Zukkoke Knight: Don de la Mancha

ずっこけないと どんでらまんちゃ

Aired: 1980

A television anime co-produced by Ashi Productions and Kokusai Eigasha and broadcast on Tokyo 12 Channel (now TV Tokyo), this children's comedy boldly reimagines Miguel de Cervantes's classic novel 'Don Quixote.' The series follows Don de la Mancha - a self-styled chivalric knight forever convinced of his own heroic destiny - his ever-patient squire Sancho Pancho and the loyal horse Rocinante as they wander a freely-drawn fantasy version of medieval Spain. Famous set pieces from the source novel, such as charging the windmills, are honoured but consistently played for slapstick warmth rather than tragedy. Folk singer Fumio Otsuka's distinctive theme music, including the ending 'Areno no Ichiban Boshi' and the in-show 'Dondera Ondo Choshi Dete Masuka,' gives the show a flavour quite unlike its mecha- and gag-driven contemporaries on the same channel.