Flint the Time Detective, known in Japan as , is a Japanese anime television series directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi. It was based on a manga by Hideki Sonoda and Akira Yamauchi and was published by Bros. Comics in Japan. A second manga running in Comic Bom Bom was also produced and was released as a special promo for the anime. The anime aired in Japan from 1998 to 1999 on TV Tokyo and ran for 39 episodes.
In the United States, Flint the Time Detective aired from 5 March to 5 November 2000 on the Fox Family Channel as part of the "Made in Japan Sundays" block. Reruns were also seen on Fox Kids.
The series also aired in the Philippines via GMA 7 and dubbed in Filipino language which runs from late 2000 until mid-2001.
Sanrio, the company best known for creating Hello Kitty, holds the license to Flint the Time Detective in Japan. It is the only title in the company's roster to date to be aimed at elementary school boys.
Plot The series is centered around the adventures of Flint Hammerhead, a boy from prehistory who was resurrected from his fossil prison and became a Time Detective for the Time Police, although his competency as a detective is dubious. Much like Inspector Gadget, much of the heavy thinking is done by Flint's friends Sarah and Tony Goodman who accompany him on his adventures. Flint, however, pulled his weight in battle when he would fight with the aid of his father Rocky Hammerhead whose partial resurrection left him a sentient talking rock with a face. Rocky, fashioned into a stone axe for Flint, served Flint as both sturdy weapon and adviser, the latter both in and out of battle. Flint's job as a Time Detective was to go back in time and convince Time-Shifters, cute, collectible creatures to ally with him to protect the timeline.
Usually, he fought against Petra Fina and her cronies Dino and Mite (very reminiscent of Marjo, Grocky, and Walther from Time Bokan), servants of the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord himself sought to use the Time-Shifters' powers to invade the Land of Time, the creatures' home realm from whence he had scattered them. Similar to Pokémon or Digimon, Time-Shifters originate as small, cute creatures who can "shape-shift" into much stronger forms for a time before reverting. This usually took two forms: an evil form (induced by the Petra Stamp, Uglinator's mark, or Dark Lord's magic) called a Con form and a good one brought forth by Flint and his team called a Master form.
Characters Heroes
/ Flint Hammerhead
The main protagonist of the story. Flint is a young, strong caveboy who was fossilized by Petra Fina with his father upon discovery of Getalong. He was freed by Dr. Bernard Goodman's technology and became a member of the Time Police. His weakness is when his stomach runs on empty. He was originally referred to as "Primitive Boy Genshi" in the original manga. / Sarah Goodman
A girl from the 25th century who is Dr. Goodman's niece and Tony Goodman's twin sister who accompanies Flint on his missions. / Tony Goodman
A boy from the 25th century who is Dr. Goodman's nephew and Sarah Goodman's twin brother who also accompanies Flint on his missions. / Dr. Bernard Goodman
A scientist who is the uncle of Sarah and Tony Goodman. He was the one who restored Flint and Getalong. Bernard has a crush on Jillian Gray and he is responsible in sending a time shifter to aid Flint. In the manga, he smokes. In the anime, he only smokes during his teenage years. / Rocky Hammerhead
Flint's caveman father who was fossilized alongside his son. When his son was de-fossilized, Rocky ended up as a flat stone rectangle. Dr. Goodman made him into a high-tech stone axe for Flint to use as a weapon. In this form, Rocky has a beam that can fossilize and de-fossilize anything except those with evil minds and can grow for his Hammerhead Rock attack. / Pterry
A small robotic Pteranodon that accompanies Flint on his missions. He is responsible for his Memory Beam Erase Mode which erases the events of anyone who meets Flint and his friends, ensuring the timeline is restored to its original state. In the original Japanese version, Pterry is a female. / Jillian Gray
Exclusive to the anime, Jillian Gray is the chief of the Time Police. She sends Flint on his missions in time to retrieve the Time Shifters. Dr. Bernard Goodman has a crush on her and tries to get her to love him which doesn't work. In the manga, her position is filled by an old man. / Merlock Holmes
A member of the Time Police who is descended from vampires and has a crush on Sarah. He is accompanied on his missions by Bindi. His English name is an obvious play on Sherlock Holmes. As he is descended from Vampires, he has above human strength and a high vitality, plus can put someone in a trance. He can also transform due to his Vampire heritage (called "Koumori-Kyoichiro" (蝙蝠京一郎, "Bat-Kyoichiro") in the Japanese dub). Unlike the rest of the cast, he first appears in vol. 2 of the Bros. Comics. In the Bom Bom manga, he is reluctant to become friends with Flint and his friends due to his heritage. / Old Timer
A Father Time-esque man who handles the Land of Time and watches Flint's adventure while riding a floating pig. Using a cut-out of an old man, he would inform Jillian Gray about a Time Shifter sighting.
He is a Bom Bom Comics exclusive character and part of the Time Police. He was the one in this version of the manga to discover Bubblegum. He also tells Flint and his friends about Merlock.
