| Metal Fighter Miku | |
 Metal Fighter Miku logo | |
| メタルファイター♥MIKU (Metarufaitā Miku) | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Comedy,Science fiction,Sports |
| Created by | Hiroyuki Birukawa[a] |
| Anime television series | |
| Directed by | Akiyuki Shinbo |
| Produced by | Hiroyuki Birukawa Youji Kamei |
| Written by | Yasushi Hirano(1-9) Yūji Kawahara(10-13) |
| Music by | Kenji Kawai |
| Studio | J.C.Staff |
| Licensed by |
|
| Original network | TV Tokyo |
| Original run | July 8, 1994 – September 30, 1994 |
| Episodes | 13 |
Metal Fighter Miku (メタルファイター♥MIKU) is a Japaneseanime television series created by Hiroyuki Birukawa and directed byAkiyuki Shinbo. It was originally broadcast onTV Tokyo from July to September 1994 and animated byJ.C.Staff, the studio's first television production.
In the year 2061 A.D., Neo Pro-Wrestling, a form of wrestling that allows for armour and other enhancements, is rapidly growing in popularity. In this, Miku, a young flighty girl is set to join her friends as the tag team known as the Pretty Four. However, the competition is fierce, and their opponents are ready to do whatever it takes to win. Against this, the Four manage to obtain the services of an eccentric coach who trained their hero, Aquamarine. With his guidance, the four start on their fight for the top as they must train with almost inhuman discipline while their matches become more and more challenging as their opponents raise in the ranks.
The Pretty Four is the best (and only) team of the TWP league of Neo Pro-Wrestling. They also sometimes double as pop star singers.
| Character | Japanese Voice actor | English Voice actor |
|---|---|---|
| Miku | Konami Yoshida | Michelle Ruff |
| Ginko | Ai Orikasa | Alice Farinas |
| Nana | Mariko Onodera | Michelle Ruff |
| Sayaka | Michiko Neya | Ellyn Stern |
| Eiichi Suou | Kiyoyuki Yanada | Richard Epcar |
| Kinta Marugome | Shinichiro Miki | Jim Taggert |
| Tokichiro Harajuku | Hiroshi Naka | Bob Buchholz |
| Masayo Harajuku | Rin Mizuhara | Catherine Battistone |
| Yoko Shibano | Emi Shinohara | Jessica Gee |
| Kozo Shibano | Naoki Tatsuta | Doug Stone |
| Nagoya Shibano | Keiji Fujiwara | Doug Stone |
| Aquamarine | Masako Katsuki | Anna Grinta |
Metal Fighter Miku started as an idea byNippon Victor producer Hiroyuki Birukawa. It was a first in many respects: the first series animatorTakeshi Honda designed the characters for, Birukawa's first original project, studioJ.C.Staff's first television production, and the series directorial debut ofAkiyuki Shinbo. Prior to Shinbo's involvement, however, a separate director was attached who left during pre-production.[1] With the original director gone, Birukawa had to find a replacement director; and having seen episode 74 ofYu Yu Hakusho, which Shinbo had storyboarded and directed, he invited Shinbo, who was already attached to storyboard an episode of the series, to direct the project instead.[1] Up until that point, Shinbo had mainly been directing works at studioPierrot, but he described the works of the studio as not being particularlyotaku-oriented, which he found interest in through J.C.Staff's OVA projects. This, with the fact that there weren't many opportunities to direct a television production as a first-time director, led him to taking Birukawa's offer.[2]
Though Birukawa had found interest in Shinbo's use of color,[3] the director was troubled in directingMetal Fighter Miku as a first-time director. According to him, not only did he have to keep the work cohesive, but he had to find himself as a series director and how much of his own tastes he should put into the work.[4] Furthermore, the initial director had led the project up to the storyboard order for the third episode, including having checked and corrected the storyboards themself; and with Shinbo taking over, this meant he had to check and correct storyboards that had already been checked, and weave them into the parts that he was to be in charge of from their beginnings.[4] As such, his motivation was lowered by the fact that he would make so many storyboard corrections, and he felt as though it would've been better for him to direct all of the episodes as an episode director instead.[4]
