Ask John: How Much Getta Robo Is There?

Question:
I have heard of this Getter Robo, Shin Getter Robo, Neo vs Shin anime show. How much Getter Robo is out their and are they related to each other?

Answer:
Getta Robo, created by Go Nagai and Ken Ishikawa, has been one of Japan’s perennial favorite giant robots for nearly 30 years. Getta Robo first premiered on Japanese television on April 4, 1974 and told the story of Professor Saotome’s three Getta Robots piloted by Ryoma Nagare, Hayato Jin, and Musashi Tomoe in their effort to protect the world from the evil Megasaurs Kingdom. When this series concluded on May 8, 1975 after 51 episodes, it was immediately followed the next week with the premier of the second 39 episode TV series, Getta Robo G, which aired until March 25, 1976. In Getta Robo G Musashi Tomoe, who sacrificed his life at the end of the original series, was replaced by Kuruma Benkei. Getta Robo was then revived on February 11, 1991 with the 50 episode long Getta Robo Go TV series which replaced Professor Saotome with Dr. Tachibana and introduced a new team of pilots including Ichimonji Gou, Tachibana Shou, and Daifou Kai. This time around the Getta team fought against Professor Lando and his henchmen Count Lasetz and Baron Yasha.

Amidst these three TV series, Getta Robo appeared in the March 1975 motion picture “Great Mazinger vs Getta Robo,” the July 1975 “Great Mazinger vs Getter Robo G: Great Space Encounter,” and the July 1976 film “Grendizer, Getter Robo G and Great Mazinger: Shootout! The Giant Sea Monster.”

The first episode of the 13 episode long Shin Getta Robo (also read as “Change! Getta Robo”) OAV series premiered on Japanese home video on August 25, 1998. This OAV series was a direct sequel to the previous Getta Robo TV series, bringing back the original Getta Robo G team after more than 20 years. The first home video volume included the first OAV. The remaining 6 volumes each contained 2 OAVs, bringing the series to a conclusion on May 25, 1999. The 4 episode long Shin Getta Robo vs Neo Getta Robo OAV series debuted on December 21, 2000 and served as a direct sequel to the original 1974 Getta Robo TV series, opening during the climactic battle of the first TV series and then moving to present day and the return of the Megasaurs Empire.

Getta Robo also has original adventures in the “Change! (Shin) Getter Robo Getsumen Juunen Sensou” and “Change! (Shin) Getter Robo – Gaiden Getsumen Juunen Senso – Senritsu no Yokan” drama CDs released in 1999 and 2000 respectively.

Thanks go to “Satch_49” for providing additional information for this response.