Fight! Iczer One
Encyclopedia
, is a dark sci-fi anime
with a predominantly female cast. Based upon a manga comic of the same name published in Lemon People
magazine in 1983, it was created by Toshihiro Hirano, and has a small but devoted fan-following among otaku
. Relationships are primarily of the yuri variety, as the alien race featured, the Cthulhu
(translated as "Cutowolf"), are an entirely spaceborne race with its male population completely died out. While there are no explicit scenes of female-female sex, viewers are shown without ambiguity that the females are intimate with one another.
Iczer-1 also featured two "sound novel" dramas released. The first sound novel was released on an LP record
, and was based on the first volume of the Iczer-1 manga, entitled Golden Warrior Iczer-One. The second drama CD is a crossover with the anime Dangaioh
.
Iczer-1 searches for her "synchronization partner," a human whose sense of loss and anger at the destruction wrought by the aliens will allow her to co-pilot Iczer-1's mecha, the , and unleash its full weapon capabilities. Ultimately she chooses Nagisa Kanō, a Japanese schoolgirl, as her partner. No sooner than she makes contact with her, than the Cthulhu agents begin trying to assassinate her, first at her school, by transforming her classmates into vedims, and later by transforming her parents into another type of parasitic creature, the .
Simultaneously, the Cthulhu pilot, Cobalt, prepares to lead their champion unit, a giant mecha called Delos Theta, against the human military with the ultimate objective of flushing out Iczer-One and destroying her before she can unite with her partner. First the aliens transport in their battle station, a giant black marble pyramid, which appears above the skyline of Tokyo, causing widespread devastation. Then Cobalt launches and begins to destroy the city and all military forces in the area. Iczer-One senses the disturbance and teleports Nagisa and herself into her "other self", the Iczer-Robo, to confront Delos Theta. Initially, the battle fares poorly for Iczer-1, but eventually Nagisa's rage over her parents' murder consumes her, and she triggers, unleashing a huge energy beam that cripples the enemy robot. Nagisa then delivers the final blow herself, killing Cobalt in the process.
The Cthulhu leader, Sir Violet, responds by developing her own version of Iczer-1, the burgundy-haired Iczer-2, and using the traumatized lover of Cobalt, Sepia, as her partner. In the following days, warfare between activated vedim and human forces, lay waste to most of Earth's civilization, turning the world into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Nagisa discovers a young girl named Sayoko in the ruins of Japan, tending her unconscious mother. She takes the family into her home, but the mother turns into a vedim, and numerous others begin to teleport into the house. Nagisa uses a bracelet given to her by Iczer-One and is able to protect Sayoko and herself within a force field.
Iczer-1 fights Iczer-2 in a massive battle over the ruins of Japan and is defeated, but escapes to regroup with Nagisa and rescue her. Iczer-2 and Sepia arrive in their giant robot, Iczer-Sigma. Iczer-Robo appears, and Nagisa leaves Sayoko with her bracelet before going with Iczer-1 to fight. Again the battle goes poorly for Iczer-Robo until, in a fit of sadism, Iczer-2 stomps on Sayoko, who has come to watch. Immediately Sepia's morale is broken and Nagisa once again triggers the beam weapon of Iczer-Robo, destroying Iczer Sigma. Iczer-2 barely manages to teleport away before the robot explodes. Sepia chooses not to escape, wanting to be reunited with Cobalt.
Iczer-1 is still badly injured from her fight with Iczer-2, and the two relax in a country meadow to recover. Sayoko is shown to be alive, thanks to Nagisa's bracelet. Iczer-2 retreats to a shadow realm to brood over her defeat before returning with two elite armored vedims, Reddas and Blueba, and abducts Nagisa. Iczer-1 must then single-handedly assault the Cthulhu fortress to get Nagisa back and kill Big Gold. Meanwhile, Iczer-2 tries to get Nagisa to willingly join her, threatening to otherwise force her. By the time Iczer-1 has reached the chamber where Nagisa is being kept, it is already too late. She has been placed under powerful mind control by Iczer-2, and Iczer-1 is forced to kill her. In dying, however, Nagisa's spirit merges with Iczer-1 and for the first time they fully synchronize. Iczer-1, fueled by Nagisa's sacrifice, defeats Iczer-2 and has her final confrontation with Big Gold. She later fights and kills Iczer-2, who reveals she just wanted a partner like Nagisa.
