, also known as ''Kotetsu Jeeg'' or ''Koutetsu Jeeg'', is a Japanese mecha anime series created by manga artists Go Nagai and Tatsuya Yasuda and produced by

Toei Doga () 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'', ' ...

(now Toei Animation), directed by

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 ...

. It was first broadcast on NET in Japan from October 5, 1975 to August 29, 1976, lasting for 46 episodes. Steel Jeeg also ran as a manga in several children's publications, with the original manga was first serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''TV Magazine'' from August 1975 to June 1976. The series is the first installment in Takara's ''Magne-Robo'' Franchise, which later became its own series after the rights of the show were passed to Dynamic Productions. A sequel series called '' Kotetsushin Jeeg'' aired on the satellite network WOWOW, beginning April 5, 2007.

Story

Hiroshi Shiba is a young car racer who is mortally wounded. His father Professor Shiba, a talented scientist and archaeologist, manages to restore him to life by means of a powerful relic from the ancient and mysterious Jamatai Kingdom, a bronze bell which is hidden inside Hiroshi's body and turns him unknowingly into a sort of cyborg. As the ruler of Jamatai, queen Himika, reawakens from her slumber in the underground, it is revealed that the bell is also key to the reconquest of the Earth surface. Her henchmen kill Prof. Shiba in vain pursue of the artifact, barely leaving the scientist time to upload his thought on a supercomputer at a specially built defense base. Anticipating the hidden menace, Professor Shiba has also prepared a giant fighting robot, Steel Jeeg, composed of interchangeable magnetic limbs and for which Hiroshi Shiba can become head and conscience. His mission is to defend modern Japan from the invaders, who also dispose of similar giant monsters ( haniwa) and an army of minions. In such battles, Jeeg is also aided by a robot horse known as Panzeroid, and a fighting jet capable of shooting replacement components and specialized weapons for his body. The series follows Hiroshi's character development and the underground civilization's efforts and subsequent failures to return to power causing internal civil war.

Concept

Steel Jeeg is formed by combining the parts released by the Big Shooter jet, piloted by Prof. Shiba's young assistant, Miwa Uzuki. Hiroshi Shiba becomes the head of Steel Jeeg by bumping his fists together.

Staff

Theme music

Opening theme: , by Ichirou Mizuki with

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and Koorogi '73. A complete and original intro theme called "El Vengador" (''The Avenger'') was composed and sung by musician

Memo Aguirre Juan Guillermo Aguirre Mandiola (born December 22, 1951), better known as «Memo Aguirre» or «Capitán Memo», is a Chilean singer and musician famous for performing the opening and closing themes of several Animated series during the 1970s and 1 ...

for the Spanish dub of the series released in Latin America. Ending theme: , by Ichirou Mizuki with Koorogi '73

Video games

Jeeg makes an appearance in

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Super Robot Wars Alpha 3 This list provides an index of video game titles in Banpresto's ''Super Robot Wars'' franchise, known as ''Super Robot Taisen'' in Japan. Most of the games in the series are tactical role-playing games, but several games representing other genres ...

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International transmission

''Steel Jeeg'' was televised in many European countries, especially in Italy (known as ''Jeeg Robot d'acciaio''), where it is still widely popular and has a huge fanbase. In the 1980s, the series was shown in Latin America as a part of ''El Festival de los Robots'' (Robot Festival) a giant robot show fashioned in the style of '' Force Five'', in which it was called ''El Vengador'' (The Avenger), along with '' Gaiking'', ''

Starzinger , known as ''Spaceketeers'' in the United States, is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a sci-fi remake/adaptation of Wu Cheng'en's fantasy novel ''Journey to the West''. It was directed by Yugo Serikawa and written by Leiji ...

'' and ''

Magne Robo Gakeen is a Japanese anime 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, advertisemen ...

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Sequel

On April 5, 2007 at 11:30 p.m. JST a sequel of Steel Jeeg called '' Koutetsushin Jeeg'' began airing on the satellite network WOWOW.

Other media

Besides its related media, ''Steel Jeeg'' has appeared in other media, including its appearance in the "Dynamic Super Robots Taisen" clips included at the end of the DVDs of '' Shin Getter Robot tai Neo Getter Robot''. ''Steel Jeeg'' appears alongside '' Great Mazinger'', ''Venus A'', '' Getter Robot G'', ''

God Mazinger , also known as , is an anime, manga and novel series created by manga artist Go Nagai. The anime aired on Japanese TV from to in the network Nippon Television with 23 episodes. It is given the international title ''Space Adventure: The D ...

'', '' Govarian'' and '' Groizer X'' to rescue '' Mazinger Z'' and ''

Aphrodite A This is a list of characters from the anime and manga series ''Mazinger Z'', ''Great Mazinger'', ''Grendizer'', and ''Mazinkaiser'', as well as the '' Shin Mazinger'' reboot. It lists the main players of the plots as well as minor characters or ...

'', but are defeated and in turn saved by '' Shin Getter Robot'' and '' Grendizer'' just before the arrival of '' Mazinkaiser''. The Italian film '' They Call Me Jeeg'' (''Lo chiamavano Jeeg Robot'') is a tribute to ''Steel Jeeg'', from which takes up some thematics. The plot concerns a lonely misanthropic crook named Enzo, who gets superhuman strength after being affected by radioactive waste in the Tiber waters; he gradually loses his disinterest towards people thanks to Alessia, a mentally disabled girl who has mistaken him for Hiroshi Shiba, and gradually shifts from supercriminal to superhero in order to save her from a psycho gangster known as The Gipsy.