Kotetsushin Jeeg

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Kotetsushin Jeeg


caption = Logo from WOWOW broadcast announcement
ja_name = 鋼鉄神ジーグ
ja_name_trans = Kōtetsushin Jīgu
genre = Mecha Infobox animanga/Anime
title =
director = Jun Kawagoe
studio = Dynamic Planning / Build Base
network = WOWOW
first = April 5 2007
last = July 12 2007
episodes = 13

nihongo|"Kotetsushin Jeeg"|鋼鉄神ジーグ|Kōtetsushin Jīgu|lit. "Steel God Jeeg" is a Japanese animated television series and sequel to the 1975 Super Robot series "Steel Jeeg", created by Go Nagai. It is directed by Jun Kawagoe (previously known for "New Getter Robo" and "Innocent Venus"). The show began airing on the satellite network WOWOW on April 5, 2007 at 11:30 p.m. JST.

Press material describes the show as "A simple tale of 'Good versus Evil' while at the same time [being] a robot anime created for the sake of the adult core audience."

On February 19, 2007, it was announced that the JAM Project song "STORMBRINGER" would be the show's opening theme.

Plot

The story of "Kotetsushin Jeeg" takes place fifty years after the original and features a new cast of characters - primarily the new main character Kenji Kusanagi, a high school student and motorcycle racer who becomes Kotetsushin Jeeg to fight the sudden reappearance of "Haniwa Genjin" ("Haniwa Phantom Gods", or clay robots) from the Jamada Empire ruled by Queen Himika. Other characters include Tsubaki Tamashiro (granddaughter of Miwa Uzuki) and Kyo Misumi, Kenji's partners. Other main characters from the original series also appear.

Background

1975, Kyushu. The war against the Jamada Empire is turning against the Japanese Security Forces. During a violent clash between Queen Himika and her generals against the Jeeg, Hiroshi Shiba, the bronze bell embedded within Jeeg activates and he is transported to the crater of an extinct volcano. There, he grasps a giant sword, creating an energy vortex that surrounds the entire island. Dark clouds swirl and Kyushu is engulfed in an impenetrable space, later dubbed the "zone". All communication with Kyushu ceases. As years go by with no change in the zone recorded, people and even the world's governments lose their interest in the zone, and the world moves on. The Japanese Government however decides to build a new Build Base to watch over the zone in preparation of a possible attack...

Characters

Build Base

*nihongo|Kenji Kusanagi|草薙剣児|Kusanagi Kenji 17 years old. The main protagonist of the series. A high school student who is also a proficient motorcycle racer and martial artist. He and Kyo are HMB (Hyper Motor Bike) racers for Team Shiba but despite this they are clearly rivals. He becomes the pilot for Kotetsushin Jeeg when a Haniwa Genjin awakens and threatens his town. He has an incredible appetite and is always seen in the cafeteria eating huge amounts of food after each battle. He has a soft spot for his childhood friend, Tsubaki.

:anime voices|Daisuke Ono

*nihongo|Tsubaki Tamashiro|珠城つばき|Tamashiro Tsubaki 17 years old. A childhood friend of Kenji, she attends the same high school and is in the same class as Kenji and Kyo. She lives in a shrine with her grandmother and serves as a shrine maiden. She also works part-time at the Build Base and is Kyo's co-pilot on the Big Shooter. She is responsible for providing Kenji with the Jeeg parts. As a child she often teased Kenji and made him cry, and lately he often infuriates her, but she genuinely cares for him.

:anime voices|Kana Ueda

*nihongo|Kyo Misumi|美角鏡|Misumi Kyō 17 years old. Kyo is rather mysterious, and together with his good looks is the object of affection of many girls in high school. He works at the Build Base as the pilot of the Big Shooter. He has been working at the Build Base much longer than Tsubaki once believed. He and Kenji are clearly rivals in the sport of HMB and he always pushes him the hardest. He also harbors a secret that Kenji and Tsubaki do not know of, but which he will reveal to them near the end of the series.

:anime voices|Susumu Chiba

*nihongo|Miwa Tamashiro|珠城美和|Tamashiro Miwa Formerly known as nihongo|Miwa Uzuki|卯月美和|Uzuki Miwa, or Micchi, she was the pilot for the original Big Shooter 50 years before, providing the Jeeg parts for the then Jeeg, Hiroshi Shiba. She was shot down by Himika and ended up outside of Kyushu when the zone was erected. She never saw Hiroshi again. Now 50 years later she is the grandmother to Tsubaki, and when the forces of Himika seem to return to life, she takes her place as commander of the new Build Base. She has watched over Kenji and Tsubaki all through their lives.