Nonetheless, Shinbo found motivation by the 11th episode of the series when he saw the work of directorNaohito Takahashi [ja] and animation directorYuriko Chiba, which had surprised him.[5] Having seen their work, Shinbo decided that he wouldn't "lose to" anyone, and used Takahashi and Chiba's episode as motivation for the final episode, which he storyboarded and directed himself.[4] In Birukawa's opinion, the episode was produced perfectly.[4]
| No. | Title | Directed by [b] | Storyboarded by [b] | Animation director [b] | Original release date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "Miku Enters the Ring: The Pretty Four vs. The Devil Sisters" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Shiai ni Deru Pretty Four VS Devil Sisters" (Japanese:みくちゃん試合に出る プリティーフォーVSデビルシスターズ) | Yasunori Urata | Yasunori Urata | Yoshimitsu Oohashi [ja] | July 8, 1994 (1994-7-8) |
| 02 | "Miku Starts Training: The Pretty Four vs. The Crushers" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Renshuu Suru Pretty Four VS Crushers" (Japanese:みくちゃん練習する プリティーフォーVSクラッシャーズ) | Masami Shimoda [ja] | Iku Suzuki [ja] | Hidekazu Shimamura [ja] | July 15, 1994 (1994-7-15) |
| 03 | "Miku Gets Special Training: The Pretty Four vs. The Lady Ninjas" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Tokkun Suru Pretty Four VS Ichigun Dan" (Japanese:みくちゃん特訓する プリティーフォーVSくの一軍団) | Norihiko Sutou [ja] | Norihiko Sutou | Sadahiko Sadamaki | July 22, 1994 (1994-7-22) |
| 04 | "Miku Under Suspicion: The Pretty Four vs. The Maskers" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Utagawareru Pretty Four VS Maskers" (Japanese:みくちゃん疑われる プリティーフォーVSマスカーズ) | Noriyuki Abe | Noriyuki Abe | Takashi Wada [ja] | July 29, 1994 (1994-7-29) |
| 05 | "Miku Turns Chicken: The Pretty Four vs. The Beauties of Nature" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Niwatori ni Naru Pretty Four vs Kachou Fuugetsu" (Japanese:みくちゃんニワトリになる プリティーフォーVS花鳥風月) | Yasunori Urata | Iku Suzuki | Hidekazu Shimamura | August 5, 1994 (1994-8-5) |
| 06 | "Miku Falls Head Over Heels: The Moonlight Jewels vs. The Amazons" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Dokidoki Shichau (heart) Gekkou no Jewelries VS Amazoness" (Japanese:みくちゃんドキドキしちゃう∇ 月光のジュエリーズVSアマゾネス) | Yasunori Urata | Yasunori Urata | Yoshimitsu Oohashi | August 12, 1994 (1994-8-12) |
| 07 | "Miku Tells All: The Pretty Four vs. The Star Wolves" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Kokuhaku Suru Pretty Four VS Hoshi Ookami-gumi" (Japanese:みくちゃん告白する プリティーフォーVS星狼組) | Shigeru Yamazaki | Kiichi Kodama[c] | Akinobu Takahashi | August 19, 1994 (1994-8-19) |
| 08 | "Miku Becomes a Singing Star" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Utahime ni Naru" (Japanese:みくちゃん歌姫になる) | Norihiko Sutou | Norihiko Sutou | Sadahiko Sadamaki | August 26, 1994 (1994-8-26) |
| 09 | "Miku Enters the Finals: The Pretty Four vs. The Moonlight Jewels" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Kesshousen ni Deru Pretty Four VS Gekkou no Jewelries" (Japanese:みくちゃん決勝戦に出る プリティーフォーVS月光のジュエリーズ) | Yoshimi Katsumata | Katsuichi Nakakyama [ja] | Kouji Fukazawa [ja] | September 2, 1994 (1994-9-2) |
| 10 | "Miku Goes to War: Pretty Miku vs. The Old Man" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Sensou Suru Pretty Miku VS Ojiisan" (Japanese:みくちゃん戦争する プリティーみくVSおじいさん) | Yoshimi Katsumata Naoyoshi Kusaka | Naoyoshi Kusaka[d] | Takesehi Itou[e] | September 9, 1994 (1994-9-9) |
| 11 | "Miku Flies In the Sky: Pretty Miku vs. Sapphire" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Sora o Tobu Pretty Miku VS Sapphire" (Japanese:みくちゃん 空を飛ぶ みくちゃん空を飛ぶ プリティーみくVSサファイア) | Naohito Takahashi [ja] | Naohito Takahashi | Yuriko Chiba | September 16, 1994 (1994-9-16) |
| 12 | "Miku Drops Out: Miku vs. Eiichi Sou" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Toubou Suru Miku-chan VS Suou Eiichi-kun" (Japanese:みくちゃん逃亡する みくちゃんVS周防英一くん) | Yoshimi Katsumata Naoyoshi Kusaka | Naoyoshi Kusaka[d] | Kazumi Satou [ja] | September 23, 1994 (1994-9-23) |
| 13 | "Miku Becomes a Star: Pretty Miku vs. Aquamarine" Transliteration: "Miku-chan Hoshi ni Naru Pretty Miku VS Aquamarine" (Japanese:みくちゃん星になる プリティーみくVSアクアマリン) | Akiyuki Shinbo | Akiyuki Shinbo | Yoshimitsu Oohashi | September 30, 1994 (1994-9-30) |
