Part Two Will Be Available on July 17, 2024 on Netflix
Time Patrol Bon is a fairly faithful look at various legends and unsolved mysteries from around the world. Whether that is concerning a moment of history, part of mythology or a missing person, just how Bon Namihira (Akihisa Wakayama and Griffin Burns in the dub) gets involved is because he’s seen things which can put his timeline in peril.
As a result, a young time lord is watching him and has recruited him into the agency she works for. They monitor anomalies that can disrupt history. In some ways, what’s presented is like early episodes of the Irwin Allen series, Time Tunnel. And for spicing it up for fans of Marvel’s Loki to enjoy, there are some shared aspects I liked.
Fujiko F. Fujio (the nom de plume of the writing team of Hiroshi Fujimoto and Motoo Abiko) created this manga back in 1978 and since then, it’s kept a good fan base. In this stylish pop art update, what’s presented has me wanting to seek the original to read!
Despite releasing this series back in May, I didn’t have time to watch it until my break. By default, my favourite pair of episodes include “Hyperspace Castaway” and “The Secret of the Pyramid.” The former deals with the strange disappearance of Ambrose Bierce, and I’m a sucker for any tale set during the time of Ancient Egypt.
What’s presented hints at a future Bon should seriously be concerned about. Although this time variance authority is only allowed to observe and not interfere, I’m sure someone will violate this rule!
Bon may not create self-fulfilling prophecies and paradoxes. That’s tough to do when considering agent Ream Stream (Atsumi Tanezaki and Erica Lindbeck) is with him, but they still muck a few things up. It’s funny to see, and as for whether they can be a successful pair of time travellers out to save people from being historical footnotes, I like the air of familiarity this brings. I’m rather intrigued about how close these two have become. When Bon is comfortable dressing in the same room as her, could there be more than just a casual relationship they got?
Even though she’s said she’s leaving the agency and doesn’t even consider saying let’s still hang out, I get the sense she wants distance, and that’s where the first half of the series leaves viewers at.
Overall, this anime has a lot of great educational and speculative fiction type of value to which I hope there may be cameos of some famous characters–I’m hoping for Mary Shelley or perhaps Sherlock Holmes. I haven’t looked at the manga, but after seeing this series in full, I’m feeling inclined to check out the comic just to see the differences. While this series looks relatively faithful to the source material, I’m sure there’s going to be something new added on top too!
4 Stars out of 5
Time Patrol Bon Series Trailer (Parts one and two)
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