Ganbare!! Robocon (がんばれ!!ロボコン) is a tokusatsu children's show created by Shotaro Ishinomori. The series ran from October 4, 1974 to March 25, 1977, ending at a total of 118 episodes.
The story takes place in a world just like ours, in the bustling '70s, except that robots are a mainstream part of human society. Various Cute Machines are graded on a scale from A-to-G on how efficient they are in carrying out tasks and helping the human race.
Enter our main character, Robocon. He is a well-intentioned yet clumsy robot, who wants to be of help to everyone. Because of his tendency to make mistakes, he is ranked as a G-Class machine, ranked the bottom of the robot school, and constantly screamed at by his beleaguered teacher Gantz. Despite this, he isn't dejected and holds out hope that he'll earn a special heart mark (the sign of a skilled robot).
Though he's been rejected by 999 homes for his unhelpfulness, he is still manages to be assigned by one, the Oyamas. Though the parents aren't happy with his Cloudcuckoolander tendencies, the kids and their friends love him. With his kindness, sense of child-like wonder and empathy, Robocon ends up touching the hearts of the people he meets while striving to be a better robot.
This was one of the most popular toku in Japan, being a smash hit in terms of ratings and spawning several spinoffs and merchandise. There were even attempts to bring it to the West via Cartoon Network but it failed. It was such a phenomenon that Toei canned Metal Heroes just to focus on the next instalment of the series.
In 1999, it received a revival series, Moero!! Robocon, and a hour-long special, Ganbare!! Robocon VS. Moero!! Robocon. In 2020, it also received a movie called Ganbareiwa!! Robocon.
It is not to be confused with Robot 8-chan (1981), another Ishinomori-created series with a similar premise that also aired on Fuji TV.
Tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: The only difference between Ganbare!! Robocon's setting and ours is that robots have become such a normalized part of society that humans have to restructure certain laws and parts of their lives around them - apart from that, the fashion styles, the social customs and the state of vehicles are the same.
- Alternative Foreign Theme Song: When the series aired in Hong Kong, it used an alternate theme song in the Cantonese language.
- Bilingual Bonus: Many characters use the words "robo" or "robot" referring to the machines.
- Birthday Episode: Episode 10 focuses on Mrs. Ogawa's birthday. Robocon, being the Kindhearted Simpleton he is, tries to arrange a celebration but ends up breaking several household objects in the way. At least in the end, him and the kids are able to set up a lovely party for her.
- Black Comedy: In the first episode, Robocon is so hated that humans outright hit him with blunt objects when he tries to offer his services.
- Christmas Episode: Considering the show has been running for years, it's had a few. In the first Christmas special, Gantz awards everyone a generous amount of points, for the sake of a merry spirit.
- Crossover: A few TV specials in 1976:
- May 15, 1976: Fight! Our Heroes Gather (戦え!ぼくらのヒーロー大集合). In this crossover, Robocon meets Gorenger, Akumaizer 3 and Kagestar.
- July 31, 1976: Kids' Festival! All the Heroes of Justice Appear (チビッ子祭り!正義のヒーロー総出演). In this crossover, Robocon meets Combattler V and Ikkyu-san.
- Idiosyncratic Episode Naming: With the exception of a few, all the episodes begin with made-up words and phrases that come from Robocon's mangled understanding of Japanese. Some examples:
- Episode 23 (Mukapoppo! My smoke is good medicine).
- Episode 24 (Dosagabang! It's a kindness campaign!!).
- Episode 26 (Ujarajara! All the new robots are here! ).
- Episode 27 (Dokapapa! Don't lose to the freshmen!!).
- Episode 31 (Pungerara! Making people laugh is a life-threatening experience).
- Episode 32 (Halepupepo! Robopugas's strange incident).
- Episode 34 (Moyamoyan! Love Story).
- Once an Episode: At the end of every episode, Mr. Gantz evaluates the robots' actions and awards them the appropriate number of points and a grade from A, B, C, D, E, F, or G. Obviously, A is the highest and G is the lowest.
- Running Gag:
- The parents of the Ogawa household often being frustrated at Robocon's antics, while the kids love him for the same reason.
- Mr. Gantz will give Robin 100 points while everyone else gets varying scores.
- Title Drop: Whenever Robocon needs encouragement, other characters yell "Ganbare, Robocon!" (you can do it, Robocon!).
- Toku: The show makes use of People in Rubber Suits and puppetry as the robots.
