Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger

Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger

The main characters from Ganbaruger.
元気爆発ガンバルガー
(genki bakuhatsu ganbaruger)
Genre Adventure, Mecha, Comedy
Anime television series
Directed by Toshifumi Kawase
Studio Sunrise
Network TV Tokyo
English network Philippines PTV 4, Cartoon Network
Original run April 1, 1992 – February 24, 1993
Episodes 47

Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger (元気爆発ガンバルガー Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbarugā, lit. "Energetic Explosion Ganbaruger" also known by the dub name Energy Bomb and Rocket Kidz) is a 47 episode animated shōnen mecha television series, and the second series produced for the Eldran franchise funded by Tomy and produced by Sunrise. It aired on TV Tokyo from April 1, 1992 to February 24, 1993.

Plot

Koutarou's father is trying to train his son in the art of the ninja, but a bomb accidentally releases a great demon that Eldoran had been keeping contained. Eldoran manages to contain him, but one of his servants manages to escape as well, and now attempts to free his master. To stop him, Eldoran grants the three mecha Go Tiger, King Elephant, and Mach Eagle to Koutarou and his two friends, as well as suits that grant each of them a special power.

Characters

Ganbare Team (ガンバーチーム Ganbaa Chiimu)

Kotaro Kirigakure (霧隠 虎太郎 Kirigakure Kotarou)
Voiced by: Ai Orikasa

Kotaro Kirigakure is the main pilot, who becomes Yellow Ganbar (イエローガンバー Ieroo Ganbaa). When wearing the Ganbare Suit, he gains super-speed. His "Ride On" vehicle is the Ganbar Bike, a tiger-motif motorcycle, and he pilots Go Tiger, as well as being the main pilot of Ganbaruger and Great Ganbaruger. Besides being a 4th-year student in school, he is being trained as a ninja by his father.

Yousuke Kazamatsuri (風祭 鷹介 Kazamatsuri Yousuke)
Voiced by: Omi Minami

The geek/nerd of the group is Yuusuke Kazamatsuri who becomes Blue Ganbar (ブルーガンバー Buruu Ganbaa). He is the first to discover their superpowers in the Ganbare Suits, which in his case is super-senses. He flies the Ganbare Jet (which is actually a prop-driven plane) and Mach Eagle. After he protects the egg containing it, he becomes the pilot of Gekiryuger as well.

Rikiya Ryuzaki (流崎 力哉 Ryuuzaki Rikiya)
Voiced by: Bin Shimada

As Red Ganbar (レッドガンバー Reddo Ganbaa), Rikiya Ryuuzaki gains super-strength. His vehicle is the Ganbar Buggy, which looks like a red go-cart, and like the other two vehicles becomes part of the cockpit for his mech, in this case King Elephant. When they need more help, he ends up becoming the pilot of Revolger as well.

Friends and Allies

Toubei Kirigakure (霧隠 藤兵衛 Kirigakure Toubei) (Gonzales)
Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata

Koutarou's father, Toubei is a ninja. However, early on Yaminorius turns him into a dog when he attempts to battle him, a form he stays in for most of the rest of the series, called Gonzales, or Gon for short. Under his doghouse is a secret ninja training chamber. Eventually he is returned to human form in time for the final battle.

Kasumi Kirigakure (霧隠 かすみ Kirigakure Kasumi)
Voiced by: Miki Ito

Koutarou's older sister. She has become devildom person by the influence of Yaminorius's magic.

Yayoi Kirigakure (霧隠 やよい Kirigakure Yayoi)
Voiced by: Rika Fukami

Koutarou and Kasumi's mother.She's a nursery teacher in the day nursery that has been managed at home.

Aiko Tachibana (立花 亜衣子 Tachibana Aiko)
Voiced by: Miki Ito

The teacher of the 4-1 class. She is a strict teacher but she loves students.

Chinatsu Yuuki (結城 千夏 Yuuki Chinatsu)
Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori

A photographer, she is always raving about finding the next "Great Scoop" even though she is only a 4th year elementary student like the Ganbare guys.

Yurika Komaki (小牧 百合香 Komaki Yurika)
Voiced by: Ikue Otani

Besides sharing the 4-1 class with Yousuke, she also has violin lessons with him.

Katsura Takeda (武田 桂 Takeda Katsura)
Voiced by: Rika Fukami

The daughter of General Takeda of the Defense Force.

