Jushin Liger (anime)

Jushin Liger (獣神ライガー, Jūshin Raigā, lit. Beast God Liger, also sometimes romanized as Juushin Liger, Bio Armor Ryger, Jushin Riger, Jushin Ryger and some other variations) is an anime superhero TV series created by Go Nagai. Produced by Sunrise Inc. with cooperation of Dynamic Planning (Nagai's own company), the series was originally broadcast on Nagoya Broadcasting Network (NBN)/TV Asahi from March 11, 1989 (1989-03-11) to January 27, 1990 (1990-01-27) with a total of 43 episodes.

A manga series, written and drawn by Go Nagai, was also released alongside the anime, originally published by Kodansha in the magazine Comic Bom Bom from March 1989 (1989-03) to January 1990 (1990-01).

This anime series inspired the real-life pro-wrestler, Jushin Thunder Liger.

The opening theme "Ikari no Jushin" (æ€'りの獣神, ikari no jÅ«shin, "Jushin's Rage"), which was performed by Yumi Hiroki, is also wrestler Jushin Thunder Liger's theme song. The song "Kiseki no Jushin" (奇跡の獣神, kiseki no jÅ«shin, "Jushin's Miracle") was also used by Liger on occasion.

The story

It is 199X A.D. In Kushiro, Hokkaido, three bodies of Dragonite appear. Possessing overwhelming destructive force, they attack the city. They also awaken the evil Jashin Drago from the holy seal he was trapped in. 200 years ago, Drago was trapped in the seal by a holy warrior with the tattooed mark of the Liger. Assuming that the warrior is dead, Drago and Empress Zara are free to conquer the Earth using their army of biomechanical beasts. Even the Japan Self-Defense Forces are no match for the Dragonites' awesome power. One of the people fleeing is the protagonist, a milquetoast 16 year old boy named Ken Taiga. Unbeknownst to the Dragonites, Ken realizes that he is the descendant of the Liger warrior. In a burst of anger, Ken's Liger birthmark appears, and he rises his palm into the air, shouting the henshin command, "LIGER!" which then covers him in demonic, long-haired biomechanical armor. Ken transforms into Jushin Liger to fight the evil forces of the Dragonite!

Main characters

• Ken Taiga (大牙剣, taiga ken, played by Mayumi Tanaka)
• Ryuzo Taiga (大牙龍造, taiga ryÅ«zō, played by Ritsuo Sawa)
• Yui Kamishiro (神代ゆい, kamishiro yui, played by Naoko Matsui)
• Mai Kamishiro (神代まい, kamishito mai, played by Miki Ito)
• Saeko Yagami (八神冴子, yagami saeko, played by Kayoko Fujii)
• Dangoro (団äº"郎, played by Kozo Shioya)
• Mini-Knight (ミニナイト, mini naito, played by Chie Kojiro)
• Empress Zara (女帝ザーラ, nyotei zāra, played by Mizuka Arima)
• Ryu Dolk (リュウ・ドルク, ryÅ« doruku, played by Kiyoyuki Yanada)
• Doll Satan (ドル・サタン, doru satan, played by Masako Katsuki)
• Doll Command (ドル・コマンド, doru komando, played by Bin Shimada)
• Doll Phantom (ドル・ファントム, doru fantomu, played by Hidetoshi Nakamura)
• Doll Navy (ドル・ネイãƒ"ー, doru neibÄ«, played by Koji Totani)

TV anime episodes

Source(s)

Staff and production notes

• Airtime: Saturday, 17:30 - 18:00 hrs.
• Network: Nagoya TV, TV Asahi
• Planning: Sunrise
• Planning coordinator: Dynamic Planning
• Production: Nagoya TV, Tokyu Agency, Sunrise
• Original work: Go Nagai
• Work collaboration: Sunrise
• Episode Directors: Osamu Sekita, Toshifumi Kawase, Masao Ito
• Direction: Norio Kashima
• Scenario: Sho Aikawa, Yoshimasa Takahashi, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga, Hiroyuki Kawasaki
• Animation director: Yorihisa Uchida, Masanori Yamada, Joji Kikuchi
• Character design: Yorihisa Uchida
• Bio Armor design: Yukihiro Makino
• Music: Hiromoto Tobisawa

Source(s)

Theme songs

• • 1st Opening theme: Ikari no Jushin (æ€'りの獣神, ikari no jÅ«shin) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
  • 2nd Opening theme: Kiseki no Jushin (奇跡の獣神, kiseki no jÅ«shin) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
  • 1st Ending theme: The Fire (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
  • 2nd Ending theme: Hangyaku no Senshi ~Ryu Dolk no Theme~ (反逆の戦士〜リュウ・ドルクのテーマ〜, hangyaku no senshi ~ryÅ« doruku no tÄ"ma~) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
  • Insert song: Kagami no Komori Uta (鏡の子守り歌) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition & arrangement by Hiromoto Tobisawa, song by Yumi Hiroki)
  • Arranged theme: Ikari no Jushin (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Kazuo Nobuta, song by MIO)(not used in the original series, but widely available in several music collections)

This was one of the first TV anime to feature two opening and two ending themes, a tendency that has been followed since then by several TV anime. The Ikari no Jushin, besides being still by Japanese wretler Jushin Liger, has been used by the Hanshin Tigers as the climbing theme of pitcher Hirotaka Egusa. It's one of the anime themes that has been in constant use even after the TV show ended.

Manga

The manga, which was originally published in Kodansha's magazine Comic Bom Bom, was not published in tankōbon format by this company. Instead, it was published by Keibunsha, Daitosha and Daiso Shuppan.

• Keibunsha (Keibunsha Comic Han, 1990)

• Daitosha (St Comics, 1999)

• Daiso Shuppan (Daiso Comic Series, 2002)

Media

Home video

The TV series was released in VHS format by King Records in 1989 and 1990. The whole series was released in DVD by Geneon Entertainment in two DVD boxes of 4 discs each, with standard numbers GNBA-1230 and GNBA-1231 and released in August 25, 2006 (2006-08-25) and October 25, 2006 (2006-10-25).

Music

The anime has generated the following records and CDs, all of them produced by King Records.

Appearances in other media

The theme Ikari no Jushin appears in both its original and arranged versions in these CD music collections.

Jushin Liger appears in the Wii video game Super Robot Wars NEO.

See also

• Jushin Thunder Liger the pro wrestler.
• Jushin Liger: Fist of Thunder, the 1995 OVT tokusatsu film.

References

External links

• Jushin Liger (anime) (Japanese) official website at Sunrise Inc.
• Jushin Liger (anime) (Japanese) official website at Nagoya Broadcasting Network
• Jushin Liger (anime) (Japanese) DVD-box official website at Geneon Universal Entertainment
• Jushin Liger (manga) (Japanese) at The World of Go Nagai webpage
• Jushin Liger (manga) (Italian) at d/visual