Ganbare!! Robocon

Ganbare!! Robocon (がんばれ!!ロボコン, Ganbare!! Robokon, Do Your Best!! Robocon) is a Japanese tokusatsu comedy family robot television series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by Toei. It ran from October 4, 1974, to March 25, 1977, on NET TV.[1] Moero!! Robocon (燃えろ!!ロボコン, Moero!! Robokon, Burn!! Robocon) ran from January 31, 1999 (a week after the finale of Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack) to January 23, 2000 (a week before the premiere of Kamen Rider Kuuga).[2] This series joined Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive.

Ganbare!! Robocon
GenreTokusatsu
Comedy
Created byShotaro Ishinomori
Developed byShozo Uehara
Directed byAtsuo Okunaka
Country of originJapan
No. of episodes118
Production
Production companiesToei Company
Ishimori Productions
Release
Original networkNET TV
Original releaseOctober 4, 1974 (1974-10-04) –
March 25, 1977 (1977-03-25)
Moero!! Robocon
GenreTokusatsu
Comedy
Created byShotaro Ishinomori
Developed bySatoru Nishizono
Directed byTaro Sakamoto
ComposerTakanori Arisawa
Country of originJapan
No. of episodes51
Production
Running time24-25 minutes (per episode)
Production companiesToei Company
Ishimori Productions
Release
Original networkTV Asahi
Original releaseJanuary 31, 1999 (1999-01-31) –
January 23, 2000 (2000-01-23)
This train on the Senseki Line, commissioned in honor of Shotaro Ishinomori, features Robocon prominently.

The story follows Robocon, a student of Gantz's Robot Academy who lives amongst humans and aids them as part of his studies. Though Robocon is a screw up, he makes efforts to establish a good image for robots in the eyes of humans they cross paths with.

On December 10, 1999, Toei released the direct to video movie Moero!! Robocon vs. Ganbare!! Robocon (燃えろ!!ロボコンVSがんばれ!!ロボコン, Moero!! Robokon tai Ganbare!! Robokon) where the Robocon of the 90s meets the original Robocon from the 70s.

In 2006, Cartoon Network planned to develop a western animated adaptation titled Robocon! The series would have been set in a futuristic city called Neo-Con City. The series never went beyond an animatic pilot.[3]

A new film Ganbareiwa!! Robocon: Oo-la-la! Lovable Soupless Tantanmen!! Chapter (がんばれいわ!!ロボコン ウララ〜!恋する汁なしタンタンメン!!の巻, Ganbareiwa!! Robokon: Urara~! Koi Suru Shiru-Nashi Tantanmen!! no Maki) was released theatrically on July 31, 2020. It is paired with the anime films Jintai no Survival and Sprin' Pan Mae e Susumō!.[4][5]

Robots
Robocon and Gantsu Sensei, with the 2nd class robots

Note: The characters listed are from both the original series and the 1999 series, Moero!! Robocon.

