Immortal Grand Prix

IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix (Japanese: IGPX インモータル・グランプリ, Hepburn: Ai Jī Pī Ekkusu Inmōtaru Guranpuri) refers to two anime series co-produced simultaneously by Cartoon Network and Production I.G. The first is a "microseries" consisting of five 5-minute episodes, and the second is a 26-episode animated series loosely related to the first.

Koichi Mashimo co-wrote and directed the microseries, while Bee Train Animation and Production I.G animated it, and Bandai Entertainment acted as the North American distributor. The full-length anime series was handled by director and writer Mitsuru Hongo and was animated by Production I.G, with Bee Train returning for in-between animation. Production I.G president Mitsuhisa Ishikawa joined on as producer for the series. It was the first time he had worked on a joint U.S. Japanese production, due to the Pokémon companion franchise.^[1]

The series' English dub was produced by Williams Street in Atlanta, Georgia and Bang Zoom! Entertainment in Burbank, California. Both studios collaborated on the English script and casting, Bang Zoom directed and recorded the actors, and Williams Street handled the final mixing for the dub. IGPX was commended for being the first original series on Toonami.

An IGPX video game was released on September 12, 2006, for the PlayStation 2.

The program returned to the Toonami block April 28, 2013 at 2am/1c on Adult Swim. On November 21, 2014, anime distributor Discotek Media announced their license to the TV series and will re-release the series on DVD in 2015.^[2]

IGPX microseries

The Immortal Grand Prix is a tournament between teams of gun-wielding mechs. As Team Velshtein is injured, the random drawing chooses Team Suzaku, led by pilot Takeshi Noa, as the one to face Team Sledge Mamma, a trio of cybernetically-enhanced cyborgs. At first, Team Suzaku does not have weapons because their mechanic U-Matsu forgot them. Amy delivers weapons from Velshtein, but Team Suzaku has a hard time controlling them. Amy's cat co-pilot Luca takes control and knocks Timmer out of his mech. Luca, out of ammo, uses her capoeira image training. She is eventually at the mercy of an opposing pilot and surrenders. The Sledge Mamma mechs shoot at Takeshi, but Amy jumps in to save him and is knocked out of the game. After being kicked around by the Sledge Mamma mechs, Takeshi reveals his plan. Using his ninjatō and shuriken, he knocks Dimmer and Yammer out of their mechs and wins. However, the series ends on a bitter note as Velshtein's owner Hamgra blackmails Team Suzaku to merge their teams and allow him to add cybernetic enhancements to their pilots, or else he will make them pay for the weapons they borrowed. This conflict is never resolved due to the end of the microseries.

Cast

• Beau Billingslea - Yammer
• Steven Blum - Cunningham
• Sandy Fox - Amy
• Steve Kramer - Timmer
• Lex Lang - Metoo
• Wendee Lee - BT
• Julie Maddalena - Luca
• Michael McConnohie - Dimmer
• Jamieson Price - Hamgra
• Michelle Ruff - Suzaku
• Joshua Seth - Takeshi Noa
• Julie Ann Taylor - PA
• Kirk Thornton - Umatsu
• Kari Wahlgren - Liz

IGPX Returns

The IGPX TV series made its hour-long premiere on November 5, 2005, at 10/9c. The series is set in 2049 and revolves around the Immortal Grand Prix, or IGPX, which is a mecha racing/battle circuit. The sport is so popular that an entire city has been built for the racing industry, where competitions take place on a huge 60-mile (97 km) track. In the IGPX, two teams of three mechs, high-tech fighting machines driven by humans, race at speeds greater than 350 mph (560 km/h). The IGPX also contains fighting elements; attacking the opposing team to disable their mechs (thus preventing them from winning the race) is not only legal, but also expected. Team Satomi, a crew of amateur pilots, has just won a minor-league championship, the IG-2, vaulting them into the sport’s highest level, the IG-1. Now, the untested rookies of Team Satomi must overcome impossible odds and beat the world’s most skilled and ruthless pilots.

The series was Toonami's first original series.

Rules of the IGPX

An IGPX race consists of two teams of three pilots: a forward (usually places first or second), a midfielder (usually places third or fourth), and a defender (usually places fifth or sixth). They compete on a 60-mile (97 km) track, going at speeds upwards of 400 mph (640 km/h). The overall objective is to make it to the finish line and accumulate more points than the opponent. 1st place receives 15 points; 2nd receives 7 points; 3rd gets 5 points; 4th gets 3 points; 5th gets 2 points and 6th gets 1 point. No points are awarded to pilots who are unable to finish the race.

Lap one is basically a "setup" lap. Teams set up their positions on the track and troubleshoot any problems that the mechs may be having. In the second lap, also known as the "battle round", the teams now fight their way to the finish line. The pit machines, also known as the "running skeletons", are only employed during this lap. Each skeleton is designed to hold two people, one being the mechanic that fixes the mech, and has an open center that allows the mech to be held between the two cockpits while the parts for each mech are stored along the sides for quick replacement. However, the running skeleton can only be called on once for each team throughout the race. In the third lap, pilots are allowed to set their mechs into speed mode. Speed mode allows the mech to achieve maximum speed, and make a quick sprint to the finish line.

