Here is the english version of "Everything about Goldrake/Grendizer/Goldorak" for our foreign users! Hope you like it!
ENGLISH VERSIONGOLDRAKE: PRESENTATION (Article of Aramis; pictures by Joe7)
(The opening picture is made by
Jerome Alquie)
The animated series includes 74 episodes.
From the first episode, we meet all the main characters of the series. The first one to appear is Alcor, the young pilot of the TFO (a UFO built by him): he meets in Japan Professor Procton.
This man is in charge of the Space Research Center, near the White Birch ranch, run by Rigel, Professor Procton's great friend. In addition to Rigel, there are at work on the farm his son Mizar and his daughter, Venusia, other than Actarus, the professor's son. Procton introduces Actarus to Alcor.
The boy finds Actarus mysterious and bizarre, and he's intrigued. Investigating about him, at some point the professor and Actarus reveal to him the truth, which will be the leitmotiv of the entire series: Actarus' real name is Duke Fleed, and he comes from Fleed, a distant planet, where he was the heir to planet's throne. The planet Fleed was near the nebula of planet Vega: King Vega decided to conquer all the planets and to destroy the peace and tranquillity of the nebula. With his troops, he rapidly conquered Fleed, spreading terror and destruction.
Duke was the only survivor and he was able to escape from his destroyed planet, along with the robot Goldrake. Now, Actarus lives a quiet life on Earth, working as a bailiff at the ranch. Rigel spends his days waiting for the arrival of extraterrestrials perched on his tower, leaving all the farm's work to his children and to Actarus.
But King Vega, who has a great thirst for conquest, became interested in Earth and orders to build a base on the farside of the moon: the Skarmoon base, where General Gandal will manage the conquest of the the planet, along with Commander Hydargos, who will be at Gandal’s orders and will take care of the troops.
So, suddenly, Vega's troops attack Earth. To save Alcor, Actarus becomes Duke Fleed and uses his robot Goldrake to counteract the attacks of the UFO sent by Hydargos: he recognizes the robot and understands that the Prince of Fleed has found refuge on Earth. From now on, in almost every episode, there is a battle between a monster of Vega and Goldrake. Alcor helps Duke Fleed with his TFO, arming it with missiles.
But the problem is not only the battle against Vega. Actarus himself, during the invasion of Fleed, received a fatal wound on his arm, because it was contaminated by vegatron, a poisonous substance of vegan weapons, that sooner or later will lead him to death. The wound did not hurt him when he was on Earth, but with vegan attacks, it was aggravated, becoming gradually more and more painful. For this reason, Actarus must end the war as soon as possible.
In addition, one day, Venusia, who was in love with Actarus since his arrival at the farm, knows his true identity when he rescues her from a fall into a ravine, which would kill her. Deeply shocked by such news, at the beginning she is uncertain and is afraid of him, but later her unconditional love for Actarus will make her accept reality.
Further on in the story, Actarus meets his first love: Naida, a survivor of Fleed's massacre by Vega's troops . But Naida, mentally controlled by Vega, will try to kill Actarus, both with her accusations and also with physical assault, attacking him fiercely with a stick. Naida, edited by Professor Procton later, returned to herself, but her words have had a devastating effect on Actarus, which has lost his luster. While Vega's troops attack the Earth, Naida will sacrifice herself to protect the man she loves, in front of the desperate look of Duke Fleed...
Subsequently, Hydargos, angered by the constant failures, launches a massive attack at the base of Goldrake: Venusia is mortally wounded by an UFO, but Actarus saves her once again giving his blood.
Together with the man she loves, Venusia tries to help him at this difficult juncture: in fact, Goldrake is in trouble and the TFO was destroyed.
Eventually, though, Duke Fleed, with Goldrake, defeats Hydargos, who dies in the flames along his Mother Ship. Gandal runs away, but he is severely wounded in his face, so that Lady Gandal, his female alter ego, had to completely change her appearance.
To replace Hydargos, Vega sends the Minister of Science, Zuril: he has the same degree of Gandal, and this will cause many conflicts later between them. On more than one shot, Gandal and Zuril seek to establish a submarine base on Earth and eventually they succeed in their aim.
Meanwhile, the team of Procton has built a new aircraft that can best help and support Goldrake during the fighting: the Goldrake 2. During a confrontation, Alcor, wounded, manages to save Venusia and Mizar, bringing them on board the Goldrake 2: Venusia is able to use its commands and to help Goldrake. Now she is determined to fight, and Actarus finally agrees that Venusia will join to them. The team of Procton, in fact, created the Delfino Spaziale (Spacer Dolphin), a vessel that allows diving to the robot of Actarus: in fact, Goldrake is weaker in water. Venusia, thus, becomes the pilot of the Delfino Spaziale.
Subsequently, a new character makes her appearance in the series: Maria, the younger sister of Actarus. Impulsive and brave girl, after the death of the person she believed to be her grandfather, faces Duke Fleed, holding him responsible for the death of his parent, and discovers the bond that unites them. Since then, the girl will remain in the Research Center and soon she will join to the group, flying the spaceship allowing Goldrake to dig rocks and go underground, the Trivella Spaziale (Auger Spacer).
The fighting are increasingly difficult, and the monsters become stronger and stronger: in particular, the new generation of Vega monsters, created by the Minister of Defense Dantus. The King-Goli, one of the new Vega monsters, manages to snatch an arm to Goldrake. But Gandal and Zuril want to have the merit of victory and kill treacherously Dantus.
The conquest of the Earth becomes a tragic necessity, when the planet Vega is destroyed because of Vegatron radiation and King Vega himself has to take refuge in Moonbase Skarmoon.
Later, Duke Fleed meets his best friend, Marcus, but he, influenced by Vega, is ready to kill him, believing him to be his enemy. But Actarus is able to take off the badge on Marcus’ shoulder, which controlled him: it explodes far away, making lose the senses to both men. When Marcus awakes, he finally regains his memory. Looking at Actarus’ inert body and at his wound to the arm, he remembers that he had gotten that wound just trying to save Marcus, in the past. With his weapon, Marcus heals the wound, then, with his Vega monster, he parts in an desperate assault against the Skarmoon base, dying before the terrified eyes of Duke Fleed. In this way, Marcus wanted to repay his "debt".
Subsequently, appears the daughter of Vega, Rubina. In fact, she learned that Duke Fleed is alive and she wants to meet him. In fact, in the past, the king of Fleed wanted to marry his son Duke with Rubina to preserve peace. Rubina reaches her father to talk about the world of Ruby, that she commanded, but in reality she wants to talk about Duke Fleed, of whom she is still in love. The discussion between the two is tense and at the end, Rubina escapes from the vigilance of Zuril and goes to Earth.
There, Actarus and Rubina meet again, but Duke mistrusts her: the father of the young woman is his enemy and he has destroyed the Fleed planet. Rubina informs him that she saw that the planet Fleed has regained its ozone layer: it means that it is going back to live. Rubina wants to stay with Duke, but he is still uncertain: he does not know whether to trust her or not. Zuril tries to intervene to kill Duke Fleed, but Alcor's intervention is timely and Actarus escapes from the attack.
