Ginga Nagareboshi Gin

From Animepedia

Ginga Nagareboshi Gin (銀牙　流れ星銀 Ginga Nagareboshi Gin. Translation: Silver Fang Meteor Gin, or Galantic Meteor Gin) (Silver Fang in Scandinavia, Bjørnehunden Silver in Denmark, Hopeanuoli in Finland and Ezüst Nyíl in Hungary) is an anime series created by Yoshihiro Takahashi, it is about the adventures of a Tora-ge(tiger striped) silver Akita Inu named Gin(Silver), and other wild dogs in a mission to kill the demon bear Akakabuto. The manga was first published in July 1984 by Jump Comics.

In April 7, 1986, TV Asahi began to air the Ginga Nagareboshi Gin anime on Japanese TV. The anime's production was by Toei Animation. Japanese TV stopped airing this series in September 22, 1986. With the release of Ginga Densetsu Weed, the series' sequel, Ginga Nagareboshi Gin was re-broadcasted on Japanese TV in December 20, 2005.

The idea for this series was inspired by a newspaper article that Yoshihiro Takahashi once read, which was about dogs running away from their owners and living into the wild. Amazed by the fact of dogs were 'returning to nature', Yoshihiro Takahashi began to create Ginga Nagareboshi Gin. The idea of Gin's character came from his own pet dog.

The manga was never lisenced and translated into English, nor was the anime. However it did came to some parts of Europe. Ginga Nagareboshi Gin is a very violent anime, and so over 100 minutes of the original series was cut to make the series suitable for children. Many fights, scenes of blood and gore were cut off. Often when a character died, the scene would just be cut out and the character would just disappear with no trace. Akakabuto's demise in the original was that his head was sliced off by Gin's Zetsu tenrou Battouga. But in the cut version, Takeda "Jii-sama" Gohei just shot at him once and the bear died. So although many scenes were cut, some violence was left in the cut version. In December 2003, the uncut DVD was released in Sweden and Finland. And in October 2006, Denmark got their uncut version. As of yet, there is no word about when the other countries will get the uncut DVD.

Overveiw

The first episode started with a flash back of Takeda "Jii-sama" Gohei, and his bear dog Shiro. The two were out hunting for bears when suddenly a bear attacked him. The bear would later be named Akakabuto which meand red helmet, refering to the red fur on his back. Akakabuto fights Shiro and Takeda Gohei shoots Akakabuto's right eye. The shot also resulted in making Akakabuto insane and becoming a serial killer. Akakabuto and Shiro then falls off a cliff, but only Akakabuto survives.

The episode then switches back into present day. Takeda Gohei now has a new bear dog, Riki who was the son of Shiro. Akakabuto is still alive and still a huge threat in Japan. The two are quite determined to kill Akakabuto. Meanwhile, a dog named Fuji, owned by a boy named Daisuke, gives birth to three puppies. Riki is the father to all of the pups. One of the pups which catches Daisuke's eye, is a silver tora-ge pup. Daisuke names him Gin which is Japanese for silver.

Eventally, Riki and Takeda Gohei are trapped in a gorge. A week later, Daisuke secertly takes Gin with him to try to find them, determined to have Riki see his special son. Upon arriving, Riki is fighting Akakabuto. But Riki is soon hit and falls down a cliff, presummed dead. Now Takeda Gohei needs a new bear dog, and decides to take Gin away from Daisuke. After six months of brutal training, Gin is now ready to hunt along side with his new master.

Gin soon meets a pack of wild dogs, who's leader seems to be Riki! Riki is alive but is suffering from amnesia, and thus cannot remember who his son is. But he only remembers Akakabuto, and how he wants to kill him. So Riki had gathered a group of dogs, who were previously owned by pet owners, in a mission to kill Akakabuto. But they don't have enough warriors yet, so Riki asks his whole pack to find more dogs. Gin decides to join Riki's pack, and the adventure begins.