Each IGPX season has the champion of the IG-2 brought in to replace the lowest ranking team in the standings. Which team Team Satomi replaced is unclear, but at the end of the first half of the series, Team Black Egg was demoted from IG-1 to IG-2 as they were last in the IG-1 standings. Team White Snow was the team that replaced Team Black Egg in the second half of the show.

Characters

The pilots making up Team Satomi are forward Takeshi Jin, defender Liz Ricarro, and midfielder Amy Stapleton. The other members of Team Satomi include team owner Michiru Satomi and coach Andrei Rublev. The other teams in the IGPX are Black Egg, Edgeraid, Skylark, Sledge Mamma, Velshtein, and White Snow. Benjamin Bright is the announcer for the IGPX races.

Episodes

Team Satomi race record

In both seasons, Team Satomi begins with a 1–1–1 record and finishes with four victories, including a win in the final against the team that they previously lost to and tied with.

Cast

• Haley Joel Osment - Takeshi Jinno
• Michelle Rodriguez - Liz Riccaro
• Steven Blum - Alex Cunningham
• Louise Chamis - Jane Rublev
• Peter Cullen - Opening Narration
• Erik Davies - Ricardo Montazio
• Dorothy Elias-Fahn -
• Doug Erholtz - Zanak Strauss
• Michael Forest - Hans
• Crispin Freeman - Bjorn Johassen
• Barbara Goodson - Misaki
• Mark Hamill - Yamma
• Lance Henriksen - Andrei Rublev
• Kate Higgins - Jessica Darling
• Megan Hollingshead - Judy Ballasteros
• Tom Kenny - Benjamin Bright
• William Knight - Ichi
• Lex Lang - Dew
• Mela Lee - Max Erlich
• Wendee Lee - Sola
• Julie Maddalena - Jesse Martin
• Dave Mallow - Glass Jones, MC
• Tony Oliver - Edgeraid Coach
• Michelle Ruff - Elisa Doolittle
• Stephanie Sheh - Bella Demarco, Yuri Jinn
• Brianne Siddall - Johnny Lipkin
• Keith Silverstein -
• Steve Staley - River Marque
• Karen Strassman - Fantine Valjean
• Kim Strauss - Sir Hamgra
• Julie Ann Taylor - Boy A
• Kirk Thornton - Mark Ramsay
• Cristina Valenzuela - Sage Rublev
• Kari Wahlgren - Luca, Michiru Satomi
• Hynden Walch - Amy Stapleton
• Andre Ware - Dimma
• Dave Wittenberg - Frank Bullitt, Jan Michael, Timma

Music

Opening theme

• "Go for It!" by GRAN RODEO

Ending theme

• "Believe Yourself" by Exige
• "Strings" by Tommy Guerrero (Toonami version)

IGPX promotions

• A promotional DVD featuring episode 1 ("Time to Shine"), the IGPX trailer, music, and a screensaver was distributed with Anime Insider v. 26 (November 2005).
• The same was released with Nintendo Power v. 198 which was the December 2005 issue.
• Special editions of the U.S. DVD volume 1 release came with a puff pack artbox, a Team Satomi T-shirt, the first episode from the microseries and team stickers, one for each of the teams from season one.

Allusions

• Fantine Valjean's name is an allusion to the characters Fantine and Jean Valjean in the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Likewise, Team Skylark member Elisa has the same name as the main character of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and as the leading lady in My Fair Lady.
• Andrei Rublev bears the name of a Russian iconographer.
• In the episode "Cat vs. Dog", the owner of Team Edgeraid bears a striking resemblance to Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. The man also sits with his hands crossed over his face, which was notably done by Gendo and has since been done in many other anime series. This character insertion was probably due to Production I.G working on both IGPX and the Evangelion movies.
• The leader of Team Velshtein, Sir Hamgra, is an exact lookalike of Kira Yamato from Mobile Suit Gundam SEED.
• In "Cat vs. Dog", the mecha of Team Edge Raid have GITS painted on their arms. This is a reference to Ghost in the Shell, a franchise animated by Production I.G, who also animated IGPX. Team Satomi's mechs have the word Absolute painted on their arms.
• In the final episode of IGPX, Team Black Egg's symbol is shown on the TV located on one of the triple towers that surround the track, which only shows team emblems for IG-1. This suggests that Black Egg has regained their spot in IG-1, replacing Team Skylark after they are demoted to IG-2.
• In the eighth episode of Reideen, a banner titled "Satomi" hangs in the city that Saiga Junki (the main protagonist) lives in. Production I.G's studio created both the IGPX and Reideen anime series. Both series were directed by Mitsuru Hongo.

References

External links

• Production I.G official English website IGPX page
• (Japanese) Production I.G official Japanese website IGPX page
• (Japanese) Japanese IGPX official website
• (Japanese) TV Asahi's IGPX website
• IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix fan site
• Immortal Grand Prix at TV.com
• Immortal Grand Prix at the Internet Movie Database
• Immortal Grand Prix microseries at the Internet Movie Database
• Immortal Grand Prix at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Immortal Grand Prix microseries at Anime News Network's encyclopedia