is a series of Japanese light novel

Light novel

A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...

s written and illustrated by Masaki Yamada

Masaki Yamada

Masaki Yamada is a Japanese science fiction author. He has won the Nihon SF Taisho Award, the Seiun Award three times, and an award for mystery fiction. His first story was in 1974. His novel Aphrodite was translated into English in 2004...

. The series was published in 10 volumes between 1990 and 1994. It is a work of alternate history, taking place in 1941 during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. An alien race invades the earth and Allies

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 with the Axis powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

. To combat these aliens an elite allied unit called the Kishin Corps is created, using alien technology. The story deals with the main character Taishi, who obtains a secret alien device from his father, which the Germans are after to build their own robots.

In 1995, Kishin Corps won the Seiun Award

Seiun Award

The is a Japanese science fiction award for the best science fiction published in Japan during the preceding year, as voted by attendees of the Japan Science Fiction Convention. "Seiun" is the Japanese word for "nebula", but the award is not related to the American Nebula Award. It was named after...

 for "Best Japanese Novel of the Year". An original video animation

Original video animation

, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...

 titled Alien Defender Geo-Armor: Kishin Corps was produced by Geneon, co-directed by Takaaki Ishiyama and Kazunori Mizuno, and released in Japan between March 24, 1993, and August 25, 1994.