Anime Review: Shippu! Iron Leaguer – Whirlwind! Iron Leaguer!
Not often do we see Super Robots playing sports instead of all that regular action and fighting especially from the legendary mech designer himself – Kunio Okawara, the man behind various designs of Gundam series and other super robots like The Invincible Daitarn 3 and Armored Troopers Votoms.
Japan now and then always promotes their interest in sports, with many influences also coming from the west like baseball, soccer or basketball which are also deemed popular when made into inspiring anime and mangas. Captain Tsubasa as many may already know about is one of the famous examples back in the 70s but during 1993 when it came to Super Robots, Iron Leaguer found its way to shine. Toys and a video game were made from this anime, it did fairly show some success while trying to impact society within the sporting circle pretty well and even possibly influencing newer sport anime too. Made by Sunrise studio, The story follows the team named Silver Castle gathering skillful robots with good hearts to prove that sports can be played fair and square, returning the justice to the corrupted world of sports in the distant future.
Japan now and then always promotes their interest in sports, with many influences also coming from the west like baseball, soccer or basketball which are also deemed popular when made into inspiring anime and mangas. Captain Tsubasa as many may already know about is one of the famous examples back in the 70s but during 1993 when it came to Super Robots, Iron Leaguer found its way to shine. Toys and a video game were made from this anime, it did fairly show some success while trying to impact society within the sporting circle pretty well and even possibly influencing newer sport anime too. Made by Sunrise studio, The story follows the team named Silver Castle gathering skillful robots with good hearts to prove that sports can be played fair and square, returning the justice to the corrupted world of sports in the distant future.
//PLOT//
The writing of Shippu! Iron Leaguer! is pretty easy to chew and fun to watch much similar to other 90s anime at the time. It has that scent of Shounen genre seeing many characters slowly getting developed to overcome many obstacles. Iron Leaguer is set in a distant future where robots are playing sports instead of humans but the robots somehow enjoy breaking the rules, hurting each other on the field for a score which entertains the audiences more than the regular legal game, a team named Silver Castle led by Ruri Ginjo and coach Eddie Ginjo is having a hard time trying to maintain sportsmanship due to this. On the verge of collapsing, a baseball leaguer robot named Magnum Ace presented himself to join the Silver Castle, willing to return justice and fairness to the sporting circle.
As Magnum Ace getting beaten in the middle of a soccer match by the Dark Prince team – famous for doing everything to win, he convinced a soccer leaguer named Mach Windy on the other side of the team to stop playing violently, he then swapped sides and made Silver Castle win but suddenly collapsed. It was found out that many robots including Mach Windy are implanted by a Shock Circuit chip as a secret yet illegal way to suppress and control their behaviors by Chairman Hiroshi – the man who owned most of the world-leading sport competitions at the time. As Silver Castle finds hope of becoming famous again gathering new robots and removing their Shock Circuits, they are also facing a lot of dirty tricks sent by Hiroshi himself, including their arch nemesis for most of the series, the Gold brothers – Gold Mask – Gold Arm and Gold Foot who would always try to beat the Silver Castle whenever they competes against each other.
Iron Leaguer is undoubtedly addictive, at least for me seeing the characters getting to know each other, overcoming enemies and developing their skills to win. With a mix of friendship, sportsmanship and dramas, the anime spread its stories to the characters pretty well considering they had only 52 episodes to cover everything up which is considered a medium for 90s anime. The team members of the Silver Castle are very interesting, with robots such as Magnum Ace, Mach Windy, Kai Ryuken, Bull Armor, Jurota Kiwami, Top Joy and GZ, all with their unique specialties for different sports carrying the team, they also show the importance of supporting robots as well as coach Eddie Ginjo and team president, Ruri Ginjo too.