Later, Rubina sends a message to the Prince of Fleed to meet him again. Although mistrusts her, Duke goes to the appointment: but Zuril intervenes again with a trap. Rubina gets in the way to save Duke, losing her life.
Zuril, dying, tries to kill Duke with a gun in his hand, but Alcor prevents him, killing him in full. The final scenes of Duke with Rubina in her last moments remain forever etched in the minds of fans of Goldrake.
Before dying, Rubina has had time to tell Actarus that the base of Vega is hidden in the dark side of the moon: Actarus and his friends organize themselves for the final assault, building the ship under the guidance of Professor Procton: the Cosmo Special.
Meanwhile, King Vega, desperate for her daughter's death, decides to attack with all his strength. Lady Gandal in person attacks Goldrake with the monster Vega Gura Gura, but also this time there is the defeat for Vegans.
Lady Gandal understands that all is lost and tries to kill King Vega, to ensure survival in some way on Earth. But her male counterpart intervenes, killing her.
Killing Lady Gandal, however, causes also the death of Gandal: mortally wounded, Gandal attacks Goldrake with his ship in a last kamikaze action: but Goldrake manages to escape and Gandal dies between the waves of the sea, while his ship explodes.
Actarus realizes that now the vegans will fight until the last blood and, not wanting to involve his friends, decides to attack alone on the Skarmoon Base. But Alcor, aboard Goldrake 2, stops him and convinces him to go back. They will attack together Vega.
And there is the last act: King Vega himself destroys the Skarmoon base, to indicate that there is no turning back, and goes for the conquest of the Earth aboard a giant spaceship and what remains of his fleet.
The assault of the Cosmo Special, along with Goldrake, causes the end of the last attack of King Vega, who, furious, decides to crash on Earth with his spaceship full of poisonous gases that will destroy the planet.
But, once again, Goldrake attacks the ship and cuts its command center with his Alabarda Spaziale (Double Harken), which shears the mantle of King Vega himself, who is left alone in the flames, while the ship is about to explode. The humiliation of defeat makes king Vega crazy and he laughs like a madman, saying he is the king of the universe. He dies shortly in the explosion.
Eventually, there comes the day of farewell: Maria and Duke must leave their friends to go to the planet Fleed and rebuild it. One day, perhaps, they will come back. But, however, in their hearts two planets, Earth and Fleed, will shine forever in space.
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ENGLISH VERSIONACTARUS / DUKE FLEED (Daisuke Umon)
His real name is Duke Fleed and he is the crown prince of the planet Fleed. On Earth, he is known under the name of Actarus, son of Professor Procton. He had to flee away from his home planet, because it was destroyed by the forces of Vega, and he had found refuge on Earth, where Professor Procton found him, nursed him and took care of him. Actarus works on the farm of Rigel, along with Rigel’s sons, Venusia and Mizar.
He is a very private guy, who speaks little. His expression is thoughtful and often distant. In him remains alive the trauma of seeing his planet destroyed and his parents to die before his eyes. He is a very sensitive person who pays attention at all: people, nature, animals. When he must fight against Vega to save the Earth, he does so without hesitation, even though he hates the war: he proves to be a good fighter, but only to bring peace to his friends and to the planet that has accepted him. Usually, he shows little of his feelings, but they remain alive in him: his attachment to his adoptive father and his friends is very strong and he wants to protect them at all costs. For this, he does not want Alcor and Venusia to participate with him in the war against Vega: only later he accepts their help, understanding that they need him. At the beginning, he had a rather harsh and unfriendly personality, but later he becomes friendlier and more open, even if he remains a silent person.
Very close to the planet of his origins, often thinks about Fleed and his life before the destruction, and often these are burning and bitter memories that sadden him. The sorrow for the loss of his native country gives him a steely determination that the Earth does not know the disastrous fate of Fleed.
Overall, the character of Actarus well represents a human person, in his extraordinary, with strengths and weaknesses. He is the hero of the story and embodies all the characteristics of the hero: generosity and altruism. By his nature, he loves to dispense aid, to give without asking anything in return; he is courageous and he is totally devoid of selfishness or envy; he spends completely to the next person without ever thinking to himself or to his personal advantage; he seems like a fallen angel from heaven, or a savior to come from afar.
He does not confront the enemy with the taste of battle: peaceful and kind, resort to violence only as a last defense against the enemy, which cuts without complacency, which in any event comply, and which does not hesitate to dedicate him a tribute when he realizes that there is something that brings them together in the fight. On several occasions, in fact, he cries for the enemy shot down.
His enormous sensitivity and kindness of heart lead him to endure even more difficult for the task is due to him, and reluctance to deal with Goldrake, which prevented him to stay with his people of Fleed until the last, causing lifelong remorse and torment. But once again, his protective instinct and his sense of duty give him the impetus to overcome the trauma and return to fight.
Actarus has an introverted character, however: capable of very deep feelings, is absolutely unable to express them. Probably, this is one side of his character, and dramatically accentuated by the fact of being alien, veteran, the only survivor of a great tragedy. So sure of himself in battle and dealing with the enemy, in fact, so fragile, however, when he is confronted with his past, to which he lives an adversarial relationship. Actarus would like to forget the past, but actually lives in the past: the detached attitude that apparently puts him over the parts is actually a constant flight from the present to the memory of his home planet.
Actarus does not like talking about his experience, or conflict of his soul, and this closure becomes unreachable even by those who live near him. Alone also when he he is with others, the protagonist of the series becomes an emblem of happiness denied because of the fact that he who would enter into a new environment without ever succeeding completely. Actarus loves without merging the other, protecting but not sharing. And this is due to his willingness to listen without understand; and his leadership style, characterized by a very charismatic personality, is often stubborn and taxation. He does not smile often, but when it does, it leaves a mark.
He deeply loves nature and he is able to stop to appreciate it even its more subtle manifestations, like a flower that emerges from the snow or a line of ants walking on a log. His protective instinct spreads from humans to animals without distinction. To him, protecting the land, its beauty and its freedom, is this too: admiring it. Marking the importance of each small creature of Earth, he wants to remind the beautifulness of the world that has accepted it, and of those who populate it, without taking for granted the great gift the man has received...Actarus, who has lost everything, is well aware of the value of the environment and nature.
These elements, combined with great sadness of the character (in more than one occasion he was even called "depressed"), however, make it very romantic in the literary sense of the term.
Finally, his relationship with the other half of the sky, the women: in this case, the weight of the past is enormous. His great love of the past often return for only a brief time, dispensing him new suffering. In his earthly life, he cannot fall in love again, probably because of the barrier that he stands against those who wish to offering them affection, making himself unreachable and causing unintentionally pain.
ALCOR (Koji Kabuto)
Alcor is the first character we meet at the beginning of the series. He is a young pilot flying a small spacecraft built by him and called "TFO", which means "Terrestrial Flying Object", as opposed to the term "UFO", "Unknown Flying Objects". He reaches the Space Research Centre, run by Professor Procton, to study the phenomenon of UFOs in the sky that appear from time to time. In his first meeting with Actarus, it is a dislike and suspicion on him: he realizes that Actarus is not like the others.
