Daimos
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tōshō Daimos | |
|---|---|
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| 闘将ダイモス (Brave Leader Daimos) |
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| Genre | Mecha |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Tadao Nagahama |
| Studio | Sunrise/Toei Animation |
| Network |  TV Asahi IBC 13/GMA 7 Local Networks
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| Original run | 1 April 1978 – 27 January 1979 |
| No. of episodes | 44 |
Tosho Daimos (闘将ダイモス, Brave Leader (or Fighting King) Daimos) is a televised anime series produced by Nihon Sunrise. Daimos is the third installment of Tadao Nagahama’s Romantic Trilogy, following Chōdenji Robo Combattler V and Chōdenji Machine Voltes V. It ran from 1 April 1978 to 27 January 1979 and consisted of 44 episodes. A movie with the pivotal episodes strung together titled Starbirds was released in the US by the same company that released Tranzor Z. The name Daimos is derived from Deimos, one of the two moons of Mars. Apart from Japan, the show also aired in the Philippines and in Italy. In the early 1980s there was a VHS release in France, but only the first seven episodes were available.
Contents |
[edit] Story
After the destruction of their homeworld, the survivors of the planet Barm head towards Earth with the goal of negotiating the purchase of land to emigrate to. Unfortunately, during the negotiations, the Barmian’s leader, Leon, is assassinated by his second in command, Olban, and the delegation from Earth is framed for the murder. In the ensuing chaos, Doctor Isamu Ryūzaki of the Earth delegation is shot and killed.
Shortly after the disastrous end of the talks, the Barmians (called “Valerians” in Starbirds) begin a campaign of terror against Earth, lead by Leon’s son, Admiral Richter, who deploys a variety of “Mecha Soldiers” against the planet’s defenses. The only thing standing between the Earthlings and annihilation is the transforming, karate-using super robot, Daimos and its pilot, Kazuya Ryūzaki. But that changes when he meets and falls in love with a mysterious girl named Erika, who turns out to be Richter’s sister. Over the course of their struggles to reunite, Kazuya and Erika each learn that the other’s people are not all evil...and that their own people are not all good.
[edit] Characters
[edit] Earthlings
- Kazuya Ryūzaki (Akira Kamiya)
The pilot of Daimos and the hero of the series, he was raised by the Izumis after his father’s death. After meeting and falling in love with Erika, he fights for the day when the war will end and they will be reunited, with his strong will of survival motivating him to be victorious. He is a karate black belt and champion (which helps battling the monsters, as Daimos has a system that makes it mimic its pilot’s movements); at age 14 he suffered a terrible accident, but managed to finish his rehabilitation successfully.
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- Filipino-English Dubbed Name: Richard Hartford
- Starbirds Dubbed Name: Kelly Hunter
- French Dubbed Name: Kazuya Ryūzaki
- Italian Dubbed Name: Kazuya Ryūzaki
- Kyōshirū Yūzuki (Kazuyuki Sogabe)
Kazuya’s friend, and the main pilot of the jet fighter Galva FX-II. Apart from being an ace fighter pilot, he is also a skilled swordsman who takes the war with the Bahmins very seriously. He also has a grudge against his strict grandfather, whom he blames for his parents’ misfortune.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Name: Edward Kramer
- Starbirds Dubbed Name: Duncan
- French Dubbed Name: Kyoushiro
- Italian Dubbed Name: Kyoshiro Yozuki
- Nana Izumi (Youko Kuri)
The granddaughter of Shinichirou Izumi, an excellent markswoman and sometimes co-pilot of Galva FX-II. She has a crush on Kazuya, and initially resents Erika. She leaves the group for some time after committing a big mistake that almost costs her her life, and returns with a more serious attitude.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Named: Joanna
- French Dubbed Name: Nana
- Italian Dubbed Name: Nanà Izumi
- Shin'ichirō Izumi (Hisashi Katsuta)
After the death of Doctor Ryuuzaki, he takes over the operations of Daimobic. He taught Kazuya in the art of Karate.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Name: Professor Yurgen
- Starbirds Dubbed Name: Professor Wells
- French Dubbed Name: Docteur Izumi
- Italian Dubbed Name: Professor Izumi
- Cairo (Inoue You)
The ever-cheerful support robot at Daimobic.
- General Sakamori Miwa (Tamio Ouki)
A leader of Earth’s military, Miwa is a bigot who wants nothing more than to see all of the aliens destroyed.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Name: General Harris
- Isamu Ryūzaki (Shozo Iizuka)
The founder of the Daimobic labs and designer of Daimos. He is killed during the breakdown of the negotiations between the Barmians and the Earthlings.
[edit] Barmians
- Olban
Personal adviser of Richter and Erika’s father. He usurped the throne by killing Leon since the rightful heir hasn’t reached the age of maturity. He also wanted to make Erika his queen, despite the huge age gap between them. In the end, he was killed by Richter in mortal combat but before he died he revealed that he has a remote-controlled implant in his heart that in case he would be killed, it would automatically control the whole Barmian asteroid city to move towards the sun, but this was thwarted by Kazuya.