One of the most interesting selling points of the whole plot is how everyone in the Silver Castle always tries to play fair, no matter how much they get beaten or getting dirtied at, they will always and I mean always play by the intended rules, developing their new special moves and teamwork in the process which also act as their moving parts. Seeing them on the verge of defeat and coming back on top without breaking any sports rules is very satisfying for me, especially when they have to come up with a new move to score, even if some moves seemed unbeatable at first. There are multiple sports they play such as baseball, basketball, hockey, Karate, Kendo, American football and the most often one – soccer, probably because soccer requires everybody’s teamwork as a whole the most so showing them playing soccer is the best choice to teach teamwork for the audiences.
There are some rushed episodes but the story itself did not get rushed that much since instead of being “story of the week” thing they tried to make every episode as connected as possible to show where the Silver Castle traveled in each competition or how they get intercepted along the way which again shows their sense of Shounen, not to mention their plot twists revealing character’s secrets and turning sides later on too. The “characters of the week” in some episodes also make a comeback at a certain point creating a climaxing element as well thanks to the today’s legendary screenwriter – Sho Aikawa himself which some may already know that he is the man behind some of the Super Sentai series and movies such as GoGo Sentai Boukenger: The Greatest Precious or Engine Sentai GoOnger.
The writing of Shippu! Iron Leaguer! is pretty easy to chew and fun to watch much similar to other 90s anime at the time. It has that scent of Shounen genre seeing many characters slowly getting developed to overcome many obstacles. Iron Leaguer is set in a distant future where robots are playing sports instead of humans but the robots somehow enjoy breaking the rules, hurting each other on the field for a score which entertains the audiences more than the regular legal game, a team named Silver Castle led by Ruri Ginjo and coach Eddie Ginjo is having a hard time trying to maintain sportsmanship due to this. On the verge of collapsing, a baseball leaguer robot named Magnum Ace presented himself to join the Silver Castle, willing to return justice and fairness to the sporting circle.
As Magnum Ace getting beaten in the middle of a soccer match by the Dark Prince team – famous for doing everything to win, he convinced a soccer leaguer named Mach Windy on the other side of the team to stop playing violently, he then swapped sides and made Silver Castle win but suddenly collapsed. It was found out that many robots including Mach Windy are implanted by a Shock Circuit chip as a secret yet illegal way to suppress and control their behaviors by Chairman Hiroshi – the man who owned most of the world-leading sport competitions at the time. As Silver Castle finds hope of becoming famous again gathering new robots and removing their Shock Circuits, they are also facing a lot of dirty tricks sent by Hiroshi himself, including their arch nemesis for most of the series, the Gold brothers – Gold Mask – Gold Arm and Gold Foot who would always try to beat the Silver Castle whenever they competes against each other.
Iron Leaguer is undoubtedly addictive, at least for me seeing the characters getting to know each other, overcoming enemies and developing their skills to win. With a mix of friendship, sportsmanship and dramas, the anime spread its stories to the characters pretty well considering they had only 52 episodes to cover everything up which is considered a medium for 90s anime. The team members of the Silver Castle are very interesting, with robots such as Magnum Ace, Mach Windy, Kai Ryuken, Bull Armor, Jurota Kiwami, Top Joy and GZ, all with their unique specialties for different sports carrying the team, they also show the importance of supporting robots as well as coach Eddie Ginjo and team president, Ruri Ginjo too.
One of the most interesting selling points of the whole plot is how everyone in the Silver Castle always tries to play fair, no matter how much they get beaten or getting dirtied at, they will always and I mean always play by the intended rules, developing their new special moves and teamwork in the process which also act as their moving parts. Seeing them on the verge of defeat and coming back on top without breaking any sports rules is very satisfying for me, especially when they have to come up with a new move to score, even if some moves seemed unbeatable at first. There are multiple sports they play such as baseball, basketball, hockey, Karate, Kendo, American football and the most often one – soccer, probably because soccer requires everybody’s teamwork as a whole the most so showing them playing soccer is the best choice to teach teamwork for the audiences.
There are some rushed episodes but the story itself did not get rushed that much since instead of being “story of the week” thing they tried to make every episode as connected as possible to show where the Silver Castle traveled in each competition or how they get intercepted along the way which again shows their sense of Shounen, not to mention their plot twists revealing character’s secrets and turning sides later on too. The “characters of the week” in some episodes also make a comeback at a certain point creating a climaxing element as well thanks to the today’s legendary screenwriter – Sho Aikawa himself which some may already know that he is the man behind some of the Super Sentai series and movies such as GoGo Sentai Boukenger: The Greatest Precious or Engine Sentai GoOnger.
//CHARACTER//
Shippu! Iron Leaguer! has many interesting characters with great development, though easy to chew but the details are pretty deep and enjoyable for both kids and adults in a fair manner. The main characters mostly involved the Silver Castle team members and its nemesis – team Dark Prince. Although specialized for specific sports, most of the team member
[ Magnum Ace ]
Magnum is the leader of the field team, a Baseball Leaguer robot with a heroic heart that suddenly came to help the Silver Castle, promising to return justice and fairness to sporting once more. His specialty is obviously baseball, with a ball shooter located in his left shoulder and a glove on the right hand. His special move is the iconic 44 Sonic, a high speed throwing move that nobody would easily be able to catch his baseball, it also has upgraded variations such as 44 Sonic On Fire and 44 Sonic Square that developed later in the story to score against stronger opponents. One of his strongest moves is the Asteroid Cannon throw, when his whole body and systems are breaking its limits.
[ Mach Windy ]
The Soccer Leaguer robot, his soccer skill is fast and impressive hence his name. He is saved by Magnum Ace from the Shock Circuit that controlled him during his career in team Dark Prince which he hated for playing dirty. Like a good protagonist’s sidekick, Windy always looks for ways to improve himself to become a good team member but sometimes forgets that he needs teamwork, overworking himself too much. His special move is “Mach Spin” , a tornado-like spinning kick move for scoring the goal. It can even make a football digging under the ground to avoid the goalkeeper.
[ Kai Ryuken ]
Kai is a Karate Leaguer, a chill guy that gets along with others pretty quickly, he is also one of the first members of Silver Castle before Magnum came. Kai sometimes acts as a goalkeeper in a soccer game swapping with Bull Armor. When he gets serious he can be very scary, his forehead will show a Kanji letter along with his burning eyes.
[ Bull Armor ]
Bull is an American Football Leaguer, a clumsy but humble robot. Due to his design flaw, he has anger management problems where he would go out of control and destroy anyone around him when he pulled down his horn but later on his friends helped him overcome this and turned his inferior complexity into a new charging special move. He is also very strong and often assigned to play as a goalkeeper during soccer, he can even catch Windy’s spinning kick ball and Magnum’s 44 Sonic shot.
[ Jurota Kiwami ]
Kendo is Jurota’s specialty, a silent and calm Kendo Leaguer robot who follows the way of a samurai. He strictly followed the rules of each sport, disliking anyone who disrespected them, when the Silver Castle tried to recruit him, he put a test on them to see if they were fitting for him to join the cause in which they succeeded, becoming good friends with others. His swordsmanship in kendo is exceptional, his special move is a high speed sword slash.
Shippu! Iron Leaguer! has many interesting characters with great development, though easy to chew but the details are pretty deep and enjoyable for both kids and adults in a fair manner. The main characters mostly involved the Silver Castle team members and its nemesis – team Dark Prince. Although specialized for specific sports, most of the team member
[ Magnum Ace ]
Magnum is the leader of the field team, a Baseball Leaguer robot with a heroic heart that suddenly came to help the Silver Castle, promising to return justice and fairness to sporting once more. His specialty is obviously baseball, with a ball shooter located in his left shoulder and a glove on the right hand. His special move is the iconic 44 Sonic, a high speed throwing move that nobody would easily be able to catch his baseball, it also has upgraded variations such as 44 Sonic On Fire and 44 Sonic Square that developed later in the story to score against stronger opponents. One of his strongest moves is the Asteroid Cannon throw, when his whole body and systems are breaking its limits.
[ Mach Windy ]
The Soccer Leaguer robot, his soccer skill is fast and impressive hence his name. He is saved by Magnum Ace from the Shock Circuit that controlled him during his career in team Dark Prince which he hated for playing dirty. Like a good protagonist’s sidekick, Windy always looks for ways to improve himself to become a good team member but sometimes forgets that he needs teamwork, overworking himself too much. His special move is “Mach Spin” , a tornado-like spinning kick move for scoring the goal. It can even make a football digging under the ground to avoid the goalkeeper.
[ Kai Ryuken ]
Kai is a Karate Leaguer, a chill guy that gets along with others pretty quickly, he is also one of the first members of Silver Castle before Magnum came. Kai sometimes acts as a goalkeeper in a soccer game swapping with Bull Armor. When he gets serious he can be very scary, his forehead will show a Kanji letter along with his burning eyes.
[ Bull Armor ]
Bull is an American Football Leaguer, a clumsy but humble robot. Due to his design flaw, he has anger management problems where he would go out of control and destroy anyone around him when he pulled down his horn but later on his friends helped him overcome this and turned his inferior complexity into a new charging special move. He is also very strong and often assigned to play as a goalkeeper during soccer, he can even catch Windy’s spinning kick ball and Magnum’s 44 Sonic shot.
[ Jurota Kiwami ]
Kendo is Jurota’s specialty, a silent and calm Kendo Leaguer robot who follows the way of a samurai. He strictly followed the rules of each sport, disliking anyone who disrespected them, when the Silver Castle tried to recruit him, he put a test on them to see if they were fitting for him to join the cause in which they succeeded, becoming good friends with others. His swordsmanship in kendo is exceptional, his special move is a high speed sword slash.
[ Top Joy ]
Top Joy is one of the most chilling robots in the team, a playful Basketball Leaguer. He often hides his pain in front of others so nobody would worry about him and sometimes a flirty person even with humans. Top Joy has a pair of spring legs that he used to jump higher than others since he specialized in basketball. Although playful most of the time, he can get serious when he needs to and would often hurt himself a lot to win a game if he has to.
[ GZ ]
The Hockey Leaguer, GZ is quite a grumpy one. He may look scary and daunting at first when encountered with the Silver Castle in a hockey match but after his Shock Circuit is removed, he is a friend that often acts against his own mouth. GZ loves kids and kids love to play with him when had the chance, his foot part has a cooling system that generates ice so he can easily traverse around when playing hockey. He can also shoot a hockey dice out of his body as well.
[ Supporting Casts ]
There are many supporting casts along the way of Iron Leaguer. From the Silver Castle’s backbone, Ruri Ginjo the team president and coach Eddie Ginjo who helped train the robots. Ruri is always looking for her long lost father – Ricardo Ginjo who was the first to create the robots which later revealed that he hid himself from Hiroshi and his company because he did not want to create robots for war or Shock Circuits for controlling them. There are also Leaguer robots in various countries around the world that go to the Silver Castle along the way. One of my most favorite ones is probably the bowling sisters they found in America because of how they turned out to be good robots and helped the sheriff at the end of the arc. Those supporting robots also came back to help the Silver Castle when they entered an island full of traps which they had to deliver a football to the otherside of the island to win the deadly game thanks to the help of the Gold brothers.
[ The Villians ]
The villains in Iron Leaguer are a bunch of corrupted robots and a rich oldman named Hiroshi who is behind the chaotic competitions of modern sports at the time. Hiroshi’s company also owned the Dark Prince team, the main antagonist of the Silver Castle consisting of the 3 Gold Brothers – Gold Mask the Baseball Leaguer – Gold Foot the Soccer Leaguer and Gold Arm the second Baseball Leaguer, each one of them is powerful enough to handle Silver Castle at times along with their grunts. However as the story goes by, the 3 Gold brothers are getting rid of by Hiroshi’s orders for their multiple failures, almost turning them into war machines and sent to war for resource in the outer space but the Silver Castle saved them from brainwashing so they became friends afterwards, it is also revealed that Magnum Ace used to be a part of their team in the past. Uniting they faced one of the strongest Leaguers, Fighting Spirit and Fighting Arrow – Magnum’s long lost brothers which outperformed most of the Silver Castle at the climaxing part in a soccer game. The corruption of the sports began to collapse after people seeing Silver Castle always come out on top, even convincing Hiroshi to enjoy fun sports rather than being power hungry.
