Synopsis

The animation series “Go Go Giwas” aims to include content from the indigenous cultures of all 16 of Taiwan’s indigenous peoples. In Season IV, the newest installment, there are 14 episodes each 12 minutes long, which include stories from Taiwan’s indigenous Tao, Bunun, Rukai, and Pinuyumayan peoples. Within this season’s animation stories of festivals, legends, ecology, and traditional knowledge of indigenous communities, there are new characters, music, backdrops, and new content around science concepts of space stations included throughout.

One day, Giwas meets Bukun Ismahasan Islituan and his younger sister Puni Ismahasan Islituan in the forest nearby a Bunun village. The siblings bring Giwas and her friends to the Islituan family home where Bukun introduces their treasured family heirloom: a wood-cut calendar. Wood-cut calendars are a traditional tool for recording seasons, ceremonies, and rituals. Puni shows them the necklace that her mother gave her for the Infant Festival, but her brother breaks it, causing the beads to scatter across the floor. No matter how hard they search, they can’t find the most precious stone bead. Then, the group passes through a portal to reach the space station Ryuk where they learn the principles of the movement and phases of the moon and also receive clues for where to find the precious stone bead. After returning to the Islituan family home, they finally succeed in repairing Puni’s necklace.