Stream it or skip it?

On May 3, 2024By Vaseline

Stream it or skip it

By means of Brittany Vincent

Published May 2, 2024, 9:30 PM ET

The manga creator team Fujiko Fujio, consisting of artists Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko, has created some of the most famous series of all time, namely Doraemon. Time Patrol Bon is another such series, a manga hit that ran from 1978 to 1986. Although there was one anime special that premiered in 1989, Time Patrol Bon has never had its own anime adaptation until now. Studio Bones took on the challenge in this original net animation (ONA) for Netflix, which follows a teenager named Bon Namihira (Griffin Burns) as he joins a team of time-traveling agents who work to protect the timestream from evil. guys – because he is too relevant in the annals of time to “disappear” from existence.

TP BON: STREAM IT OR SKIP?

Opening shot: Bon lies on top of a tree that was recently cut down and thinks about how it died and was then removed. His friends, other students from his class, join him and discuss how old the tree must have been, supposing it to be over 800 years old and born in the mid-13th century.

The core: T・P BON follows Bon as he lives his ordinary, average existence. The truth is that he actually likes to live a mundane life. And he prefers to keep it that way, even though he gets low test scores, isn’t the most popular student and doesn’t have much to do. That is, until one fateful day he experiences something strange while studying at home. It seems that day and night are mixed up, making Bon think that he has simply studied too much, as his parents asked him to do.

When a shocked Bon leaves his house to walk around outside to see what exactly happened, he comes across a young woman in strange clothing. Not until he takes himself to his friend Tetsuo’s (Ben Diskin) house before anything else happens. When Tetsuo chases his test paper out of his open balcony window while the pair are hanging out, he falls to his death, causing Bon to go crazy as he watches his friend die.

That’s when he comes face to face with a pair of ‘time patrol’ officers: Ream Stream (Erica Lindbeck) and her partner, who tell him that they have to clean up a mess that Bon and his friend are now involved in. If she can re-enact Tetsuo’s death, she will face an even bigger problem when she and her partner have to inform Bon that they must erase him from existence completely to prevent him from remembering meeting the time patrol agents – this can be done not happen, otherwise it could set off a chain of events that will irreparably change the world.

As Bon insists he will not be erased, he throws himself, Ream and her partner into chaos as they are sent to a prehistoric time period. He manages to send them back to modern times, but the news comes through Ream’s partner: Bon is a relevant person in history, so no harm can be done to him. As a result, having seen too much, he has to join Time Patrol, much to his surprise and dismay.

What shows will it remind you of? While it’s clearly not a direct comparison, aspiring 2000s anime fans might be able to see a bit of it Flint the time detective in T・P BON, namely in its exploration of ‘time policing’ – but in many ways the shows are night and day. However, in terms of animation Doraemon is an obvious comparison. Plus, given how it focuses on the rules of the times and how things can or can’t be changed, fans of Cleared or Avengers from Tokyo maybe they will find something they like here.

Our opinion: T・P BON is a surprisingly fun yet action-packed series that isn’t afraid to throw in a death in the first episode and keep things moving. The simplistic animation belies a surprisingly fun story that we can see echoes of in newer series. While some storylines are predictable because you probably already know that some time rules can’t be changed or compromised, there are so many interesting points throughout where the series takes a detour from the normal flow of things and gives you something different instead .

It’s hard to say what will ultimately become Bon’s claim to fame, and the reason why the Time Patrol members couldn’t get rid of him completely. Why is he important to history? It’s a great question and something that will no doubt be fun to find out as the series progresses, but from now on it’s a question: what does this somewhat cowardly child have to do with history?

Bones has done a particularly good job of bringing the cartoony style of the manga to the animation stage as well, as it effortlessly translates a classic-looking art style into the modern with necessary updates, while still maintaining the original design of each character. There’s also a great opening and ending in English that gets stuck in your head (we’re still singing along to the opening as we write this).

Gender and skin: None to be found.

Parting shot: Bon returns to his own time, but his mother disappears before his eyes. When the Time Patrol revisits his home, he is told that he is actually a relevant person when it comes to history, and thus he cannot be killed. Instead, he must join the Time Patrol, the team informs him, as his mother is still missing. Bon stands slack-jawed, staring at Ream, the other officer, as the screen goes black and he contemplates the situation in disbelief.

Sleepy Star: Buyoyon, played by David Errigo Jr., is a small yellow blob who travels through time with Ream to save people. He is always ready with a sarcastic joke as he floats through the air and often gets in everyone’s faces. The curmudgeonly way of Errigo Jr. makes him endearing when he can easily start to irritate.

Most pilot-y line: “I will not be erased!” Bon screams when he discovers the Time Patrol agents’ plan to erase him from existence. “I’ll help you if you promise not to erase me!” he adds as he and Ream find themselves in prehistoric times, battling dinosaurs and other beasts. Now that he and Ream are inexorably linked, it’s clear that they will continue to travel together, even if there seem to be other plans for him.

Our call: STREAM IT. T・P BON It may seem like a simple kid’s show, but it’s much more nuanced than that. The first episode is an exciting start to what will undoubtedly be an exciting update to the older manga series, and we can’t wait to see what the anime adaptation has in store, especially with such a strong first episode.

Brittany Vincent (@MolotovCupcake) has covered video games and technology for over a decade for publications including G4, Popular Science, Playboy, Variety, IGN, GamesRadar, Polygon, Kotaku, Maxim, GameSpot and more. When she’s not writing or gaming, she collects retro consoles and technology.