Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki

In 1888, Jules Verne published his only novel for children, Deux ans de vacances (Two Years' Vacation). It tells the story of 15 schoolboys from Auckland, New Zealand, who are cast adrift in an ocean-going sailing yacht and end up stranded on a desert island for two years. There, they face many adventures and must work together to survive before they are rescued. It had already been used for multiple movies and an anime before Nippon Animation produced its version in 1987, the TV special Hitomi no Naka no Shounen: 15 Shounen Hyouryuuki (The Boy in My Eye: 15 Boys Adrift). An English-dubbed version was released in 1991 under the title The Story of Fifteen Boys.

The anime sticks pretty closely to the plot of the novel. Fifteen boys from the Chairman Boarding School in Auckland, New Zealand, are spending the night on a sailing yacht that will take them on a two-week vacation. Someone unties the mooring line, and the yacht drifts out to sea, with no captain or crew on board. After getting caught in a storm, the yacht runs aground on a desert island.

The boys must organize themselves functionally, as builders, hunters, cooks, log keepers, etc., in order to survive. There's a great deal of squabbling, particularly as food runs short, but they're able to build adequate shelter, forage for fish, birds, and edible wild plants, and maintain social order. After a year, they find another castaway, an adult woman who has escaped from mutineers. The boys must now overcome a gang of violent adults who are intent on covering up all evidence of their crimes. With ingenious tactics seemingly copied by the later Home Alone, the boys defeat the villains, just in time to be rescued.

Except for the lead hunter, Donovan, and the youngest castaway, Jacques, none of the boys get enough screen time or dialog to make a distinct impression, so they are characterized with a few character traits. Gordon always dresses in his school uniform, complete with tie. Briant, Jacques older brother, is the peacemaker. Dole cries a lot, until he's given responsibility for keeping a rhea that they find. (The rhea is a clue that the boys are stranded off the coast of South America.) Wilcox and Web are always squabbling. Costar is fat and always hungry. I had a hard time telling most of them apart, even with a montage that provides their names and assigned roles early in the show.

The cast is very large - 15 boys plus Kate, anxious parents, and villainous mutineers - and includes many names that should be familiar to readers of this blog.

