, also known as "Brave Reideen" or "Heroic Raydeen", is a super robot anime series created by Tohokushinsha and produced by Soeisha (later renamed as Sunrise). It aired on Nihon Educational Television (now TV Asahi) from 4 April 1975 to 26 March 1976, with a total of 50 episodes. The series is marked as the first mecha anime series to introduce and popularize the concept of Transforming Mecha, which is also tied to its marketing gimmick in the 1970s.
Two spiritual remakes based on the series were made later after the original aired: the first one titled was broadcast from 1996 to 1997 on TV Tokyo, and another called Reideen was broadcast in 2007 on WOWOW.
Story After a slumber of twelve millennia, the Demon Empire awakens to seize control of the Earth. Reideen, the giant robot-like protector of the lost continent of Mu, senses the evil presence and awakens within its golden pyramid. A young Japanese boy, Akira Hibiki, is alerted about the Demon Empire by a mysterious voice and rushes to the pyramid.
It is soon revealed that Akira is a descendant of the ancient people of Mu who must help Reideen save the Earth. Akira enters the robot by accelerating his motorcycle to a high speed and then throws himself upward, allowing a beam from the robot to pull him into the robot's head and into an internal cockpit from where he assumes control of Reideen. Akira is aided by Mari Sakurano, who happens to be the daughter of a prominent scientist, and his friends from the soccer club. Halfway through the story the Demon Empire's master, Barão, is released from his statue prison and intends to finish what he started twelve thousand years earlier.
Mecha
Reideen Height: 50 meters Weight: 520 tons Armor: Mutronium Power source: Pyramid Power emitted from the Star of Ra Mu.
Weapons and powers God Missiles: Bird-like bladed missiles from its abdomen that are highly accurate. They are later upgraded with homing capabilities. God Block: A retractable shield in its right arm. This is later upgraded to be used as a buzzsaw called the God Block Spin. God Breaker: A sword hidden in the God Block. God Boomerang: A red bladed bird-like boomerang hidden in its right arm. This is later upgraded with a pair of rocket jets to make its impact faster and stronger. God Gorgon: Harpoon-like arrows stored in its back using, shot at enemies with a bow on its left wrist. These arrows are charged with energy from its left fingertip, and explode on contact. These are sometimes fired in barrages. God Gorgon: Tabane Uchi Da: The bow is later upgraded with both halves being sharpened, called the Gorgon Sword. Aura Shock: Electric shocks from its fingers. Telekinetic Beam (Nendo Kousen) God Alpha: A powerful energy field around its body used to deteriorate whatever is attacked by it. God Pressure: Green lightning bolts from its forehead. Energy Cutter: Surrounding its God Breaker with lightning to make it more powerful. God Voice: From the chest of Reideen, some satellite dishes are shown to amplify by several times Akira's voice, who screams "God Ra Mu". Extremely powerful purple sonic rings are launched from those satellite dishes, to entrap enemies and tear them apart at a molecular level, but this attack has heavy repercussions to its pilot, Akira.
God Bird Reideen turns into an eagle-like jet for faster flight and often used for Reideen's finishing attacks. Ramming: Simply ramming through enemies at super sonic speeds, it also has a spinning variation called the Titan Drill. God Bird Claw: God Bird's talons. Esper Burn: Heat beams from the eyes. Also acts like x-ray vision, to lock-on the enemy's weak point and make the God Bird to pierce them easier. God Thunder: Summoning lightning from the sky and directing it towards an enemy. Head Cutter: The head part is separated from the body of Reideen and it is used like a battering ram, while the neck hole reveals a large blade tip, allowing Reideen to pierce enemies body.
Bluegar A fighter that assists Reideen early into the series. It is armed with a variety of weapons.
Poindar First appears in episode 21 and is piloted by Araiso and the children of the series. Powers include an extendable boxing glove (later two), claw hands for bashing, can be used as a submarine, a slingshot in the torso, and explosives attached to balloons.
Demon Empire forces Demon Empire Robots: The human-sized infantry of the series, although hardly used in the second half. They are armed with a sword and a machine gun. Dlome (also referred to as Drones or Dromes): Fifteen-foot flying squid demons used for the first half of the series from episode 1 until episode 27. Although they appear to have disappeared at that point, in a flashback of Barao attacking the Mu Empire, they were seen along human-like demons rampaging cities. They are armed with only their twin tentacles and launch fireballs from their underside, although some have used weapons such as large missiles, swords, and even buzzsaws. Gante: A giant stone demon, shaped like an enormous human hand and sometimes called a dragon in some episodes, used to transport fossil beasts during the first half of the series. It first premiered in episode 1 and was destroyed in episode 27. It was armed with a variety of weapons. Mecha Gante: A mechanical version of Gante, first premiered in episode 39, that was used to transport colossal monsters until episode 48. Although it did not have many weapons, what it lacked in number it made up for in power.
