Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3 (無敵鋼人ダイターン3 in kanji, transliterated as Muteki Kojin Daitarn 3 in romaji) is an anime series created by Yoshiyuki Tomino and Hajime Yatate, and produced by Sunrise. It was first broadcast on Japanese TV in 1978. The series lasted for 40 episodes. The opening theme Come Here! Daitarn 3 is sung by Makoto Fujiwara.
| Invincible Steel Man Daitarn 3 | |
| Genre | Mecha |
|---|---|
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Yoshiyuki Tomino |
| Studio | Sunrise |
Plot
Sozo Haran was a brilliant scientist that was conducting research on Mars. He created a form of cyborg life with the ability to think for itself. These cyborgs, dubbed the Meganoids, soon ran out of control and killed Dr. Haran along with his family...all save his youngest son, Banjo Haran. Banjo escapes from Mars on a rocket with his father's greatest creation: a solar-powered super robot built with the special metals of Mars called Daitarn 3. Now eighteen years old and living on Earth in a luxurious mansion, Banjo fights against the Meganoids with the aid of his faithful butler Garrison and his two gorgeous companions Reika and Beauty. Together they must stop the evil Meganoids which aspire to turn all humans into cyborgs and thus "improve" the human race.
History
Some of the staff fresh from Zambot 3 worked with Tomino on the Daitarn 3 project. The suave nature of the hero, Banjou Haran, was a direct attempt at capturing some of the spirit of the James Bond movies, which can be seen in the fact almost as much action takes place with Banjo, Reika Sanjo and Beautiful Tachibana (aka "Beauty) playing superspies as Banjo fighting against Meganoid robots in Daitarn 3.
Other important charachters were Garrison Tokida, Banjo's trusted butler and Toppy, a comic-relief brat who gets rescued from a meganoid-hijacked city block in ep. 3 and then stays with Banjou & C. for no apparent reason (was he orphaned in the attack?).
There is a light comedic element running through the whole series and an interesting point to note is that the Meganoid foot soldiers exerted some of their own personality with witty banter, bringing a fresh change to the silent drones which permeated super robot series previously.
The series sported lots of references and influences, mainly from 1970-ish spy thrillers (Banjo Haran himself is a suave 'man of mystery') and 'Batman' (both the comic and the campy series, with Banjou's mansion, super-car and butler and the odd themed meganoid teams, often fashioned as 'skaters', 'tank enthusiasts' and the like).
The series is also noteworthy for having the second largest Super Robot in the mecha anime canon to date (second only to Gunbuster, and the same height as later show Daikengo) , standing over 210 meters (about 750 feet).