, known as '' Starvengers'' in the United States, is a

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 ...

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 by

Toei Animation 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. Slu ...

based on ''Hundred Demons Empire'' arc of ''Getter Robo'' manga by

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of Japanese science fiction, science fiction, fantasy, Japanese horror, horror, and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', b ...

and Ken Ishikawa. This direct sequel to ''

Getter Robo is a Japanese Mecha anime and manga, mecha media franchise created by Ken Ishikawa (manga artist), Ken Ishikawa and Go Nagai. An anime television series produced by Toei Animation was broadcast on Fuji TV from April 4, 1974, to May 8, 197 ...

'' was broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

from May 15, 1975, to March 25, 1976, with a total of 39 episodes (some episodes were rebroadcast, erroneously giving the impression that there were 43 episodes).

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

's popular Shogun Warriors toy collection included Getter Robo G's robot formations in that toy line: Getter Dragon (Dragun), Getter Liger (Raider), and Getter Poseidon (Poseidon). As a result of the popularity of these toys in the US, Jim Terry included this series in his '' Force Five'' anime lineup under the title of ''Starvengers''. Some ''Starvengers'' episodes were re-dubbed and released by FB Productions under the '' Robo Formers'' title. The original ''Getter Robo'' series, however, has yet to appear in the US (although the '' Shin Getter Robo'' OVAs have appeared). In the UK, ''Starvengers'' episodes were released on video by Krypton Force under the name ''Formators''.

Plot

After the final defeat of the Dinosaur Empire and the death of Musashi Tomoe in the original ''

'' series, Dr. Saotome (Dr. Copernicus in ''Starvengers''), creator of Getter Robo, fears that the peace the Getter Robo team has won will be short lived and that even greater enemies will appear. Dr. Saotome's fears are justified when the Hundred Demon Empire (Hyakki Teikoku, also known as the Pandemonium Empire in ''Starvengers'') appears. Composed of horned,

devil A devil is the mythical personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conce ...

-like alien

humanoid A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and '' -oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of ...

s and possessing a technology advanced enough to build giant

demon A demon is a malevolent supernatural entity. Historically, belief in demons, or stories about demons, occurs in folklore, mythology, religion, occultism, and literature; these beliefs are reflected in Media (communication), media including f ...

robot A robot is a machine—especially one Computer program, programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions Automation, automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the robot control, co ...

s, this militaristic organization intends to steal Saotome's Getter Generator to fulfill their own goals of world domination. However, Dr. Saotome is prepared with the creation of an even more powerful Getter Robo, Getter Robo G and a new Getter Robo base. Also, with Musashi dead, Dr. Saotome needs a third pilot, which he finds in

baseball player Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

Benkei Kuruma.

Getter Machines

Like its predecessor, Getter Robo G is composed of three jet-like vehicles piloted by one of the three pilots. Dragon is the red jet, controlled by the pilot of Getter Dragon. Liger, the blue jet, is used by Getter Liger's pilot. Getter Poseidon's operator uses Poseidon, the yellow machine. All three are armed with

missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by a propellant, jet engine or rocket motor. Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this ...

s but are generally very weak and never used in combat unless absolutely necessary. They also appear when the pilots use the Open Get (Break Formation in the English version) verbal command to break up the current form, so that they can change into another, or so they can dodge an enemy's attack. * Getter Dragon (formed from Dragon+Liger+Poseidon) - English Version - Star Dragon - piloted by Ryoma Nagare, English version - Homer Winthrow * Getter Liger (formed from Liger+Poseidon+Dragon) - English version - Star Arrow - piloted by Hayato Jin, but piloted by Michiru when Hayato is captured near the end. English version - Paladin Spencer * Getter Poseidon (formed from Poseidon+Dragon+Liger) - English version - Star Poseidon - piloted by Benkei Kuruma, English version - Elmer O. Fossil aka "Foul Tip"

Mecha Oni

Mecha Oni are the monsters of the week that appear much like the mechasauruses in the first series. It is stated and proven in a few episodes that destroying their horns will critically weaken, if not destroy, a Mecha Oni. Most Mecha Oni take up the likeness of their pilots, primarily in the head, with a few exceptions.

References

External links

* {{Toei Animation 1975 anime television series debuts Getter Robo Shunsuke Kikuchi Super robot anime and manga Fuji Television original programming Toei Animation television Demons in anime and manga