Big Gold relates that he and Iczer-1 were both created at the same moment, by an ancient alien machine built to grant the desires of its creators. The Matriarch of the Cthulhu, who would eventually become Sir Violet, had passed within range of the machine just as she exclaimed in despair that her race would die in space and never find a new home. At that moment, Big Gold had appeared to tell her that her wish was granted. He had changed her idyllic society into a fascist nightmare, and had mutated the once benign vedim into their current parasitic forms. Big Gold was an embodiment of "Desire" and it had remade the Cthulhu race. Iczer-1 was the other half of this prophecy. She was "Conscience" and her role was to fulfill the Cthulhu matriarch's wish and destroy them all on the eve of finding a new homeworld.
Iczer-1 destroys him. In a final act, using the power of their synchronization and tapping into the ancient wish-granting machine, Iczer-1 is able to restore Earth to the way it was before the Cthulhu attack. The Cthulhu fade even from memory and Nagisa is left in the moment where she first appeared in the movie, daydreaming and late for school. She catches a brief glimpse of Iczer-1, but does not know who she is.
is a gynoid
created by the Cthulhu to be their guardian and future leader. However, when the Cthulhu were taken over by Big Gold, Iczer-1 was jettisoned. She arrived on Earth and somehow got wind of the coming invasion by the Cthulhu, now under Big Gold's command. She was therefore forced to defend the Earth against those she was created to protect. To do this, she needed a partner to help her use the Iczer Robo, a giant fighting mecha
which is somehow connected to her (a connection so profound, that when Iczer Robo's arm was cut off, Iczer-1 lost the use of her own, corresponding arm). The Iczer Robo can fire energy cannons from its hands and emit tendrils of yellow energy; Iczer-1's powers include teleportation, knuckle beams, invisibility, levitation, super human agility, dimensional shifting, a light saber, and even time travel.
Nagisa is an ordinary schoolgirl who gets sucked into the battle between the Cthulhu and Iczer-1. It begins with Iczer-1 whispering her name in her dreams. That day, she encounters a strange, pointy-eared blonde (Iczer-1) on the way to school, who disappears before she can point her out to her friend. From there, things only get weirder, as she suffers what she believes are hallucinations in class, and is accosted by her classmates on the roof of her school, all wearing strange masks with eyes in the mouths. Strong emotions are usable by the Cthulhu and Iczer-1 as a power source. Nagisa is a very emotional girl, and therefore her emotions could be harnessed into a powerful weapon. This is demonstrated when she is incorporated into the Iczer Robo and becomes enraged over the deaths of her parents. This turbo-charges the robot with enough energy to kill Cobalt.
Sir Violet is the mind-controlled Cthulhu leader. Despite the masculine name, Sir Violet is in fact female, as is the entire Cthulhu race.
The creature who controls the Cthulhu through Sir Violet. He also controls a large space fortress called Nova and through it emits electrical shockwaves.
Cobalt was a Cthulhu soldier, pilot of the mecha
Delos Theta and Sepia's lover, killed by Iczer-1 and Nagisa. Delos Theta's only power is emitting flashes that cause large explosions.
Sepia is the commander of the Nova and lover to Cobalt. She becomes the partner of Iczer-2 in order to operate Izcer Sigma.
Iczer-2 is a thoroughly evil gynoid created by Big Gold specifically to counter Iczer-1. She pilots Iczer-Sigma, and refers to Iczer-1 as "big sister". Her powers and weapons are identical to Iczer-1 save for not being able to travel in time; the Iczer Sigma is capable of controlling floating mines and can summon a very strong energy beam from the sky. She also commands two elite vedims named Reddas and Blueba, which both resemble Guyver units; their powers include super speed, teleportation, and can fire purple lightning blasts from their shoulders.
