Lightspeed Electroid Albegas

Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (光速電神アルベガス, Kōsoku Denjin Arubegasu) is an anime series that aired from 1983 to 1984 in Japan, Latin America, Spain and Italy. There were 45 episodes aired at 25 minutes each. Other loosely translated names are "Arbegas", "Arebegas", "Lightspeed ElectroGod Arbegas" and "Arbegas: El Rayo Custodio".

Lightspeed Electroid Albegas
Screenshot from the television series depicting the super robot Albegas
光速電神アルベガス (Kōsoku Denjin Arubegasu)
Genre	Mecha
Anime television series
Directed by	Kozo Morishita
Music by	Michiaki Watanabe
Studio	Toei Animation
Licensed by	NA: Discotek Media
Original network	MegaTON (TV Tokyo)
Original run	March 30, 1983 – February 8, 1984
Episodes	45

Original story

Three talented students of a technical high school, Daisaku, Tetsuya, and Hotaru, create award-winning robots as part of a school competition. At this time, the evil Derinja race that plans control of all space extends its ambitions to Earth. To combat this threat, Hotaru's father, Professor Mizuki, takes the three robots and modifies them for battle. Albegas, a super robot, is born.

Concept

The three individual robots form by stacking on top of one another to form a super robot called Albegas. There are six stackable formations. Each one serves a special function. Individually, the name of the robots are derived from the first 3 letters of the Greek alphabet (Alpha, Beta, and Gamma). Albegas' weapon of choice is the Sanbai Plasma Sword, with which he defeats enemy Derinja robots (called "Mecha-Fighters") by splitting them in half. Each robot also uses an individual sword.

Staff

• Director
  Kozo Morishita
• Designers
  Shigenori Kageyama
  Koichi Ohata
• Animation
  Hajie Kaneko
  Toshio Mori
• Music
  Michiaki Watanabe

Characters

Albegas members

Name	Voices by
Daisaku Enjoji	Toshio Furukawa
Tetsuya Jin	Hideyuki Hori
Hotaru Mizuki	Hiromi Tsuru

Aoba School allies

Name	Voices by
Prof. Mizuki	Eiji Kanie
Goro Kumai	Kōzō Shioya
Saeko Asabuki	Chiyoko Kawashima
Prof. Danko Kibi	Noriko Tsukase

Derinja (Derringer) Civilization

A race of purple-skinned beings led by Grand Deram, a sentient being made of energy which lives in the center of the Derinja's home planet Deram. "President" Azass is the leader of the invading force stationed at his orbital base and Generalissimo Duston his top army officer, until they are replaced in Episode 29 by Bios and his lieutenant Dari.

Their giant robots, called "Mecha-Fighters" and often prefixed with "Mecha-", act as monsters of the week. A few are piloted, and the pilot is usually killed when Albegas splits their Mecha-Fighter in half. Duston (in Episode 27), Azass (Episode 29) and Bios (Episode 45) suffer this fate as well, while Dari (Episode 44) is badly hurt but taken prisoner by the Albegas staff, dying later in their headquarters.

All remaining Derinja (as well as Bios' second orbital base/mothership) are dematerialized in Episode 45 when Albegas destroys Grand Deram and makes the Deram planet explode.

Name	Voices by
President Azass	Eiji Kanie
President Bios	Hidekatsu Shibata
Generalissimo (Shogun) Duston	Masaharu Satō
Generalissimo Dari	Masaharu Satō
Commander Katastra	Kōji Totani
Commander Mira Zero	Satomi Majima
Officer Dime	Reizō Nomoto
Grand Deram	Masaharu Satō

Robots

Configuration	Color	Pilot
Alpha Robo	Black	Daisaku Enjoji
Beta Robo	Blue	Tetsuya Jin
Gamma Robo	Red	Hotaru Mizuki

A friend of the three pilots, Goro, also piloted the comic relief Gori Robo (in the tradition of Boss Borot from Mazinger Z).

