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Getter Robo

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Getter Robo
File:Getterrobo.jpg
GenreMecha
Anime
StudioToei Animation

Getter Robo (ゲッターロボ - Gettâ Robo) is a Super Robot anime series created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa and produced by Toei Animation. The series was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4 1974 to May 8 1975, with a total of 51 episodes. This anime series featured the first heroic giant robot to combine from individual parts.

Story

Template:Spoiler The plot involves three strong-willed teenagers: soccer player and martial artist Ryoma Nagare, rebel loner Hayato Jin and Judo master Musashi Tomoe, who pilot three specially designed combat jets which can be combined together in different forms to form three different kinds of giant robots, Getter-1 (used for aerial combat), Getter-2 (for land-based conflicts), and Getter-3 (for undersea battles). They were assembled by Prof. Saotome, who conceived the Getter Robo project as Earth's first line of defense against the Dinosaur Empire, which is a civilization of reptile-like humanoids, who evolved from the now-extinct dinosaurs that roamed the earth millions of years ago. They have lived many years underground, and they now want to reclaim the Earth as theirs and destroy humanity.

The series was groundbreaking in the anime mecha genre: for the very first time, it introduced the concept of separate machines combining to form a Super Robot. Using three jets, Getter Robo could combine in three different ways to create three different versions of Getter Robo for different conditions and situations. This idea was originally discussed during the creation process for Mazinger Z (the first Super Robot to be piloted internally), but was dropped and then developed for Getter Robo. This combination idea proved to be a very powerful concept that has been used in the super robot genre ever since. Also, by adding three pilots to the robot was able to add an element of teen drama, probably influenced by the already popular anime sci-fi team show Gatchaman or G-force (better known in the U.S. as Battle of the Planets).

Characters

Getter Team

  • Ryoma Nagare (流竜馬, Nagare Ryouma): The team leader. Pilots Getta-1.
  • Seiyuu: Akira Kamiya
  • Hayato Jin (神隼人, Jin Hayato): A serious loner, pilots the second jet and robot.
  • Seiyuu: Keaton Yamada
  • Musashi Tomoe (巴武蔵, Tomoe Musashi): A Judo expert, pilots the second robot. He doesn't appear in the original manga.
  • Seiyuu: Toku Nishio
  • Benkei Kurama (車弁慶, Kurama Benkei): Strong pilot of the third robot in the second series.
  • Seiyuu: Jouji Yanami
  • Professor Saotome (早乙女博士, Saotome-hakase): Inventor of the Getter Robo. In the original manga he piloted the third jet himself.
  • Seiyuu: Kousei Tomita
  • Michiru Saotome (早乙女ミチル, Saotome Michiru): Professor Saotome's daughter, pilots a jet of her own which doesn't combine with the others.
  • Seiyuu: Rihoko Yoshida
  • Genki Saotome (早乙女元気, Saotome Genki): Professor Saotome's son, the child tagalong present in nearly all 1970's Japanese action cinema.
  • Seiyuu: Hiroko Kikuchi

Dinosaur Empire

Sequels

The last episode of the Getter Robo series showed the defeat of the Dinosaur Empire, but with a high price: the death of one of the Getter Robo pilots, Musashi. It also introduced a new enemy, the Clan of the 100 Devils, who at that very moment were preparing an invasion of Earth from space. This would be the basis of a sequel with a new, improved version of the original robot, piloted by Ryoma, Hayato, and newcomer pilot Benkei Kuruma. The series, called Getter Robo G, would not be as long and successful as the first one, lasting 39 episodes. The new robot and its pilots were also featured in the Go Nagai short features Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G and Great Mazinger, Grendizer, Getter Robo G: Decisive Showdown! Great Sea Beast. It also became famous in the U.S. as it was included in edited form as part of the Force Five robot series produced for the American market, where its name was changed to Starvengers.

After some years, the franchise was revived in 1991 with the new series Getter Robo Go, directed by Yoshiki Shibata, and featuring a new robot and an all-new team. Despite lasting 50 episodes, it was considered a noncanonical flop.

Despite this, the influence and popularity of the original show continued in Japan, and it found a way to stay with fans through video games (like the Super Robot Wars game series, in which the Getter Robo is one of its lineup mainstays) and other merchandise. The series was even spoofed successfully in the mecha anime series Martian Successor Nadesico, where the anime-within-anime Gekigangar lll was a direct pun (and homage) to the Getter Robo legacy, among many other super robot series.

Retro-OVAs

The concept was revived once again in 1998 with the retro-styled OVA Shin Getter Robo or Change! Shin Getter Robo: The Last Day of the World(Released in America as Getter Robo : Armageddon). Giant Robo director Yasuhiro Imagawa was to direct the OVA, but had a falling out with the studio. The OVA ran 13 episodes and was presented as a sequel to a story - which was never actually animated - about the Getter Team fighting a race of amorphous aliens called "Invaders." This production made use of an animation style reminiscent of the old Getter Robo and other 70's anime shows with thick, sketchy lines. The mecha design for the Shin Getter Robo was first used in the video game Super Robot Wars 4 from 1995 on the Super Famicom and was adopted by the OVA.

