Nostalgic Anime Retrospective No. 20] Robots' "Personalities" and "Initiative" in the Combination Scene of "The King of Heroes: GaoGaiGar

Among the anime starting in July is "Shokugeki no Soma 弐ノ皿". The director is Yoshitomo Yonetani. The anime that made Yonetani's name known to the world is "The King of Heroes: GaoGaiGar" (1997).

Although it was the final work in the "Yusha" series started by Sunrise in 1990, it is a unique work that has acquired an exceptional character due to Yonetani's long-standing love for robot animation. Continuing from the previous article, "Giant Robot: The Day the Earth Stood Still," I would like to read more about the depiction of mecha in robot animation.

Lion-shaped Robot Transforms into Humanoid Robot and Gains "Personality

In "The King of Heroes: GaoGaiGar," many "robots with personalities (that can speak) that transform from vehicles" appear, which is a characteristic of the "Hero" series. However, only the main robot, "GaoGaiGar," has a special combination pattern.

First, Gai Shishio, a cyborg, summons a lion-shaped robot named "Galleon. Galleon, which has been sent from outer space, has a will of its own, and on rare occasions it moves on its own, but it does not speak human language.

When Triumph boards the Galleon from inside its mouth, the Galleon transforms into a humanoid robot named "Giger. This boarding and transformation is called fusion. Through fusion, Triumph becomes one with Giger, because Giger has two eyes and a mouth, and when Triumph speaks, Giger's mouth also moves, giving it a human-like facial expression. In other words, Giger is a "robot with a personality.

When Giger is in trouble, he combines with three "Gao Machines" (Final Fusion) to form the giant robot "GaoGiger. The "Liner Gao" is shaped like a bullet train, the "Stealth Gao" is a stealth fighter, and the "Drill Gao" is a drill tank, Each of these combine to form the head, arms, and legs of GaoGaiGar, which envelopes the humanoid GaoGaiGar. The Gao machine has a cockpit, and although it is occasionally manned by Triumph or other humans, it is basically unmanned.

In short, the fusion of Galleon and the cyborg Triumph first creates Giger, "a humanoid robot with a personality that reflects Triumph's will," and then the three unmanned, will-less Gao Machines merge with Giger to form Gao Giger, which can move as Triumph wishes.

Note the "eye color" of Giger!

Let's take a closer look at the scene in the film where Giger and the three Gao Machines merge.

1: "Final Fusion! Giger shouts (his mouth moves properly because he is moving with triumphant will).

2: A green tornado arises from Giger's waist and envelops the surrounding area. (This tornado is used to hide the background and is used in the weekly broadcasts. This kind of use is called a "bank. (The combined bank is the combined scene that is used every week.)

3: The mouth of the lion face on Giger's chest (Galeon's head) glows.

4: Drill Gao, Stealth Gao, and Liner Gao rush into the tornado around Giger.

5: Gaeger's waist rotates and reverses back and forth.

6: The drill section at the tip of the Drillga-O opens and accepts Giger's legs inside it.

7: Geiger's arms snap back, and the Liner Gao plunges into the holes in both shoulders.

8: Stealth Gao joins and secures itself to Geiger's back.

9: The vertical beak on the Stealth Gao moves to the lion face on Giger's chest.

10: GaoGaiGar's upper arm emerges from the LinerGao fixed to GaiGar's shoulder.

11: The forearm of GaoGaiGar on the underside of StealthGao slides and joins with the upper arm.

12: The hatch of the forearm joined to the upper arm opens, and GaoGaiGar's arm rotates out.

13: GaoGaiGar's head is covered by the helmet attached to Stealth GaoGao.

14: A mask covers Giger's mouth, and his eyes light up.

15: A G-stone, the source of his power, appears on his forehead and glows. Pose GaoGaiGar, and GaoGaiGar is complete.

I hope you have a general idea of the flow of the process.　After GaoGaiGar is completed, GaoGaiGar's body is almost completely hidden. The lion's face on the chest is the will of Galeon, so it is emphasized by the large sideburns. However, the mouth, which used to convey Giger's facial expression, will be covered by a mask.

On the other hand, Giger's eyes are not hidden by the mask and remain exposed even after the completion of GaoGaiGar.

Let's review the merging process again, focusing on Giger's eyes. Giger's eyes are orange, but when 5's waist rotates, the eyes are painted black. 1 and 3 are close-ups, so their eyes are orange. In other words, Geiger's eyes are turned off the moment he begins to perform a mechanical movement that is impossible for humans, namely, the rotation of his hips back and forth.

Even when both shoulders are folded backward7, Geiger's eyes are painted black and his face is expressionless. While losing his "humanoid" form for the merging, Geiger appears to be a "machine without personality. It is at 14 that Geiger's eyes light up orange again. The moment Giger's silhouette returns to its human form, free from being a part of the combined mecha - in other words, the moment Giger is complete - Giger's eyes light up once again. GaoGaiGar! is also back.

Only during the merging process is the humanoid robot depicted as a puppet, shutting off the projection of the character's personality--in the case of GaoGaiGar, the orange eyes disappear and are painted black. It can be an impersonal machine or the body of a character. The combined scene in "GaoGaiGar" teaches us that this is what makes combined robots so fascinating.

And one more thing. During the merging process, the internal mechanisms of the Gao machine are depicted several times. The precise mechanism of the spring, shaft, and other parts of the machine are shown in full view. The internal mechanism glows orange here and there, the same color as Giger's eyes.

Does this orange glow not imply that the unmanned Gao machine side (rather than the triumphant and united Giger) is in control of the merging process, that it has its own "personality"?　If so, can we not take ...... as depicting the change in the position of machine and human, or more specifically, the "relationship of trust between machine and human" silently but powerfully, week after week, in the "GaoGaiGar" merging scene?

(Text by Keisuke Hirota)