He has a proud and impetuous nature, which prompts him to compete with Actarus at the beginning, but later he develops a deep friendship with him. Alcor is the friend par excellence, the person you can trust completely.
The two characters become the pillars of the entire series. At the beginning, Actarus does not want Alcor to participate in the war against Vega, because he risks his life, while the boy, with the recklessness of his youth, wants to protect his planet and fight to defeat the enemy. His help will eventually be accepted and will become valuable for Actarus on several occasions, so that he will eventually accept the fact that Alcor can run its own risks, piloting the Goldrake 2, an important ship of support and attack.
Over time, little by little, the friendship and mutual respect between the two young people will develop a lot, despite their great difference in character. Alcor is an exceptional driver and an excellent strategist: he participates actively with the whole group of Procton.
Later, when Venusia will enter into the group, he will feel attraction towards her, but it will not lead to any result, because of the attraction of the girl towards Actarus. The subsequent arrival of Maria will allow him to compare with a girl who is best suited to his character, as her lover. Although Maria’s ways sometimes annoy him, and they argue often, Alcor really likes the girl, and she is not indifferent to his attentions.
Alcor shows to be a good teammate, despite some inevitable vagaries because of its lively and passionate nature. Impetuous and sincere, generous and unselfish, Alcor is a character of great charisma, appreciated by many fans of the series.
VENUSIA (Hikaru Makiba)
Venusia is Rigel’s daughter. She is 16 years old at the beginning of the series and she goes to school, even if she looks adult. She has an open and frank character: she often scolds her father for passing the time watching the sky with a telescope. She works hard on the farm, along with Actarus and her brother Mizar, making almost a mother to him.
Venusia is in love with Actarus from the first moment he moved to work on the farm and she is always looking for opportunities to be alone with him. Often noticing the sudden disappearances of Actarus without explanation, because of this Venusia is upset, showing sometimes a somewhat 'childish, but sincere.
When she knows the true identity of Actarus, she want to be as much as possible at his side, struggling with him. Naida's experience suggests to her that Duke Fleed has a troubled and mysterious past, experiencing perhaps for the first time the great difference in experience of life that exists between her and Actarus. Paradoxically, the more she knows Actarus and his life, more he seems distant and far away.
After being hit by a death ray from an UFO of Vega, Actarus saves her life by giving his blood: the alien blood, will affect the girl, changing her and making her become physically stronger and more determined. Her unconditional love for Actarus gives her the strength to help him several times, despite the refusal of him to participate actively in clashes with vegans. Her insistence, however, will change his mind and Actarus will accept her in the group along with Alcor. In this way, Venusia learns to pilot the Dolphin Space (Delfino Spaziale, o Marine Spacer), helping Goldrake to move underwater.
Her personality becomes more mature and determined, and her determination will be an invaluable asset for the group, becoming an essential pillar in the struggles.
She makes friends with Maria, Actarus’ sister, but she always retains a certain sadness in the heart, which is sometimes known in the eyes, in alerting she will never reach the heart of Actarus. The final blow is the death of Rubina, for which Duke Fleed is in despair: Venusia understands in that moment that Duke Fleed will never be his, and resigns herself to this, leaving him, at the end, go back to Fleed without leaving him a particular word of farewell. Perhaps the saddest goodbye possible: the one without words.
However, in the story still leaves a possibility in the fact that Actarus, before leaving, asked her for the first time to ride with him: on that ride, they talked heart to heart, even if for a short time. The first and only time they have spoken frankly, and perhaps with a hope that one day Actarus may returns.
MARIA GRACE FLEED (Maria Grace Fleed)(picture by SHINGO ARAKI, creator of Maria)
Maria arrives in the series in episode 49: "The monster rebel". During a Vega attack, the girl, who lived with her grandfather, realizes that he was severely wounded by their assault. On his deathbed, the grandfather tells her the truth: he is not his real grandfather, and she is the princess of the planet Fleed, Maria Fleed. During the invasion of Vega, he, who was a man of the king's court, the tutor of Maria, was able to find a ship, and, taking with him Maria, who was still a child, he abandoned the planet Fleed, which was doomed, and found refuge on Earth with the child. The old man says to Maria that her parents and her brother Actarus died and Goldrake, which he acknowledged, is now in the hands of the troops of Vega. Knowing that he will die soon, the man says to Maria to go to Professor Procton, who runs a center for space research: the enemies that control Goldrake must be there.
After burying the man who she has always loved and known as her grandfather, the girl goes to the center research, with the intention to take revenge and kill all those who destroyed her planet and decimated his family. She meets Actarus there and fights against him, not recognizing him: then, they both see their medallion that each of them carries around the neck: it is the emblem of the royal house of Fleed. The brother and sister recognize themselves and embrace.
Maria was added to the series with the hope of raising the TV shares of Goldrake, which in Japan were down.
Maria is quite the opposite of Actarus: extroverted, dynamic, foiled. Seeing a young girl capable of handling a spaceship was something quite new in Japan. Maria is a fascinating character and brings smile and freshness to the series. She does not look cool and detached, unlike his brother. Rarely she has fear, so much so that sometimes she is thoughtless and impulsive as Alcor, with which often she argues, even if the young girl has attraction for the boy: an attraction reciprocated.
Their bickering often give humor to the series.
Maria has also gifts of telepathy and premonitory dreams and visions. With these prescient visions, she will prevent his brother and Alcor hasten dangers. Her impulsiveness often causes problems, as well as irritating Alcor. But the girl has a gold heart and a very strong sense of friendship.
PROFESSOR PROCTON (Professor Genzo Umon)
Professor Procton is an eminent scientist, recognized worldwide, who runs a astronomy laboratory, the "Center of Space Research". One day, he discovers the fugitive Duke Fleed, leads him to his house and adopts him by presenting him to others as his son Actarus. A very strong bond, similar to that between father and son, joins both men.
When the war against Vega will be inevitable, Procton participates in its own way, helping Actarus during battles and inventing new machines to help Goldrake, improving its defenses and attacks.
He has a big and generous heart and he is always ready to help others: one example is his willingness to treat the wounded bird collected from Mizar.
When the wound to the arm of Duke becomes a serious danger to the life of his adopted child, the heart of Procton breaks from the pain and the scientist tries to cure Actarus in every way.
He has a remarkable self-control even in the most serious situations, as when Hydargos won the Research Center; sometimes, however, he feels crushed under the difficulties of the struggle against the enemy.
He reveals himself as a clever strategist, directing masterly his Research Center and leading attention to the four pilots (Actarus, Alcor, Maria and Venusia). He is like a father to them, not only for Actarus.
For him, scientific research is very important, although he was been reluctantly dragged into the vortex of a galactic war that he would never have imagined. For him, studying the mysteries of the universe was his life, as well as trying to keep the peace.
After several months of fighting, however, he must make a tough decision: when he will have all the equipment needed to turn his Research Center as a combat fortress, for a moment he hesitates to do so, knowing he has to change the direction that his years of study and work had made him take. But the love of the father for his adopted son Actarus will help him to make the right decision, even if it is painful, to transform the Research Center when it will be in grave danger.