Several fans of the original series complained about the OVA's story and characters, which were radically different from the TV series in many ways, including the recasting of Professor Saotome as a villain and the return of Musashi Tomoe. Two years later, the same staff returned for the four-part OVA Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo which ditched the Shin OVA plot and used a continuity closer to the original. The OVA introduced a Getter Robo design which is suspiciously similar to the one in the Getter Robo Go series as well as characters from Getter Robo Go that are closer in personality to those found in the original manga than the anime adaptation. Many fans consider this OVA to be a form of redemption for the unpopular Getter Robo Go. The OVA also included a three part miniseries that lasted five minutes called Dynamic Super Robot's Grand Battle which shows several Go Nagai created robots doing battle with the Mycene empire from the anime Great Mazinger. The short included appearances by Getter Robo G and Shin Getter Robo.

A New Story

In 2004, director Jun Kawagoe produced a new OVA called New Getter Robo, this time being a re-telling of the Getter Robo story. In this new story humanity is under attack by demonic creatures called Oni. As in the original stories, Dr. Saotome creates a series of Getter-Ray-powered robots to fight the monsters, culminating the creation of Getter Robo. Both the robot and the Getter Team were redesigned for the new series. Getter Robo is more detailed and mechanical-looking than its earlier forms, and all three pilots - Ryoma, Hayato, and a combination of Musashi and Benkei's archetypes named "Benkei Musashibou" - are more violent and antiheroic. Ryoma is now a street fighter, Hayato a bloodthirsty, psychotic gang leader, and Benkei a hedonistic and gluttonous apprentice monk. This remake is considered truer to the original story and spirit of Getter Robo (it was especially more faithful to the original manga version) than the previous remakes and sequels.

13 episodes were produced for this OVA.

Getter Robo basic stats

Getter 1

  • Pilot: Ryoma Nagare
  • Height: 38m
  • Weight: 220 tons
  • Weapons
    • Getter Beam - A beam of purple Getter Energy, fired from Getter-1's stomach. The beam is Getter-1's most powerful weapon, and is particularly dangerous to enemies who are sensitive to Getter Rays (which typically includes most Getter villains).
    • Getter Tomahawk - A gigantic hand axe, and Getter-1's main melee weapon. The robot can wield two at a time, although it only uses one in the original series. Ryoma yells out "Tomahawk" as "TOMAHOUUUUUUKU".
    • Tomahawk Boomerang - Getter-1 throws the tomahawk. It spins extremely quickly, cutting through anything it hits like a buzzsaw. Typically the weapon will curve in mid-air, hitting moving enemies and returining to the Getter after striking its target. In later incarnations, the Getter often throws two axes at once, the Double Tomahawk Boomerang.
    • Getter Machine Gun (Seen only in the manga and a few OVAs) - Pulling out a pair of machine guns, Getter-1 sprays the battlefield with bullets. In Super Robot Wars Alpha Gaiden and Super Robot Wars A, this was shown as Missile Machine Gun.

Getter 2

  • Pilot: Hayato Jin
  • Height: 38m
  • Weight: 220 tons
  • Weapons
    • Drill Arm - Getter-2 strikes an enemy with the drill attached to its left arm.
    • Drill Punch (AKA Drill Missile or Drill Attack) - The drill spins quickly and is launched at an opponent like a rocket. The aftereffects of the attack vary by series and battle - sometimes the drill returns to the Getter, sometimes it falls to the ground, and sometimes it explodes. Losing the drill does not prevent the Getter from changing forms.
    • Drill Storm - The drill spins at extremely high speeds, creating a tornado extending forward from the tip. Enemies caught in the winds are immobilized.
    • Getter Vision - Moving at high-speeds, Getter-2 can create afterimages of itsself to confuse opponents.

Getter 3

  • Pilot: Musashi Tomoe
  • Height: 20m
  • Weight: 220 tons
  • Weapons
    • Getter Missile - Getter-3 fires a pair of missiles attached to the sides of its head.
    • Daisetsuzan Oroshi (Great Mountain Storm, Wind Blowing Down Mt. Daisetsu) - Getter-3 grabs an enemy and uses its extending arms to spin them above its head, followed by a devastating throw attack. The technique is based on Musashi's signature judo throw.
    • Machine Guns (Seen only in Shin Getter Robo: Armageddon OVA) - In the Armageddon OVA, Getter-3 was armed with machine guns on the tank part of its body.

Getter Q

  • Pilot: Michiru Saotome

An independent robot piloted by Professor Saotome's daughter. It was destroyed in the same episode it was introduced.

Video Games

The various Getter Robos are mainstay characters in the Super Robot Wars series by Banpresto, usually found in the super deformed style which the series is popular for. The Getter Robos also received their own turn based strategy game similar to the Super Robot Wars series for the Sony PlayStation titled Getter Robo Daikessen!. This game featured the various versions of Getter Robo from the manga and anime and OAVs produced until that point, as well as an original version piloted by a trio of ninja women.

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