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The Mysterious Cities of Gold

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The Mysterious Cities of Gold (Japanese: 太陽の子エステバン , Taiyō no Ko Esuteban (tr: Esteban, Child of the Sun) ; French: Les Mystérieuses Cités d'Or) is an anime series produced by Studio Pierrot. It was a French/Japanese coproduction which originally aired in Japan on NHK in 1982, and in France in 1983 on Antenne 2. It was also shown in Britain on Children's BBC, and a few years later in the United States on the Nickelodeon cable network, and in Australia on the public broadcaster ABC.

There are 39 half-hour episodes, in the typical anime serial style of one continuous story. In some countries (not the UK) a small documentary follows, presenting concise, accurate and appealing (for children) information about subjects related to the episode, thanks to funding by the NHK.

It can also be noted that the characters in the series are actually quite complicated and subtle. Several of the main characters switch sides several times in the story or keep ambiguous stances. Under influence of the French team, the drawing style evolved from the traditional "manga" style to a more rounded and less exaggerated style.

File:MCoG kids.jpg
Left to right: Tao, Esteban and Zia

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Template:Spoilers

The story is very loosely based on the children's novel, The King's Fifth, by Scott O'Dell. In the year 1532, a Spanish orphan named Esteban joins a party of Spaniards in their search for one of The Seven Cities of Gold in the New World, hoping to find his father. He is joined on his quest by Zia, an Inca girl, and Tao, the last descendant of the sunken empire of Mu ("Hiva" in the English dub).


The series is a mix of South American history, archaeology, and science fiction. The characters discover many lost technological wonders of the Aztecs, Inca, and Olmecs, which include a solar powered ship (the Solaris) and The Great Condor, a huge solar-powered airship, capable of traveling considerable distances under the sun's power alone. They are constantly pursued by antagonists Gomez and Gaspard, who are also in search of the Cities of Gold.

The Cities of Gold, of which there are seven, were built by the Emperor of Mu out of fear of a global war which would destroy civilization. Such a war indeed broke out, destroying the Empires of Mu and Atlantis when they used the "weapons of the sun". The Seven Cities of Gold hold copies of books in their "Universal Libraries" as well as powerful artifacts, including the "Great Legacy", a portable fusion reactor. Other elements of this technology turn up in unexpected places, like the Solaris in Tao's home island, Esteban's and Zia's medallions as keys to the Cities, or Tao's jar as an important piece of the Great Legacy.

File:MCoG solaris.jpg
Solar ship Solaris, in conventional propulsion mode.
  • Reminiscences of this ancient story are present in Inca legends written on golden Quipu, which only Zia can read. This triggers an obsessive quest for the Cities of Gold on the part of the Spaniards (Mendoza, very loosely based on Pedro_de_Mendoza, Gomez, Perez and Francisco Pizarro).
  • Esteban seeks his long-lost father and is tied to Mendoza (who rescued Esteban from a sinking ship as a baby): he might know the whereabouts of Esteban's father and holds half of Esteban's medallion. Esteban seems to have a magical ability to make the Sun appear, which proves an invaluable asset throughout the series.
  • Zia also seeks her father, from whom she was taken as a very young girl. She has a medallion similar to the one Esteban carries.
  • Tao seeks signs of his ancestors; he possesses an encyclopedia about their lost technology and a "mysterious jar which no one can open" (the Great Legacy's cooling or control rod system).
  • The Olmecs are descendants of survivors of the global war who hid under their mountain. Only their elite were able to survive in hibernation. The Olmecs seek the Great Legacy in order to power their cryogenic systems, as well as samples of healthy cells from the children to combat their mutations and sterility.
File:MCoG condor.jpg
The Great Condor

Eventually, the Olmecs succeed, at great cost, in taking control of the Great Legacy, but it begins to melt down without the moderation provided by Tao's jar. A Chernobyl-like accident is avoided by the personal sacrifice of Esteban's father who, acting as the High Priest of the Cities, dies replacing the jar.

