DAICON III and IV Opening Animations
Encyclopedia
The DAICON III and IV Opening Animations are two short
, anime
, 8 mm
films that were produced for the 1981 DAICON III and 1983 DAICON IV Nihon SF Taikai
conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as DAICON Film, who would later go on to form the animation studio Gainax
. They are known for their unusually high production values for amateur works and for including numerous references to otaku
culture.
's Science Patrol descends out of the sky toward earth, as an school girl, carrying her randoseru
, observes from behind a tree. They offer the girl a cup of water and ask her to deliver it to DAICON. The girl salutes and races away, but she quickly experiences trouble as Punk Dragon blocks her path. He summons a mecha
from Starship Troopers
and it and the girl begin battling. The girl tosses the mecha aside and Gomora
rises from the earth. Using a booster concealed in her backpack, the girl flies up into the sky and evades Gomora's blast, with the mecha flying after her. They continue their battle in midair. A blow from the mecha sends the girl falling, imperiling her precious cup of water. At the last moment, she has a vision of the Science Patrol and regains consciousness. She snatches the cup before it crashes to the ground, saving the water. Resuming her battle with the enemy mecha, she catches one of its missiles and hurls it back at the mecha causing a huge explosion. The destroyed mecha launches a rocket, summoning Godzilla
with the Ideon
symbol. With King Ghidorah
and Gamera
chasing her, the girl flies through the air with her jet-propelled backpack. A Star Destroyer
, a TIE fighter
some Martian fighting machines from the 1953 War of the Worlds movie cross the background. Reaching into her backpack the girl whips out a bamboo ruler, which magically becomes a lightsaber
. After slicing an Alien Baltan in half, the girl launches a number of micromissles from her backpack. Hit by one of the missiles, a Maser Tank from the Godzilla movies catches fire. The Atragon
breaks in two as the Yamato
, the Enterprise
, an X-Wing
, and Daimajin
explode in complete chaos. The girl pours her cup of water on a shriveled daikon
buried in the ground. As the daikon revives, it turns into the spaceship DAICON. Bathed in light, and now wearing a commander's uniform, the girl boards the ship, where the film's producers, Toshio Okada
and Yasuhiro Takeda
, sit at the controls. As the landing gear retracts, DAICON departs for the far reaches of the universe.
. After this, the lyrics to "Prologue" by Electric Light Orchestra
appear against a starry background. The music then segues to "Twilight", the next song on the ELO album Time
and the fast-paced animation begins.
The girl with the backpack from the DAICON III Opening Animation has now grown up into a bunny girl. She fights off a multitude of sci-fi monsters and mobile suits then jumps into a throng of Metron Seijin and tosses them aside. She's then in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader
, with storm troopers sitting Japanese-style in the background and the Death Star
enshrined in one corner. From atop a cliff, a xenomorph
knocks the bunny girl down with a shock wave blast and the Dynaman robot crushes the girl. The bunny girl lifts the Dynaman robot off her with superhuman strength, smashes it against the cliff, and celebrates. The Stormbringer
suddenly appears in the sky and the bunny girl hops on it like a surfer. A few random sequences are shown, such as Yoda
as Yū Ida given a Japanese comedy rountine with various characters in the audience. The bunny girl is still surfing on the Stormbringer when she runs into a formation of Ultrahawk 1's. Then the Yamato
, the Arcadia
attached to the transformed SDF-1 Macross
appear, along with an exploding VF-1 Valkyrie
variable fighter
from Macross
. A midair battle unfolds in an otaku coffee shop. The bunny girl then travels into an extra-dimensional world filled with American comic superheros. A host of machines and characters (Lord of the Rings, Conan, Narnia, others) fly past her into space, including a Klingon
battlecruiser, the moon ship from H.G. Wells First Men in the Moon
, the Millennium Falcon
and the Thunderbirds
. Once back on land, the bunny girl jumps off the Stormbringer and it splits into seven parts, which fly though the sky spewing flames in seven colors. A random sequence of famous spaceships crashing into each other is shown. Then suddenly, an atomic-bomb-size explosion hits an unpopulated city. After the blast, there's a flurry of sakura
petals. Successive upheavals of the earth give birth to new worlds. As a beam launched by the DAICON traverses the sky, lush greenery sprouts and grows. The camera then pans over a massive crowd of fictional characters, the sun rises, the camera zooms out to the solar system, and the film ends.
