The Sequel Series:
The New Jungle Emperor (aka Onward, Leo!) (1966 Japan)
Leo the Lion (1984 US and elsewhere)

We're told, by anime historians and by the Tezuka Company web site, that this series represents Osamu Tezuka presenting his original "Jungle Emperor" story the way he wanted to do it, without all that bothersome meddling by the Americans (that resulted in the production of Kimba, one of the greatest animated series of all time). But, aside from the last two episodes, most of this series is different from the manga story, except for the characters. And even in the last two episodes, the outcomes of situations are changed. "Ah," the same people tell us, "Tezuka felt compelled to change these two stories to satisfy the wishes of the audience." So, what do we have here, then? A purer presentation of the white lion's story, or pandering to the audience?

Actually, I think the answer is "neither". As I said, little of this series is taken directly from the manga. And those altered outcomes in the last two episodes are much better storytelling than what was in the manga—Tezuka's fondness for tear-jerker endings in his manga is hard to justify; it's hard to see a point to them.

The story of "Leo the Lion" does not follow immediately from the end of the Kimba series. In the show, a couple of years have passed since the end of the first series. Most of the familiar supporting characters are not seen, or have very minor roles in this new series. Most fans have not seen the episodes in their proper order, leading to the reputation that there seems to be no focus to the episodes and that in some episodes Leo/Kimba acts in ways that seem inexplicably out of character. He yells at human intruders to get out of his jungle. He practically has to be forced to help a person on several occasions. One of the key points that was lost in the translation of both series is that in the last Kimba episode (“Silvertail, the Renegade”, which was originally titled “The Man-Eating Lion” in Japan), Kimba promised to keep his animals separate from humans, and that promise underlies Leo's actions in this series.

But if you should have the good fortune to see the entire series, in the order in which the episodes were meant to be seen, an overall story arc becomes clear: Leo's responsibilities weigh heavy on him, but the real star of the series is one of his cubs, the male named Rune. He is in most episodes, and his character always grows. This series is about his growth, from a whining weakling to a confident hero.

It's no wonder that this series has had a poor reputation, since it has been been difficult to see in its entirety. For the longest time, all that anyone has seen of it since its brief appearance on cable TV in 1984 has been severely shortened episodes haphazardly released onto video. Seen in piecemeal fashion, it's really difficult to watch Rune's progress. If more people could see the entire series, in order, and catch on that they should be looking at the cub, not the title character, I think it could become popular.

Watching it with the point of view that Rune is the real star, this is a strong series. Maybe Tezuka preferred to write younger characters.

The producers of the English-dubbed version used the original Japanese names for nearly all the characters. Here are some of the character names:
Kimba = Leo
Kitty = Lea
Caesar = Panja
Snowene = Eliza
Pauley = Coco
Bucky = Tomy
Kimba's and Kitty's cubs are Rune and Rukio

Find all of Leo The Lion in English on DVD.

My own review of some Leo the Lion episodes.

Information about previous Leo The Lion releases on home video.