Getter Robo G
The last episode of the Getter Robo series showed the defeat of the Dinosaur Empire, but with a high price: the death of one of the Getter Robo pilots, Musashi Tomoe. It also introduced a new enemy, the Clan of the 100 Demons, who at that very moment were preparing an invasion of Earth from space. This would be the basis of a sequel with a new, improved version of the original robot, piloted by Ryoma, Hayato, and newcomer pilot Benkei Kuruma. The series, called Getter Robo G, would not be as long and successful as the first one, lasting 39 episodes.[7] The new robot and its pilots were also featured in the Go Nagai short features Great Mazinger vs. Getter Robo G and Grendizer, Getter Robo G & Great Mazinger: Decisive Showdown! Great Sea Beast, despite the fact Getter Robo was conceived as existing in a different universe from the Mazinger/Grendizer continuity.
G also became famous in the U.S. as it was included in edited form as part of the Force Five robot series produced for the American market, where its name was changed to Starvengers.[8] These episodes would later be the basis for the direct to video series; Robo Formers. Additionally, toys based on the Getter Robo mecha were licensed by the U.S. toy company Mattel and sold under the company's Shogun Warriors toy line.[9][10]
There was a limited video release of Starvengers in the UK, renamed Formators.
Getter Robo Go
After some years, the franchise was revived in 1991 with the new series Getter Robo Go, directed by Hiroki Shibata, and featuring a new robot and an all-new team. While originally planned as a remake of Mazinger Z, sponsor Yutaka Nakamura turned instead to rebooting Getter Robo, with the anime focusing on a new Getter Team, Go Ichimonji, Sho Tachibana and Gai Daido, fighting the forces of Prof. Rando and his Metal Beasts. At the same time, Nagai and Ishikawa penned a 7 volume Getter Robo Go manga from 1990 to 1993, with a dramatically different plot, albeit sharing several characters. The Go manga continued the story of the original 1970s installments, and later featured the debut of the Shin Getter Robo in its final 3 volumes. Many products were released, such as CDs, toys, video cassettes, and later a DVD set. In addition to that, this was the first time Go Nagai and Toei Animation began working together since the Gaiking incident.[11]
In the advent of Getter Robo Go's success, the influence and popularity of the original show continued in Japan, and it found a way to stay with fans through video games (like the Super Robot Wars game series, in which the Getter Robo is one of its lineup mainstays) and other merchandise.[12] The series was even spoofed successfully in the mecha anime series Martian Successor Nadesico, where the anime-within-anime Gekiganger III was a direct pun (and homage) to the Getter Robo legacy, among many other super robot series.
Shin Getter Robo
After the ending of Getter Robo Go, Ishikawa, motivated by his editor Kazuki Nakashima, decided to extend and explain some topics, like what really happened to Benkei and the Saotome Institute, the reason Ryoma was scared of Getter Rays, what Getter is and such. The series features the return of the original Getter Robo, alongside Getter Robo G, the latter of whom had mysteriously vanished alongside Benkei as of the events of Getter Go. The manga would also feature the first full look at Shin Getter 2, who had made a brief appearance in Getter Go, and the first ever appearance of Shin Getter 3. Additionally, it featured new insect-like enemies from the far future, later used in Getter Arc, which would also revisit the fate of Getter G. All of this was told in the Getter Robo Go manga prequel, Shin Getter Robo, started in 1996 and lasted two volumes. The title was later reprinted into a single volume of 500 pages.[15]
Getter Robo Arc
Getter Robo Arc is a three-volume manga taking place in a science fiction post-apocalyptic futuristic setting. Ryoma's son Takuma joins the human-dinosaur hybrid Kamui and Messiah Tayel's younger brother Baku Yamagishi aboard the Getter Robo Arc, fighting, alongside the Dinosaur Empire, the insect-like enemies of the Andromeda Flow Country (アンドロメダ流国) from the far future. Unfortunately, Super Robot Comics, the magazine in which Arc was published, was canceled and the story ended prematurely.[16] On November 2, 2020, an anime adaptation of Arc was announced. It was released in 2021, and was produced by Bee Media and directed by Jun Kawagoe.[17][18]
Getter Robo Armageddon
The concept was re-invented in 1998 with the retro-styled OVA Change Getter Robo!!: The Last Day of the World (released outside Japan as Getter Robo: Armageddon). Giant Robo director Yasuhiro Imagawa was to direct the OVA, but had a falling out with the studio after Episode 3. This would lead to Jun Kawagoe taking over as the director from episode 4 onwards, a position he would keep throughout the following 2 OVAs. The OVA ran 13 episodes and was presented as the sequel to a story - which was never actually animated - about the Getter Team fighting a race of amorphous aliens called "Invaders." This production made use of an animation style reminiscent of the old Getter Robo and other 1970s anime shows with thick, sketchy lines, albeit with character and robot designs more reminiscent of Ken Ishikawa's original manga.
Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo
Two years later, the same staff returned for the four-part OVA Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo. The plot of the OVA is loosely based on the original Getter Robo, with the Dinosaur Empire as the antagonists. The OVA introduces a new Getter Robo, the titular Neo Getter Robo, which is similar in design to the Getter Robo from Getter Robo Go and also shares elements of Getter Robo G's design. In addition, it features characters from Getter Robo Go that are closer in personality to those found in the original manga than the anime adaptation. The OVA also included a three part miniseries that lasted five minutes called Dynamic Super Robot's Grand Battle which shows several Go Nagai created robots battling with the Mycene empire from the anime Great Mazinger. The short included appearances by Getter Robo G and Shin Getter Robo.
New Getter Robo
In 2004, director Jun Kawagoe produced a new OVA called New Getter Robo, this time being a re-telling of the Getter Robo story. In this new story, humanity is under attack by demonic creatures called Oni. As in the original stories, Dr. Saotome creates a series of Getter-Ray-powered robots to fight the monsters, culminating the creation of Getter Robo. Both the robot and the Getter Team were redesigned for the new series. Getter Robo is more detailed and mechanical-looking than its earlier forms, and all three pilots - Ryoma, Hayato, and a combination of Musashi and Benkei's archetypes named "Benkei Musashibo" - are as violent and antiheroic as they were in the 70s manga. Ryoma is now an irresponsible street fighter, Hayato a bloodthirsty, sadistic terrorist, and Benkei a hedonistic and gluttonous apprentice monk.
Getter Robo Hien
In 2007, a new manga entitled Getter Robo Hien: The Earth Suicide was released in Japan. It has since concluded at 3 volumes, and was serialized in a monthly webcomic. This series continues the Ken Ishikawa continuity of Getter manga, temporally taking place after Getter Robo Go and before Getter Arc. The series features an older Hayato leading a new team of Getter Pilots (and a new Getter) as they defend the earth from large plant-like monsters.
Apocrypha Getter Robo
Published in 2008, the manga Apocrypha Getter Robot Dash was released in Japanese magazine Magazine Z, authored by Hideaki Nishikawa for another alternate re-telling of the original Getter Robo story. After Magazine Z discontinued in 2009, it was renamed Apocrypha Getter Robo DARKNESS.[19]
Apocrypha Getter Robo Darkness continued serialization with its new title under seinen magazine Young Animal Arashi five months later.[19] Chapter 0 of Getter Robo DARKNESS, published in the July 2009 issue of the magazine, is a reprint of the sixth chapter of Getter Robo DASH, the last one published in Magazine Z before its cancellation.
