is an

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 aired from 1976 to 1977 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 ...

. There are 38 episodes aired at 25 minutes each. It is also known as "''Blocker Army IV Machine Blaster''", "''Blocker Corps IV''", "''Blocker Army IV''", "''Blocker Corps''", "''Machine Blaster''" and in Italian as "''Astrorobot Contatto Ypsilon''" ("''Blocker Corps IV Astrorobot''" for the DVD release).

Original Story

Earth is being attacked by the Mogul civilization, a super advanced people that live beneath the ocean. Professor Yuri, having studied the ancient super-technology in Astro base, anticipated such an invasion would take place. Using what he had learned of their technology, he created a team of four

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 ...

s, piloted by four youth pilots, to help repel the Mogul invasion, and they are known as the Machine Blaster Corps. Led by the pilot Ishida, the Blocker Corps stands firm against the attack of the Mogul rulers, Hellqueen V and Kaibuddha.

Concept

The number 4 comes from the team of 4 robots. The robots individually have their own weapon, but they can also be combined to form a fire ring which cuts through the enemies. It was not the most popular show since anime powerhouses ''

Gaiking is a Japanese Super Robot mecha anime series produced by Toei Animation. For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as ''Dino-Mecha Gaiking'' or simply ''Gaiking''. It ran from April 1976 through January 1977 and co ...

'' and ''Combattler V'', which featured more creative combinations and designs, were ruling the airwaves.

Staff

Robots

Opening

Lyrics: Blocker Gundan Machine Blaster (Opening Theme) *Todoroku raimei arashi wo tsuite *Yuke (yuke!) yuke yuke (yuke!) BLOCKER FOUR *Kitazo MOGURU jigoku no taigun *Mamore bokura no machi to umi wo *Moeru seigi no EREPAS komete *Ima da ATTACK engetsu kaiten *Kudaite miseruze aku no kiba *BLOCKER Gundan MACHINE BLASTER!!!

Trivia

* It was aired every week Monday 7:00pm to 7:30pm. * It was aired in

The Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

as ''Striker Force'' over RPN-9 every Friday 5:30pm to 6:00pm in 1979 and in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

as ''Astro Robot'' in 1980 *Toy Maker

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 mor ...

produced ''Shogun Warriors'' figures of the Machine Blaster robots exclusively for the Italian Market recycling parts from the ''Shogun Gaiking,

Brave Raideen is a super robot anime series. Produced by Tohokushinsha, Asahi News Agency and Soeisha (later renamed as Sunrise), it aired on Nihon Educational Television (now TV Asahi) from 4 April 1975 to 26 March 1976, with a total of 50 episodes. T ...

'' and ''

Grendizer , known as '' Grandizer'' in the United States, is a Japanese Super Robot anime television series and manga created by manga artist Go Nagai. It is the third entry in the ''Mazinger'' series, however it is non-canon due to '' Mazinger Z: ...

'' toys and labeled as ''Astro Robot Shogun''. These figures are considered by collectors to be the rarest figures in the entire ''Shogun'' toyline.

References

External links

Encirobot homepage
* * * {{Nippon Animation 1976 anime television series debuts 1977 Japanese television series endings Ashi Productions Fuji TV original programming Nippon Animation Super robot anime and manga