Barao The leader of the Demon Empire and appears in every episode starting with episode 2. He is an demon from the Underworld that sought the power of the Star of Ra Mu and used his minions, primarily of Dlomes and demon robots, led by the demon brothers Gohrai and Gekido, (Also Referred To As Storm And Fury) and Baragon leading the fossil beasts and colossal monsters. If Kibango's origin in episode 24 indicates anything during these events, it is that Barao had successfully kept at war with the Mu for at least two thousand years. Eventually, the Mu managed to use the Star of Ra Mu to defeat Barao by imprisoning him in a statue until the events of the series, and created Reideen to slay any future members of the Demon Empire that would eventually return; however, Reideen would require the control of someone half Mu and half human to operate to handle its power. Upon reawakening from his statue prison, Barao had lost his memories of Ra Mu, but still managed to recollect memories of his empire and those who served him. In episode 41, he begins to regain his memories due to the resurrection of Princess Lemuria (daughter of King Ra Mu and mother of Akira).
For the first half of the series, his powers included instilling life into rocks to create fossil beasts and eye heat rays when he was in his statue form until episode 27. Upon being released his powers included forming an entire island in a matter of seconds dubbed Demon Isle, psychically freezing weapons in mid air, seeing into other dimension, causing fissures, fusing colossal monsters, manipulation of the elements, hand lightning bolts and energy beams, mouth flames that create flaming tornadoes, purple horn energy bolts and balls, a bow and arrow, a barbed boomerang, summoning flames from the middle cave of his island, a giant scythe, blade resistance, levitation, constricting roots from the lower half of his body, and a pair of broadswords with hidden saw blades.
Fossil beasts Bastodon: Appears in episode 2. Powers include a right-arm sword, levitation, mouth flames, and can regenerate the left arm into a sword. He is one of the only two fossil beasts to appear in various Super Robot Wars titles. Garda: Appears in episode 3. Powers include burrowing, launchable pincer claw hands, spiked ball form, launchable torso spikes, and a head pincer. Madon: Appears in episode 4. Powers include whip tentacles all over the body, zombifying black lightning, regeneration, and blue electric surges. Bira: Appears in episode 5. Powers include levitation, ensnaring antennae, pink hyper sonic waves from the torso, scythe arms, and self-duplication. Tortoise: Appears in episode 6. Powers include launchable shell fragments, a cage hidden in the shell, and swimming. Scar: Appears in episode 7. Powers include launchable drills from the torso, reformation from miniature versions of itself, paralyzing electric surges, a chain of rocks from the scalp, and can constrict opponents when broken down. Shiva: Appears in episode 8. Powers include swimming, four arms, self-duplication, a tornado attack produced by it and the self-duplicate, and levitation. It is based on the Hindu god of the same name and is specifically stated to be 60 meters tall and weighing at 500 tons. Manmou: Appears in episode 9. Powers include ice burg encase, icy vortices from the ears that can freeze nearly anything, levitation, twin ensnaring trunks, and four launchable trunks that regenerate after launching. Jagger: Appears in episode 10. Powers include twin spiked buzzsaws for each hand attached to chains, large jaws for the lower half of the body, blade-resistant armor, can turn into his former human self, a constricting tentacle in the lower half jaws, a car mode, can withdraw its head quickly, and spike missiles from the shoulders. His name is pronounced as Jaguar, although his head appears to have more in common with that of a lynx and a saber-toothed tiger. Girudeen: Appears in episode 11. Powers include arrows from the mouth, swimming, flight, an imitation God Blade and God Boomerang on the right wrist that can regenerate if destroyed. He is one of the only two fossil beasts to appear in various Super Robot Wars titles. Algandos: Appears in episode 12. Powers include levitation, a thick turtle shell, can encase its body in flames using flamethrowers around the body, two green lasers from each eye, a tail that can detach and form into a serpent with large jaws, torso missiles, can absorb magma, and can increase its body temperature hot enough to melt projectiles upon making contact with its body. Shurga: Appears in episode 13. Powers include fanged serpents for hair that can regenerate quickly and eat through metal, a naginata with a sickle and trident, mouth flames, flight, pectoral missiles, launchable spikes from the back, can revert to her former human form, and can create illusions and manipulation of the environment by spinning her hair. Draculon: Appears in episode 14. Powers include a green heat ray from the torso mouth, flight, four cannons on each side of the torso, launchable harpoons from the wrists, spy bats, regeneration in a matter of hours, sharp claws, and can use wings as razor clubs that can split into four spears when thrown. Diyan: Diyan Mark 1: Appears in episode 15. Powers include a pair of nunchucks, levitation, fire breath, ice breath, acidic melting beam, and head separation. Diyan Mark 2: Appears in episode 15. Powers include three cable-linked diamond claws on the body, fire breath, ice breath, four diamond knuckle spikes on each hand, diamond teeth, regeneration, can combine its head horns to form a powerful boomerang, and a high resistance to heat such as lava. Drozden: Appears in episode 16. Powers include swimming, missile launchers in its fingers that can also fire small green flames, detachable scissors on the torso, regeneration even from decapitation, explosive grapple claw spikes on the pectorals, levitation, can cause whirlpools with its spiked tail, and mouth flames. Golemon: Appears in episode 17. Powers include three axes in each shoulder, flight, an extendable pendulum tail, knee spinning sais, reformation, and energy beams from the pectorals.