Bosco Adventure


Bosco Adventure is an anime television series produced by Nippon Animation, loosely inspired by the book series Storie del Bosco of the Italian writer Tony Wolf, and other books of this author. The series was popular in Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and was shown in many European countries, America, and other parts of world like Arab World, Cameroon, Israel and South Korea. It was a big success in France, Italy and Japan, but not famous and was not commercialized in the United Kingdom or United States since they were never released in English. The Japanese DVDs were released in July 2003 and the fully remastered Blu-ray discs in July 2017.

Plot

The story is about the young elvish Princess Apricot whose mission is to return to her homecountry of Fountain land before the total solar eclipse. Her homecountry is under the military occupation of forces loyal to a monster called Scorpion. If Apricot manages to sit on a throne before the eclipse, she will release a great water power that will destroy the occupying forces.
To prevent that from happening, she has been kidnapped by a mysterious cloaked man called Hoodman, and his, rather clumsy, aides: Jack and Franz. Their mission is to keep Princess Apricot away from her home land until the eclipse. In the first episode, she escapes from the villains by sending a message with her trusty mechanical bird, Speak. The Princess's urgent call for help is accidentally heard by inhabitants of Bosco Forest: a brave and adventurous Frog, intelligent and ingenious inventor Tutty, and cowardly, but kind and warm-hearted Otter. They save her from the villains, and the princess becomes a part of Bosco crew.
The guys decide to help Apricot finding her way back home, before it is too late. On their way to Fountain land they get into myriad of adventures, where they prove their desire and ability to help and protect those who are in need, and where their own relationships between each other flourish and develop into strong friendship and love.

Characters

Allies

Main characters

;Princess Apricot: Voiced by Yuko Minaguchi
;Frog: Voiced by Shigeru Nakahara
;Tutty: Voiced by Hiroya Ishimaru
;Otter: Voiced by Koichi Yamadera

Minor characters

;Speak: Voiced by Hiroko Fukujun
;Ender: Voiced by Kôhei Miyauchi
;Owl: Voiced by Kôhei Miyauchi
;Raby: Voiced by Naoko Watanabe
;Hedgy: Voiced by Hiroko Emori
;Crow: Voiced by Masaharu Satō
;Jenny: Voiced by Miki Itou
;Araiguma: Voiced by Chieko Honda
;Kasasagi: Voiced by Kumiko Takizawa
;Giant: Voiced by Daisuke Gōri
;Mother Dragon: Voiced by Asami Mukaidono
;Baby Dragon: Voiced by Naoko Watanabe
;Leon: Voiced by Takeshi Aono
;Pansa: Voiced by Ritsuo Sawa
;Unicorn: Voiced by Hiromi Tsuru

Enemies

Main characters

;Hoodman: Voiced by Banjo Ginga
;Jack: Voiced by Sanji Hase
;Franz: Voiced by Kenichi Ogata
;Damia: Voiced by Rihoko Yoshida
;Koumori : Voiced by Hiroshi Ōtake
;Scorpion: Voiced by Hidekatsu Shibata
;Oja: Voiced by Seizō Katō

Music

Background music in Bosco Adventure varies from colorful and cheerful, to moody, nostalgic and sentimental, with typical Japanese sounds. It has variety of cues, for every situation and place which crew visits. Several cues repeat throughout the episodes, depending on the situation. Songs that were released on bonus disc as a part of DVD are: "Tokimeki wa Forever", "Hareta hi nimo ai wo kudasai", "Kara Kara Makkura" and "Bosco Adventure".

Releases outside Japan

Arab World: As "سفينة الأصدقاء" it was dubbed in the early 90s by Kuwaiti dubbing center called Funoon Centre. It was a huge success and played by the TV channels in CCG.Bulgaria: As "Приключенията на Боско" the show aired from end of May/start of June to December 8, 1991, on BNT.Cameroon, Egypt, France: As "Les aventures du Bosco", it aired in Cameroon on CRTV in 1992, in Egypt on Egyptian Channel 3 in early 1990s, and in France on La Cinq in 1990. In Egypt it wasn't dubbed in Arabic, as only the French dub aired on Egyptian Channel 3 in the early 1990s, when there was a partnership between the Egyptian networks and the French network.Canada: As "La Forêt Magique", it aired in the early 1990s on TVA, a French-language network based in Montreal, PQ.Estonia: As "Bosco Seiklused" in 1996.Hungary: As "A Bosco léghajó kalandjai", it was shown on TV channel Msat and released on VHS by Tower Video with two episodes/volume.Israel: As "חבורת הצב המעופף", it was shown on the Israeli Channel 1.Italy: As "La principessa dai capelli blu", it was transmitted on Italia 1 in 1988.Poland: As "Przygody Bosco" on Top Canal in 1991, and Polish-dubbed version on TVN in 1997.Russia, Latvia: As "Приключения Боско". In Russia, only last ten episodes were shown on RTR in 1992. In Latvia, the same Russian-dubbed version was twice aired by KS Video channel in 1993 and 1994.South Korea: As "날아라 거북선" on KBS in 1987.Spain, Mexico, Chile: "Las aventuras de la nave Bosco"Thailand: As "บอสโก ป่ามหัศจรรย์", it was shown on 7 Channel in 1991.Serbia : As "Плава принцеза", it was shown on TV Novi Sad in 1991. Overall, sixteen episodes were shown, first twelve and the last four.