Porphy no Nagai Tabi

Porphy no Nagai Tabi (ポルフィの長い旅, Porufi no Nagai Tabi; meaning "The Long Journey of Porphy") is a Japanese anime produced by Nippon Animation. It is the 25th show in the World Masterpiece Theater series and is based on Paul-Jacques Bonzon's novel *The Orphans of Simitra* (*Les Orphelins de Simitra*). The series ran on BS Fuji in Japan from January to December 2008, with a total of 52 episodes.

The story follows a Greek boy named Porphyras Patagos, usually called Porphy, and his younger sister Mina. After a devastating earthquake destroys their home in Greece, the two are orphaned. To avoid being placed in a foster home and separated, they decide to travel across Europe to find a new home. However, they become separated, and Porphy must journey across the continent to find his sister.

The main characters include Porphy, a 12-year-old boy with a passion for automobiles who survives the earthquake that destroyed his village of Simitra; he is reunited with Mina at the series' end. Mina, his little sister, also survives the earthquake but is injured. Grief-stricken, she ends up with a fortuneteller named Isabella, who later brings her to Tiffany Aubert for a film role. She and Porphy reunite in the finale. Other characters include Zaïmis, a classmate and friend who survives the earthquake and later meets Porphy in Paris; Tony, another survivor; Anek and Christophore Patagos, Porphy and Mina's parents, both confirmed dead in the earthquake; and Apollo, the family's pet dog, who survives and accompanies Porphy on his search until he is shot by a hunter in episode 43. The cast also includes Barnes Smith, a US army man; Nicholas, who helps build a service station; Alessia, a girl Porphy mistakes for a boy who has a crush on him; Helena, an old school friend of Anek's; Isabella and her husband Carlos; and many others such as Daisy, Maximilian, Andre Macini, Heinz von Eisenfeld, and Marissa, a woman who wears a mask to hide her disfigured face.