ProxyLain

English is not my language. I apologize in advance for any errors. This review is full spoiler! This review is also in Portuguese. What really is happiness? Flanders no Inu is the first anime from the "World Masterpiece Theater" framework produced by the highly acclaimed Nippon Animation studio. The anime is simple, and quite calm. In every episode we see the daily life of Nello and his grandfather, Jehan. They both live a humble (not to say probre) but happy life. Nello and his grandfather go out every morning to deliver milk in the city, it's a long walk. The anime itself is very slow, and the events are more detailedbecause of this. Well, as everyone knows, Nello rescues a dog that was mistreated by its owner who forced him to work and did not even give him water. But before that, the anime better introduces us to Nello's daily life. His daily life is delivering milk with his grandfather and then playing with Alois. In episode 4 we are introduced to the characters George and Paulo, who are simply fantastic. I will talk about them later. As mentioned, Patrasche was mistreated by his owner. Nello one day saw the dog being mistreated and decided to at least give him some water, but the pot seller (the dog's owner) saw him doing this and would not let him. You may stop to think that they push the pot salesman too hard by mistreating the dog, but have you ever thought that this happens in real life? In fact, have you ever stopped to think about all the atrocities that human beings do to animals just for the sake of satisfying themselves? That being said, there is nothing to complain about if it sounds "forced" when the dog is mistreated by its owner, who is garbage as a person. The anime is pretty slow, as I mentioned before. Well, Nello rescues the dog that was almost dying only in episode 6. Before that they develop and introduce characters. After Patrasche's rescue, the anime continues with the same "episodic" narrative, but with a new character, Patrasche. Patrasche has his development very well done. Unlike the movie where after being rescued he is already pushing the cart with Nello and his Grandfather, in the series Nello and his Grandfather refuse to let him work again. Nello and his Grandfather treats Patrasche so well that Patrasche gets to the point of insisting on pushing the wheelbarrow. Well, there comes a time when Nello and his grandfather let him. This shows how valuable it is to treat an animal well, because you will be repaid. - I confess that it is difficult to do an extremely detailed review of this anime. But I will do my best because this anime deserves it. Having said this, I will talk more about the characters, because this is the main point of Flanders no Inu. I'm going to start with Alois, and then move on to other characters. She is simply amazing! She is one of my favorite characters and my favorite in the anime. Alois and Nello have a very strong bond of friendship since forever. As I mentioned before, Nello's everyday life is to go deliver milk in town and play with Alois. Alois is extremely charismatic and sweet. She is always with Nello, she always defends him when they try to blame him for something he did not do. In fact, Nello is a kind boy who would never hurt anyone. Already amending what I said about blaming Nello for what he didn't do, comes one of the most garbage characters as a human being, Hans. I simply hate him. He is jealous and jealous of Nello for the simple fact that Nello is very close to Alois. This character is snobbish and doesn't think about others (not until the last episode). He only knows how to humiliate and ask for the rent for Nello's grandfather. He humiliates him for being poor and never getting the right amount for rent. He just doesn't feel any empathy for his fellow man. When Nello and his Grandfather rescue Patrasche, he goes to collect the rent and says: "That dog is big, huh? It's going to cost a lot of money to feed him.". He simply says this on purpose to demean Nello's Grandfather for his financial status. He acts like a tough guy to others, but he is always bullied by Mr. Cogez and looks like an idiot not knowing what to say. Following on from characters who are scum, we have Alois' father, Mr. Cogez. Unlike in the movie, in the series he is not so bothered by the fact that Alois plays with Nello every day, but as the anime goes on he starts to hate Nello and despise him because of all the lies Hans tells about him. Mr. Cogez is the typical adult who refuses to understand others, especially children. Many things happen that Alois explains why he is wrong about Nello, but he refuses to think and understand his daughter. There comes a time when even though he knows that Nello works every day with his grandfather, he begins to despise him and calls him lazy just for drawing. He despises Nello so much that he doesn't even want his daughter around him, even though she explains things to him. A prime example of how ignorant he is is in an episode where Alois decides to experience Nello's work at first hand, she simply comes home from school alone, and the school is in the town where Nello delivers milk every day. She explains