Stackable configurations

Albegas Mode	Abilities	Stack (top to bottom)	Albegas Colors
Denjin Dimension (Electroid Dimension)	Basic fighting mode, best for finishing off enemies.	Alpha, Beta, Gamma	Black, Blue, Red
Magma Dimension	Able to fight underground and in hot environments.	Beta, Gamma, Alpha	Blue, Red, Black
Space Dimension	For outer space battles.	Alpha, Gamma, Beta	Black, Red, Blue
Marine Dimension	For battles in water.	Gamma, Alpha, Beta	Red, Black, Blue
Guard Dimension	Defensive.	Gamma, Beta, Alpha	Red, Blue, Black
Sky Dimension	For flying through the atmosphere.	Beta, Alpha, Gamma	Blue, Black, Red

When combined, the first listed robot forms the upper torso, head, arms, and thighs of Albegas, the second robot listed forms the midriff, upper backpack, and the backs of the lower legs, and the third robot forms the waist, the lower backpack, and the prominent portion of the lower legs.

Super Abega and New Super Abega

In the beginning of the series, each pilot also used a smaller aircraft, which was flown in through small hatches into the backs of the robots in order to pilot the robots. The three aircraft could also combine into a single jet called the Super Abega.

They were very quickly replaced by a different set of small aircraft that could transform into different bipedal droid forms, and similarly combined into the New Super Abega.

Original Jet	Transforming Jet/Robot	Pilot
Jet Alpha	New Jet Alpha/Jetrobo Alpha	Daisaku Enjoji
Jet Beta	New Jet Beta/Jetrobo Beta	Tetsuya Jin
Jet Gamma	New Jet Gamma/Jetrobo Gamma	Mizuki Hotaru

Voltron and Albegas

Albegas was intended to be incorporated into the Voltron universe as the third portion of the Voltron: Defender of the Universe series, but due to the extreme popularity of the GoLion-derived Voltron and lack of popularity of the Dairugger XV–adapted portion of the series, the plan was ultimately scrapped in favor of a season of newly-animated "Lion Voltron" episodes commissioned specifically for the American show.^[1][2][3] However, die-cast Albegas toys were still released as "Voltron II" (a.k.a., "Gladiator Voltron") in the Matchbox Voltron toyline, and Albegas made a brief appearance as Gladiator Voltron in the Voltron comic book series.^{[citation needed]}

Episodes

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	"The Brave of Aoba School" "Aoba Gakuen no Yusha" (Japanese: 青葉学園の勇者)	Kozo Morishita	Akiyoshi Sakai	March 30, 1983 (1983-03-30)
2	"Burn! Albegas" "Moero! Arubegasu" (Japanese: 燃えろ! アルベガス)	Masamitsu Sasaki	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 6, 1983 (1983-04-06)
3	"The Targeted Aoba School" "Nerawareta Aoba Gakuen" (Japanese: 狙われた青葉学園)	Directed by : Masao Ito Storyboarded by : Shigeyasu Yamauchi	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 13, 1983 (1983-04-13)
4	"My Space Creature DK" "Boku no Uchu Seibutsu DK" (Japanese: ぼくの宇宙生物DK)	Takashi Hisaoka Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	April 20, 1983 (1983-04-20)
5	"The Unbalanced Love Strategy" "Koi no Anbaransu Sakusen" (Japanese: 恋のアンバランス作戦)	Masamitsu Sasaki Keiji Namisato	Shozo Uehara	April 27, 1983 (1983-04-27)
6	"Revolt of the Gold Prize Robot" "Kinsho Robo no Hanran" (Japanese: 金賞ロボの反乱)	Takao Yoshizawa Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	May 4, 1983 (1983-05-04)
7	"Otoko Gorirobo Ichibante Gara" (Japanese: 男ゴリロボ一番手柄)	Keiji Namisato	Shozo Uehara	May 11, 1983 (1983-05-11)
8	"Princess of Aoba School" "Aoba Gakuen no Kaguya-hime" (Japanese: 青葉学園のかぐや姫)	Kozo Morishita Keiji Namisato	Shozo Uehara	May 18, 1983 (1983-05-18)
9	"Phantom Thief X - There Are Two Tetsuyas" "Kaito X - Tetsuya ga Futari" (Japanese: 怪盗X・哲也が二人)	Directed by : Takeyoshi Matsushita Storyboarded by : Yoshikata Nitta	Shozo Uehara	May 25, 1983 (1983-05-25)
10	"Journey of Love for Danko-sensei" "Danko-sensei no Renai Ryoko" (Japanese: ダン子先生の恋愛旅行)	Masayuki Akehi Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 1, 1983 (1983-06-01)
11	"Orora ni Kieta Roido" (Japanese: オーロラに消えたロイド)	Directed by : Keiji Namisato Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 8, 1983 (1983-06-08)
12	"Kuhibu Fujimi Kujira" (Japanese: 空飛ぶ不死身くじら)	Shigeyasu Yamauchi Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	June 15, 1983 (1983-06-15)
13	"Arubegasu Daihyakka" (Japanese: アルベガス大百科)	Kozo Morishita	Shozo Uehara Akiyoshi Sakai	June 22, 1983 (1983-06-22)
14	"Birth of New Super Abega" "Nyu Supa Abega Tanjo" (Japanese: ニュー・スーパーアベガ誕生)	Masayuki Akehi Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	June 29, 1983 (1983-06-29)
15	"Arubegasu no Himitsu wo Sagure!" (Japanese: アルベガスの秘密を探れ!)	Directed by : Masao Ito Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Akiyoshi Sakai	July 6, 1983 (1983-07-06)
16	"Mienai Kana wo Kiru!" (Japanese: 見えない敵を斬る!)	Directed by : Keiji Namisato Storyboarded by : Masamitsu Sasaki	Shozo Uehara	July 13, 1983 (1983-07-13)
17	"Mother of Derinja" "Derinja no Haha" (Japanese: デリンジャーの母)	Shigeyasu Yamauchi Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	July 20, 1983 (1983-07-20)
18	"Tetsuya no Hanayome wa 15-sai" (Japanese: 哲也の花嫁は15才)	Kozo Morishita Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	July 27, 1983 (1983-07-27)
19	"Oretachi no Itoshita Bancho" (Japanese: 俺たちの愛した番長)	Masayuki Akehi Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 3, 1983 (1983-08-03)
20	"Adam Goro and Eve Hotaru" "Adamu Goro to Ibu Hotaru" (Japanese: アダム五郎とイブほたる)	Directed by : Masao Ito Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 10, 1983 (1983-08-10)
21	"Robotto Ozumo no Inbo" (Japanese: ロボット大相撲の陰謀)	Takao Yoshizawa Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	August 17, 1983 (1983-08-17)
22	"Bakansu wa Shachi ga Ippai!" (Japanese: バカンスはシャチが一杯!)	Shigeyasu Yamauchi Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	August 24, 1983 (1983-08-24)
23	"Chichi to Ko no Shinwa" (Japanese: 父と子の神話)	Johei Matsura Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	August 31, 1983 (1983-08-31)
24	"Idainaru Deran no Namida" (Japanese: 偉大なるデランの涙)	Masayuki Akehi Keiji Namisato	Shozo Uehara	September 7, 1983 (1983-09-07)
25	"Arubegasu Daihoso" (Japanese: アルベガス大放送)	Kozo Morishita	Akiyoshi Sakai Shozo Uehara	September 14, 1983 (1983-09-14)
26	"Akuma no Shisha Baiosu" (Japanese: 悪魔の使者バイオス)	Toshihiko Arisako Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	September 21, 1983 (1983-09-21)