RIGEL (Danbei Makiba)
Rigel is a character who has his importance in the series. He's a little man who often shouts, but he has good heart. He really loves his two children Venusia and Mizar, even if he can show himself rough in words towards them in certain occasions, he knows also how to show himself soft to them. Rigel has a strong friendship with professor Procton, whose Center of Spatial Searches was built on the lands of its farm, White birch (or Rocket Ranch). He spends all the days on his tower to scrutinize the horizon, hoping to see extraterrestrials, boasting of being the president of the association of the friends of aliens. He tells to know their language, habits and customs. Younger, he lived in Texas by being a cowboy. He knows how to ride as nobody. Rigel is widower and he works on the farm with his two children and Actarus, although these last ones do almost all the work. Rigel also holds a lot to some Japanese and ancestral traditions. Rigel takes care a lof of the reputation of his daughter Venusia, making run away all the possible pretenders...
In the series, Rigel is a funny character who "takes the drama out" of certain situations, by his tomfooleries. He even helped several times Alcor and Actarus on some fights against the troops of Vega.
MIZAR (Goro Makiba)
Mizar is Rigel's son and Venusia's younger brother. He loves his sister, who loves him like a mother, and she takes good care of him. Sometimes he mocks his father, but with kindness. He's a good boy with a great heart. He has many friends, who we see in some episodes of the series: Miyuki, Shinichi, also Haruk, the vegan who became a child. He's smart and bright, naturally cheerful and smiling. He is naturally curious and interested in everything. Mizar works a lot at the farm by helping her sister. He really admires Actarus, considering him as a older brother, although often he does not understand his attitude, too peaceful to his taste. He also likes a lot Alcor and professor Procton. He is not a problematic boy and gives a cheerful feelings in the series of Grendizer, who often is dramatic.
BANTA (Banta Harano)
He is a neighbor of Rigel's family. He lives with her mother, Hara. He is a big boaster, who is trying to impress Venusia, with whom he's in love, with very little success. He is lazy and awkward. He does not stop provoking deliberately other peoples, Alcor in particular, but Actarus also. Often he passes on Rigel's lands to take the bus to go to the school, and this causes him the lightnings of Rigel one who is ready to shout him with the rifle, or also to hang him when he approaches to Venusia too much. Upon the arrival of Alcor, a rivalry develops between the two men. They often clash, in words or gestures, but in fact, they likes them both. Banta makes the comic part who was of Boss of the Great Mazinger and Mazinger Z. He does not appear in the second part of the series: the authors at the beginning programmed that he should be the pilot of the Drill Spacer, but at the end they preferred Maria, a much nicer and sweeter character, at his place.
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#entry489247358 ENGLISH VERSIONKING VEGA (Vega Daiho: Vega the Great)
He is the absolute monarch of the Vega Nebula, the man capable of destroying planets and exterminate entire peoples to satisfy his lust for power and greatness. He causes, among others, the genocide of Fleed populations, Duke's world, and Altair 2, Marcus' world. Megalomaniacal, ruthless, gifted with a lucid madness that drives him always to attack his opponent, King Vega seems to know no uncertainty or second thoughts. His insane policy of continuous expansion also causes the super-exploitation of the planet Vega, resulting in aggravation of pollution. The result of this insane policy is illustrated in the series: the planet Vega will collapse, forcing the king to flee away, bringing with him his personal guards and army, and abandoning to certain death the entire civilian population.
High, wrapped in a purple cloak, his grim face, always surrounded by his personal guard, King Vega in the early episodes rarely appears: typically appears at the beginning, ready to hear and approve the new plan offered to him by his commanders, and then at the end, where he regularly enrages at the failure of his servant. From remote figure, a sort of ghost evil (in the first few episodes, Vega appears for communication with the base Skarmoon on the screen), the ruler becomes a presence more and more tangible: we see it darken with his presence even wicked nightmares the protagonist, who does not hesitate to call it "evil demon". Whem he moves on Skarmoon, following the end of the planet Vega, the ruler becomes a more important figure, to be himself completely to conduct operations against Duke Fleed in episode 71 ("The commander Marcus"). On that occasion, King Vega shows great tactis intelligence and total lack of scruples.
Throughout the series, only in rare moments we see the individual humanity under the guise of bloodthirsty monster: when he inquires about the health of Gandal, after being badly burned; when he is forced to abandon the planet Vega; when he tries to say a few words of comfort to Zuril, desperate for the death of his son Fritz, and finally, when mournes the death of his only daughter, Princess Rubina.
The disappearance of her daughter seems to be worsening the dementia of the king, who orders a suicide attack against Earth. Again defeated by Duke Fleed, his eternal enemy, he would throw its spacecraft to the planet to contaminate the soil with vegatron radiations. While Grendizer ends the attempt, destroying the ship, the king, now completely insane, dying laughing and proclaiming himself the lord of the universe.
King Vega is a character of great depth, who evolves throughout the series. If, in the first part, he remains in the background, communicating through a screen, thereafter, he assumes a thicker consistency, up to reach the tragic figure of the last episodes. The large purple cloak that wraps him completely in the early episodes, completely concealing his body from our view, seems to emphasize this step.
After the destruction of the planet, king Vega reaches Skarmoon, like a sort of cruel deity that descends among ordinary people. Only from these episodes onward, his coat opens, leaving the body of the king open to see. From the form of evil ghost, he appears as a ghost evil "incarnate" and concrete, real. Simultaneously, we see the first failure of the king, anxious for the end of his planet (is he unsettled for the death of his people, for the end of his world or for not being able to dominate this event? It is left to the interpretation of the viewer). As the series progresses, the king became more and more human and vulnerable: despaired over the death of her daughter, troubled for the future of his empire, the last episode comes to humble supplicating Lady Gandal, who has betrayed him, hurting and threatening to kill him. The symbolism of the coat is visible even in the king's death, when the spear of Grendizer tears it in two pieces: King Vega falls, now completely insane.
The ghost is gone forever, and man is finally defeated. Only then, the nightmare is finally dissolved. King Vega finally appears at the bottom what he has always been: a man slave of the lust for power, who sacrificed everything for this: his humanity at the beginning, and then his people, his world, his only daughter, his sanity, and finally his life itself.
COMMANDER GANDAL - LADY GANDAL (Gandal Shirei/Lady Gandal)
Commander in Chief of Vega. The first and most faithful officer of His Majesty, Gandal is a tormented and complex figure: behind the male appearance, is hidden, in fact, a second female nature, in sharp contrast to the first. In fact, a very sharp division between the two does not exist: it is a sort of Siamese twins of different sex and opposite character. The female counterpart is known as “Lady Gandal”, but she does not seem to have a proper name: she is never mentioned in the anime. So Gandal appears impulsive, framed and on the whole lackluster, very careful not to be overpowering for some ambitious colleague, as Lady Gandal proves cold and intelligent, capable of highly accurate and often ruthless plans (she has no problem in manipulating people's feelings using the extortion, as with the commander Yara or Mineo).
