Genesis Climber MOSPEADA explained

Genesis Climber MOSPEADA
Ja Kanji:機甲創世記モスピーダ
Ja Romaji:Kikō Sōseiki Mosupīda
Genre:Adventure, Mecha, Military
Creator:Shinji Aramaki
Hideki Kakinuma
Type:tv series
Director:Katsuhisa Yamada
Producer:Shinji Aramaki
Masatoshi Yui
Kenji Yoshida
Music:Hiroshi Ogasawara
Joe Hisaishi
Studio:Tatsunoko Production
Artmic
Network:Fuji TV
Licensee:Crunchyroll
First:2 October 1983
Last:23 March 1984
Episodes:25
Episode List:
  1. Episode list
Type:ova
Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Love Live Alive
Director:Katsuhisa Yamada
Producer:Masatoshi Yui
Shinji Aramaki
Kenji Yoshida
Music:Joe Hisaishi
Studio:Artmic & Tatsunoko
Released:21 September 1985
Runtime:50 minutes
Portal:yes

(literally "Armored Genesis MOSPEADA") is an anime science fiction series created by Shinji Aramaki and Hideki Kakinuma. The 25-episode television series ran from late 1983 to early 1984 in Japan. MOSPEADA is an acronym of "Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Dive Armor",[1] one of the transformable motorcycle-armors the series features. The other primary mecha featured in the show is the three-form transformable fighter called the Armo-Fighter AFC-01 Legioss. MOSPEADA was adapted as the third generation of the American series Robotech, much like Macross and Southern Cross.[1]

Story

In the 21st century, Earth's pollution problems result in the development of a new hydrogen fuel called "HBT" as an alternative to fossil fuels, while mankind colonizes Mars. In 2050, a mysterious alien race called the Invid invades Earth, the ensuing war leaves only a few pockets of human resistance on the planet's surface. Many of the refugees escape aboard a few remaining shuttles to seek shelter on the Moon. The Invid set up their main base of operations on Earth, called "Reflex Point", in the Great Lakes area of North America.

However, the Mars colony, dubbed the Mars Base, does not forget about the plight of Earth. Troops are sent in to fight the Invid from the Moon, only to fail miserably. The Invid do not attack Mars and show no interest towards the other planets. Surprisingly, the aliens show no hostility towards humans unless they are directly provoked. The Invid can also sense the presence of HBT and use of the fuel is limited under their supervision, as HBT is a common component in weapons technology. Mars Base becomes a gigantic military factory, producing vast amounts of advanced weaponry and trained troops. In 2080, Mars Base sends an expeditionary force to liberate the planet from the Invid - but it is virtually destroyed despite a technological advantage including the deployment of transformable mecha.

A Second Expeditionary Force is dispatched three years but destroyed in a ferocious battle in orbit around the Earth, Legioss pilot Stick [Scott] Bernard turns out to be the only survivor as he crashlands in South America, but his fiancée, Marlene, is killed in the chaos. A holographic recording of Marlene given to Stick just before the operation began gives him the strength to move on and avenge her death. In his quest to reach Reflex Point, he meets the other main characters of the show, forming a group of ragtag freedom fighters in a quest to rid the planet of the Invid.[2]

As the plot unfolds, the purpose of the Invid invasion is revealed: to find a suitable place to evolve into more complex beings. However, the Invid do not know that their endeavor actually threatens to cause the extinction of both humans and Invid and thus, it is up to Stick and his group, with the help of humanoid Invid (Aisha and Solzie), to convince Invid's hive queen, the Refless, to flee from Earth.[3]

Characters

The Robotech-adapted names are in brackets: [].

The English-subtitled MOSPEADA DVD released by Harmony Gold and ADV Films uses the inaccurate names (such as "Mint Rubble", "Houquet Emrose", and "Jim Auston") derived from fans on Robotech.com and the Robotech Art I book.

Episode list

Original Japanese
Air Date
Genesis Climber MOSPEADA
Episode
Directed by Written byRobotech

The New Generation
Episode

October 2, 19831. Sukehiro Tomita61. The Invid Invasion
October 9, 19832. Sukehiro Tomita62. The Lost City
October 16, 19833. Katsuhito AkiyamaSukehiro Tomita63. Lonely Soldier Boy
October 23, 19834. Ryo Yasumura64. Survival
October 30, 19835. Satoshi Namiki65. Curtain Call
November 6, 19836. Sukehiro Tomita66. Hard Times
November 13, 19837. Satoshi Namiki67. Paper Hero
November 20, 19838. Ryo Yasumura68. Eulogy
November 27, 19839. Masakazu YasumuraSukehiro Tomita 69. The Genesis Pit
December 4, 198310. Ryo Yasumura70. Enter Marlene
December 11, 198311. Katsuhito Akiyama Satoshi Namiki 71. The Secret Route
December 18, 198312. Kenji Terada72. The Fortress
December 25, 198313. Sukehiro Tomita 73. Sandstorm
January 8, 198414. Kenji Terada74. Annie's Wedding
January 15, 198415. Sukehiro Tomita 75. Separate Ways
January 22, 198416. Satoshi Namiki76. Metamorphosis
January 29, 198417. Masakazu Yasumura Ryo Yasumura77. The Midnight Sun
February 5, 198418. Kenji Terada78. Ghost Town
February 12, 198419. Satoshi Namiki79. Frost Bite
February 19, 198420. Sukehiro Tomita 80. Birthday Blues
February 26, 198421. Kenji Terada 81. Hired Gun
March 4, 198422. Kenji Terada 82. The Big Apple
March 11, 198423. Sukehiro Tomita 83. Reflex Point
March 18, 198424. Sukehiro Tomita 84. Dark Finale
March 25, 198425. Sukehiro Tomita 85. Symphony of Light

Music

Opening theme:
Ending theme:

The incidental music was composed by Joe Hisaishi, who would later gain renown for incidental music for the movies of Hayao Miyazaki, though it is accidentally credited, because of a misreading of the name characters, to a "Yuzuru Hisaishi." MOSPEADA is the first anime series to have a jazz-based theme song (Blue Rain).

