Fang of the Sun Dougram

Taiyou no Kiba Dougram
太陽の牙ダグラム
(Fang of Sun Dougram)
Genre Mecha
Anime television series
Directed by Ryōsuke Takahashi
Takeyuki Kanda
Written by Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Sōji Yoshikawa
Studio Nippon Sunrise
Network TV Tokyo
Original run 23 October 1981 – 25 March 1983
Episodes 75
Anime film
Dougram: Documentary of the Fang of the Sun
Directed by Ryosuke Takahashi
Studio Nippon Sunrise
Released 9 July 1983
Runtime 80 minutes
Anime film
Choro-Q Dougram
Directed by Masanori Miura
Music by Tooru Fuyuki
Studio Nippon Sunrise
Released 9 July 1983
Runtime 9 minutes
Original video animation
Dougram vs. Round-Facer
Studio Nippon Sunrise
Released 21 January 1987
Runtime 2 minutes

Fang of the Sun Dougram (太陽の牙ダグラム Taiyō no Kiba Daguramu) is a 75-episode anime television series, created by Ryosuke Takahashi and Sunrise, and aired in Japan from October 23, 1981 to March 25, 1983 on TV Tokyo. A 1983 full-length feature film, Dougram: Documentary of the Fang of the Sun, summarized the series.

Plot

The Dougram Combat Armor

The series begins in a desert on the colony planet Deloyer, where the remains of a destroyed robot are resting as a red-haired woman is standing in front of it. The woman hallucinates what appears to be a group of armed soldiers alongside the robot in a non-destroyed state. A man named Rocky appears, leading to the woman running into his embrace where she cries tears of joy. After this, the series flashes back to an earlier time, in order to explain the circumstances leading up to the first episode.

Malcontents on the Deloyer colony agitate for the independence of their world from the Earth Federation. In an unexpected coup, the elected Governor declares martial law and sets himself up as absolute dictator. With the approval of the Federation, he rules the planet with an iron fist. In reaction, a ragtag group (including the governor's estranged son) rises in open rebellion, using a powerful prototype Combat Armor: the Dougram. Their goal is the end of the dictatorship and total independence from the Federation's influence.

The story follows the actions of the guerilla freedom fighters known as "The Deloyer 7." The war is fought across the planet Deloyer as the Federation vigorously pursues the rebels. The series is noted for its realistic use of not just the combat armors and support vehicles, but also military tactics. The series also followed a wide range of characters and political intrigue, with many shady characters switching sides throughout the series.

Crinn Cashim is the show's main character. Son of Governor Denon Cashim, he becomes trained in piloting the Soltic Roundfacer by Jacky Zalshiev, a Federation Ace, because of his father's political connections. When his father appears to be overthrown by a coup led by Colonel Von Stein, he pilots a Roundfacer while Federation forces battle Garcia's forces. He is stunned to learn that his father has actually sided with Von Stein in a secret plan, and eventually becomes angry at his father's forces in how they deal with the rebellion following the coup. Following a meeting with Dr. David Samlin, who introduces him to a combat armor he has designed, the Dougram, Cashim and his friends form The Fang of the Sun and join the rebellion against the Federation.