• Aoki Kazuyo (Baxter) played Huckleberry Finn in Tom Sawyer no Bouken, Hanae in Maison Ikkoku, and Gouda Yuriko (the protagonist's mother) in Ore Monogatari.
• Ikura Kazue (Briant) played Makimura Kaori in City Hunter, Toraou in Mashin Eiyuuden Wataru, Natsume Ryuunosuke in the All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku properties, Leni Milchstrasse in Sakura Wars, and Tootles in Peter Pan no Bouken. She also appeared in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, an Orphan release.
• Nozawa Masako (Costar) is a legend. She played the leads in 30000 Miles Under the Sea, The Adventures of Gamba, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry no Bouken, Billy Inu nan demo Shoukai, and Hey! Bumboo. She was Enma-kun in the original Dororon Enma-kun, Son Goku in the original Dragonball, and Kitarou in the original 1968 and 1971 versions of GeGeGe no Kitarou as well as Hakaba Kitarou. Even though her first role was in 1965, she is still active, appearing as Obaba in Ping Pong the Animation, Madame Curie in Marie & Gali, and of course, Medama Oyaji in the current version of GeGeGe no Kitarou. She won a lifetime achievement award in 1997. She played the title role in Manxmouse, an Orphan release.
• Utsumi Kenji (Cross) is best known for his roles as Roah in Fist of the North Star, Kaioh in Fist of the North Star 2, and Senbei Norimaki in the Dr. Slump and Arale-chan franchise. He was also the official dub-over artist for Steve McQueen, Sammy Davis, Jr., Victor Mature, and Robert Shaw.
• Takano Urara (Donovan) played Mowgli in Jungle Book Shonen Mowgli, Tiger in Saber Marionette, and Maria Tachibana in Sakura Wars. She also voiced Sister Yumiko in Sei Michaela Gakuen Hyouryuuki, Sushi Neko in Let's Nupu Nupu, and Ken in Next Senki Ehrgeiz, all Orphan releases.
• Fujita Toshiko (Gordon) played the title role in Ikkyu-san, Rui in Cat's Eye, and Yawara's mother in Yawara! She played Sharaku in Akuma Tou no Prince: Mitsume ga Tooru, Cyborg 1019 in Oz, and Takao, Usugumo's friendly rival, in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, all Orphan releases.
• Namikama Daisuke (Jacques) played Takeru in the Freedom OVAs, Tokunaga in the just-completed Gurazeni, Tooru in Haikyuu!!, Italy in the Hetalia franchise, Hisoka in Hunter x Hunter (2011), and my personal favorite, the demon-summoning detective Akutabe in the Yondemasu yo, Azazel-san franchise. He also appeared in the DAYS OVAs, Sangokushi 2, and Cosprayers, all Orphan releases.
• Hazama Michio (Jacques's father) began his career in 1963 with Astro Boy. He has appeared in numerous anime, including his role as Senator Dan Foster in Oishinbo: Japan-America Rice Wars, an Orphan release. His most recent role was in Onihei.
• Kamamura Maria (Kate) played Melmo in Fushigi no Melmo, Eluza in Gall Force, Lachesis in Five Star Stories, Tiger Lily in Peter Pan no Bouken, as well as the title roles in Fujiko Fumio A no Mumako and Cinderella Monogatari, Interpreter in Compiler, Gracia in Slayers, and Shirin in Haruka Naru Toki de Naka de 1/2/3.
• Shirakawa Sumiko (Service) played Andre in Dog of Flanders, Sidney in Tom Sawyer no Bouken, and Gino in Pinnochio.
• Sakimoto Chika (Garnett) starred as Mei in My Neighbor Totoro, Campanella in Night on the Galactic Railway, the title role in Tsuruhime, Nonoko in Tobira wo Akete, Tendonman in the Soreike! Anpanman franchise, and Agumon in the Digimon franchise. She appeared as Yasuda Yumiki in Nine and as Suzume's erstwhile love interest, Katagiri-kun, in Stop!! Hibari-kun!, both Orphan releases.
• Maruyama Hiroko (Moko) played Peter in Alps no Shoujo Heidi, Mokku in Kashi no Ki Mokku, Kenta's mother in My Neighbor Totoro, and Baby Panda in Panda! Gopanda, as well as the title role in Robotan.
• Kenichi Ogata (Rock the mutineer) played the put-upon father in Gosenzosama Banbanzai! and Maroko, as well as Smee in Peter Pan no Bouken and, most recently, Gran Torino in Boku no Hero Academia. He played the Lord of Kaga and narrator in Oedo ga Nemurenai!, the governor in Akuemon, the crooked casino boss in Okane ga Nai!, the Hong Kong chef in Yuukan Club, Jiro's father in Karuizawa Syndrome, and the ruthless rival cyborg in Kigyou Senshi Yamazaki: Long Distance Call, all Orphan releases. However, he's best known to me as the voice of Ranma 1/2's Sataome Gemna, whose alter ego - the grumpy panda - is my avatar on most anime forums.
• Hamura Kyouko (Webb) played John in Peter Pan no Bouken and appeared in Starship Troopers, an Orphan release.
• Maruo Tomiko/Chico (Wilcox) played Ohana in Rail of the Star and appeared in Hi-Speed Jecy and What's Michael OVA 2, both Orphan release.
• Mita Yuko (Jenkins) played the title role in Akuma-kun, Neko Musume in Gegege no Kitarou (1985), Akemi in Maison Ikkoku, Shinza Hattori in Ninja Hattori-kun, Charlotte in One Piece, title role in Ultra B, and Benten in Urusei Yatsura.

The director, Kuroda Yoshio, also helmed Peter Pan no Bouken (a common theme in the credits), Flone/Swiss Family Robinson, and other Nippon Animation projects.  Hittori Katsuhisa, who wrote the musical score, also composed the music for the Crest of the Stars/Banner of the Stars series, Argentosama, Infinite Ryvius, and Tezuka Osamu's Tales of the Old Testament.

Iri found the VHS tape, translated, and did preliminary timing. ninjacloud fine timed. I edited and typeset. BeeBee, Nemesis, and Topper3000 all QCed. Our intrepid raw hunter did an uncompressed rip on his state-of-2005-art All-in-Wonder setup and encoded the result. It looks pretty good for a VHS source.

So if you're in the mood for some shipwreck adventure a la Swiss Family Robinson (and not, thank goodness, a la Lord of the Flies), you'll find 15 Boys Adrift provides just the right balance of comedy and G-rated thrills. You can get the show from the usual torrent site or from IRC bot Orphan|Arutha in channels #nibl or #new on irc.rizon.net.