Spaceship Sagittarius - The 1986 Japanese animated series

Uchūsen Sagittarius (宇宙 船 サ ジ タ リ ウ ス, Uchūsen Sajitariusu, lit. Spaceship Sagittarius) is a Japanese science fiction animated series (anime) consisting of 77 episodes directed by Kazuyoshi Yokota and produced by Nippon Animation and TV Asahi. It aired from January 10, 1986 to October 3, 1987. The series is based on the comics of the Italian physicist Andrea Romoli.

History

The series describes the adventures of four astronauts who travel in space and visit many planets. On each planet they have an adventure. Each adventure seems to have some kind of morality, such as the value of friendship or the protection of endangered species.

The series takes place in a seemingly not-so-distant future. The world looks a lot like the world of the late XNUMXth century, but there is a considerable amount of futuristic technology: interstellar travel is commonplace (the space agency employing the characters is a modest private agency not connected to the government), there are weapons that shoot lasers, etc ...

But there is no mention of the Internet (the series was created before the Internet became really common) and the characters use outdated technologies like floppy disks (instead of CDs or DVDs) to store data.

At the beginning of the series the characters are mostly on Earth, but as the series progresses they travel into space aboard their spaceship called "The Sagittarius". The characters visit many planets on which they experience many adventures.

Although Sagittarius is an old spacecraft that uses some sort of oil as fuel, the spaceship is able to leave Earth and reach the planets sometimes within hours. Characters require no artificial respiration systems and are able to breathe on each of the planets they visit.

Characters

toppy (ト ッ ピ ー, Toppi)
Voiced by: Bin Shimada
Toppy is the leader of the group. He is a young father with a wife and daughter. Usually it is he who devises the strategy and tells others what they should do. He sometimes he is in conflict with Rana. At the beginning of the series he was a pilot employed by a space agency. The "Sagittarius", which is the spaceship in which the heroes travel through space, comes from that agency.

Rana (ラ ナ)
Voiced by Kenichi Ogata
It resembles an anthropomorphic green frog. He is married to an obese woman. He has seven children who love him dearly. When he is unemployed from the Sagittarius crew, he has a hard time finding a job he likes, often forced to work in bad conditions in factories, waiting for the next trip with the Sagittarius. He is the most aggressive of the bunch and has a short temper. He also likes to flirt with women. He loves lasagna.

Giraffa (ジ ラ フ, Jirafu)
Voiced by Yoku Shioya
A giant yellow boy, he is the tallest of the bunch. After Toppy he is the wisest member of the crew. He is a scientist and knows a lot about subjects like chemistry, botany, among other things. He is completely in love with Professor Anne even though they weren't married during most of the show. Frog has a tendency to irritate him. Giraffe and Toppy are truly the brains of the team and as such their role on the show is crucial.

Sebeep (シ ビ ッ プ, Shibippu)
Voiced by: Mitsuko Horie
Anthropomorphic plant that resembles a cactus. Seebeep was found by Toppy, Frog and Giraffe on a planet on one of their adventures and became a member of the team. Sebeep is always happy and smiling. He is always seen with a guitar attached to his back. He likes to sing and dance. Several times throughout the show he takes his guitar and sings a song. The episodes in which Sebeep is the protagonist are very emotional episodes and almost always involve singing at some point.

Professor Anne (ア ン 教授, An-kyōju)
Voiced by Maya Okamoto
A scientist, Professor Anne is the most regularly seen woman in the show. She has pink hair and her face is very reminiscent of Toppy's. She loves Giraffe, even though she sometimes seems rude to him.

Technical data

Regia by Kazuyoshi Yokota
Product by Kyōzō Utsunomiya, Takaji Matsudo
Written by Nobuyuki Isshiki, Nobuyuki Fujimoto, Harumi Hisaki, Adai Shirotani, Noemi Furunaga, Mikio Matsushita
Music by Haruki Mino
Studio Nippon animation
TV network original Asahi
2 TVs from 10 January 1986 to 3 October 1987
Episode 77