Viewtiful Joe (anime)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Viewtiful Joe (anime) | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| ビューティフル ジョー (Viewtiful Joe (anime)) |
|
| Genre | Action, Comedy |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Takaaki Ishiyama |
| Studio | Group TAC |
| Network |  TV Tokyo
|
| Original run | 2 October 2004 – 24 September 2005 |
| No. of episodes | 51 |
Viewtiful Joe is an anime series based on the video game series of the same name.
The series follows a similar plot of the games, but there are many differences. The series was shown every Saturday on the Japanese TV station TV Tokyo from October 2004 until October 2005 (where it was replaced by Idaten Jump). It has been licensed by anime distributor Geneon, and once aired in the United States on Kids' WB!. The Kids' WB block will be transferred to the upcoming The CW, however, there is no anime planned for the schedule, leaving this show's American future in question. Beginning September 2 it was replaced by The Batman.
Contents |
[edit] Storyline
Following the games' storyline, movie lover Joe and his girlfriend Silvia enjoy a seemingly normal trip to the movies to see an action flick starring Joe's idol, Captain Blue, when suddenly the leader of the evil Jadow force reaches out of the screen and takes Silvia into the movie. Joe is forced to follow her by Captain Blue's mecha, Six Majin (renamed "Robo Six" in the English anime), and meets Captain Blue in the flesh who grants Joe the power to become an action movie hero in his own right, Viewtiful Joe.
[edit] Characters
- Joe: The hero, a superhero fanboy who gets to live his dream as Viewtiful Joe while he saves Silvia from the Jadow. He assumes his superhero outfit via the phrase "Henshin-a-Go-Go, Baby!!", although all that's needed for him to transform is the word "henshin". He is often distracted by cheese burgers and doesn't take a lot of things seriously.
- Silvia: The heroine, she was abducted by the Jadow for their evil plan to succeed. After Jadow's defeat, Silvia obtained a V-Watch from Captain Blue so she can team up with Joe as Sexy Sylvia(in the English anime dub Go-Go Silvia) instead of being the "damsel-in-distress".
- Junior: Another self-proclaimed hero worshipper like Joe, only younger. He lived in Blue Town, which was named after Captain Blue, serving as its protector Captain Blue Jr. Despite his jealousy for Joe being Blue's successor, Junior decided to become Joe's sidekick and offered his knowledge of Movieland as a helping hand. As the series progresses into the Gedow arc, Junior received the V-Yoyos from Captain Blue, assuming his new superhero outfit via the phrase "Henshin-a-Yo-Yo, Baby!!"
- Captain Blue: Joe's idol and guru. He gave Joe the V-Watch which enables him to use his VFX powers. It later is revealed that Captain Blue is actually Silvia's father, a movie director who somehow ended up in Movieland where he assumed being Captain Blue. Overtime, Blue came to doubt if being a hero is worth it and became King Blue of the Jadow. After being defeated by Joe and freed from his madness, Blue became the director of the "movie's sequel". In Season 2, he was transofmed into the "Captain Blue Device", which GEDOW uses to create monsters.
- Alastor: An agent of the Jadow that uses the nicknames "The Midnight Thunder Boy" and "Blade Master." Though he was helping the Jadow, Alastor doesn't care about their goals, but instead seeking out the ultimate battle, and can be considered an "anti-hero" to an extent. He considers himself Joe's rival, despite questioning Joe's methods. Alastor was also the one who gave Joe the inspiration for his "hero name." During Fire Leo's fight with Joe, Alastor restrained Fire Leo as they both fell into the void that surrounds Jadow headquarters, but Alastor promised to survive so he and Joe can finally settle their rivalry.
- Detective (5, 9, 25, 31, 34, 36): A recurring character who refers to Joe as Partner. Most of them time he gives people a choice to cut the red wire or the blue wire. In episode 31 he was a member of the Alien Administration Bureau partnered with Q.
- Syrus (6, 21, 25): An old farmer who was a big fan of Captain Blue, he kept SIX Machine safe until Joe arrived.
The mysterious evil organization of season 1, led by the mysterious figure its member refer to as "Almighty Leader".
- "Almighty Leader": The leader of Jadow, who is a disembodied voice. Code-named "Omnipontent". When Joe managed to get into Jadow headquarters, he found Silvia, only to see her adbucted by the evil leader, who activated the Jadow base self-destuct. Once Joe to the stadium, "Almighty Leader" was revealed to be none other than Captain Blue, who attempted to break Joe's spirit and thus devasatated Joe mentally before destroying him physically. But the words of those Joe had befriended in his adventure enabled Joe's confidence to return and fight Blue back. Piloting the King Blue giant robot, Blue was defeated by Joe in Six Majin.