Genzo Araki (荒木源蔵 Araki Genzou)
Voiced by: Kenichi Ogata

Father of Junkato

General Takeda (武田長官 Takeda-Choukan)
Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura

The general of the Defence Force. It seems as if the reason he does not show up as much in Matchless Raijin-Oh is because he was busy over in Aozora Town with his daughter and Makaijuu (Hellbeast) attacks. He later returns one last time in Gosaurer

The Daimakai (The Demon World)

Yaminorius the third (ヤミノリウスⅢ世 Yaminoriusu Sansei) (Kyouji Yamino)
Voiced by: Kazuyuki Sogabe

A sorcerer and servant of Gokurark. When he fails his first escape attempt, he slips Yaminorius out to work on freeing him. Yaminorius swears fidelity to the devildom, and has greatest magic power. His human form is journalist's Kyouji Yamino mainly. After his master's defeat, the surviving portion of Gokuark embeds itself in him, granting him more power and a slightly altered form. From this point on, until the other two demons free Gokuark from his body and restore Gokuark's power, he is able to convert pre-existing objects directly into Makaijuu. He succeeds in the revival of The Three Great Demons; in addition, he finally rebels and helps the Ganbar Team. He leaves somewhere after they defeated Three Kings. He returned as human Kyouji Yamino to Aiko in Ending.

The Three Great Demons

Gokuark (ゴクアーク Gokuaaku)
Voiced by: Masaharu Sato

The first of the three demons, originally sealed in the shrine at Koutarou's home. The leader of the three. After his initial defeat by the Ganbare Team, he hides himself within Yaminorius, until his revived brothers pull him free once more.

Seiyark (サイアーク Saiaaku)
Voiced by: Ken Yamaguchi

The second of the three demons. He had been sealed by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, until Yamino Ryuuse broke the master seal in Japan and freed him and Retsuark. Has control of Lightning.

Retsuark (レツアーク Retsuaaku)
Voiced by: Bin Shimada

The last of the three demons. He had been sealed near the Great Pyramids of Giza until freed by the breaking of the combined seal in Japan. Has the power of demon summoning.

Mechanics

Go Tiger (ゴウタイガー Gou Taigaa)

The robot piloted by Yellow Ganbare, Kotaro. It typically launches from either underneath a park, or from a warehouse in a mall. In addition to its claws in beast mode, it has a pair of back cannons(Go Cannon), and fire breath that it only seems to use when executing the team attack Ganbare Ninpo with Mach Eagle and King Elephant. In robot mode, it wields the Go Saber. It forms the lower torso and upper legs of Ganbaruger.

King Elephant (キングエレファン Kingu Erefan)

This is Rikiya/Red Ganbare's vehicle. Its main launch points are under an apartment building and under a highway overpass. It has the King Missile in its trunk in beast mode, besides crushing things with its feet, and using its tusks. In robot mode it uses the King Tomahawk. It forms the legs from the knees down of Ganbaruger.

Mach Eagle (マッハイーグル Mahha Iiguru)

The third of the original Ganbare Team robots, controlled by Yuusuke aka Blue Ganbare. It can launch from either an intersection, or from under a toll road, just past the toll booths. In beast mode it has vulcans on the wings, and can twirl to create a tornado (Mach Cyclone), which is one of the parts of the Ganbare Ninpo team attack. In robot mode it fires the Mach Arrow. It forms the arms, wings and chest of Ganbaruger.

Ganbaruger (ガンバルガー Ganbarugaa)

When Koutarou activates the sequence for "Miracle Gattai" the three above robots combine into Ganbaruger. Its attacks are:

Revolger (リボルガー Riborugaa)

The first of the two reinforcements. Its transforming command is "Miracle Henkei", as opposed to the "Miracle Change" of the previous robots(although later on they do use Miracle Change for it a few times). Its pilot is Red Ganbare, and the cockpit is close to what Rikiya is used to in King Elephant. It launches from underneath a railroad crossing. In beast mode it can use its claws and teeth to attack, as well as fire shots form the tail, and in robot mode it has:

RevolBuster (リボルバスター Riborubasutaa)

The gun mode. When the command "Miracle Bussou"is given, it transforms into a huge double-barrel gun. This mode is called the RevolBuster, and used for the finisher RevolBuster Last Fire.

