| Crush Gear Turbo | |
Logo from show opening |
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| 激闘!クラッシュギアTURBO (Gekito! Crush Gear Turbo) |
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|---|---|
| Genre | Sports |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Shūji Iuchi |
| Studio | Sunrise |
| Network | Animax, NBN, TV Asahi |
| Original run | October 7, 2001 – January 26, 2003 |
| Episodes | 68 |
| Related | |
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Crush Gear Turbo (激闘!クラッシュギアTURBO Gekitō! Kurasshugia Tābo), also known just as Crush Gear, is an anime and manga series. The anime series, produced by Sunrise, spanned 68 episodes, aired across Japan on the anime television network Animax, from October 7, 2001 to January 26, 2003. It was followed on by a sequel, Crush Gear Nitro, which has also been aired across Japan by Animax. Crush Gear Turbo was about people who threw mechanical vehicles into a large ring to fight and "crush" each other. Magna Pacific released Crush Gear Turbo in English in Australia.[1]
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Planning for Crush Gear Turbo began in March 2001, with intent to begin airing in October 2001. Naotake Furusato, the producer of Crush Gear Turbo, received a toy car prototype that used two AA batteries and a motor. The toy car operated in circles instead of straight lines, and operators could cause them to collide with one another. Furusato used this concept to develop Crush Gear Turbo. According to Furusato the show was the first Sunrise production to "genuinely adopt the use of 3D graphics." Furusato added that the 3D rendering allowed the animators to "brilliantly express the stage presence of the Gear Fights" and incorporate effects not in real-life toy gears such as fireworks and smoke. According to Furusato 3D Production Chief Mitsuo Fukuda (福田 己津央 Fukuda Mitsuo) told Furusato that, because there are some elements that may only be expressed in 3D, the series ought to use 3D "to full effect." Furusato concluded that this caused the battle scenes to appear "a little bit unique." Furusato credited the customization and element attributes in each gear to Sunrise's "already well-established know-how." In addition the producer credited his own experience on Gear Fighter Dendoh and director Shūji Iuchi's experience on Mashin Hero Wataru in the formation of Crush Gear Turbo.[4]
Furusato intended for the creators of the series to "encourage children to think and place on value on things like friendship and trust in others" and for the series to express deepening human relationships. He added that the series "got kind of a Heisei Era [1989-present] "Kyojin no Hoshi" and "Ashita no Joe" feeling to it" and that the current generation of children "are fundamentally a more cheerful lot and go in for a bit of a slapstick flavor."[4]
In Australia Volumes 1-2 were released on 1 July 2004.[1][5] Volumes 3 and 4 were released on 8 September 2004.[6][7] Volume 5 was released on 6 October 2004.[8] Volume 6 was released on 10 November 2004[9] Volume 7 was released on 19 January 2005.[3]