costume—who denied permission for an American release—and music by ELO
, an official release of the animations has proven impossible. However, a laserdisc
featuring DAICON III & IV Opening Animation was unofficially released in Japan as bonus material to a ¥16,000 art book of the animations. This laserdisc is considered rare and highly valuable among collectors, easily fetching prices over a thousand dollars on online auctions.
Since its release the animations have been referenced several times in Japanese media productions, especially those focused on otaku culture. Clips and characters from the animations appear in the 1991 Gainax OVA Otaku no Video
. The opening sequence of the Train Man
Japanese TV drama series from 2005 was inspired by and uses the Electric Light Orchestra theme and the lead character from the DAICON IV film.
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
, anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, 8 mm
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
films that were produced for the 1981 DAICON III and 1983 DAICON IV Nihon SF Taikai
Nihon SF Taikai
The is an annual science fiction convention held in Japan. Each of these conventions is officially the , but they are more popularly known by the official nicknames given to them based on their locations, e.g. TOKON or DAICON .Each year the Nihon SF Taikai attracts between 1,000 and 1,500 science...
conventions. They were produced by a group of amateur animators known as DAICON Film, who would later go on to form the animation studio Gainax
Gainax
is a Japanese anime studio famous for productions such as Gunbuster, The Wings of Honneamise, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Neon Genesis Evangelion, FLCL and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann which have gone on to critical acclaim and commercial success, as well as for their association with...
. They are known for their unusually high production values for amateur works and for including numerous references to otaku
Otaku
is a Japanese term used to refer to people with obsessive interests, particularly anime, manga or video games.- Etymology :Otaku is derived from a Japanese term for another's house or family , which is also used as an honorific second-person pronoun...
culture.
DAICON III Opening Animation
The Jet VTOL ship from UltramanUltraman
is Japanese television series that first aired in 1966. Ultraman, the first and best-known of the "Ultra-Crusaders," made his debut in the tokusatsu SF/kaiju/superhero TV series, , a follow-up to the television series Ultra Q...
Randoseru
A is a firm-sided backpack made of stitched firm leather or leather-like synthetic material, most commonly used in Japan by elementary schoolchildren. It measures roughly 30 cm high by 23 cm wide by 18 cm deep, and features a softer grade of leather or material on those surfaces...
, observes from behind a tree. They offer the girl a cup of water and ask her to deliver it to DAICON. The girl salutes and races away, but she quickly experiences trouble as Punk Dragon blocks her path. He summons a mecha
Mecha
A mech , is a science fiction term for a large walking bipedal tank or robot, including ones on treads and animal shapes.-Characteristics:...
from Starship Troopers
Starship Troopers (OVA)
is a six part anime OVA produced by Sunrise/Bandai Visual and released in 1988. It is based on the book Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein that was published in 1959.-Production:...
and it and the girl begin battling. The girl tosses the mecha aside and Gomora
Gomora
is a fictional kaiju from the tokusatsu television series Ultraman, and first appeared in the show's only two-part storyline, The Monster Prince . Gomora has since become one of the franchises' toughest and most popular monsters, returning in subsequent Ultra Series...
