| Sci-Fi West Saga Starzinger | |
| Ja Kanji: | SF西遊記 スタージンガー |
| Ja Romaji: | Esu Efu Saiyūki Sutājingā |
| Genre: | Science fiction |
| Creator: | Leiji Matsumoto |
| Type: | TV series |
| Director: | Yugo Serikawa |
| Music: | Shunsuke Kikuchi |
| Studio: | Toei Animation |
| Network: | Fuji TV |
| First: | April 2, 1978 |
| Last: | August 24, 1979 |
| Episodes: | 73 |
| Type: | Film |
| Director: | Tsunekiyo Otani |
| Music: | Shunsuke Kikuchi |
| Studio: | Toei Animation |
| Released: | March 17, 1979 |
| Runtime: | 25 minutes |
| Type: | Manga |
| Author: | Leiji Matsumoto |
| Publisher: | Akita Shoten |
| Demographic: | Shōnen |
| Magazine: | Bōken Ō |
| First: | 1979 |
| Last: | 1980 |
| Volumes: | 3 |
, known as Spaceketeers in the United States, is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a sci-fi remake/adaptation of Wu Cheng'en's fantasy novel Journey to the West. It was directed by Yugo Serikawa and written by Leiji Matsumoto. It aired in Fuji TV in Japan from April 2, 1978, to August 24, 1979. In the United States, it was referred to as Spaceketeers and was part of Jim Terry's Force Five series. In the United Kingdom, it was referred to as Sci-Bots on VHS releases. In Latin America, it was known as El Galáctico.
The story revolves around the Princess of the Moon, Aurora and her three cyborg companions (Kugo, Djorgo, and Hakka) who must travel to the Great King planet and restore the Galaxy Energy in the year 2072. The universe was becoming more and more unbalanced as the Queen of the Great Planet grows older. Their adventure includes battling the starmen who are transformed from the unbalanced minerals and planets.
Starzinger was essentially a sci-fi space opera retelling of the 16th-century shenmo fantasy novel Journey to the West, a Chinese literary classic written by the Ming dynasty novelist Wu Cheng'en. The sci-fi twists were designed by Leiji Matsumoto based on the Terebi Magazine manga[1] with art by Gosaku Ohta.[2]
| Japanese name | English name | Voiced by | Power | Vehicle | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Telepathy & psychic abilities and can channel Galaxy energy. | The only human among the main four characters. She is the last of the Moon people. Aurora is based on Tang Sanzang. | ||||
| Jesse Dart | Wields an Astro-lance that changes size and shoots lasers; in the second season, he can become larger or smaller at will. | Starcrow | A red suited cyborg. Jesse became a cyborg to benefit and help humanity: demoted to menial jobs, he gained a bad temper. He is based on the monkey-demon, Sun Wukong, of which "Kugo" is an anagram. His English name is derived from D'Artagnan. | |||
| Arimos | Wields a Laser-trident with freeze abilities; occasionally shot missiles from his shoulders. | Starcopper/Sea Wasp | A blue suited cyborg and the most intelligent of the three. When in doubt, he asks his portable computer (which often displays a TOEI logo while elaborating a problem). He is based on the water-demon, Sha Wujing, as Gojyo was the Japanese name of Wujing. His English name is derived from Aramis. | |||
| Porkos | Kousei Tomita | Swings a mace that turns into a flail and shoots rockets from his feet. | Starbood/Space Hog | A green suited cyborg, cheerful, hungry and the comedian. He is based on the pig-demon, Zhu Bajie, as Hakkai is the Japanese name of Bajie. His English name is derived from Porthos, but retains the pig-related pun of the original. | ||
| Prof. Kitty | Empress | Eiko Masuyama | A scientist, she reared Aurora after the death of Aurora's parents. Based on Guanyin. | |||
| Assistant Prof. Dodge | Prof. Schnitzel | An intelligent professor, he made Kugo into the cyborg that he is. | ||||
| Prince Gaima | Based on the son of the Bull Demon King, Red Boy. | |||||
| Gingin Man & Kinkin Man | Monster Brothers, based on King of Gold Horn & King of Silver Horn. | |||||
| Beramis | A female cyborg. A captain of Queen Lacets, she later became a friend and ally of Jan Kugo. | |||||
| Captain | Satomi Majima | |||||
| Based on the Bull Demon King. | ||||||
| Queen Lacets | Based on the Princess Iron Fan. |
The series was produced by Toei Animation. Production staff include:
In March 1979, a film was aired reusing footage from the first segment of the series. The film was more or less a summary.
The last nine episodes of the actual series was re-branded as "SF Saiyūki Starzinger II", though when shown outside Japan it was treated as one continuous series. It was never intended to be anything more than re-marketing of the last few episodes, since it was aired immediately after the first sixty-four episodes were shown in June 1979. The 65th episode began instantly in the following month with all the galactic energy restored in the storyline.
A total of 73 episodes of the show were broadcast in Japan.
Starzinger was aired in the early 1980s in Latin America under the name of El Galáctico (The Galactic), as part of the four-series show "El festival de los robots", which translates to "The festival of the robots". The other shows were "Steel Jeeg", "Gaiking", and "Magne Robo Gakeen". Only 47 episodes of the original 73 were dubbed and aired. This version of the series never reached their conclusion. The Spanish theme song of "El Galáctico" was composed and sung by Chilean singer Memo Aguirre (Capitán Memo). In 2008 the Chilean company SeriesTV released a set of 24 DVDs with Festival de los Robots episodes. This set includes 24 episodes of "El Galactico" with the original Spanish dubbing.
In North America, it was aired as "Spaceketeers" as part of the package show Force Five. As the Journey to the West story is not well known in the region, the characters were renamed to reference the Three Musketeers. To also fit into the Force Five time slot, the show had to be edit-squeezed into 26 episodes. The U.S. version puts them on a mission to the Dekos Star System, which contained evil powers changing peaceful creatures to evil mutants. The Force Five version not only just produced 26 episodes, but this English-language version of the series never reached their conclusion.
24 episodes of the original 73 were also released to home video in Scandinavia (mainly in Sweden) under the original name Starzinger. A listing of what episodes were cut out can be found at: Warfists Starzinger site in the episode section. The Swedish-language version of the series reached their conclusion.
United Kingdom:
| Release name | Release date | Classifaction | Publisher | Format | Language | Subtitles | Notes | REF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCI-BOTS 1 Conflict | July 7, 1987 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 56 min. 5 sec. | [3] | |
| SCI-BOTS 2 Strike Back | July 16, 1987 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 46 min. | [4] | |
| SCI-BOTS 3 Battle of the Flame Dragon | April 28, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | [5] | |
| SCI-BOTS 4 Betrayal | 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | [6] | |
| SCI-BOTS 5 Death Valley | April 28, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 6 Love and Treasure | April 18, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 7 Zalo | April 28, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 8 Evil Catyla | April 18, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 9 Surrender by Force | April 18, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 10 Snark and the Diamond | April 18, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 11 Star Point Tantar | April 29, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 12 Crystal and the Space Bees | July 14, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None | Run time: 43 min. | ||
| SCI-BOTS 13 Dector the Betrayer | July 14, 1988 | U | Krypton Force Ltd. | PAL | English | None |
Japan: On 25 January 2008 TOHO released a six disc DVD box-set.[7]
Latin America: On 28 July 2008 SeriesTv released "El Festival de los Robots" onto DVD.
USA: On 20 August 2013 Shout! Factory released "Starzinger: The Movie Collection" onto DVD.[8]