Superbook (1981 TV series)

Superbook
	Cover of the first DVD volume
アニメ親子劇場; (Anime Oyako Gekijō)
Genre	Christian;
Anime television series
Directed by	Masakazu Higuchi
Produced by	Kenji Yoshida, Akira Inoue, Hyota Ezu
Written by	Akiyoshi Sakai
Music by	Masahito Maruyama
Studio	Tatsunoko Production
Licensed by	NA: Christian Broadcasting Network;
Original network	TV Tokyo (Japan); Syndication (United States)
Original run	October 1, 1981 – March 25, 1982
Episodes	26
Anime television series
Superbook II: In Search for Ruffles and Return to the 20th Century; パソコントラベル探偵団; (Pasokon toraberu tantei-dan)
Directed by	Masakazu Higuchi
Produced by	Kenji Yoshida
Written by	Masakazu Higuchi, Keiji Kubota, Haruya Yamazaki, Takao Koyama, Ryoko Takagi, other
Music by	Masayuki Chiyo
Studio	Tatsunoko Production
Licensed by	NA: Christian Broadcasting Network;
Original network	TV Tokyo (Japan); Syndication (United States)
Original run	April 4, 1983 – September 26, 1983
Episodes	26

Superbook (スーパーブック, Sūpābukku), also known as Animated Parent and Child Theatre (アニメ親子劇場, Anime Oyako Gekijō),^[1] is a Japanese Christian anime television series from the early 1980s, initially produced at Tatsunoko Production and TV Tokyo in Japan in conjunction with the Christian Broadcasting Network in the United States.

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, followed by a second season called Superbook II: In Search for Ruffles and Return to the 20th Century (パソコントラベル探偵団, Pasokon Toraberu Tanteidan, lit. Personal Computer Travel Detective Team) with 26 episodes from April 4 to September 26, 1983. Between both series in the first run was the companion series The Flying House.

Overview

Superbook (Anime Oyako Gekijo), begins at the home of a young boy named Christopher "Chris" Peeper, who discovers the ancient Bible named Superbook that can speak and send him, his friend Joy and his clockwork toy figure named Gizmo the Crusader Robot back in time during the events of the Old and New Testaments. The second series, Superbook II: In Search for Ruffles and Return to the 20th Century (Pasokon Travel Tanteidan), takes place two years after the first series, where Superbook falls onto a computer, 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, prompting Gizmo and Christopher's little brother (re-written as his cousin in the English dub), Uriah "Uri" Peeper, to search for Ruffles. While Chris and Joy keep watch and control of the computer from the present, Gizmo and Uri experience the stories from the Old Testament solely.

Cast and characters

Christopher "Chris" Peeper (飛鳥翔, Asuka Shō) (voiced by Masako Sugaya in Japanese, Billie Lou Watt in English): The main hero of the series, who is Professor Peeper's son and Gizmo's former owner.
Joy (大和あずさ, Yamato Azusa) (voiced by Katsue Miwa in Japanese, Sonia Owens in English): Chris's next-door neighbor and best friend.
Gizmo the Crusading Robot (ぜんまい仕掛け, Zenmaijikake) (voiced by Hiroshi Masuoka in Japanese, Helena van Koert and Billie Lou Watt in English): The name of two characters, depending on the season. In the 1st season, he is Chris's advanced toy figure who can become a real-life robot. In the second season, Gizmo became a real-life sized robot built by Uri's father.
Uriah "Uri" Peeper (飛鳥悠, Asuka Yū) (voiced by Runa Akiyama in Japanese, Helena van Koert in English): Chris's little brother (cousin in the English dub) and Gizmo's current owner.
Professor Frederick "Fred" Peeper (あすかはかせ, Asuka hakase) (voiced by Fumio Matsuoka in Japanese, Ray Owens in English): An archaeologist and Chris's father.
Phoebe Peeper (飛鳥さつき, Asuka Satsuki) (voiced by Kumiko Takizawa in Japanese, Sonia Owens in English): Chris's mother.
Ruffles ( Kikyomu in Japanese): Chris and Uri's pet Yorkshire Terrier.
Superbook (タイムブック, Taimu bukku) (voiced by Koji Totani in Japanese, Ray Owens in English): An ancient Bible that takes Chris, Joy, Gizmo and Uri back to the Old and New Testament eras.

