History Anime / RyuTheCaveBoy

* SceneryPorn: A lot of shots of the anime focus on the son and the lush forestry that comes with the pre-modernization setting.

* AlbinosAreFreaks: The cavemen tribes view white skin as a curse, to the point that when babies are born with white skin, they're instantly taken away from their parents and murdered. Esta cried and begged the chief not to take Ryu away, but he ordered him to be FedToTheBeast anyway. Later, when Ryu returns to the village alive, they express disgust at his skin colour and tell him it would be better off for everyone if he died.

'''Ryu the Cave Boy (原始少年リュウ)''' is a 1971 adventure anime set in the prehistoric era where both humans and dinosaurs co-existed.

* HumansAreBastards: The Big Horn Tribe believe that pale skin is a bad omen, hence forcing Esta to feed her son to Tyranno. It is an animal (Kitty the ape) that takes pity on the baby and saves him.

* FedToTheBeast: According to the law of Ryu's tribe, babies born with white skin are ordered to be fed to Tyranno, as leaving them alive will bring a curse upon the lands. Ryu narrowly averts this because of Kitty's intervention, but it's implied many previous white-skinned babies weren't so lucky.

* HumansAreWhite: Inverted. All humans are brown, or black-passing in the case of Ran. This is enforced as pale skin is seen as a curse, hence pale-skinned babies being killed after birth. Oddly, there are some humans that are actually pale-skinned like Messa, yet nobody seems to notice they're pale-skinned]].
* HumansAreBastards: The Big Horn Tribe believe that pale skin is a bad omen, hence forcing Esta to feed her son to Tyranno.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: It's been proven that humans actually did not live in the same period as dinosaurs.

* CallBack: Many to ''Manga/RyusPath''

* SceneryPorn: A lot of shots of the anime focus on the son and the lush forestry that comes with the pre-modernization setting.

* SavageWolves: [[HollywoodPrehistory In this series' setting]], every animal is trying to kill you, and for Ryu and the gang it's wolves in particular.

As an adult, Ryu is constantly under attack for his white skin, but with the help of his friends Ran and Don, he perseveres against the threat and strives towards his one goal - reunite with his mother.

* HumansAreWhite: Inverted, all humans are brown, or black-passing in the case of Ran. This is enforced as pale skin is seen as a curse, hence pale-skinned babies being killed after birth. Oddly, there are some humans that are actually pale-skinned like Messa, yet nobody seems to notice they're pale-skinned]].

* SavageWolves: [[HollywoodPrehistory In this series' setting]], every animal is trying to kill you, and for Ryu and the gang it's wolves in particular.
* SearchingForTheLostRelative: Even though she left him to die (though, not by choice), Ryu tries to find his biological mother with the help of his friends. Meanwhile, Esta hopes Ryu is alive and abandons her tribe to find him.
* YouKilledMyFather: Tyranno kills Kitty, the adoptive mother of Ryu, leading to him having a burning grudge against her. He also slaughtered Kiba's entire tribe, hence him wanting to kill it as revenge.

The anime is one part of ''The Ryu Trilogy'' by Creator/ShotaroIshinomori. Ishinomori also wrote the sequel manga, ''Ryu's Path'' and ''Banchou Wakusei''.

* YouKilledMyFather: Tyranno kills Kitty, the adoptive mother of Ryu, leading to him having a burning grudge against her. He also slaughtered Kiba's entire tribe, hence him wanting to kill it as revenge.

