| ||
Why is this bad? |
Dinosaur Great War Izenborg Tsuburaya Productions that aired from 1977 to 1978 on Tokyo 12 Channel. It is unique in that it combined Tsuburaya's trademark suitmation tokusatsu techniques with Japanese Animation. The show runs for about 39 episodes.[1]
was a Japanese television program produced byIn the universe where Izenborg is set, the Ultraman Series are popular TV shows.
Plot[]
Dinosaurs reappearing on Earth, stronger and more intelligent than before, led by Dinosaur Satan Gottes, an evil humanoid from the Black Nebula, and this time they are back to rule earth once more and wipe out humankind. They are alive and even thriving, in an underground empire they built.
In 1986, Ururu, the leader of dinosaurs, declares war against humanity. In an attempt to reclaim the Earth's surface, some of the dinosaurs evolve into deadly monsters and start wreaking havoc on the human population centers around the globe. The story revolves around the D Force (D戦隊 D Sentai), and its two members, a brother and sister team of Ai Tachibana (立花 愛) and Zen Tachibana (立花 善), the Special Ops force, whose mission is to combat evolved dinosaurs and protecting the humanity at all cost.
However, early in the series, the siblings suffered a near-fatal injury from the massive explosion during the test of a prototype super-tank, "the predecessor to Izenborg." Their father died in the explosion. They survived, barely clinging to life. To keep them alive they needed to receive cybernetic body parts and other implants so they could function normally within the society and to synchronize with their combat vehicle and form the system known as Izenborg (Ai + Zen + Cyborg) (called Gemini in the US movie) and fight the Dinosaurs.
Before the Izenborg process, each sibling has only a robotic half, intertwined with the human one (Zen, robot right half - Ai, robot left half). During the Izenborg process, Zen inherits both the human "halves" and becomes the pilot known as Izenman, Ai inherits both the robotic "halves" and becomes the Mother Computer of the ship, the tank Izen-I converts into the powerful ship Izenborg-Go.
During episode 20, Ai and Zen were able to combine into a "second step fusion", the giant humanoid Izenbo. Zen becomes Izenbo, while Ai - inside a modified version of the Izenborg-Go - is embedded into the head and provides the main body with energy and additional computing faculty.
Izenborg-Go Profile[]
- Height: 33 m
- Width: 17 m
- Weight: 154 t
- Activity Time: 3 minutes and 30 seconds
Kaiju[]
- Gottes
- Zobina
- Ururu
- Ururu's first wave of soldiers
- Dorango
- Dorigorus
- Giras Brothers
- King Zaura
- Long Neck
- Neronga
- Scoradon
- Lanosaurus (Episode 5 only)
- Gorgo
- Red dogs
- Terrano
- Giant bats
- Stella
- Red rats
- Tyrako
- Arrow
- Terara
- Aroro
- Monora
- Alulu
- Sutego
- Mororo
- Torara
- Torako
- Ranho
- Parasa
- Tylosaurus
- Ororo
- Unko
- Iguno
- Murara
- Gororo
- Kerala
- Ptera
- Tarbo
- Sugora
- Garara
- Dynah
- Baton
- Gallon
- Topura
- Gira
- ZaZa
- Demos
- Dororo
- Gagara
- Giant Gorilla
- Zobi
- Terekira
- Dodora
- Black Maria
- Dinosaur Taro
- Yotandon
- Bororo
- Monster Pteranodon
- Saberan
- Bodaros
- Ulusuredon
- Black Gamma
- Saigora
- Shadow
- Golda
- Shizalas
- Magmadon
- Kirasaurus
Cast[]
- Zen Tachibana : Kyonosuke Kami
- Ai Tachibana : Yoko Asagami
- Ippei Kurosawa Shingo Kanemoto :
- Dr. Torii : Tetsuo Mizutori
- Goro Kamihara /Ururu : Junpei Takiguchi
- Gottes : Jun Hazumi
- Zobina Kazue Takahashi :
- Alien Superior Musashi : Katsuji Mori
- Narrators : Katsuji Mori /Akira Murayama
Gallery[]
Popularity[]
The series had a good popularity in Japan. In Italy and Saudi Arabia it became a big hit. The series was re-aired on the Italian channel Man-Ga in 2012, and the Yamato Italian DVD set got huge sales. In 2013, this along with the rest of the Tsuburaya Dinosaur Trilogy were released on DvD by Toei Video.
In 2020, it was announced Matt Frank would create a Dinosaur Great War Izenborg comic, continuing the adventures of Ai and Zen. The comic is planned for release in 2022.
Trivia[]
- Ururu, the Tyrannosaurus villian of the first 19 episodes was a reused suit from from The Last Dinosaur. Many of the dinosaur suits would go on to star in Koseidon.
- Dinosaur Great War Izenborg was created after the stop motion and puppet show series, Born Free. The sequel series, Koseidon, had a human sized hero and did fairly well.
- The show is both live action and animated.
- The show involves dinosaurs reappearing on Earth, more intelligent than before.
- The Stegosaurus suit that were used for Gallon, Stella, Sugora, and Sutego would later on be reused in the last entry to the Dinosaur Trilogy: Dinosaur Squadron Koseidon as Stegosaurus (Koseidon).
- A localized version of the series was made as the well-known repurposed film called "Attack of the Super Monsters."
- The first wave of Ururu's soldiers are all monsters from latter Tsuburaya kaiju series, notably from Fireman and Ultraman.
- This series would receive a special anniversary documentary that includes a special minisode segment depicting the characters in the high-quality style of Reiwa shows. It can be seen here.
External Links[]
- Kyōryū Daisensō Aizenbōgu at the Internet Movie Database
- Attack of the Super Monsters at the Internet Movie Database
- Kyoryu Daisenso Aizenborg (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Tsuburaya Dinosaur Trilogy in Japanese Wikipedia
References[]