Before Naruto and ONE PIECE, before Dragon Ball and Yu of the Ghosts and the many souls aired in the 90s on the Mediaset and Rai networks that are still a symbol of our childhood today, there was the era of regional channels . These were among the first to transmit oriental products, souls, and among these there was Steel Jeeg Robot.
Kotetsu Jeeg, this is the Japanese name that literally means Jeeg d’Acciaio, is a work that was born in the mid-70s. Let’s see together five curiosities about the title.
First of all, the mind behind this anime is Go Nagai, one of the most important names on the Japanese comics scene. As it also happened for Devilman, Go Nagai began to prepare an anime together with the designer Tatsuya Yasuda and the production was strongly focused on the creation of a franchise that would allow the sale of gadgets and stickers. And, as often happened in that period, manga and anime diverge bringing two different stories for certain themes.
In the creation of Jeeg Steel Robot, despite the futuristic themes and these giant robots that narrate a contemporary or future Japan, Go Nagai included many elements from feudal Japan, in particular by digging into history and relying on events from the first to the third century after Christ.
One of the countries where it was most successful was Italy where, like many other souls of those years, it became a cult object. Together with the other robots Goldrake and Mazinger, Jeeg Robot has created a very famous trio. The popularity of this robot is still high in certain generations, so much so that the anime has given many inspirations for the film They called him Jeeg Robot.
Also in Italy, Jeeg Robot d’Acciaio was the subject of a parody prepared by the Neapolitan comedian Alessandro Siani who on various regional TVs launched Giggig Robot Steel in some broadcasts, where some scenes were duplicated.
Finally, after more than thirty years, the anime of Toei Animation has risen in the world of Japanese animation thanks to the sequel Shin Jeeg Robot of Steel. The opera consists of 13 episodes and was supervised by Go Nagai with a broadcast in 2007.
Jeeg Robot is now 45 years old, little more than the rival UFO Robot Goldrake who is 42, but remains an important piece of Japanese animation history in Italy.