rises from the earth. Using a booster concealed in her backpack, the girl flies up into the sky and evades Gomora's blast, with the mecha flying after her. They continue their battle in midair. A blow from the mecha sends the girl falling, imperiling her precious cup of water. At the last moment, she has a vision of the Science Patrol and regains consciousness. She snatches the cup before it crashes to the ground, saving the water. Resuming her battle with the enemy mecha, she catches one of its missiles and hurls it back at the mecha causing a huge explosion. The destroyed mecha launches a rocket, summoning Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
with the Ideon
Space Runaway Ideon
is a 1980 anime television series produced by Sunrise.-Production:Ideon was created and directed by Yoshiyuki Tomino, and was the series he produced immediately following his most famous work, Mobile Suit Gundam....
symbol. With King Ghidorah
King Ghidorah
is a kaiju, a fictional Japanese monster featured in several of Toho Studios' Godzilla films...
and Gamera
Gamera
is a giant, flying turtle from a popular series of kaiju films produced by Daiei Motion Picture Company in Japan. Created in 1965 to rival the success of Toho Studios' Godzilla during the daikaiju boom of the mid-to-late 1960s, Gamera has gained fame and notoriety as a Japanese icon in his own...
chasing her, the girl flies through the air with her jet-propelled backpack. A Star Destroyer
Star Destroyer
Star Destroyers are capital ships in the fictional Star Wars universe. The Imperial Star Destroyer, which first appears in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope , is "the signature vessel of the Imperial fleet"...
, a TIE fighter
TIE fighter
TIE fighters are fictional starfighters in the Star Wars universe. Propelled by Twin Ion Engines , TIE fighters are depicted as fast, fragile starfighters produced by Sienar Fleet Systems for the Galactic Empire...
some Martian fighting machines from the 1953 War of the Worlds movie cross the background. Reaching into her backpack the girl whips out a bamboo ruler, which magically becomes a lightsaber
Lightsaber
A lightsaber is a fictional weapon in the Star Wars universe, a "laser sword." It consists of a polished metal hilt which projects a blade of light about 1.33 metres long. The lightsaber is the signature weapon of the Jedi order and their Sith counterparts, both of whom can use them for close...
. After slicing an Alien Baltan in half, the girl launches a number of micromissles from her backpack. Hit by one of the missiles, a Maser Tank from the Godzilla movies catches fire. The Atragon
Atragon
Atragon, released in Japan as , is a 1963 Toho tokusatsu film based on a series of juvenile adventure novels under the banner Kaitei Gunkan by Shunrō Oshikawa and the illustrated story Kaitei Okoku by illustrator Shigeru Komatsuzaki, serialized in a monthly magazine for boys...
breaks in two as the Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato (spaceship)
Space Battleship Yamato is the title spaceship from the anime series Space Battleship Yamato and was designed by Leiji Matsumoto. According to the fictional continuity of the anime series, the spacecraft was built inside the remains of the Japanese battleship Yamato...
, the Enterprise
Starship Enterprise
The Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. It is considered a name of legacy in the fleet...
, an X-Wing
X-wing
X-wings are fictional starfighters from the original Star Wars trilogy and the expanded universe. They are depicted as the primary interceptor and dogfighter of the Rebel Alliance and the New Republic...
, and Daimajin
Daimajin
The is a daikaiju from the Daimajin trilogy created by Daiei. All three movies in the trilogy — Daimajin, Return of Daimajin , and Wrath of Daimajin — were made in 1966, and were released months apart. Daimajin Kanon a new television drama based on the films premiered in Japan in 2010...
explode in complete chaos. The girl pours her cup of water on a shriveled daikon
Daikon
Daikon , Raphanus sativus var. longipinnatus, also called White Radish, Japanese radish, Oriental radish, Chinese radish, lo bok and Mooli , is a mild flavoured, very large, white East Asian radish...
buried in the ground. As the daikon revives, it turns into the spaceship DAICON. Bathed in light, and now wearing a commander's uniform, the girl boards the ship, where the film's producers, Toshio Okada
Toshio Okada
is an anime producer, author, and lecturer. He is a co-founder and former president of the production company Gainax.-Childhood:Okada was born on July 1, 1958 in Osaka, Japan and attended Osaka University of Arts....
and Yasuhiro Takeda
Yasuhiro Takeda
is a Japanese anime director and founding member of Gainax; for most of his career, he was General Manager. He is also a two-time chair of the Nihon SF Taikai...