[edit] Episode Guide

These are the English language titles of the episodes, including brief synopses for each one:

  1. Esteban, Child of the Sun - Father Rodriguez, who looked after Esteban since he was a baby, tells him a great secret on his deathbed: somewhere his father may still be alive. So Esteban decides to begin his search in the New World. With the help of Mendoza, a mysterious man who claims to have rescued him as a baby, Esteban hides as a stowaway, aboard the Esperanza. As they are about to set sail, he meets a young Inca girl: Zia.
  2. Crossing the Atlantic - The two children, Esteban and Zia, find out that they both wear the same strange medallion. The Esperanza has crossed the Atlantic and now the ship is close to the entrance of the Straits of Magellan, where wild seas and strong winds create terrible storms. Mendoza, the navigator, is about to spend four days and nights at the wheel.
  3. Heroes Again - Buffeted by a fierce wind and a wild sea, the Esperanza managed to sail through the Straits of Magellan, under Mendoza's guidance. But now, the ship faces another trial of strength: it is in the grip of a hurricane.
  4. Adrift on the Endless Sea - Esteban and his friends had barely crossed through the terrible Straits of Magellan when their ship, the Esperanza, sank in a storm. Tossed around on a small raft, attacked by sharks, they're left in the middle of the ocean, with no provisions. But a seagull overhead guides them towards the closest shores, and they finally reach a small island.
  5. The Abduction of Zia - After a dangerous journey, Esteban and his friends have been washed up on a mysterious island. That night, a shadowy figure comes creeping towards them. Silently, the figure steals a chart and a pistol, then snatches up Zia. Esteban gives chase. He discovers a curious house in a tree, where Zia is a prisoner. To Esteban's surprise, the mysterious shadow turns out to be a friendly boy of his own age, called Tao.
  6. The Ship Solaris - On a small island among the Galapagos, Esteban and Zia find a young boy living all alone: Tao. His ancestors left a magnificent ship, hidden in a temple on the island, which contains their ancient secret knowledge. Esteban and Zia want to use the ship to reach the mainland.
  7. Secret of the Solaris - Gomez' Spanish galleon overtakes and attacks the Solaris, the sun-powered ship on which the children are travelling. They outdistance the Spanish ship because Tao finds a wonderful secret power boost, just in time. At last, they reach the new continent.
  8. The New Continent - After many adventures, Esteban and his friends finally set foot on the new continent. But there, they meet the soldiers of Governor Pizarro, men who think only of gold. They capture Zia to make her tell them the way to the Cities of Gold, but Tao and Esteban help her to escape.
  9. The End of the Solaris - Esteban and his companions escape from Pizarro, but their fabulous ship, the Solaris, is taken by Gaspard and Gomez. They offer to exchange the ship for Zia, and her secret. Trying to save Zia, and the friendly Inca people in the village, Tao blows up Gomez' ship, but sadly the Solaris is destroyed, too.
  10. Secret of the Temple - Esteban and his friends are on their way to Zia's village, when they are surrounded by Spanish soldiers. The children manage to escape, and take refuge in an underground temple, where they meet the old priest, Pasha. To help them escape, the priest melts the pillar of ice that supports the temple roof, and it crashes down on top of him. The others just manage to get away.
  11. Messengers of the Region - Gomez captures the children and forces Zia to reveal the secret of the Golden Quipu. It is an Inca message which tells that the way to the Cities of Gold lies beyond the high mountain peak. In the night, Esteban and the children escape. They find a secret underground passage and set off for the High Peak.
  12. Secret of the Medallions - The Spanish army followed Esteban and his friends to the Fort of the Black Eagle. Under cover of darkness, the Spaniards attack the fort, but Tao devised a rocket flare that forced back the attackers, and saved the fort. The three children escape. At last they come to the City of the High Peak, whose chief, Kraka, tells them that the medallions Esteban and Zia wear can open the doors of Sela, one of the Cities of Gold.
  13. Mystery of the Parents - When Esteban arrives at the place called the High Peak, he meets an old man, Mayuka, who seems to know something about his parents.
  14. Esteban's Medallion - Mendoza stole the cannon from the Spanish army to win the friendship of the Indians. But his plan failed. The three Spaniards are about to be executed, when Esteban comes to save them. But he demands that Mendoza give him back the sun from his gold medallion.
  15. The Subterranean Secret - Gomez and his soldiers attacked the Fort of the Black Eagle to try to take back the cannon Mendoza had stolen. Mendoza used the cannon to fight back, but he couldn't stop them. The Spanish army stormed the fort, and drove the Incas out. Esteban, Tao and Zia ran away towards the High Peak, following secret underground passages which the Incas had made.
  16. The Urubus - Searching for the Cities of Gold, Esteban and his friends are crossing a high plateau up in the Andes. Near lake Titicaca, they are attacked by the Urubus, a tribe of giants. Tao invents a submarine, and they capture Karuga, chief of the tribe, and hold him prisoner. Karuga tells them that there's a City of Gold on a mountain, guarded by the earth goddess, Pashamama.
  17. The Great Condor - The setting sunlight leads Esteban and his friends to the statue of the earth goddess, Pashamama. The story said when Pashamama takes the sun in her arms, the Gates to the Cities of Gold will open. So they do. They discover the first City of Gold, and a great bird, made out of solid gold.
  18. Maiden Flight of the Great Condor - Inside the first City of Gold, Esteban found a great Golden Condor. Then a volcano erupted, which shook the mountain and destroyed the city. Sheltering inside the body of the Condor, they try to make its mechanism work, using the Medallion of the Sun. Suddenly, the giant bird spreads its wings and takes flight.