:anime voices|Mako Hyoudou

*nihongo|Senjiro Shiba|司馬遷次郎|Shiba Senjirō The father of the original Jeeg, Hiroshi Shiba. He is a competent and an extremely gifted scientist. While on an archaeological dig in 1975, he unearthed a case bearing a bronze bell. The bell contained immense power and Senjiro incorporated this power into the mighty Jeeg, to battle the Jamada Empire. After escaping Kyushu, he used a second bell to create a new Jeeg, waiting for the day to prevent the Jamada Empire from rising to conquer the Earth once more. He had the new Build Base built on the coastline overlooking the zone.

:anime voices|Youji Ueda

*Build Angels - Three women who are Build Base's primary defence as well as flying support for Jeeg and Big Shooter. They are also sent on reconnaissance missions earlier on in the series. Two of the members, nihongo|Tatsuko Mido|身堂竜子|Midō Tatsuko and nihongo|Monko Saotome|早乙女門子|Saotome Monko, came from the Japanese Defence Force on Kyushu island and were the last surviving pilots of their squadron of F-4s. When the zone started to close in on them, they decided to make a break for the outside world and gunned their jet through the storm clouds. They were able to break through, but had to ditch their ruined fighter jet into the sea. However, they were shocked to discover that in the time it took for them to break through the still forming barrier, 50 years had passed. While undergoing debriefing, they were introduced to an older Senjiro Shiba and a young woman with an eyepatch who would become their commanding officer, Captain nihongo|Mitsuko Yagyu|柳生充子|Yagyū Mitsuko. The three women would join together to form the Build Angels.

Mecha

*nihongo|Raikoba|雷鋼馬|Raikōba - Kenji's motorcycle. Built by Build Base with the bronze bell as it's core. While riding the motorcycle, Kenji can activate the Raikoba's transformation by slamming his fists together (while wearing special yellow gloves emblazoned with a green "S"). The Raikoba will then transform into the Jeeg's head unit (much like how Hiroshi Shiba transformed into the Jeeg head, except he didn't need a motorcycle since he was a cyborg). Kenji later learns that his own parents were part of the Jeeg project and his father designed Raikoba.

*Big Shooter - A large jet that houses the Jeeg's body parts and weapons. The Big Shooter is mainly piloted by Kyo who controls the jet's flight and onboard weapons. The "Shooter" is operated by the co-pilot, Tsubaki. She can shoot the Jeeg parts out of the openings of the jet where they will set up and combine to form Jeeg's body. Unlike the original Big Shooter, Kyo and Tsubaki's jet is actually made of 2 units, the main plane and the shooting unit which attaches underneath. During flight, Big Shooter can also house Raikoba and launch it and it's rider like a catapult.

taff

*Original Creator: Go Nagai
*Director: Jun Kawagoe
*Series Composition: Tadashi Hayakawa
*Scenario: Shoji Tonoike, Natsuko Takahashi, Yuuko Kakihara
*Character Design: Akira Kikuchi
*Animation Director: Akira Kikuchi
*Mechanical Design: Hiroshi Ogawa
*Haniwa Genjin Design: Hiroshi Kobayashi
*Art Director: Nobuto Sakamoto
*Color Design: Sachiko Harada
*Director of Photography: Yasuhiko Abe
*CGI: Shift-R (?)
*Editor: Jun Takuma
*Background Art: BIC Studio
*Photography: RARE TRICK
*Sound Director: Yoshikazu Iwanami
*Sound Production: Jinnan Studio
*Music Producer: Shunji Inoue
*Music Production: Lantis
*Theme Song Artist JAM PROJECT (OP)
*Animation Production: ACTAS, Inc.

External links

* [http://jeeg.tv/ Kotetsushin Jeeg Official Website]
* [http://www.wowow.co.jp/anime/jeeg/ Information page for "Kotetsushin Jeeg" on WOWOW's site]
* [http://eg.nttpub.co.jp/news/20070126_20.html Press release at NTT Publishing's "eg" site]
* [http://animeanime.jp/news/archives/2007/01/304wowow126.html Press release at Anime!Anime!]
*ann anime|id=7609
* [http://www.mazinga-world.com/index.php?module=subjects&func=listpages&subid=5 Koutetsushin Jeeg To Mazinga-World] it icon