- Richter (Osamu Ichikawa)
A disgruntled admiral and prince who has hatred for all Earthlings because of his father’s death. He has an obsession to conquer the Earth and make it the new home for the Barmian race. At first he hated Kazuya because of Erika’s love for him, but in the end after he found out that Olban was the one who assassinated Leon, he becomes determined to kill Olban and regain the throne of Barm. However, he ends up being mortally wounded by a wave of Barmian genocide squad machine guns. He commits suicide by crashing himself into the sun. Although not an evil person, he is often blinded by his desire for vengeance. He is concerned for the safety of his people as well.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Named: Ulrich
- Starbirds Dubbed Name: Roderick
- Italian Dubbed Name: Rikiter
- Erika (Miyuki Ueda)
The Barmian princess, sister of Richter and the true love of Kazuya. Once a royal princess, while accompanying her father Leon and brother Richter to a council meeting with the earth forces, she witnessed how her father died and ended up accidentally pushing Richter resulting in the Professor Kazuya, and winds up feeling guilty over the incident. Thus to atone the death of her father she is working as a field nurse while Richter became the admiral for the Barmian forces against Earth’s. In a space accident she fell out of a burning spaceship and fell to the sea, losing her past memories about herself and what she did. Then in Kazuya's first battle he found her unconscious and by that moment he fell in love with her, unknowing that she is a Barmian.
- Raiza (Kazuko Yanaga)
Richter’s beautiful scientist and a loyal subject of the Barmian Empire. She has affections and high regards for Richter but she dislikes Erika because she considers her a traitor. In the end that she was killed by Olban himself due to helping Richter to ploy an assassination plot against him.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Name: Laida
- Starbirds Dubbed Name: Lisa
- Italian Dubbed Name: Laiza
- Balbas (Shozo Iizuka)
Richter’s bald-headed stocky general. He was killed when he helped Kazuya get into Daimos. Eventually revealed that he has a noble soul.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Name: Zendor
- Margarete (Miyoko Aso)
Erika’s nanny. She was the only witness of the two royal siblings growing up, and eventually she’s a confidant to Erika’s feelings for the enemy pilot Kazuya. She even sacrificed her life to protect Erika from Richter’s brutal torture. Eventually she lost her wings as a punishment for being a traitor but she manage to protect Erika for what remained of her life.
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- Filipino Dubbed Name: Rowena
- Starbirds Dubbed Name: Margareta
- Italian Dubbed Name: Margarete
- Gurney Halleck (Hiroya Ishimaru)
A Barmian warrior who, in exchange for a pardon for his supposedly traitorous activities, challenged Kazuya to a man-to-man duel. When the duel was interrupted by Barmian ninja attempting to kill both of them, Kyoshiro helped him and Kazuya escape. During their rematch, a combat machine containing a nuclear bomb attacked them. Halleck entered the machine, flying it into space and sacrificing himself to save Kazuya. In his final transmission to Kazuya, he told him that Erika was waiting for the day that they will be reunited again in peace.
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- Filipino English-Dubbed Name: Hector
- Aizam (Makio Inoue)
A Barmian noblewoman and Erika’s best friend. In their childhood, Erika managed to save her from a violent gale. And in return, as an adult, she helps the Barmian princess meet Kazuya on Earth, and in the end she sacrifices her nobility for the sake of Erika’s happiness.
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- Italian Dubbed Name: Aizam
[edit] Trivia
- Akira Kamiya, who voiced Kazuya, is a veteran seiyuu who also voiced such heroes as Ryouma Nagare, the pilot of Getter-1.
- Hiroya Ishimaru is better known for voicing the pilot of Mazinger Z, Kouji Kabuto. In most other animes, his characters and those of Akira Kamiya are friends and allies.
- The name of one of the Barmians, Gurney Halleck, may have been inspired by the character Gurney Halleck from Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel, Dune.
- The album Circus by the Filipino alternative band Eraserheads contains quotes from different people who supported the band, two simple quotes are included “Erika” from a person named Richard and “Richard” from a person named Erika are seen. The quotes are in reference to the two main protagonists of the show and their multiple scenes in which they are running to each other while saying the lines quoted. (Kazuya’s name is changed to Richard in the dubbed show shown in the Philippines.)
- Daimos was banned in the Philippines during the term of then president turned dictator Ferdinand Marcos around the early 1980s. Along with other super-robot-anime shows like Voltes V, it was banned citing reasons of its negative effects on young people.
- The only time you can see all three Super Robot Romance Trilogy mechas, featured in one package, namely Combattler V, Voltes V and Daimos, is in the following games: Super Robot Taisen Advance for the Game Boy Advance, and Super Robot Taisen Alpha 2 and Super Robot Taisen Alpha 3 for the PlayStation 2 under the company Banpresto. The last features a special combination attack involving all three, the Chōdenji Reppū Seikenzuki (超電磁烈風正拳突き Super Electromagnetic Gale Piercing Righteous Fist). The opening of the attack features Daimos’ Fire Blizzard, Combattler’s Grand Light Wave and Voltes’ Choudenji Ball. Daimos then finishes it off by transforming into his Battle Truck mode and starts to accelerate on top of the Grand Light Wave to increase his momentum before delivering his devastating move: the Reppu Seikenzuki. Super Robot Taisen Alpha 3 is so far, the only Super Robot Taisen game that features this move which is also dubbed as the “Final Nagahama Special” among Super Robot Taisen fans.
- The name “Richter” is probably inspired by legendary pianist and perfomer of Chopin’s work, Svyatoslav Richter.
- Filipino band Parokya ni Edgar make reference to Daimos in their song “Mang Jose.”
- Daimos was one of the many Super Robots featured in Mattel's line of imported Shogun Warriors toys during the late 1970s and early 1980s. A late addition to the toy series, the Daimos Shogun Warriors toy (a two-foot tall "Jumbo Machinder") was available in the U.S. for only about a year between 1979 and 1980 before the Shogun Warriors toy line folded in the U.S. market.
[edit] External links
- Daimos at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
| Tadao Nagahama's Robot Romance Trilogy | |
| Choudenji Robo Combattler V - Choudenji Machine Voltes V - Tosshou Daimos | |
