Future Boy Conan and the Menko That Predates Studio Ghibli

A 1978 Menko Card from Future Boy Conan

The Menko Card Tradition

Menko is one of Japan’s oldest card-based games, with roots in the Edo period. The basic mechanic is simple: players slap their cards against the ground, trying to flip an opponent’s card over — whoever flips it keeps it. By the Showa era, the cards had shifted from heavier materials to full-color printed cardboard, and anime characters became among the most popular subjects. This piece is a maru-menko, the circular variety that was especially common for anime tie-in releases during the mid-to-late Showa period.

The card’s illustrated side shows Conan and Lana — the two lead characters of the series — appearing to ride a bird-shaped glider, an image that captures one of the show’s most recognizable visual motifs. Two circular emblems frame the illustration: one contains a single kanji character meaning “iron,” likely tied to a strength or grade designation used in menko gameplay, though its precise function here isn’t entirely certain. The other shows a hand silhouette referencing janken — rock-paper-scissors — a mechanic woven into many Showa-era menko games. The copyright printed on the card reads “NIPPON ANIMATION CO., LTD. 1978,” placing its production firmly in the year the anime originally aired.

Future Boy Conan and the Origins of Miyazaki’s Craft

Future Boy Conan (Mirai Shonen Konan) ran on NHK from April 4 to October 31, 1978, across 26 episodes. The story is set on a near-future Earth devastated by electromagnetic warfare, where most land has been swallowed by the sea. Conan, a boy of exceptional physical ability, has grown up alone on an isolated island. When a girl named Lana arrives, pursued by agents of the authoritarian organization Industria, Conan sets out on an adventure across ocean and sky. The series was produced by Nippon Animation and draws loosely from Alexander Key’s 1970 American novel The Incredible Tide, though the anime built an almost entirely original story from that foundation.

Future Boy Conan holds a specific place in animation history as Hayao Miyazaki’s first overall directing credit on a television series — a full seven years before he co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985. The series is not a Ghibli production, but it is widely regarded as an early and unusually clear expression of Miyazaki’s characteristic concerns: flight, resilient young protagonists, the tension between nature and industrial power, and an underlying current of hope. That lineage has drawn international audiences to the series well beyond Japan, particularly in Europe and South America, where later DVD and streaming releases built a committed fan base. Menko cards from this period were sold in candy shops and toy stores across Japan, made for children to play with rather than set aside. Paper goods made for everyday use in 1978 rarely survived intact — which is why examples with clear printing and legible copyright text tend to carry particular interest for collectors of Showa-era anime ephemera.