Invincible Robo Trider G7

Invincible Robo Trider G7 (無敵ロボトライダーＧ７, Muteki Robo Toraidā Jī Sebun) is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Sunrise that aired from 1980 to 1981. It was also referred to as "Trider G7", "Unchallengeable Trider G7", "Tryder G7", "Bird Attack Tryder G7" and "Unrivaled Robot Trider G7".

The story follows sixth-grader Watta Takeo's life as he balances his school life, being the president of a company, and battling a robotic empire from outer space. While a Super Robot series at heart, it depicts a real world take on the genre, such as announcing to nearby citizens that Trider G7 was being activated and as having to consider the monetary expenses of battle.

Plot

Invincible Robo Trider G7 portrays the attempted invasion by the Robot Empire to take over Earth. Rebelling against this, the scientist Nabalon, who was exiled from the Empire, meets the protagonist Watta's father, and together, they design the transforming robot Trider G7. However, Watta's father dies in an accident, and Watta has no choice but to succeed him at both his job and piloting Trider. As the president of the Takeo General Company, Watta must now fight to ensure everyone's happiness, as well as the condition of the company's funds.

Characters

Takeo General Company

Watta Takeo (竹尾 ワッ太, Takeo Watta)

Voiced by: Satomi Majima

The second president of the company, called "Young President" by his subordinates as he is only in the sixth grade. Now that the first president, his father, has died, he is the only person that can utilize Trider G7. He is full of valor despite his age, and when his father died and the company was to be disbanded, he succeeded the presidency and became Trider's pilot.

Umemaru Kakikōji (柿小路 梅麻呂, Kakikōji Umemaru)

Voiced by: Ichirō Nagai

A manager 64 years of age. Whenever Watta or one of the directors fires any missiles, he immediately begins calculating how much it will cost.

Tetsuo Atsui (厚井 鉄男, Atsui Tetsuo)

Voiced by: Yuzuru Fujimoto

A director, and the only mechanic; he can do everything from repairing Trider to fixing an air conditioner. He pilots the Shuttle and provides support for Watta. He has no wife or children, but he adopts a foster son named Ryuusuke during the anime.

Tōhachirou Kinoshita (木下 藤八郎, Kinoshita Tōhachirou)

Voiced by: Aidoki Yamamoto

A subsection chief, but he doesn't actually get much work due to the company's structure. He is frivolous, yet also the life of the party, and other characters find it impossible to hate him.

Ikue Sunabara (砂原 郁絵, Sunabara Ikue)

Voiced by: Keiko Han / Yumi Touma (in Shin Super Robot Wars)

The only woman of the company, an 18-year-old girl in charge of accounting, office work, and making tea.

Michitarō Takeo (竹尾 道太郎, Takeo Michitarō)

Voiced by: Tatsuo Sakuragata

Watta's father, and the previous president of the company. Deceased by the time the anime begins.

Nabalon (ナバロン, Nabaron)

Trider G7's designer, and a scientist who defected to Earth from the Robot Empire.

Mechanics

Trider G7 (トライダーG7, Trider G7)

The titular robot of the series, piloted by Watta Takeo. It stands at 57 meters tall and weighs 777 tons. It hosts a variety of weapons, including the Trider Saber and the Trider Beam Cannon. It is able to transform into six distinct states, each one useful for a different terrain, such as space, land, sky, and water.

Shuttle (シャトル, Shuttle)

A support shuttle for the Trider G7 that first appears in episode 27. Kakikouji, Tetsuo, Touhachirou, and Sunabara all pilot it. Its main armament is a pair of missile launchers.

Production

The narration in the show was performed by Ichirou Nagai, who did the narration for Mobile Suit Gundam. However, in complete contrast to the dark tone of that show's narration, this narration was performed very energetically.

Up until now, the series airing on TV Asahi in this timeslot had their soundtracks composed by Takeo Watanabe and Yuushi Matsuyama, but the two were busy working on the soundtrack for the theatrical adaptation of Mobile Suit Gundam, so Kurando Kaya filled in the role.

Themes

Rather than depicting robots as a military weapon like Mobile Suit Gundam did, the aim of the story was to portray the real world. Trider G7's own unrealistic abilities are explained with scientists that were exiled from the enemy empire, as Trider G7's capabilities are far beyond that of the other Earth-made robots in the show.

As with other super robot shows, Invincible Robo Trider G7 is generally a story of Trider G7's battle with the alien Robot Empire, but its main drama derived from the protagonist, Watta, interacting with many normal, working-class citizens and showing the human kindness that they possess. The enemy Robot Empire is never explained to be anything more than "strange, mysterious robots bent on taking over Earth". Each time the Robot Empire attacks, Trider G7 is launched in order to intercept them, and through various coincidences, the Robot Empire fails again and again while attempting to figure out what Trider G7 exactly is. In the last episode, the Robot Empire finally abandons their quest to take over Earth. This all results in a unique story structure where neither the good guys nor the bad guys have any interaction with the other side. The only real time contact between them occurs is between the protagonists and the exiled scientist Nabalon, who built Trider G7, but the only ones who actually know of Nabalon's true identity are the protagonist Watta, Watta's late father, and Clard, an engineer for the Robot Empire - none of the other major characters ever find out about this.

The series ended without a single fight in the final episode, but rather Watta's elementary school graduation ceremony. There were episodes that focus not on the war, but on Watta's school life, such as him having a cavity filled during a physical examination, and him going on a field trip with his class. These scenes hold as much excitement as his battles in Trider G7.

Media

Invincible Robo Trider G7 aired from February 2, 1980 until January 24, 1981, spanning 50 episodes. It was also broadcast in Italy in 1981 under the name L'Indistruttibile Robot Trider G7. As with most super robot shows of the time, toys of the titular robot were produced. None of them could ever perfectly replicate its unique seven states of transformation, however.

A DVD boxset of the series was released in 2005, and an Italian boxset was released in 2012 which contains both the Italian dub and the original Japanese audio.^[1] The series has been featured in various installments of the Super Robot Wars franchise of video games as well, including Shin Super Robot Wars and the Super Robot Wars Z metaseries.

Themes

Opening theme

• Trider G7's Theme (トライダーG7のテーマ, Toraidaa Jii Sebun no Teema) by Isao Tairai

Lyrics: Akira Itou/ Composition and Arrangement: Juichi Sase

Ending theme

• I'm the President (俺は社長だ, Ore wa Shachou da) by Isao Tairai

Lyrics: Akira Itou / Composition and Arrangement: Juichi Sase

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)
• Sunrise series introduction website (Japanese)
• Invincible Robo Trider G7 (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia