Gaiking never took ME higher...



A while back, I posted the Italian opening to TRYDER G-7. Now I've found what I think is the most bizarre opening the Italians made - the IT opening to DAIKU MARYU GAIKING.

As you can hear, this all-English OP by Gerry Edmond only consists of two English lines repeated over and over. I was shocked when I first downloaded the Italian OP back in 1998 - I had no idea what to expect.

GAIKING was one of Toei's attempts to "ape" Go Nagai's robot series. GN's Dynamic Productions produced the show from #22 onward, according to Wikipedia, but the concept was by Toei and Akio Sugino.

Yes, the robot is very nice, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Jumbo Machinder of it, but the horrible villain designs prejudiced me against Go for years(before I found out that the monstrous designs he does are just as weird, but actually good).

The other Toei GN "aper" is the much worse, but much more fun (in a MST3K way) MAGNE-ROBO GAKEEN, sold in the US as the compilation MAGNOS THE ROBOT/RENEGADE FORCE. I really need to get the DVD of that, if any reputable stores stock it. (Ha!)