Top Joy is one of the most chilling robots in the team, a playful Basketball Leaguer. He often hides his pain in front of others so nobody would worry about him and sometimes a flirty person even with humans. Top Joy has a pair of spring legs that he used to jump higher than others since he specialized in basketball. Although playful most of the time, he can get serious when he needs to and would often hurt himself a lot to win a game if he has to.
[ GZ ]
The Hockey Leaguer, GZ is quite a grumpy one. He may look scary and daunting at first when encountered with the Silver Castle in a hockey match but after his Shock Circuit is removed, he is a friend that often acts against his own mouth. GZ loves kids and kids love to play with him when had the chance, his foot part has a cooling system that generates ice so he can easily traverse around when playing hockey. He can also shoot a hockey dice out of his body as well.
[ Supporting Casts ]
There are many supporting casts along the way of Iron Leaguer. From the Silver Castle’s backbone, Ruri Ginjo the team president and coach Eddie Ginjo who helped train the robots. Ruri is always looking for her long lost father – Ricardo Ginjo who was the first to create the robots which later revealed that he hid himself from Hiroshi and his company because he did not want to create robots for war or Shock Circuits for controlling them. There are also Leaguer robots in various countries around the world that go to the Silver Castle along the way. One of my most favorite ones is probably the bowling sisters they found in America because of how they turned out to be good robots and helped the sheriff at the end of the arc. Those supporting robots also came back to help the Silver Castle when they entered an island full of traps which they had to deliver a football to the otherside of the island to win the deadly game thanks to the help of the Gold brothers.
[ The Villians ]
The villains in Iron Leaguer are a bunch of corrupted robots and a rich oldman named Hiroshi who is behind the chaotic competitions of modern sports at the time. Hiroshi’s company also owned the Dark Prince team, the main antagonist of the Silver Castle consisting of the 3 Gold Brothers – Gold Mask the Baseball Leaguer – Gold Foot the Soccer Leaguer and Gold Arm the second Baseball Leaguer, each one of them is powerful enough to handle Silver Castle at times along with their grunts. However as the story goes by, the 3 Gold brothers are getting rid of by Hiroshi’s orders for their multiple failures, almost turning them into war machines and sent to war for resource in the outer space but the Silver Castle saved them from brainwashing so they became friends afterwards, it is also revealed that Magnum Ace used to be a part of their team in the past. Uniting they faced one of the strongest Leaguers, Fighting Spirit and Fighting Arrow – Magnum’s long lost brothers which outperformed most of the Silver Castle at the climaxing part in a soccer game. The corruption of the sports began to collapse after people seeing Silver Castle always come out on top, even convincing Hiroshi to enjoy fun sports rather than being power hungry.
//VISUAL//
As many sports themed anime should be, Iron Leaguer has a colorful and festive atmosphere even though the story is a bit bitter toned. The characters and animations are quite goofy with robots having cartoony humanoid faces even more than humans in the series. The robot designs are top notch, able to express that goofy feelings of the 90s, although childish-looking but packed with dramas and bitter tones, you cannot let their cartoony faces fool you! Their facial expressions are probably what mostly got my attention because they are intended to show that Leaguers also have emotions like humans do and during each game, their special abilities are truly the stars of the show, colorful and powerful at the same time from Magnum’s 44 Sonic alone to the teamwork Lightning Crash and Supernova kick in a soccer field! That reminds me of modern sports anime like Inazuma Eleven, although it is not known if Iron Leaguer inspired it. All these are possible because the director is the man himself – Tetsuro Amino, who would be the one directing Macross 7 after this in 1994.