Episodes

Series	Episodes	Originally aired
Series	Episodes	First aired	Last aired	Network
1	26	October 1, 1981 (1981-10-01)	March 25, 1982 (1982-03-25)	TV Tokyo (Japan) CBN (United States)
2	26	April 4, 1983 (1983-04-04)	September 26, 1983 (1983-09-26)	TV Tokyo (Japan) CBN (United States)

Season 1 (1981–1982)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Scripture reference(s)	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"How It All Began" "Adam and Eve"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	October 1, 1981 (1981-10-01)
2	2	"My Brother's Keeper" "Cain and Abel"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	October 8, 1981 (1981-10-08)
3	3	"The Flood" "Noah's Ark"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	Kiichi Takagi	October 15, 1981 (1981-10-15)
4	4	"The Test" "Abraham and Isaac"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	unknown	October 22, 1981 (1981-10-22)
5	5	"Here Comes the Bride" "Rebekah"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	unknown	October 29, 1981 (1981-10-29)
6	6	"Double Trouble" "Jacob and Esau"	Genesis	Shoichi Yasumura	Ryoko Takagi	November 5, 1981 (1981-11-05)
7	7	"A Dream Come True" "Joseph"	Genesis	Ryoji Fujiwara	Kiichi Takayama	November 12, 1981 (1981-11-12)
8	8	"The Miracle Rod" "Moses"	Exodus	Osamu Sekita	Kazuo Satou	November 19, 1981 (1981-11-19)
9	9	"Those Amazing Trumpets" "Joshua and the Fall of Jericho"	Joshua	Kenjiro Yoshida	Naoko Miyake	November 26, 1981 (1981-11-26)
10	10	"Pitchers of Fire" "Gideon"	Judges	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	unknown	December 3, 1981 (1981-12-03)
11	11	"Muscleman" "Samson and Delilah"	Judges	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	unknown	December 10, 1981 (1981-12-10)
12	12	"The First Christmas" "The Birth of Jesus"	Gospels	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	Ryoko Takagi	December 17, 1981 (1981-12-17)
13	13	"Miracles of Love" "The Life and Ministry of Jesus"	Gospels	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	Naoko Miyake	December 24, 1981 (1981-12-24)
14	14	"The Best News Yet" "The Death and Resurrection of Jesus"	Gospels	Masakazu Higuchi (supervising)	Saburo Ebinuma	December 31, 1981 (1981-12-31)
15	15	"Mother's Day" "Ruth, Naomi and Boaz"	Ruth	Shoichi Yasumura	Kiichi Takayama	January 7, 1982 (1982-01-07)
16	16	"The Patience of Job" "Job"	Job	You Kitazato	Saburo Ebinuma	January 14, 1982 (1982-01-14)
17	17	"Big Fish and Little Fish" "Jonah and the Whale"	Jonah	Kenjiro Yoshida	Ryoko Takagi	January 21, 1982 (1982-01-21)
18	18	"The First King" "Samuel and Saul"	1 Samuel	Norio Yazawa	Saburo Ebinuma	January 28, 1982 (1982-01-28)
19	19	"The Giant Killer" "David"	1 Samuel	Kenjiro Yoshida	Tsutomu Kawauchi	February 4, 1982 (1982-02-04)
20	20	"Superbrain" "King Solomon"	1 Kings	Ryoji Fujiwara	Naoko Miyake	February 11, 1982 (1982-02-11)
21	21	"A True Prophet" "Elijah and King Ahab"	1 Kings	Kenjiro Yoshida	Kiichi Takayama	February 18, 1982 (1982-02-18)
22	22	"Flaming Chariots" "Elisha"	2 Kings	Norio Yazawa	Kiichi Takayama	February 25, 1982 (1982-02-25)
23	23	"The Lion's Den" "Daniel"	Daniel	Kimiharu Oguma	Ryoko Takagi	March 4, 1982 (1982-03-04)
24	24	"Nehemiah and the Walls of Jerusalem"	Nehemiah	Ryoji Fujiwara	Kazuo Satou	March 11, 1982 (1982-03-11)
25	25	"The Beauty Queen" "Esther"	Esther	Kazuo Yamazaki	Nobuko Morita	March 18, 1982 (1982-03-18)
26	26	"The Mighty Convert" "Paul of Tarsus"	Acts	Kenjiro Yoshida	Saburo Ebinuma	March 25, 1982 (1982-03-25)

