, known as '' Starvengers'' in the United States, is a

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 by

Toei Animation () is a Japanese animation studio primarily controlled by its namesake Toei Company. It has produced numerous series, including ''Sally the Witch,'' ''GeGeGe no Kitarō,'' ''Mazinger Z'', ''Galaxy Express 999'', ''Cutie Honey'', ''Dr. Slump'', ' ...

based on ''Hundred Demons Empire'' arc of ''Getter Robo'' manga by

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of science fiction, fantasy, horror and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', but is best known for creating popular 1970s ...

and

Ken Ishikawa was a Japanese manga artist. He is renowned as the co-creator (with Go Nagai) of the ''Getter Robo'' anime series, as well as four of their subsequent manga continuations. According to Nagai, he considered Ishikawa his greatest friend and ally ...

. This direct sequel to ''

Getter Robo is a Japanese mecha media franchise created by Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai. An anime television series produced by Toei Animation was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974, to May 8, 1975, with a total of 51 episodes. The manga was seriali ...

'' was broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

from May 15, 1975 to March 25, 1976, with a total of 39 episodes (some episodes were rebroadcast, erroneously giving the impression that there were 43 episodes).

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...

's popular Shogun Warriors toy collection included Getter Robo G's robot formations in that toy line: Getter Dragon (Dragun), Getter Liger (Raider), and Getter Poseidon (Poseidon). As a result of the popularity of these toys in the US, Jim Terry included this series in his ''

Force Five ''Force Five'' is an American adaptation of five different anime television series. In the United States, this series was primarily shown only in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, though it did make brief appearances in other markets, s ...

'' anime lineup under the title of ''Starvengers''. Some ''Starvengers'' episodes were re-dubbed and released by FB Productions under the '' Robo Formers'' title. The original ''Getter Robo'' series, however, has yet to appear in the US (although the '' Shin Getter Robo'' OVAs have appeared). In the UK, ''Starvengers'' episodes were released on video by Krypton Force under the name ''Formators''.

Plot

After the final defeat of the Dinosaur Empire and the death of

Musashi Tomoe The following is a list of characters from the anime and manga series ''Getter Robo''. Getter Robo Getter Team * Voiced by: Akira Kamiya - is the protagonist and main pilot in the Getter Robo franchise. He is a hot-blooded youth in high ...

in the original ''

'' series, Dr. Saotome (Dr. Copernicus in ''Starvengers''), creator of Getter Robo, fears that the peace the Getter Robo team has won will be short lived and that even greater enemies will appear. Dr. Saotome's fears are justified when the Hundred Demon Empire (Hyakki Teikoku, also known as the Pandemonium Empire in ''Starvengers'') appears. Composed of horned,

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

-like alien

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...

s and possessing a technology advanced enough to build giant

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in religion, occultism, literature, fiction, mythology, and folklore; as well as in media such as comics, video games, movies, ani ...

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

s, this

militaristic Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...

organization intends to steal Saotome's Getter Generator to fulfill their own goals of world domination. However, Dr. Saotome is prepared with the creation of an even more powerful Getter Robo, Getter Robo G and a new Getter Robo base. Also, with Musashi dead, Dr. Saotome needs a third pilot, which he finds in

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding te ...

Benkei Kuruma.

Getter Machines

Like its predecessor, Getter Robo G is composed of three jet-like vehicles piloted by one of the three pilots. Dragon is the red jet, controlled by the pilot of Getter Dragon. Liger, the blue jet, is used by Getter Liger's pilot. Getter Poseidon's operator uses Poseidon, the yellow machine. All three are armed with

missile In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets (when a previously unguided rocket i ...

s but are generally very weak and never used in combat unless absolutely necessary. They also appear when the pilots use the Open Get (Break Formation in the English version) verbal command to break up the current form, so that they can change into another, or so they can dodge an enemy's attack. * Getter Dragon (formed from Dragon+Liger+Poseidon) - English Version - Star Dragon - piloted by

Ryoma Nagare The following is a list of characters from the anime and manga series ''Getter Robo''. Getter Robo Getter Team * Voiced by: Akira Kamiya - is the protagonist and main pilot in the Getter Robo franchise. He is a hot-blooded youth in high ...

, English version - Homer Winthrow * Getter Liger (formed from Liger+Poseidon+Dragon) - English version - Star Arrow - piloted by

Hayato Jin The following is a list of characters from the anime and manga series ''Getter Robo''. Getter Robo Getter Team * Voiced by: Akira Kamiya - is the protagonist and main pilot in the Getter Robo franchise. He is a hot-blooded youth in high ...

, but piloted by Michiru when Hayato is captured near the end. English version - Paladin Spencer * Getter Poseidon (formed from Poseidon+Dragon+Liger) - English version - Star Poseidon - piloted by Benkei Kuruma, English version - Elmer O. Fossil aka "Foul Tip"

Mecha Oni

Mecha Oni are the monsters of the week that appear much like the mechasauruses in the first series. It is stated and proven in a few episodes that destroying their horns will critically weaken, if not destroy, a Mecha Oni. Most Mecha Oni take up the likeness of their pilots, primarily in the head, with a few exceptions.

References

External links

* {{Toei Animation 1975 anime films 1975 anime television series debuts 1976 anime films Getter Robo Shunsuke Kikuchi Super robot anime and manga Japanese animated science fiction films 1970s Japanese-language films 1970s science fiction films Fuji TV original programming 1970s animated short films Anime short films Toei Animation television Films scored by Shunsuke Kikuchi