====================================================================== = Superbook = ====================================================================== Introduction ====================================================================== 'Superbook', also known as , is an anime television series from the early 1980s, initially produced at Tatsunoko Productions in Japan in conjunction with the Christian Broadcasting Network in the United States and more recently solely produced by CBN for global distribution and broadcast. The series chronicled the events of the Bible's Old and New Testaments in its 52-episode run. The first 26 episodes aired from October 1, 1981 to March 25, 1982. The series returned as with 26 episodes to air from April 4, 1983 to September 26, 1983. Between both series in the first run was the companion series 'The Flying House'. The Christian Broadcasting Network is producing a new Superbook series and has released 5 seasons. CBN is distributing the first, second and third seasons for free on their Superbook Kid's Website. Original ========== The first series ('Anime Oyako Gekijo') began at the home of a young boy named Christopher "Chris" Peepers (Sho Asuka in Japanese) who discovers the ancient bible named Superbook (Time/Space Travel Book) that book can speaks and sends him, his friend Joyeux "Joy" Quantum (Azusa Yamato), and his clockwork toy figure namely Gizmo the Crusader Robot (Zenmaijikake) back in time to the early events of the Old Testament. Somehow, Gizmo transforms the toy into a real-life robot that can walk and talk for the duration of the adventure, although he still needs to be wound up regularly. In the first episode, Chris and Joy were cleaning the attic for Chris's father, a somewhat eccentric college professor, when they noticed an old book glowing. The children tried to open the book, but were unable to open it, no matter how hard they pulled. The book promptly opened on its own, shining a blinding light around Chris's bedroom, and started to speak before whisking the children and Gizmo back in time to the Garden of Eden to experience the story of Adam and Eve. In 'Superbook II' ('Pasokon Travel Tanteidan'), which took place two years after the first series, the book fell onto a computer keyboard, giving anybody the ability to see into the past from Christopher's home via the monitor. Ruffles, his poodle, has managed to get lost in time, which prompted Gizmo and Christopher's little brother (rewritten as his cousin in the English dub) named Uriah "Uri" Peepers (Yuu Asuka in Japanese) to search for her. Chris and Joy kept watch and control of the computer from the present. The older children also had a hard time trying to prevent what happened a secret from Chris's parents. In this series, Gizmo appeared as a fully fledged functioning robot in the present day rather than as a toy in the second series but still needed to be wound up regularly. Gizmo also has a built-in computer keyboard and a monitor in his chest for Gizmo and Uri to stay in contact with Chris and Joy in the present day as well as transporting to other places in time or returning to the present. The first series of 'Superbook' featured stories chiefly from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), although a few episodes dealt with the life and ministry of Jesus Christ and the final episode was about the conversion of Paul of Tarsus. The episodes in the first series are chiefly unique stories, with no overarching "plot" aside from Chris and Joy learning life lessons from their travels in the Superbook. However, some condensation or editing of stories was necessary to fit them into half-hour episodes and make them suitable for young viewers. Also, some additional edits were necessary for the English versions to make the episodes conform to American broadcast standards. The episodes in Season Two focused solely on Old Testament stories. Season Two covered some stories featured in Season One (for example, the stories of Abraham, Joseph and King David) in more detail, while also covering some stories not included in the first series (i.e. the fall of Sodom and Gomorrah). In Season Two, the overarching plot concern was Uri and Gizmo's quest to find the missing Ruffles. Likewise 'The Flying House,' which originally aired in Japan between the two 'Superbook' series, was a more in-depth look at the life of Jesus and other events from the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). Additionally, unlike season 1 (and by extension the aforementioned Flying House series), the interaction between the modern day characters and the Biblical characters in season 2 is minimal; each episode is mostly a straightforward adaptation of the Biblical stories shown, occurring while Uri and Gizmo are searching for Ruffles. Reboot ======== Set in the 23rd century AD, a boy named Chris, who always has problems, travels with his friends Joy and Gizmo who travel with Superbook to the Biblical times from the Old Testament and New Testament. Original series ================= The main cast of the original series includes: * Christopher "Chris" Quantum (Sho Asuka) - The main hero of the series the son of Professor Quantum and the owner of Gizmo, Chris is a lazy type of boy who doesn't like school and goes to sometimes ridiculous extremes to get out