this to her father, and says that she has tasted what he goes through, and yet he refuses to understand his daughter and Nello. He even doesn't know that the last time the mill was fixed, it was Nello who just cut down a huge tree ALONE. An extremely heavy job for a child. Continuing on with other characters, I will now talk a little about some who are good people. Clearly we have to talk about Jehan, Nello's grandfather. Jehan is an extremely kind and humble person. He literally does everything for the good of Nello. Since Nello lost his mother and we don't even know about his father, Jehan has always taken care of him. I really like how the anime makes clear Jehan's look of concern about his financial circumstances and how he regrets not being able to give Nello a better life. Well, Nello doesn't really care that they are poor, but he always says that he is content to live with his grandfather. Jehan and Nello are not just a grandfather and grandson, they are true inseparable friends. They face difficulties together, but most of the time happily. Jehan is super honest and keeps his word. He makes a deal with the pot seller to keep Patrasche, even though he pays a lot of money (more than he gets in a month). Still he makes sure to pay, however there comes a time when the story forgets about the pot seller, I believe he didn't care anymore after Jehan didn't pay her in a month (he didn't pay because he couldn't find him in town). I had said that George and Paulo are excellent characters, so let me tell you why I like them so much. Just like Jehan, George and Paulo play an extremely important role in Nello's life. Their friendship goes beyond any barrier! George and Paulo are by Nello's side in the best and worst situations. There comes a point when George gets Nello a job because they have reduced the milk delivery for him, and he couldn't even afford to feed himself. Then you ask yourself, "Is that it? He just got Nello a job?". Well, no! He helps Nello on the job, and when Nello comes to share the pay, he refuses to accept and gets angry. This is just one example of how great their friendship is. Another example is when they wake up early every day to put a white flag on the road to signify that both Nello and Alois passed by (this is when Alois went to study in town). Paul is also a kind boy, he is George's brother. I find it very funny that he keeps repeating what George says at the end of sentences. I never get sick of it. I won't go so deep into everything the characters do. The idea is just to show why they are great characters. This anime not only has good human characters, it also has two animals: Patrasche, one of the most important characters in the story; and Kuro, a black duckling. It may sound funny, but have you ever seen character development between two animals? I mean, not in anime where the animals talk and so on. When Nello and his grandfather rescue Patrasche, there is the duckling that always picks on Patrasche, but this is extremely essential to a certain episode where they finally develop a friendly relationship. I don't remember which episode it is, but it is when the duckling gets lost and Patrasche finds and rescues him. This may be normal, but it happens a lot that the duckling picks on Patrasche until it leads to a beautiful friendship. Well, the duckling is also a good friend of Nello's and protects him against Hans when the latter comes to pick on Nello. Yes, a cunning duckling is as good a character as many characters in so many anime out there... There is also Neollete, Nello's neighbor and the duckling's owner. She always helps Nello and his grandfather when they need her. She is very kind and considerate. She helped Grandpa and Jehan when Nello's mother passed away and has been helping them whenever possible. Well, the tragedies begin when Neollete becomes ill and goes to live with her daughter (she leaves the duckling in Nello's care). Why does the tragedies begin when she leaves? Simple: Almost everyone close to Nello starts to move away, she was only the first. Several episodes after she leaves, Nello's Grandfather becomes very ill and eventually results in his death! After Nello's Grandfather dies, the woodcutter Michel decides to take the boy in, but Nello tells him to wait until Christmas when the results of the art competition will come out. Speaking of the art competition, I will never forget the scene where Nello's Grandfather buys a painting for Nello to participate in the competition. Yes, I cried in this episode, as in several others. Nello's Grandfather is an amazing character; as I mentioned before, he does everything for Nello, even working an extra job to support the boy. I'll stop detailing so much and get right to the point, the final stretch of this anime. As I said, everyone starts to move away from Nello. His grandfather dies; Neollete goes home to her daughter; George starts working in another town; Alois' father forbids her to see Nello, her best friend; Nello is accused of setting fire to the windmill, and the whole village turns against him... Nello has Michel as a refuge, but after he loses the art contest, he simply falls into a deep depression. His