In 2008, atomic warfare led to cataclysmic events that destroyed most of Earth's inhabitants and inhabitable land. Future Boy Conan and his grandpa survive alone on an island, fishing and doing somersaults in peace, until one day a Mysterious Girl who can Talk To Animals appears on the coast. Shortly thereafter, Bad People in Stupid Outfits show up to try to kidnap her, and Conan ends up embroiled in a conflict neither he nor we can comprehend.
This is much more of a kids' show than most of the old kids shows I've looked at thus far, with more whimsy and more dynamism. It doesn't look good, but it's totally watchable. The villains are super cartoony, and Conan feels like a bit like Miyazaki doing Goku, and, oh, there it is—this is Hayao Miyazak's directorial debut. Overall the episode fell flat for me. Besides a couple sentences of dialogue between gramps and the kidnappers, there was nothing even approaching sophistication. I didn't laugh once and I didn't care about the conflict. I did roll my eyes when Conan held his breath for five minutes while out-swimming a shark.
Recommend: No.