was an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 series aired in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 from 1982 to 1983. It is also referred to as "Dairugger 15", "Dairugger XV", "Armored Armada Dairugger XV", "Armored Squadron Dairugger XV", or "Machine Platoon Dairugger".

In the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, it was heavily edited to become part of the Voltron

Voltron

Voltron is the titular super robot of an anime series that features a team of young pilots, known as the Voltron Force. The team’s individual vehicles join together to form the giant super robot, with which they defend the galaxy from evil...

series. The Dairugger footage was the primary source for the "Vehicle Voltron" episodes, though various footage was inserted into "Lion Voltron" episodes as well.

Story

The Rugger Team is an exploration, planetary survey, and defensive force. The Earth is in a time of prosperity. The president of the Terran League launches a mission to explore the galaxy and build a complete map of the stars. Soon after commencing the mission, the Rugger Team and their starship, the Rugger Guard, are attacked by the Galveston Empire. Dairugger, the super robot

Super Robot

is a term used in manga and anime to describe a giant robot or mecha, with an arsenal of fantastic super-powered weapons, extreme resistance to damage unless the plot calls for it, sometimes transformable or combined from two or more robots and/or vehicles usually piloted by young, daring heroes,...

, must defend the Rugger Guard and its fleet as they attempt to continue their mission. When Galveston repeatedly refuses to accept peaceful coexistence, their mission turns to finding the Galveston homeworld, liberating its people from their despotic Emperor, and helping them find a new planet before their world collapses.

Concept

The Rugger Team is made up of three smaller teams of 5 members each: Air, Sea, and Land, referred to alternately as "Aki Team", "Keats Team", and "Walter Team" after each team's leader. Aki is the overall leader of the Rugger Team. Each of the 15 parts is referred to as "Rugger", and can combine into larger machines as separate teams called Kurugger (Air), Kairugger (Sea), and Rikurugger (Land), as well as together to form the super-robot Dairugger. The 15 separate Rugger units as well as the name come from the sport of rugby

Rugby football

Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:...

, since 15 players are required to form a rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

.

Staff

• Planning: Susumu Yoshikawa, Yasuo Nobe, Yu Saito
• Original concept: Saburo Yatsude
  Saburo Yatsude
  is a collective pen name used by Toei Company television producers when contributing to their various anime and tokusatsu series, whereas Izumi Todo is solely Toei Animation...
  
  
• Chief Director: Kozo Morishita
• Series Composition: Keisuke Fujikawa
• Script: Keisuke Fujikawa
• Character Design: Shigetaka Aoyama
• Music: Seiji Yokoyama
  Seiji Yokoyama
  is a prolific Japanese incidental music composer from Hiroshima who is best known for his work on the Saint Seiya series. He is a graduate student of Kunitachi College of Music....
  
  
• Production: Toei
  Toei Company
  is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...
  
  , Toei Agency

Dairugger pilots

Air Team uniforms are dark blue and white.

Sea Team uniforms are black and aqua.

Land Team uniforms are white and red.