  19. The Nazca Plateau - The great Golden Condor, carrying Esteban and his friends away from Pashamama and the erupting volcano, lands in the desert at Nazca. But when Pizarro and his soldiers arrive, Esteban makes sure everyone escapes.
  20. The Spaniard's Cannon - The Golden Condor carried Esteban and his companions to the High Peak, where they saw the Spanish, with their cannon. With the help of the Golden Condor, they stopped Gomez and Gaspard. And when they had saved their friends, they left the High Peak, to look for the land of the Mayas.
  21. The Amazons - Our friends are heading for the land of the Mayas, on board the Golden Condor, when they are forced to land in the jungle. They are captured by Amazon warriors and taken to their temple, to be sacrificed to the Rain God. But Esteban uses his special powers, and the sun comes out. The Queen is so impressed by his power to command the sun, that she orders their release.
  22. The Mirror of the Moon - Esteban and his friends on board the Golden Condor have to make a forced landing in the jungle, where they're captured by Amazon warriors who want to sacrifice them to their Rain God. After some difficulties, they manage to escape from this dangerous situation. And in the end, the Queen of the Amazons allows them to leave for the land of the Mayas.
  23. The Jade Mask - In the jungle, Esteban and his friends discover some ruins, deserted temples and pyramids. In one of the temples, when Pedro and Sancho try to pull off a jade mask, the temple walls suddenly start to move. Stone beams shoot out and trip them up. Then suddenly, the mask itself begins to glow.
  24. The Manuscript - After solving the secret of the green jade mask, Esteban and his friends find a manuscript which seems to hold the key to the whereabouts of the Cities of Gold. But almost at once, they are captured by Doctor Fernando Laguerra and his friend, Marinche, who are also searching for gold. Kokapetl manages to rescue them all.
  25. The Lake of Gold - Esteban and his friends were captured by Indians who wanted to sacrifice them to purify their sacred lake of gold. Marinche and Doctor Laguerra try to poison the lake so they could get at all the treasure on the bottom. Mendoza foiled their plan by breaking through the dam that held back the water, and causing a flood. And so the children were able to escape.
  26. The Swamps - The Serpent God of the Mayas was said to have crossed the mountains to build a new city in the east, among the swamps of the Rain God. Setting out to find this second city, Esteban and his friends are tricked by Marinche, and find themselves fighting the alligators in the marshes. After a savage battle, they escape to the other side of the swamp.
  27. The Doors of Night - Esteban and his friends find the second City of Gold, but they are captured by Marinche and the Doctor. The Doctor finds a new manuscript, and then he is caught in a trap set in the floor of the temple, and the children get the manuscript. This tells them of a third city, to be found near a forest of statues.
  28. The Forest of Statues - After much travelling and many adventures, Esteban and his friends finally discover the third temple. It's been built deep inside an enormous cave. A golden statue is holding a third manuscript. It mentions a mountain called the "Burning Shield".
  29. The Burning Shield - Having found the Burning Shield, Esteban and his friends fall into the hands of the Mysterious Olmecs, who seem to have a very advanced technology. They escape from them, but are captured again. So what will happen to them now?
  30. The Escape - Through their advanced technology, the Olmecs are able to collect energy from the heat of the sun, and from deep inside the earth. They capture Esteban, Tao and Zia, as they intend to transplant their cells into their own old people, so they can become young again. With Mendoza's help, the children manage to escape.
  31. The Village of the New Sun - Esteban and his friends come as guests to the Village of the New Sun. But the Olmecs have found the Golden Condor, and prepare to attack the village, with the help of the Doctor and Marinche, who mean to steal the great golden bird for themselves. Meanwhile, Myena discovers that Papacamayo, the old chief, is really Zia's father.
  32. Attack of the Olmecs - With the help of Gomez and Gaspard, Esteban and his friends succeed in getting the Golden Condor to fly. But the Olmecs have found the Indian Village of the New Sun, and they start a fierce attack. With the help of the Golden Condor, they are defeated. But Zia's father, Papacamayo, has been seriously wounded.
  33. The Reunion - In the Indian Village of the New Sun, Zia at last finds her father, Papacamayo. But her happiness is short-lived, when he dies from his wounds, after defending the village against an attack by the Olmecs. All the Mayan tribes come together in force to fight against the Olmecs.
  34. Revolt of the Mayas - The Mayan people armed themselves and attacked the Olmecs, who had been tyrannising them for years. A fierce battle takes place near the entrance to the Olmec base. From the Golden Condor, Esteban and the other children bombard the Olmecs with stones, and so turn the tide of battle in favour of the Mayas.
  35. The Olmec Machine - Esteban and his friends manage to find their way into the Olmec base. But Kalmec finds them, and takes Zia prisoner. Suddenly, a gigantic war machine rushes up from deep inside the Olmec underground temple.
  36. Aerial Pursuit - Esteban flies the Golden Condor against the terrible Olmec war machine, to try to rescue Zia. Tao and Esteban manage to leap onto the machine in mid-air, and Zia is saved. But Tao is left behind, a prisoner.
  37. The City of Gold - With Tao as a hostage, the Olmecs force Esteban and Zia to use their medallions to open the doors to the City of Gold.
  38. The Great Legacy - After wounding the High Priest of the Cities of Gold, Kalmec steals the Great Treasure, a concentrated source of the sun's power. The security devices of the City destroy the Olmecs' flying machine. Kalmec and Menator make their way back to their base, taking the Great Treasure with them.
  39. The End of the City of Gold - The Olmecs have the Great Treasure, and put the Sun Power into operation. Then, something goes wrong. The High Priest of the Cities of Gold tries to shut it down. But he could be too late.

