Hatsumei Boy Kanipan
Cover of the DVD box set
発明BOYカニパン (Hatsumei Bōi Kanipan)
Genre	Mecha, Romance
Anime television series
Directed by	Hiroshi Ishiodori
Written by	Ryōta Yamaguchi
Music by	Toshihiko Sahashi
Studio	Studio Comet
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	July 3, 1998 – January 29, 1999
Episodes	31
Anime television series
Chō Hatsumei Boy Kanipan
Directed by	Hiroshi Ishiodori
Written by	Ryota Yamaguchi
Music by	Hirokuni Maeyama
Studio	Studio Comet
Licensed by	Saban Entertainment
Original network	TV Tokyo
Original run	February 5, 1999 – June 5, 1999
Episodes	21

Hatsumei Boy Kanipan (発明BOYカニパン, Hatsumei Bōi Kanipan, trans. Inventor Boy Kanipan) is a 1998 Japanese anime television series produced by NAS and TV Tokyo and animated by Studio Comet. It was immediately followed by a second season titled Chō Hatsumei Boy Kanipan (超発明BOYカニパン, Chō Hatsumei Bōi Kanipan, trans. Super Inventor Boy Kanipan). In late 2000, Saban Entertainment licensed the series to air on Fox Kids in September 2001 but it did not air for unknown reasons.^[1]

Plot

Characters

Kanipan (カニパン, Kanipan)

Voiced by: Junko Takeuchi (Japanese)

A 10-year-old C-Class inventor. His distinctive feature is the goggles that he wears on his forehead. His dream is to become a world-class inventor and reach the TAISHI-Class inventor's license. He was once promoted to B-Class inventor, but due to his failures, his license was revoked, and he was instead demoted by compassionate measures. Afterwards, he was promoted to B-Class for making a satisfactory invention. In the final episode, Kanipan is recognized for pursuing his dreams and making inventions necessary for the future, and obtains an A-Class license. Despite being only 10 years old, he has incredible ideas and is free to come up with ideas that no one else would have thought of, such as electromagnets, static electricity, condensed water, and lava countermeasures due to oxygen consumption. His catchphrases are "I wonder if something like this could happen?" and "I have an idea!" In the second season, Kanipan is 15 years old, lives with Kid, and makes a living as an IT engineer by repairing and maintaining electrical appliances. During the 200th anniversary celebration of Planet Sharaku, he meets Angelica at the Taishi Festival, and becomes involved in a major incident that threatens the planet. He still has a fondness for robots, and has even been exploited by his enemies. Due to his insensitive personality, he is unaware of Milk's affections and is attracted to Angelica. In the first half of the anime, when Ravioli discovers that Kanipan is living with Anne, he says things like "I have become a man," showing his early adolescence. When he wakes up at her home, he wears a nightshirt for the first half, but in the final episode, he appears half-naked wearing only gray trunks. Although he is invited to Nuts and Kirsch's wedding, he is not told that it was also his own wedding. He finally understands this after being sworn in and kissed by Angelica. Thanks to his success in solving the case, Kanipan obtains his long-awaited TAISHI-Class license and departs the planet with Kid, but Anne, Milk, Igor and Ravioli stow away on his ship.

Kid (キッド, Kiddo)

Voiced by: Rie Iwatsubo (Japanese)

Kanipan's interface robot. He does not have any special abilities, but can display various abilities with the tune-up parts made by Kanipan. He ends most of his sentences with "desi" (デシ). In the second season, he lives with Kanipan and considers himself the inventor's caretaker. The pendant device that Angelica took with her when she escaped from the Planetary Management Committee allows him to transfer parts and transform in an instant, saving Kanipan many times.

Angelica (アンジェリカ, Anjerika)

Voiced by: Yumi Kakazu (Japanese)

An girl who has an mysterious emblem engraved on her forehead. When she met Kanipan at the Taishi Festival, she lost all her memories except for her name, and after that she starts living in Kanipan's house. He nicknames her "Anne". She gradually regains her memory while being chased by Kirsch and the others. At first, due to her memory loss, she appears naturally absent-minded, but gradually becomes an active person, forcing Kanipan to confess his feelings. In the second half of the anime, Angelica regains her memory, and at the same time her true identity is revealed. She is a robot created by Dr. Taishi that resembles his deceased daughter. For 200 years, she was a member of the Planetary Management Committee, which controlled Planet Sharaku from an administrative block beneath it, and the emblem on her forehead was proof of that. She is also one of the final keys to the "Sage's Program", an emergency shutdown program for the artificial planet. The Sage's Program will only be completed when she and her lover, Grand Marnier, have their "memories". However, she rebels against Dr. Taishi's sudden appearance and forcefully activates the program, and takes the "memory" necessary to activate the program and escapes to the ground. The shock of the escape pod falling to the ground causes an abnormality in the memory circuit, resulting in her memory loss. In the final episode, she becomes one with the core of Planet Sharaku by replacing her body with the broken circuit of the artificial planet, but transfers her consciousness to her body made by Kanipan, and attends the wedding ceremony.