Function	Pilot Name	Voice actor Seiyu Voice acting in Japan has far greater prominence than in most other countries. Japan's large animation industry produces 60% of the animated series in the world; as a result, Japanese voice actors, or , are able to achieve fame on a national and international level.Besides acting as narrators and...	Team	Vehicle	Dairugger Body
Rugger #1 Pilot		Toshio Furukawa Toshio Furukawa is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with Aoni Production and is married to fellow voice actress Shino Kakinuma. His height is 164cm. Hobbies are Fishing, diorama, reading and movies.In July 2011, Furukawa appeared at Anime Expo as a guest.-Career/Personal:...	Air Team	Command Jet Explorer	head
Rugger #2 Pilot		Ryōma Yamamoto	Air Team	Strato Weapons Module	upper torso
Rugger #3 Pilot		Kōzō Shioya Kozo Shioya Kōzō Shioya is a veteran seiyū born in Kagoshima Prefecture. He is currently represented by Aoni Production...	Air Team	Advanced Recon Helicopter	right upper arm
Rugger #4 Pilot		Satomi Majima	Air Team	Advanced Recon Helicopter	left upper arm
Rugger #5 Pilot		Keiko Han Keiko Han is a Japanese voice actress. She attended Tōyō Eiwa Jogakuin, going on to study theatre arts at Nihon University. She gained experience in theater while attending school by obtaining work through Aoni Production, singing the theme songs in productions such as Story of the Alps: My Annette and...	Air Team	Falcon VT Fighter	chest plate
Rugger #6 Pilot		Hideyuki Hori Hideyuki Hori is a Japanese voice actor and younger brother of fellow voice actor Yukitoshi Hori and works at Aoni Production. He is most known for his roles in Saint Seiya , Sakigake!! Otokojuku , Kinnikuman , Mobile Fighter G Gundam , and the Dead or Alive series and Ninja Gaiden .-Career:Along...	Sea Team	Communications Module	torso mid-rif
Rugger #7 Pilot		Harumi Iizuka	Sea Team	Space Prober	right thigh
Rugger #8 Pilot		Masaharu Satō Masaharu Sato is a Japanese voice actor currently working for Aoni Production.Along with the late Kōji Totani, he is considered the No. 1 supporting actor of the Japanese voice acting world....	Sea Team	Space Prober	left thigh
Rugger #9 Pilot		Shō Hayami	Sea Team	Multi-Wheeled Explorer	right lower leg
Rugger #10 Pilot		Ken Yamaguchi Ken Yamaguchi was a Japanese voice actor. He was represented by OYS Produce.He was most known for the roles of Ashuraman, The Omegaman, Prisman , Genji Togashi , Flazzard , Tarantula Arachne , and Ein .Yamaguchi died on October 24, 2011 due to illness.-Notable voice...	Sea Team	Multi-Wheeled Explorer	left lower leg
Rugger #11 Pilot		Katsuji Mori Katsuji Mori is a Japanese voice actor often accredited as the Casey Kasem of Japan. He is most known for the roles of Go Mifune , Joe Shimamura/009 , Ken the Eagle , Jouji Minami , and Garma Zabi .- Anime :*Nephrite in Sailor Moon*Seiji Hayami in Cutey Honey*Go Mifune in Mach Go Go Go/Speed Racer is a...	Land Team	Jet Radar Station	hips
Rugger #12 Pilot		Nana Yamaguchi Nana Yamaguchi is a Japanese voice actress currently represeneted by the Aoni Production.-Notable voice work:*Space Pirate Captain Harlock *Starzinger *Kaleido Star *Candy Candy is a Japanese voice actress currently represeneted by the Aoni Production.-Notable voice work:*Space Pirate Captain Harlock (Shizuka...	Land Team	Rotating Personnel Carrier	right forearm
Rugger #13 Pilot		Banjō Ginga Banjo Ginga , sometimes credited as his real name , is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Kofu, Yamanashi. Ginga is currently affiliated with Aoni Production...	Land Team	Armored Equipment Carrier	left forearm
Rugger #14 Pilot		Shingo Hiromori	Land Team	All-Terrain Space Vehicle	right foot
Rugger #15 Pilot		Hiroshi Ōtake	Land Team	All-Terrain Space Vehicle	left foot

Other characters

Japanese Name	Voice actor
	Hideyuki Tanaka Hideyuki Tanaka is a Japanese voice actor. He is a graduate of the Toho Gakuen School of Music. He is most known for his roles in Dokaben , Kinnikuman , Captain Tsubasa , Touch , Saint Seiya , Metal Gear Solid and Slam Dunk .-TV Anime:*Akagi...
High Commander Wakasa
Supreme Commander Dewa
Dick Asimov	Kōji Yada Koji Yada is a Japanese voice actor currently represented by Aoni Production. Kōji Yada is also his birth name, but it is written with different kanji .-TV anime:*Arrow Emblem Hawk of the Grand Prix *Space Battleship Yamato Series...
Doctor Search
Commander	Kōji Totani Koji Totani was a veteran seiyū born in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Totani worked at Aoni Production. His nickname was "Totani-chan". On February 6, 2006, at the age of 57, he died from acute heart failure...
Drake
Internal Commissioner Socrat Tes
Sirk
Luciano
Supreme Commander Al Caponero	Banjō Ginga Banjo Ginga , sometimes credited as his real name , is a Japanese voice actor who was born in Kofu, Yamanashi. Ginga is currently affiliated with Aoni Production...
Emperor Corsair

Dairugger specifications

Dairugger is made up of 15 vehicle parts. Dairugger is 60 meters tall.

