First Human Giatrus

Giatrus (Japanese: ギャートルズ, Hepburn: Gyātoruzu) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shunji Sonoyama. It spawned two other manga, two anime television series, a television drama, and an anime film. This TV series marked the debut of Joe Hisaishi, composer of My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. The official English title is Gon, The Stone-Age Boy.^[1]

Giatrus
ギャートルズ (Gyātoruzu)
Genre	Gag
Manga
Written by	Shunji Sonoyama
Published by	Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha
Magazine	Weekly Manga Sunday
Original run	1965 – 1975
Manga
First Human Gon
Written by	Shunji Sonoyama
Illustrated by	Hideo Shinoda
Published by	Gakken
Magazine	Gakushū Magazine
Published	1966
Manga
Written by	Shunji Sonoyama
Published by	Shogakukan
Magazine	Gakunen Magazine
Published	1974
Anime television series
Directed by	Kenji Kodama
Music by	Hiroshi Kamayatsu Mamoru Fujisawa
Studio	A-Production Tokyo Movie
Original network	JNN (ABC, TBS) (until episode 26) ANN (ABC, NET) (episode 27 and after)
Original run	October 5, 1974 – March 27, 1976
Episodes	77
Anime film
Music by	Hiroshi Kamayatsu Joe Hisaishi
Studio	Tokyo Movie
Released	March 15, 1975
Runtime	14 minutes
Television drama
Back to the Giatrus Days
Written by	Hiroshi Shimokawa
Music by	Toshiyuki Watanabe
Original network	NHK BS-2
Original run	April 18, 1993
Episodes	1
Anime television series
First Human Gon
Directed by	Yutaka Kagawa
Produced by	Yuji Nunokawa Kyotaro Kimura Ken Suekawa Naoji Hōnokidani (Animation)
Written by	Yoshio Urasawa
Music by	Yusuke Honma
Studio	Studio Pierrot
Original network	NHK BS-2
Original run	April 3, 1996 – January 22, 1997
Episodes	39

Media

Manga

It was first published from 1965 to 1975 in Jitsugyo no Nihon Sha's Weekly Manga Sunday,^[2][3] and spawned two spin-off manga: the first, entitled First Human Gon (はじめ人間ゴン, Hajime Ningen Gon) and illustrated by Hideo Shinoda,^[4] was published in Gakken's Gakushū Magazine in 1966;^[5] the second, entitled First Human Giatrus (はじめ人間ギャートルズ, Hajime Ningen Gyatoruz), was published by Shogakukan's Gakunen Magazine in 1974.^[5]

Shunji Sonoyama won the 1976 Bungeishunjū Manga Award for his work on the manga series.^[6]

Anime series

The third manga was adapted by Tokyo Movie into a homonymous anime television series consisting in 77 episodes, which was broadcast on ABC between October 5, 1974, and March 27, 1976.^[7][8][9] Another anime was produced; this time Studio Pierrot adapted the second manga into a series directed by Yutaka Kagawa that originally ran from April 3, 1996, to January 22, 1997, in NHK-BS2.^[10]

Cast

First Human Giatrus

• Gon: Hiroko Maruyama
• Father: Kaneta Kimotsuki
• Mother: Keiko Hanagata
• Dotechin: Kazuya Tatekabe
• Piko-chan: Rihoko Yoshida

Source:^[9]

First Human Gon

• Gon: Ikue Ōtani
• Father: Kenichi Ogata
• Mather: Miyuki Ichijo
• Dotechin: Chafurin
• Piko-chan: Tomoko Kawakami
• Mammoth / Saber-tooth tiger: Kazuhiro Ōguro
• Shinigami: Kōji Ishii

Source:^[10]

Film

First Human Giatrus was adapted by Tokyo Movie into an anime film, which was released by Toho on March 15, 1975.^[11][12]

TV drama

The manga was adapted into a live-action Japanese television drama entitled Back to the Giatrus Days (バック・トゥ・ザ・ギャートルズ・デイズ, Bakku tou za Gyātoruzu Deizu). It was produced by Koji Matsuoka and starred Ryoko Takizawa, Katsuhisa Namase and Toshiya Sakai.^[13]

Plot

Gon is a boy living with his parents and his friend, a gorilla. He goes out hunting for mammoths on the plains and always loves his girlfriend.