personality won't let him just go to Michel for refuge. Now the big finale of this anime begins. Mr. Cogez loses his money, but Patrache finds it and returns it to Mrs. Cogez. He tells them to take care of Patrasche who is getting sick and says he is going home because it is Christmas and every Christmas he spends with his grandfather. Well, as he was suffering from a strong depression and didn't want to depend on Michel to take care of him, he runs away aimlessly in the middle of a very heavy snowfall... Before I get to the grand finale, I can't forget that everyone who has been away from Nello has come back to spend Christmas with him, but he is no longer at home. Mr. Cogez after having his money again, he realizes what a good boy Nello is and decides to take him in. But before that Mr. Noel learns about the rumor of Nello attacking fire in the windmill and goes to collect satisfaction and explain that Hans and Mr. Cogez are to blame for the fire. The ending: Nello ran away in the blizzard and Patrasche went after him as soon as they opened the door for Mr. Noel to enter. Nello finally arrives at the church and sees the large Rubens painting that he wanted so badly to see. Well, Patrasche went after him and found him in the church, they both saw the Rubens painting and after that they lay down on the ground and died because of how cold and weak they were. "The dog, man's best friend!" Patrasche stayed with Nello until the end and died with him. Well, now it was too late for everyone who had gathered to find Nello. Even more so for Mr. Cogez to ask his forgiveness for all he has done. This anime is simply beautiful! The characters, the plots, their happy and sad moments are all executed in the most natural way possible. Flanders no Inu is not just another anime out there. Flanders no Inu is a lesson in life! My biggest regret was seeing the movies before. I laughed, I was angry, and I even cried watching this anime. Flanders no Inu gave me every kind of feeling possible, which not just any anime can do. "What really is happiness?" Well, that's a somewhat stupid question, but I needed to mention it. Happiness can be in the simplest moments of life. Happiness can be even in death where we don't take even one regret. Yes, I know I haven't mentioned much that happened in this anime, but I did my best in this review. And I am not going to talk about the technical parts of this anime, because it doesn't matter after I have described how amazing it is. Flanders no Inu, an anime from 1975 that I will never forget! It was worth every second. This anime is simply amazing! I am quite emotional after writing this review. Yes, sweat is pouring out of my eyes. ---------------- Português (peço desculpas se houver muitos erros de português): O que realmente é a felicidade? Flanders no Inu é o primeiro anime do quadro "World Masterpiece Theater" produzido pelo tão aclamado estúdio Nippon Animation. O anime é simples, e bastante calmo. Vemos em todos os episódios o cotidiano do Nello e seu avô, Jehan. Ambos vivem uma vida humilde (para não dizer probre), mas feliz. Nello e seu avô saem todo dia de manhã entregar leite na cidade, é uma longa caminhada. O anime em si é bem lento, e os acontecimentos é mais detalhados por conta disso. Bem, como todos sabem, Nello resgata um cachorro que era maltratado pelo dono que o obrigava trabalhar e nem mesmo o dava água. Mas antes disso, o anime nos introduz melhor o cotidiano de Nello. O cotidiano dele é entregar o leite com seu avô e depois brincar com a Alois. No episódio 4 nos é introduzidos os personagens George e Paulo, que são simplesmente fantásticos. Vou falar deles mais pra frente. Como mencionado, o Patrasche era mal-tratado pelo dono. Nello certo dia viu o cachorro sendo maltratado e decidiu ao menos dar água a ele, mas o vendedor de panela (dono do cachorro) o viu fazendo isso e não deixou. Você pode parar para pensar que eles forçar muito o vendedor de panelas maltratando o cachorro, mas já pensou que isso ocorre na vida real? Na verdade, você já parou para pensar em todas as atrocidades que o ser humano fazem com os animais por apenas para se satisfazer? Dito isso, não tem do que reclamar se isso soa "forçado" quando o cachorro é maltratado pelo dono, que é um lixo como pessoa. O anime é bem lento, como citei antes. Bem, o Nello resgata o cachorro que estava quase morrendo apenas no episódio 6. Antes disso eles desenvolvem e introduzem personagens. Após o resgate do Patrasche, o anime continua com a mesma narrativa "episódica", mas com um novo personagem, o Patrasche. Patrasche tem seu desenvolvimento muito bem feito. Diferente do filme que ele após ser resgatado já está empurrando o carrinho com o Nello e seu Avô, na série o Nello e seu Avô se recusa deixar ele trabalhar novamente. Nello e seu Avô trata o Patrasche tão bem que o Patrasche chega a um ponto de ficar insistindo par empurrar o carrinho de mão. Bem, chega um momento que o Nello e seu Avô deixa. Isso demonstra o quanto tratar um animal bem é valioso, pois você será retribuído. - Confesso que está difícil fazer uma Review extremamente detalhada desse anime. Mas vou fazer meu melhor pois, esse anime