Much more complex and interesting than the bland husband, Lady Gandal in turn undergoes a kind of forced evolution: at the beginning, she appears as a tiny female figure from the dense red hair, placed into the face of her husband. Throughout the first part of the series, the lady is over the top, always ready to roar with his shrill voice commands - and being promptly obeyed, it must be said. Even King Vega seems to show some respect.
The episode where Hydargos dies also marks the metamorphosis of Lady Gandal: fled away with a ship that caught fire, Gandal suffered severe burns to the face, and presumably has been hit by radiation. When we see him, now fully recovered, the male seems to have not changed. In contrast, the female shows a shocking transformation: instead of the tiny little lady, Lady Gandal has become a second face behind the face of her husband.
This means that the two bodies were merged into one, apparently a male. The event seems to mark a kind of rupture of an already fragile balance. As Lady Gandal appears much less hysterical and nervous, even though his tactical skills and command remain in place, seems to have happened in her a deep inner change that is not immediately obvious. Just in the last few episodes, when Gandal now seems increasingly unable to cope with the situation and seem to have taken too many defeats, so much that even Zuril seems resigned, we see Lady Gandal increasingly take dominion over her own husband and drive a variety of attacks against Actarus and his friends: her plans are characterized by imagination, deviousness and treachery especially exquisitely feminine (for example, when convinces Maria that her father is still alive). Instead of confrontation, Lady Gandal prefer to hit the enemy in his affections, focusing on the weaknesses, all demonstrating absolute clarity and ruthlessness.
Rational her, faithful rust him, this diversity is the cause of the end of both. Realizing the inevitable defeat, Lady Gandal does not hesitate to attempt to kill King Vega to ingratiate herself with the eternal enemies and save her own life; then, Gandal intervenes, and in an unforgettable sequence literally fights against his own self. Emblematically, both have to operate half of that body who have always shared, eventually Gandal to execute his wife by shooting himself in the eye ("one who betrays not deserve to live!").
Severely wounded himself, but decided to redeem himself in the eyes of the sovereign, Gandal uses what little life that remains to bring down Goldrake groped in a suicide attack.
Bleeding, throws his ship against the hated enemy. He will crash against the cliff, in a last gasp of invoking the help of his faithful sovereign. After appearing as a character often faded, Gandal makes an exit at least memorable.
COMMANDER HYDARGOS (Blacky Taichou)
Commander in Chief of the invading forces of Vega, Hydargos is intended to be regularly defeated by Duke Fleed and consequently suffer the tantrums of his immediate superiors, who accuse him of stupidity and inefficiency. Nevertheless, the commander of Vega is a man capable of full commitment in its mission, showing even willing to risk in first person: we see him several times commanding the monster turns to face Goldrake in a sort of single combat. Hydargos hates Duke Fleed, because of his constant failures. The war soon becomes a personal matter between the two, so that the Vegan comes to kill Gorman, a colleague who was about to overcome his hated enemy. Only he, Hydargos, will kill Duke Fleed. The continuous defeats, and the humiliation by his superiors, in the long run lead to mental imbalance Hydargos: so we see the commander of Vega, now awake, drowning their frustrations in alcohol. Eventually, after a series of increasingly vicious attacks, Hydargos directly addresses his enemy, determined to resolve the conflict once and for all. After having invaded the Centre of Research of Dr. Procton, and after being played by Venusia, now lost Hydargos flashy lashes out with his ship directly against Grendizer, in a final attempt to win his enemy. He will be defeated, in a sequence rightly remained memorable at that time. Duke does not show the slightest trace of hesitation or pity, and uses his weapons to kill.
With his frustrated ambitions, his humiliation and his neuroses Hydargos is a very human character. The repeated failures led him to lose more and more clarity and control, his pride, that prevents any form of self-pity, pushes him to try again every time: the final catastrophe is the logical, inevitable conclusion for this figure so tormented.
MINISTER OF SCIENCE ZURIL (Kagaku Choukan Zuril)
Minister of Science of the original Star Zuul, commissioned by King Vega to replace the deceased Hydargos, Zuril is not subject to Gandal, but he has the same grade as his own: this fact will trigger many frictions between the two characters, who often appear in conflict between them. We must say that is generally Gandal, jealous of the success of his colleague, to create the most great difficulties, often putting at risk the current mission.
Brilliant scientist, gifted with a lucid and calculating mind of a remarkable self-control, Zuril is actually a cyborg: the left orbit has a tiny embedded computer, which is often used to store data or to project images from the sovereign to give a preview.
On several occasions, Zuril demonstrated a sensitivity totally unknown to his colleague: for example, where Gandal would barked an order, he is able to talk calmly and reasonably the reluctant commander Haruk, to convince him to complete his mission.
Able to draw up ingenious and imaginative plans, Zuril is regularly beaten by Duke Fleed: often in addition to his undoubted skills as a warrior can count on new creations of Dr. Procton and even on a good dose of good luck. Despite the humiliations (Gandal often not spare his sarcasm), Zuril is capable of learning from defeat, so as to develop new plans of attack.
In the end, now sorely tried by the numerous defeats, Zuril suffered a serious loss in the person of his son, the young Fritz, that, just to save his father died fighting Goldrake. In a scene rightly remained imprinted in the audience, is possible to see the cold, staid scientist give full vent to his grief of father, crying without restraint his son's death. Later, we see yet another failure in Zuril, who discovers love with the young and beautiful daughter of King Vega, Princess Rubina. Rejected by the girl, always linked to its former boyfriend Duke Fleed, severely wounded in the explosion of his ship, hit by a beam shot from the same Rubina, with his last attempt Zuril tries to shoot at Actarus; he dies finished by Alcor, who glares with a gunshot.
Symbolically, this man, who for much of the series we have seen cold and controlled, dies as he not ever lived, with his mind clouded and prey to hatred and jealousy.
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE DANTUS (Dantos Bouei Choukan)
He appears for the first time after two thirds of the series, and he announces to King Vega the imminent collapse of the Vega planet. After, we see him directing the evacuation of the army, abandoning, at the behest of the sovereign, the civilians to their fate. Once took office on Skarmoon, Dantus shows very contemptuous of Gandal and Zuril, which he accuses of incapacity. On that occasion, Dantus presents to King Vega
King Gori, a new generation of monster he created and seemingly invincible: it is actually a real gorilla amended and became robotic, which brings together the developed instinct and the senses of an animal with the lethal technology of Vega. The monster turns out to be superior to the capabilities of Zuril's previous creations; the increasingly unsympathetic attitude of Dantus, sure to enjoy the favor of King Vega, causes to Gandal and Zuril to come to plot against him, making sure that Dantus is beaten by his rival Grendizer and his team. The two commanders of Vega will put an end to the existence of their rival: while Zuril destroys the commands of the King Gori, thus allowing Duke Fleed to defeat him, Gandal sticks a dagger in the back of Dantus, finishing him. "The commander Dantus fell heroically on the ground" is the announcement made by a not at all distressed Zuril to King Vega. Dantus dies as the man who more than anyone else was on the verge of winning the war.
