Golden Warrior Gold Lightan
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

is a
mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines controlled by people, typically depicted as humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japanese is ...
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 ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...
that aired from 1981 to 1982 in
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...
. The show was also popular in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and was aired there around the same time. There are 52 episodes that were aired at 30 minutes each.


Original story

The story is about a young boy named Hiro Taikai who finds a gold
lighter A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...
which turns out to be the giant Golden Warrior Gold Lightan, who has the mission to save the earth from an invasion by King Ibalda. Gold Lightan joined forces with his robot teammates to ruin the plots of King Ibalda and destroy invading alien robots by using his surpassing hand and leg strikes. Hiro also founded a group called the "Bratty Rangers" with his friends.


Concept

The robot is usually disguised as a tiny gold Zippo-style lighter in Hiro's pocket. When called upon, Gold Lightan transforms into a giant robot towering at 30 meters and weighing 200 tons. All robots in the show are
sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...
and do not require pilots. Usually the robot ends a battle with a trademark golden hand stab move which drives a hand strike cutting the enemy robots body, pulling out and smashing the heartbox energy device.


Staff

*Presenter:
Kenji Yoshida is a Japanese anime producer, manga artist and illustrator best known as the co-founder of Tatsunoko Production. Yoshida is the younger brother of Tatsuo Yoshida and the older brother of Ippei Kuri. He replaced Tatsuo as president after the l ...
*Planners:
Ippei Kuri , real name , is a Japanese manga artist and the third president of animation production company Tatsunoko Pro. History Ippei Kuri was born Toyoharu Yoshida on January 1, 1940, in Kyoto. As a child, he read comics such as '' Superman'' that were ...
, Shigeru Yanagawa *Producer: Tomoyuki Miyata *Series Composition: Akiyoshi Sakai *Chief Director: Koichi Mashimo *Character Design: Ippei Kuri *Mecha Design: Shoji Kawamori *Music: Masayuki Jinbo, Masayuki Yamamoto *Animation director:
Takashi Nakamura is an accomplished Japanese animator and anime director. He is also a founding member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) labor group. Nakamura's 2001 film ''A Tree of Palme'' was an official selection of the Berlin Film Fes ...
(Episode 6, 22, 30, 41, 48) *Key Animation:
Takashi Nakamura is an accomplished Japanese animator and anime director. He is also a founding member of the Japan Animation Creators Association (JAniCA) labor group. Nakamura's 2001 film ''A Tree of Palme'' was an official selection of the Berlin Film Fes ...
(Episode 41)


Characters


Lightan Robots


Media


Anime


Episodes

This is a list of episodes from the
television show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed b ...
''Golden Warrior Gold Lightan'' in order by production number.


Manga

On December 23, 2022, a spin-off manga written by Ruma Onbutsu and illustrated by Lotus and Rena Mikami began serialization on the ''Comic Polca'' website.


Merchandise

In 2005,
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
Bandai reissued the semi-original robots as part of the Soul of Chogokin label. The individual robots were released with a hard plastic display case, robot footstand, red carpet storage box, interchangeable gold hands pieces, and an enemy's heartbox energy device. This version also feature the robots with high quality 18K gold plating. The toys can be purchased individually or as a set. There are 2 known sets in the reissues. one is the first generation grey box, available in Hong Kong and Japan, featuring 6 of the robots; the other is an exclusive redcarpet wooden box set, known to be available only in Japan, featuring all 11 robots. Later, in 2005, replicas were re-released by Hung Hing toys in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
and
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...
featuring the robots built in cheaper
die-cast Die casting is a metal casting process that is characterized by forcing molten metal under high pressure into a mold cavity. The mold cavity is created using two hardened tool steel dies which have been machined into shape and work similarly t ...
metals. The texture and few minor details were inconsistent between the products. Multiple variations of the toys were sold as well. One such version is the large toy Gold Lightan measuring at 11.5 inches in height when standing in robot form, although only 2,000 were manufactured. Additionally, at the base of the foot, of the toy, is a label counting the manufactured number out of 2,000. Other variations include team robots in different colors or grey low weight plastic/silver exclusive to Hong Kong and Macau. There are more variations and replicas of Gold Lightan than any others because it is the lead robot in the series. There are other design variations. For example, older models of I.C. Lightan uses
AA batteries AA, Aa, Double A, or Double-A may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * '' America's Army'', a 2002 computer game published by the U.S. Army * '' Ancient Anguish'', a computer game in existence since 1992 * Aa!, a J-Pop musical group * D ...
to light up its LED eye, while newer reissues of the toy uses flat button or coin batteries. None of these re-releases are completely identical to the original 1980s GB series Chogokin toy launch from 1979 to 1983, by Popy Pleasure. The originals are valued at a higher price, as they were constructed with different grades of diecast metals as well as high quality acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. In 2006, Bandai released a new version of the Gold Lightan in their Soul of Chogokin line-up - GX 32 The Gold Lightan. Not only were they considered to be one of the most detailed and sophisticated Gold Lightan toys yet, they were plated with 18K gold, as their predecessors were. Aside from being able to transform into a lighter, just like the original toys, its joints were well structured. The package comes with a stand, interchangeable hands, and a heartbox energy device. The toy was a success and was well received by fans in Japan and Hong Kong. This caused Bandai Hong Kong to make a singular stand showcase just for the Gold Lightan, itself. The titular robot is a playable character in the fighting game '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars''. When he fights, he can only be single as opposed to character doubles, since he is so big and powerful.


References


External links


Tatsunoko Database

''Soul of Chogokin'' Gold Lightan at CollectionDX


{{Tatsunoko Production 1981 anime television series debuts Super robot anime and manga Tatsunoko Production TV Tokyo original programming