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 ...

series created by

Masashi Tanaka Masashi Tanaka (田中政志, born June 10, 1962) is a Japanese manga artist best known for creating ''Gon (manga), Gon'', a silent manga starring a miniature dinosaur. Biography Masashi Tanaka was born in Gōtsu, Shimane. He graduated from th ...

. The series follows the adventures of the titular dinosaur character. The manga has spawned multiple adaptations, including video games and an anime series.

Premise

''Gon'' is about a small dinosaur, named Gon, and his adventures in the wilderness. The manga makes use of no dialogue or sound effects and follows an episodic format. Each episode typically follows Gon trying to find something he wants (usually food, sleep, or solitude) and becoming entangled in the lives of other creatures in the surrounding area, with his encounters ranging from friendly to violent. The manga has very little continuity between episodes.

Adaptations

Video games

The first video game adaptation of the manga was ''Gon'', a platforming game on the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

. Another platformer, '' Gon: Baku Baku Baku Baku Adventure'', was developed for the

Nintendo 3DS The is a foldable dual-screen handheld game console produced by Nintendo. Announced in March 2010 as the successor to the Nintendo DS, the console was released originally on February 26, 2011 and went through various revisions in its lifetime, ...

and released in Japan on June 14, 2012, and later in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Namco Bandai Games is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

. Gon is also a licensed playable character appearing in the 1997 fighting game ''

Tekken 3 is a 1997 fighting game developed and published by Namco. It is the third installment in the ''Tekken'' series and the first game built on the Namco System 12 arcade game, arcade hardware. The game takes place twenty years after ''Tekken 2'' (1 ...

''.

Anime

An animated television series co-produced by

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

and Korean publisher

Daewon Media Daewon Media (), formerly Daiwon C&A Holdings, is a South Korean company specializing in character and animation-related business. Founded in 1973, Daewon's subsidiaries include Daewon C.I., Haksan Publishing, and Daewon Broadcasting; it is in ...

aired in Japan from April 2, 2012, to March 25, 2013. It features

Motoko Kumai is a Japanese voice actress employed by 81 Produce. She played Takao Kinomiya/Tyson Granger in ''Beyblade'' and Syaoran Li in ''Cardcaptor Sakura''. From December 21, 2006 to October 2007, she had a hiatus from her career due to an illness requ ...

as the voice of Gon. The anime was added to

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

in 2016.

Reception

''Gon'' won multiple awards in 1998, including the Excellence Award in the Manga division at the second

Japan Media Arts Festival The Japan Media Arts Festival was an annual festival held since 1997 by Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs. The festival begins with an open competition and culminates with the awarding of several prizes and an exhibition. Based on judging by ...

in 1998, the Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of Foreign Material and Best Humor Publication at the

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

, and the award for Best French Edition of Foreign Material at the 1998 Manga Festival in France. The manga has been praised for its lack of dialogue or onomatopoeic words, which allows it to be universally understood and appreciated regardless of the reader's background.

References

External links

Sprite Animation Studios Press Release
* {{Franchises owned by Bandai Namco Holdings 1991 manga 2012 anime television series debuts CMX (comics) titles Dinosaurs in anime and manga Kodansha manga Manga series Paradox Press titles Seinen manga TV Tokyo original programming Comics set in prehistory Pantomime comics Animated television series about animals