Italy and Japan, but not very famous and was not commercialized in the UK or USA since they were never released in English. The Japanese DVDs were released on 25 July 2003.

Plot

The story is about a young elvish princess Apricot (アプリコット ひめ) whose mission is to return to her home - Fountain land, occupied by evil forces of a monster called Scorpion (スコーピオン), before the total eclipse of the Sun. If she manages to sit on a throne before the eclipse, she'll release a great power of water that will destroy the occupators. To prevent that from happening, she's been kidnapped by mysterious cloacked man called Hoodman (フードマン), and his, rather clumsy, aides: Jack (ジャック) and Franz (フランツ). Their mission is to keep princess away from her home land until the eclipse. In the first episode, she escapes from the villains by sending a message by her trusty mechanical bird Speak (スピーク). The princess's urgent call for help is accidentally heard by habitants of Bosco forest: brave and adventurous Frog (フローク), intelligent and ingenious inventor Tutty (タッティ), and cowardly, but kind and warm-hearted Otter (オッター). They save her from the villains, and the princess becomes a part of Bosco crew. Guys decide to help Apricot finding her way back home, before it's too late. On their way to Fountain land they get into myriad of adventures, where they prove their desire and ability to help and protect those who are in need, and where their own relationships between each other flourish and develop into strong friendship and love.

Characters

Allies

Main characters

;nihongo|Princess Apricot|アプリコット ひめ: Voiced by Yuko Minaguchi:Kind, generous, friendly, mild elvish princess whose mission is to return back home to Fountain land before the total eclipse of the Sun. Her parents were killed by a monster Scorpion that occupied her homeland. Aboard the Bosco ship she is at first respected as a real princess, but being humble and everything but egocentric, she made clear that she doesn't want guys to call her Princess Apricot, but Apri, a short and convenient nick name which they'll start to use in the first episodes until the end. She is the one that encourages friends to help others in trouble, even though it delays her progress. And often, she notices beautiful sceneries such as flowers, meadows, etc. Her character adds a softer and feminine side to the rest of the crew. She is always ready to help with everything aboard Bosco, and regularly helps Frog with every problem. Apricot and Frog's relationship develops in different way then with Tutty and Otter. As the story goes on, romantic elements are combined with strong connection to each other, from the first contact on the deltaplane, to the very end.;nihongo|Frog|フローク: Voiced by Shigeru Nakahara:Brave, adventurous, strong, skilled, clever, a young habitant of a Bosco forest. Leader of the Bosco crew (even though he denies it). Good friend with Tutty and Otter. Throughout the episodes, he often fights with Tutty because of the opposite opinions and ideas. Apricot is the one who calms them down. Often explores the surrounding area around the ship with binoculars, drives Bosco in dangerous situations, etc. Gains strong feelings for Apricot.;nihongo|Tutty|タッティ: Voiced by Hiroya Ishimaru:Ingenious, smart, intelligent, Tutty is behind every move of Bosco crew. He is the one who invents all machines: jet-pack, hovercraft, accessorising vehicles, and even the Bosco ship, which was used as a house before the saving of princess. Fights often with Frog. Always fixes something on his table, even fixed and upgraged Speak so he can communicate with others. Always has the right idea in the right time.;nihongo|Otter|オッター: Voiced by Koichi Yamadera:A bit cowardly and shy, but knows how to be very useful in the same time. He is the engineer of the Bosco ship, as he lights the fire and keeps it strong so that Bosco can travel. Spends most of the time in the loft. Hangs out mostly with Tutty, and also helps Frog and Apricot with everything. He's a good cook too.

Minor characters

;nihongo|Speak|スピーク: Voiced by Hiroko Fukujun:Apricot's mechanical bird, looks a lot like a toucan, but actually resembles to parrot, because he repeats words spoken to him. Tutty first fixed him, after he was hit by a lighting (Otter found him), to hear Apricot's message, and second time to the point where he could communicate with others. Very close to Apricot. He doesn't appear in episodes 04, 05, 06, 07, 11, 14, 15, 16, 20, 24.;nihongo|Ender|エンダー: Voiced by Kôhei Miyauchi:A noble man from Fountain land, appears in episodes 13-21, and in 26. He carried the message to the Apricot and informed her more about her quest. He couldn't get on well with the rest of the crew at the beginning (he couldn't understand how they called her Apri instead of Apricot!), but the tensions cooled as the story moved on, and he helped the guys in many ways.;nihongo|Owl|アウル: Voiced by Kôhei Miyauchi :Wise owl of the Bosco forest. Appears in the first episode when Otter asks him for help with Speak. Appears later in most of episodes with other characters from forest as a part of "Bosco home", a short sequence of a small instructive story with characters from Bosco forest which was shown at the end of most episodes before the closing titles.;nihongo|Raby|ラビィ: Voiced by Naoko Watanabe:Funny rabbit from Bosco forest.;nihongo|Hedgy|ヘッジィー: Funny hedgehog from Bosco forest.;nihongo|Crow|クロウ: Funny crow from the Bosco forest.;nihongo|Jenny|ジェニー: Voiced by Miki Itou:Female rabbit, also from Bosco forest.;nihongo|Araiguma|アライグマ: Voiced by Chieko Honda:Racoon from the Bosco forest.;nihongo|Kasasagi|カササギ: Ornith, Crow's passion, habitant of Bosco forest.;nihongo|Giant|きょじん: Appears in 2nd episode, on the Sleepy Giant's mountain.;nihongo|Leon|レオン: Appears in 8th and 9th episode, ruler of Oasis.;nihongo|Pansa|パンサ: Leon's counselor, appears in episodes 8 and 9.;nihongo|Unicorn|ユニコーン: Voiced by Hiromi Tsuru:Appears in episodes 10 and 11, alone on a mysterious island.

