Genesis Climber MOSPEADA

Genesis Climber MOSPEADA (機甲創世記モスピーダ) (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 stands for Military Operation Soldier Protection Emergency Aviation Dive Armor, 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, which is somewhat similar in design to the VF-1 Valkyrie variable fighter from The Super Dimension Fortress Macross.

Story
The story takes place in the 21st century. Due to the fact that pollution was becoming a major problem, scientists had developed the use of hydrogen fuel called "HBT" as an alternative to fossil fuels. At this time humans have colonized Mars in search of new place to call home as a result of overpopulation. In the year 2050, a mysterious alien race called the Invid invaded the Earth. Unable to fight the Invids, Earth became desolate with only a few pockets of human beings scattered throughout the planet. Many of the refugees escape aboard a few remaining shuttles to seek shelter on the Moon. The Invids set up their main base of operations in the Great Lakes area of North America called "Reflex Point".

However, the Mars colony, dubbed the Mars Base, does not forget about the plight of Earth. Troops are sent in to fight the Invids from the Moon, only to fail miserably. The Invids do not attack Mars, and show no interest towards the other planets. Surprisingly the Invid 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. Overnight, Mars Base becomes a gigantic military machine, producing vast amounts of advanced weaponry and trained troops. In 2080, Mars Base sends in the next wave of troops. Although equipped with more technologically advanced equipment and transformable mecha, the attempt to recapture Earth is a failure.

Three years later, Mars Base launches another attack called the Second Earth Recapture Force. One of the troops is Lieutenant Stick Bernard. The mission proves to be unsuccessful as it did three years ago and Stick's fiancée Marlene is killed, while Stick is forced to crash into Earth, landing in South America. At first, Stick is sorrowful and depressed at Marlene's death. After seeing a holographic recording of his dead betrothed, Stick swears an oath of vengeance. In his quest to reach the Reflex Point in North America, the Invid 'hive', 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.

As the plot unravels, the purpose of the Invid's invasion is revealed. Their sole purpose of coming to the planet is because Earth provides them a suitable place to evolve into more complex beings. However, little did the Invids know that their endeavor actually threatens to cause the extinction of both humans and Invids and thus, it is up to Stick and his group, with the help of human-like Invid (Aisha and Solzie), to convince the supreme ruler of the Invid, the Refles, to flee from Earth.

Characters

 * Stick Bernard (スティック・バーナード) (Bin Shimada): A 20-year-old Mars Base lieutenant that becomes stranded on Earth as the Invid obliterate the defenses of the Second Earth Recapture Force. As a result of the overwhelming force of the Invid, Stick's fiancée, Marlene (マリーン), is killed when her ship attempts to land on the planet surface, leaving Stick angry and bitter. Even after he gathers his freedom fighters together, he often allows his hatred and blind fury towards the Invid to distract him from the responsible decision-making his friends know he is capable of.
 * Ray (レイ) (Hisao Ōyama): 17-year-old scavenger. He is the historian, optimist, and wisecracker of the group. Originally, Ray was a loner who actually enjoyed teasing the Invid as they chased him around the territory, but he joins Stick in order to deal a serious blow to the invaders. Extremely resourceful, Ray is a huge fan of Yellow Belmont until he learns that the female singer is actually a man. Over the course of the series, he develops deep feelings for Houquet, but she has trouble openly reciprocating them.
 * Mint Labule (ミント・ラブル) (Miyuki Sanae (credited as Miyuki Muroi)) : A spirited 13-year-old who was abandoned by her parents. She tags along with the group in order to find a husband, but ends up becoming part of the team. Often considered an annoyance to the rest of the group, Mint is nonetheless loved by her fellow freedom fighters, and proves herself valuable to the mission on several occasions. Her trademark attire is the E.T. cap that she wears. It is not known whether the E.T. stands for the science fantasy movie of the same name or something else.
 * Houquet et Rose (フーケ・エローズ) (Mika Doi): A 16-year-old former motorcycle gang member and girlfriend to gang leader, Romy. She was severely beaten and taken advantage of by a rival gang when they cornered her away from her group. Houquet initially fights for the helpless and refuses an alliance with Stick, but joins the team after realizing that she would be stronger with them than without them. Eventually she comes to respect her companions enough that she offers to sacrifice herself in order to save the others. Falls in love with Ray, but is unable to open her heart and express her affection to him.
 * Jim Warston (ジム・ウォーストン) (Tomomichi Nishimura): A 32-year-old maintenance mechanic. Jim initially comes off as the "stupid lunk" of the group, but is soon revealed to be quite intelligent. Jim was once a member of the Mars Base forces, but deserted after failing to save a friend from the Invid. Though he labeled himself a coward and often sees himself as a liability to Stick's team, the team is quick to object to this, noting Jim's courage and dependability during their repeated encounters with Invid forces.
 * Yellow Belmont (イエロー・ベルモント) (Mine Matsuki)/(Hirotaka Suzuoki): A 22-year-old soldier from the Second Earth Recapture Force. Now disguised as a female singer (thanks to his bishōnen appearance) in order to hide from the Invid and certain locals, Yellow has made quite a name for him/herself as an entertainer. But upon meeting Stick and his friends, Yellow decides to help free Earth from the Invid. His ability to completely change both his physical appearance and personality adds to the team's ability to infiltrate towns and cities in order to gather supplies or complete missions.
 * Aisha (アイシャ) (Miki Takahashi): A female Invid changed into humanoid form.
 * Refless (レフレス) (Noriko Ohara): Supreme ruler of the Invid. Her only goal is to terraform the Earth in order for her race to take it over. Considers humans to be genetically and socially worthless.
 * Sorji (ソルジィ) (Waka Kanda): Second female Invid transformed into a human being. Accidentally encounters Yellow as he is bathing in a waterfall, and the encounter leaves her resolve shaken.
 * Battra (バットラー) (Hōchū Ōtsuka): Third Invid to be changed into human form. Unlike Aisha and Solzie, Battlar's exposure to the team leaves him angry and insulted. His repeated defeat in combat with Stick causes Battlar to make his mission of stopping Stick's group one of personal revenge.