  • Robocon: A robot who lives amongst humans and aids them as part of his studies at Robot Academy. However, Robocon is a screw-up and is afraid of cockroaches. He can transform into the Robocon Car.
  • Gantsu Sensei: The robot teacher of Robot Academy who built all his student robots, who he accesses via the Scoring Connecter to check their "study" of the week.
  • Robobin: A snail-like delivery robot who is normal of leisure until he transforms into bike-mode, becoming fast yet impulsive. He always makes sure his deliveries get there on time and takes his job very seriously. Unfortunately, Robocon seems to always be there to mess things up for him somehow getting him a low score in the end.
  • Robo-P: A policewoman robot who likes to whistle. She has a huge crush on Robocon and is usually distracted from her duties because of it.
  • Robogeta: Though a weather forecasting robot, his forecast rarely proves right. What he does is throw his slipper into the air and judges the weather from the position it lands in. He always scores low because of this. He later makes friends with Roboboss as the bullies to Robocon.
  • Robokero: A frog-karaoke robot. He always tries to improve the mood with singing and believes that songs are a good way of cheering people up. He scores decently, but what he does usually isn't sufficient enough to earn a perfect score.
  • Robomogu: An egg-shaped chef robot who works in a restaurant and serves people delicious food. He's friendly and sociable, but takes his cooking very seriously.
  • Robodigi: Robodigi is a robot with a large monitor like head with two number digits as eyes (his neutral eyes is the number eight and the line in the middle moves to show sadness/anger) He always speaks politely and is a know it all. He works in a laboratory helping solve complex problems.
  • Roboboss: He works at a construction site and is physically the most powerful robot in his class. Rash and impulsive, he is always looking for ways to get a perfect score. And once that gets too hard he tries to find ways to ruin everyone else's.
  • Robina-chan: cupid robot. Her mission is to mediate between men and women with "Love Love Arrow" and "Tokimeki Harp". Unlike other robots, the appearance is almost the same as a human being.
  • Robin-chan: A robotic ballerina who Robocon has a crush on. Robin-chan played a major role in the film "Robocon Dai Boken" in which she was kidnapped by space pirates when their leader, the elderly warlock Akuma, wants her as his bride. The original actress who played Robin-chan returned for a cameo in the Heisei version of the show, Moero!! Robocon.
  • Robopu: A robot with a teapot for a head.
  • Roboinu: A dog-like robot who wears a bucket on his head.
  • Robopecha: A medic robot with a medical needle in place of his right hand.
  • Robogari: A teacher robot with a lightbulb-shaped head. He always gets a perfect score, which annoys Robocon.
  • Roboton: A construction robot with a hammer for a face.

Cast
  • Shintaro Oyama: Shigehisa Ōno
  • Hatsue Oyama: Midori Katō
  • Hajime Oyama: Yoshikazu Yamada
  • Midori Oyama: Mayumi Sakuma
  • Makoto Oyama: Nobuyoshi Fukuda
  • Robin-chan: Kaho Shimada
  • Yamamoto-sensei: Yukari Yamamoto
  • Officer Machida: Tōru Yuri
  • Taro Ogawa: Masahiro Sumiyoshi
  • Yoshiko Ogawa: Miyuki Ueda
  • Mayumi Ogawa: Yukiko Ebina
  • Susumu Ogawa: Makoto Honda
  • Mitsuko Kurihara: Mie
  • Momoko Kurihara: Saori Nara
  • Osamu Kurihara: Keisuke Mishima
  • Jun Kurihara: Jōtarō Koike
  • Gotaro Kurihara: Ikkei Watanabe
  • Robina-chan: Natsuki Katō

Voice Cast

Theme Songs

All songs were sung by Ichirou Mizuki and composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi.

  • OP 1: Ganbare Robocon, written by Shotaro Ishinomori
  • OP 2: Oira Robocon Robotto dai! (おいらロボコンロボットだい!) by Shotaro Ishinomori
  • ED 1: Robocon, Best in the Robot World (ロボコン・ロボット世界一, Robokon Robotto Sekaiichi) written by Saburō Yatsude
  • ED 2: Robocon Gattsurakon (ロボコンガッツラコン) by Saburō Yatsude
  • Summer ED: Robocon Ondo (ロボコン音頭) by Saburō Yatsude
  • Winter ED: Run! Robocon Athletic Meet (走れ!!ロボコン運動会, Hashire! Robokon Undōkai) by Shotaro Ishinomori

References
  1. がんばれ！！ロボコン(1974～1977). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  2. 燃えろ!!ロボコン(1999～2000). allcinema (in Japanese). Stingray. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  3. "Robocon!".
  4. "Ganbareiwa!! Robocon Robot Comedy Film Reveals Cast".
  5. "'Sprin' Pan Let's go forward!' Anime Short Screens Alongside Jintai no Survival!/Robocon Double Bill".
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