Visually Iron Leaguer feels like the regular 90s anime, there are some rushed drawing scenes but most of the time we won’t notice that a lot because the anime was able to keep the important scenes in good detail. The Leaguers or robots are moving exactly like humans, even drinking flavored oil as their food. They are completely sentient and able to decide their own actions in this world which would be easy for children to enjoy this series. There are dramatic scenes where the Silver Castle team members are getting beaten up really badly, some robots are even destroyed during a game but they seemed to be very tough because they always came back repaired later on. I can see that those moments would make someone ( even me ) want to shout “Don’t give up!” Whether it’s baseball, soccer, basketball or others and keep cheering for Silver Castle to play by the rules and win flawlessly, I think they pulled off these climaxing moments really well.
As many sports themed anime should be, Iron Leaguer has a colorful and festive atmosphere even though the story is a bit bitter toned. The characters and animations are quite goofy with robots having cartoony humanoid faces even more than humans in the series. The robot designs are top notch, able to express that goofy feelings of the 90s, although childish-looking but packed with dramas and bitter tones, you cannot let their cartoony faces fool you! Their facial expressions are probably what mostly got my attention because they are intended to show that Leaguers also have emotions like humans do and during each game, their special abilities are truly the stars of the show, colorful and powerful at the same time from Magnum’s 44 Sonic alone to the teamwork Lightning Crash and Supernova kick in a soccer field! That reminds me of modern sports anime like Inazuma Eleven, although it is not known if Iron Leaguer inspired it. All these are possible because the director is the man himself – Tetsuro Amino, who would be the one directing Macross 7 after this in 1994.
Visually Iron Leaguer feels like the regular 90s anime, there are some rushed drawing scenes but most of the time we won’t notice that a lot because the anime was able to keep the important scenes in good detail. The Leaguers or robots are moving exactly like humans, even drinking flavored oil as their food. They are completely sentient and able to decide their own actions in this world which would be easy for children to enjoy this series. There are dramatic scenes where the Silver Castle team members are getting beaten up really badly, some robots are even destroyed during a game but they seemed to be very tough because they always came back repaired later on. I can see that those moments would make someone ( even me ) want to shout “Don’t give up!” Whether it’s baseball, soccer, basketball or others and keep cheering for Silver Castle to play by the rules and win flawlessly, I think they pulled off these climaxing moments really well.
//AUDIO//
The music and soundtracks stuck in my head right from the first few episodes. Its opening – Iron Leaguer has that repetitive tone at the beginning which is also used for instrumental soundtracks as well both in pumped up tones or dramatic sad tones depending on the situations. Most of the time you will only hear these for the rest of the series but fear not, it is as addictive as watching them compete against each other, I did not feel bored at all listening to this all day long! Hats off to one of the legendary composers – Kaoru Wada which then would later be famous for composing the iconic Inuyasha in 1996.
For the sound effects, Iron Leaguer still has that mecha clanking effect even though the robots are human-like. From walking, hitting each other or repairing themselves, it feels something similar to that of a Gundam and other smaller size robots. The flashy parts are the special abilities, the heart-pumping look with powerful sounds either its the flashing 44 Sonic, Mach Spin kick or Top Joy’s jumping, Jurota’s slashing, Kai’s thunderous fists, GZ’s cooling icy grounds and so on.
When it comes to voice acting, Iron Leaguer is composed by a lot of actors who used to perform many great characters from famous anime and main characters in some video games, such Magnum Ace who is voiced by younger Yasunori Matsumoto – who would be later famous for Jean Havoc in Full Metal Alchemist and Wataru Akiyama in Initial D. Mach Windy is voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu which I recognized for the role of Zero in the Rockman series later on in his career. Kai Ryuken is surprisingly voiced by Ryo Horikawa himself – or as I called him Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. Chafurin as Bull Armor, he is famous for voicing various supporting characters and Kappei Yamaguchi as Jurota Kiwami who is famous for the male version of Ranma Saotome from the twisting love comedy Ranma ½ series. Top Joy is voiced by Jurota Kosugi – famous for also voicing Jotaro Kujo in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA in the same year of Iron Leaguer and lastly GZ who is voiced by Yukitosho Hori – known for Android 19 in Dragonball Z series. Unfortunately Shippu! Iron Leaguer! has no English dub, the only dub I found aside from the original Japanese one came from Thailand which the series became quite famous among Thai people when it got aired through IBC channel in 1995 – 2 years after Japan and then aired again in Channel 9 after IBC was shut down. The only English sub I found is from the expired Daisuki online streaming service, although there are lots of unofficial subs that can still be found anywhere.