(The English-subtitled MOSPEADA DVD release by Harmony Gold and ADV Films use the inaccurate names “Stig” Bernard, Mint “Rubble,” Houquet “Emrose,” and Jim “Austin” derived from fans on Robotech.com and the Robotech Art I book.)

Theme Songs

 * Opening theme:
 * "Ushinawareta Yume o Motomete" (失われた伝説（ゆめ）をもとめて)
 * Vocals: Andy
 * Ending theme:
 * "Blue Rain" (ブルー・レイン)
 * Vocals: Andy and Mine Matsuki

The instrumental music was composed by, and all music was arranged by, Joe Hisaishi, who would later gain renown for scoring the movies of Hayao Miyazaki. MOSPEADA is the first anime series to have a jazz-based theme song (Blue Rain).

Malaysian indie band Hujan made a cover of the opening song, with the same title Lonely Soldier Boy. The lyrics are translated from Japanese into Bahasa Malaysia (except the chorus which was preserved) and was included as the band's Myspace single.

Production Staff

 * Character Designer: Yoshitaka Amano
 * Co-creators, Mechanical Designs: Shinji Aramaki & Hideki Kakinuma
 * Producer: Masatoshi Yui
 * Musical Director: Joe Hisaishi
 * Opening animation: Yoshinori Kanada

Production Notes
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. The bike design was inspired by the Suzuki Katana. The black and white stripes on the Legioss and VR ride armor are a tribute to the international forces of Britain, Canada and the United States who adopted this scheme during World War II's Normandy Invasion.

Adaptation For The Robotech Universe
Artmic and Tatsunoko Production produced and released MOSPEADA a year before Tatsunoko produced The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross (1984). Robotech set the story of its "New Generation" adaptation of MOSPEADA after its "Robotech Masters" adaptation of Southern Cross. Most of MOSPEADA's animation (with edited content and revised dialogue) was adapted for Robotech: The New Generation, the third saga of the Robotech series. In Robotech, the Inbit became the “Invid” of the “Third Generation” (also featured in Robotech II: The Sentinels) 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 Bernard frequently referred to were troops from the Mars and Jupiter bases which harassed the Inbit, though they were playing a “leave alone” system with humans on Earth.

The transformable VR series of Armor Cycles became the VR series of Veritech Cyclone motorcycles; transformable Armo-Fighter AFC-01 Legioss became the Alpha Veritech VF/A-6; the transformable Armo-Bomber AB-01 Tlead became the Beta Veritech VFB-9. Character names were generally altered without major changes in characterization, making MOSPEADA the least altered series of the three. Like Macross and The 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. Incidentally, it is also the series that has seen the most usage in the expanded universe of Robotech II: The Sentinels and Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles, especially in terms of character, mecha, and ship designs. Unlike Macross, which is owned by Big West, Harmony Gold is free to utilize elements from the Tatsunoko owned Mospeada. Current non use of Southern Cross elements is usually attributed its lack of popularity among fans.

Love Live Alive
After the original run of the television series, an OAV music video titled Genesis Climber MOSPEADA: Love Live Alive was specially 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 also on his flashback of past events.