Jushin Liger (TV series)

Jushin Liger (獣神ライガー) is an anime superhero TV series created by 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.

Plot
Ken Taiga is a milquetoast 12 year old 6th grader living in Hokkaido, Japan which is in 199X A.D. who has a knack on flipping females' skirts and touching their breasts because he can be quite such a pervert. In Kushiro, Hokkaido, the Drago Knights of the Dragon Empire attack. Possessing overwhelming destructive force, they attack the city to awaken their master, the devil god Jashin Drago from the Rock of Sealing he was trapped in. Two hundred 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 giant biomechanical beasts. Even the Japan Self-Defense Forces are no match for the Drago Knights' awesome power. One of the people fleeing is Ken Taiga himself. Unbeknownst to the Dragonites, Ken realizes that he is the descendant of the Lion Clan that once summoned Liger. In a burst of anger, Ken's Liger birthmark appears, and he rises his palm into the air, shouting the henshin (transforming) command, "LIGER!" which then covers him in demonic, long-haired biomechanical armor. Ken transforms into Jushin Liger to fight the evil forces of the Dragon Empire and its true purposes. With the forces of Goro Dan, his classmate, alongside Yui Kamishiro and Mai Kamishiro, the 12 year old twin sisters who possess special powers and have the ability to summon Begaruda, and alongside the 22 year old newscaster Saeko Yagami, his adventures with them boost up with the battles against the Dragon Empire. And with the power of Thunder Phoenix, Liger will soon become Thunder Liger. Soon afterwards, it's later revealed that Ryu Dolk, who happened to be Ken's arch rival from the Dragon Empire was the Kamishiro twins' brother, and later helped Jushin Liger's new ultimate form as Agama eradicate the Dragon Empire and the boss once and for all.

Characters

 * Ken Taiga (大牙剣)

He is a sixth grader born in Hokkaido who has the power of the Bio Armor Liger.
 * Ryuzo Taiga (大牙龍造)

Ken's grandfather.
 * Yui Kamishiro (神代ゆい)


 * Mai Kamishiro (神代まい)


 * Saeko Yagami (八神冴子)


 * Goro Dan (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)

Anime
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 song "Kiseki no Jushin" (奇跡の獣神) was also used by Liger on occasion.

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
 * Episode Directors: 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, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
 * 2nd Opening theme: Kiseki no Jushin (奇跡の獣神) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
 * 1st Ending theme: The Fire (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
 * 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, composition by Takashi Kudo, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Yumi Hiroki)
 * Insert song: Kagami no Komori Uta (鏡の子守り歌) (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition & arrangement by Hiromoto Tobisawa, song by Yumi Hiroki)
 * Arranged theme: Ikari no Jushin (lyrics by Yoshihiko Ando, composition 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 anime television series to feature two opening and two ending themes, a tendency that has been followed since then by several anime television series. The Ikari no Jushin, besides being still by Japanese wrestler 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, as well as Super Robot Wars Operation Extend for the PSP. In 2020, the Jushin Liger anime was featured in the mobile game Super Robot Wars X-Ω as part of a special event to celebrate the retirement of Keiichi Yamada, the wrestler who based his gimmick on the series.

Professional Wrestling
This anime series inspired the real-life professional wrestler, Jushin Thunder Liger.