Dantus is still in the glory of being on the verge of defeating Grendizer: only his King Gori, unique among all the monsters of Vega, has managed to severely damage the robot of Duke Fleed, wresting his arm. The idea of Dantus about changing an animal with technology will still be exploited by Zuril, who, having understood the secret, will continue to create monsters from animals.
Practically, Dantus marks a kind of watershed: the vegans have lost their planet, now they are fighting out of desperation rather than by simple lust for conquest. The new monsters created from the idea of Dantus turn out to be opponents much more dangerous, fighting became more bitter and, last but not least, the feelings come into play: it is no longer a war between two peoples, is a struggle for survival and, for the protagonists of both sides, a clash in which personal feelings and thoughts are brutally revealed.
COMMANDER BARENDOS (Barendos)
Commander of Vega, first he appeared in Nagai's manga: he was in command of the invading forces of Fleed, distinguished by ruthlessness and savagery. Strangely, Barendos never appears in the regular anime series, but only in the movies released in Italy under the title "Grendizer against Great Mazinger". On that occasion, after threatening Gandal and Hydargos to supplant them, then causing them to be condemned to a horrible end (in a closed coffin and abandoned in space), the decidedly Barendos attack, capturing and destroying the TFO of Koji (and creating a discontinuity with the regular series, in which the TFO is again shot down). After torturing Koji and subjecting him in a truth machine, Barendos discovers the existence of the Great Mazinga, preserved as a symbol of peace in the Museum of Robots with the "brother" Mazinger Z, and takes it. The clash between Great Mazinger and Grendizer is epochal, and with no quartier. Koji manages to escape, and suggests to Duke the weak point of the Great Mazinger, back at the base of the wings. In the end, Koji gets to Great Mazinger's commands to help his friend. Against two opponents with that level, even the ruthless commander Barendos has no hopes: the captain of Vega is finally defeated and killed.
In the already dark presentation of the commanders of Vega, Barendos is particularly evil: ambitious, cruel and ruthless, showing a strong dose of sadism when promises to Gandal and Hydargos their next fall, and when having fun in torturing Koji. His wish to use the Great Mazinger ("From the champion of peace, it will become a symbol of evil") is emblematic: Barendos' aura emanates evil that contaminates whatever it touches. The Great Mazinger in his hands becomes an instrument of death and destruction, and Barendos seems to enjoy almost more for the degradation of the robot than to the victory. By contrast, Koji will be just to "purify" the Great Mazinger: the subsequent defeat of Barendos no longer appears as a simple victory over the enemy, but as an annihilation of personified evil.
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#entry489247358 NAIDA BARZAGIK (Naida Barzagik)(MICHI's picture)
Her origins are unknown: we know only that she was of Fleed and knew Duke when he was a boy: probably they were engaged. Surely noble origins (in the Roman album of Goldrake she is said to belong to the noble fleedian family of Barzagik), she is a woman of statuesque beauty with green hair, wearing a garment resembling a tunic, which is reminiscent of the ancient Romans.
Naida is one of the few survivors of the extermination of Fleed through the work of Vega, and between all the characters of the series she brings on her the deepest wounds, not only in body but also in soul: in fact, conditioned by King Vega, she is pushed to hate Duke Fled and puts a bomb in the hangar where is Goldrake. The attack was foiled, but the worst is after: the words of Naida, full of poison and venom, in part due to the conditioning of Vega, in part because she herself thinks it, she accuses Duke Fleed of having abandoned planet Fleed and disrupts Actarus so as to reduce him to a catatonic state. After that Professor Procton removes the Vega device which conditioned Naida, the girl comes around and looks at the mess that she, consciously or not, has made: Duke Fleed mentally destroyed, Goldrake unusable and Vega forces that are going to attack, aware that no one can now stop them. Naida eventually sacrifices himself to save Duke Fleed, leaving Actarus more alone and with even more pain than before. Naida's sacrifice, in addition to saving Actarus, also aims to "redeem her shame", that is, the fact that she was an obstacle to the action of Duke Fleed: it is the Eastern view of suicide, whether for reasons of honor .
Naida's story is the most shocking of the series: not only Duke Fleed, but the viewers themselves are surprised to see their hero accused and unable to defend himself. Actarus's words: "Naida, why call me a traitor?" are the same as those who follow the story, and the upheaval of him is the same as the viewer. Naida is the emblem of the victims of war, hatred and violence. Her eyes are often sad, extinct: eyes of those who are tired of living. Attempts of Actarus to revive the spirit of Naida remain ineffective, and her smile is just a polite smile, while hiding the dagger with which she should kill Actarus and then, later, she throws it away. Yet she is subject to the same nightmares of Actarus, due to the conditioning and the atrocities that she has seen in war, not least the murder of Sirius, her younger brother, whose brain was then transplanted into a Vega monster that Goldrake later destroyed. Even the accusation of being the murder of Sirius is one of the reasons for the collapse of Actarus. Perhaps convinced that she could no longer stand next to Actarus, Naida, realizing the attraction of Venusia for him and that she is worried that seeing Actarus reduced to madness, Naida tells Venusia to take care of him. It’s the only act of Naida in which she expresses some hope: in Venusia, probably, she sees what she can no longer be. Even after several years, the character of Naida remains unforgettable.
PRINCESS RUBINA OF VEGA (Rubina)(MICHI's picture)
Though she appeared only once, and unexpectedly (throughout the series had never mentioned the existence of a daughter of the king), Rubina is a fundamental character, because her appearance leads to the final conclusion of the events. Betrothed to Duke Fleed, she is also indirect victim of the invasion of the planet Fleed from her father, which was unexpected also for her. Sent by his father, as a precaution, on planet Ruby as regent, because she was as far away as possible from Vega and the Earth and she did not notice that Duke Fleed is still alive, at the end of the series she realizes the truth and reaches her father on the Moon Base Skarmoon. She tries to convince him to make peace with the Earth and with Duke, but, given her attempts fail, she decides to reach the Earth alone and to talk face to face with Duke. Zuril tries to stop her, strengthened by the fact that King Vega had just promised to marry him Rubina: but the girl gets off, threatening him with a gun. The humiliation of rejection by Rubina infuriates Zuril, who plans to kill Duke Fleed using Rubina as bait. His plan fails, and Zuril meets death: however, he also causes the death of the girl, who dies in the arms of Duke, in a moment never forgotten by Grendizer fans.
With a slender figure and long red hair, and with a noble carriage, Rubina seems at a little child, but at the same time not naïve: in her eyes still retains the same freshness that was at the first time when she and Duke were together. Romantic and determined woman, for her love is above all things: if Naida is the emblem of the pain suffered and of the ambiguous relationship love/hate, Rubina is the symbol of total love, who only wants the good of who loves, so much to sacrifice herself for him. In addition, Rubina is also the emblem of peace, or a woman of peace, who wants to talk to the man who loves trying to reconcile the relentless hardships on both sides, trying by every means dialogue and finally dies to save Duke and to realize her desire for peace. Rubina’s sacrifice allows at least the end of the terrible war, though not in a peaceful way she wanted.
