is a Japanese
manga
Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...
series written and illustrated by
George Manabe. It was first serialized in
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...
's ''Comic Comp'' Magazine beginning November 1989 up to January 1993. The series transferred publication to
MediaWorks's ''
Dengeki Comic Gao!
, also known as ''Dengeki Gao!'' was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine that primarily contained manga and information about series featuring bishōjo characters. It was published from December 1992 to February 2008 by MediaWorks (publisher), Medi ...
'' Magazine from February 1993 to November 2001. The series focuses on Rai Ryuga, a young courageous warrior who seeks to unify the cosmos in a war against other two powerful forces. The series borrows heavily from events of the
Sengoku period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
and events from the Chinese novel ''
Romance of the Three Kingdoms
''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...
''.
An anime adaptation of the series aired on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
from April 8, 1994, to March 31, 1995. It was known outside Japan as ''Thunder Jet: Raiders of the Galaxy Empire''.
Plot
After the collapse of the Sacred Galaxy Empire, a battle for control of the Milky Way Galaxy breaks out among the warlords. From the chaos emerges a young courageous warrior, Rai Ryuga. A fearless warrior to his foes but to others, he is a gentle soul, dependable and loyal. Two powerful forces aspire to reign over the entire Empire: Hiki Danjo, ruler of the Northern Region of the Milky Way, and Lord Masamune, ruler of the Southern Region. Rai sees the ensuing battle and ponders the ultimate goal: to battle against other factions in order to reunify the Milky Way under one ruler and that one day he will bring peace to the galaxy.
Characters
;
:
:The protagonist and a hero of the series. His actual age remain unknown but in the manga he was about 18 years old at the time he was in Danjo's army. He joined the Army of the Kingdom of Gojo as a Private, but he was quickly promoted to platoon leader and, later, as battalion commander after successive victories in critical battles. In the anime, Rai is portrayed as more of a hero and is more one dimensional compared to his manga appearance. In the manga, he begins with an attitude similar to his anime portrayal, but as the story progresses, his ambitions leave consequences that enable him to rise higher within the ranks of the galactic kingdoms at the expense of the lives of numerous key characters ; this makes Rai a more complex individual who, as he keeps gaining more power, is tragically torn between choosing the right thing to do and following his ambition to become the emperor regardless of the casualties. After Simone's death in both versions (Muraya in the manga), Rai vows to become a just ruler who will unite the galaxy and protect the people living in peace. His overzealous dream of becoming the ruler of the galaxies serves as Geni's main source of strength, indirectly causing Simone's death and much of the conflicts fought by Rai throughout the story. In the manga's special epilogue chapter, an older Rai (now emperor) meets Jamka, the son he conceived through a secret affair with Lord Masamune, and the one who would truly realize Simone's dream of unifying the galaxy.
;
:
: A 34-year-old monk born in the same planet as Rai. He has tremendous physical strength while being very loyal to him.
;
:
: A 14-year-old boy who tags along with Rai and Unkai. Often seen using a gun during battles. He died in a mission in the manga when he tried to bomb the Ren Kingdom warships by disguise as a Ren's soldier. During the mission, his masquerade was exposed and severely injured by many of the soldiers on the ship; therefore, he decided to sacrifice by setting off the explosion in the gunpowder unit, blow up a series of ships instantly that later led to Rai's victory.
;
:
: A little girl who serves as an attendant for Simone, she is also a younger sister of Kagan. She loves and trusts her very much. In the manga she is Kagan (Kagyoku)'s younger sister, as well as a much less important character; despite being assigned as Simone's servant, Lan-Lan is not given much of a role. In the end of the manga she becomes Soukuka's wife.
Media
Manga
The original manga is released in November 1989 up to January 1993 and was serialized in
Kadokawa Shoten
, formerly , is a Japanese publisher and division of Kadokawa Future Publishing based in Tokyo, Japan. It became an internal division of Kadokawa Corporation on October 1, 2013. Kadokawa publishes manga, light novels, manga anthology magazines su ...
's ''Comic Comp'' magazine. The manga is compiled into 6
tankobon volumes on its first released. The series then moved to
MediaWorks's ''
Dengeki Comic Gao!
, also known as ''Dengeki Gao!'' was a Japanese shōnen manga magazine that primarily contained manga and information about series featuring bishōjo characters. It was published from December 1992 to February 2008 by MediaWorks (publisher), Medi ...
'' and ran from February 1993 to November 2001, compiling the series up to 16
tankobon volumes. The entire manga series is later available in both Kadokawa's
BookWalker app in Japan and in Amazon's
Amazon Kindle
Amazon Kindle is a series of e-readers designed and marketed by Amazon. Amazon Kindle devices enable users to browse, buy, download, and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking to the Kindle Store. ...
app.
Anime
The anime adaptation of the manga was animated by E&G Films and aired on
TV Tokyo
JOTX-DTV (channel 7), branded as and known colloquially as , is a television station headquartered in the Sumitomo Fudosan Roppongi Grand Tower in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, owned and operated by the subsidiary of listed certified b ...
in Japan from April 8, 1994, to March 31, 1995. Seiji Okuda directed the series with scripts written by
Jinzō Toriumi. (''
Science Ninja Team Gatchaman
is a Japanese animated franchise about a five-member superhero ninja team created by Tatsuo Yoshida and produced by Tatsunoko Productions. The original anime series, which debuted in 1972, was eponymously entitled ''Kagaku Ninja-tai Gatchaman ...
'', ''
Yatterman
is a Japanese anime television series broadcast from January 1, 1977 to January 27, 1979, comprising 108 episodes. It is the second and longest show in the ''Time Bokan'' series by Tatsunoko Productions. The series succeeded ''Time Bokan'' a ...
'') Norihiko Tanimoto performed the series's opening theme while Mari Sasaki sang the ending theme
In 1993, one year before the anime aired on TV, the president of Kadokawa Shoten
Haruki Kadokawa is a Japanese publisher, film producer, director and screenwriter. He was the son of Genyoshi Kadokawa and inherited the position of president of the publishing house Kadokawa Shoten in 1975. Under his guidance, the company soon branched into film ...
was arrested for instructing photographer Takeshi Ikeda, a close aide, to smuggle cocaine from the United States on several occasions. He was charged with smuggling and embezzling money from his company in order to fund the drug purchases. The arrest resulted in Kadokawa's anime productions to be produced under lower budget to studios such as E&G Films. Because of this incident,
George Manabe has voiced a dislike for the anime adaptation, further stating he wanted everyone involved in the anime production to get a death sentence.
It also was aired in TPI (now MNCTV), Indonesia during 1995. As of 2021, the show has not been released in any format.
;Episodes
Video game
A hybrid
real-time strategy
Real-time strategy (RTS) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games that do not progress incrementally in turn-based game, turns, but allow all players to play simultaneously, in "real time". By contrast, in Turn-based strategy, turn ...
turn-based
In video and other games, the passage of time must be handled in a way that players find fair and easy to understand. This is usually done in one of the two ways: real-time and turn-based.
Real-time
Real-time games have game time progress cont ...
video game adaptation was released for the
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Eur ...
by Angel (Bandai) exclusively in Japan in 1996.
References
External links
*
* {{anime News Network, anime, 2225, Ginga Sengoku Gun Yuuden Rai
1989 manga
1994 anime television series debuts
Space opera anime and manga
Sengoku period in fiction