merece. Dito isso, eu vou falar mais sobre os personagens, pois esse é o ponto principal de Flanders no Inu. Vou começar com a Alois, e já ir emendando com outros personagens. Ela é simplesmente incrível! É uma das minhas personagens favoritas e minha favorita do anime. Alois e Nello tem um laço de amizade muito forte desde de sempre. Como citei antes, o cotidiano do Nello é ir entregar leite na cidade e brincar com a Alois. Alois é extremamente carismática e fofa. Ela está com o Nello sempre, ela o defende sempre quando o tentam o culpar de algo que ele não fez. Aliás, Nello é um garoto gentil que nunca faria mal para ninguém. Já emendando o que disse de culpar o Nello pelo que ele não fez, vem um dos personagens mais lixo como ser humano, Hans. Eu simplesmente odeio ele. Ele é invejoso e tem ciúmes do Nello pelo simples fato do Nello ter muita intimidade com a Alois. Esse personagem é esnobe e não pensa nos outros (não até o último episódio). Ele só sabe humilhar e pedir o aluguel para o Avô do Nello. Ele o humilha por ser pobre e nunca conseguir a quantia certa para o aluguel. Ele simplesmente não sente empatia pelo próximo. Quando Nello e seu Avô resgata o Patrasche, ele vai cobrar o aluguel e fala: "Esse cachorro é grande, hein? Vai custar muito dinheiro para o alimentar.". Ele simplesmente fala isso de propósito para rebaixar o Avô do Nello pelo estado financeiro. Ele age como durão com os outros, mas sempre é intimidado pelo Sr. Cogez e fica igual um idiota sem saber o que dizer. Seguindo de personagens que é uma escória, temos o pai da Alois, o Sr. Cogez. Diferente do filme, na série ele não implica tanto com o fato da Alois brincar com o Nello todo dia, mas com o passar do anime ele começa odiar o Nello e o desprezar por conta de tanta mentira que o Hans fala sobre ele. O Sr. Cogez é aquele típico adulto que se recusa entender o outro, ainda mais crianças. Acontece muitas coisas que a Alois explica o porquê ele está errado sobre o Nello, mas ele se recusa a pensar e compreender sua filha. Chega um momento que mesmo sabendo que o Nello trabalha todo dia com seu avô ele começa o desprezar e o chamar de preguiçoso apenas por desenhar. Ele despreza tanto o Nello que também não quer nem sua filha perto dele, mesmo com ela explicando as coisa para ele. Um maior exemplo de como ele é ignorante é em um episódio que a Alois decide experimentar na pele o trabalho do Nello, ela simplesmente volta da escola sozinha, e a escola fica na cidade onde Nello entrega o leite todo dia. Ela explica para seu pai isso, e diz que provou o que ele passa, e mesmo assim ele se recusa a entender sua filha e o Nello. Até mesmo não sabe que a última vez que o moinho foi concertado, foi o Nello que acabou de cortar uma árvore enorme SOZINHO. Um trabalho extremamente pesado para uma criança. Continuando com outros personagens, agora vou falar um pouco sobre alguns que são pessoas boas. Claramente temos que falar do Jehan, Avô do Nello. Jehan é uma pessoa extremamente gentil e humilde. Ele literalmente faz de tudo para o bem do Nello. Já que o Nello perdeu sua mãe e nem sabemos sobre seu pai, Jehan sempre cuidou dele. Eu gosto muito como o anime deixa claro o olhar de preocupação do Jehan com suas condições financeiras e como ele se arrepende de não poder dar uma vida melhor para o Nello. Bem, o Nello não se importa muito que eles são pobres, mas sempre diz que está satisfeito em viver com seu avô. Jehan e Nello não é apenas um avô e um neto, eles são verdadeiros amigos inseparáveis. Eles enfrentam as dificuldades juntos, mas na maioria das vezes felizes. Jehan é super honesto e cumpre com sua palavra. Ele faz um acordo com o vendedor de panelas para ficar com o Patrasche, mesmo pagando muito dinheiro (mais do que ele recebe em um mês). Mesmo assim ele faz questão de pagar, por mais que chega um momento que a história esquece do vendedor de panelas, acredito que ele não se importava mais após Jehan não ter pagado ela em um mês (ele não pagou porque não o encontrou na cidade). Eu tinha dito que George e Paulo são excelentes personagens, então vou dizer o motivo de eu gostar tanto deles. Assim como o Jehan, George e Paulo tem um papel extremamente importante na vida do Nello. A amizade deles ultrapassa qualquer barreira! George e Paulo estão ao lado do Nello nas melhores e piores situações. Chega um ponto que George arruma um emprego Nello porque diminuíram a entrega de leite pra ele, e ele não ia conseguir dinheiro nem para se alimentar. Aí você se pergunta: "É só isso? Ele apenas conseguiu um emprego para o Nello?". Bem, não! Ele ajuda o Nello no serviço, e quando o Nello vai repartir o salário, ele recusa à aceitar e fica bravo. Isso é só um exemplo de como a amizade deles é grandiosa. Um outro exemplo é quando eles acordam cedo todo dia para por uma bandeira branca na estrada para sinalizar que tanto o Nello quanto a Alois passaram por ali (isso quando Alois foi estudar na cidade). Paulo também é um garoto gentil, ele é o irmão do George. Eu acho muito engraçado que ele fica repetindo o que o George fala no fim das frases. Eu nunca fico enjoado disso. Não vou me aprofundar tanto em tudo que os personagens fazem. A ideia é