• Weapons
  • Dairugger Sword
  • Dairugger Cutters or Spin Cutters or Spin Kilders
  • Electromagnetic Whip
  • Electromagnetic Beam or Miracle Beam
  • Laser Beams
  • Laser Spear or Dairugger Lancer
  • Electromagnetic Cross
  • Shot Arrow
  • Wing Beam
  • Dairugger Kick
  • Dairugger Typhoon ( Spin Cutters on Dairuggers' shoulders spin to create a violent wind, first appears in the episode Eldoras Plea)

Episodes

1. "Galactic Clash"
2. "The Isolated Regiment"
3. "Farewell, Achilles"
4. "Rescue Mission To Hell"
5. "Battle of the Experiment Planet"
6. "Fall to the Meteor Shower"
7. "Annihilation of the Reinforcement Fleet"
8. "Specters of the Binary System"
9. "The Glorious Suicide Corps"
10. "Sneak Attack on the Space Fortress"
11. "A Momentary Truce"
12. "Legend of the Space Forest"
13. "The Enemy Within the Mind"
14. "The Earth Fleet's Counterattack"
15. "Breakdown of the Space Talks"
16. "The Two Rebellions"
17. "Orders For Asimov's Return"
18. "A Touch and Go Situation"
19. "Red Moon Rising"
20. "Desperate Struggle for Planet K"
21. "Arise Galaxy Garrison"
22. "Ex-Commander Teles"
23. "The Mission to Recapture Planet K"
24. "Riot on Galveston"
25. "Bitter Struggle on the Planet of Light"
26. "The Snare of the Hell Planet"
27. "Storming the Space Fortress"
28. "Eldora's Plea"
29. "Uprising of the Space Fort"
30. "Earth's State of Emergency"
31. "Locate Enemy Headquarters"
32. "Destruction of the Front Line Base"
33. "The New Allied Fleet to the Rescue"
34. "Planet of the Burning Cave"
35. "Get Yourself Together, Mutsu"
36. "A Desperate Undersea Combining"
37. "Air Rugger Vanishes"
38. "Emma, the Female Captain"
39. "The Tears of a Rugby Player"
40. "The Boy Denon and the Elk"
41. "Discovery of the New World"
42. "Impending Crisis on the Inhabitable Planet"
43. "Teles and Asimov"
44. "Aki Team Gets Caught"
45. "Defend the Third Planet"
46. "The Fall of the Survey Base"
47. "The Invisible Super Weapon"
48. "Get Past the Tenth Planet"
49. "Entering the Final Zone of Defense"
50. "The Struggle for Galveston"
51. "Fierce Battle in the Underground City"
52. "Galactic Dawn"

Merchandise

In the early 1980s, the original ST Dairugger toys were released by Popy Pleasure under the toy release number of GB-72, as part of the Chogokin

Chogokin

is Japanese for "Super Alloy" and is a fictitious material which first appeared in Go Nagai's Mazinger Z manga and anime. It was later adopted by Popy in 1972 as the name of a new line of die-cast metal robot and character toys sold in Japan...

label, and constructed of high-quality die-cast

Die-cast toy

The term die-cast toy here refers to any toy or collectible model produced by using the die casting method. The toys are made of metal, with plastic, rubber or glass details. Wholly plastic toys are made by a similar process of injection moulding, but the two are rarely confused...

 materials. A GB-73 would follow, with a transforming DX Dairugger, which could separate only into the three larger combined vehicles. A larger version of Dairugger XV was also released, which did not contain die-cast materials, as the metal content was too heavy for the design and for the Friction motors

Friction motors

Friction motors are simple mechanism to propel toy cars. The motor consists of a large flywheel which is connected to the drive wheels of the car via a very low gear ratio. The flywheel's axis is perpendicular to the direction the car is facing. When the car is pushed forward the drive wheels...

 installed in many of the vehicles. The smallest non-transforming ST Dairugger and the fully transforming plastic Dairugger XV would be resold in the US as part of the Voltron series by Matchbox, entirely under the Voltron name. However, the Popy version came with a sword, missiles, and stickers that the Matchbox version did not.