, sit at the controls. As the landing gear retracts, DAICON departs for the far reaches of the universe.
DAICON IV Opening Animation
The DAICON IV Opening Animation begins with an abridged, 90-second retelling of the DAICON III Opening Animation set to music by KitarōKitaro
, better known as , is an award winning Japanese musician, composer and multi-instrumentalist who is regarded as one of the pioneers of new age music.-Early life:...
. After this, the lyrics to "Prologue" by Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
appear against a starry background. The music then segues to "Twilight", the next song on the ELO album Time
Time (Electric Light Orchestra album)
Time is a concept album by Electric Light Orchestra released in 1981 through Jet Records. The album tells the story, through its songs and lyrics, about a man from the 1980's finding himself in the year 2095 and trying to come to terms with being unable to return and adjusting to his new...
and the fast-paced animation begins.
The girl with the backpack from the DAICON III Opening Animation has now grown up into a bunny girl. She fights off a multitude of sci-fi monsters and mobile suits then jumps into a throng of Metron Seijin and tosses them aside. She's then in a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
, with storm troopers sitting Japanese-style in the background and the Death Star
Death Star
The Death Star is a fictional moon-sized space station and superweapon appearing in the Star Wars movies and expanded universe. It is capable of destroying a planet with a single destructive super charged energy beam.-Origin and design:...
enshrined in one corner. From atop a cliff, a xenomorph
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
knocks the bunny girl down with a shock wave blast and the Dynaman robot crushes the girl. The bunny girl lifts the Dynaman robot off her with superhuman strength, smashes it against the cliff, and celebrates. The Stormbringer
Stormbringer
Stormbringer is the name of the infamous black sword featured in a number of fantasy stories by the author Michael Moorcock. Created by the forces of Chaos, it is described as a huge, black sword covered with strange runes carved deep into its blade...
suddenly appears in the sky and the bunny girl hops on it like a surfer. A few random sequences are shown, such as Yoda
Yoda
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
as Yū Ida given a Japanese comedy rountine with various characters in the audience. The bunny girl is still surfing on the Stormbringer when she runs into a formation of Ultrahawk 1's. Then the Yamato
Space Battleship Yamato (spaceship)
Space Battleship Yamato is the title spaceship from the anime series Space Battleship Yamato and was designed by Leiji Matsumoto. According to the fictional continuity of the anime series, the spacecraft was built inside the remains of the Japanese battleship Yamato...
, the Arcadia
Arcadia of My Youth
is an anime film depicting the origin of Leiji Matsumoto's seminal character Captain Harlock. At one time, it was considered to be the central hub of the so called Leijiverse with other works such as Galaxy Express 999 and 1978's Space Pirate Captain Harlock television series occurring sometime...
attached to the transformed SDF-1 Macross
SDF-1 Macross
The SDF-1 Macross is a fictional interstellar transforming spacecraft from The Super Dimension Fortress Macross, an anime science fiction series that aired in Japan in 1982–1983, and its American adaptation Robotech...
appear, along with an exploding VF-1 Valkyrie
VF-1 Valkyrie
This article is about a fictional vehicle; for the fighter squadron see VF-1.In the fictional Macross Japanese anime series and its English adaptation Robotech, the first mass-produced variable fighter or veritech fighter is called the VF-1 Valkyrie.-Background:The VF-1 was created by the...
variable fighter
Variable fighter
A Variable Fighter is a series of fictional transforming aerospace fighter mecha primarily designed by Studio Nue's Shoji Kawamori for the animated series The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and later related projects...