A child whom Nagisa befriends in the midst of the conflict against Big Gold. Nagisa protects Sayoko and her injured mother from a vedim disguised as a police officer, using a bracelet given to her by Iczer-1 for her own protection. Sadly, Sayoko's mother is later transformed, becoming a vedim herself, and a regretful Nagisa is forced to destroy her to protect Sayoko. Sayoko later encourages Nagisa to fight during the battle against Iczer Sigma, and nearly dies when Iczer-2 attempts to crush her underneath Iczer Sigma's massive foot. Fortunately, she is saved at the last minute by Iczer-1. Nagisa often refers to her as "Sayo-chan".
Nagisa's parents, turned into tentacled crustaceans by the Cthulhu, which forces a saddened Iczer-1 to kill them in order to protect Nagisa. Iczer-1 stated after the battle that her original intent had been to save the whole Kanō family.
English Staff
Act II Ending:
Act III Ending:
Episode 2
"Making Of" Special Episode
Episode 3
"Movie"
Laser Disc Box Set
DVD Release
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
with a predominantly female cast. Based upon a manga comic of the same name published in Lemon People
Lemon People
was a sexploitation hentai manga magazine published by Kubo Shoten from 1981 to 1998 in Japan. The first issue had some gravure idol photographs, but the format of the magazine quickly switched to all manga by the eighth issue....
magazine in 1983, it was created by Toshihiro Hirano, and has a small but devoted fan-following among otaku
Otaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
. Relationships are primarily of the yuri variety, as the alien race featured, the Cthulhu
Cthulhu
Cthulhu is a fictional character that first appeared in the short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1928. The character was created by writer H. P...
(translated as "Cutowolf"), are an entirely spaceborne race with its male population completely died out. While there are no explicit scenes of female-female sex, viewers are shown without ambiguity that the females are intimate with one another.
Iczer-1 also featured two "sound novel" dramas released. The first sound novel was released on an LP record
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
, and was based on the first volume of the Iczer-1 manga, entitled Golden Warrior Iczer-One. The second drama CD is a crossover with the anime Dangaioh
Dangaioh
is an anime OVA series produced by Anime International Company studios and released in Japan in 1987. Dangaioh featured character designs by creator Toshiki Hirano, mechanical designs by Shoji Kawamori, and animation direction by Masami Ōbari.-Plot:...
.
Story
Earth is attacked by an alien race, known as the . According to their initial strategy, the Cthulhu use parasitic creatures, called , to infest and replace humans across the world. Their hope is to eradicate humanity and take the world without damaging it in an open war. However, Iczer-1 appears and begins rooting out and destroying the vedims. Upon learning this, the Cthulhu plan to initiate a full military invasion of Earth.Iczer-1 searches for her "synchronization partner," a human whose sense of loss and anger at the destruction wrought by the aliens will allow her to co-pilot Iczer-1's mecha, the , and unleash its full weapon capabilities. Ultimately she chooses Nagisa Kanō, a Japanese schoolgirl, as her partner. No sooner than she makes contact with her, than the Cthulhu agents begin trying to assassinate her, first at her school, by transforming her classmates into vedims, and later by transforming her parents into another type of parasitic creature, the .
Simultaneously, the Cthulhu pilot, Cobalt, prepares to lead their champion unit, a giant mecha called Delos Theta, against the human military with the ultimate objective of flushing out Iczer-One and destroying her before she can unite with her partner. First the aliens transport in their battle station, a giant black marble pyramid, which appears above the skyline of Tokyo, causing widespread devastation. Then Cobalt launches and begins to destroy the city and all military forces in the area. Iczer-One senses the disturbance and teleports Nagisa and herself into her "other self", the Iczer-Robo, to confront Delos Theta. Initially, the battle fares poorly for Iczer-1, but eventually Nagisa's rage over her parents' murder consumes her, and she triggers, unleashing a huge energy beam that cripples the enemy robot. Nagisa then delivers the final blow herself, killing Cobalt in the process.
