Sparks of Tomorrow
Entry updated 2 November 2026. Tagged: TV.
Japanese animated tv series (2026). Kyoto Animation. Based on the Light Novel 20 Seiki Denki Mokuroku by Hiro Yūki (illustrated by Kazumi Ikeda). Directed by Minoru Ōta. Written by Tatsuhiko Urahata. Voice cast includes Sora Amamiya, Yoshihisa Kawahara, Natsumi Kawaida, Minako Kotobuki, Daisuke Ono, Yō Taichi, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Yuma Uchida and Koki Uchiyama. Thirteen 24-minute episodes. Colour.
We are told the "the fathers of the electric age, Benedict Franklin, Mirko Tesla and Ryuzo Yashima all died before they could leave their mark on history" – the different first names are sic (see Alternate History; Nikola Tesla) – which led to a flourishing of steam Technology (see Steampunk). In 1903, Seiroku Sakamoto (Ono) dreams he and his younger brother Kihachi (Uchida) will turn the Meiji era (1868-1912) into the age of electricity (in our timeline, this is the period when Japan shifted from a feudal to an industrial, modern nation) by using "the Twentieth Century electrical catalogue". But Seiroku went off to war, taking the catalogue with him and never returned. Four years later, Kihachi now runs an unsuccessful machinery repair shop, but still tinkers with Inventions and electricity. He meets the clumsy 15-year-old Inako Momokawa (Amamiya) who is praying for her departed mother, but his verbose enthusiasm for machinery puts her off.
Yosuke Mizoe (Uchiyama), heir to the leading manufacturer of steam engines, the Mizou company, seeks the Twentieth Century electrical catalogue and – believing it to be in Inako's family home – forces her indebted father into accepting his engagement to Inako. Realizing his motive, Inako's elder sister Noriko (Kotobuki) has her deliver the catalogue to Kihachi, who explains it is filled with his and Seiroku's ideas for inventions, but notes she has delivered only half of it. Despite flying off in a hang-glider invented by Kihache ("Can you really fly in that?" "Theoretically.") Yosuke captures them, but declares the catalogue a fake – the inventions described within (such as "electric lights [that] will illuminate the night like a full moon") are just "childish fantasy" (he points out filaments burn out too quickly) and departs. However, with the help of Inako and her schoolfriends – intelligent Suzu Harashima (Taichi) and the Anglo-Japanese Kate Okura (Kawaida) – Kihache finds Seiroku's writings hidden in the binding, with Inako encouraging him to develop the catalogue's ideas: for instance, by using carbonized bamboo filament in his light bulb (as Thomas Edison did in our timeline) he creates the "Electric Full Moon" (having a vision of it lighting the streets and helping dispel superstition). When he shows it to Yosuke the latter is angered and heartbroken: he and Seiroku were once friends – probably lovers – and he wants to be the one who brings their dream to life. Kihachi goes on to invent further electrical devices – batteries; an electric aeroplane, electric instruments and amplification (Suzu, Kate and Inako become an all-girl rock Music group) and an electric love tester.
Kihachi meets Kate's father, Professor Stuart Smith (Kawahara), an English teacher who encouraged Seiroku's interest in electricity. Noriko's fiancee, Kengo (Takeuchi), reveals that whilst serving with Seiroku in a European War, the other had given him half the catalogue to look at (Seiroku having given the other half to Noriko as a guarantee he would return), only to be shot. If he had not passed the book to Kengo it would have blocked the bullet, so Kengo feels guilty (ironically, the book had saved his life in this way): back in Japan he had given the catalogue to Smith. Kihachi now has the complete catalogue, and decides to give it to Yosuke in exchange for his not marrying Inako, explaining to the upset Inako that he does not need it to usher in the Age of Electricity.
Examining the second half of the catalogue, Yosuke discovers Seiroku's circuit diagram for a calculating machine (see Computers) and sends it to Kihachi anonymously, knowing he is the only one who can make it work, and has to rescue him when he gets trapped in a mine searching for quartz crystals. They form an alliance of convenience to combine Yosuke's resources and Kihachi's talents. Kihachi tells the other that the diagrams are (as Yosuke suspected) a blueprint for an electric brain. Whilst Kihachi sees the electric brain as a computer, Yosuke believes it can be used to create life (see AI): specifically, Seiroku. Unknown to Kihachi he has a steam-powered automaton of Seiroku ("I used a steam engine to recreate the organs and blood") which he now links to the newly activated electric brain – a vast structure – which has all his memories of his friend (the details of this are not explained). However, it does not "become human". Yosuke decides it needs a human soul to make that leap and drugs Kihachi, dressing him as a bride and attempting to merge his soul with the automaton/computer. Inako rescues him, carrying him off as Yosuke's laboratory is aflame (Yosuke can at this point be considered a Mad Scientist); the vast factory holding the electric brain (and surrounded by steam engineering) collapses into an enormous sinkhole. However Kihachi decides to rescue Yosuke using his electric aeroplane, with Inako as co-pilot; they fly into the sinkhole. Yosake is hallucinating being with Seiroku who tells him he must move on (there is a suggestion this might be the electric brain/automaton's doing); he is rescued. All ends happily, though the possibility of a season 2 is left open with Yosake going abroad but clearly not having given up on bringing back Seiroku.
Inako and Kihachi both lack confidence in themselves, but each is insistent that the other must not weaken in following their ambition (Inako's is to become a brewer like her mother). The series initially tries to be scientifically literate with Kihachi's electrical research reflecting what happened in our timeline, but this discipline is eventually dropped. This reflects the Anime's main problem, which is not successfully juggling its various parts, resulting in tonal dissonance: for example, though Yosake sometimes comes across as a tragic, sympathetic figure, most of the time he is an over-the-top comic Villain. This is partially explained by the animation – which can impress, particularly at the end – often portraying the story as a farce, whilst the script seems to take things more seriously. There is some Fan Service, but of buff male physiques; the women stay fully clothed and are strong characters (see Feminism; Women in SF). There are many not quite confirmed LGBT elements; aside from those previously mentioned, Suzu's and Kate's relation seems to be sapphic. Sparks of Tomorrow is unsatisfactory overall because of the tonal problems and resulting grating silliness – the Humour is hit or miss – but nevertheless is often enjoyable. [SP]
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