- Coordinator Sprocket: Coordinator of Jadow and 2nd in command of the organization. She is annoyed with the antics and incompetence of Charles, Hulk, & Bruce. When Jadow was no more, she along with Charles, Hulk, & Bruce joined up with Gedow. In the English anime dub, she is given a tie to cover up her cleavage.
- Fire Leo: The strongest member of Jadow, codenamed "Inferno Lord." He was sent to fight Joe after the incompentence of the other agents. He developed a grudge on Joe for being referred to a dog when he is clearly a lion, and his fiery mane extinguished in his first defeat by Joe. He's one of few Jadow members to question Alastor's loyalities. When Joe arrived to Jadow HQ, Fire Leo wanted to kill Joe and overpowered him. At the last second, Fire Leo was restianted by Alastor as they fell into the void that surrounds Jadow headquarters. Whether he survived or not is unknown.
- Charles the Third: A bat-like agent of Jadow, codenamed "Dark Fiend." Arrogant and snobbish with a French accent, Charles is full of tricks and has feelings for Sprocket. He, Hulk Davidson, and Gran Bruce were fired for their incompentence after serval attempts to do away with Joe and were banished to the real world.
- Hulk Davidson: A rhino-like agent of Jadow, codenamed "Iron Ogre". He scarred Capt. Blue during a previous battle they had. Wields a battle axe and wears a horned helmet. Also sings and collects motorcycles. He, Charles the Third, and Gran Bruce were fired for their incompentence after serval attempts to do away with Joe and were banished to the real world.
- Gran Bruce: A shark-like agent of Jadow, codenamed "Aquatic Terror." Is considerably lower on the intelligence scale than most of the other Jadow and speaks in an Australian accent (as perceived by Americans). He, Hulk Davidson, and Charles the Third were fired for their incompentence after serval attempts to do away with Joe and were banished to the real world.
Minor JADOW members
- Rotten Jack (7): A jack in the box-like agent of Jadow who posed as a clown while selling his brainwashing Slugoons (Suragon) to children in a plan to recruit the preteen youth to Jadow's cause. Codenamed: Toxic Toybox
- Almighty Big-Mask (9): A stone-face agent of Jadow sent to adbuct a princess under the guise of the Big Mask of Truth.
- Bruce Davidson The Third (Grancharulk) (10): A robot created in a joint project by Charles the Third, Hulk Davidson, & Gran Bruce to take down Joe. Bruce Davidson the 3rd combines the attributes of his three creators(Charles' flight, Hulk's strength, etc.; It swaps heads also, between its own and one looking like Charles', one looking like Hulk's, and of course one looking like Bruce's), which at first seemed a good move. But each attribute canceled the other two out(its weight disabled its ability to fly, its axe got caught on the wings, and when it went underwater, only the bruce head was fine; the Hulk and Charles heads, and thus 2/3 of Bruce Davidson the 3rd, was unable to breathe, and nearly drowned) so the robot was not really a threat. Instead, it could barely fight and more often seemed to dance due to bad programing. Joe puts it "The sad thing is some people actually dance that way."
- Whiteout & Blackout (11): The two Choromotoid brothers Jadow sent to steal Digicolor Town of its color, they use vacuums to suck up color.
- Fake Silvia (12): Posed as Silvia to steal the V-Watch from Joe. Her true form is a chameleon like woman whose other forms are a homage to the Jedi from the Star Wars movie series, and spoofs of Robocop and Kill Bill.
Biankies
The standard Jadow grunts, these robots can do anything from fighting Joe to helping Silvia redecorate her cell. Biankies come in different models. Among those Biankie models are:
- Joker (1): An Zorro-esque Biankie and agent of Jadow and Joe's first opponent, he speaks with a Spanish-accent. He has a rapier and wields two revolvers as his weapons. In the English anime dub, his name was altered to "Jokester".
- Bianco Billy (5, 21): A cowboy-themed, pistol-wielding Bianky who attacked Blue Town, overpowering Junior until Joe saved the day. He habored a grudge against Junior since and attempted to get his revenge while he was separated from Joe. The dub had him using laser-pistols rather than the six shooters he usually uses like in the games. He is one of few biankies who can speak English.
- Verdy Copters (6, 24): Charles' personal grunts, Biankies remodeled for flight. (Verdy Jets, Verdy Copter's more powerful counterparts, made only two appearances in the anime.)
- Red Leader A high ranking Bianky who wields a sword in the games. (His more powerful counterpart Black Leader has yet to appear in the anime.) He can also speak English. His first appearince was in "The Fugitive from Beyond the Screen".
- Bianky Ballerinas Biankies outfited with tutus and the ability to spin really fast.
