Psycho Armor Govarian

Psycho Armor Govarian is a Japanese anime television series created by Go Nagai. It was produced by Knack Productions and TV Tokyo. The series was originally broadcast from to in Japan. Besides Japan, it was also broadcast in South Korea in 1988 by MBC where it was known as 사이코아머 고바리안 or 싸이코 아머 고바리안. It is also known as 海王星戰士 in Taiwan and 超能裝甲哥巴里安 in Hong Kong. The anime is considered a mix of Genma Taisen, Mazinger and Gundam.

Premise

The Garadain Empire has exhausted the primary resources of their native planet, so they send different space expeditions to find a new world where to live. One of their main objectives is planet Earth. However, Zeku Alba, an alien scientist, decides to rebel against the imperial rule and flees towards the Earth, where he gathers a group of children gifted with the power of "psychogenesis", an ability that consists of creating solid matter from psychic energy.
The most gifted of the squadron is Isamu, a young orphan whose family was killed in the first attack of the Garadain Empire. He is able to generate the powerful robot Govarian, an armor with which he can battle the alien monsters and is able to regenerate thanks to the psychic energy of the pilot. Helped by two other robots created by his teammates, Isamu, aboard the robot Govarian, defends the Earth in the long war against the alien invaders.

Episodes

Source

Production

The head of the main mecha of the series, Govarian, is similar to the head of Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. This was done on purpose by Go Nagai and Dynamic Planning in accordance with the demand of production company Knack. In South Korea, it was presented as being part of the Mazinger series along with Groizer X. Other than that, Psycho Armor Govarian has no real relationship to any of the Mazinger series.

Staff

Airtime: Wednesday, 19:30-20:00 hrs.
Network: TV Tokyo
Production: TV Tokyo, Knack
Original work: Go Nagai, Dynamic Planning
Planning: Seiichi Nishino
Producer: Hyota Ezu, Hirofumi Toida
Series organization: Yoshihisa Araki
Series director: Seiji Okuda
Animation director: Gen Fukuda, Yuki Kinoshita
Script: Hideki Sonoda, Katsuhiko Taguchi, Yuji Watanabe, Tomomi Minahaya, Masato Nishio, Tsukasa Takahashi
Original character: Go Nagai
Character design: Gen Fukuda
Mechanic design: Sawaki Tateba
Art director: Morishige Suzuki
Photography director: Yoichi Shimizu
Music: Tatsumi Yano
Theme song performance: Neverland

Source

Theme songs

Opening theme: "Lonely journey", lyrics by Tomoaki Taka, composition by Shunji Inoe, arrangement by Neverland & Hiroki Harada, song by Tomoaki Taka.
Ending theme: "Lullaby", lyrics by Tomoaki Taka, composition by Shunji Inoe, arrangement by Neverland, song by Tomoaki Taka.
Insert song: "It's LOVE", lyrics by Tomoaki Taka, composition by Shunji Inoe, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Tomoaki Taka. This theme is used in the last episode.
Insert song: "Yuhi no Omoi", lyrics by Tomoaki Taka, composition by Shunji Inoe, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano, song by Tomoaki Taka.

"Lonely Journey" and "Lullaby" have been used in several music collections in arranged versions sung by Hironobu Kageyama.

Media

Home video

The series was released in VHS format during the 1980s in 6 volumes by RCA Columbia Pictures Home Video Japan. In 2006-03-25 a DVD-box set containing the whole series was released by the company Japanese company BM3 with the standard number OHK-27.
During Otakon 2018 on August 12, Discotek Media announced a 1-disc SD on BD release of the entire series for a future release.

Picture books and manga

Besides the main TV series, two series of picture books were released, one by Shogakukan and the other by Asahi Sonorama. Also a short manga serialization, with the art of Tatsuo Yasuda, was published in the children's manga magazine Yoiko published by Shogakukan from to.

Toys

Some toys and action figures based in the robots of the series were released, including several South Korean bootleg versions. The official figures were made by the company Poem.

Soundtracks

Four vinyl records were released during 1983 by King Records. The first one, an EP called Psycho Armor Govarian - Lonely Journey, contains the opening and ending theme, both of them performed by the Japanese group Neverland. The second EP, called Psycho Armor Govarian - It's LOVE, contains the themes "It's LOVE" and "Yuhi no Omoi". Also performed by Neverland, both themes have lyrics by Tomoaki Taka, composition by Shunji Inoe, arrangement by Tatsumi Yano and are sung by Tomoaki Taka. The last two are full LP album containing the BGM of the series and the opening and ending themes.

Title	Type	Artist	Standard number	Release date
Psycho Armor Govarian - Lonely journey	EP record	Neverland	K07S-3052
Psycho Armor Govarian BGM Vol.1	LP album	Tatsumi Yano	K22G-7144
Psycho Armor Govarian - It's LOVE	EP record	Neverland	K07S-3063
Psycho Armor Govarian BGM Vol.2	LP album	Tatsumi Yano	K22G-7173

The opening and ending songs of the series are included in several CD compilations of anime series.

Title	Label	Standard number	Release date
Nagai Go Hero Densetsu: Kotetsu Majin Hen	First Smile Entertainment	FSCA-10204
Nagai Go Hero Densetsu: Kijin Sugosen Hen	First Smile Entertainment	FSCA-10210
Super Robot Tamashii The Best Vol.1: Super Robot Hen	Be! Smile	BSCH-30001/2
Super Robot Tamashii The Best Vol.2: Super Robot Hen 2	Be! Smile	BSCH-30003/4
Getter Densetsu + 10: The Legends of GETTER	Be! Smile	BSCH-30013
Kageyama Hironobu Best & Live	Be! Smile	BSCH-30014
Super Robot Tamashii The Instrumental: Super Robot & Real Robot Hen Vol.1	Be! Smile	BSCH-30030
Super Robot Spirits Shudaika Best Collection	Be! Smile	BSCH-30037
Nagai Go Dynamic!! The chronicle	Be! Smile	BSCH-30040
The Best!! Super Robot Spirits: Super Robot Studio Recordings	Be! Smile	BSCH-30063/6
Super Robot Spirits: Non stop mix Vol.3	Be! Smile	BSCH-30086
The Best!! Super Robot Spirits: The Best Karaoke songs	Be! Smile	BSCH-30094/7

Appearances in other media

Besides its series related media, Govarian has appeared in other media. The most prominent is its appearance in the
Dynamic Super Robots Soshingeki!! clips that were included at the end of the DVDs of Shin Getter Robot tai Neo Getter Robot. Govarian appears alongside Great Mazinger, Venus A, Getter Robot G, Kotetsu Jeeg, God Mazinger and Groizer X to rescue Mazinger Z and Aphrodite A, but are defeated and in turn saved by Shin Getter Robot and Grendizer just before the arrival of Mazinkaiser.