A 1979 anime where a boy fights an immortal snake god with nothing but courage and weird friends.
This is a folk-tale-like adventure story of an active boy on a quest for the Water of Life. The boy sets out on this quest after learning that the Water of Life is needed to make his village happy. On the way, he meets gods, demons... Soon, he discovers that the evil snake has stolen the Water, and he heads for the snake's palace. Defeating the snake is not easy since it has the Water of Life to revive itself. This boy - Maegami Tarou - continues his courageous quest in cooperation with various creatures and the gods.
Direction
Saito balances gentle pastoral scenes with genuinely tense monster encounters.
Practical Effects
Hand-painted snake palace backgrounds that breathe 1979 craftsmanship.
Director
Hiroshi Saito
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Maegami Tarou draws heavily from Japanese mukashibanashi (folktale) tradition, specifically the 'quest for miraculous water' motif found in stories like Urashima Taro.
Keiko Yokozawa, who voices the princess here, would later become iconic as Dorami in Doraemon and the titular character in Heidi, Girl of the Alps.
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