- Metal Leos Though not actually Biankies, Metal Leos wear the same belt buckle and have the same eyes as a Bianky. They are Fire Leo's personal robots. They only make one appearance in the anime.
- (Note: Several Biankies were cut out of the anime. They are Rosetta Biankies, which fight like Captin Blue in the games, Astro Biankies, which are just Biankies refitted for space scences, and Boxer Biankies, which wear a football helmet and use a pair of spiked boxing gloves.)
The GEDOW are the new mysterious evil group of season 2 (which has yet to be seen in English). Its members are:
- The Black Emperor: Leader of the GEDOW. Pilots a battle machine. The Black Emperor is a super hero called "Jet Black", Joe's father, owner of the Movie Studio and Captain Blue's best friend. He turned evil by the Black V-watch and the black film. He was freed from the black film corruption by Joe and Silvia.
- Dr. Cranken: The Black Emperor's right-hand man and Mad Scientist. He appears to be a half-human, half-squid being who head is half machine.
- Miss Bloody Rachel: A golden "Serial Killer Android" created by Dr. Cranken.
- Big John (28): A Tyrannosaurus Rex-like agent of the Gedow who is codenamed "Drill Sergeant." His debut served to introduce Captain Blue Junior's "true henshin."
- Flinty Stone: A Golem-like agent of the Gedow nicknamed "Ancient Guardian". Suffers from a form of narcolepsy and speaks with an Austrian dialect. He can't seem to stay awake when multiple people talk at once.
- Cameo Leon (34): A Chameleon monster created by Dr. Cranken, codenamed "Cyber Phantom." Speaks incredibly quickly and appears to be rather simple-minded (in other words, he talks faster than he thinks).
- Frost Tiger (44): A tiger-like agent of Gedow codenamed "Blizzard Hazard." He is the brother of Fire Leo and fashioned himself after archetypal samurai characters. He bears no grudge against Joe unlike his brother, but wishes to fight him to see if Joe is a worthy opponent.
- Flatties: The standard Gedow grunts.
[edit] Episodes
Whilst it is not noted in the list, the Japanese names of each episode had "Episode!" (の巻; no Maki) at the end of their titles (i.e.: episode one's full name was "The Man Named Joe! Episode!"). This is a trait that anime shows occasionally pick up; Sgt. Frog, for example, has "De arimasu" attached to the end of each episode title while Tenchi Universe had each episode title (bar the "Space and time adventures" miniarc) begin with "No need for...".
This trait has not been picked up in the US televised broadcast of the show (mostly because the episode card is cut for each episode). In addition, for reasons unknown, the U.S. broadcast began with episode 5, with the first three episodes not being shown until a month later. Episode 4 was intended to be broadcast June 17, 2006, but the schedule was altered two weeks ahead of time. [1]
- Just a Dude Named Joe (The Man named Joe) (December 16, 2005)
- What's-His-Name to the Rescue! (I Got It! The Legendary Special Attacks) (December 16, 2005)
- Dude, Did You Say "Viewtiful"? (I am...Viewtiful Joe!) (December 16, 2005)
- Tutus to you, too (Silvia S.O.S!) (DVD only for now)
- Howdy, Partner! (Introducing: Capt. Blue Junior!) (November 5, 2005)
- Junior Sucks It Up (Come On, Six Machine!) (November 12, 2005)
- Attack of the Slugoon Platoon (Fear! Suragon's Appearance) (November 19, 2005)
- Fire on the Mountain (What? Our Hero is Disqualified?) (November 26, 2005)
- Roamin' Holiday (Large Disturbance! The Hero of the Festival!) (December 3, 2005)
- No Kidding (Super Robo Grancharulk!) (December 10, 2005)
- When Pigments Fly (The Day the World Loses its Color) (December 17, 2005)
- Dude, Where's My V-Watch (The Stolen V-Watch) (January 7, 2006)
- The Fugtive From Beyond the Screen (Jadow's Fugitive) (January 14, 2006)
- Jadow Greatest Hits Collection (Actual Records! Jadow's Battle is Confirmed) (January 21, 2006)
- To Have and to Hold Captive(The Plan of Wedding Bells) (January 28, 2006)
- A Fairy's Tale (The Pine Tree Peninsula and the Fairy Flower) (February 4, 2006)
- Captain Blue vs. the Squid of Inescapable Doom?! (Captain Blue Returns) (February 11, 2006)
- V-Watch Out!(The V-Watch Panic) (February 18, 2006))
- V Is For… Veggie-Burger?! (Chin Up, You'll probably Walk!) (February 25, 2006)
- Express Train to Yesterday (It's Not Time to Play Around!) (March 4, 2006)
- Bianco Billy Rides Again (Junior: Crisis Attack!) (March 25, 2006)
- Cleanliness is Next to Escape-liness (Silvia's Big Escape) (April 22, 2006)
- Crush Hour (Climactic Battle! Joe VS Alastor!) (April 29, 2006)
- Hero Takes a Fall (Revival! Six Majin) (May 6, 2006)
- In the Belly of the Jadow Beast (Decisive Battle! Infiltrate Jadow's Base!) (May 13, 2006)
- It All Comes Down to a Dude Named Joe (We Still Have Tomorrow!) (May 20, 2006)
- The New Enemy! Gedow's Invasion
- Junior's Henshin
- Sylvia the Storm-Calling Woman
- Wild, Wild Kick!
