Takarajima, or Treasure Island, is a 1978 anime adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel. The story follows Jim Hawkins, a thirteen year old (Whose design looks more like an 8 year old) who comes into possession of a treasure map, and the ensuing journey to find it. Interpersonal drama is the strong point of this series, with character growth taking a back seat: something which I don't mind so much in adventure stories. A great deal of focus is placed on Jim and John Silver's relationship, with Silver being a father figure to Jim at first, and Jim eventually growing to be more independent. At only 26 episodes long the show is unusually short for the era, which limits the time available to explore characters in depth. Indeed, director Osamu Dezaki's other TV anime tend to be far longer and some of the best examples of how to grow characters in all of the medium.
The pacing of Takarajima is immaculate after the beginning episodes, with tension being held just long enough to get one excited to watch the next episode. One disappointment is that Jim never draws (human) blood, this could have been a simple way to grow his character in a fairly large way as he realises the gravity of the situation that is unfolding. I say this having not read the original novel in many, many, years. I am not sure how faithful of an adaptation it is. What is apparent however, is that the anti-alcohol themes of the novel are mostly lost in the anime, with certain scenes removing alcohol as the cause of bad outcomes for no apparent reason, one instance even being detrimental to Silver's character. Takarajima, while generally a fun adventure story, does have plenty of dark moments. Many people die by the end of the show, and Dr Livesey's surgeries are depicted as torturous ordeals.
Production values, first, music. Pirates and jazz are an unexpected, yet beautiful combination realised by Takarajima. The soundtrack mainly consists of funky, jazzy, fusion tunes; fans of Masayoshi Takanaka would definitely enjoy it. Though at times it can be repetitive, not a single part of the OST misses the mark, I caught myself head bobbing perhaps inappropriately a few times, such as during a scene where Jim gets chased by pirates. The opening and closing themes to the show are very thematically appropriate, with the opening hyping one up for adventure and the ending being the calm closure.
Visually, Takarajima is very good. The only real nitpick I have are some minor yet not-so-infrequent colouring errors, mostly changing hair colours, although one particularly egregious close up shot had John Silver's distinctive blue eyes swapped for brown ones. The late 70s saw the emergence of Dezaki's distinctive style, and in Takarajima it really shows; there are lens flares, pans repeated three times, and postcard memories in abundance. As a historical firearm enthusiast I appreciated the accurate depiction of flintlock muskets and their limitations, with loading being depicted accurately, and a scene where one fails to fire due to the rain. There are also some nice first-person POV shots of weapons being aimed. Akio Sugino's character designs are as always very detailed, although Jim is different from most of the cast with a softer, almost chibi design which I am not a fan of, solely due to the fact that it makes him look more like a child than a teenager. To give credit where it's due, Jim's blue eyes and brown hair being shared by John Silver is a nice little reference to his role as Jim's father figure.
If you are a fan of the age old hunt for buried treasure
adventure story, Takarajima will not disappoint. There are no deep, hidden themes for youtubers to make a 6 hour video essay on it, but it excels at making a simple story fun which is what really matters.
My rating: 9/10
8/8/2024