The appeal and reviews of "Choujin Locke": An anime experience not to be missed

The appeal and reviews of Chojin Rock

■ Public Media

theater

■ Original Media

comics

■ Release date

March 11, 1984 - January 1, 0000

■Distribution company

Shochiku

■ Eirin Number

111384

■Frequencies

120 min

■ Number of Episodes

Episode 1

■Original Story

Yuki Hijiri

■ Director

Hiroshi Fukutomi

■ Production

Produced by Nippon Animation, Shochiku, Shochiku Films

■Works

©NIPPON ANIMATION CO., LTD. 1984

■ Story

Lady Kahn plans to establish a millennial kingdom ruled by espers.
Yamaki, the head of the Federal Intelligence Agency, asks the super soldier Locke for help in the investigation. In order to defeat Locke, Kahn trains a girl named Jessica to be a special esper killer, makes her lose her memory, and brings her close to Yamaki.
Jessica has the ability to neutralize psychic powers and break down espers. However, Yamaki and Jessica are attracted to each other without knowing that they are being manipulated. And finally, Rock and Jessica meet.

■Explanation

The "Century of the Witch" chapter of the sci-fi comic "Chojin Locke" has been made into an animated film.
At the time of its release, there was a rush of other animated films, including "Nausicaa," "Kenya no Shounen," and "Oshin."

■Cast

・Rock/Keiichi Nanba・Ryu Yamaki/Yoshito Yasuhara・Jushka Aulin/Keiko Han・Cornelia Prim/Yoshiko Fujita・Professor Ramses/Hidekatsu Shibata・Lady Kahn/Taeko Nakanishi・Virgin Mother Lou/Mieko Shinzawa・Lieutenant Bell/Banjo Ginga
・Udo/Tsunagi Chiba・Luke Oh/Masaharu Sato・Kim/Eiko Yamada・Co-pilot/Hideyuki Tanaka・Taku/Kyoko Tonmiya・Antex・Operator/Shigeharu Sakai・Luke Oh/Masaharu Sato・Commander/Yasuo Muramatsu・Commander/Shunsuke Takamiya・Cain/Kouzo Shioya・Assistant animation director/Hiromi Maeda・Character design/Yuki Hijiri・Colonel Hector/Naozou Hirabayashi・Kim/Eiko Yamada・Ann/Michie Tomizawa・Art design/Yoshinari Kinpaku・Virgin Mary Lou/Mieko Nobusawa・Professor Ramses/Hidekatsu Shibata・Mechanic design/Kenzo Kobayashi・Locke/Keiichi Nanba・Captain Dionysus/Mikio Terashima・Manu/Koji Toya・Jessica Aulin/Han Keiko, surgeon at the Federal Military Hospital / Koji Yada, Lieutenant Bell / Banjo Ginga, Corelia Plum / Yoshiko Fujita, Udo / Tsunagi Chiba, Kei / Masara Takashima, Akiko Inoue, John / Daisuke Gori, Ryu Yamaki / Yoshito Yasuhara