Milk (ミルク, Miruku)

Voiced by: Kanako Mitsuhashi (Japanese)

A selfish 10-year-old rich girl, whose skill as an inventor is even worse than her lowest rank. She later forcibly applies for her inventor's license, but she is assigned to the newly-established "D-Class" (she insists that she is in the "Deluxe-Class"). In the second season, she is a famous superstar idol on Planet Sharaku. Though she is still selfish and her skills as an inventor are still sub-par, Milk is a more considerate character than in the first season. She actually likes Kanipan, and although he is forced to confess that he likes her, he is already attracted to Angelica. After going through the situation, she acts cheerful until the final episode. She does not seem to care about Ravioli, who has a crush on her. Toward the end, she kisses him herself, and tells him, "I'll continue when I come back."

Igor (イゴール, Igoru)

Voiced by: Masami Iwasaki (Japanese)

Milk's interface robot and her personal butler. He is a hard worker due to always being at the mercy of Milk's selfishness. When Milk became an inventor, he became an interface robot and was forced to change his name to "Sebastian" (the name was also used in the credits for episode 27), but his name was apparently later changed back. In the second season, he works as Milk's manager when she performs as an idol, and has longer legs.

Ravioli (ラビオリ, Rabiori)

Voiced by: Mio Ikeda (first season), Nanaho Katsuragi (second season)

An inventor boy who lives in Inoshika Town. Ever since he met Kanipan when he visited the Robot Grand Prix, he has become Kanipan's rival. He falls in love with Milk at first sight and tries his best to attract her, but due to his inherent stupidity, his attempts are always in vain. Although his skill as an inventor is as good as that of Kanipan, he lacks an inventor's license. In the second season, Ravioli's personality and voice are completely different from the first season. He looks a little more mature and plays an active role in a position similar to Kid. Since he is officially participating in the Robot Grand Prix, Ravioli seems to have obtained an inventor's license. Even though he knows of Milk's fondness for Kanipan, he kindly watches over her.

BK (BK, BK)

Voiced by: Satoshi Tsuruoka

Ravioli's interface robot. He has a huge physique and superhuman strength, and can only say, "Hunga." He does not appear in the second season. Instead, a robot named "BK Mark 2" appears.

Nuts (ナッツ, Nattsu)

Voiced by: Harumi Ikoma (Japanese)

A 20-year-old captain and leader of the Debug Squad, an organization that specializes in countering runaway robots. She has extremely reliable fighting power, such as being able to stop a runaway robot with her bare hands. She is deeply trusted by her subordinates, and is also an inventor, holding an A-Class license. In the second season, Nuts, now 25 years old, is placed in a position to lead many of her subordinates and command the field in Monshiro Town. She rushes to Planet Sharaku's crisis and saves Kanipan. She marries Kirsch in the final episode, but there is no depiction of her as a romantic partner in the story, and Pochi only mentions that they became friends when Nuts rescued Kirsch, who was lost when the planet's core went out of control.

Pochi (ポチ, Pochi)

Voiced by: Takashi Matsuyama

Nuts' dog-like interface robot. He speaks in a bitter Hiroshima dialect, and his way of speaking gives the impression of an outstanding outlook on life. He had been away from Nuts since the time she joined the Debug Squad, but when Nuts was in a pinch on a snowy mountain, he rushed to save her. He is excellent both as a robot and as a debugger, and often helps Kanipan and Nuts to solve cases. In the second season, Pochi is very wise and gives a lot of advice to Kanipan and his friends.

Garamu and Masara (ガラム、マサラ, Garamu, Masara)

Voiced by: Kohei Kowada (Garamu), Eiji Takemoto (Masara)

A debugger who seems to be part of a duo, and often acts in pairs. He has a habit of recommending detonation. A debugger who appears to be the same person as the two characters also appears in the second season, but his name is never mentioned and is not credited in the ending theme.

Dr. Taishi

Voiced by: Shoichiro Akaboshi (Japanese)

Episodes

Music

Opening Themes

• "LOVE LOVE Phantasy"

  Lyrics by Hero Matsui and Keichi Ueno

  Composition and arrangement by Keichi Ueno

  Performed by Whoops!!

• "First Time Being In Love, I Knew It Was You (恋してはじめて知った君, Koishite Hajimete Shitta Kimi)"

  Lyrics by Ohta Shinichirou & Hata Hideki

  Composition and arrangement by Ohta Shinichirou, Kobayashi Masamichi & Arai Yasunori

  Performed by BAAD

Ending Themes

• Ever (いつか, Itsuka)

  Lyrics by Suzi Kim

  Composition and arrangement by Hero Matsui

  Performed by Whoops!!

• "O·K!"

  Lyrics by Akihito Tokunaga & Terukado Ohnishi

  Composition and arrangement by XL

  Performed by XL

References

External links

• Hatsumei Boy Kanipan (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia