is a 51 episode Japanese anime television series, and the first series produced for the Eldran franchise funded by

Tomy is a Japanese entertainment company that makes children's toys and merchandise. It was created from a merger on March 1st 2006 of two companies: Tomy (founded in 1924 as Tomiyama, changing the name to Tomy in 1963) and long-time rival Tak ...

and produced by

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

. It aired in Japan from April 3, 1991 to March 25, 1992. The story revolves around a group of

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

children who are given command of 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 (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the mean ...

named Raijin-Oh and their efforts to defend the Earth from the evil Jaaku (evil) Empire. There is also a four-episode

OVA , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

sequel. ''

Anime Midstream 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 ...

'', Inc. announced in December, 2008, that it acquired the license for and planned to release the anime series Matchless Raijin-Oh in the U.S. sometime in 2009 as their first anime release. The company began selling the first volume of the series direct from their website, as well as several other online retailers as of late December 2009. The first volume contained episodes 1–5. The second volume, containing episodes 6–10, was released in September 2010, and translated the title beginning with this volume (and current printings of the first volume are now also marketed under that title). The third volume was released on July 12, 2011, containing episodes 11–15. Each volume contains English and Japanese audio, as well as special features such as music videos, clean openings/closings, voice bloopers, and the third volume contains an audio commentary with several of the English voice actors. Two more volumes were released on June 30, 2012 for volume four and July 1, 2013 for volume five. The rest of the series was released as a five-disc boxset; the Season 2 Collection, released on September 30, 2014. However, this set is in Japanese with English subtitles only.

Plot

Prior to Ganbaruger arriving to Earth, an evil organisation which was named the comes to Earth with the intent to conquer and despoil it. From their fortress they launch a missile that will flood the world with (), eggs of darkness which hatch into evil monsters called () based on things that annoy or frustrate humans. The "guardian of light" Eldran appears, an

Ultraman ''Ultraman'', also known as the , is the collective name for all media produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad monsters. Debuting with ''Ultra Q'' and then ''Ultraman'' in 1966, the series is one ...

-like entity who is sworn to protect the universe and Earth in particular then appears. Using the heroic robot Raijin-Oh, Eldran attempts to thwart the Evil Empire by preventing a missile from striking Earth. What happens instead is that the missile detonated against Eldran, throwing Raijin-Oh down to Earth. The robot crashes into Japan's Hinobori city(), elementary school Hinobori School. Eldran must leave to continue protecting the Earth, so he leaves the duty of defeating the Evil Beasts to a 5th grade classroom full of children, in the school where he crashed. He entrusts the children with Raijin-Oh, granting each child a different role to perform in either operating or supporting Raijin-Oh. Eldran also transforms their school itself, so it can transform into a command center when Raijin-Oh is needed. Jin, Asuka and Kouji are chosen to lead Raijin-oh, but every day they have many amusing experiences in the school. Jin does not want to study, while his friends do and force him to do it by tickling him.

Characters

; :: Jin Hyuga is a leader in Earth Defense Class, the main pilot of Ken-oh and Raijin-Oh and God Raijin-Oh. He is brash, a braggart, and very good at sports. He has spiky hair, is boss of the kids, and has a strong sense of justice. His student number is the eighth. He often quarrels with Maria, but they trust each other. His parents run a

sake Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...

shop, the Hyuga Store. ; :: Asuka Tsukishiro is the main pilot of Hou-oh, and flight and altitude controller for Raijin-Oh, God Raijin-Oh. He is a handsome, smart, rich, realist, but a vain and timid boy. He is very popular with girls in the class, and has his own fan club. His student number is seventh. Hiryu Tsukishiro is his cousin, who is the pilot of Ryu-Oh. ; :: Koji Hoshiyama is the main pilot of Jyu-oh, also the power controller for both Raijin-Oh and God Raijin-Oh, and all-weapon controller. He is kind-hearted, timid but courageous, has a pair of binoculars, and he believes in UFOs and aliens. His student number is ninth. ; :: Maria Shiratori is a commander in the Earth Defense Class, and the main pilot of Bakuryu-oh. She is smart, strong-willed, daring, has a ponytail, and is half Japanese and half French. ; :: Tsutomu Kojima is the advisor in the Earth Defense Class, and computer operator. Tsutomu is a smart, polite, stubborn, and a typical

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

with bobbed hair and thick glasses who likes to study and research. He has done an analysis of the robots of Eldran. The mad scientist of the Saurers, Takako Kojima is Tsutomu's relative and cousin, who he respects her. ; :: Kirara Haruno is mainly an operator with the outside. Kirara is an honest, frank, fluffy long-haired girl, and is a broadcasting committee member. She wants to be a newscaster, and is Asuka's fan club president. ; :: Akira Imamura is an operator of core robots's starting system and weapon selector of Bakuryu-oh. Akira is a pretentious sore loser and a

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

boy who wants to be a rock star, and had put the mesh in his hair. ; :: Reiko Ikeda is mainly an operator with Raijin-Oh. Reiko is a lively, curious, big almond-shape eyed girl who is a big

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

fan, and she troubled with the fact that she's the shortest student in the class. She is in love with Tsutomu. ; :: Miki Mano is the energy gauge manager, launcher of Bakuryu Cutter fire, and safety manager of Bakuryu-oh's weapons. Miki is diligent, but quickly gives up, and is a member of the breeding committee. ; :: Hiroshi Takamori is a vice-commander in the Earth Defense Class, safety manager of Raijin-Oh's weapons, and sub pilot of Bakuryu-oh. Hiroshi is the male representative of the class, and is usually inconspicuous, but trusted. He's in love with Cookie, his childhood friend. ; :: Orie Ishizuka, known as "Potato", is Hou-oh's all sensor systems monitor, and Raijin-oh's damage counter. Orie is a generous, strong-willed, chubby girl who loves

potato chip A potato chip (North American English; often just chip) or crisp (British and Irish English) is a thin slice of potato that has been either deep fried, baked, or air fried until crunchy. They are commonly served as a snack, side dish, or appe ...

s. ; :: Yoko Kuriki, known as "Cookie", is Raijin-oh's radar operator. Cookie is a short, big-eyed girl who likes adorable things, but has strong dependence on others and can't do anything on her own. Her own teddy bear turns into an evil beast in episode 11. ; :: Yoshiaki Ogawa, known as "Yoppa" is Ken-oh's circuit-based monitor, and Bakuryu-oh's transformation manager. 'Yoppa' is an own-pacer, lacking in cooperation, fat boy with spiky hair, who's somehow lovable. ; :: Tokie Sakai is Jyu-oh's sensor systems monitor, and Bakuryu-oh's damage counter manager. Tokie wears overalls, meddles, and likes super heroes. She became friends with Osekkaizar, the evil beast from episode 36. ; :: Hidenori Kondo is Raijin-oh's radar operator. Hidenori is a super-rich, small, kind-hearted, polite, shy boy. ; :: Daisuke Sato is Ken-oh's circuit system monitor, launcher of Bakuryu Cannon fire, and main mechanic of robots. Daisuke is the tallest and biggest student in the class, but a gentle, shy boy, and the eldest son of large family. ; :: Yu Izumi is a commander in Earth Defense Class, and main pilot of Bakuryu-oh. Yu is sickly, shy, timid, and has braided hair. She is the tallest girl in the class. ; ::, Rica Matsumoto(since episode 37) Aiko Shimada, known as "Love" is Ken-oh's sensors system monitor, and Bakuryu-oh's pulse checker. Aiko is a mature, tall girl who is good at sports, and is a physical education committee member.

Other

; :: The 25-year-old Homeroom teacher of 5th Grade Class 3 in Hinobori Elementary School, known as the Earth Defense Class. Mr. Shinoda is a young passionate teacher who loves the students, but he has often been disturbed a lesson by Evil Beasts. ; :: A 23 year old kind, beautiful

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

doctor in Hinobori Elementary School. Mr. Shinoda has a crush on her. ; :: The 65-year-old principal of Hinobori Elementary who is a good supporter for 5th Grade Class 3. he's master of

Tai Chi Tai chi (), short for Tai chi ch'üan ( zh, s=太极拳, t=太極拳, first=t, p=Tàijíquán, labels=no), sometimes called "shadowboxing", is an neijia, internal Chinese martial art practiced for defense training, health benefits and medita ...

, also adviser of Kenpo club. He has a pet goat that is named Carol. ; ::

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

of the Defense forces. He had objected to the children fight but cooperates with them later. In

Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger is a 47 episode anime, animated shōnen mecha television series, and the second series produced for the Eldran series, Eldran franchise funded by Tomy and produced by Sunrise (company), Sunrise. It aired on TV Tokyo from April 1, 1992, to Fe ...

, he has a daughter who went by the name of Katsura. ; :: Eldran is Earth's guardian. 400 years ago prior to Raijin-Oh, Ganbaruger, Gosaurer and Daiteioh's appearances, Eldran has sealed Gokuark and had been fighting against Gokuark but it results into transforming into a white dragon at the demon world. He is the warrior of light who gave Raijin-oh to the Earth Defense Class in order to defeat the Evil Empire. He also later gives out Ganbaruger in Aozora, Gosaurer in Harukaze and Daiteioh in Gokuraku as the years progress one by one.

; :: Ruler of the Jark Empire, that exists in the five dimensions. ; :: Commander in Jark Empire, also main pilot of Jark Satan. Belzeb is a handsome, quick temper, strict warrior with long purple hair. The creatures in five dimension are able deform their own bodies like the

amoeba An amoeba (; less commonly spelled ameba or amœba; plural ''am(o)ebas'' or ''am(o)ebae'' ), often called an amoeboid, is a type of Cell (biology), cell or unicellular organism with the ability to alter its shape, primarily by extending and ret ...

, and have the power of

teleportation Teleportation is the hypothetical transfer of matter or energy from one point to another without traversing the physical space between them. It is a common subject in science fiction literature and in other popular culture. Teleportation is oft ...

. ; :: Belzeb's

Alter ego An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...

, Falzeb is small woman look-like

fairy A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

with silver-haired and

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

. living in sub-space in Belzeb's chest, Falzeb turns devil face at the time irradiation the Jark Power. ; ::,

Mahito Tsujimura was a Japanese actor and voice actor who was represented by 81 Produce. Tsujimura died on November 27, 2018. Filmography Television animation *'' Andersen Stories'' (1971) - Satyr, Hans *'' Paris no Isabelle'' (1979) - Leon *''Galaxy Express 999 ...

(since episode 39) Belzeb's subordinates. Taidar is a happy-go-lucky, leisurely, faithfulness, bearded plump man with punk fashion. He often gets an outburst of anger from Belzeb and Falzeb. Taidar is hired at Hyuga Store later, he appeared as a minor character also

frequently. ; :: Appears at the OVA, a new evil guy from Jark Empire.

The Robots

*Specs **Height: 15.4 meters **Weight: 10.0 tons **Top Speed: 420 kilometers per hour **Power Output: Ken-Oh (literally "Sword King") is a humanoid robot, piloted by Jin, the leader of the trio. It has a sword called the Ken-Oh Blade, which protrudes from the shield on Ken-Oh's back when needed. It forms the torso of the Raijin-Oh.

*Specs **Length: 35.7 meters **Weight: 15.5 tons **Ground Movement Speed: 80 kilometers per hour **Top Flying Speed: Mach 9 **Power Output: Hou-Oh (literally "Phoenix King") resembles a phoenix. It is piloted by Asuka, and is the fastest of the trio. Hou-Oh forms the arms and wings of Raijin-Oh.

*Specs **Length: 30.5 meters **Weight: 28.5 tons **Top Speed: 640 kilometers per hour **Power Output: Juu-Oh's (literally "Beast King") appearance is that of a lion, and is controlled by Kouji. It forms the legs of the Raijin-Oh and the lion head is used as a shield which contains the Raijin Sword. Juu-Oh is the strongest of the trio.

*Specs **Height: 25 meters **Weight: 54 tons **Ground Movement Speed: 880 kilometers per hour **Top Flying Speed: Mach 10 **Power Output: Raijin-Oh （literally thunder god king）is the first Eldran robot before Ganbaruger was the second. If the enemy becomes too powerful for the trio to handle individually, all three robots will combine, and they form into Raijin-Oh, a large humanoid robot with wings. In the early parts of the series, Raijin-Oh will trap its opponent with a beam from the Raijin Shield and finish it off with the Raijin Sword.