Season 2 (1983)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Scripture reference(s)	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
27	1	"Where, Oh Where..." "Abraham and Lot"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 4, 1983 (1983-04-04)
28	2	"Hot Dog" "Sodom and Gomorrah"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 11, 1983 (1983-04-11)
29	3	"The Test of Faith"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 18, 1983 (1983-04-18)
30	4	"Love at First Sight"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 25, 1983 (1983-04-25)
31	5	"Father's Pet"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	May 2, 1983 (1983-05-02)
32	6	"All About Dreams"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	May 9, 1983 (1983-05-09)
33	7	"The Hostage"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	May 16, 1983 (1983-05-16)
34	8	"The Family Reunion"	Genesis	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	May 23, 1983 (1983-05-23)
35	9	"A Gift From Heaven"	Exodus	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	May 30, 1983 (1983-05-30)
36	10	"The Burning Bush"	Exodus	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 6, 1983 (1983-06-06)
37	11	"No More Plagues"	Exodus	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 13, 1983 (1983-06-13)
38	12	"So You Want To Go Back To Egypt!"	Exodus	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 20, 1983 (1983-06-20)
39	13	"Snakes and a Donkey" "Joshua"	Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 27, 1983 (1983-06-27)
40	14	"Worth Fighting For" "Othniel"	Judges	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	July 4, 1983 (1983-07-04)
41	15	"The Good Left Arm" "Ehud and King Eglon"	Judges	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	July 11, 1983 (1983-07-11)
42	16	"Stick In The Mud" "Deborah and Barak"	Judges	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	July 18, 1983 (1983-07-18)
43	17	"That's A Promise" "Jephthah's vow"	Judges	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	July 25, 1983 (1983-07-25)
44	18	"Just Rewards" "Eli and Samuel"	1 Samuel	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 1, 1983 (1983-08-01)
45	19	"A Wonderful Gift" "Saul is anointed king of Israel"	1 Samuel	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 8, 1983 (1983-08-08)
46	20	"The Mighty Little Shepherd" "David"	1 Samuel	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 15, 1983 (1983-08-15)
47	21	"The Bigger They Come" "David and Goliath"	1 Samuel	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 22, 1983 (1983-08-22)
48	22	"Faithful and True" "David's friendship with Jonathan"	1 Samuel	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 29, 1983 (1983-08-29)
49	23	"David the King"	1 Samuel 2 Samuel	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	September 5, 1983 (1983-09-05)
50	24	"In All His Glory" "King Solomon"	1 Kings	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	September 12, 1983 (1983-09-12)
51	25	"The Wicked Queen" "Athaliah and Joash"	2 Kings	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	September 19, 1983 (1983-09-19)
52	26	"A Matter of Time" "The Prophets, Hezekiah and Isaiah"	2 Kings	Masakazu Higuchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	September 26, 1983 (1983-09-26)

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.^{[citation needed]}

References

^ 每日新聞社. 東京本社 (1984). 每日新聞 (in Japanese). 每日新聞社. Retrieved March 7, 2023.

External links

[每日新聞社._東京本社_1984_p.-1] 每日新聞社. 東京本社 (1984). 每日新聞 (in Japanese). 每日新聞社. Retrieved March 7, 2023.

