Jushin Liger (anime)

Jushin Liger (獣神ライガー) is an anime superhero TV series created by mangaka Go Nagai. Produced by Sunrise Inc. with cooperation of Dynamic Planning (Nagai's own company), the series was originally broadcast on Nagoya Broadcasting Network (NBN)/TV Asahi from March 11, 1989 to January 27, 1990 with a total of 43 episodes.

A manga series, written and drawn by Go Nagai, was also released alongside the anime, originally published by Kodansha in the magazine Comic Bom Bom from March 1989 to January 1990.

This anime series inspired the real-life pro-wrestler, Jushin "Thunder" Liger.

The opening theme "Ikari no Jushin" (怒りの獣神), which was performed by Yumi Hiroki, is also wrestler Jushin "Thunder" Liger's theme song.

The story
It is 199X A.D. In Kushiro, Hokkaido, three bodies of Dragonite appear. Possessing overwhelming destructive force, they attack the city. They also awaken the evil Jashin Drago from the holy seal he was trapped in. 200 years ago, Drago was trapped in the seal by a holy warrior with the tattooed mark of the Liger. Assuming that the warrior is dead, Drago and Empress Zara are free to conquer the Earth using their army of biomechanical beasts. Even the Japan Self-Defense Forces are no match for the Dragonites' awesome power. One of the people fleeing is the protagonist, a milquetoast 16 year old boy named Ken Taiga. Unbeknownst to the Dragonites, Ken realizes that he is the descendant of the Liger warrior. In a burst of anger, Ken's Liger birthmark appears, and he rises his palm into the air, shouting the henshin command, "LIGER!" which then covers him in demonic, long-haired biomechanical armor. Ken transforms into Jushin Liger to fight the evil forces of the Dragonite!

Main characters

 * Ken Taiga (大牙剣)
 * Ryuzo Taiga (大牙龍造)
 * Yui Kamishiro (神代ゆい)
 * Mai Kamishiro (神代まい)
 * Saeko Yagami (八神冴子)
 * Dangoro (団五郎)
 * Mini-Knight (ミニナイト)
 * Empress Zara (女帝ザーラ)
 * Ryu Dolk (リュウ・ドルク)
 * Doll Satan (ドル・サタン)
 * Doll Command (ドル・コマンド)
 * Doll Phantom (ドル・ファントム)
 * Doll Navy (ドル・ネイビー)

TV anime episodes
Source(s)

Staff and production notes
Source(s)
 * Airtime: Saturday, 17:30 - 18:00 hrs.
 * Network: Nagoya TV, TV Asahi
 * Planning: Sunrise
 * Planning coordinator: Dynamic Planning
 * Production: Nagoya TV, Tokyu Agency, Sunrise
 * Original work: Go Nagai
 * Work collaboration: Sunrise
 * Producer: Osamu Sekita, Toshifumi Kawase, Masao Ito
 * Direction: Norio Kashima
 * Scenario: Sho Aikawa, Yoshimasa Takahashi, Toshiki Inoue, Yoshiyuki Suga, Hiroyuki Kawasaki
 * Animation director: Yorihisa Uchida, Masanori Yamada, Joji Kikuchi
 * Character design: Yorihisa Uchida
 * Bio Armor design: Yukihiro Makino
 * Music: Hiromoto Tobisawa

Theme songs

 * 1st Opening theme: Ikari no Jushin (怒りの獣神) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, compsition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroko)
 * 2nd Opening theme: Kiseki no Jushin (奇跡の獣神) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, compsition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroko)
 * 1st Ending theme: The Fire (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, compsition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroko)
 * 2nd Ending theme: Hangyaku no Senshi ~Ryu Dolk no Theme~ (反逆の戦士～リュウ・ドルクのテーマ～) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, compsition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroko)
 * Insert song: Kagami no Komori Uta (鏡の子守り歌) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, compsition & arrangement by Hiromoto Tobisawa, song by Yumi Hiroko)
 * Arranged theme: Ikari no Jushin (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, compsition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Kazuo Nobuta, song by MIO)(not used in the original series, but widely available in several music collections)

This was one of the first TV anime to feature two opening and two ending themes, a tendency that has been followed since then by several TV anime. The Ikari no Jushin, besides being still by Japanese wretler Jushin Liger, has been used by the Hanshin Tigers as the climbing theme of pitcher Hirotaka Egusa. It's one of the anime themes that has been in constant use even after the TV show ended.

Manga
The manga, which was originally published in Kodansha's magazine Comic Bom Bom, was not published in tankōbon format by this company. Instead, it was published by Keibunsha, Daitosha and Daiso Shuppan.


 * Keibunsha (Keibunsha Comic Han, 1990)


 * Daitosha (St Comics, 1999)


 * Daiso Shuppan (Daiso Comic Series, 2002)

Home video
The TV series was released in VHS format by King Records in 1989 and 1990. The whole series was released in DVD by Geneon Entertainment in two DVD boxes of 4 discs each, with standard numbers GNBA-1230 and GNBA-1231 and released in August 25, 2006 and October 25, 2006.

Music
The anime has generated the following records and CDs, all of them produced by King Records.

Appearances in other media
The theme Ikari no Jushin appears in both its original and arranged versions in these CD music collections.

Jushin Liger appears in the Wii video game Super Robot Wars NEO.