Armored Fleet Dairugger XV
In the United States, it was heavily edited to become part of the "Voltron" series. The "Dairugger" footage was the primary source for the "Vehicle Voltron" episodes, though various footage was also inserted into the more commonly known "Lion Voltron" episodes (themselves adapted from another, unrelated Japanese series, "Beast King GoLion"). Story. The Rugger Team is an exploration, planetary survey, and defensive force. Planet Earth is in a time of prosperity. The Galaxy Garrison launches a mission to explore the galaxy, colonize, and build new maps of the stars. Soon after commencing the mission, the Rugger  Team and their starship, the "Rugger Guard", are attacked by the xenophobic Galveston Empire. The Galveston homeworld is dying and their space fleet are also on a mission of exploration and colonization. Dairugger, the super robot, must defend the "Rugger Guard" and its fleet as they attempt to continue their mission. When Galveston repeatedly refuses to accept peaceful coexistence, the "Rugger Guard" mission turns to finding the Galveston homeworld, liberating its people from their despotic Emperor, and helping them find a new planet before their world collapses. Characters. Dairugger pilots. The Rugger Team is made of three smaller teams of  five members each: "Aki Team" (Air), "Keets Team" (Sea), and "Walter Team" (Land), after each team's leader. Each of the 15 parts is referred to as a "Rugger" and can combine into larger machines as separate teams called Kurugger (Air), Kairugger (Sea), and Rickrugger (Land), as well as together to form the super-robot Dairugger. The 15 separate Rugger units as well as the name come from the sport of rugby, since 15 players are required to form a rugby union team. Aki Team. is the air division of the Dairugger team. Their vehicles combine to form the . Keets  Team. is the sea division of the Dairugger team. Their vehicles combine to form the . Walter Team. is the land division of the Dairugger team. Their vehicles combine to form the . Galaxy Garrison. is a planetary union of Earth, Sala, and Mira. Galveston Empire. The is an advanced alien civilization in search for planets to colonize, as their home planet is rapidly dying from depletion of its natural resources and the deterioration of its Van Allen radiation belt. Aside from a massive fleet of spaceships, the empire is equipped with mechanized and . The Galveston Empire is named after Galveston Island , a barrier island in Texas with a history of piracy. Dairugger specifications. Dairugger is made of 15 vehicle parts, and is tall. The command line to combine the Rugger Machines is . Episodes. The series' opening theme is and the ending theme is ; both songs are performed by Koichi Kawazu. Merchandise. In 1982, the original DX Dairugger XV toys were released by Popy Pleasure under the toy release number of GB-72, as part of the "Chogokin" label, and constructed of high-quality die-cast materials, with transforming gimmicks, which could separate only into the three larger combined vehicles. GB-73, a cheaper , ST (standard) version would follow, only Rugger #5 could separate from the robot. A larger version of Dairugger XV was also released, which did not contain die-cast materials, as the metal content was too heavy for the design and for the friction motors installed in many of the vehicles. The smallest non-transforming ST Dairugger and the fully transforming plastic Dairugger XV would be resold in the U.S. as part of the "Voltron" series by Matchbox in 1984, entirely under the "Voltron" name. However, the Matchbox version omitted the Dairugger Sword, Rugger units #6, #9, and #10's chrome  antenna parts, and the sticker sheets of the Popy version. In addition to the toys above, Popy released a smaller, rubber-based combining Dairugger toy that was molded only in light blue. LJN released this toy in the "Voltron" series in 1985, with all of the parts remolded in roughly their proper colors and the sword in yellow. Because Dairugger had 15 pieces, and was a highly playable figure compared to many of the other fixed-state super robots of the early 1980s, there were many imitations and bootlegs of Dairugger. Some were cheap plastics, did not assemble well, and  had neon-glowing colors dissimilar to the show. Even approved brands such as Big Bear were spawned to rejuvenate the toyline. However, no version is identical in quality, packaging, or comes with all the pieces as does the Japanese original. Toynami released a 24-inch soft vinyl Dairugger toy under their Shogun Warriors line in 2011. In 2013, Miracle Productions released a new Dairugger toy as MA-01 "Voltron Vehicle Force". The initial release was limited to a few hundred units and was plagued with quality control issues and design flaws. A second version was released, with many of the parts  redesigned and the build quality improved. This toy is considered an unofficial release, as Miracle Productions lost their license to produce the toy before its release. A new Dairugger toy was released on October 26, 2019 as Soul of Chogokin No. GX-88 by Bandai Spirits. To promote the toy's release, Bandai uploaded the series on their YouTube channel. Like the SOC GoLion, Dairugger includes a weapons rack with the option to use either the "Dairugger XV" or "Voltron" nameplate. Home media. The entire series, in 3 volumes, has been released on DVD in region 1. Collection 1 was released  on February 23, 2010, Collection 2 on May 25, 2010, and Collection 3 on January 4, 2011. All three volumes are now out-of-print. Korean version. "Super Titan 15" (슈퍼타이탄15) is a 1982 South Korean animated film that features a copy of Dairugger XV, as well as characters and vehicles derived from "Galaxy Express 999". Appearances in other media. The show was spoofed on an episode of "Robot Chicken". Dairugger's Voltron incarnation is called to action by an outpost being attacked by a Robeast, but the vehicles take too long to combine (partly because they messed up halfway  through). By the time Dairugger gets there, most of the crew is dead, and the sole survivor shoots himself when he realizes it's not the Lion Voltron.