- The Alien Next Door
- Fierceness! The Cannon Race
- A lot of heroes!
- Reclaiming the Black Daimond!
- A kind mysterious person from Gedow?!
- The target is Joe!
- Burning Metal Heart!
- Revived Black Wings!
- Enemy is Captain Blue!
- Crumbling! Movieland
- Courageously engraving the Earth!
- Raw hook-up! Joe VS Junior
- Sprocket's love for glasses!
- The Flaming Lion Returns!
- Gedow's Romantic Operation!
- Rachel's Treasured Item
- Actual Records! Gedow's Battle is Confirmed!
- Fierce Battle! Eternal Rival!
- Triumph! Gedow Destroyed!
- Exhibition! Viewtiful Film Festival!
- Tomorrow's Hero is You!
[edit] Cast
Unlike the games (which feature English voices even in the main Japanese releases), the English cast for the anime is entirely different, since it is a non-union operation. However, Kevin Michael Richardson, the voice of Fire Leo and Hulk Davidson, provides his voice for the commercial breaks. The Japanese version of the anime uses the same cast from the Japanese-dubbed version of the games. The Brazilian voice are only for the anime version, since the game wasn't dubbed in Brazil.
| English | Japanese | Brazilian |
|
|
|
[edit] Theme songs
Japanese
- Openings
- "Brighter Side" by SaGa (Ep 1-19)
- "Brighter Side" V.2 by SaGa (Ep 20-38)
- "Spirit Awake" by SaGa (Ep 39-51)
- Endings
- "And You" by SaGa (Ep 1-19)
- "And You" V.2 by SaGa (Ep 20-38)
- "Shangri-La Village / Tougenkyou" by Amasia Landscape (Ep 39-51)
English
- Opening
- "Brighter Side" V.2 by SaGa
[edit] Trivia
- The name of Joe's flying machine, Six machine was renamed in the English dub to Machine Six. There is speculation that it was renamed because its original name sounded close to the phrase "Sex machine." Also Six Majin was renamed to Robo-Six. As of this writing, there is no conclusive information as to why these changes were made.
- The Rosetta enemies from the game are not present (in either version) because of their suggestive outfits.
- Unlike in the games, Joe can actually block in the anime.
- Alastor's wedding outfit bears a resemblance to the attire worn by Sparda in the video game Devil May Cry.
- There is a pair of characters who parody the Men in Black, and episodes that parody Captain Tsubasa and Speed Racer. One episode even features characters who parody Charlie's Angels.
- Although the Gedow arc is loosely based on the events of Viewtiful Joe 2, Dark Hero Jet Black and Dark Kaizer never appear.
- In the American version of the Anime, Joe's middle finger was edited out in henshin, this slightly impacts on the meaning of the hand signal as Joe's signal is supposed to look like the letters "VJ" and now looks more akin to a "Hang-Loose" sign.
- This anime is the first anime on Kids WB to retain its Japanese opening song and lyrics (as opposed to Sailor Moon which had the opening song but different lyrics), however, the song is cut for time to reflect the shorter time for its American created opening (something that, curiously, didn't happen with Sailor Moon, whose English dub also had an American opening).
- In the English dub Silvia's super hero alter ego is renamed to "Go-Go Silvia". This name may or may not have been chosen because of the phrase "Henshin-a-Go-Go, Baby!". While it is widely assumed that the change was made because of the "suggestive" nature of the name, there is no conclusive information as to the official reason for the change.
- In the English dub Sprocket's shirt is always zipped up completely, though it was originally almost completely unzipped, therefore showing large amounts of cleavage. Additionally, a tie was digitally added on.
- The Rosetta enemies from the game most likely led to the creation of Sprocket (due to the way they wear their shirts).
- In Brazil and Latin America, the show was aired completelly uncut, but strangely, some names changed, like Alastor becaming Arastoru (which sounds like the japanese pronouce) and Sprocket becaming Supu Rocket. Also, Henshin a Go-Go Baby was translated.