apenas mostrar o motivo deles serem ótimos personagens. Esse anime não tem apenas personagens humanos bons, também tem dois animais: Patrasche, um dos personagens mais importantes da história; e o Kuro, um patinho preto. Pode parecer engraçado, mas vocês já viram desenvolvimento de personagem entre dois animais? Digo, não em anime onde os animais falam e etc. Quando o Nello e seu Avô resgata o Patrasche, tem o patinho que sempre fica implicando com o Patrasche, mas isso é extremamente essencial para um certo episódio onde eles finalmente desenvolvem uma relação de amizade. Eu não lembro qual episódio é, mas é quando o patinho se perde e o Patrasche o encontra e o resgata. Falando assim pode ser super normal, mas acontece bastante do patinho implicar com o Patrasche até acarretar em uma bela amizade. Bem, o patinho também é um bom amigo do Nello e o protege contra o Hans quando o mesmo vem implicar com o Nello. Sim, um patinho arteiro é um personagem tão bom quanto vários personagens de tantos anime por aí... Também tem a Neollete, vizinha do Nello e do dona do patinho. Ela sempre ajuda o Nello e seu Avõ quando precisam. Ela é muito gentil e atenciosa. Ela ajudou o Avô o Jehan quando a mãe do Nello faleceu e vem os ajudando sempre que possível. Bom, as tragédias começa quando a Neollete começa a ficar doente e vai morar com sua filha (ela deixa o patinho aos cuidados do Nello). Por que as tragédias começa quando ela vai embora? Simples: Quase todo mundo próximo ao Nello começa a se afastar, ela só foi a primeira. Vários episódios após ela ir embora, o Avô do Nello começa a ficar muito doente e acaba resultando em sua morte! Após a morte do Avô do Nello, o lenhador Michel decide acolher o menino, mas Nello diz para ele esperar até o natal quando o resultado da competição de arte vai sair. Falando em competição de arte, eu nunca vou esquecer da cena que o Avô do Nello compra um quadro de pintura para o Nello participar da competição. Sim, eu chorei nesse episódio, assim como em vários outros. O Avô do Nello é um personagem incrível; como mencionei antes, ele faz de tudo pelo Nello, até mesmo trabalhar em um serviço extra para sustentar o menino. Eu vou parar de detalhar tanta coisa e vou direto ao ponto, a reta final desse anime. Como eu disse, todo mundo começa a se afastar do Nello. Seu avô morre; Neollete vai para casa de sua filha; George começa trabalhar em outra cidade; O pai da Alois a proibiu de ver o Nello, seu melhor amigo; O Nello é acusado de botar fogo no moinho de vento, e toda a aldeia fica contra ele... O Nello tem o Michel como refugio, mas após ele perder o concurso de arte, ele simples fica com uma depressão enorme. Sua personalidade não o deixa apenas ir pedir refugio ao Michel. Agora começa o grande final desse anime. Sr. Cogez perde o seu dinheiro, mas o Patrache o encontra e devolve para Sra. Cogez. Ele diz para eles cuidar do Patrasche que está ficando doente e diz que vai para casa por que é natal e todo natal ele passa com seu avô. Bem, como ele estava com uma depressão forte e não queria depender do Michel para cuidar dele, ele foge sem rumo no meio no meio de uma nevasca muito forte... Antes de eu chegar no grande final, eu não posso esquecer que todos que se afastaram do Nello voltaram para passar o Natal com ele, mas ele não está mais em casa. Sr. Cogez após ter seu dinheiro novamente, ele percebe o quanto o Nello é um bom garoto e decide o acolher. Mas antes disso o Sr. Noel ficou sabendo do boato do Nello atacar fogo no moinho de vento e foi cobrar satisfação e explicar que a culpa do fogo é do Hans e do Sr. Cogez. O final: Nello fugiu na nevasca e o Patrasche foi atrás dele assim que abriram a porta para o Sr. Noel entrar. Nello finalmente chega na igreja e vê a grande pintura de Rubens que ele tanto queria ver. Bem, Patrasche foi atrás dele e o encontrou na igreja, ambos viram a pintura de Rubens e após isso deitaram no chão e morreram por causa do frio e a fraqueza que eles estavam. "O cão, o melhor amigo do homem!" Patrasche ficou com o Nello até o final e morreu com ele. Bem, agora foi tarde demais para todos que se reuniram para encontrar o Nello. Ainda mais para o Sr. Cogez pedir o seu perdão por tudo que fez. Esse anime é simplesmente lindo! Os personagens, as tramas, seus momentos felizes e tristes é tudo executado da maneira mais natural possível. Flanders no Inu não apenas mais um anime por aí. Flanders no Inu é uma lição de vida! Meu maior arrependimento foi ter visto o filmes antes. Eu ri, passei raiva e até chorei vendo esse anime. Flanders no Inu me proporcionou todo tipo de sentimento possível, que não é qualquer anime que consegue fazer isso. "O que realmente é a felicidade?" Bem, isso é uma pergunta o tanto quanto estúpida, mas eu precisava mencionar isso. A felicidade pode estar nos momentos mais simples da vida. A felicidade pode estar até mesmo na morte onde não levamos nem um arrependimento. Sim, eu sei que eu não mencionei muita coisa que aconteceu nesse anime, mas fiz o meu melhor nessa Review. E eu não vou falar das partes técnicas desse anime, pois não importa depois de eu descrever o quanto o mesmo é incrível. Flanders no Inu, um anime de 1975 do qual eu nunca vou me esquecer! Valeu a pena cada segundo. Esse anime é simplesmente incrível! Estou bastante emocionado após escrever essa review. Sim, tem suor caindo dos meus olhos.

