Metal Armor Dragonar

Metal Armor Dragonar (機甲戦記ドラグナー, Kikō Senki Doragunā) is a Japanese super robot anime series, created by Sunrise and aired from 1987 to 1988 for 48 episodes. Devised shortly after the release of Mobile Suit Gundam ZZ, Dragonar was intended to be both a "starter" series to get new fans into mecha anime, and a potential successor to the Gundam franchise. In fact, it's concept is to be the renewal of the first Gundam.^[1] Though the series enjoyed good ratings and earned a loyal fan following, it failed to surpass Gundam and ended up as a single series, probably due to its light, ZZ Gundam-like take on the real robot mecha genre. Game developer Banpresto had Dragonar appear in two of its popular franchises, Super Robot Wars and Another Century's Episode; fans responded positively, and Sunrise acknowledged them in 2005 by releasing a memorial DVD collection of the series, a remastered version of the previous two-part LD boxset releases years before.

SRW Chronology[]

Other Games[]

Story[]

In the year 2087, when a military force called the Lunar Empire of Giganos has risen and captured the Moon. Their stated goal is the rebirth of mankind, but their primary intention by some of its members is the destruction of all those who dwell on Earth. To this end, the Empire uses humanoid battle machines called Metal Armors, as well as a gigantic mass driver cannon. Originally intended to send lunar material to Earth orbit for later retrieval, the Mass driver is reconfigured to launch small meteorites towards the home world. By the time the story takes place many bombardments have already taken place. The Earth Alliance, unable to compete with the Giganos military might, manages to steal three prototype Metal Armors with plans to reverse-engineer them with the help of exiled Giganos scientists. However, the ship carrying the Dragonars (posing as a refugee ship) is chased to a neutral colony by Giganos, and an attack is staged to retrieve them. Kaine, Tapp and Light, three friends and EA trainees, are on the colony during the attack, and find a dying Giganos spy who gives them three disks. Chased by Giganos' weapons, the trio enters the colony's dock and finds the Dragonars. Using the disks, they activate the machines and use them to protect the colony. However, since the Dragonars are keyed to only be operable by their initial user, the three friends find themselves forced to become the Earth Alliance's first Metal Armor pilots, faced against the advanced technology and veterans of the Giganos forces...

Music[]

Opening themes[]

"Yumeiro Chaser" (夢色チェイサー, Yume-Iro Cheisā, lit."Dream-Colored Chaser") (episodes #1-26)
"Starlight Serenade" (スターライト・セレナーデ, Sutāraito Serenāde) (episodes #27-48)

Ending themes[]

"Illusion wo Sagashite" (イリュージョンをさがして, Iryūjon wo Sagashite, lit."Searching for an Illusion") (episodes #1-26)
Shiny Boy" (episodes #27-48)

Game Appearances[]

Though it has no dedicated games, Dragonar has appeared in several related games. Its earliest known appearance is in the PlayStation game developed by Banpresto titled "Real Robots Final Attack", which is a Third-Person VS Shooter similar to Sega's Virtual-On series. Later, the series appeared in the 2001 game Super Robot Wars Advance, in which Kaine and friends were (unwillingly) mentored first by Gundam Wing's Lucrezia Noin, then later by Gundam 0083's South Burning. The series would later appear in the 2004 game Super Robot Wars MX, where Giganos took center stage as the primary Real Robot antagonists, even usurping the Titans and Neo-Zeon from the so-called "Holy Trinity of Gundam" (Zeta, Double-Zeta, and Char's Counterattack). A late 2004 release saw Dragonar in Super Robot Wars GC/XO, using Giganos as an ally to Zeon, with the Dragonar storyline being closely tied in with the original Mobile Suit Gundam; upon being disabled (i.e. having their head and limbs destroyed and their body crippled), mass-produced Giganos units can be captured by the player's mothership, and then be sold for money, broken down for money and parts, or assigned to any pilot from the series. Dragonar's next video game appearance was in the 2005 game Another Century's Episode, a 3D action game produced by the team of Banpresto and FromSoftware. The game allowed players to control the D-1, D-2, D-3 and, surprisingly, the Gilgazamune, but not the Falguen. The year 2006 brings about Another Century's Episode 2, which features the Custom versions of the Dragonars, as well as the ability to use Meio's Falguen MAFFU and Min's Stark Dyne, as well as Gon Jem's Gilgazamune from the first game. And they are still in part in the Another Century's Episode 3. Although the original type of D-1, D-2, and D-3 are gone, Meio's Falguen Custom, which never appears in the anime, will be added into the game. The series also appear in Harobots, because as Sunrise's series, this series' units can be act as 'wild' units, or player's units.

Production Notes[]

Much confusion had surrounded the early release of this series even before it went on the air. The Japanese anime magazine Animec for example, still hailed the title under the working name "Stillevar", not "Dragonar", despite the fact that the mecha and character designs were already approved. Before the series went to air, there were fans in North America who believed this to be a Gundam prequel.

References[]

↑ Great Mechanics, issue 7, 「ガンダムをリニューアルする」

External links[]

Official website (in Japanese)
Kiko Senki Dragonar at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia.

[1] Great Mechanics, issue 7, 「ガンダムをリニューアルする」

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