Enemies

Main characters

;nihongo|Hoodman|フードマン: Voiced by Banjo Ginga:Cloacked man, dressed in black, mercenary of Scorpion. Leader of big air ship called Scorpion, and the boss of Jack and Franz. Haunts the Bosco ship from episode to episode, what actually keeps the story interesting and dynamic. In the beginning we see him as a fierce, strong and scary leader, but as the story moves on he becomes more euphoric, stressed and devastated, mainly because of his incompetents aides and the intervention of Damia later in the series. By the end, we see him as completely different, rather funny and crazy.;nihongo|Jack|ジャック: Voiced by Sanji Hase:Cat-like servant of Hoodman, always goes as a team with Franz. Looks fierce, but is clumsy actually. Often uses weapon to attack Bosco ship from Scorpion (bombs, catapults, etc.);nihongo|Franz|フランツ: Voiced by Kenichi Ogata:Dwarf-like servant of Hoodman, resembles to Ender. Drives the Scorpion. Likes to eat a lot.

Minor characters

;nihongo|Damia|ダミア: Voiced by Rihoko Yoshida:Perhaps the most impressive character of the series, young, beautiful, angry and dangerous woman. Right hand of Scorpion, possesses a private army. Her first appearance is in episode 15, although she actually appears earlier, in episode 13, but for a short time. She is sent as the replacement for Hoodman, his back up precisely. Makes Bosco's progress harder, but in the same time a lot easier, since she fights also with Hoodman from time to time. Loyal to Scorpion, as he promised her half of the world after she deals with Apricot.;nihongo|Koumori (Messenger)|コウモリ:A bat, messenger of Scorpion. Carries messages from his Master to Hoodman. Often gives him ideas and helps him how to catch the princess. Appears for the first time in episode 5.;nihongo|Scorpion|スコーピオン: Voiced by Hidekatsu Shibata:Mysterious monster who gained control of Fountain land. His voice appears for the first time in episode 5. We see him later in episode 13, when Hoodman asks for new ship (same time when we see Damia for the first time), but he's behind a curtain. He appears in the episode 24 in his real shape.;nihongo|Oja|オージャ:Big lizard, which was the chief of the tribe that captured Apricot in episode 13. He appears in the episode 14, when Hoodman tries to exchange kidnapped Apricot for Frog - as Oja only wants to eat. Oja agrees, but eventually friends manage to escape the lizard's castle - leaving the lizard chieftain with an empty stomach.

Episodes

Music

Background music in Bosco Adventure varies from colorful and cheerful, to moody, nostalgic and sentimental, with typical Japanese sounds. It has variety of cues, for every situation and place which crew visits (Sleeping Giant, Oasis, Ocean...) Several cues repeat throughout the episodes, depending on the situation.Songs that were released on Bonus Disc as a part of DVD are: Tokimeki wa Forever (ときめきはForever, opening song, sung by Noriko Hidaka), Hareta hi nimo ai wo kudasai (はれたひにもあいをください, closing song, also sung by Noriko Hidaka), Kara Kara Makkura (カラカラまっくら, sung by voice actors that gave voice to Hoodman, Jack and Franz) and Bosco Adventure (ボスコアドベンチャー, sung by voice actors that gave voice to Apricot, Frog, Tutty and Otter).

Releases outside Japan

*Bulgaria, as "Приключенията на Боско" (Prikliucheniata na Bosko - The adventures of Bosco) showed from end of may/start of June to December 8 in 1991 on BNT (Kanal 1)
*Cameroon, Egypt, France, as "Les aventures du Bosco". In Cameroon on Manga in 1992, in Egypt on Egyptian Channel 3 in early 90's, in France on La Cinq in 1990. Note that in Egypt it wasn't dubbed in Arabic, as only the French dub aired on Egyptian Channel 3 in the early 90's, when there was a partnership between the Egyptian networks and the French network.
*Estonia, as "Bosco Seiklused", in 1996.
*Hungary, as "A Bosco léghajó kalandjai", shown on TV channel Msat and released on VHS by Tower Video with two episodes/volume.
*Israel, as "Havurat Hatzav Hameofef", shown on the Israeli Channel 1.
*Italy, as "La principessa dai capelli blu" (approx. Blue-haired princess), transmitted on Italia 1 in 1988.
*Poland, as "Przygody Bosco".
*Russia, as "Приключения Боско" (Prikljuchenija Bosko) in 1991 (only last 10 episodes were shown).
*South Korea, as "날아라 거북선" on KBS in 1987.
*Spain, Mexico, Chile, as "Las aventuras de la nave Bosco"
*Yugoslavia, as "Plava Princeza" (Blue princess), shown on TV Novi Sad in 1991. Overall, sixteen episodes were shown, first twelve and the last four.

References

External links

* [http://www2m.biglobe.ne.jp/~ZZ-Japan/bosco/bosco_j.html] official site.
* [http://www.absoluteanime.com/bosco_adventure/index.htm] internet profile.
* [http://www.acadlib.lv/~aivars/e/anime/abricot.htm] description of all episodes.
* [http://www.boscofanwebpage.com] fan site