Kotetsu Jeeg

BUILD UP!!

Also known as "Steel Jeeg" or "El Vengador", Kotetsu Jeeg is another classic Humongous Mecha anime created by Go Nagai in cooperation with Tatsuya Yasuda and first released in 1975. Essentially a Combining Mecha series, it told the story of Shiiba Hiroshi, a car racer who's reconstructed as a cyborg by his father after being mortally wounded in an accident. As a cyborg, Hiroshi's capable of transforming into the eponymous Kotetsu Jeeg, a steel robot head that combines with a variety of external parts to form a giant robot and fight the minions of Queen Himika, leader of the Jamatai Kingdom.

The series received a sequel, Kotetsushin ("Steel God") Jeeg in 2007, taking place fifty years after the original and featuring both new and classic characters.

Tropes used in Kotetsu Jeeg include:
  • Advanced Ancient Acropolis: The Yamatai Kingdom. It slightly subverts the trope, since they used advanced technology and magic.
  • Amazon Brigade The Build Angels
  • Arm Cannon: The Jeeg Bazooka. It returned in the sequel, transformed into a BFG.
  • Armor-Piercing Slap With spikes, no less. Ends up taking more than half the face off a Monster of the Week
  • Badass Normal Build Angels again, and many, many more
  • Barehanded Blade Block: A subversion. In the ending credits, Jeeg blocks a downward, vertical swing... by crossing its forearms above its head. Of course, given that Jeeg is a robot, hence it is not made of flesh, it is not worried about the weapon slicing it, and the blade shatters upon impact.
  • Batman Can Breathe in Space So can Hiroshi, although slightly justified since he's a cyborg
  • Beneath the Earth: The Yamatai Kingdom were a subterranean civilization. They had attempted conquering Japan in ancients times but they were defeated and fled underground. Big Bad Queen Himika definitely harbored a grudge and longed for revenge.
  • BFG The Jeeg Bazooka is larger than the Jeeg itself in both series
  • Big Bad: Queen Himika except in the second half of the original series where she is replaced by Emperor Dragon (aka Ryuu Teio).
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Monko of the Build Angels
  • Butt Monkey: Don in the original series.
  • Calling Your Attacks: It is a Super Robot show, after all
  • Cameo: This being a Go Nagai title, there are at least a few. Notably, Kouji Kabuto and others are visible during a scene in episode 13 of Kotetsushin.
    • Also, Kouji in the first episode amongst the cheering crowds.
  • Chainsaw Good: The Earth Parts give Jeeg chainsaw arms
  • Combining Mecha: An interesting version: Hiroshi is a cyborg who transforms into a giant head, which then combines with man-made parts to form a Humongous Mecha. In the Revival-slash-AlternateUniverse sequel Koutetsushin Jeeg, a transforming motorcycle forms the head of the titular mecha, which otherwise functions exactly like its precursor.
  • Comic Book Fantasy Casting: Hiroshi appears to have been designed after Elvis Presley.
  • Cool Bike Kenji's motorcycle from Kotetsushin, which transforms into the head of the new Jeeg
  • Deface of the Moon
  • Detachment Combat: Given that Jeeg is able to use magnetism to pull its body parts together or replace them, it also can use them like weapons separately or shoot them (sometimes he did that with just its head!).
  • Distaff Counterpart The Build Angels are often considered a gender-swapped version of the Getter Team
  • Do-Anything Robot Jeeg is very modular: it can detach and reattach its parts like Lego bricks. Therefore, as long as they can get the right parts to the battlefield, Jeeg can change form to meet any situation.
  • Doing In the Wizard In Kotetsushin, we find out that Himika and everybody that's presumably mystical are really aliens. The Bronze Bells were the reactors for an ancient ship. Emperor Dragon isn't mentioned at all, either.
    • Although possibly a subversion in that the Jama Kingdom are still said to derive their powers from sorcery.
  • Expository Theme Tune: "Just you watch, the Haniwa Phantoms will be completely destroyed. Run forth, Banban Baban! Big Shooter, swifter than the wind. Build up!"
  • Expy Himika looks an awful lot like Sister Jill. Mecha Don is essentially Boss Borot on a formula 1 car.
  • Falling Into the Cockpit Subverted: Kenji's forced to take control of the new Jeeg when a Haniwa Phantom God attacks, but in the next episode it's revealed that he had been intended to be the pilot all along -- the attack simply forced the New Build Base crew to put him into the robot sooner than planned.
  • Formula One: With Hiroshi and Don being race car drivers they did drive these in the original series.
  • Go Nagai
  • Gratuitous English BUILD UP! and CHANGE CYBORG!
  • Grievous Harm with a Body (Early on in Kotetsushin, Kenji decides to use one of Jeeg's arms to bludgeon a Haniwa Phantom God to death with)
  • Hey, It's That Voice! (Hiroshi in both incarnations. His classic form is Amuro Ray, while his Kotetsushin form is Archer)
  • Home Base: The Build Base for the heroes. An Elaborate Underground Base for the villains. And in the sequel, a Volcano Lair.
  • Humongous Mecha: Partially averted. Jeeg's surprisingly short for a Super Robot - comparable to the average Real Robot, in fact.
  • I Am Not Left-Handed: Many baddies have managed to stop Jeeg from forming, only to realize in horror that Hiroshi doesn't NEED to form Jeeg to kick your ass. CHAAAAAAAAAAAAANGE CYBOOOOOOOOORG!!
  • Idiot Hero Kenji
  • Jumped At the Call Kenji
  • Ice Queen: The Princess of Snow from episode 10 of the original series.
  • Kryptonite Factor: In the original series Steel Jeeg was weakened when making contact with electricity as it affects the magnetic power that binds his body together. Episode 5 also reveals that strong magnetic storms like solar flares prevent him from combining (at least until they made a special coating spray).
  • Lady of War Captain Yagyu of the Build Angels, from Kotetsushin.
  • Legacy Character (Kenji)
  • Lost Technology: Dr. Shiba finds several ancient mysterious magical artifacts and hieroglyphs during an archaeological expedition. His findings provide evidence of the ancient lost kingdom of Yamatai that thrived in south of Japan has survived, and its Queen Himika is preparing to invade Japan. Of course, his reaction was using that lost technology to get a countermeasure ready (i. e., turning his eldest son into a cyborg capable transforming into a Humongous Mecha)
  • Married to the Job: Hiroshi did not knew why his father was always working and he barely talked to his family, and after several years, he decided he did not care about it or his father. When he learnt his reasons, he kind of forgave Prof. Shiba, but his mother still called her husband on it.
  • Marshmallow Hell: Kenji is the target of this... from Monko, much to his dismay.
  • Mentor Occupational Hazard: In the original series it happened twice with the same person. Professor Shiba got murdered in the first episode. However he got the foresight to make a backup of his personality in a computer in order to help and guide his son Hiroshi and then it commited a Heroic Sacrifice.
  • Miko Tsubaki's part-time work, since her grandmother Miwa "Micchi" Uzuki has become a Shinto priestess
  • Older and Wiser Micchi was The Chick in the original series but The Captain by the sequel
  • Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Dr. Shiba. He was an archaelogist could heal his son's scarred body, making cyborgs, building giant robots and flying vehicles, and transferring his mind into a computer.
  • Orochi: Used as the main antagonists' flying fortress in the original series with a cameo in the new series.
  • Razor Wings: The Sky Parts from the original series.
  • Rip Van Winkle In Kotetsushin, Tatsuko Mido and Monko Saotome of the Build Angels; later, the JSDF forces found within the zone on Kyushu, and Hiroshi.
  • Robeast: The Haniwa Phantoms
  • Rocket Punch: Dynamite Punch and Knuckle Bomber, the latter using both fists clasped together
    • Power Fist: Their fists are also reinforced to cause bigger damage.
  • Shout-Out When Kenji's Jeeg combines with Balba, its arrangement is vaguely reminiscent of Archduke Gorgon. The Haniwa Phantom he defeats in this form, Banshouraguu, also heavily resembles the Great General of Darkness, also from Great Mazinger.