Diogo_Gomes_1995

It took me very long to make an review, but here it is, ladies and gentlemen. Now, as you can probably guess, this will be yet another review of yet another anime show from Nippon Animation, as you can see from the page of this anime itself. Now, if you've been reading my reviews, before, you might already know who they are and how many anime shows they had made. But the one show that i've been wanting to review and that i have never once did, was in fact an anime show from the World Masterpiece Theatre franchise. And what great way to start 2024with an review of an anime that isn't as popular worldwide, but is still an cultural icon in Japan, than today's review: "Flanders No Inu", also known in english as "The Dog of Flanders". The Dog of Flanders was an anime series that aired in 1975, animated by Nippon Animation (Go figure), and it is based of the novel series written by british author "Ouida". There has been many adaptations of Flanders novel made in the past, even before Nippon's own adaptation from the 70s. But unlike most adaptations, this one attempts to follow the novel very closely all the way to the end, with some some more details and additions to the story, here and there. And also, unlike most movies and TV shows' adaptions of the novel, the 75' anime series was, just like the original novel, itself, absolutely beloved by the majority of Japanese audience. So much so, that not only the show lasted for 52 episodes, succeeding on following the novel, perfectly, but giving an true ending to the already beloved anime show. Making this anime one of the most memorable anime shows in history. It was an subject for homages, parodies, and even had been referenced in many anime shows, even to this day. Like for example, Subaru from Re:Zero, had an phone that uses the same tune from the classic anime from 75' as his ringtone. And a much more recent example is CAPCOM's recent remake of Resident Evil 4 game. Which has 3 animated commercials that pays homage to the 75' anime, basically parodying both The Dog of Flanders and the RS4 game, all while being animated by Nippon Animation, itself. Quite an coincidence, don't you think? But enough all that, you're here for the anime, right? So how does this anime hold up, compared to most anime shows that i've seen over the years, and how does it hold up compared to the majority of all the adaptions of Flanders novel by Ouida? Let's find out... But first things first, i want to address that i've finished watching the anime with Portuguese translations made by two fansub groups. One is the Brazillian fansub by Proxy Fansubs, while the European one was made by SilverDragoon fansubs. This was because i prefer watching and reading in Portuguese than in English, because it's much easier for me to understand the story, alittle better. Okay, i'm done rambling, here's the synopses: The story is about an young boy named "Nello Flanders", who lives in an village with his grandfather "Jehan Flanders", as a poor family who have the finances problems. Despite this, they were an happy family, together, who spend everyday, working hard to transfer and sell milk to the city of Antwerp, just so they can afford enough money for food. One day, Nello encounters an dog named "Patrasche", who's constantly getting whipped and abused by his owner, who forces him to take the cart full of jewelry everywhere they go, just to sell the jewelry stuff for a quick buck. Nello feels bad for the dog and wanted to give water to Patrasche, but gets interrupted by the owner who pushes the kid away from the dog and continue their work. As the story progresses, Patrasche starts to feel completely out of it. He hasn't eaten anything, drinked anything, not even having a good rest or sleep, at all. So the owner, seeing how weak he's gotten, to the point of not even be able to move a muscle, at all, instead of giving him food or water or helping him out to make him feel better, no, he holds the dog to his own arms, throws him againts the grass floor and continues his work without his own dog, leaving him to die. Good god! Talk about despicable! A few minutes later, Nello and Jehan finds that same dog that Nello saw a few days ago, sees him lying to the floor, left to die. So Nello, feeling sorry for the dog and hating to see an innocent animal to die because of overwork, decided to bring him to his home with his grandfather, to help and take good care of him. Luckily, Patrasche managed to survive, thanks to Nello and Jehan's good caring for the weak dog. And from there, Nello and Jehan decided to keep the abandoned dog as his owners. So for the rest of the series, Nello and Patrasche would spend their times, together, as companions, where they can play around, relax, and do things as most good childrens do, like helping out his grandfather on his job to sell milk in Antwerp. There are also some subplots that also accompanies the story moving forward. Both good things and bad things happening to Nello's