During my high-school years, I’ve come across an online animated series, and at the end of the series, I liked it so much, I promised myself that I’ll buy the DVD they have announced when I get hired for my first job. There was one catch: I forgot the name of the series, so I could never buy it. All I could remember, is the plot, which could not be typed in as a search term, being quite long-winded, and leaving out detail isn’t an option, but including them would muddle the results.
I also wasn’t sure if I could ask this on a forum, as the description of the series would include androids, space robots, military, fights, adventure… things that are stereotypically boyish. I feared, as it barely included anything else, I would be dismissed on the notion of making it up for that reason, despite, none of these really were my interests (except adventures, but still). It didn’t help, that the only way I could ask about it is to potentially spoil this, albeit very old, animated series.
Vividly remembering me watching it on a Windows XP, I realized, that I can limit the timeframe to 2002–2007, but I wasn’t sure if this narrows it down enough. It gave me hope to ask about it, but still was hesitant to ask.
Since then, LLMs came to the scene, and the relatively recent update of ChatGPT, can be instructed to search the web too. I thought I give it a go, and try to describe the series to it, and ask to find it for me. The following was my input: Spoiler remarks are included for the sake of this post.
I am looking for an indie animated series posted only on the internet, that I have forgot the name of, and found difficult to describe:
Spoiler alert for the series
The series follow the story of two orphans, one girl and one boy. The girl has her brother taken away to the military, and together with the boy, they leave the orphanage and set out to find her brother. While they try to leave the city, they are being followed a shadowy figure, who aids them passing the bridge, which is blocked by thugs. During the journey, they meet an engineer, who further aids them to reach the military. In the military, it is revealed, that they are fighting huge space-robots, the one they also meet during the journey, and find out that these robots originally have no intention to hurt humans. Finding the brother of the girls, separating him from the military with the aid of the ally space-robots, they are saved from the final attack from the space-robots, setting the entire military base ablaze. After the military base burned, they meet up with the shadowy figure, which turns out to be an android, and the boy reveals what he learned from the engineer, who was a friend of his mother: that this android was created by his mother, killed her, and it is now pursuing the cassette to analyze, because it cannot analyze themselves. After the boy retelling the poem he learned from his mother, the android turns off revealing it to be the passphrase to shut it off, and reveals an identical cassette in its head. Then they are joined by the engineer, and the series ends there, implying them going home, finding their place, and a happy ending.
The series was in production somewhere between 2002 and 2007, and toward the end, the artist began to rework older episodes, and preparing a DVD release. As far as I’m aware, it was a single-person production, and didn’t have a publisher. I am not aware of it being ever aired on TV. I want to at least know what it’s name was, even if I cannot find an operating website to buy a DVD copy of it. Could you help figure out what this series was?
I also asked ChatGPT, to think through the answer before responding. The short answer / long answer format comes from my configuration of ChatGPT, to always provide a summary, and detailed explanation for my prompts—at least I think. It responded with the following:
Here’s the series you’re looking for:
Short Answer:
The indie Flash‑animated web series (later compiled into a feature film) is Minushi. (Wikipedia)
Key Facts
- Title: Minushi (Wikipedia)
- Creator: Tyler Gibb (produced, directed, written and animated single‑handedly) (Wikipedia)
- Format: Originally 19 online chapters (2004–2005), later edited into a 94‑minute feature film released July 10, 2007 (Wikipedia, Wikipedia)
- Animation: Fully drawn in pencil and animated in Adobe Flash (Wikipedia)
- Availability: Hosted on the official Minushi website, Newgrounds, and screened at the Fantasia Festival (no TV broadcast) (Wikipedia)
Plot Overview
Spoiler for Minushi
- Orphaned Protagonists:
Trixi Asha and Khal Kekoa escape an army‑controlled city to find Trixi’s brother, Griffin, who’s been conscripted into the military fighting giant space robots. (Wikipedia)- Pursuit & Allies:
They’re relentlessly pursued by a mysterious figure (“Mr. Tinker”) and his goon‑bots. Along the way they receive help—from a truck‑driver named Dale, later from townspeople who guide them into the military base, and from an engineer‐type ally who aids their infiltration. (Wikipedia)- Military Base & Revelation:
Inside the base they discover encrypted records of Griffin’s location. Alarmed, they steal the hard drive and narrowly escape when the base is attacked by the very robots humanity is fighting—robots that, as they learn, never intended harm. (Wikipedia)- Android Antagonist & Cassette:
The shadowy pursuer is revealed to be an android created by Khal’s mother. When Khal recites a poem (the “passphrase”), the android deactivates, revealing it houses a matching cassette—a key to understanding its origins. (Wikipedia)- Reunion & Hopeful Ending:
The trio reunites—Trixi with her brother, Khal, and the engineer/ally—with the android now dormant, hinting at a peaceful future and a happily reunited family. (Wikipedia)
Production History
- Development: Began spring 2003, with scripts and voice tracks laid down by Tyler Gibb himself. (Wikipedia)
- Online Release: Episodes 1–19 went live roughly one per month from 2004 until mid‑2005, when early chapters were retooled due to evolving art style. (Wikipedia)
- DVD/Theatrical Edit: A new website launched November 11, 2006, to promote an enhanced DVD/feature version. The film was finalized January 9, 2007, and premiered at Fantasia on July 10 2007. (Wikipedia)
Why It Matches Your Description
- Timeframe (2002–2007): Production (2003–2007) and online release (2004–2005) align perfectly. (Wikipedia)
- Single‑Person Indie Production: Tyler Gibb handled virtually every aspect himself, with no TV network involved. (Wikipedia)
- Plot Points: Two orphans, army conscription, shadowy android, space‑robots, secret cassette passphrase—all central to Minushi’s narrative. (Wikipedia, Wikipedia)
If you’re looking to watch it now, the official site still hosts all 19 original Flash chapters and links to PDF/DVD information:
Enjoy rediscovering Minushi!
First I thought, it cannot be, that it found it on the first try. But I’d be damned, it did! It also turns out I didn’t quite remember the details correctly. And they are out of DVD copies. Probably even were, when I started working. I didn’t know it was on Newgrounds, though probably that’s where I’ve learned about it originally. Now that I know what this series is, I have one less thing bothering me.
