List of Mega Man Star Force episodes (original series)

This article covers all 55 episodes of the original "Mega Man Star Force" anime series, known in Japan as nihongo|"Shooting Star Rockman"|流星のロックマン|Ryūsei no Rokkuman. The series premiered in Japan on October 7, 2006 and finished its run on October 27, 2007.

The English version premiered on Toonami Jetstream on July 23, 2007. On August 25, the series then premiered on Cartoon Network edited as a 2-hour faux-movie presentation comprised of Japanese episodes 1 thru 9 and heavily slimmed-down versions of episodes 12, 15, and 16. Currently, it is unknown when or if the series will air in normal episodic format on television, but subsequent episode airings online reveal that the unusual edits are exclusive to the television premiere.

The original Japanese episodes are roughly 10 minutes long, with the English version combining two episodes together to fill a single 30-minute time-slot. Although most of the plots in the Japanese version are already split between two 10 minute episodes, a few one-part and three-part plots disrupt what would otherwise be a seamless combination of episodes. Thus, many English-dubbed episodes begin with the conclusion of the previous episode and end with a cliffhanger. Either way, this is problematic, as the series ends on an odd number of episodes. In order to compensate, Viz has combined Japanese episode 25 with ten minutes of recycled footage from the previous 25 episodes. This footage acts as a recap of the story up to that point and is accompanied with narration by Geo Stelar.

The series loosely follows the events of the first Nintendo DS "Mega Man Star Force" video game. However, the storyline makes an obvious shift at Japanese episode 32 using many concepts not featured in the games, specifically, the FM-ians' quest to gather "minus energy" and their ability to transform into doppelgänger forms of the humans they once possessed. This implied that the series was in a state of filler plot-lines until the second video game was released.

The majority of the run was handled by three art directors, although near the end, two more art directors appeared.cite web | url=http://www.xebec-inc.co.jp/anime/ryusei/ | title=XEBEC's "Shooting Star Rockman" anime page | accessdate=2007-11-03] The art directors mostly worked independently of one another one individual episodes, although in a few instances shared episodes. They are:
* Masayuki Nomoto - Japanese episodes 1-2, 5-7, 10, 13-14, 19-21, 24-25, 28-29, 32-34, 36-37, 40-41, 44-45, 48-51
* Akira Takahashi - Japanese episodes 3-4, 8-9, 12, 15-17, 22, 30-31, 35, 42-43, 46-47
* Shingo Adachi - Japanese episodes 11, 18, 23, 26-27, 38-39, 43, 46-47, 52
* Chikaoka Nao - Japanese episode 53
* Yasuo Shimizu - Japanese episodes 54-55

The episodes below are listed separately according to their Japanese broadcast. Once the English versions have aired, they are then combined into a single episode to correspond with the English version. Air dates for both online (through Toonami Jetstream) and on television (through Cartoon Network; if at all) will also be documented where applicable.

Notes and references

ee also

* List of Mega Man Star Force episodes
* Mega Man Star Force (video-game)
* Mega Man Star Force (anime)

External links

* [http://www.capcom.co.jp/ryusei/ Capcom's "Shooting Star Rockman" game series splash page] ja icon
* [http://www.shopro.co.jp/tv/program/ryuusei_rockman/ Shogakukan's "Shooting Star Rockman" anime page] ja icon
* [http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/contents/ryusei_rockman/ TV Tokyo's "Shooting Star Rockman" anime page] ja icon
* [http://www.xebec-inc.co.jp/anime/ryusei/ XEBEC's "Shooting Star Rockman" anime page] ja icon
* [http://www.toonamijetstream.com Toonami Jetstream]