!!''Ryu's Path (リュウの道)'' (the sequel manga) has examples of:
* ActionGirl: Maria wields a needle gun in battle.
* AfterTheEnd: [[spoiler: This is what happened to the Earth in the future as it was driven to extinction due to unknown events]].
* AliensAmongUs: [[spoiler: Ryu Shibata is an alien who woke up from cryo-sleep aboard the spacecraft Fuji 1. When Ryu goes outside, he realizes that the planet Fuji 1 landed on is Earth, which has changed after the extinction of humanity.]]
* BackFromTheDead: [[spoiler:Did we mention that part of Ryu's SuperpowerLottery includes this? It's what he uses on Condor.]]
* ChildrenAreInnocent: Jimmy is naive, child-like, and looks up to Maria. He also as a {{Fanboy}}-like view of Ryu, and quickly befriends Peki.
* CoolBigSis: Maria is a badass astronaut and knows how to wield guns. She's been fighting off mutants to protect her little brother Jimmy ever since the two were rendered the sole survivors of the rocket accident.
* CoolSpaceship: Fuji 1, which traveled interstellarly from the fifth planet of Sirius to Earth.
* CreatorThumbprint: It's not a Creator/ShotaroIshinomori story without the government being evil, scummy or involved in a cover-up of sorts. Do note that in real life, outside of his writings, he was a noted critic of the Japanese government and it's corruption.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Maria was one of the crew members of a rocket that escaped to space to avoid a nuclear war that occurred on Earth. However, a large part of the crew members died due to an unknown space deceased, while the rest died died to accident during landing or attacks by from mutants that currently inhabit Earth. By the time the story began, she believed that she and Jimmy were the only survivors left and humanity was on the brink of extinction.
* DramaticIrony: This "Ryu" is revered as some sort of hero, while the "Ryu" of the past was seen as cursed because of his white skin.
* EldritchAbomination: Ryu has to fight off hideous mutants that try to kill him and his friends, [[spoiler: and it's implied they wiped out out large swathes of humanity too]].
* TheGunslinger: Both Ryu and Maria use guns - Ryu's is a ray gun and Maria's is a needle gun.
* FantasticRacism: Apart from hiding scientific knowledge from the world, the cult that rules the city also oppresses mutants, forcing the remaining ones to go into hiding.
* HumansAreWhite: Played straight with Maria and Jimmy Henderson. They're amongst the few remaining human survivors, and you can probably guess from their names what races they are.
* HumanPopsicle: Ryu was in cryostatis for years before he arrived to Earth.
* ImAHumanitarian: When Ryu & Co. encountered Mutumbai, he was eating the corpse of a mutant.
* KillerRobots: Robot City is protected by hordes of murderous machines that are willing to destroy children as well.
* TheLeader: Condor led the mutants outside the town where Ryu was to settle. [[spoiler: After his HeelFaceTurn, he reforms as the "Chief Civil Commissioner'' and adopts a protector role towards the town's inhabitants]].
* OfficialCouple: Ryu and Maria eventually fall in love and get married.
* RobotBuddy: Ryu's gang includes him, two humans (Maria and Jimmy), a monkey/human beast (Peki) and a robot (Isaac).
* ShoutOut: The robot is named Isaac, after Creator/IsaacAsimov. Asimov was known for writing sci-fi novels and popularizing many tropes pertaining to it such as TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture and RobotBuddy.
* TheSmartGuy: Ryu has many skills including bilingualism, knowledge of martial arts and gun usage. He is hailed as a supernatural being by many he meets.
* SanitySlippage: Condor wasn't born evil, but due to his infliction, he was AxCrazy by the time Ryu met him. Thankfully, he was able to restore his sanity and even [[spoiler:brought him back from the dead to support his future missions]].
* SoleSurvivor: Maria and Jimmy were the sole survivors of the rocket accident gone wrong.
* TokenHeroicOrc: While most mutants are dangerous, Ryu & Co. are aided by a monkey/human mutant named Peki. They also later befriend Mutumbai, and Condor after undoing his SanitySlippage.
* WarIsHell: Before meeting Maria, Jimmy, Peki and Isaac, Ryu bemoans that humanity has destroyed itself in a foolish war.
* WarRefugees: Maria and Jimmy attempted to escape Earth during a nuclear war, but after many things went horribly wrong, they were left as their crew's {{Sole Survivor}}s.

The anime ran from October 30, 1971 to March 25, 1972, ending at a total of 22 episodes. It has a prequel manga, Ryu's Path, written by Creator/ShotaroIshinomori.

!!''Ryu's Path'' (the sequel manga) has examples of:

* AliensAmongUs: [[spoiler: Ryu Shibata is an alien who woke up from cryo-sleep aboard the spacecraft Fuji 1. When Ryu goes outside, he realizes that the planet Fuji 1 landed on is Earth, which has changed after the extinction of humanity. Barely any survivors are left, and he sets out to find them.]]
* HumansAreWhite: Averted with Ryu Shibata, but played straight with Maria and Jimmy Henderson.
* DramaticIrony: The "Ryu" of the prequel manga was hailed and revered as some sort of hero, while the "Ryu" of the anime was seen as cursed because of his white skin.
* TheGunslinger: Ryu Shibata's main weapon is a ray gun.

* TheSmartGuy: Ryu has many skills including bilingualism, knowledge of martial arts and gun usage. He is hailed as a supernatural being by many he meets.

* AnimalsRespectNature: Averted with the vicious Tyranno, who only lives for causing destruction.

* ADogNamedDog: The feared, human-eating tyrannosaurus rex is called...Tyranno.

* FreudianExcuse: Taka hates people with white skin because his tribe, the Orgone was wiped out by the Whiteskin people. He hates Ryu for his pale complexion even though Ryu isn't a part of them.

* FreudianExcuse: The Orgone tribe hate people with white skin because their tribe was wiped out by the Whiteskin people.
* GoodParents: Esta was forced to give up Ryu, but even after losing him, she refuses to believe he's dead and keeps searching for him.
* HollywoodPrehistory: Humans and dinosaurs live in the same era and the setting is in a barren, rocky, depressing jungle.

** The Big Horn Tribe order Esta to leave Ryu to die by the hands of Tyranno. But early in the anime, Tyranno attacks and exterminates all of the Big Horn Tribe, leaving Ryu, Ran, Yamu and an elderly woman as the sole survivors.

The anime ran from October 30, 1971 to March 25, 1972, ending at a total of 22 episodes.

* ArtisticLicenseAnimals: Tyranno (the Tyrannosaurus Rex) uses his arms like a human.

* DramaticIrony: The Big Horn Tribe order Esta to leave Ryu to die by the hands of Tyranno. But early in the anime, Tyranno attacks and exterminates all of the Big Horn Tribe, leaving Ryu, Ran, Yamu and an elderly woman as the sole survivors.

* FantasticRacism: Of sorts. Pale skin is seen as a curse, hence Ryu being subject to constant attacks from strangers who believe he'll bring a plague on to the lands.

* HumansAreWhite: Inverted, all humans are brown, or black-passing in the case of Ran. This is enforced as pale skin is seen as a curse, hence pale-skinned babies being killed after birth.

* YouKilledMyFather: Tyranno kills Kitty, the adoptive mother of Ryu, leading to him having a burning grudge against her. He also slaughtered Kiba's entire tribe, hence him wanting to kill it as revenge.