MINEO (Mineo)(picture by NIVALIS)
She appears in episode 9 of the series. She comes from the world called Ruby: probably, it is the same planet where Vega's daughter, Rubina, was the regent. Mineo is a captain of Vega, who is sent on a suicide mission against Goldrake aboard the monster Grendizer Jiru Jiru (the only robot with feminine features of the series). The attack fails, and Mineo is hosted at Rigel’s ranch, where she lives a normal life, wearing earth women's clothes, instead of her military suit. She enjoys the feeling for a few days of the simplicity of life and friendship, in an oasis of peace. But the inner suffering of the girl is very large: if she does not kill Duke Fleed, her home planet, Ruby, will be destroyed. She was about to kill Actarus with a dagger while he sleeps, but she renounces it, and Duke realizes her dilemma. Perhaps, with Mineo, Actarus feels an affinity in the common, tormented destiny. When both are side by side, under the moon of the evening, they feel threatened by the presence of Vega, and feel a certain complicity, which leads them to a sense of mutual support in disaster. Mineo understands that Actarus is essential for the salvation of the Earth; also, she will never be sure that Vegans keep their word. At the end, she makes her decision: deferring the clothes of combat, comes back to the ship on board and with Jiru Jiru take on Hydargos’ mother ship, but she is shot down. The robot ends up destroyed, and Mineo falls to Earth aboard her ship. She dies in the arms of Actarus, who was arrived too late to save her. Actarus also promises her that he will fight to save her planet, Ruby.
Mineo is the first of the "troubled women" that appear in the series: her impact in the memories of viewers will not be equal to that of Naida and Rubina, but her inner torment, and her inability to solve it, has made her a very human character. It's easy to see in her a prototype of Naida, but there are substantial differences. First, she has a past not linked with that of Actarus: hence, their relationship only begins with their first meeting. In addition, Mineo has nothing to reproach Actarus, even, she admires his ability to stand against a tyrant. Her tragedy is not tied to Actarus, as in Naida’s case, but is the salvation of her planet to be put into play. The life of a man against the lives of billions, a classical dilemma. Like Naida, she was about to kill Actarus several times, then refuse: Naida in her heart also wants revenge against a man who loves and despises at the same time. Mineo, instead, does not have a love-hate relationship with Actarus: she is attracted to him, but she is divided by the dilemma in which her world is at stake. Her appearance is very peculiar, with the alien characteristic of her long and purple hair, arranged in a particular way, with long tufts that look like tentacles. Her eyes are blacks with some lights that shine in, perhaps because it takes a symbology of her planet or how dark is her situation. And she is dressed in an elegant and military uniform that covers herself with little room for a female habit, if not, perhaps, only the legs with boots. She agrees to dress in women's dress while she is in Rigel’s ranch: sign that, even if she is a fighter, does not reject her femininity. She is a captain of Vega, although part of a planet subject, so she should be a fighter in every respect, and should be much more than others, to have reached that degree of captain, which certainly the Vegan invaders don’t give so easily to subjects. Giving to Mineo the job to eliminate Goldrake, the basic problem of King Vega, means that she enjoys high esteem from Vegans for her combat skills and her spirit of sacrifice; in essence, however, they sent her for a suicide mission. This, too, shows contempt for the losers of veghiani: although Mineo is a fighter of value, she is cynically used as cannon fodder, as if she was not worth much, despite his undoubted quality. No Vegan, to my knowledge, has never been sent to a suicide mission against Goldrake. Romantic spirit, proud and tragic; attached to her homeland, to her roots and traditions, and above all to love at his extreme provisions, Mineo is a memorable character.
The picture of this history is of Keisuke Morishita, who has worked on several stories of Mazinger Z and Great Mazinger. His rough and sometimes crude stretch, nevertheless gives a good contrast of Mineo: female soldier, but with deep feelings, which often show up in the stretch in which the character is delineated. Shingo Araki, no doubt, would give to Mineo a softer appearance, but, perhaps, it should countered with the context "militaristic" of Mineo.
Please note a small curiosity: in Sicily, in the province of Catania, there is a place called Mineo, where, in 1826, fell a small meteor, which was called by the same name of the place. The term "Mineo" seems to mean, in greek-Sicilian, "encampment of soldiers". Of course, cannot thinking that Nagai has deliberately chosen this name for this motive, but it is worth noting the coincidence between the warlike character of Mineo (between all women of Goldrake, she is the most "military") and the meaning of the name of the country.
COMMANDER SHIRA (Kirika)
She appears in episode 63 of the series, designed by Shingo Araki. Shira, or Kira (in the original Japanese she is called Kirika: in Japanese probably it means "natural beauty") is a Vegan scientist who discovered the system to freeze anything with a radius freezing: a discovery useful to save the planet Vega, now threatened by the flames. King Vega, however, dictates that the radius freezing must be used against Goldrake and she, reluctantly, obeys. After an assault against Actarus and his companions, she is defeated and brought to Procton Research Center, where she was treated. But she managed to escape, and finally has the opportunity to kill Duke Fleed with a radius freezing, but Maria, Actarus’ sister, gets in way. Shira, surprised to know that she is Actarus’ sister, remembers his dead brother, who she was very fond of, and waives attacking Duke Fleed. But the Vegans attack with their monster Zume Zume, chilling with Shira’ radius freezing. The scientist, wounded by Vegans themselves, on board of her ship, is delirious and tries to reach the Vega planet to save it with freeze rays: but she does not realize that she is heading against the monster Zume Zume, which cuts the spaceship. Shira is near death, and she is barely recovered from Actarus and his companions: she dies in the arms of Maria Fleed. Apparently, Shira seems a character like Mineo, or Naida and Rubina, who falls in love with Actarus and, at the end, sacrifices herself for him, but it is not so. Among Actarus and Shira there is not any particular attraction, and the scientist does not die to save Duke Fleed: she attacks the monster with her ship, but she does so in a fit of delirium, thinking of going on the planet Vega to save it. The only relationship that exists between Shira and Actarus is the presence of his sister, Maria, who makes her change her mind. In essence, there is not a love story this time: the only love here is the brotherly love, of which Shira is the symbol.
Her relationship with her died brother, along with her passion for science and the salvation of her planet are the basic characteristics of Shira, so that she will shape the choices on these factors. In fact, the love between Maria and her brother induces Shira to save Duke Fleed, and the last thought of Shira is to save her planet with his freeze ray. Shira is a unusual character in many aspects: first, she is vegan - so she does not belong to a planet conquered by Vega - and she does not cultivate any special relationship of friendship with anyone, apart from her dead brother, and she has a subtle attitude of mistrust with everyone. The chill of winter in history is also an expression of frost in the heart of Shira. Not only that: she is a character who lives in complete solitude in the midst of the tubes in her laboratory and with the photograph of her deceased brother before her. In essence, Shira is out of reality, with which he manages to have a certain relationship only when it is akin to her way of thinking: for example, when she realizes the love between siblings like Maria and Duke. It is no coincidence that she dies in the grip of visions, in a context that is not real. Only when she is dying, sends her farewell to Maria and the others; however, Shira remains essentially a character that is not understood and that was not able to relate with others. Besides being a scientist, Shira also is a valiant warrior: it was evident in the battle in the snow between her and Actarus’ group. Another striking feature of Shira are her memories of the past, where she lived with his brother, with white horses, in total harmony: yet here we are talking about the planet Vega, not the planet Fleed, to which the memories Shira are alike. Perhaps, in a not too distant past, Vega was like Fleed? The death of Shira will prevent forever the answer to these questions ...