*Specs **Length: 58 meters **Weight: 70 tons **Ground Movement Speed: 130 kilometers per hour **Top Flying Speed: Mach 20 **Power Output: After the evil commander Belzeb (short for Beelzebub or Satan) was given a giant crystal robot named Jaaku Satan by Emperor Warza (literally "evil emperor") to assists the Jaaku Beasts in destroying Raijin-Oh, the Raijin-Oh soon realized that it was unable to defeat its enemies alone. At the brink of defeat, the Earth Defense Class managed to uncover one last robot, Bakuryu-Dragon bears the appearance of a dragon but can transform into a humanoid robot, Bakuryu-Oh.

*Specs **Height: 27.5 meters **Weight: 62 tons **Ground Movement Speed: 800 kilometers per hour **Top Flying Speed: Mach 14 **Power Output: Bakuryu-Dragon's humanoid form. As strong as Raijin-oh, its arsenal includes a cannon and a shield.

*Specs **Height: 41 meters **Weight: 116 tons **Ground Movement Speed: 1,200 kilometers per hour **Top Flying Speed: Mach 22 **Power Output: The Raijin-Oh and Bakuryu-Oh can further combine to form the ultimate robot, God Raijin-Oh. In the early parts of its appearance, God Raijin-Oh finishes off Jaaku Beasts with a cannon. Soon after the God Raijin-Oh Sword is discovered and is used since then to defeat Super Jaaku Beasts (Jaaku Satan combined with a powered-up Jaaku Beast).

Cultural impact

''Raijin-Oh'' was a tremendously popular series at the time of its release, spawning two similar sequels and OVAs. This led to waves of similar TV shows in the early 90s, where a child or children were made into the pilots of giant robots. This was a significant change of pace for the mecha genre, which usually pursued an older demographic and used teenage or adult characters as pilots. ''Raijin-Oh'' success would inspire future shows like ''

Gear Fighter Dendoh is a Japanese robot anime television series produced by TV Tokyo, Yomiko Advertising and Sunrise. It was directed by Mitsuo Fukuda, with Chiaki Morosawa handling series scripts, Hirokazu Hisayuki designing the characters and monsters, Satoshi ...

'', ''

Machine Robo Rescue is a 2003 Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise. It's the third incarnation of the ''Machine Robo'' anime trilogy, which is based on the toyline by PLEX and Bandai. It is directed by Mamoru Kanbe (''Cardcaptor Sakura'') and ...

'', ''

Tomica Hyper Rescue Drive Head Kidō Kyūkyū Keisatsu is a Japanese anime television series made to promote Takara Tomy's long-running Tomica toyline of miniature toy cars. It replaced ''Kamiwaza Wanda'' and aired Saturday mornings at 7:00 am on the new hour-long Anisata block on TBS and affili ...

'', and ''

Shinkansen Henkei Robo Shinkalion is a Japanese toy franchise created by Takara Tomy, in association with the Japan Railways Group. It is a spin-off of the long-running Plarail model train franchise, with the toys first launched back at March 16, 2015. An anime adaptation b ...

''. The spiritual successors contain many plot elements that directly similar to ''Raijin-Oh'''s premise, characters, but, with the exception of not having a school to house the robots or an Eldran-like being to create them. Otherwise, Raijin-Oh had little worldwide impact, despite some success in Southeast Asian countries like

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. ''Raijin-Oh'' was featured in the '' New Century Brave Wars'' game, along with several of the

Yuusha The is a Japanese toy and anime franchise originally produced by Sunrise (now the primary division of Bandai Namco Filmworks), Nagoya TV, Victor Entertainment and Tokyu Agency, originally created by Takara (now Takara Tomy). The franchise ran fr ...

series robots, also created by Sunrise at around the same time. The reason for this was likely to have been the similarities between the Yuusha series and the Eldran trilogy, that and both series were animated by Sunrise. The toy company which made the

series,

Takara Takara Co., Ltd. (株式会社タカラ) was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy Co., Ltd. to form Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was 遊びは文化」("playing is culture"). Products Toys In ...