The Cthulhu leader, Sir Violet, responds by developing her own version of Iczer-1, the burgundy-haired Iczer-2, and using the traumatized lover of Cobalt, Sepia, as her partner. In the following days, warfare between activated vedim and human forces, lay waste to most of Earth's civilization, turning the world into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Nagisa discovers a young girl named Sayoko in the ruins of Japan, tending her unconscious mother. She takes the family into her home, but the mother turns into a vedim, and numerous others begin to teleport into the house. Nagisa uses a bracelet given to her by Iczer-One and is able to protect Sayoko and herself within a force field.
Iczer-1 fights Iczer-2 in a massive battle over the ruins of Japan and is defeated, but escapes to regroup with Nagisa and rescue her. Iczer-2 and Sepia arrive in their giant robot, Iczer-Sigma. Iczer-Robo appears, and Nagisa leaves Sayoko with her bracelet before going with Iczer-1 to fight. Again the battle goes poorly for Iczer-Robo until, in a fit of sadism, Iczer-2 stomps on Sayoko, who has come to watch. Immediately Sepia's morale is broken and Nagisa once again triggers the beam weapon of Iczer-Robo, destroying Iczer Sigma. Iczer-2 barely manages to teleport away before the robot explodes. Sepia chooses not to escape, wanting to be reunited with Cobalt.
Iczer-1 is still badly injured from her fight with Iczer-2, and the two relax in a country meadow to recover. Sayoko is shown to be alive, thanks to Nagisa's bracelet. Iczer-2 retreats to a shadow realm to brood over her defeat before returning with two elite armored vedims, Reddas and Blueba, and abducts Nagisa. Iczer-1 must then single-handedly assault the Cthulhu fortress to get Nagisa back and kill Big Gold. Meanwhile, Iczer-2 tries to get Nagisa to willingly join her, threatening to otherwise force her. By the time Iczer-1 has reached the chamber where Nagisa is being kept, it is already too late. She has been placed under powerful mind control by Iczer-2, and Iczer-1 is forced to kill her. In dying, however, Nagisa's spirit merges with Iczer-1 and for the first time they fully synchronize. Iczer-1, fueled by Nagisa's sacrifice, defeats Iczer-2 and has her final confrontation with Big Gold. She later fights and kills Iczer-2, who reveals she just wanted a partner like Nagisa.
Big Gold relates that he and Iczer-1 were both created at the same moment, by an ancient alien machine built to grant the desires of its creators. The Matriarch of the Cthulhu, who would eventually become Sir Violet, had passed within range of the machine just as she exclaimed in despair that her race would die in space and never find a new home. At that moment, Big Gold had appeared to tell her that her wish was granted. He had changed her idyllic society into a fascist nightmare, and had mutated the once benign vedim into their current parasitic forms. Big Gold was an embodiment of "Desire" and it had remade the Cthulhu race. Iczer-1 was the other half of this prophecy. She was "Conscience" and her role was to fulfill the Cthulhu matriarch's wish and destroy them all on the eve of finding a new homeworld.
Iczer-1 destroys him. In a final act, using the power of their synchronization and tapping into the ancient wish-granting machine, Iczer-1 is able to restore Earth to the way it was before the Cthulhu attack. The Cthulhu fade even from memory and Nagisa is left in the moment where she first appeared in the movie, daydreaming and late for school. She catches a brief glimpse of Iczer-1, but does not know who she is.
Characters
is a gynoid
Gynoid
A gynoid is anything which resembles or pertains to the female human form. It is also used in American English medical terminology as a shortening of the term Gynecoid ....
created by the Cthulhu to be their guardian and future leader. However, when the Cthulhu were taken over by Big Gold, Iczer-1 was jettisoned. She arrived on Earth and somehow got wind of the coming invasion by the Cthulhu, now under Big Gold's command. She was therefore forced to defend the Earth against those she was created to protect. To do this, she needed a partner to help her use the Iczer Robo, a giant fighting mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
which is somehow connected to her (a connection so profound, that when Iczer Robo's arm was cut off, Iczer-1 lost the use of her own, corresponding arm). The Iczer Robo can fire energy cannons from its hands and emit tendrils of yellow energy; Iczer-1's powers include teleportation, knuckle beams, invisibility, levitation, super human agility, dimensional shifting, a light saber, and even time travel.