COMMANDER KEIN (Kein)
The commander Kein, or Kane, appears in episode 68 of the series. He is character designed by Shingo Araki. We are near the end of the story, and the Minister of Science Zuril is wounded by the fighting he had in the past against Goldrake: he is hiding in a vegan base on Earth, entrusting the mission to manage it to his subordinate, the commander Kein, who feeds on a deep trust, unlike vegan soldiers, who despise it because he is Fleedian. Despite all precautions, the base of Kein and Zuril was discovered and Zuril blames the commander in front of everyone, humiliating him. To redeem himself, Kein parts with all the UFO to stop Goldrake and the other; at the end, he was able to break down the Maria’s ship, even if his own UFO falls down. By being able to leave the flying saucer, Kein approaches walking to Maria’s ship, with the intention of eliminate the pilot and redeem himself. When he realizes that Maria is at the controls, unconscious, he is shocked, because he recognized the girl with whom he ran on the lawns of Fleed, when he was little.
Maria also recognizes him, when she opens her eyes and tries to get close to him to hug him, but Kein moves away, scared and upset: he cannot stand the gaze of Maria. Realizing that he had become a traitor who abandoned Fleed to be with Vega, Kein commits suicide in front of Maria because of his shame. The girl remains alone to cry in front of the body of a person who perhaps had loved in the past, in the midst of a terrible blizzard, before the eyes of Actarus and Alcor, speechless.
Kein is the only Fleedian who has become captain of Vega, but he was not affected by vegans, but he became consciously captain of Vega. It is a mystery about the reasons which led him to do so. The ambition? The desire to excel in any case, regardless of his origins? The suffering he endured, as proposed Aster in her fanfiction? In any case, the encounter with Maria is overwhelming for him, so as to take his own life for the dishonor. Kein is the character who represents "Japanese honor”. The concept of "honor" is rooted in Kein, as it is for the Japanese soul: for a Japanese, honor is everything and sacrifices his life to rescue the loss of honor, that is the "shame", the maximum unfortunately possible. Kein's gaze is always hard, but without the cruel ruthlessness typical of evil men: it is a hard and, ultimately, sad stare who has become cynical and no longer has to believe in true values. The meeting with Maria gives him the ability to understand his mistake, but unfortunately not the ability to accept it. This is the tragedy of Kein: the rejection of a possible salvation. His name, "Kein", can be associated with Cain, who says to God: "My guilt is too great (that of having killed his brother Abel) to ask for forgiveness." That is, Cain refuses, out of pride, of being forgiven by God, as Kein, for pride, refuses to be forgiven by Maria ... Moreover, in German, "Kein" is an adjective that indicates the negative, the non-being: a reference to this tormented character who eventually chooses to not-be ...
CAPTAIN MARCUS (Morus)
He appears in episode 71, unpublished in Italy. Marcus (Morus, in the original) is, perhaps, the best friend of Actarus at the time of his youth, when he was on Fleed: he is not fleedian, but he is from Altair 2, a planet allied with Fleed. It seems he was the prince of Altair 2, but his past is not well known. At the time of the Vega attack on Fleed, Marcus was on that planet, probably as a classmate of Actarus: the attack was sudden, and Marcus, along with Actarus while running away, he fell from a ledge, but the other one threw his band to bring him up and save him. Marcus grabbed it and Actarus began to pull, to bring his friend to safety. It was then that a UFO of Vega threw a ray on Actarus, injuring his right arm: the wound was the origin of the famous red scar that, during the series, would put him many times in life-threatening. Despite excruciating pain, at that time Actarus was able to save Marcus, who wanted to retain his band as a souvenir, using it as a scarf.
Later, because of the attack, the two men eventually separated: Actarus boarded Goldrake for an unequal battle that would cause him to eventually leave the planet, now destroyed, while Marcus was instead captured by vegans and subjected to brainwashing , who turned it into a faithful Vega fighter. Also, he was conditioned to believe that Duke Fleed was responsible for the destruction of his planet, Altair 2, when instead the responsibility was of King Vega. Despite the conditioning, however, he never took off her scarf, without knowing why. His value in the fight was so high and undisputed that, despite not being a Vegan, led him to become one of the elite guard of Vega, or Vega Imperial Guards, the elite military excellence. In the series, only three persons were able to have this honor, and were among their most formidable adversaries of Goldrake: Gorman (episode 7), Camargo Ishtar (episode 24) and Zigra (episode 36).
In the destruction of the planet Vega, due to pollution of Vegatron, Marcus, on board of the monster Jiga Jiga, was thrown out into space and it took him three months to achieve alone the king, on the lunar base Skarmoon. The journey was so hard that the monster itself became a skeleton. Now we come to the effective conduct of the story told in the episode: Marcus was brought before King Vega; the latter, admired, appointed him as a commander of the Royal Guards of Vega, giving him a medallion, which he puts on his arm. Vega sends Marcus against Grendizer on board the Jiga Jiga. The battle between Marcus and Actarus is tight, and the words of Duke Fleed are ineffective. In the end, face the front of one another, without their robots. Actarus notices that the medallion on Marcus’ arm is actually a bomb, that King Vega had made to eliminate both. In a fast move, Actarus takes away the medallion, before it explodes, and throws it away. The explosion makes Marcus free from conditioning, and he, repented, heals the wound of Actarus on his arm using his vegan gun.
Subsequently, with the Jiga Jiga Marcus goes against the lunar base, but King Vega had placed on the monster a self-destruction device as a precaution. In an instant, the Jiga Jiga explodes in the sky, along with Marcus, before the astonished eyes of Actarus and Alcor.
Marcus is the emblem of friendship cracked and then recomposed: the slander it may weaken or even delete a friendship. To influence people, in fact, there is no need for complicated equipment, often it is enough using false words. This story shows how false the words can be dangerous. The striking thing about Marcus are his eyes: rigid and cold, when he is brainwashing, and when he is not. Unlike Actarus, whose eyes are deep and thoughtful and likes the feeling and admiration of nature, those of Marcus are regular and square, with a rigidity that has a lot of German. He admires most the discipline that the feeling, and even his friendship is iron-disciplined, enough to go even alone against the base Skarmoon to repair the friendship betrayed. In a sense, Marcus is temperamentally opposed to Actarus. The name "Marcus" is latin and it refers to Mars, the god of war: therefore, an appropriate name for Actarus’ friend-warrior. The original, "Morus", instead, indicates the dark, or Muslim; it also indicates a dark complexion or dark hair. We do not know why in Japan chose that name: perhaps for the exotic sound for Japanese people.
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#entry489247358 
. In this photo, from left to right there are: Toshio Katsuta, Go Nagai and Asuka Kawamura, the Grendizer Fan Club:
