New Netflix Anime Puts a Dark Twist on a Cult Classic Cartoon Network Show

Summary T•P Bon is a darker, more mature take on the premise of an underrated Cartoon Network series, called Time Squad.

T•P Bon is based on an original manga that predated Time Squad by about 25 years.

The first season of T•P Bon will premiere on Netflix on May 2nd.

One of Cartoon Network's cult classic forgotten series is getting a dark spin in a new Netflix anime. Cartoon Network has produced some of the most iconic shows for kids since the network launched in the 1990s. However, one of its most overlooked series was Time Squad, a show that followed a boy named Otto, a robot named Larry and a hero named Buck as they traveled through time and met major figures in world history to solve various problems. While the series gained a cult following, Time Squad came and went without much fanfare. However, its interesting premise is returning in a new anime.

A trailer posted by the Netflix Anime YouTube channel introduces fans to a new series titled T·P Bon. Based on the manga Time Patrol Bon by the co-creator of Doraemon, Fujiko Fujio, the series follows a student named Bon Namihira who comes across a time-traveling duo named Ream Stream and Buyoyon as they save someone he saw fall to their death. To keep their existence a secret, the team recruit Bon to join them on their adventures as they traverse Japan's history to save lives while preventing serious changes to the timeline.

This new series could be the ultimate successor for fans of Time Squad as the two touch on very similar premises. However, unlike the series on Cartoon Network, T·P Bon appears to be going for a more mature angle.

T·P Bon Shows the Dark Side of Time Travel

Directed by Masahiro Ando; Produced by studio Bones

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While Time Squad was well-restricted to what it could do since it was in the confines of being a show aimed at children, T·P Bon has shown that it will be a bit more aimed at an older crowd. There's a fair amount of blood shown throughout the trailer, including a fairly graphic look at someone dead on the street.

There are also corpses, witch burnings, wars and other acts of violence that would never make this show available to air on Cartoon Network. However, for people who grew up on Time Squad and remember the series fondly, it could scratch the itch they have of wanting to see what a more mature version of the series would be like.

Time Squad May Have Been Influenced by the Original T·P Bon Manga

The most interesting thing about T·P Bon is that despite it sharing a similar premise with Time Squad, it wasn't actually inspired by the Cartoon Network show. Rather, it could be the other way around. Fujiko Fujio's original manga was originally published in 1978 and ran for nearly a decade, becoming a massive hit in Japan and even becoming an anime before the Netflix remake in 1989. The series predates Dave Wasson's Time Patrol by decades, so it's entirely possible that he got the idea for the series from reading the original manga or finding a way to see the original anime. Around the time that Time Squad aired on the network, anime was already becoming popular in the US with Toonami being a major hit, so it wouldn't be impossible for the American series to draw influence from Fujio's story.

The first season of T·P Bon is expected to stream on Netflix beginning May 2nd, with the second season premiering not too long after on July 17th. While Time Squad never became as well-known as shows like The Powerpuff Girls or Ed, Edd n' Eddy, existing fans have cherished the series as one of the network's most underrated series. Now, Netflix is giving the premise a chance to shine again with a darker take on the cult classic Cartoon Network series that could become an instant hit.

T·P Bon will begin streaming on Netflix starting on May 2, 2024.

Source: Netflix Anime