| Taiyou no Kiba Dougram | |
Logo from show opening |
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| 太陽の牙ダグラム (Fang of Sun Dougram) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Mecha |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Ryosuke Takahashi |
| Studio | Sunrise |
| Network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | 23 October 1981 – 25 March 1983 |
| Episodes | 75 |
| Anime film | |
| Studio | Sunrise |
| Released | 9 July 1983 |
Fang of the Sun Dougram (太陽の牙ダグラム Taiyō no Kiba Daguramu) is a 75-episode anime television series, created by Ryosuke Takahashi and Sunrise, and aired in Japan from October 23, 1981 to March 25, 1983 on TV Tokyo. A 1983 full-length feature film, Dougram: Documentary of the Fang of the Sun, summarized the series.
Contents |
The series begins in a desert on the colony planet Deloyer, where the remains of a destroyed robot are resting as a red-haired woman is standing in front of it. The woman hallucinates what appears to be a group of armed soldiers alongside the robot in a non-destroyed state. A man named Rocky appears, leading to the woman running into his embrace where she cries tears of joy. After this, the series flashes back to a earlier time, in order to explain the circumstances leading up the first episode.
Malcontents on the Deloyer colony agitate for the independence of their world from the Earth Federation. In an unexpected coup, the elected Governor declares martial law and sets himself up as absolute dictator. With the approval of the Federation, he rules the planet with an iron fist. In reaction, a ragtag group (including the governor's estranged son) rises in open rebellion, using a powerful prototype Combat Armor: the Dougram. Their goal is the end of the dictatorship and total independence from the Federation's influence.
The story follows the actions of the guerilla freedom fighters known as "The Deloyer 7." The war is fought across the planet Deloyer as the Federation vigorously pursues the rebels. The series is noted for its realistic use of not just the combat armors and support vehicles, but also military tactics. The series also followed a wide-range of characters and political intrigue, with many shady characters switching sides throughout the series.
As the series progresses, the Deloyer 7 team battles with the Federation forces assigned to hunt them down, and then as part of a large rebel army made up of Deloyer rebels and even ex-Federation troops who oppose the dictatorship. Major battles such as The Battle of Stanrey and The Battle of Kalnock anchor much of the plot, with minor battles being fought throughout the story. Eventually the rebels lose too many forces to the Federation, who are continually producing newer and more powerful Combat Armors in the numbers the rebellion cannot meet. Ultimately this leads to an unfavorable truce between the main rebel political leaders and the Federation. When the Deloyer 7 hear this, at first they decide to fight it out to the end, but once surrounded by overwhelming Federation forces, they, including Cashim, are convinced to surrender and Cashim self-destructs the Dougram, ending the rebellion.
The final scene of the series is the Dougram lying still in the desert, with the members of the Fang of the Sun all having died as time passed.
In S.C. 140 (Dougram time system, meaning Space Century), the Federal military asked for an all-terrain heavy-weapon system to deal with the varied geographic conditions of the colony worlds. Only two companies made it through the extensive requirements testing: Abitate and Soltic.
Abitate's F44A "Crabgunner" was a 12-meter, 4-legged walking tank. Soltic's own H8 "Roundfacer" was humanoid, with a single pilot located in the head. The simpler Crabgunner became the mainstay of the early Federation forces, but it was the Roundfacer that would revolutionize mechanized warfare. As the rebellion grows in number, the Federation introduces new models of Combat Armors to oppose it, many of them designed to fulfill specific roles (desert fighting, cold weather deployment, etc.). Unlike other anime, these new machines are production models and rarely one-of-a-kind prototypes (the Dougram itself being the most notable exception).
The following list showcases the machines seen in the show. The terms "Soltic," "Abitate," and "Dougram" actually represent the names of the companies that built the combat armors, not the names of the machines themselves. The "common names," if any, are given in quotes.
Combat Armors used by the Sun Fang rebels are marked with a gold-bordered red triangle. The Federation Occupation Forces use gold chevrons to indicate the division they are assigned to (1st, 2nd, or 3rd).
Dougram was one of the first successors to the "Real Robot" genre created by Mobile Suit Gundam. The popular technical designer Kunio Okawara produced the designs for both shows. Dougram featured a similar plot centered around a small team fighting a running battle with a powerful enemy, using an advanced giant robotic prototype combat armor. The show was a surprise success, especially considering the heavy emphasis on military tactics which slowed the pace of the story, and further confirmed that military 'giant robot' science-fiction was here to stay. Takahashi and Sunrise would go on create a follow-up series, Armored Trooper Votoms, which used similar styling and themes but was otherwise unrelated in plot, characters or setting.
Toymaker Takara was the show's main licensee. They made a very successful plastic model kit series, a large number of diecast toys, and also released several strategy wargames set in the Dougram world. The latter included tiny, unpainted diecast combat armors as playing pieces; additional scale accessories were available separately.
The diecast toys were produced in three sizes. The 1:144 scale "Collection Series" featured a hollow diecast body and leg structure, with plastic detail parts. The "Dual Model Series" (in two scales, 1:72 and 1:48) featured a zinc-diecast endoskeleton upon which plastic armor pieces were attached. Although the imported toys were physically identical to the Japanese ones, the packages were modified for American shelves. The 1:144 scale boxes had sleeves to be hung from pegs, while the larger toys had English-language stickers glued over the original boxes.
Takara also produced a magnetically-jointed Dougram and several soft-vinyl toys. Although the vinyls did not have specific scales, they appeared to be between 1:100 and 1:60 scale. Toy manufacturer Seven, a Takara spin-off devoted to low-end toys, produced several plastic and rubber Dougram toys as well.
Neither the film nor the television series were released in North America. However, plastic model kit manufacturer Revell released many of Takara's Dougram kits as characters in their Robotech Defender series, and Takara sold much of their diecast toy line through American toy stores in the mid-Eighties. The detailed construction of the toys, the lack of any background info on the characters, and the revolutionary slogans printed on the boxes ("Fight! Dougram to save independence of the Deloyer!" or "We will never approve independence from our federation!") confused many.
In the mid 1980s, American gaming company FASA Corporation used the vehicle designs of the show for its Battletech miniature wargame and role-playing game. The first edition, then named BattleDroids, actually included two Japanese 1/144 model kits from Dougram. FASA was later sued by Playmates Toys and Harmony Gold USA for using designs from Macross (for example, Valkyrie fighters renamed Stinger, Wasp and Phoenix Hawk). The lawsuit was settled, and as a result post-lawsuit Battletech products no longer feature the designs taken from Macross. However the in the years since, the designs from Macross, Dougram and Crusher Joe have since been re-introduced, Albeit with completely original artwork. The Dougram tabletop battling game also came out in 1984, the same year Battletech (Battledroids) was released in America.