would later merge with Tomy and thus both companies had access to each other's toy ideas, hence why ''Raijin-Oh'' was part of the video game. However the other two Eldran series, ''

'' and '' Nekketsu Saikyo Go-Saurer'' were not included; in fact, a few of the Yuusha series robots were also left out of the game. Raijin-oh, Ganbaruger, and Gosaurer may have been included in the Brave Saga New Asteria game. ''Raijin-Oh'' has appeared in several installments of

Banpresto (formerly Coreland Technology Inc.) was a Japanese video game developer and publisher headquartered in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It had a branch in Hong Kong named Banpresto H.K., which was headquartered in the New Territories. Banpresto was a partly-own ...

's ''

Super Robot Wars ''Super Robot Wars'', known in Japan as is a series of tactical role-playing video games produced by Bandai Namco Entertainment, formerly Banpresto. Starting out as a spinoff of the ''Compati Hero'' series, the main feature of the franchise is ...

'' series of games. It has appeared in ''

Super Robot Wars GC 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 ...

'' and its remake, ''Super Robot Wars XO'', ''

Super Robot Wars NEO is a 2009 tactical role-playing game developed by Sazanami and published by Namco Bandai Games for the Wii. Gameplay ''NEO'' is the first ''Super Robot Wars'' title to appear on the Wii. ''NEO'' carries on from ''Super Robot Wars GC'' and ''Sup ...

'', and Super Robot Wars BX. This is in part due to the fact that the ''Super Robot Wars'' series largely concerned itself with '70s and '80s series at the time the game series began in the early '90s. As of 2009, Raijin-Oh is nearly 20 years old and therefore old enough to be nostalgic to adult gamers. It is not clear why ''Raijin-Oh'' had only appeared in the 3D Super Robot Wars games that appear on

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

consoles, as opposed to the more popular 2D games that appear on

PlayStation is a video gaming brand that consists of five home video game consoles, two handhelds, a media center, and a smartphone, as well as an online service and multiple magazines. The brand is produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment, a divisi ...

systems and Nintendo handhelds until the release of BX.

Episode list

OVA List

Game Appearances

The series first appeared on Sunrise Eiyuutan for the

Dreamcast The is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998, in Japan; September 9, 1999, in North America; and October 14, 1999, in Europe. It was the first sixth-generation video game console, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, N ...

. Later on, it was included on ''

'' for the

Nintendo GameCube The is a home video game console developed and released by Nintendo in Japan on September 14, 2001, in North America on November 18, 2001, and in PAL territories in 2002. It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 (1996), and predecessor of the Wii ...

and again in ''Super Robot Wars XO'' for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

. Raijin-Oh is again included as an entry in the ''

'' series of video games, beginning with ''

'' for the

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America and in December 2006 for most other Regional lockout, regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major ho ...

along with the other 3 Eldran robots. It also appeared in New Century Brave Wars on the

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

in Japan to establish the first official connection between the Eldran and Yuusha series, following the merger of Takara and Tomy. It would later appear as one of the various Sunrise animated robots as a playable character in the RPG ''Battle of Sunrise'', to celebrate the studio's 30th anniversary, released on the PlayStation 2. There also exists a

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

fighting game published by

in 1991, which has been translated into English through a

fan-made patch An unofficial patch is a patch for a piece of software, created by a third party such as a user community without the involvement of the original developer. Similar to an ordinary patch, it alleviates bugs or shortcomings. Unofficial patches do no ...

. Raijin-Oh, once again, is included in the Super Robot Wars series in ''Super Robot Wars OE'' and ''Super Robot Wars BX''. BX is notable to be the first time Raijin-Oh appeared in a 2D Super Robot Wars game.

External links and references

Eldran's official website (Japanese)Sunrise's introduction page(Japanese)
*

{{Sunrise OVAs 1991 anime television series debuts Bandai Namco franchises Children's manga School life in anime and manga Sunrise (company) Eldran series TV Tokyo original programming Super robot anime and manga Tomy games Super Robot Wars Television series set in fictional countries