life. Such as Nello becoming an painter, his relationship with his friends such as Alois, George and Paul, the owner trying to take Patrasche away from Nello and Jehan, Nello's grandfather's health deteriorating in each episodes more frequently, some of their neighbors leaving the village like Mrs. Nulette, people like Hans and Mr. Cogez misjudging and unjustifying Nello as the route of all of their foolish problems, an arc where Alois leaves the village to go to england, in which she gets sick there due to all the anxiety and hardwork at her british school, and all lots more. The story of this anime, as you can guess, it's definitely something else entirely. What could've been an relaxing and cute show at first, would have such interesting arcs, characters and episodes that would push the story's greatness, even further. I loved everything about this anime. It basically not only adapts the story of the novel perfectly to give an great introduction to the story of Nello Flanders and his dog, Patrasche, but also adding a few new things to the story to give it an much richer story than it already had. Each arc has served a purpose to the story and gives Nello and the rest of the cast perfect character developments. Not to mention that many of its moments really leaves an mark onto everyone's perspective on the anime. Some making you smile, others making you laugh, or sad to see, or in some cases, getting frustrated and angry at it (But in an good way). My personal favorite arc in the entire anime is Nello becoming an painter. This is because this subplot has gave Nello so much growth in personality and character, thanks to many of the things happening to him, from the loss of his grandfather, to being blamed for the things he never did. Which leaves to him building all the confidence and hope that he would finally succeed on becoming an painter and finally get to go to school, just like his friend Alois, but to no avail. Which of course leaves us with what i call it "The saddest, yet, satisfiying ending to an masterpiece of anime i've ever seen". But in respect to this anime's greatness, i'm not gonna try to spoil it and ruin the surprise for everyone to see. But yeah, the story of this anime is indeed, an beautiful journey that i had with this anime. No. Questions. Asked. The characters are all great. Aside from Andre, who didn't do much in the story, and probably the most boring character in the series, the rest of the cast are all great. Not once have i ever felt tired of seeing them every now and then. Starting with Nello, the boy who has gone through so much things happening to him, despite all the hardships and tribulations, he always maintained true to himself. Showing his kindness to thoses in need, not ONCE has he ever holded a single grudge againts anyone who stands in his way, even if he gets misjudged and accused for the things he did nothing wrong. He's also quite an strong kid. And no, i'm calling him like overpowered hero, but rather, a pretty strong kid who can help out his grandfather on transfering the milk to Antwerp, taking care of those who get sick, and there's even an arc where he took care of his uncle (Who unfortunately, i couldn't remember his name at the time of this review, gomen ne! XP), while trying to cut a very huge tree down all by himself. Which shocks me to this day, because, how can an kid, at the age of 9, would manage to cut down an huge, gigantic tree, while his uncle is sick? HOW!? That's what i love about Nello and why he's my favorite character in this anime. Despite getting all misjudged and treated unfairly by the villagers and even with no way to fight back, he always stayed strong until the anime's tragic end. His companion, Patrasche, is also an wonderful character, too. This is the kind of dog that i would love to have as my companion. He's the type of dog who always wanted to stay loyal to his new owner and wanted to help out whenever they need. Despite being abused by his previous owner, he still wanted to help Nello and Jehan transfer the milk to Antwerp. Much like Nello, Patrasche has always maintained strong and faithful to himself, still loyal to Nello, no matter how much faith or hope is lost, and no matter how many times they get unjustified. Truly... One of a kind. Aside our two MCs, we also get other characters who are also just as fantastic as the MCs and do serve a purpose to the story, as well. There's Alois, who has been Nello's best friend until the end of the series, Nello's grandfather, Jehan Flanders, his two new friends George and his younger brother, Paul, his kind neighbor, Mrs. Nulette, and her female pet duck named "Kuro", Alois parents, the down-to-earth mother Mrs. Cogez and the awful father Mr. Cogez and that piece of human trash named "Hans" who constantly blames Nello for stupid shit that Hans himself did. Despite being side characters (except Alois, who's pretty much an main character, too, at this point), each characters has their own purpose to the story. Either helping out Nello when he's in deep trouble, like Alois, George and Paul, or when he's getting bombarded with harsh criticism towards him, such as Mr. Cogez and Hans. While