■ Main staff

・Original story / Koichi Motohashi・Production / Mitsuru Takakuwa, Shoji Sato・Planning / Goro Amai・Music Director / Hiroshi Fukutomi・Producer / Junzo Nakajima, Shigeo Endo・Screenplay / Chika Owada・Character Design / Yuki Hijiri, Susumu Shiraume・Mecha Design / Kenzo Koizumi, Masuji Kigami・Animation Director / Susumu Shiraume・Art Director / Yoshinari Kanebako・Director of Photography / Keiichi Kuroki・Sound Recording Director / Sadayoshi Fujino・Color Design / Noriyuki Ota・Animation Check / Toshikatsu Shinozaki, Hiromasa Hanawa・Animation / Studio Toto, Kino Pro, Kitahara Pro, Dragon Pro, Neomedia Pro, Tamazawa Dougasha, Yoshiyuki Momose, Nobuo Tomizawa・Finishing touches / Studio Robin, Studio Killy, Suzuki Douga Planning・Background / Akaenpitsu, Studio Aqua, Studio WHO
Cinematography, special effects: Trans Arts; Sound production: Audio-visual system; Mixer: Shinichi Kanazawa; Effects: Akihiko Matsuda, Osamu Ito; Recording studios: Taihei Studio, Nikkatsu Studio; Film development lab: Tokyo Film Development Lab; Titles: Akira Michikawa
・Editing / Takeshi Seyama, Yoshihiro Kasahara, Kozo Yoshida・Storyboard / Hiroshi Fukutomi・Assistant director / Shinya Hanai, Takeshi Yamaguchi・Production desk / Shuji Uchiyama・Production progress / Naotake Furusato, Shuichi Koseki, Takanori Yaegaki, Tomoya Fujimori・Production / Nippon Animation, Shochiku, Shochiku Film・Layout / Masuji Kigami・Art assistant / Kazuhiro Arai・Animation check / Toshikatsu Shinozaki, Hiromasa Hanawa, Noriyuki Ota・Color setting / Akiko Koyama・Finishing inspection / Fumiko Tsukada, Ichiro Yoshihara, Tsuneko Shimizu, Shigeru Fujii, Studio Act, Hideki Tamura, Yumi Machida, AIC, Kenzo Koizumi, Kazuhiro Furuhashi, Studio Fukurou, Yuko Shimizu, Seiji Okuda, Manami Hattori, Takeo Kitahara, Kan Fukuda・Animation / Dragon Production, Artland, Studio Musashi, Osamu Tsuruyama, Toshiyuki Omori, Ochiai Production, Saito , Okubo Misugi (original art) / Kigami Masuji, Tamazawa Takeshi (illustration) / Animal Ya, Ki no Production, Studio Mates, Tsukui Akiko, Ishiwari Etsuko, Kitahara Productions, Shinozaki Toshikatsu, Mano Suzuko, Studio Toto, Studio K2, Tomizawa Kazuo, Kinoshita Toshiharu, Ito Koji, Imai Masahiko, Studio Touniu, Studio Donguri, Studio Look, Tamazawa Dogasha, Kusama Art, Studio Oonishi, Takano Noboru, Hasegawa Jin, Suzuki Shinichi, Hattori Noritomo, Ichikawa Yoshiyuki, Okubo Yutaka, Anime Toro Toro, Neo Media Doga / Yachi Hisako, Shirae Tetsunori, Fujita Maki, Kyoraigawa Akemi, Katsumata Hisashi, Takahashi Rumi, Kitamura Taihei, Okayasu Toshiko, Iwataki Toru, Katsuta, C., Yamada, R., Tsukada, H., Nakamura, C., Ebihara, K., Nakagawa, S., Matsuo, S., Kuwagata, T., Anzai, S., Iwashita, K., Ishibashi, T., Omiya, Y., Mado, S., Shimada, Y., Oki, H., Yamamoto, K., Matsumoto, S., Nakata, M., Tamura, Y., Kashiyama, S., Kawasaki, Y., Kaneko, K., Harada, H., Okuda, A., Iida, T., Kubo, N., Suzuki, Y., Umekita, I., Sato, K., Osawa, H., Ikeda, M., Hashimoto, A., Masubuch, J., Yamada, M., Nagaoka, M., Fujisawa, T., Shinji, K., Bessho, M., Okada, J., Doshida, K., Ono, K., and Numa, K. Noriko, Baba, Toshiko, Hachitani, Kenichi, Kato, Yuko, Ikugame, Nobuyuki, Higuchi, Akiko, Endo, Ikumi, Ueno, Atsuko, Yabuki, Tsutomu, Uesugi, Chikako, Kurosawa, Mamoru, Takeguchi, Mariko, Kitahata, Reona, Ota, Kumiko, Tomoda, Masaharu, Matsukura, Rieko, Ido, Chieko, Takeda, Kazuya, Hayashi, Hiroki, Saito, Yuriko, Sakamoto, Yutaka, Makino, Yukihiro, Yamazaki, Shigeru, Suzuki, Michiaki, Tomimoto, Kiya, Miyata, Nahomi, Masutani, Yuko, Isaka, Junko, Abe, Michie, Oura, Mayumi, Komatsu, Yuka, Nakano, Yoriko, Tokuda, Fumie, Iyama, Hiroyu, Nakajima, Atsuko, Kubo, Yuji, Goto, Takahiro, Higuchi, Norie, Shibata, Tomoyuki, Kawakami, Taka, Usugi, Misako, Takahashi, Kazunori, Tsuji