Space Boy Soran (宇宙少年ソラン, Uchū Shōnen Soran) is a Japanese black and white anime television series created by Kazuya Fukumoto and Yoshikatsu Miyakoshi. The show aired in the United States in 1966 as Zoran, Space Boy.[2] The series was released on DVD in 2015.

Space Boy Soran
宇宙少年ソラン
(Uchū Shōnen Soran)
Anime television series
Directed byHaruyuki Kawajima
Written byMasaki Tsuji
Music byTaku Izumi
StudioTCJ
Original run May 4, 1965 March 28, 1967
Episodes96[1]
Anime television film
ReleasedJuly 24, 1965[citation needed]
Runtime25 minutes
Manga
Written byKazuya Fukumoto
Illustrated byYoshikatsu Miyakoshi
Published byKodansha
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Magazine
DemographicShōnen
Original run19651966

Plot

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Dr. Tachibana once designed the highly dangerous antiproton bomb and planned to escape Earth with his wife and children for fear of prosecution. On their way in space, their space ship is almost destroyed and only Dr. Tachibana's children, his son and his daughter, escape. The son is rescued by aliens called the Soran, who live on a planet with 15 times the gravity of Earth. They name him Soran after their planet and he is turned into a cyborg to save his life. He returns to Earth to search for his sister who escaped, but is yet to be found. He then lives with the archaeologist Dr. Kotsuki and his daughter Mika. and teams up with his pet squirrel, Chappy.

Wonder Three incident

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The character of Chappy was believed to be ripped off of a character Osamu Tezuka was creating. In fear of plagiarising, Tezuka's Wonder Three manga had to be serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday instead of Weekly Shōnen Magazine, where the Soran manga was serialized. This is actually called the "Wonder Three incident" (W3事件). Chappy appeared to be like the initial design for Bokko, who was supposed to be a squirrel; she was thus changed to a rabbit. Yoshikatsu Miyakoshi was also a former worker for Tezuka. Several members of Mushi Productions were fired or left due to suspicion of industrial espionage.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "株式会社エイケン オフィシャルサイト".
  2. ^ Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. p. 942. ISBN 978-1476665993.
  3. ^ Booker, M. Keith (October 28, 2014). Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas. ABC-CLIO. p. 695. ISBN 9780313397516.