This was one of my cartoons that I've grown up with in my childhood. Being that it's anime, I believe it deserves more attention because it kinda paved the way for future anime titles. I'm not saying it's the first anime ever, but it's certainly had an influence on future anime titles such as people like Osamu Sekita, who'd later go on to work on Mobile Suit Gundam and Beyblade.
Season 1 starts out with Chris and Joy cleaning out the Professor's attic and discover Superbook. They take it to Chris' room to open it and then it comes to life and takes them on their first adventure, accompanied by their robot Gizmo.
My favorite episode of them all is the Apostle Paul, and a couple Jesus episodes.
Season 2 shows an older version of Chris and Joy, accompanied by Uriah (Chris' cousin). In the beginning of the season, Chris' Uncle leaves the gang with a life-size version of Gizmo. After he leaves, Chris + Joy and everyone were having lots of fun (I just quoted the lyrics to the theme song), until Joy accidentally bumps into Chris and Uri, causing Superbook to fall off the shelf and onto the computer, causing it to become Computerized. In the process, Chris' dog Ruffles is sucked into the computer, and it's up to the kids and Gizmo to find Ruffles. So Uri and Gizmo go after her, while Chris and Joy stay behind for a huge majority of the season, monitoring them. (I say majority because in episode 25 and 26, they're shown with Uri and Gizmo in the computerized Superbook.)
Overall, I've enjoyed the series and have had fond memories of the cartoon and have continued to watch it to this day. While the dubs were on and off(good or bad), it's what made the series enjoyable.
Now here's my complaint on the new CGI Superbook that's being developed.
After seeing the first episode, here's my personal list of problems: -In the original Superbook, Chris' dad (Fred) is a Professor of Archaelogoy. But in the new one, he's shown to be an tech. inventor and scientists. And the original Professor has said he'd rather be computer ignorant, 'than a slave to a machine.' -The names: Christopher's last name in the original is 'Peeper.' But in the new CGI Superbook, his last name is 'Quantim.' They even had the balls to change Joy's last name, and the Professor's name as a whole. -The Character designs: While I thought the drawings weren't too bad(because I've heard the character designer of TT/The Batman is the designer), I think they made sure they look nothing like the original characters. For instance, in the original Superbook, Joy's blonde. But in the new one, this 'Joy' is brown-haired. It's like they're trying to sabotage the art that Superbook was based on. -In the new CGI Superbook, when David is anointed with oil, light is shown emitting from all over his body, which we don't see in the Bible, nor in the original Superbook. And later we see 'Chris Quantim' emitting light. It's like they're trying to teach kids 'believe in God and you'll emit light.' :-/
This is just a few. So far, this CGI series isn't off to a good start. Which is the direct reason why I started creating my own series called, Trouble Shooters. That's a crossover spin off between Superbook and Flying, featuring the original Christopher Peeper, Joy, Gizmo, etc. I can't give away any plot details, nor put too much focus on that, because of this review. If you want to learn more about that, please email me.
Overall 7/10 Memorable, enjoyable and delightful series.
