Brave Raideen

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Yūsha Raidīn
勇者ライディーン
(Brave Reideen)
Genre Mecha
TV anime
Director Yoshiyuki Tomino, Tadao Nagahama
Studio Sunrise, Tohokushinsha
Network TV Asahi
Original run 4 April 1975 – 26 March 1976
Episodes 50

Brave Reideen (勇者ライディーン Yūsha Raidīn?) is a Super Robot anime series. Produced by Tohokushinsha, Asahi News Agency and Sunrise, it aired on NET (now TV Asahi) from 4 April 1975 to 26 March 1976, with a total of 50 episodes. The official name being Reideen the Brave, it is mainly known as "Brave Reideen," or "Heroic Rydeen"

Contents

[edit] Story

After a slumber of 12 millennia, the Demon Empire awakens to seize control of the Earth. Reideen, the giant robot-like protector of the lost continent of Mu, senses the evil presence and awakens within its golden pyramid. A young Japanese boy, Akira Hibiki, is alerted about the Demon Empire by a mysterious voice and rushes to the pyramid. It is soon revealed that Akira is a descendant of the ancient people of Mu who must help Reideen save the Earth.

In typical anime style, Akira is aided by Mari Sakurano, who happens to be the daughter of a prominent scientist, and his friends from the soccer club.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Staff

[edit] Production Notes

  • The Brave Reideen series is renowned in Japan as the first to include a giant machine of mysterious and mystical origins. Reideen is in fact portrayed as a sentient being. Also, the inclusion of the Mu myth would be imitated in other anime, such as Super Atragon, and more recently in RahXephon. Reideen is also historically noteworthy for being one of the first transforming giant robot character (Goldar, from Ambassador Magma, is an earlier character). It was also the first anime mecha work of anime director and writer Yoshiyuki Tomino, better known as the creator of Gundam. The latter half was directed by Tadao Nagahama, and may be seen as a predecessor to his famous Romantic Trilogy, consisting of Combattler V, Voltes V and Daimos.
  • This series was the second collaboration between writer/director Yoshiyuki Tomino and artist Yasuhiko Yoshikazu. The first work to feature both men was Wandering Sun (Sasurai no Taiyō) (1971). The two would later team up again for both Mobile Suit Gundam and Gundam F-91.
  • According to RahXephon director Yutaka Izubuchi, the similarity of designs and powers of the title robots and the basic plots of RahXephon and Reideen are intentional.[2][3]

The show was heavily edited for American television. Most if not all the religious overtones of the show were altered. The villains were changed from demonic forces to an alien presence. And characters that were victims of demonic possession were aliens in disguise. Even Reideen's attacks were altered to more resemble science as opposed to mystical.

[edit] Remakes

[edit] Reideen the Superior

In the 1990s, a thirty-eight episode remake aired as "Reideen the Superior" (超者ライディーン; Chōja Raidīn). This series was directed by Toshifumi Kawase. Five seemingly ordinary teenagers are actually superheroes called "Reideens" and their mission is to fight their enemy the so-called "Super Devils." The series was notably different than the original, more akin to a Super Sentai series or Tekkaman Blade than the original Reideen.

[edit] REIDEEN

Main article: Reideen

On January 2007, a twenty-six episode series, simply titled "REIDEEN," began transmission. In this remake, Saiga Junki, a high school student with a gift in mathematics, learns that his archaeologist father, who disappeared years earlier, has died. When going to claim his remains at a pyramid dubbed "Japan's Pyramid," a meteor falls from the sky containing an evil lifeform that seeks total destruction. Just as Saiga is put in danger by this lifeform, the bracelet that his father left him reacts to the pyramid, and the titular robot is activated. It is now up to Saiga and Reideen to defend the Earth against the mysterious invaders.

[edit] International Release

  • The series is also considered the first super robot anime to reach a large US audience directly. It was shown on the New York Japanese community channel 47 with subtitles produced by Hawaii's Kiku TV. [4]. The series first appeared on US television in June 1976, Sunday nights at 8:00 P.M. on San Francisco, CA's KEMO TV-26. Later in 1976, the series began running on KMUV TV-31 in Sacramento, CA (night and timeslot to be confirmed). The show was also distributed to Japanese-American television stations in Los Angeles and Chicago, and was sponsored by Honolulu-based Marukai Trading Company, who distributed Japanese-produced merchandise to local retailers in localities airing Reideen - according to author August Ragone.

[edit] Merchandise

The original toy figures of Reideen (spelled "Raydeen") were introduced to the U.S. market as part of the Shogun Warriors toyline during late 1970s under the Mattel brand, as well as the Marvel comic book based on said toyline.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "古今名力士" (in Japanese). Eisai Co. (2006-01-13). Retrieved on 2008-02-13.
  2. ^ Broestl, Sean (2006). "Anime Expo 2006 - Yutaka Izubuchi Focus Panel". Anime News Network. Retrieved on 11 July, 2006.
  3. ^ Wong, Amos (2003), "Interview with Yutaka Izubuchi", Newtype USA 2(2): 14–15 
  4. ^ Clements, Jonatha. McCarthy Helen. [2006] (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: Revised & Expanded Edition. Berkeley, CA: Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 978-1-933330-10-5

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_Raideen"
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