Sayoko, Mayumi Hayashida, coloring / Studio Robin, Studio Pal, Studio Kiri, Suzuki Douga Kikaku, AIC, Kozue Anime, Kyoto Anime Studio, Takao Yoshikawa, Kyoko Torichichigai, Etsuko Yamano, Fumiko Sugiyama, Shojiro Yamazaki, Mutsuko Natori, Toshiko Yamaki, Keiko Kondo, Masayuki Mori, Masako Aoki, Yukie Mineki, Kiyoko Suruga, Katsuko Makino, Eri Iwane, Michi Poza, Setsuko Ogawa, Tadashi Fuchigami, Yoshiko Tsuchiya, Chieko Hirose, Machiko Ishii, Kyoko Hayashi, Setsuko Ujihashi, Masako Hanada, Eiko Iwai, Yuki Nagata, Mitsuko Kaneko, Yoshimi Tonomura, Chitose Suzuki, Chitose Tahara Hiroshi, Keiko Morishima, Masahiro Tanaka, Hisako Yoshinari, Yuko Tonoike, Masayo Matsuzaki, Yaeko Suruga, Chieko Koyama, Mineko Suzuki, Tetsuko Miura, Hakuko Sugii, Rieko Yoshida, Junko Shimojo, Kazuko Akiyoshi, Yoshiko Shibaguchi, Masako Takigami, Yumi Shishido, Makiko Masuda, Chikako Goto, Keiko Kawada, Fumie Kozaka, Chikako Okada, Kazuo Kuwahara, Keiko Iida, Reiko Yoshihisa, Fusa Shibasaki, and Kishi Kazuko, Kuniyoshi, Toshie, Kato, Toshimi, Sato, Miyoko, Ohno, Kazuko, Otsuka, Takako, Ito, Hisae, Kasuya, Seisaku, Ito, Soichi, Tamura, Akemi, Akamatsu, Satomi, Shirai, Akemi, Sugita, Kazue, Kondo, Yasuhiko, Oide, Toshihide, Yoshizawa, Keiko, Ichinose, Kenji, Matsuda, Michiko, Maemuta, Chiyoko, Kobayashi, Kazuhiro, Anzai, Hiromi, Umeda, Shinobu, Kiyama, Yumiko, Hatta, Yoko, Tanaka, Setsuko, Inobu, Kyoko, Kanamaru, Yuko, Honda, Emiko, Arahata, Harumi, and Iri E Misako, Honda Masahiro, Takashima Akimi, Tanigoshi Haruki, Shigeoka Ritsuko, Takeshima Kazuyo, Toyama Masahiro, Saito Hiroki, Takeuchi Tomoaki, Matsuo Kengo, Karashima Hiroyuki, Suzuki Yoshitake, Kita Hitomi, Nemoto Keiko, Nagano Motoharu, Tsukagoshi Mariko, Kagayama Yuko, Senda Noriko, Suga Hatsuko, Nakamura Shinobu, Motoyama Yumi, Takazawa Nobuko, Wada Yoji, Inoue Hiroko, Futoshimi Taka, Fujiyama Masao, Tanito Kunji, and Fujiyama Masao, Special Effects/Director of Photography.
Background: Akapenpitsu, Studio Aqua, Studio WHO, Makino Mitsunari, Ota Nobuyuki, Shibata Chikako, Nishizawa Eriko, Shimono Tetsuto, Hirata Shuichi, Sugiura Shoichiro, Kitahara Tomoyuki, Hishiyama Tomoo, Iwata Mitsuko, Arai Nobuo, Uehara Yumiko, Watanabe Sada, Yasuhara Kiyotaka, Itakura Sagako, Nishihara Shigeo, Miyashita Mieko, Ishibashi Kenichi, Kuriyagawa Nobumi, Tamari Kazuo, Koizumi Sohei, Kato Tomie, Fujiwara Tetsuji, Kuwabata Rika, Manabe Hirofumi, Tsutsui Noriko Photography: Trans Arts, ACC Yahara Studio, Asahi Productions・Studio Cosmos, Nishimura Studio, Studio 35, Kazushi Torigoe, Seiichi Hashiya, Yukio Sugiyama, Hiroaki Matsuzawa, Akio Kanazawa, Tsuneo Hosoda, Hiroyuki Okubo, Yurie Yamazaki・Special effects / Trans Arts, Keiichi Kuroki・Cinematography / Toshihiko Yanagisawa, Harutoshi Miyagawa・Editing / Takeshi Seyama, Kozo Yoshida, Yoshihiro Kasahara・Effects / Akihiko Matsuda・Sound editing / Shinichi Kanazawa・Studio / Taihei Studio, Nikkatsu Studio・Sound production / Audio-visual system, Tetsuo Ono, Masakatsu Aida・Phenomenon / Tokyo Development Lab・Title / Akira Michikawa・Assistant director / Shinya Hanai, Takeshi Yamaguchi・Production desk / Shuji Uchiyama・Production progress / Naotake Furusato, Shuichi Koseki, Takanori Yaegaki・Publicity / Naoya Kawasaki (Shochiku), Tetsuo Yahagi・Supervision / Yuki Hijiri