Malaysian indie rock band Hujan made their own cover of the opening song titled Lonely Soldier Boy (derived from one of the lyrics' English lines) where the lyrics are entirely translated from Japanese into Malay, except for the English lines which are left intact. The song was included in the band's album, also named after the song.

Production

The original working titles for MOSPEADA were: Kouka Kihei Vector ("Descent Machine Soldier Vector"), Chou Fumetsu Yousai Reflex Point ("Super Immortal Fortress Reflex Point") and AD Patrol: the story of city police where the main character rides a transformable bike that changes into his partner. The main character designs were created by Yoshitaka Amano, who would later gain renown for his character artwork for the Final Fantasy series.

Each of the Japanese episode titles contains a musical reference. This style of titling would later be used by Cowboy Bebop.

Mechanical designer Shinji Aramaki came up with the transformable motorcycle-powered exoskeleton design while working on the Diaclone series (which later became part of Transformers). When riding his Honda VT250 250 cc motorbike, he thought to himself that it was the right size for a person to wear. Aramaki mentioned that the idea came to him because of his love for riding motorcycles when he was young.[4]

The bike design was inspired by the Suzuki Katana.[5] The black and white stripes on the Legioss and VR ride armor are a tribute to the Allied invasion stripes in World War II.

The series was released in North America by ADV Films with the original Japanese language and English subtitles on June 17, 2003.[6]

Crunchyroll licenses the series.[7]

Adaptation for the Robotech series

Most of MOSPEADAs animation (with edited content and revised dialogue) was adapted for American audiences as Robotech: The New Generation, the third saga of the Robotech compilation series. In Robotech, the Inbit became the "Invid" of the "Third Generation" (also featured in ) and the advanced space forces are the returning Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) that left before the "Second Generation" of Robotech on Earth. Earth's Defense Forces were decimated in the previous saga. Unlike the Invid in the adapted Robotech, the Inbit in MOSPEADA had nothing to do with the Robotech Masters (their sworn enemies in Robotech) and they were just looking for a good planet on which to evolve and reach perfection. Likewise, the REF forces under Admiral Hunter's command that Barnard frequently referred to were troops from the Mars and Jupiter bases which harassed the Invid, though they were playing a "leave alone" system with humans on Earth.

The show's transformable mecha were also renamed; the Armor Cycles as Veritech Cyclones motorcycles; the AFC-01 Legioss became the VF/A-6 Alpha Veritech; the AB-01 Tlead became the VFB-9 Beta Veritech.[8] Like Macross and Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross, Genesis Climber MOSPEADA was cut and fitted to be part of the Robotech continuum by Harmony Gold and Carl Macek.

Character names were generally altered without major changes in characterization, making MOSPEADA the least altered series of the three. Incidentally, it is also the series that has seen the most usage in the expanded universe of and , especially in terms of character, mecha, and ship designs, as it was chronologically the last series used in Robotech. Unlike Macross, which is owned by Big West, Harmony Gold is free to utilize elements from the Tatsunoko-owned MOSPEADA.

Love Live Alive

After the original run of the television series, an OVA music video titled Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Love Live Alive was released in Japan in September 1985. The music video consisted of both old and new footage. The story of Love Live Alive chronicled the events after the ending of MOSPEADA, featuring Yellow Belmont as the main character.

The music video focused on Yellow's concert and his flashbacks of past events. In 2013, it was adapted by Harmony Gold into .[9] Some DVD releases of the Robotech version of Love Live Alive also include the original Japanese version as bonus content.[10]

References

Bibliography

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: MOSPEADA FAQ . 2009-05-24 . MOSPEADA.com . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040609005051/http://mospeada.com/info.php?id=faqs . 2004-06-09.
  2. Web site: MOSPEADA. 2009-05-24 . Tatsunoko Production.
  3. Web site: 機甲創世記モスピーダ . 2009-05-24 . Tatsunoko Production . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090420005411/http://www.tatsunoko.co.jp/works/archive/mospida.html . 2009-04-20.
  4. Web site: Exclusive Interview With Shinji Aramaki . . May 27, 2015 . Ollie . Barder.
  5. Web site: Variable Technology Military Motorcycle Unveiled in Germany . October 4, 2018 . Marker . Jason . rideapart.com.
  6. Web site: May 22, 2003. ADV To Release Genesis Climber Mospeada. ICv2.
  7. Web site: Cardine . Kyle . April 25, 2024 . Genesis Climber MOSPEADA Anime Joins the Crunchyroll Catalog . January 24, 2024 . . en.
  8. Web site: Genesis Climber Mospeada . mospeada.com . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120216211036/http://mospeada.com/info.php?id=characters . 16 February 2012 . dead.
  9. Web site: Webb, Benjamin. Robotech: Love, Live, Alive Announced. Capsule Computers. 2013-04-04.
  10. Web site: Robotech / Store / ROBOTECH 20-Disc Complete DVD Set . robotech.com . 12 January 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180127165815/https://robotech.com/store/product/robotech-20-disc-complete-set . 27 January 2018 . dead.