Nagisa is an ordinary schoolgirl who gets sucked into the battle between the Cthulhu and Iczer-1. It begins with Iczer-1 whispering her name in her dreams. That day, she encounters a strange, pointy-eared blonde (Iczer-1) on the way to school, who disappears before she can point her out to her friend. From there, things only get weirder, as she suffers what she believes are hallucinations in class, and is accosted by her classmates on the roof of her school, all wearing strange masks with eyes in the mouths. Strong emotions are usable by the Cthulhu and Iczer-1 as a power source. Nagisa is a very emotional girl, and therefore her emotions could be harnessed into a powerful weapon. This is demonstrated when she is incorporated into the Iczer Robo and becomes enraged over the deaths of her parents. This turbo-charges the robot with enough energy to kill Cobalt.
Sir Violet is the mind-controlled Cthulhu leader. Despite the masculine name, Sir Violet is in fact female, as is the entire Cthulhu race.
The creature who controls the Cthulhu through Sir Violet. He also controls a large space fortress called Nova and through it emits electrical shockwaves.
Cobalt was a Cthulhu soldier, pilot of the mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
Delos Theta and Sepia's lover, killed by Iczer-1 and Nagisa. Delos Theta's only power is emitting flashes that cause large explosions.
Sepia is the commander of the Nova and lover to Cobalt. She becomes the partner of Iczer-2 in order to operate Izcer Sigma.
Iczer-2 is a thoroughly evil gynoid created by Big Gold specifically to counter Iczer-1. She pilots Iczer-Sigma, and refers to Iczer-1 as "big sister". Her powers and weapons are identical to Iczer-1 save for not being able to travel in time; the Iczer Sigma is capable of controlling floating mines and can summon a very strong energy beam from the sky. She also commands two elite vedims named Reddas and Blueba, which both resemble Guyver units; their powers include super speed, teleportation, and can fire purple lightning blasts from their shoulders.
A child whom Nagisa befriends in the midst of the conflict against Big Gold. Nagisa protects Sayoko and her injured mother from a vedim disguised as a police officer, using a bracelet given to her by Iczer-1 for her own protection. Sadly, Sayoko's mother is later transformed, becoming a vedim herself, and a regretful Nagisa is forced to destroy her to protect Sayoko. Sayoko later encourages Nagisa to fight during the battle against Iczer Sigma, and nearly dies when Iczer-2 attempts to crush her underneath Iczer Sigma's massive foot. Fortunately, she is saved at the last minute by Iczer-1. Nagisa often refers to her as "Sayo-chan".
- Mr. and Mrs. Kanō:
Nagisa's parents, turned into tentacled crustaceans by the Cthulhu, which forces a saddened Iczer-1 to kill them in order to protect Nagisa. Iczer-1 stated after the battle that her original intent had been to save the whole Kanō family.
Staff
Japanese Staff- Director: Toshihiro Hirano
- Screenplay: Toshihiro Hirano
- Storyboard: Toshihiro Hirano, Akira NishimoriAkira Nishimoriis a Japanese anime director.-Anime involved in:*AD Police Files: Director , Storyboard *After War Gundam X: Storyboard*Ai no Kusabi: Director*Angelic Layer: Storyboard *Chikkun Takkun: Episode Director...
- Sound Supervisor: Yasunori HondaYasunori Hondais a Japanese anime sound director who was born in Toyama Prefecture. He is the representative and founder of Arts Pro. Honda worked in the economic department at the Toyama University...
- Music: Michiaki Watanabe
- Character Design: Toshihiro Hirano
- Animation director: Toshihiro Hirano, Hiroaki Ogami, Narumi KakinouchiNarumi Kakinouchiis a female Japanese manga artist, animator, director, character designer, and an animation director. Some of her work has appeared in the adult manga magazine Lemon People....
