Like most 90s kids, if you have grown up enjoying the adventures of Doraemon and have taken a liking to the wonderful, imaginative, and futuristic worldview showcased in the series, there is a strong chance that you will love Netflix’s latest anime release, T P Bon. Created by the same creative genius duo, Fujiko Fujio, T P Bon not only bears similarities with Doraemon through the common Kodomo art style implemented in their visuals but also through their approach to disguise heavy themes through the bright, colorful lens of children’s fiction. With T P Bon, the treatment veers towards a more mature tone, as time travel shenanigans work as a scrutinizing mechanism, which raises tough-to-answer questions regarding human morality, virtues, and vices.
A second season of T P Bon had already been greenlit before the completion of the first season of the series, and given the fact that the first one has managed to garner sufficient praise and attention from critics and fans alike, further continuation seems possible. We would like to discuss the ending of the first season and the narrative potential of the upcoming season, which also includes the possibility of an unexpected (or not) crossover event in the near future.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Did Ream Stream Quit Time Patrol?
As seen in the first season of T P Bon, the teenage Time Patrol agent from 2056, Ream Stream, had assisted Bon through a number of time-traveling missions to finally let him become a capable agent in his own right. Aside from saving Bon from the perils of different ages, Ream also teaches him quite a few necessary life lessons, which will allow Bon to grow as a person. During their adventures, Ream and Bon become good friends as well, which is why the shocking decision of Ream in the final episode of the series, quitting Time Patrol and breaking up their partnership, comes as disheartening news to Bon.
In the final episode of the series, Ream and Bon get stranded in a far-future timeline after getting pulled into a temporal vortex, and being way out of Time Surveillance Network’s reach, the chance of their being rescued grows slim. Caught up with a sense of anxiety and hopelessness, Ream blames herself for putting Bon in a situation like this. She knew the stakes were quite high, and despite that, she agreed to Bon’s request to assist her in this dangerous mission. Additionally, her feeling of guilt stemmed from a personal reason. Ream reveals that her former mentor, with whom she had formed a strong bond while learning the ropes of time patrolling, had later moved to the Anomaly Handling division and had been lost in the timestream forever. Anticipating a similar fate for her apprentice, Ream felt responsible for the troublesome situation they had ended up in and, unwilling to lose someone close to her ever again; she decided to sever ties with Bon at the end. As for the reason as to why she joined the Anomaly Handling division, the answer is quite straightforward: in the hopes of finding her lost mentor.
Despite the cliffhanger of the first season, viewers can already anticipate that Ream and Bon will be eventually reunited in the second season. Whether that happens naturally or as a result of Bon pulling off some daring time-related shenanigans, that remains to be seen. As for the expectations for the upcoming seasons, there are a couple of questions we hope get answered in the second season.
Time Surveillance Network’s True Self and Buyoyun’s Identity
Hidden behind numerous stipulations regarding time travel, the Time Surveillance Network remains shrouded in mystery due to the secretive nature of its function. Despite the organization having multiple subsections like the Time Patrol Rescue Unit, Criminal Investigation Unit, and Anomaly Handling Unit, the members of the temporal peacekeeping institution themselves hardly know anything about it aside from their respective units. While the time-policing rescue duties of Bon and Ream seem more on the fun side, the true self of the secretive organization might be something closer to MCU’s Time Variance Authority. The second season will surely explore the organization in a broader scope, as hints of a darker plot have already been teased in the first season.
Speaking of mysteries, Buyoyun’s origin, which wasn’t even touched upon in the first season, seems to be an intriguing narrative point on which the second season needs to focus. Despite seeming like a comic relief from his cartoonish appearance, Buyoyun claims to be someone who exists outside the space-time continuum, which makes us think there might be more to him than meets the eye. He knows more about the Time Patrol’s duties than Ream, and occasionally he has proven himself to be a competent ally as well. Buyoyun’s origin and true identity are things that need to be explored in the second season.
Possibility of a Doraemon Crossover?
Lastly, the possibility of a crossover event in the second season of T P Bon with characters created by Fujiko Fujio is low but never nonexistent. Fans will surely remember that a version of Time Patrol exists in the Doraemon universe as well, which played an integral role in saving Nobita a couple of times and also apprehends time criminals as well. The tone and visuals of both of these manga feel similar in their futuristic, imaginative world-building, which makes us speculate about a possible crossover between the two in the upcoming seasons. Also, the fact remains that Ream Stream appeared in the Doraemon movie Nobita and the Birth of Japan, and other Fujiko Fujio characters like Perman and Kiteretsu have appeared in the Doraemon series as well. Rights issues aside, if Netflix actually manages to bring iconic characters from Doraemon to the universe of T P Bon, it will not only skyrocket the popularity of the series but also serve as a nostalgic delight to many 90s kids like us.
