Ulysses 31
Ulysses 31 is a 1981 Japanese-French anime series based on the Greek mythology of Odysseus, set in the 31st century. The show comprises 26 half-hour episodes as a co-production between DIC Audiovisuel and Tokyo Movie Shinsha.
Production
In 1980, TAF, TMS Entertainment, and DiC Audiovisuel produced a pilot for the series, simply titled "Ulysses 31". Although there was a Japanese VHS release of the series by King Records in 1986, the pilot never saw an official home release and was used for internal use only.The pilot has long been considered as only been recorded in Japanese, until a French searcher discovered a copy of the French version in July 2015, then a copy of the English-dubbed version in June 2022.
The story is virtually identical to episode one of the finished series, but the story was the only thing that was kept. Some characters underwent major redesigns from a typical anime design to the finished series, which is a mix of Japanese anime style and European art based on the appearance of classical Greek sculpture. Renowned Japanese illustrators and animators Shingo Araki and Michi Himeno, who have worked in anime adaptations of famous manga were responsible for the finished series' character designs, animation routines, and visual style.
Plot
The series follows the struggles of Ulysses and his crew against the divine entities that rule the universe, the ancient gods from Greek mythology. The Gods of Olympus are angered when Ulysses, commander of the giant spaceship Odyssey, kills the giant Cyclops to save a group of enslaved children, including his son. Zeus sentences Ulysses to travel the universe with his crew frozen until he finds the Kingdom of Hades, at which point his crew will be revived and he will be able to return to Earth. Along the way they encounter numerous other famous figures from Greek mythology, given a futuristic twist.| Character | Japan | Japan | France | English | Biography |
| Ulysses | Osamu Kobayashi | Masane Tsukayama | Claude Giraud | Matt Birman | The main character and captain of the Odyssey. A well regarded and very esteemed space explorer and adventurer, Ulysses achieved the solar peace becoming even more celebrated. Some time later he accidentally became the target of the Olympian gods' revenge by slaying the giant Cyclops, Poseidon's creature, in order to save his son Telemachus', Yumi's and her brother Numinor's lives. His weapon is a laser pistol that conceals an energy blade, complemented by an energy shield and a belt that allows him to fly. Ulysses is brave, noble, determined, and will stop at nothing to defeat the gods. |
| Telemachus | Yū Mizushima | Nobuo Tobita | Fabrice Josso / Jackie Berger | Adrian Knight | The son of Ulysses and second in command for most of the voyage. He is Yumi's friend and protector. He is a skilled pilot, and his weapon is a high-tech magnetic slingshot. |
| Yumi | Sumi Shimamoto | Akiko Yajima | Séverine Morisot | Anick Faris | A light blue-skinned humanoid alien girl from the white planet, Zotra, she is the younger sister of Numinor and possesses telepathic powers. She is saved from being sacrificed to the Cyclops, along with Telemachus and her older brother, by Ulysses. She exhibits telekinesis and is immune to fire. Although physically very frail, she is very intelligent and courageous. Zotrians, aside from blue skin, have snow-white hair, pointed ears, and slanted eyes with cat-like vertical pupils. |
| Nono | Mayumi Tanaka | Miki Narahashi | Jacques Ebner | Howard Ryshpan | The small red robotic companion of Telemachus. Fond of eating nuts and nails, he is a trusty friend who was given to Telemachus as a birthday present. He is skilled at machinery repair and possesses tremendous physical strength. |
| Zeus | Shōzō Hirabayashi | Kan Tokumaru | Jean Topart | Vlasta Vrána | The god of gods, persecutor of Ulysses. |
| Shirka | Évelyne Séléna / Sylvie Moreau | Kelly Ricard | The Odysseys main computer, with a deep female voice. | ||
| Numinor | A Zotrian teenager and older brother of Yumi, he is saved by Ulysses from being sacrificed to the Cyclops. He is in suspended animation along with the rest of the crew for most of the series. His Japanese name Yumaiosu is the katakana orthography of English pronunciation of Eumaeus, the pig-guardian of Odysseus in Homer's poem. | ||||
| Poseidon | The god of the Seas, enraged by Ulysses's killing of his creature, the Cyclops. He wields a trident, the symbol of his power, and his servants pilot ships that are shaped like a trident. | ||||
| Hades | The ruling god of the Underworld. Ulysses must find his realm to find the way back to Earth. |
Release
In the United States, the show was broadcast as a half-hour segment in the 1986 anthology series Kideo TV.In the United Kingdom, it first aired on BBC One at 16:30 on Thursday, November 7, 1985. The entire series was released in English in a complete DVD box set in the UK released by Contender Entertainment, and in Australia by Madman Entertainment. In the United States, one DVD titled Ulysses 31: The Mysteries of Time was released, containing only four selected episodes. The rights, like most of DIC's other programs, were originally owned by WildBrain, through its in-name-only unit, Cookie Jar Entertainment.
Soundtrack
Most of the original soundtrack was composed by Denny Crockett and Ike Egan. Six additional themes were composed by Shuki Levy and Haim Saban: "Potpourri", "Final Glory", "Space Traffic", "Ulysse Meets Ulysse", "Mermaids", and "Change of Time ".The Japanese version has a different soundtrack, opening with "Ginga Densetsu Odyssey" and closing with "Ai. Toki no Kanata ni", both by Tomoaki Taka. The music was composed by Wakakusa Kei, who made the soundtrack in both the series and pilot that was produced in 1980. An official soundtrack was released in 1986 on vinyl and on CD in 1988 by King Records.