Ninja Senshi Tobikage
Ninja Senshi Tobikage, known as Ninja Robots in English releases, is a Japanese anime television series, produced by Studio Pierrot, which aired from 6 October 1985 to 13 July 1986 on the Nippon Television network. It was also broadcast to parts of Asia and Australia, and, in 1995, was broadcast in the United States on Cartoon Network. The series used to be streamed in North America via Yomiura Group's now defunct Anime Sols video service in spring 2013.
Plot
It is the 23rd century and the earthlings have colonized Mars and the Moon. Much like the legendary convicts in Australia during the 18th and 19th century, the settlers of Mars consist mostly of convicts from Earth. The Martian colony is run by a dictatorial Commander [|Hazzard Pascha], who tests every settler on whether they should serve in the military or become a laborer.[|Joe Maya] is a 16-year-old who lives on Mars and dreams of returning to Earth. He has two friends: [|Mike Coil] and [|Jenny Ai]. When escaping from the Martian military police, [|Joe] and Mike stumble upon a crashed spaceship, the [|Xenos 5], being attacked by huge robots. In his attempt to escape chasing robots, Joe gets into the spaceship where he encounters three human-looking aliens: the beautiful Princess Romina, her willowy attendant [|Jade], and a young General [|Icelander]. A robot locates them and the three aliens hide, leaving Joe to fend for himself. Joe tries hiding in a pile of glowing metal, which turns out to be a ninja robot named [|Black Lion]. The battle leads outside the ship where a mysterious ninja robot [|Cybertron] suddenly appears when the Black Lion struggles. It wipes out several enemy robots before merging with Joe's robot, transforming into a mechanical lion that destroys the remaining attackers.
After the attack, Joe, Mike, and Jenny are forcibly taken to the alien spaceship. It transpires that the aliens are from the planet Ladorio in a distant galaxy, and are at war with the Zaboom army who captured their planet. They came to the Milky Way seeking ninjas who could operate their three ninja robots. Joe, Mike, and Jenny agree to help them for a variety of reasons. Along the way, as they fend off the constant attacks by the Zaboom army and their allies, they make new friends and enemies, while Cybertron looms mysteriously in the background.
Characters
Humans
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Ladorio
This is a list of the notable characters from the planet Ladorio.;,
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Zaboom
A list of notable characters in the army of Zaboom.; Grathan Gryn,
; Charme Veker,
; King Annex,
Machines
Ninja Legend and Prophecy
The ancient legend, pieced together during the series, speaks of mysterious ninjas who, 500 years ago, fought off an invading Zaboom army trying to conquer Ladorio. They had been transported from Japan in A.D.1790 and brought to planet via Xenos 5. Subsequently, they were the models for the three ninja robots and it was believed the robots could be piloted only by the ninjas.When the Zaboom army attacks Ladorio, King Ladorio VII entrusts Princess Romina with the task of finding the ninjas from Earth who could pilot the three robots and defeat the Zaboom army. King Annex aims at not only preventing Romina from finding the ninjas, but also use the ninjas and the ninja robots to conquer the universe.
Both Annex and Romina possess a torn piece each of a parchment containing the prophecy. Annex's parchment, with the latter half of the prophecy, states that the ninjas in Xenos 5 would emit a great light and would have the power to destroy stars and planets. Romina's parchment, with the former half of the prophecy, states that when Cybertron and Zerokage meet at Xenos 5, they will combine to generate great energy, resulting in the transformation of Xenos 5.
The prophecy is fulfilled when Icelander and Joe join hands to merge into Cybertron and Zerokage, emitting the great light, and enter the secret, forbidden chamber in Xenos 5 where they power and transform Xenos 5 and journeys back to Ladorio.
Ninja Robots
The ninja robots are mechas that can be controlled only by individuals with special abilities. In the event of the pilots losing their physical strength, they merge with a special ninja robot called Cybertron and transform into a more powerful combination.The pilots of both Cybertron and Zerokage have a deeper association with their ninja robots. The robots instinctively respond to them and merges with them when their lives are in danger. They also have reciprocal power levels. They combine to form a luminous power source that not only energizes Xenos 5, but also has the potential to destroy stars.
; Cybertron
; Black Lion
; Phoenix Thunderhawk
; Burst Dragon
Zaboom Robots
; Shadow Bots; Stealth Destroyers
; Mantis
; Zerokage
Fortresses
; Xenos 5; C-Terahertz
; G-Excellent
; Famille Ship
Anime
The anime series was produced by Studio Pierrot, and aired on Nippon Television network from 6 October 1985 to 13 July 1986. The show ran for 43 episodes. The initial plan was to finish the series with the recapture of the planet Ladorio, but financial difficulties stopped the show with the plot ending at Xenos 5 leaving for Ladorio.It was also broadcast across to South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia by Cartoon Network. It was also dubbed across Russia by Ren-TV, across Ukraine by Pershyi Natsionalnyi, across the Philippines by Solar USA after Cartoon Network Philippines removed it from it airwaves, across France by TF1, under the title Tobikage, and across Chile by TVN de Chile, Mexico by Televisa Canal 5 and Peru by América Televisión 4.
In 1995, it was dubbed & under the title Ninja Robots in the United States. The series was written, produced, and directed by Buz Alexander of Alexander Entertainment Group. The English cast credited Los Angeles-based voice actors Cam Clarke, Steve Kramer, Wendee Lee, Mike Reynolds, and Doug Stone for providing voices, however the actual voices were done by Miami-based actors at Sonic III Studios. It is rumored that a test pilot with done with those voice actors before the Miami cast was brought in. The first eleven episodes of this version do not follow the original order of episodes.
The opening theme song is titled "Love Survivor". The closing theme song is titled "Ichi Seikime no Angel". Both songs were written by Kumiko Aoki, and the composition and arrangements were done by Yūichirō Oda. They were performed by HIT BOY.
In the English adaptation, the opening theme song is used for both the opener and closer; the lyrics were written by Lisa McBride and the song was performed and arranged by Jerry Cobb.
Episode list
| No. | Episode Title | Original Japanese airdate |