Uchu Shonen Soran

Aired: 1965 - 1967

A TV anime produced by TCJ Doga Center (now Eiken). Original concept by Yoshikatsu Miyakoshi, with manga versions serialized by Tomohiko Okada and Shiro Jinbo in Kobunsha's Shonen and other magazines. Broadcast in 96 episodes on the TBS network from May 4, 1965 to March 28, 1967. After an interplanetary collision between an adventure ship from the distant Soran planet and an Earth spaceship, the sole infant survivor is reconstructed with alien science and returns to Earth as 'Soran' (voiced by Haruko Kitahama, later Yoko Kurihara). The bright Soran, together with the talking squirrel Chappy (voiced by Kazue Takahashi), confronts the dark-star aliens and evil organizations targeting space resources in this SF adventure. The work is an important predecessor to Giant Robo and Ultraseven, establishing TCJ Doga Center's mass-production system as a long-running SF boys' anime. The theme song by Tetsuaki Hagiwara was widely sung by children of the era. (C)Eiken