GODMARS! Three Giants Guests, and the Greatest Evening on Earth!

Keisuke Fujikawa, Rumiko Ukai, yours truly, and Hajime Kamegaki. 

On Saturday evening, I attended a special event focusing on the anime TV series Six God Combination Godmars (1981-82), which I have admittedly never seen. But if the show is even half as good as the special guests were, I really ought to check it out!

Keisuke Fujikawa has written for numerous live-action TV programs, such as: Kaiju Booska (1966-67), Ultraman (1966-67), Ultra Seven (1967-68), Operation: Mystery! (1968-69), Fight! Mighty Jack (1968), Mirrorman (1971-72), Spectreman (1971-72), Thundermask (1972-73), Super Robot Red Baron (1973-74),  Himitsu Sentai Goranger (1975-77), Ultra Q: Dark Fantasy (2004), and Ultraman Max (2005-06). In terms of anime, Fujikawa-san has penned episodes of Mazinga Z (1972-73), Galaxy Express 999 (1978-81), Space Battleship Yamato (1974-75), Space Battleship Yamato II (1978-79), and Space Battleship Yamato III (1980-81), among many, many others.

Voice actress Rumiko Ukai voiced Rose on Godmars, but she is probably best known for her work in Mobile Suit Gundam (1979-80) as Fraw Bow (a.k.a. Fraw Kobayashi) and Letz Cofan (a.k.a. Letz Kobayashi). Ukai-san, of course, has an incredible resume in all sorts of animated projects.

Hajime Kamegaki has done just about everything there is to do in the world in animation. He is a director, animator, and mechanical designer who has worked on a variety of programs and movies. He was a mechanical designer on Godmars, but he has also directed TV shows like Sonic X (2003-04) and theatrical films like Lupin the 3rd vs. Detective Conan: The Movie (2013). Kamegaki-san has way too many credits to go into here, and I'm really not equipped to talk about his career at length. Suffice it to say, though, his body of work is truly impressive.

Rumiko Ukai holds the bouquet she was presented with. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The guests were very kind and approachable, but aside from Fujikawa-san, I have to admit that their work is beyond my area of knowledge. Anime just never has been my thing.

Keisuke Fujikawa. Photo by Brett Homenick.

And so another memorable evening comes to an end. The highlight for me was meeting Fujikawa-san, who helped shape the early Ultra-shows with his teleplays.