■ Related works

・Music Director: Hiroshi Fukutomi

■ Theme songs and music

・IM
・"Stranger of the Stars"
Lyrics by Yasushi Chika; Music by Kisaburo Suzuki; Arrangement by Eiji Kawamura; Singer by Strikes (Nihon Columbia)

The appeal and reviews of Chojin Rock

"Choujin Locke," released in 1984, is an animated film based on the "Century of Witches" chapter of Yuki Hijiri's sci-fi comic "Choujin Locke." This film was shown alongside other classics during the boom in animated films at the time. It is particularly notable that it attracted a large audience alongside "Nausicaa," "Kenya the Young," and "Oshin."

The story begins with Lady Khan's ambition to build a millennial kingdom ruled by espers. Yamaki, head of the Federal Intelligence Agency, asks the super warrior Locke for help in investigating the matter. However, in order to defeat Locke, Khan trains a girl named Jessica to be a special esper killer, loses her memory, and brings her close to Yamaki. Jessica has the hidden ability to neutralize espers and break down espers. Yamaki and Jessica are attracted to each other, and Locke and Jessica eventually meet. The story skillfully incorporates sci-fi elements such as espers and supernatural powers while successfully depicting a human drama.

The cast is a star-studded line-up of voice actors, including Keiichi Nanba as Rock, Yoshito Yasuhara as Ryu Yamaki, and Keiko Han as Jessica Aulin. In particular, Keiichi Nanba's performance as Rock was praised for its strength and humanity. The musical direction was also highly praised, with Hiroshi Fukutomi serving as music director and the theme song "Stranger in the Stars" sung by the Strikes.

The production staff was also impressive, with Yuki Hijiri, the original author, in charge of character design, Hiroshi Fukutomi in charge of direction and storyboards, and professionals from various fields such as Susumu Shiraume as animation director, Yoshinari Kanebako as art director, and Keiichi Kuroki as cinematographer. The combined efforts of these staff members resulted in the film receiving high praise for both its visual beauty and storytelling.

"Locke the Chojin" is a work that places emphasis on human drama, which was rare for sci-fi anime at the time. Despite being set against the backdrop of unrealistic elements such as espers and supernatural powers, the carefully depicted emotions and relationships of the characters moved the audience deeply. The visual expression is also very sophisticated, and beautiful visuals that make full use of the technology of the time are displayed, especially in the battle scenes and scenes depicting the powers of espers.

This work has gained many fans since its release and still enjoys cult popularity today. It is a must-see for fans of Yuki Hijiri's original work and sci-fi anime enthusiasts, and is even seeing a reevaluation of the work. The music and voice acting have also been highly praised, and the theme song "Star Stranger" is still loved today.

"Locke the Chojin" is a work that is loved by many people as a human drama that goes beyond the framework of science fiction anime. This work boasts high quality in all aspects, including story, characters, visuals, and music, and is definitely worth watching at least once. It is especially recommended for those who like science fiction anime and human dramas.