from Macross
Macross
is a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
. A midair battle unfolds in an otaku coffee shop. The bunny girl then travels into an extra-dimensional world filled with American comic superheros. A host of machines and characters (Lord of the Rings, Conan, Narnia, others) fly past her into space, including a Klingon
Klingon
Klingons are a fictional warrior race in the Star Trek universe.Klingons are recurring villains in the 1960s television show Star Trek: The Original Series, and have appeared in all five spin-off series and eight feature films...
battlecruiser, the moon ship from H.G. Wells First Men in the Moon
First Men in the Moon
First Men in the Moon, also known as H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon, is a 1964 science fiction film directed by Nathan Juran. It is an adaptation by the noted science-fiction scriptwriter Nigel Kneale of the H. G...
, the Millennium Falcon
Millennium Falcon
The Millennium Falcon is a spacecraft in the Star Wars universe commanded by smuggler Han Solo and his Wookiee first mate, Chewbacca...
and the Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds (TV series)
Thunderbirds is a British mid-1960s science fiction television show devised by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and made by AP Films using a form of marionette puppetry dubbed "Supermarionation"...
. Once back on land, the bunny girl jumps off the Stormbringer and it splits into seven parts, which fly though the sky spewing flames in seven colors. A random sequence of famous spaceships crashing into each other is shown. Then suddenly, an atomic-bomb-size explosion hits an unpopulated city. After the blast, there's a flurry of sakura
Sakura
A cherry blossom is the flower of any of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry, Prunus serrulata, which is sometimes called sakura after the Japanese . Many of the varieties that have been cultivated for ornamental use do not produce fruit...
petals. Successive upheavals of the earth give birth to new worlds. As a beam launched by the DAICON traverses the sky, lush greenery sprouts and grows. The camera then pans over a massive crowd of fictional characters, the sun rises, the camera zooms out to the solar system, and the film ends.
Release
Due to copyright problems involving the unauthorized use of the Playboy bunnyPlayboy Bunny
A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960 to 1988. The Club re-opened in one location in The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006...
costume—who denied permission for an American release—and music by ELO
ELO
- Music :* Electric Light Orchestra, a British rock music group** The Electric Light Orchestra , the group's debut album** ELO 2, the group's second album* ELO Part II, an offshoot band of Electric Light Orchestra- Sports and games :...
, an official release of the animations has proven impossible. However, a laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
featuring DAICON III & IV Opening Animation was unofficially released in Japan as bonus material to a ¥16,000 art book of the animations. This laserdisc is considered rare and highly valuable among collectors, easily fetching prices over a thousand dollars on online auctions.
Since its release the animations have been referenced several times in Japanese media productions, especially those focused on otaku culture. Clips and characters from the animations appear in the 1991 Gainax OVA Otaku no Video
Otaku no Video
is a 1991 comedy anime spoofing the life and culture of otaku, individuals with obsessive interests in media, particularly anime and manga, as well as the history of Gainax, its creators. It is noted for its mix of conventional documentary film styles , with a more traditional anime storytelling...
. The opening sequence of the Train Man
Densha Otoko (drama)
is a Japanese television drama that aired on Fuji Television. It is based on the Densha Otoko story, which has also been portrayed in other media.The drama's 11 episodes were aired on Fuji TV from July 7 to September 22, 2005 . A two hour long TV special, Densha Otoko Deluxe, aired on September 23,...
Japanese TV drama series from 2005 was inspired by and uses the Electric Light Orchestra theme and the lead character from the DAICON IV film.
External links
- The DAICON III opening animation (Youtube)
- The DAICON IV opening animation, which include a brief synopsis of III (Youtube)
- A DAICON III "extra" short (Youtube)
- Live action video staring Yasuhiro Takeda, one of the creators behind DAICON openers (Youtube)
- Gainax's DAICON III and IV videos official site
- Daicon III and IV Opening Animations - a fan site about Daicon and the early history of Gainax
- Annotated screenshots
- In depth JPhile editorial by FujiRingo
- Article focusing on the shorts