User Reviews

What!? Just seven reviews (time writing my own) for this excellent sci-fi show!? Compared to many of todays anime, Captain Future and the adventures of his crew are superior in many aspects - excellent characters, very different and fantastic stories in a well composed universe, and still superb visuals. Based on the Captain Future pulp magazine stories of Mort Weisinger and Edmond Hamilton published from 1940 to 1944, Tomoharu Katsumata directed this fine anime. 53 episodes were produced and aired based on some of the stories of the pulp magazine. May rate is seven + one point for nostalgic reasons. If you never watched the show and you like to watch sci-fi anime, put this one pronto on your watchlist.

Note: I watched the German version back then (somewhere in the mid 80s or so), as far as I know there are also French, Italian and Japanese versions, sadly no English dubbed version is available to the day, but there is a Japanese edition available with English subtitles.

Recently someone lent me his collection of Captain Future tapes. Ever since I saw Phil Fuldner's clip I thought "I want to see that anime". The version I saw was the German version. A lot of countries seem to have their own soundtrack and dubbing for the anime. As far as I am concerned Captain Future is the best anime I have ever seen. For sure it's the best science fiction anime. What makes this anime so great is the solid story telling along with the great soundtrack. The soundtrack really adds a special feel to the anime and to the action scenes. It's a timeless soundtrack. And the Captain Future crew is a really special team. Every character is likable. There is a lot of stuff people call cult, but this anime is the real deal. Cult can't come any closer than this. If you ever get the chance to see it watch the German version. And if you don't know German then get off your lazy behind, leave your computer and start learning it to feel the Captain Future experience. This anime series screams for a DVD release. And with the technology of today the DVD's could be really special containing all the languages and all the soundtracks. It would be a dream come true for every Captain Future fan.

The Cartoon Captain Future was (at least) 20 years ahead of its time when it was first aired in the late 70 early 80. I watched the show on German TV around 1982-84. The action packed story along with a super OST made it my favorite cartoon making todays "fastfood-anime" look pretty poor.

I managed to find the show on 2 DVD collections on the Internet last year and I had a lot of fun watching Captain Future and his crew in action again after 20 years. And to my surprise it had not lost its "magic" like so many other things from the past...

I wonder why it has never been shown on Danish TV?

I had a old VHS tape of Cartoon Future and never gave it the time of day. However I was in the mood after several years to watch this Cartoon. OMG...I am so glued. Can anybody please tell me how to get the complete DVD Disc set in English? Is there a way.

I want more and more and now it has consumed me. This cartoon rocked and loved the storyline and Characters. I hope it comes out in English one day.

If anybody knows how to get a English Version or Dubbed in English, Please share the information.

The Whole cartoon was a wonderful surprise by the great characters and villains, I only had the VHS Tape version that had the 6 episodes I believe. The Graphics are so sketchy but great plot and storyline.

Well, I haven't read much of Edmond Hamilton's golden-age-of-scifi-novels, but if this show has managed to do one thing especially well, then it is to carry the pulpish "sense of wonder" into the present.

Toei Animation's 'Captain Future' series not only is remarkably true to the original, it also digs deep into the fantastic worlds of Hamilton in all their weird, epic beauty. The episodes are based on 13 novels, and the viewer gets dragged into a futuristic universe full of mysteries, space exploration, villainy and heroism - that's space opera at it's best.

Even if it's an older animé, Sir, it still checks out. It is well told and vividly illustrated (including artistic and unusual camera perspectives). An absolute must-see...!

I recommend the Japanese version with country-specific subtitles.

Well, what can I say? This series is just cult. When you are German, and you haven't at least heard of this series, then you must be dead or deaf, dumb and blind! In the beginning of the eighties at least every second child in West Germany spent its childhood in front of the TV-set watching this show (and after it "Ein Colt fuer alle Faelle" with Lee Mayors at 05.15 PM [I remember it as if it was yesterday!]). The show got most of its flair from the brilliant sound track which was done by Christian Bruhn.

DVD release for Germany is scheduled for October, 20th 2003. Make sure to get your copy in time. But there is only the german voice included. At the times when this brilliant anime was done, soundtrack and voice were on one track in japanese and could not be divided. Germany made one of the best soundtrack for this 80s movies....I can hardly wait to see it again.

this movie is truly cult and even the story is too heavy for a cartoon. Its pretty well made and beyond its time. I think too most important thing about this is its soundtrack. You must listen to it to be able to believe in it, it simply kicks ass. I got it on CD.

Captain Future, or rather "Capitaine Flam" was one of the First wave of Mangas to be broadcasted in France in the late seventies, along with "Goldorak" and "Albator". It was dubbed in French, and, now I've seen most of it again, I realise th e dubbing and translation are pretty poor, but at the time it didn't matter much. The scientific explanations, in general, although probably sound, were completely screwed-up in french. And why oh why rename the Comet "Cyberlab" ??? Based on Stories by Ed Hamilton, one of the greatest space-opera authors ever, Captain Future already stood out at the time of its release because of its pretty good writing standards. Each story was developed over four 25-minute episodes, with a few very nice cliffhangers at the end of episodes. Design is okay, character development is too, though, well, they very much suit japanese cultural patterns. The Captain's crass male chauvinism, especially, is barely bearable nowadays, as is the insistence of Joann in getting abducted by the baddies in every story, so Curtiiiis can come save her, but, well, those were the days...

As mentioned by other reviewers already, one of the series main assets is the incidental music, splendidly groovy and moody japanese jazz-rock, which gives a timeless feeling to the lot, Sad thing is, in the french dubbed version, the original score is drowned under the daft Jean-Jacques Debout title song (that guy is french singer Chantal Goya's husband, and he wrote most of her brain-dead children's songs) or its instrumental version, although sometimes you can still ear the original score poking in underneath. Bugger. Well, the title song is so corny it's actually cult as well in France...

The lot, that is 13 stories of each 4 episodes (we're talking about 22 hours), has been re-released on DVD in France. Sadly only in dubbed version, and well, the transfer is pretty cheap, but if you can get it as 7 DVD box set, it's not really an expensive one. Besides, you can watch all episodes of every story in a row without having to suffer those annoying titles in-between... or wait one week to know what happens next, the way we had to 20 years or so ago.

Of course, people who've seen it as kids will love seeing the lot again, but I think that , despite its shortcomings, the series could appeal to mainstream science fiction fans too... though purely french cartoon SF series "Il était une fois l'espace" is probably even better in the script department, and more suitable for european kids too !