, Masami ŌbariMasami Obari' is a noted Japanese animation director and character and mecha designer.-Biography:In 2000, he founded the animation studio G-1 Neo with fellow animators, which later disbanded and was reformed under the Studio G1 Neo name.- Direct-to-video animation :... - Mecha design: Hiroaki Motoigi, Shinji AramakiShinji Aramakiis a Japanese anime director and mechanical designer, born in Fukuoka Prefecture. He was a member of Artmic.He is noted for work on powered exoskeletons and his mecha and CG design on several anime series.-As director:...
, Masami Obari - Executive producer: Tetsuo Kubo
- Producer: Toru MiuraToru Miurais a Japanese anime producer and the president of Anime International Company .-External links:...
- Animation (Episode 1): Junichi WatanabeJunichi Watanabeis a Japanese writer, known for his portrayal of extra-marital affairs of middle aged people. His 1997 novel A Lost Paradise became a bestseller in Japan and over Asia, and was made into a film and a TV miniseries...
, Naoyuki Onda - Animation (Episode 2): Kenichi Ohnuki, Masami Obari, Michitaka Kikuchi, Naoyuki Onda
- Animation (Episode 3): Hirotoshi Sano, Kenichi Ohnuki, Masami Obari, Michitaka Kikuchi, Naoyuki Onda
- Key Animation: Hiroyuki KitazumeHiroyuki Kitazumeis a Japanese animator, manga artist, and illustrator. He is often noted for his work with anime studio Sunrise.-TV anime:*Aura Battler Dunbine - Animation Director...
(Episode 1) - Color Coordination: Yuuko Kanamaru
- Art director: Yasu Nakamura, Kazuhiro Arai
- Monster Design: Junichi Watanabe
- Original Story: Rei Aran
- Planning: Toru Miura
- Production: L-P Video, Kubo Shoten
English Staff
- Director: Doug Stone
- Screenplay: Doug Stone
- Executive producer: John Sirabella (Media Blasters)
- Producer: Jenny Haniver, Robert Napton
- Additional Script And Song Editing: Trish Ledoux
- Closing Credit Sequence: Jenny Haniver, Stephen Miller
- Logo Animation: Will Culpepper II
- Online Editor: Stephen Miller
- Production Associate: Ethan Fogg
- Recording engineer: Eduardo T. Torres
- Script And Song Translation: Toshifumi Yoshida
- Script Translation: Trish Ledoux
- Song Title Editing: Lana Sofer
- Theme Song Lyrics: Road Narros
Theme Songs
Act I Ending:-
- Lyrics: Fumiko Okada
- Composition: Michiaki Watanabe
- Arrangement: Michiaki Watanabe
- Artist: Miki Kakizawa
Act II Ending:
- NEVER RUN AWAY
- Lyrics: Fumiko Okada
- Composition: Michiaki Watanabe
- Arrangement: Michiaki Watanabe
- Artist: Yuukou Kusonoki
Act III Ending:
-
- Lyrics: Fumiko Okada
- Composition: Michiaki Watanabe
- Arrangement: Michiaki Watanabe
- Artist: Miki Kakizawa
Release Guide
Episode 1-
- VHS: October 19, 1985
- Laser Disc: December 4, 1991
Episode 2
-
- VHS: July 23, 1986
- Laser Disc: January 10, 1992
"Making Of" Special Episode
-
- VHS: December 20. 1986
Episode 3
-
- VHS: March 4, 1987
- Laser Disc: February 20, 1992
"Movie"
-
- VHS: September 25, 1987
- Laser Disc: September 25, 1987
Laser Disc Box Set
-
- Laser Disc: May 25, 1998
DVD Release
-
- DVD: November 24, 2000
Trivia
- Iczer-1, Kanou Nagisa, and Iczer Robo make appearances in the Nintendo DS game Super Robot Taisen L for Nintendo DS as playable ally units. Iczer-2, Iczer-Sigma, and Big Gold also make appearances as enemy units (Iczer-2 and Iczer Sigma become playable allies later in the game. Iczer-1 and Iczer-2 also have a combination attack with Iczer-3.