is a Japanese

Super Robot Mecha anime and manga, known in Japan as and , are anime and manga that feature robots (mecha) in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; "super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where robots are ...

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

series created by

Knack Productions , formerly known as or simply until August 2008, is a Japanese anime and film production company. History Knack Productions was founded on September 25, 1967, by a group of former employees of Toei Animation and Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production ...

. It consisted of 26 episodes and originally aired from October 4, 1972, to March 28, 1973.

Plot

An alien woman named Maya crash-lands on Earth. Her homeworld was destroyed by the Blasters, a cruel alien race who steals the natural resources from other planets. She falls in love with a scientist and gives birth to a human boy named Kantaro. When the Blasters invade the Earth, Kantaro must defeat them by fighting with Astroganger, a robot made from living metal.

Production

This was the first Super Robot show in color, beating ''

Mazinger Z is a Japanese super robot manga series written and illustrated by Go Nagai. The first manga version was serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973, and it later was reissued in Kodansha ''TV Magazine ...

'' to the air by two months. Astroganger is very different from most of the robots of the genre. He is a sentient being who can talk, think, and feel pain. He has no special abilities and must rely on his strength to win battles.

Staff

* Series composition: Tatsuo Tamura * Script: Tatsuo Tamura, Mitsuru Majima, Reiko Imano, Toyohiro Ando,

Hiromichi Mogaki is an animation producer currently working as a director for Studio Comet. Productions Credits are for producer unless otherwise specified. *'' Ashita Tenki ni Naare'' *'' Captain Tsubasa: Ayaushi! Zen Nippon Jr.'' *'' Captain Tsubasa: Europe Da ...

* Storyboards: Taku Sugiyama,

Masayuki Akehi is a Japanese anime director. Works Director Source: *'' Steel Jeeg'' (TV series, 1975–1976) *'' Grendizer, Getter Robo G, Great Mazinger: Kessen! Daikaijuu'' (film, 1976) *'' Bonjour Galaxy Express 999'' (television film, 1979) *'' Cyborg 00 ...

* Episode directors: Yoshikata Nitta, Kenjiro Yoshida

Reception

''Astroganger'' was very popular in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...

as Jonker (جونكر), and was also shown in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

as Astroganga and in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

as Astro Gungar. The same staff would go on to create the notorious ''

Chargeman Ken! is a science fiction anime series created by Tetsuji Suzukawa and Eiji Tanaka and animated by Knack Productions (now ICHI Corporation). It was directed by Noboru Miura and written by Masaaki Wakuda, Toyohiro Andō and Yoshio Tamado, with the ...

''. Like that show, ''Astroganger'' has sometimes been referred to as "so bad it's good."

References

External links

* 1972 anime television series debuts Discotek Media Knack Productions Nippon TV original programming Super robot anime and manga {{Anime-television-series-stub