Because Dairugger had 15 pieces, and was a highly playable figure compared to many of the other fixed-state super robots of the early '80s, there were countless imitations and bootlegs of Dairugger. Some are cheap plastics, some do not assemble well, some have neon-glowing colors that are completely misaligned with the show. Even approved brands such as "Big Bear" were spawned to rejuvenate the toyline.
No version, however, is identical in quality, packaging, and comes with all the pieces like the Japanese original.

DVDs

The entire series, in 3 volumes, has been released on DVD in region 1. Collection 1 was released on February 23, 2010, Collection 2 on May 25, 2010, and Collection 3 on January 4, 2011.

Changes for Voltron version

• Dairugger XV and GoLion
  Golion
  is a Japanese super robot anime television series. The animation from GoLion was edited and trimmed to create the Lion version of the U.S. Voltron: Defender of the Universe series, with new names and dialogue, as well as several plot changes...
  
  are not related in any way, in contrast to the U.S. version (the coincidental similarities in design, most notably in the face, are due to having the same mechanical designer and a significant portion of the same animation staff).
• Scenes of Earth and Galaxy Garrison were edited into "Lion Voltron" episodes, but do not exist in GoLion
  Golion
  is a Japanese super robot anime television series. The animation from GoLion was edited and trimmed to create the Lion version of the U.S. Voltron: Defender of the Universe series, with new names and dialogue, as well as several plot changes...
  
  (the Lion Voltron source material), only in Dairugger XV, since Earth in GoLion has been destroyed in a thermonuclear war.
• Many allied and enemy soldiers and commanding officers die in Dairugger, as opposed to disappearing without any explanation in the U.S. Voltron series (Voltron omitted almost all blood and death). The finale of Dairugger XV was different in its Voltron form — the U.S. footage had no depiction of Emperor Corsair's (Zeppo's) true fate, which left a lot of questions for U.S. viewers (although one shot of Corsair dead on the throne remained intact). The scene of Emperor Corsair's death, perishing in an assassination attempt by Teles (Hazar) and the resistance, who want freedom for their people, was cut due to violence.
• In Dairugger, Teles (Hazar) dies a martyr, and there is a sad scene where his body is left to die on Galveston at his request. In Voltron, he becomes the new leader of his people.
• Sirk (Dorma) is Teles's adjutant
  Adjutant
  Adjutant is a military rank or appointment. In some armies, including most English-speaking ones, it is an officer who assists a more senior officer, while in other armies, especially Francophone ones, it is an NCO , normally corresponding roughly to a Staff Sergeant or Warrant Officer.An Adjutant...
  
  , not his sister as in Voltron.
• Aki (Jeff) and Haruka (Lisa) have a closer relationship, which is not clearly shown in Voltron. The lucky charm that Haruka gives to Aki is left with Teles (Hazar) after his death on Galveston.
• Dick Asimov (Captain Newley) was Shinji Ise's (Commander Hawkins) superior officer in the original series. The dialogue was rewritten in Voltron to suggest that Hawkins was Newley's superior. There were inconsistencies, however that reveal the original ranks of the two officers.

Note: names in parentheses are Voltron names

Korean version

There is a South Korean knockoff anime of Dairugger XV called Super Titan 15 (슈퍼타이탄15). It also cribs characters and vehicles from Galaxy Express 999

Galaxy Express 999

is a manga written and drawn by Leiji Matsumoto, as well as various anime films and TV series based on it. It is set in a space-faring, high-tech future in which humans have learned how to transfer their minds into mechanical bodies, thus achieving practical immortality.The manga won the...

.

External links

• Dairugger XV Uncut Scenes and Comparison