You are here:

One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book

Name: One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book
Director: Osamu Tezuka
Released: 1978
Duration: 92 min

Representation Score

4.5/10

Fair

1978

Director

Osamu Tezuka

Runtime

92 minutes

Average Rating

No ratings yet

New Showbiz Analysis

Osamu Tezuka’s work uses speculative science fiction to move beyond terrestrial social structures. By focusing on a distant planet of shape-shifters, the film avoids traditional Earth-bound racial and cultural hierarchies. However, the film remains anchored in conventional adventure clichés. The focus on a singular male protagonist and a standard 'invader' conflict limits the depth of its social representation. Ultimately, the film's diversity is found in its metaphorical use of the alien 'other' rather than the explicit inclusion of underrepresented identities.

Watch this, not that →

Category Breakdown

Does One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book have LGBTQ+ representation?

Limited

The story focuses on Bander and a planetary invasion conflict. There are no explicit LGBTQ+ characters or non-straight relationships in the narrative.

How does One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book portray gender?

Fair

The story centers on a 17-year-old male protagonist. This focus on a singular male hero follows traditional adventure clichés.

How racially and ethnically diverse is One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book?

Good

The science-fiction setting uses shape-shifters to disrupt Earth-centric racial hierarchies. This allows for a metaphorical exploration of otherness that goes beyond traditional ethnic boundaries.

How does One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book represent religion and culture?

Fair

The film depicts a society with non-traditional dietary habits, moving away from Western-centric norms. However, the conflict follows classic heroic archetypes regarding sovereignty.

Does One Million-Year Trip: Bander Book include disability representation?

Minimal

The film provides no information regarding characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Present on Screen

The science-fiction setting effectively disrupts traditional Earth-centric racial and ethnic hierarchies.
The use of non-human species provides a metaphorical framework for exploring the concept of otherness.

Limited or Absent

The narrative relies on a singular male protagonist, which follows conventional gendered ability to act clichés.
The story lacks explicit representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight characters.
There is no visible or invisible disability representation within the known narrative.

Official Synopsis

Bander is a 17-year-old boy from Earth who lives on a distant planet, which is populated by human shape-shifters who feed off of vegetables and animal tails. Violence soon breaks out, as invaders launch an attack on Bander's new planet. This was Japan's first 2-hour animated film for television. The program received high ratings when broadcast as part of a set of 24-hour TV programs called "Ai wa Chikyu wo Sukuu" on Nippon Television. After a long gap since his last animated film for television, this work fully reflects Osamu Tezuka's desire to achieve theatrical quality with this production.

How are these scores produced? →