The music and soundtracks stuck in my head right from the first few episodes. Its opening – Iron Leaguer has that repetitive tone at the beginning which is also used for instrumental soundtracks as well both in pumped up tones or dramatic sad tones depending on the situations. Most of the time you will only hear these for the rest of the series but fear not, it is as addictive as watching them compete against each other, I did not feel bored at all listening to this all day long! Hats off to one of the legendary composers – Kaoru Wada which then would later be famous for composing the iconic Inuyasha in 1996.
For the sound effects, Iron Leaguer still has that mecha clanking effect even though the robots are human-like. From walking, hitting each other or repairing themselves, it feels something similar to that of a Gundam and other smaller size robots. The flashy parts are the special abilities, the heart-pumping look with powerful sounds either its the flashing 44 Sonic, Mach Spin kick or Top Joy’s jumping, Jurota’s slashing, Kai’s thunderous fists, GZ’s cooling icy grounds and so on.
When it comes to voice acting, Iron Leaguer is composed by a lot of actors who used to perform many great characters from famous anime and main characters in some video games, such Magnum Ace who is voiced by younger Yasunori Matsumoto – who would be later famous for Jean Havoc in Full Metal Alchemist and Wataru Akiyama in Initial D. Mach Windy is voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu which I recognized for the role of Zero in the Rockman series later on in his career. Kai Ryuken is surprisingly voiced by Ryo Horikawa himself – or as I called him Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. Chafurin as Bull Armor, he is famous for voicing various supporting characters and Kappei Yamaguchi as Jurota Kiwami who is famous for the male version of Ranma Saotome from the twisting love comedy Ranma ½ series. Top Joy is voiced by Jurota Kosugi – famous for also voicing Jotaro Kujo in Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure OVA in the same year of Iron Leaguer and lastly GZ who is voiced by Yukitosho Hori – known for Android 19 in Dragonball Z series. Unfortunately Shippu! Iron Leaguer! has no English dub, the only dub I found aside from the original Japanese one came from Thailand which the series became quite famous among Thai people when it got aired through IBC channel in 1995 – 2 years after Japan and then aired again in Channel 9 after IBC was shut down. The only English sub I found is from the expired Daisuki online streaming service, although there are lots of unofficial subs that can still be found anywhere.
//CONCLUSION//
Overall, Iron Leaguer is a fun and gripping mecha sport series, something we don’t see very often now and then. The combination of friendship, dramas, sportsmanship and its bitter tone proves that sports anime can go well with a robot theme and doesn’t have to include human athletes. Shippu! Iron Leaguer! gives audiences a strong message about sports reflecting the sport dramas in the real life world to teach people lessons and having a good heart. The characters, the settings, are colorful yet deepens with powerful meanings in enjoyable experiences for both children and adults. There are also 2 OVAs available after the series as well which is also recommended.
Overall, Iron Leaguer is a fun and gripping mecha sport series, something we don’t see very often now and then. The combination of friendship, dramas, sportsmanship and its bitter tone proves that sports anime can go well with a robot theme and doesn’t have to include human athletes. Shippu! Iron Leaguer! gives audiences a strong message about sports reflecting the sport dramas in the real life world to teach people lessons and having a good heart. The characters, the settings, are colorful yet deepens with powerful meanings in enjoyable experiences for both children and adults. There are also 2 OVAs available after the series as well which is also recommended.
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The 2nd season of the lovely Mass-Produced Riko series. Join Riko and co as they embark on an all new venture, while drawing interesting lesson from building plastic models.