of doing housework or homework. * Joy Pepper (Azusa Yamato) - Christopher's next door neighbor and best friend. * Uriah "Uri" Peeper (Yuu Asuka) - Chris's cousin, the new owner of Gizmo, and the son of Fred's younger brother inventor Kenneth "Ken" Peepers. * Professor Frederick "Fred" Peeper (Professor Asuka) - Christopher's father. An eccentric and absent-minded scientist. * Gizmo the Crusading Robot (Zenmaijikake) - The name of two characters depending on the season. In Season one, he is an advanced toy figure belonging to Chris that can become a real life robot. Then in season two, Gizmo became a real life sized robot built by Uri's father. * Ruffles (Kikyomu) - Chris and Uri's small Yorkshire Terrier poodle. * Superbook - An ancient Bible that can talk and has the powers to send Chris, Joy, and Gizmo back to the Old Testament era. New series ============ The main cast of the reboot series includes: * Christopher "Chris" Quantum (voiced by Samuel Vincent) - an awesome skateboarder, video gamer, and lead guitarist in a garage band. He uncovers the secrets of Superbook and discovers through a mysterious portal to the past. * Joyeux "Joy" Pepper (voiced by Shannon Chan-Kent) - the next-door neighbor and classmate of Chris Quantum. She is outgoing, smart, athletic and usually a bit more adventurous than Chris. * Gizmo (voiced by Cathy Weseluck) - created by Professor Quantum to protect both Chris and Joy, but they end up protecting him instead. He has the latest upgrades which makes him incredibly useful on the adventures through time. * Superbook (voiced by Colin Murdock) - the device that takes Chris, Joy, and Gizmo through a portal to the biblical times where the children encounter stories from the Old and New Testaments. * Professor Crispin Quantum (voiced by Jan Rabson) - a brilliant scientist and inventor. He, almost always is seen wearing a lab coat. Father of Chris and inventor of the robot, Gizmo. * Phoebe Quantum (voiced by Nicole Oliver) - she is the mother of Chris who reads voraciously and enjoys a good comedy film. Series 1 (1981–82) ==================== NOTE: The official English dub episode title is listed first, followed by a translation of the Japanese title, Japanese titles in Romaji, and, if necessary, a note about the characters and/or events portrayed in the episode. {{Episode table |background = #5998F1 |overall = 1 |series = 1 |title = 15 |aux1 = 10 |aux1T = Scripture reference(s) |director = 14 |writer = 12 |airdate = 5 |episodes = }} Series 2 (1983) ================= {{Episode table |background = #0D6176 |overall = 1 |series = 1 |title = 15 |aux1 = 10 |aux1T = Scripture reference(s) |director = 14 |writer = 12 |airdate = 5 |episodes = }} Series 1 (2011–13) ==================== {{Episode table|background=#042459|overall=1|series=1|title=28|aux1=20|aux1T=Scripture reference(s)|director=27|writer=27|airdate=20|episodes= }} Series 2 (2013–14) ==================== {{Episode table|background=#871414|overall=1|series=1|title=28|aux1=20|aux1T=Scripture reference(s)|director=27|writer=27|airdate=20|episodes= }} Series 3 (2014–17) ==================== {{Episode table|background=#FFD700|overall=1|series=1|title=28|aux1=20|aux1T=Scripture reference(s)|director=27|writer=27|airdate=20|episodes= }} Series 4 (2017–19) ==================== {{Episode table|background=#006400|overall=1|series=1|title=28|aux1=20|aux1T=Scripture reference(s)|director=27|writer=27|airdate=20|episodes= }} Series 5 (2019–present) ========================= {{Episode table|background=#4B0082|overall=1|series=1|title=28|aux1=20|aux1T=Scripture Reference(s)|director=27|writer=27|airdate=20|episodes= }} Explorer (DVD release) ======================== In 2016, Superbook began releasing DVDs which contained two previously released episodes per DVD. There are also special features on each DVD, such as how to draw a character in the Superbook artwork style, music videos, and/or informational videos explaining where the events of the stories may have taken place or how they relate to Jesus Christ. VHS/DVD releases ====================================================================== Superbook Series I and Series II were released on various VHS volumes by Tyndale Entertainment. The entire series was available over 26 VHS Volumes. Superbook was released for the first time on DVD late 2005 to early 2006. The three DVD volumes features 4 episodes each from Series I. Episode 6 of the new 3D animated Superbook series was the first to be released on DVD in 2009. Episode 1 of the new Superbook series was released in November 2010 on DVD. New Superbook episodes are of CBN's Superbook DVD Club. See also ====================================================================== * Other Christian-themed Japanese animated series: ** 'In the Beginning: The Bible Stories' ** 'The Flying House' * Christian-themed Western animated series: ** 'The Greatest Adventure: Stories from the Bible' External links ====================================================================== * [http://www.cbn.com/kids/superbook The Original Superbook Anime Official Website] * License ========= All content on Gopherpedia comes from Wikipedia, and is licensed under CC-BY-SA License URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ Original Article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbook .