is a Japanese

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

written and illustrated by Shunji Sonoyama. It spawned two other manga, two

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series, a

television drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

, and an anime

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

. This TV series marked the debut of Joe Hisaishi, composer of '' My Neighbor Totoro'' and '' Spirited Away''. The official English title is Gon, The Stone-Age Boy.

Media

Manga

It was first published from 1965 to 1975 in

Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha is a Japanese publishing company founded on June 10, 1897. Magazines Monthly *''Body+'' *''Comic Candoll'' *''GarrRV'' *''Garuru'' *''Misty'' *''Monthly Bijutsu'' *''Monthly J-novel'' *''Waggle'' Quarterly *''Kabuka Yohō'' *''NAIL VENUS'' Def ...

's '' Weekly Manga Sunday'', and spawned two spin-off manga: the first, entitled and illustrated by Hideo Shinoda, was published in

Gakken is a Japanese publishing company founded in 1947 by Hideto Furuoka, which also produces educational toys. Their annual sales are reported at ¥ 90 billion ($789 million US). Gakken publishes educational books and magazines and produces othe ...

's ''Gakushū Magazine'' in 1966; the second, entitled , was published by

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

's ''Gakunen Magazine'' in 1974. Shunji Sonoyama won the 1976 Bungeishunjū Manga Award for his work on the manga series.

Anime series

The third manga was adapted by Tokyo Movie into a homonymous

television series consisting in 77 episodes, which was broadcast on ABC between October 5, 1974, and March 27, 1976. Another anime was produced; this time Studio Pierrot adapted the second manga into a series directed by Yutaka Kagawa that originally ran from April 3, 1996, to January 22, 1997, in NHK-BS2.

Cast

;''First Human Giatrus'' *Gon: Hiroko Maruyama *Father: Kaneta Kimotsuki *Mother: Keiko Hanagata *Dotechin: Kazuya Tatekabe *Piko-chan: Rihoko Yoshida Source: ;''First Human Gon'' *Gon: Ikue Ōtani *Father: Kenichi Ogata *Mather: Miyuki Ichijo *Dotechin:

Chafurin , better known by his stage name is a Japanese actor and narrator who is affiliated with Office Osawa. He graduated from Toyo University, and he often plays middle-aged or older characters in anime. Filmography Television Original net animati ...

*Piko-chan: Tomoko Kawakami *

Mammoth A mammoth is any species of the extinct elephantid genus ''Mammuthus.'' They lived from the late Miocene epoch (from around 6.2 million years ago) into the Holocene until about 4,000 years ago, with mammoth species at various times inhabi ...

/ Saber-tooth tiger: Kazuhiro Ōguro *

Shinigami () are that invite humans toward death in certain aspects of Shinto, Japanese religion and Culture of Japan, culture. have been described as monsters, helpers, and creatures of darkness. are used for tales and religions in Japanese culture. ...

: Kōji Ishii Source:

Film

''First Human Giatrus'' was adapted by Tokyo Movie into an anime film, which was released by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

on March 15, 1975.

TV drama

The manga was adapted into a live-action

Japanese television drama , also called or J-drama, are television programs that are a staple of Television in Japan, Japanese television and are broadcast daily. Format All major Television networks, TV networks in Japan produce a variety of Drama (genre), drama serie ...

entitled . It was produced by Koji Matsuoka and starred Ryoko Takizawa, Katsuhisa Namase and Toshiya Sakai.

Plot

Gon is a boy living with his parents and his friend, a gorilla. He goes out hunting for mammoths on the plains and always loves his girlfriend.

References

External links

* * * * 1965 manga 1966 manga 1974 anime television series debuts 1974 manga 1976 Japanese television series endings 1996 anime television series debuts 1997 Japanese television series endings Animated films based on manga Anime series based on manga Comedy anime and manga Comics set in the Stone Age Fictional prehistoric characters Japanese animated films 1970s Japanese-language films Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha manga Manga adapted into films NHK original programming Pierrot (company) Shogakukan franchises Shogakukan manga TMS Entertainment TBS Television (Japan) original programming 1975 films Asahi Broadcasting Corporation original programming TV Asahi original programming {{Anime-tv-series-stub