Voice actors

  • Kazuhiko Inoue as Crin
  • Banjou Ginga as Chico
  • Eiji Kanie as Fon
  • Eiko Yamada as Canary
  • Gara Takashima as Daisey
  • Hirotaka Suzuoki as Gavol
  • Ikuya Sawaki as Soldier (Ep. 6)
  • Issei Futamata as Aron
  • Issei Masamune as Hank, Rabin
  • Kaneto Shiozawa as Roil
  • Kazuyuki Sogabe as J Rock
  • Keiko Ozaki as Dalloway
  • Kenichi Ogata as Nanashi, Watokinsu
  • Kiyonobu Suzuki as Fester
  • Kiyoshi Komiyama as Hackle
  • Kôhei Miyauchi as David
  • Kôzô Shioya as Blink
  • Masaaki Tsukada as Emond
  • Masaharu Satou as Dark
  • Masaru Ikeda as Reck
  • Masashi Hirose as Cole
  • Masato Yamanouchi as Donan, Narrator
  • Nana Yamaguchi as Fina
  • Osamu Kato as Heshi
  • Ritsuo Sawa as Station Emplyoee (Ep. 1)
  • Ryouichi Tanaka as Rocky
  • Ryusuke Oobayashi as Jokku
  • Shigeru Chiba as George, Oppe
  • Shigeyuki Hosoi as Bugs
  • Shigezou Sasaoka as Brian (Eps. 38-39)
  • Shingo Kanemoto as Dick
  • Shozo Iizuka as Haman (Ep. 23)
  • Tatsuyuki Jinnai as Herumuto
  • Tesshô Genda as Woldran
  • Youko Kawanami as Rita
  • Yuji Fujishiro as Morea
  • Yuri Nashiwa as Billy
  • Yuusaku Yara as Jackie

Influence

Dougram was one of the first successors to the "Real Robot" genre created by Mobile Suit Gundam. The popular technical designer Kunio Okawara produced the designs for both shows. Dougram featured a similar plot centered around a small team fighting a running battle with a powerful enemy, using an advanced giant robotic prototype combat armor. The show was a surprise success, especially considering the heavy emphasis on military tactics which slowed the pace of the story, and further confirmed that military 'giant robot' science-fiction was here to stay. Takahashi and Sunrise would go on create a follow-up series, Armored Trooper Votoms, which used similar styling and themes but was otherwise unrelated in plot, characters or setting.

Merchandising

Toymaker Takara was the show's main licensee. They made a very successful plastic model kit series, a large number of diecast toys, and also released several strategy wargames set in the Dougram world. The latter included tiny, unpainted diecast combat armors as playing pieces; additional scale accessories were available separately.

The diecast toys were produced in three sizes. The 1:144 scale "Collection Series" featured a hollow diecast body and leg structure, with plastic detail parts. The "Dual Model Series" (in two scales, 1:72 and 1:48) featured a zinc-diecast endoskeleton upon which plastic armor pieces were attached. Although the imported toys were physically identical to the Japanese ones, the packages were modified for American shelves. The 1:144 scale boxes had sleeves to be hung from pegs, while the larger toys had English-language stickers glued over the original boxes.

Takara also produced a magnetically jointed Dougram and several soft-vinyl toys. Although the vinyls did not have specific scales, they appeared to be between 1:100 and 1:60 scale. Toy manufacturer Seven, a Takara spin-off devoted to low-end toys, produced several plastic and rubber Dougram toys as well.

Dougram appeared in the Harobots games alongside crab gunners and roundfacers. Dougram and both enemy combat armors reappeared in Brave Saga with more combat armors appearing in Brave Saga 2 including Desert Gunners, Cabarov, and Blockheads as well as MP-2 Dueys.

Release outside Japan

Neither the film nor the television series were released in North America. However, plastic model kit manufacturer Revell released many of Takara's Dougram kits as characters in their Robotech Defender series, and Takara sold much of their diecast toy line through American toy stores in the mid-Eighties. The detailed construction of the toys, the lack of any background info on the characters, and the revolutionary slogans printed on the boxes ("Fight! Dougram to save independence of the Deloyer!" or "We will never approve independence from our federation!") confused many.

In the mid-1980s, American gaming company FASA Corporation used the vehicle designs of the show for its Battletech miniature wargame and role-playing game. The first edition, then named BattleDroids, actually included two Japanese 1/144 model kits from Dougram. FASA was later sued by Playmates Toys and Harmony Gold USA for using designs from Macross (for example, Valkyrie fighters renamed Stinger, Wasp and Phoenix Hawk). The lawsuit was settled, and as a result post-lawsuit Battletech products no longer feature the designs taken from Macross. However, in the years since, the designs from Macross, Dougram and Crusher Joe have since been re-introduced, Albeit with completely original artwork. The Dougram tabletop battling game also came out in 1984, the same year Battletech (Battledroids) was released in America.

See also

References

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