, also known as ''Kotetsu Jeeg'' or ''Koutetsu Jeeg'', is a Japanese

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 created by manga artists

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 Tatsuya Yasuda and produced by Toei Doga (now

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 ...

), directed by

Masayuki Akehi is a Japanese 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. Howev ...

. It was first broadcast on

NET NET may refer to: Broadcast media United States * National Educational Television, the predecessor of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States * National Empowerment Television, a politically conservative cable TV network ...

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 publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's ''TV Magazine'' from August 1975 to June 1976. The series is the first installment in

Takara was a Japanese toy company founded in 1955. In March 2006, the company merged with Tomy, Tomy Company, Ltd. to form Tomy, Takara Tomy. The Takara motto was("playing is culture"). The company focused on traditional toys and board games. They cr ...

's ''Magne-Robo'' franchise, which later became its own series after the rights of the show were passed to Dynamic Productions. A

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

series called ''

Kotetsushin Jeeg is a 13-episode Japanese television anime sequel to the 1975 Super Robot series ''Steel Jeeg'', created by Go Nagai. It is directed by Jun Kawagoe (previously known for ''New Getter Robo'' and ''Innocent Venus''). This 21st century sequel be ...

'' 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 A cyborg (, a portmanteau of ''cybernetics, cybernetic'' and ''organism'') is a being with both Organic matter, organic and biomechatronic body parts. The term was coined in 1960 by Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline.haniwa The are terracotta clay figures that were made for ritual use and buried with the dead as funerary objects during the Kofun period (3rd to 6th centuries AD) of the history of Japan. ''Haniwa'' were created according to the ''wazumi'' technique ...

) 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 , better known by his stage name , was a Japanese singer, lyricist, composer, voice actor and actor best known for his work on theme songs for anime and tokusatsu. For over 50 years, he had recorded over 1,200 songs for Japanese film, televisio ...

with Columbia Yurikago-kai and Koorogi '73. A complete and original intro theme called "El Vengador" (''The Avenger'') was composed and sung by musician Memo Aguirre 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 ''

2nd Super Robot Wars Alpha 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 ''

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 genre ...

'' for the

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

, and in ''

Super Robot Wars K 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 genre ...

'' and '' Super Robot Wars L'' for the

Nintendo DS The is a foldable handheld game console produced by Nintendo, released globally across 2004 and 2005. The DS, an initialism for "Developers' System" or "Dual Screen", introduced distinctive new features to handheld games: two LCD screens worki ...

International transmission

''Steel Jeeg'' was televised in many European countries, especially in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

(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 Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

as a part of ''El Festival de los Robots'' (Robot Festival) a giant robot show fashioned in the style of ''

Force Five ''Force Five'' is an American adaptation of five different anime television series. In the United States, this series was primarily shown only in New England, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, though it did make brief appearances in other markets, s ...

'', in which it was called ''El Vengador'' (The Avenger), along with '' Gaiking'', '' Starzinger'' and ''

Magne Robo Gakeen is a Japanese anime television series produced by Toei Animation. It is the third installment to Takara's ''Magne-Robo'' franchise. It aired from TV Asahi from September 5, 1976 to June 26, 1977, with a total of 39 episodes. Outside Japan, sev ...

''.El Festival de los Robots, la entrada del anime a Latinoamérica
/ref> The anime has never been released in the United States.

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 is a Japanese anime television series and manga comic book created by Go Nagai and Dynamic Productions. The story is a sequel and direct continuation of '' Mazinger Z'' series after its initial success. The series was aired on Japa ...

'', ''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 Dei ...

'', '' Govarian'' and ''

Groizer X is an anime series aired from 1976 to 1977. There were 36 episodes. It is also referred to as ''Gloyzer X'' and ''Gloizer X''. Story The Gaira aliens, hidden in the Arctic, plan to conquer Earth. Captured and forced to work for the aliens, ...

'' to rescue ''

Mazinger Z is a Japanese super robot manga written and illustrated by Go Nagai. It was originally serialized in Shueisha's ''Weekly Shōnen Jump'' from October 1972 to August 1973 and Kodansha's ' from October 1973 to September 1974. ''Mazing ...

'' 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 o ...

'', but are defeated and in turn saved by '' Shin Getter Robot'' and ''

Grendizer , also known as '' Grandizer'', ''Ufo Robot Grendizer Raids'', ''Goldrake'' and ''Goldorak'', is a Japanese manga and animated television series created by Go Nagai. The series is the third entry in the '' Mazinger'' series, later rel ...

'' just before the arrival of ''

Mazinkaiser is a Japanese anime OVA produced by Brain's Base and Dynamic Productions, based on the Mazinkaiser design that debuted in ''Super Robot Wars'' games and the original '' Mazinger Z'' manga by Go Nagai. The OVA follows Kouji Kabuto, Tetsuya ...

''. 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 The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

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.