Firestorm (anime)

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ファイアーストーム
Firestorm
Series titlescreen
Genre	Adventure, Mecha
Anime television series
Directed by	Kenji Terada
Written by	Concept by Gerry Anderson and John Needham, written by Kenji Terada
Studio	TransArts
Licensed by	Enoki Films
Original run	April 2003 – late 2003
Episodes	26

Firestorm (ファイアーストーム) is a Japanese anime series co-created by two British people: Gerry Anderson and his business partner John Needham. The series combines CGI animation for mecha and traditional cel animation for characters. Despite high-quality animation and an emphasis on futuristic vehicles traditional to Anderson productions (such as Thunderbirds), the series was not warmly received in Japan. Series availability in other countries has been limited.

Plot

By the year 2104, the nations of Earth have finally achieved world peace. However, that peace is threatened by a new worldwide terrorist organization called Black Orchid. To counter this threat, the United Nations has created a military peacekeeping force called Storm Force. Each Storm Force unit (8 total) acts independently, operating primarily from a large twin-hulled submarine. As the series opens, a new elite unit is formed called Storm Force 9, which is assigned a special mission code-named "Firestorm."

Early in the series, the Firestorm team discover that Black Orchid is secretly a front for a worldwide invasion of outer-space aliens who can disguise themselves as humans. The aliens have developed a drug which will turn humans into their mindless slaves, and scheme to put the drug into our water supply.

Each episode focuses strongly on futuristic vehicles (mecha). The Firestorm team operate primarily from a huge twin-hulled submarine, called the Ocean Storm. This submarine features a detachable jet aircraft called the Tornado, making it similar to SkyDiver from Gerry Anderson's 1970-71 series UFO. Visually, the Tornado resembles Thunderbird 2 from Anderson's 1965-66 series Thunderbirds. While Thunderbird 2 carried a variety of pods containing smaller vehicles, the Tornado carries a group of smaller vehicles at all times, including two jet fighters, a futuristic tank and several boats.

Characters

Storm Force 2

Inuma (イヌマ): SF2 captain, and friend of Drew McAllister. He was killed in episode 26 when fighting alien spearhead units.

Storm Force 5

Mai Teranishi (マイ・テラニシ): Japanese officer, and nuclear furnace expert.

Storm Force 9

All members of Storm Force 9 wear snug-fitting, futuristic blue wet suits. Males tend to wear a blue military jacket over the wet suit when not working underwater.

Nagisa Kisaragi (ナギサ・キサラギ): Japanese, short black hair, mole under right eye. Arguably the central character. She is an "expert on nano-engineering." Nagisa set the world record in the 2096 Tokyo Olympics in the marathon and free-fall parachuting events. Her designation is 01.
Sam Scott (サム・スコット): American, age 28, blue eyes, dark brown hair, Caucasian.
Wesley Grant (ウェズリー・グラント): American, age 30, brown eyes, African-American, black beard.
Laura Hope (ローラ・ホープ): Australian, age 25, Caucasian, green eyes, green hair. She is a bomb specialist and former Australian Navy commander.
James Brady (ジェームス・ブレーディ): British, age 29, Caucasian, gray eyes, blond hair.
Drew McAllister (ドリュー・マッキャリスター): SF9 captain (an older caucasian man with brown hair and a brown beard with white streaks).
Chuck Morgan (チャック・モーガン)
Geena (ジーナ)
Lucy (ルーシー)
Julia (ジュリア)
Jack (ジャック)
Yuri (ユーリ)
Sophia (ソフィア)
Hiroko (ヒロコ)
Tatsu (タツ): SF9 mechanic.
POP: The popcorn dispenser robot working for Chuck.

Other SF officers

Duvalier? (デュバリエ)
Valente? (ヴァレンテ)

Black Orchid

Carlo Morelli (カルロ・モレーリ)
Ruth Miller (ルース・ミラー)
Petros Salo (ペトロス・サロ)
Makalev? (マカレフ)
Cosminov? (コズミノフ)

Vehicles

Ocean storm (オーシャン・ストーム): Storm Force nuclear submarine.
Thunderbolt (サンダーボルト): Fighter aircraft designed to replace Thunder Laser.
Tornado (トルネード): Aircraft carrying officers, Thunderbolt, Combatcruiser.
Seashark (シーシャーク): Marine vehicle that also serves as submarine.
Combatcruiser (コンバットクルーザー): Armoured van carrying officers in ground missions.
Mountain Motorbike (マウンテン・モーターバイク): Armed motorcycle.
Space Thunderbolt: A modified Thunderbolt designed to carry the Black Orchid beacon into space.
Gargantua: A hydrogen carrier. The vehicle was hijacked by Black Orchid and later destroyed by SF9 using liquid explosives.
Stargazer: Stealth telescope used by Storm Force to detect alien threats.

External links

TV Tokyo page
(Negative) review by T.H.E.M. anime review
Overview and brief episode guide from distributor Enoki Films

v t e Gerry Anderson

Television	The Adventures of Twizzle episodes Torchy the Battery Boy episodes Four Feather Falls episodes Supercar episodes Fireball XL5 episodes Stingray episodes Thunderbirds episodes Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons episodes Joe 90 episodes The Secret Service episodes UFO episodes The Protectors episodes Space: 1999 episodes The Day After Tomorrow Terrahawks episodes Dick Spanner, P.I. Space Precinct episodes Lavender Castle episodes Firestorm Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet episodes

Film	Crossroads to Crime Thunderbirds Are Go Thunderbird 6 Doppelgänger

Companies	AP Films Century 21 Productions Century 21 Merchandising Group Three Productions Anderson Entertainment

Techniques	Supermarionation Supermacromation Hypermarionation

Other topics	TV Century 21 Lady Penelope Gemini Force One Fanderson

Notable collaborators	Sylvia Anderson Tony Barwick Martin Bower David Elliott Alan Fennell Christine Glanville Lew Grade Barry Gray Reg Hill David Lane Derek Meddings David Mitton Arthur Provis John Read Desmond Saunders Dennis Spooner Mike Trim Ken Turner

Category:AP Films

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