[1]

v t e Tatsunoko Production television series
1960s	Space Ace (1965–1966) Speed Racer (1967–1968) Oraa Guzura Dado (1967–1968) Dokachin the Primitive Boy (1968–1969) Judo Boy (1969) The Genie Family (1969–1970)
1970s	The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee (1970–1971) Inakappe Taishō (1970–1972) Hyppo and Thomas (1971–1972) Mokku of the Oak Tree (1972–1973) Science Ninja Team Gatchaman (1972–1974) Tamagon the Counselor (1972–1973) Demetan Croaker, The Boy Frog (1973) Casshan (1973–1974) New Honeybee Hutch (1974) Urikupen Kyūjotai (1974–1975) Hurricane Polymar (1974–1975) The Song of Tentomushi (1974–1976) Tekkaman: The Space Knight (1975) Time Bokan (1975–1976) Gowappa 5 Gōdam (1976) Paul's Miraculous Adventure (1976–1977) Yatterman (1977–1979) Ippatsu Kanta-kun (1977–1978) Temple the Balloonist (1977–1978) Gatchaman II (1978–1979) Zenderman (1979–1980) Gatchaman Fighter (1979–1980) Gordian Warrior (1979–1981)
1980s	The Littl' Bits (1980) Rescueman (1980–1981) Muteking, The Dashing Warrior (1980–1981) Yattodetaman (1981–1982) Gold Lightan, The Gold Warrior (1981–1982) Dash Kappei (1981–1982) Superbook (1981–1982) The Flying House (1982–1983) Gyakuten! Ippatsuman (1982–1983) Super Dimension Fortress Macross (1982–1983) Mirai Keisatsu Urashiman (1983) Itadakiman (1983) Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (1983–1984) Okawari-Boy Starzan S (1984) Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (1984) Alpen Rose (1985) Hikari no Densetsu (1986) Doteraman (1986–1987) Akai Kōdan Zillion (1987) Oraa Guzura Dado (1987–1988) Legend of Heavenly Sphere Shurato (1989–1990) Konchu Monogatari: Minashigo Hutch (1989–1990)
1990s	Kyatto Ninden Teyandee/Samurai Pizza Cats (1990–1991) Robin Hood no Daibōken (1990–1992) Tekkaman Blade (1992–1993) The Irresponsible Captain Tylor (1993) Shirayuki Hime no Densetsu (1994–1995) Neon Genesis Evangelion (1995–1996) Dokkan! Robotendon (1995–1996) Cinderella Monogatari (1996) Mach GoGoGo (1997) Generator Gawl (1998)
2000s	Time Bokan 2000: Kaitou Kiramekiman (2000) The SoulTaker (2001) Yobarete Tobidete Akubi-chan (2001–2002) Akubi Girl (2006) Yatterman (2008–2009) Casshern Sins (2008–2009) Beyblade: Metal Fusion (2009–2010)
2010s	C (2011) Sket Dance (2011–2012) Pretty Rhythm: Aurora Dream (2011–2012) Pretty Rhythm: Dear My Future (2012–2013) Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live (2013–2014) Muromi-san (2013) Gatchaman Crowds (2013) Wake Up, Girls! (2014) Pretty Rhythm: All Star Selection (2014) Ping Pong (2014) PriPara (2014–2017) Psycho-Pass 2 (2014) Yatterman Night (2015) Gatchaman Crowds insight (2015) Nurse Witch Komugi R (2016) Time Bokan 24 (2016–2017) Idol Time PriPara (2017–2018) Infini-T Force (2017) Time Bokan: The Villains' Strike Back (2017–2018) Kiratto Pri Chan (2018–2021) The Price of Smiles (2019) King of Prism: Shiny Seven Stars (2019)
2020s	Hakushon Daimaō 2020 (2020) Joran: The Princess of Snow and Blood (2021) Muteking the Dancing Hero (2021) Waccha PriMagi! (2021–2022) Ippon Again! (2023) The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel – Northern War (2023) Turkey! (2025)
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