Getter Robo Go


Getter Robo Go or Getter Robot Go, also known as Venger Robo or Venger Robot Go outside Japan, is a Japanese mecha anime and manga series created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa.
The anime was originally broadcast from February 11, 1991 to January 27, 1992 on TV Setouchi and TV Tokyo with a total of 50 episodes. Along with the TV series, a few manga versions were released. One of them was released in the US under the name Venger Robo and in Spain as Venger Robot Go. The anime and manga are unrelated, and while the anime is a remake of the original series, the manga is a sequel of the original manga. The series is sometimes wrongly written in Japanese as ゲッターロボ号. The international title given to the anime on Toei's website is Goldbang.

Anime

Anime plot

In the year 200X, Doctor Rando, a genius scientist gone mad, has broken the peace on the Earth by trying to conquer the world from his Polar base, using an army of his Metal Beasts, super robots developed by him to conquer the world and led by his genetically created officers. No regular weapons seem to work against the Metal Beasts. To combat him, Japan's Defense Agency request the cooperation of NISAR, the Japan International Aerospace Corporation, which has developed a robot, the Getter Robo. Dr. Tachibana, the head of the Getter Robo project, is reluctant to use the robot for battle. Despite this, Getter Robo, piloted by Go Ichimonji, is able to defeat a Metal Beast with the sacrifice of Shinichi, the son of Dr. Tachibana. This prompts the improvement of Getter to make it a transforming machine piloted by three persons, capable of defeating the Metal Beasts and stopping Dr. Rando from conquering the world.

Episodes

Source

Staff and production notes

Source
The anime is a remake of the original Getter Robot series with no real relationship with the previous anime or manga. Each episode features a different metal beast enemy, a similar format to the anime television series Mazinger Z. The design of the Getter Robot has some features reminiscent of Mazinger Z, such as a "Rocket Punch" attack. The series also marked the renewal of business relationships between Toei Animation and Go Nagai, which were interrupted by the conflict with Daiku Maryu Gaiking.

Theme songs

Source

Media

Home video

The series was released on Laserdisc by Toei Video. Toei also released the series on DVD:
Vol.DiscsStandard numberRelease date
12DSTD-7211
22DSTD-7212
32DSTD-7213
42DSTD-7214
52DSTD-7215

Music

The opening and ending themes have been released as singles and have been compiled in albums of the artists who performed them. The soundtrack is available in two CDs, one of which was re-released years later,
TitleTypeArtistLabelStandard numberRelease date
Grievous Rain8 cm singleHiroyuki TakamiBandaiBCDA-9
Getter Robot Go8 cm singleIchiro MizukiColumbiaCODC-8760
Getter Robot Go OngakushuSoundtrack albumMichiaki WatanabeColumbiaCOCC-7702
Getter Robot Go hit KyokushuAlbumVariousColumbiaCOCC-9122
Animex 1200 series 73: Getter Robot Go OngakushuSoundtrack albumMichiaki WatanabeColumbiaCOCC-72073

The opening and ending themes are available in several compilation albums of the Getter Robot series.

Manga

Three manga versions were published with the release of the TV series. Two of them were drawn by Tatsuo Yasuda, the first one was published in the magazine TV-kun from to and the second one in the magazine Bessatsu Coro Coro Comic Special from to, both Children's publications of Shogakukan. None of these have been re-printed outside the magazines.
Another version, written by Go Nagai and illustrated by Ken Ishikawa, was published in the magazine Shōnen Captain, published by Tokuma Shoten, from February 1991 to May 1993. This version was originally compiled in 7 volumes, and later reprinted in other collections published by Daitosha and Futabasha.
From this manga, the first stories were published in the United States by Viz Media in 1993 in 7 issues under the name Venger Robo.
Some of these numbers were also published in Spain by Planeta DeAgostini in 1995, under the name Venger Robot Go. In France, the series was published from 1999 to 2001 for a total of 5 volumes by Dynamic Vision. A volume of the series was also published in South Korea by Seoul Cultural Publishers. In Italy, the series was published integrally as part of the Getter Saga series, which included all Getter Robot series in a single series of 12 volumes. There are a lot of major differences between Go Nagai's version and the TV version. The whole plot is rewritten to match as the sequel to the last series, Getter Robo G as well as incorporating characters and storyline that would later be adapted in the OAVs Getter Robo Armageddon and Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo. Another interesting thing is the debut of the iconic Shin Getter Robo in the Manga's last volume.

Manga plot

Sixteen years after Ryouma Nagare, Hayato Jin and Benkei Kuruma defeated the Hundred Oni Empire, research has begun to develop a new set of Getter Machines in order to fight the threat of a new, cyborg-like species known as Metal Beasts, led by the evil Professor Rando of the "Vega Zone". Leading this project is Hayato himself, who soon scouts and enlists three young pilots: Go Ichimonji, a young professional athlete, Sho Tachibana, the daughter of Prof. Tachibana and a skilled sword-fighter, and Gai Daidou, a former Getter mechanic. Together, these three pilots use a new set of Getter Machines to form the super robot known as "Getter Robo Go", and begin a battle to stop Rando once and for all.

Manga exclusive characters