[edit] Regional releases

MCoG has a small but loyal fanbase. It has been released in France, Japan, Canada and Germany on DVD, but not in other parts of the world. It remains unclear who owns the rights to the English version, or even whether the masters still exist. It is rumored that a sequel was attempted, but canceled due to lack of funding [1].

It has been dubbed and subtitled in French, English, Swedish, German, Polish, Turkish, Arabic, Japanese, Hungarian, Hebrew and Ukrainian.

[edit] English dub

The voice actors for the English dub are not credited, but some have been discovered in recent years.

[edit] Setting

Most of the backdrops in the series are based on real archaeological sites and artifacts, reproduced with near-photographic accuracy. They are, however, often combined and moved to suit the plot. Famous cities and their fictional counterparts include, in order of appearance:

[edit] Trivia

  • The voice actors who did the English dub also dubbed other cartoons from the same company[6]. Listening to Ulysses 31, the voices for Esteban, Mendoza and Gomez are recognisable.
  • In The King's Fifth, the ship that transports Esteban and Mendoza to North America is called the Santa Pedro. Is this where the names "Sancho" and "Pedro" originate?


[edit] External links

  • Pierrot page on Esteban (Japanese) This page includes some information on the main characters. A page entitled Episode
  • Esteban fansite (Japanese) This is a very good site with a lot of information on the series. It also has a good selection of pictures of some of the items that were made with connections to the show.
  • Cités d'Or fansite (French) Very good sound archieve for the series. Most of the themes will sound familiar to European or American listeners, though for the Japanese version they used different music.
  • Mysterious Cities of Gold site An episode guide and a large collection of pictures can be found on this website. Also includes a small background section.
  • Mailing list at Yahoo Groups. Still seems fairly active.
  • Mysterious Cities of Gold Homepage A complete MCOG package with lots of information and media to look at and listen to.
  • Sailor Heva's Mysterious Cities of Gold Perhaps the best MCOG English site presently available. A fountain of information and you can search for the City of Gold hidden on his site.
  • Mysterious Cities of Gold Article at RetroJunk.com Some background information on the story and a few pictures. Small website.
  • Retrospective interview with Janice Chaikelson Steinberg, the English voice of Zia.
  • themysteriouscitiesofgold.com, featuring the original storyboards, animation cels and character model sheets.
  • Fansite with vivd screengrabs and detailed descriptions of all the characters.
  • IMDB, under the Japanese name of the show "Taiyô no ko Esteban" (1982) (TV-Series)
  • Children of the Sun fan-game for the PSP.

[edit] English forums

[edit] French sites

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