Gekiryuger (ゲキリュウガー Gekiryuugaa)

Gekiryuger is the last of the reinforcements, granted to Yuusuke. Besides its natural weapons it can fire shots from the tailguns(Back Shot) and duplicate the tornado that Mach Eagle creates(Gekiryu Hurricane). After it transforms with Miracle Henkei(and also Change later):

Great Ganbaruger (グレートガンバルガー Gureeto Ganbarugaa)

The final form. The main torso is Ganbaruger, though Revolger adds onto it, and forms the head, and lower arms at least. Gekiryuger becomes the legs, and wings. Its attacks are:

List of episodes

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Original Airdate Episode number Title
04/01/1992 1 Robots Pending! (ロボットみ〜っけ!)
04/08/1992 2 Great Discovery of Superpowers! (超能力を大はっけん!)
04/15/1992 3 Our secret will be discovered! (秘密がばれちゃう〜!)
04/22/1992 4 Duel! Violin battle (決闘!バイオリン合戦)
04/29/1992 5 The cake ran away!? (ケーキが逃げた!?)
05/06/1992 6 Flying teacher home-visit (とんでとんで家庭訪問)
05/13/1992 7 The town becomes a sandbox! (町が砂場に大変身!)
05/20/1992 8 Crisis! Ganbaruger (ピンチ！ガンバルガー)
05/27/1992 9 Superpowered miracle baseball (超能力でミラクル野球)
06/03/1992 10 Squid and octopus brothers' visit! (イカタコ兄弟参上!)
06/10/1992 11 (鷹介はビリビリ人間！！)
06/17/1992 12 Aosora town is starting to walk around (青空町が歩き出す！？)
06/24/1992 13 The password is ribbit (合言葉はケ～ロケロ)
07/01/1992 14 Hell-whale flies through the air (魔界クジラが空を飛ぶ)
07/08/1992 15 Come Forth! Revolger (出てこい！リボルガー)
07/15/1992 16 Rikia vs Ganbaruger (力哉対ガンバルガー)
07/22/1992 17 (恐怖！魔界の落とし穴)
07/29/1992 18 A dare to hell (ドッキリ魔界肝だめし)
08/05/1992 19 Run! Ramen reversal (走れ！逆転ラーメン)
08/12/1992 20 That banana's great battle
08/19/1992 21 Gokuark's revival!
08/26/1992 22 Birth! Gekiryuger
09/02/1992 23 Close call great combination
09/09/1992 24 Clash! Manga panic
09/16/1992 25 Surprise! Invisible Man
09/23/1992 26 Hellbeast is a cook!
09/30/1992 27 Appear! Shinobi Ganbare
10/07/1992 28 Troubled miracle athletic meet
10/14/1992 29 Magnetic-attractking!
10/21/1992 30 Universe-sized great struggle!
10/28/1992 31 Time slip: Aosora Town
11/04/1992 32 Airy balloon bus
11/11/1992 33 Kasumi vs Ganbaruger
11/18/1992 34 Hell is mystified!? School play
11/25/1992 35 Persevere! Catering alone
12/02/1992 36 Many Koutarous!?
12/09/1992 37 Dead heat with a foot-warmer
12/16/1992 38 Justice's Yamino Ryuuse!?
12/23/1992 39 Santa is the town's great robber!
01/06/1993 40 The hero hates rice cakes!?
01/13/1993 41 The beloved person is the sorcerer
01/20/1993 42 Surprise tough enemy! Great magic
01/27/1993 43 Perfect date strategy
02/03/1993 44 Daimakai's great secret!
02/10/1993 45 Three great devils, reborn!
02/17/1993 46 We are a life-force explosion!
02/24/1993 47 Final last great decisive battle!

Translation

This series was dubbed into English and was part of Cartoon Network's lineup in the Philippines. The only commercially-available release of this English dub is a licensed set of four VCD boxsets which include the original Japanese track as well.

Game Appearances

Ganbaruger appeared in the Super Robot Wars video game series by Bandai Namco and Banpresto, starting with Super Robot Wars NEO for the Wii, along with the other 3 Eldran robots.

References

External links

Preceded by
Matchless Raijin-Oh		 Genki Bakuhatsu Ganbaruger
1992–1993 		Succeeded by
Nekketsu Saikyo Go-Saurer