is a

mecha In science fiction, or mechs are giant robots or machines, typically depicted as piloted, humanoid walking vehicles. The term was first used in Japanese (language), Japanese after shortening the English loanword or , but the meaning in Japan ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series aired in 1982. There were 24 episodes. It is also referred to as "Demon Region Legendary Acrobunch", "Demon Regions Legend Acrobunch", "Ruins Legend Acrobunch" and "Acrobanch". The series has a

treasure hunting Treasure hunting is the physical search for treasure. One of the most popular types of modern day treasure hunters are historic shipwreck salvors. These underwater treasure salvors try to find sunken Shipwreck, shipwrecks and retrieve artifacts ...

theme, with its heroes and villains searching for the treasure of Quetzalcoatl.

Story

Led by scientist Tatsuya Randou, the

Randou family undertakes a journey around the globe in order to search out ancient ruins to uncover the legend of Quetzalcoatl, which unlocks the key to a fabulous treasure. However, tailing the Randou family is Goblin, an evil organisation that covets the legendary treasure for itself. The Randou family has the secret weapon, the super robot Acrobunch. It becomes a race around the world of who finds the treasure first.

Concept

Acrobunch was an anime pushed out to capitalize on the archeological adventure craze that was occurring in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

at the time. The art for this series was impressive and the combination sequence of Acrobunch still remains exceptional to this day, setting the benchmark for the rest of the 1980s. Five separate vehicles combine to form the

super robot Mecha, also known as giant robot or simply robot, is a genre of anime and manga that feature mecha in battle. The genre is broken down into two subcategories; " super robot", featuring super-sized, implausible robots, and "real robot", where r ...

Acrobunch. The parts contain 2 motorcycles which form the arms, 2 racecars form the legs, 1 plane form the body. The series achieved some popularity in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, where it debuted on TV in 1985 and is known by differing titles including ''L'Empire des Cinq'' and ''Askadis - La Légende de l'empire perdu''. The French dubbed version changed the names of the lead characters as well as the Acrobunch robot itself (becoming "Thorn-Rock"), and also changed the setting of the series from Japan to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Discotek Media released ''Acrobunch'' on standard definition Blu-ray disc for North American audiences on February 23, 2021.

Staff

* Original Work: Yu Yamamoto * Chief director: Ryō Yasumura * Series directors: Takao Yotsuji, Takashi Hisaoka * Screenwriters: Yu Yamamoto, Akira Goto, Haruya Yamazaki, Takeshi Shudo * Episode directors: Masakazu Yasumura, Takashi Hisaoka, Takao Yotsuji (credited as "Yoshinori Natsuki"), Hiromichi Matano, Kazuhiro Ochi, Hideki Takayama * Art: Makoto Sato (first half of series), Toshikazu Yamaguchi (second half of series) * Character Design: Mutsumi Inomata,

Shigenori Kageyama is a Japanese animation director. He is also known under the name (meaning "forest fairy" in Japanese). Anime involved in Under the name Shigenori Kageyama * '' Acrobunch'': Character Design * ''Birth'': Animation Coordination, Main Animator ...

* Music: Masahito Maruyama * Opening theme ("Yume no Karyudo"): Yu Yamamoto (lyrics), Masayuki Yamamoto (composition/arrangement), Yukio Yamagata (singer) * Ending theme ("Nagisa ni Hitori"): Yu Yamamoto (lyrics), Masayuki Yamamoto (composition/arrangement), Isao Taira (singer)

Characters

Shigeru Nakahara made his debut as a voice actor with this series, in the role of the youngest Randou child, Jun.

Enoki Films is a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo.Company Profile
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gave the main character the name David Owen. In the French version, Tatsuya Randou is known as Professor Kossig and his five children's names are also changed, to sons Quentin (Ryo), Antoine (Jun) and Mathieu (Hiro) and daughters Ulrich (Reika) and Jill (Miki). In the North American broadcast version, the Owen family, the main character of this work (the ``Randou family'' in the original final draft), is made up of the following six people. Father...David, Eldest son…Peter, Second son...Will, twin sisters (Eldest daughter…Jenny, second daughter…Betty), Third son...Michael.

Episodes

Merchandise

The Acrobunch robot was released as "Acrobunch Kyoui Gatti 5 DX" / "Acrobunch Wonder Combo 5 DX" by Poplar and Royal Condor. It is built with diecast metals, and the package comes with a number of pieces including motorcycle stops, plane landing gears, airfoils, guns, swords, stickers, missiles, fists. The US and Taiwan release is especially rare since it was considered 20% smaller, and the label for the toy was "Pentabot" instead of "Acrobunch". It may have been sold outside Japan as such due to lack of licensing of the anime name title. Due to the popularity of the anime in

, the Acrobunch robot was also released there under the name "Thorn-Rock," the same name given the robot in the French dub of the anime.

References

External links

Acrobunch
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Enoki Films is a Japanese studio based in the Enoki Building in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Shinjuku, Tokyo.Company Profile
...

{{TMS Entertainment 1982 anime television series debuts Adventure anime and manga Super robot anime and manga TMS Entertainment Television series about treasure hunting Fiction about deities Quetzalcoatl