Gon

The 2012 Gon television series is a computer-animated adaptation of the silent manga created by Masashi Tanaka. Produced by Kodansha and the Korean animation studio Daewon Media, the series aimed to bring the titular hyper-realistic prehistoric dinosaur to a younger audience. Unlike the original manga, which famously contained no dialogue and focused on nature-based slapstick, the anime introduced voice acting and a more structured episodic format to fit broadcast standards.

The character design maintains the squat, rugged aesthetic established by Tanaka in the 1990s, though the transition to 3D CGI was intended to modernize the visuals for early 2010s television. While the series succeeded in introducing the character to a new generation, it received a mixed reception from long-time fans who missed the wordless, gritty, and atmospheric tone of the original source material. It remains a notable example of an experimental cross-cultural collaboration between Japanese publishing houses and Korean production facilities.