The first series (Anime Oyako Gekijo) began at the home of a young boy named Christopher Peeper (Sho Azuka in Japanese) who discovers the Bible “Superbook” (Time/Space Travel Book) that speaks and sends him, his friend Joy (Azusa Yamato), and his clockwork toy robot Gizmo (Zenmaijikake) back in time to the early events of the Old Testament. Gizmo can walk and talk, but only for the duration of the adventure (and he still needs to be wound up regularly).
In the first episode, Chris and Joy were cleaning the attic for Chris’s father (a somewhat eccentric college professor) when they noticed an old book glowing. The children tried to open the book, but were unable to open it, no matter how hard they pulled. The book promptly opened on its own, shining a blinding light around Chris’s bedroom, and started to speak before whisking the children and Gizmo back in time to the Garden of Eden to experience the story of Adam and Eve.
In Superbook II (Pasokon Travel Tanteidan), which took place two years after the first series, the book fell onto a computer keyboard, giving anybody the ability to see into the past from Christopher’s home via the monitor. Ruffles, Chris’ dog, managed to get lost in time, prompting Gizmo and Chris’ brother (rewritten as his cousin in the English dub) Uriah (or “Uri” for short; Yuu in the original Japanese) to search for her. Chris and Joy kept watch and control of the computer from the present. The older children also had a hard time trying to keep what happened a secret from Chris’s parents. Gizmo appeared as a functioning robot in the present day rather than as a toy in the second series, but still needed to be wound up on a regular basis. Gizmo also had a built in computer keyboard and a monitor in his chest in order for Gizmo and Uri to stay in contact with Chris and Joy in the present day as well as transporting to other places in time or returning to the present…