Villains
Petra Fina's boss and one of the main antagonists of the series who resides in the Land of Dread. He is a blue-haired, white-skinned man who wears a mask that made him powerful, faster, and enabled him to pull off magical abilities. The Dark Lord was placed in charge of keeping the souls within the Land of Dread trapped. Eventually, the Dark Lord resented this task as he led a lonely life due to the fact that everything in the Underworld was frozen over. Due to the effects of the Land of Dread, he never grew old and remained a young man. He was the one responsible for scattering the Time Shifters across time following his attack on the Land of Time. He also turned four flowers into his Great Four. In the end, the Dark Lord's true form was revealed after Flint's attack was enough to knock off his mask. After the clock in the Land of Time was restarted, the Dark Lord returned to the Land of Dread. , also known as Time Pilfer Lady or / Petra Fina Dagmar / Ms. Iknow
One of the main antagonists of the series. Petra Fina is an enemy of the Time Police wanted for stealing and messing up time and space. Originally a nice girl who grew up in a rich family, she was getting sick with her control freak mother. She eventually ran off from home and started a life of crime. Petra Fina allied herself with the Dark Lord out of having a "school-girl" infatuation with him. Though she eventually realized too late she was a pawn. Petra Fina and her henchmen travel through time in the Catamaran, a cat-shaped ship that can transform into a giant humanoid cat robot. When not on missions given to her, she takes the form of Ms. Iknow, a strict teacher of Flint, Sarah, and Tony's class. By the finale, she had a temporary truce with the heroes that only lasted until the Dark Lord was defeated. After that, Flint and the other heroes pursue Petra Fina through the timeline.
An experimental eel who was freed from the lab he was in and made humanoid by Petra Fina. Dino serves as one of her lackies. When not on missions, he takes the form of a teacher named Mr. Dino.
An experimental frog who was freed from the lab he was in and made humanoid by Petra Fina. Mite serves as one of her lackies. When not on missions, he takes the form of Principal Mite.
Great Four The Great Four are Dark Lord's own Time-Shifters, created from flowers. Just like the regular Time Shifters, all four can transform, in the Japanese dub this form is called "Super" despite being a form of bad transformation, whereas the English dub changes it to "kon" to match the other Shifters bad transformations. In the finale, the four decided to revert to their original selves on their own.
An Oriental-themed warrior who fights with a staff. He fought Flint on different occasions. Super Ninja default form is of a pin that Dark Lord sent to Petra Fina. He was eventually withdrawn by his master following his defeat in his fight with Mosbee-Master, Coconaut-Master, and Dipper-Master. Super Ninja is patterned after the Nio. In the original Japanese version, he ends his sentences with "-Nyo". Super Ninja is also noted for his habit of talking in first person, when the normal way of addressing oneself in Japanese is in 3rd person. The English dub makes a mistake with his naming and he ends up being the only member to retain the use of "Super" in their transformations name. Additionally, he is also only called ever called "Super Ninja", even though just "Ninja" should be the default name. He also talks in first person in the Japanese dub, rather than in third person, when referring to himself; this is atypical of a Japanese speaker.
A skull-type imp (with a chalk-white body, dark blue horns, red eyes and yellow fangs and nails) who first appeared in the form of Petra Fina's Petra-Stamp, which enabled her to turn any Time Shifter into her slave. His presence was soon revealed when he was awakened to replace Super Ninja and take over Petra Fina's group. He can head-butt Time Shifters for Petra Fina to control and can possess people (he once possessed Merlock which turned him into a monstrous version of himself). resembles a larger version of himself and can shoot beams in the ground which summons skeletons that obey his every command. In the original Japanese version, he ends his sentences with "-dasu".
A bird-like creature capable of teleportation, the only female among the Great Four. In the English dub, Nascal was changed to male. Flint had to fight her in order to get into Dark Lord's castle. Nascal-Con resembles a three-headed humanoid condor monster. In the original Japanese version, she ends her sentences with "-ka-ka-ka".
A mushroom-type creature who uses video game-based attacks to prevent Flint, Dino, and Mite from reaching Petra Fina. In battle, he attacks with mushrooms where one of them had mushrooms that became evil versions of Flint's friends like a Bunny Sarah, a winged Tony, Rocky Hammerhead's Petra-Stamped form, and Merlock Holmes' monster form. Ominito-Con resembles an upside-down mushroom. In the original Japanese version, he ends his sentences with "-Gera".
Time Shifters are creatures that help the Old Timer to run the Land of Time until the Dark Lord came and scattered most of them across time and space. Each one has its own special powers and can transform into or . Most of the Time Shifters' Master forms have a humanoid appearance (notable exceptions are Lynx and Unita), whereas their Con forms have a demonic appearance.
An egg-shaped penguin-type Time Shifter who has a love beam that makes people "get along". Found in the Stone Age where she first met Flint Hammerhead, she becomes a constant companion to Flint and his friends afterwards. Getalong is the only one that has neither Con nor Master forms shown within the anime. Though she did try to transform in one episode. At the end of the series, she was the only Shifter to stay with Flint and the others instead of going back to the Land of Time. She was first introduced in vol. 2 of the original Bros. Comics manga as "Zabieha"(ザビエハ). In this manga, Zabieha was transformed into an evil version of herself.
A Dogū-type Time Shifter who can make people dance. looks like a ceramic vase-like creature that can eat earthenware, can pull off the Petra-Stomp attack, and shoot them from his mouth. As , he looks more humanoid with big arms and chest and he can perform the Power Whirl attack. Found in 2nd century AD Japan during the reign of Queen Himiko.