27	"Dasuton Shogun no Saigo" (Japanese: ダストン将軍の最期)	Directed by : Keiji Namisato Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Shozo Uehara	September 28, 1983 (1983-09-28)
28	"Baiosu wo Yami ni Homure" (Japanese: バイオスを闇に葬れ)	Takao Yoshizawa Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	October 5, 1983 (1983-10-05)
29	"Shurai! Derinja Yosai" (Japanese: 襲来! デリンジャー要塞)	Masayuki Akehi Keiji Namisato	Shozo Uehara	October 12, 1983 (1983-10-12)
30	"Gingatetsudo Panikku" (Japanese: 銀河鉄道パニック)	Kozo Morishita Takeyoshi Matsushita	Shozo Uehara	October 26, 1983 (1983-10-26)
31	"Hotaru wa Netsuretsu Puroresu Kyo" (Japanese: ほたるは熱烈プロレス狂)	Toshihiko Arisako Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	November 2, 1983 (1983-11-02)
32	"Hissatsu! Uramachi no Tama Saburo" (Japanese: 必殺! 裏町の玉三郎)	Masayuki Akehi	Akiyoshi Sakai	November 9, 1983 (1983-11-09)
33	"Jigoku no Kateikyoshi" (Japanese: 地獄の家庭教師)	Masao Ito	Akiyoshi Sakai	November 16, 1983 (1983-11-16)
34	"Kanashi Kikoi no Senshi" (Japanese: 哀しき恋の戦士)	Directed by : Johei Matsura Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Akiyoshi Sakai	November 23, 1983 (1983-11-23)
35	"Mune Kyun Takara Sagashi" (Japanese: 胸キュン宝探し)	Shigeyasu Yamauchi Keiji Namisato	Akiyoshi Sakai	November 30, 1983 (1983-11-30)
36	"Natsuko to Koro no Monogatari" (Japanese: 夏子とコロの物語)	Masayuki Akehi	Akiyoshi Sakai	December 7, 1983 (1983-12-07)
37	"Sabaku no Fukushuki" (Japanese: 砂漠の復讐鬼)	Takao Yoshizawa	Shozo Uehara	December 14, 1983 (1983-12-14)
38	"Afurika ni Yuki ga Furu" (Japanese: アフリカに雪が降る)	Toshihiko Arisako Johei Matsura	Akiyoshi Sakai	December 21, 1983 (1983-12-21)
39	"Arubegasu Daishugo" (Japanese: アルベガス大集合)	Kozo Morishita	Akiyoshi Sakai Shozo Uehara	December 28, 1983 (1983-12-28)
40	"Uchu Kara no Nengajo" (Japanese: 宇宙からの年賀状)	Directed by : Keiji Namisato Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Akiyoshi Sakai	January 4, 1984 (1984-01-04)
41	"Soto no Senso Gemu" (Japanese: 総統の戦争ゲーム)	Shigeyasu Yamauchi Johei Matsura	Shozo Uehara	January 11, 1984 (1984-01-11)
42	"Eien no Juria" (Japanese: 永遠のジュリア)	Masayuki Akehi	Shozo Uehara	January 18, 1984 (1984-01-18)
43	"Ai to Shi no Ketto" (Japanese: 愛と死の決闘)	Shigeyasu Yamauchi Keiji Namisato	Hiroshi Okawa	January 25, 1984 (1984-01-25)
44	"Semari Kuru Deran Hoshi" (Japanese: 迫り来るデラン星)	Masayuki Akehi Johei Matsura	Toyohiro Ando	February 1, 1984 (1984-02-01)
45	"Arubegasu yo Eien ni" (Japanese: アルベガスよ永遠に)	Directed by : Keiji Namisato Storyboarded by : Masamune Ochiai	Toyohiro Ando	February 8, 1984 (1984-02-08)

Arcade game

Albegas was a laserdisc arcade game produced by Sega, with Toei Animation producing the animation for it. It was released in Japan in March 1984.^[4]

In Japan, Game Machine magazine listed Albegas on their July 1, 1984 issue as being the tenth most-successful upright/cockpit arcade unit of the month.^[5] In North America, it was going to be published by Bally Midway for the U.S. under the title of Cybernault and a prototype video was made to demonstrate what the game would be like. However, the release of the game was cancelled.

References

1. Kamen, Matt (7 October 2016). "Voltron: Legendary Defender season two lands on Netflix in January". Wired UK. Retrieved 7 February 2019 – via www.wired.co.uk.
2. Phillips, Nicholas. "Voltron prepares to recapture the universe from a small office in St. Louis". Riverfront Times. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
3. "The 15 Darkest Secrets About Voltron". CBR. 18 March 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
4. "Albegas". Media Arts Database (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
5. "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - アップライト, コックピット型TVゲーム機 (Upright/Cockpit Videos)" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 239. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 July 1984. p. 25.

External links

• Lightspeed Electroid Albegas (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Atari HQ
• System 16
• Collection dx