The long-awaited continuation of the mecha isekai of pain. Season 2 of Muv-Luv Alternative is definitely trying to woo you by slamming intense scenes at you – but is it worth it?
One of the most difficult to adapt Mecha series, Muv-Luv Alternative anime started off with a questionable season, but you should still check it out.
A remake of another Tatsunoko hero. The Space Knight returns with a completely new story, design and brings us on an emotional journey of a tragic hero.
An OVA that took place between the movie and Exodus, Behind The Line shows us how the characters mature throughout the season, with a hint of retrospective nostalgia.
The continuation of the hot-blooded saga, this time filled with emotional drama and even more badass action. A great video game adaptation but not without flaws.
The long awaited legend’s return that satisfy all mecha fan’s longing for a good game. Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon is an experience you have to play to believe.
Universes collide as the cast of Gridman and Dynazenon is caught in a dimensional anomaly. But what’s more troubled is Yuuta – who has to become Gridman again with a troubled heart.
When you talk about the most badass mecha, you have to mention SRW OG and Masami Obari. And when these two combine, you get the best SRW anime of all time.
A unique series where the true pacifism versus justice. A bold premise and interesting gimmick make Planet With a very selective series in terms of audience – but it definitely deserves a chance.
From the studio that created Buddy Complex and Valvrave, Cross Ange is another Sunrise’s original that challenges the limit of its audience once more .
What will you do if you’re teleported to a time with giant grotesque monsters? For teenage student Daisuke Doujima, it’s a perfect chance for him to become a hero, and a saviour. But can he?
After 2 lukewarm series, Gundam Build rose to form again with Re:Rise. A story with deep characterization for a diverse and likeable cast and awesome Obari action.
Time to go digital! Build series is going full SAO and virtual with Build Divers – a light-hearted series and fun to enjoy without the need to complicate things.
The Super Graviton God is back! And this time the threat just got more vile. But Gravion also receive an upgrade…in true Obari fashion. Let’s see how the sequel holds up!
Following GBF, Sunrise wanted to capture the magic with TRY. However, they fell just short of greatness but still create a series with amazing Gunpla battles.
A hobby turned combat sport. Sunrise’s effort to attract new fans turned into a compelling series with gorgeous battles featuring iconic MS from the franchise.
The first animated Build series, Beginning G opened up new venues and excitement for the hobby, with light-hearted yet intense traditional MS battle.
The shortest tv series Gundam ever, but was one of the most popular. G-Witch put Gundam back on the mainstream map, but do fans love it like non-fans do? The answer is quite divisive!
A heavy-weight in Masami Obari’s repertoire. Choujuushin Gravion is average in production quality, yet it is imbued with the spirit of the most badass over-the-top director of all time.
Do you want a Gundam series with a brighter tone but still has banger battles? Then Metal Armor Dragonar is a perfect series for you!
A Super Robot versus Alien mecha series, but this time it’s also infused with the intricacies of human’s most sacred bond: Marriage. Godannar put that relationship to the test!
A series about building regular model kit, and using them to find inspiration in life. A very uplifting and chill series for mecha fans to change their perspective on their hobby.
The sequel to SEED – a series that brought Gundam on top of the radar. Destiny is a sequel that earned both the intense love and hate within the fandoms.
The 3rd Tokusatsu series by Director Anno Hideaki. Shin Kamen Rider revisits the core message of what it means to be a Rider and to fight for justice while putting a modern spin on it.
The most ambitious superhero crossover is here! Infini-T Force is where heroes from different universes come together to save a girl and protect the multiverse.
An anime adaptation of a sci-fi novel with the same name, Yakitori really stir up the scene with its unusual storytelling and animation style. However, the characters really hold the series up.
A Fafner novel written by Tow Ubutaka – the person who understand Fafner the most. Explore Kazuki’s POV and his relationship in a way you’ve never seen before.
After the Transformers wave subsided, Takara made a bold move by partnering with Sunrise to produced one of the best Mecha franchise ever. Start the Brave journey with Exkaiser!