Asano: You kicked me! Not even Queen Himika has kicked me at all!

      • This is also a shout-out to the fact that Amuro Ray's seiyuu was the voice of Hiroshi in the original Jeeg.
  • Super Mode The Koutetsushin Jeeg; overlaps with Eleventh-Hour Superpower, since it only appears in the final episode
    • Also applies to Super Robot Wars K, where it can only be accessed as a Combination Attack
      • Bronze Bell Power counts too. As one of the game's buffet of "Better Mazinpowers", it grants a 25% boost and resistance to damage and an increased critical rate
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Sometimes romanized as "Steel Sieg", which does make a bit more sense.
  • Super Robot Wars: Super Robot Wars Alpha 2 and 3 has the original, while K and L have Koutetsushin
  • Tagalong Kid: Mayumi, Hiroshi's little sister. She was more endearing and more lovingly naive than her counterparts of other Go Nagai works.
  • The Other Darrin: Junichi Suwabe replaces Tohru Furuya as Hiroshi in Koutetsushin
  • This Is a Drill The Mach Drills, though the Earth Parts also grant Jeeg with a pair of drill legs
  • Time Dilation Field One of these was used to seal evil in a can in the backstory for Kotetsushin
  • Transformation Name Announcement
  • Tsundere Tsubaki from Koutetsushin is a Type B
  • Two Guys and a Girl Kenji, Kyo, and Tsubaki in Kotetsushin
  • Wham! Episode Episode 10 of Kotetsushin; Tsubaki gets possessed by Himika, who then extracts both Bronze Bells, Kyo reveals he (and the Jama Empire as well is not only an alien, but also Kenji's uncle AND reveals that Kenji himself is half-alien, Tsubaki descends from a clan of priestesses that have protected Kyo's bloodline, and Build Base gets destroyed. To top it off, Kyo sacrifices himself so that everyone can escape.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy Kyo from Kotetsushin
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Flora in the original series.
    • Kyo in Kotetsushin
  • Yamato Nadeshiko Arguably, Miwa when young. Played straight with Hiroshi's mother, who still gets a CMOA in the original series for openly calling out Dr. Shiba in his treatment of Hiroshi
    • Miwa is still a YN when older, as she grows into a graceful and serene Miko and later The Captain who is very much into the core of steel.
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