the middle are the people who are very supportive for Nello's life, like Jehan, Mrs. Nulette, Mrs. Cogez, his uncle who lives in the tree, and among others. Either way, all of them did an fantastic job as characters, and with the exception of Andre (Who is, again, an boring character to see in the anime), i pretty much loved everyone in this anime. Even Hans and Mr. Cogez, who both i loved to hate on them for both being pieces of shits. As for the animation, i'm quite impressed with how much effort has been put into this one anime in 75'. It does look pretty good for 1970s standards. Each of the characters and the background animations are very well detailed and animated solidly. You can feel that the animators are doing what's best of the anime, since this is an adaptation of an novel by Ouida. Yeah, i get that people are gonna disagree with me on this because they think that this anime's animation hasn't aged well and all that stuff, but come the hell on, people, it's an anime from 1975. Of course the animation isn't always gonna look as good as today. But does that stop the anime from still looking good? Nope. I still think that the anime, on it's own, still looks pretty good, even if it has aged a bit. I'm probably more forgiving to old vintage anime than i am for garbage like Migi & Dali or Tokyo Mew Mew New, where the animations are so atrocious, it doesn't matter how much they tried. Atleast The Dog of Flanders still is pretty good in animation department. As for the audio, i think it's still pretty good. Atleast there's not that much deteriorated noises in the audio, and the music is still pretty good, although, there were some instances where the music would end up cutting off shortly after someone else starts talking. Strange. The opening and theme songs "Yoake no Michi" and "Doko Mademo Aruko Ne", both sang by Doraemon's singer, Kumiko Oosugi, are absolute cuteness overload. I loved especially the opening theme song. It's very pure, cute, and leaves you making a happy smile to your face when you listen to it, even to the point of hearing the song in your head for a good amount of time (What the hell am i talking about?). And as far as the voice acting goes, many of the actors did a great job voicing the characters. Not counting Patrasche (Because he's just an animal who make bark noises and nothing else), we have Michie Kita (Who did Togenishia from Hana No ko Lunlun) voicing Nello Flanders, Reiko Katsura (Who did Akabe in Jungle Kurobe) voicing Alois, Hiroo Oikawa (Who did some characters in Lupin The Third's second anime series) voicing Jehan Flanders, Taeko Nakanishi (Who did kelly Stowner from Eikoku Koi Monogatari Emma) did Alois' mother, Mrs. Cogez, and, by the way, Taeko is also the voice of Mrs. Nuletta in The Dog of Flanders' 1997 remake by Nippon Animation (Coincidence, i think?), while in this 75' version, Mrs. Nulette is voiced by Haru Endo (Who did Lisa in Romeo no Aoi Sora), Masako Sugaya (Who did Remi in Ie Naki Kou and Uran from 80s' Tetsuwan Atom), Shouzo Iizuka (Famous for voicing Nappa in Dragon Ball Z), voices Patrasche's original owner (Who's called Enzou, by the way), just to name a few. The point i'm trying to cross, is that each voice actors gave their all for the characters in this anime and all did a great job voicing them. Easily the best part in the entire anime show. So to conclude this, to say that this anime is an cultural icon in Japan, i was NOT kidding when i said it. The anime made such an impact to that country, that i've been told that most of these Japanese tourists literally went to Belgium, Antwerp, just to pay a visit to the same locations that Nello and Patrasche had been in the show, as well as seeing the statues that references Nello and his companion. If that's the case, is that an surprise? The Dog of Flanders isn't just an masterpiece of anime, it's an work of art. Becoming an example of how you make an good anime in every way possible. Not only the anime managed to be faithful to the original novel by Ouida, but also succeed it in every way possible. The story, the characters, the animation, the music, the voice acting, the audio quality, the visuals, it was all perfect from the groundup! And Proxylain wasn't kidding when this anime is the meaning of life. It really tells and teaches such good morals about life and how you need to treat it kindly, that even to this day, Japanese audience has at the very least referenced this anime for years and years. This anime managed to impress me, as someone who lived in Portugal, and introduced me to the World Masterpiece Theatre franchise, in an great way, possible. And i'm not gonna lie, i was happy, sad, angry (In a good way) and had all those emotions in this one anime show. That's how impressive this was. If you're looking to watch this anime with your family or with your childrens, DO IT NOW! It's your chance to give this anime an opportunity to shine and give as much love as it deserves. It truly is... One of a kind. And The Dog of Flanders gets an very deserved 10 out of 10! So with that said, that should end my review of this anime. My name is José Diogo, and i'll see you all on the otherside.