Janguru bukku: Shônen Môguri

This is by far the best anime from 1980s. Japanese are very creative when it comes to anime and manga, it's commendable how they worked on the story arks. The art, the visuals, music, everything is just perfect. The good old stories with morals being the centre point. No wonder moral values were important back in the good days. I like the Disney versions as well but this was my first Jungle Book, so this has a special place in my heart.

I have nothing to say because everything has already been said in other reviews. This is the best adaptation of Kipling, not Disney, not Soviet, not films have yet surpassed the Japanese version. This anime is serious, dramatic, harsh. The music is excellent. The main character is truthful, it is easy to empathize with him. The secondary characters are a significant advantage of this version of the jungle book. I even hope that the Japanese will agree with the Americans for a remake to improve the graphics, the anime style is just right for the jungle book, this anime has the potential to become even better than it already is. This is already the best version.

If you've like the Disney adaptations of Rudyard Kiplings works but wish they had delved deeper, this series is for you. It takes it to the next level, opening up a depth in the various characters that makes one wonder why this series in English has remained so rare and hard to find. Young Mowgli, adopted by the wolves and never knowing anything of himself save as a wolf, learns to live according to the Laws of the Jungle; struggling with the fact that he is also "a hateful human". A fact apparently backed up in the few humans he encounters. Yet are all humans mean and hateful? Mowgli is a human with a human heart that the animals often don't understand and he lives in peace with the Jungle according to its laws. He finds that his lack of claws and fangs and speed is more than made up for by his inventiveness and ingenuity as he rises to become one of the Jungle's greatest hunters and champions.

A wonderful tale of self-discovery, community, honour, duty, coming of age, and coming to terms with the darker sides of the Human Condition. A warning to parents of younger children: the show depicts fluffy animals being taken down in hunts, main characters getting hurt, and even the death of a beloved main character. But it is skillfully done. The intent is to gently teach young minds and not to shock or sensationalize/desensitize. While it does come out of a different time and culture that is very patriarchal and the series is most definitely "shonen" it is wonderful to see a female wolf as one of the pack's most promising hunters and a female wolf leading one of the packs encountered. I heartily recommend to both the young and the young-at-heart.

I never forgot about this version of The Jungle Book. I remember first seeing this at some point, when I was between being a toddler and a preteen. Looking and thinking back on/to this, I was wondering if this is another example of anime judging from the animation style and I'm right that it is. Didn't know what this drawing style was called at the time when I was little/younger and since it is anime, this is the first (if not only one among others) anime that I ever saw and to which I was exposed. The first VHS tape from the series "Mowgli Comes To The Jungle" is haplessly the only one out of it that I own. But I rented and seen some of the other episodes (I don't think I remember ever seeing the whole series). It's somewhat hard to believe that in less than 2 months, it will be 20 years since this show premiered. It would be great if copies of a DVD set were released right now to commemorate its 20th anniversary. I don't even know for sure if it's even aired on American t.v. at all, and if it has, then I missed it and it must be such a rare anime. It's more worthy of taking some airtime/space than some, certain stuff that's on now.

I can't say for sure which version of Mr. Kipling's story I like more, since I'm partial to both this and Disney's, but I'd agree that it is the far more superior of the two. Because this one delves even deeper into the world of the hero Mowgli and the animals. For those who haven't seen it, I'll give one explanation of what the message of this is: A lesson on how people and animals have to learn how to coexist on the same planet harmoniously. Anyone who's ever heard of (if not read) the author's original tale knows the basics of how Mowgli is taken into the home of a pack of wolves and getting adopted after becoming an orphan, and is also looked after by a kindly black panther named Bagheera. Mowgli grows into his preteens and has adjusted to the wild lifestyle, but then he eventually has to leave for the "man village" and join his own kind. I like how most of the animals treat him well as they try their best to avoid Shere Khan from getting his claws into him, on the way to keeping him safe and in one peace.

I won't give away anymore of the story, particularly this take, especially since it's been so long since I've seen it and most of the episodes I've seen I don't remember quite as well as the first (probably because I used to watch that one a lot, so that's the only, really familiar one to me). In fact, I saw "Mowgli Comes To The Jungle" for the very first time in over a decade last night/early morning on Veoh, but when I watch the other episodes on there, I'll get reacquainted with them. This is one version and anime that's not to be missed. Highly recommendable because of the story lines, which is perhaps mainly for those. It's really captivating, which is why I say that's what makes it such a great take.

It took some time to locate the original series on IMDb. I watched few episodes recently in Hindi and wanted to get the whole series but did not know what was the original version. Then I searched with director's name viz Fumio Karakoa and found this and verified with run time. I loved the series in school days around year 1995 when it was showed dubbed in Hindi on Doordarshan at morning hours on every Sunday. With "Sindbad the Sailor" this was a favorite watch on Sunday mornings. I have read the text by Rudyard Kipling as well but I really enjoyed this version more. With the opening sound track "Jungle Jungle baat chali hai pata chala hai, chaddi pahan ke phool khila hai" written by Gulzar this show has been one of the most popular among kids. With advent of Cartoon Network we have got access to other popular cartoon series in India but for me this series holds a special place.