Crush Gear Turbo
Logo from show opening
激闘!クラッシュギアTURBO (Gekito! Crush Gear Turbo)
Genre	Sports
TV anime
Directed by	Shūji Iuchi
Studio	Sunrise
Network	Animax, NBN, TV Asahi
Original run	October 7, 2001 – January 26, 2003
Episodes	68
TV anime
Crush Gear Nitro
Directed by	Tetsurō Amino
Studio	Sunrise
Network	Animax, NBN, TV Asahi
Original run	February 2, 2003 – January 25, 2004
Episodes	50
Related
Gekito! Crush Gear Turbo - Kaizerburn no Chousen! (movie) Crush Gear Nitro

Crush Gear Turbo (激闘!クラッシュギアTURBO Gekitō! Kurasshugia Tābo^?), also known just as Crush Gear, is an anime and manga series. The anime series, produced by Sunrise, spanned 68 episodes, aired across Japan on the anime television network Animax, from October 7, 2001 to January 26, 2003. It was followed on by a sequel, Crush Gear Nitro, which has also been aired across Japan by Animax. Crush Gear Turbo was about people who threw mechanical vehicles into a large ring to fight and "crush" each other. Magna Pacific released Crush Gear Turbo in English in Australia.^[1]

Japanese Cast

• Kouya Marino (真理野 コウヤ Marino Kouya^?)
•  
•   - Megumi Matsumoto
•  
  • Naotake Furusato, the producer of Crush Gear Turbo, said that the creators "lost a lot of sleep over" trying to name the main character. Furusato credits Shūji Iuchi, the director, with the final naming. The creators decided to use "Kouya" as the name "had a ring to it like brothers would have and that made it kind of realistic" and that the name literally means "wilderness" and "sounded right for a main character." Furusato added that the name "Kouya" made him want to see the character "grow up big and strong."^[2]
• Yuya Marino (真理野 ユウヤ Marino Yuuya^?) - Kenji Nojima
  • Furusato said that Yuya's name was decided on early in the production.^[2]
• Takeshi Manganji (万願寺 タケシ Manganji Takeshi^?) 
•  
•  - Akira Sasanuma
•  
  • Furusato described the name "Manganji" as having "an image of wealth" - He added that "Japanese people are suckers for names that end in "ji"! (laughs)"^[2]
• Jirou Oriza (織座 ジロウ Oriza Jirou^?) 
•  
• - Masato Amada
• Jirou Oriza is a member of the Tobita Club and the second Gear Fighter to be recruited into the club. Jirou’s Crush Gear is Raging Bull, and later on in the series, Raging Bullet. 
• 
  
• Kyousuke Jin (迅 キョウスケ Jin Kyousuke^?) 
•  
•  - Chika Sakamoto
• Kyousuke Jin is the Gear Master of the Tobita Club. He was once a member of Team Griffon along with Kuroudo Marume, but a dispute between them causes him to quit the team. He is the third Gear Fighter to be recruited into the Tobita Club. His Crush Gear is Dino Spartan, and later on in the series, Dino Phalanx.
   
• Kuroudo Marume (丸目 クロウド Marume Kuroudo^?) 
•  
• - Naomi Shindoh
  • Furusato said that the name originates from a samurai in the Edo Period.^[2]
• Lilika Tobita (飛田 リリカ Tobita Ririka^?) 
•  
• - Michiko Neya
•  
• Lilika Tobita is the member of the Tobita Club and the club's deputy owner. She is the only daughter of the owner of the club, Takaya Tobita. Since he is on overseas, she is managing the club instead of him. She also knows Yuhya very well.
   
• Kaoru Hanano- Akemi Kanda
• Mitsuke Ohmori - Yumi Kakazu
• Wang Hu^[3] (王虎 Wan Fū^?) - Sayaka Aida
• Eddie Kobayashi (エディ小林 Edi Kobayashi^?) - Kousuke Okano
• Taki Hiroomi (滝ヒロオミ^?) - Yuu Asakawa
• Kishin Ōkawa (大川 キシン Ōkawa Kishin^?) - Makiko Ohmoto
• Carlos "U-YA" Williams - Omi Minami
• Sean Firestone - Tetsuya Iwanaga

Staff

• Director - Shūji Iuchi
• Series Writer - Fuyunori Gobu, Shūji Iuchi, Hiroaki Kitajima, Hiroyuki Yoshino, Noboru Kimura, Shin Yoshida, Shino Hakata
• Character Design - Atsuo Tobe
• Mecha Designer - Kunio Okawara & Kimitoshi Yamane
• Music Composer - JAM Project, Kenichi Sudo, Yogo Kono

Theme songs

• "CRUSH GEAR FIGHT!!" by JAM Project
• "Ai da yo ne!! ~Gear wo tsunagou~" by JAM Project
• "Kaze no EAGLE" by JAM Project

Production

Planning for Crush Gear Turbo began in March 2001, with intent to begin airing in October 2001. Naotake Furusato, the producer of Crush Gear Turbo, received a toy car prototype that used two AA batteries and a motor. The toy car operated in circles instead of straight lines, and operators could cause them to collide with one another. Furusato used this concept to develop Crush Gear Turbo. According to Furusato the show was the first Sunrise production to "genuinely adopt the use of 3D graphics." Furusato added that the 3D rendering allowed the animators to "brilliantly express the stage presence of the Gear Fights" and incorporate effects not in real-life toy gears such as fireworks and smoke. According to Furusato 3D Production Chief Mitsuo Fukuda (福田 己津央 Fukuda Mitsuo^?) told Furusato that, because there are some elements that may only be expressed in 3D, the series ought to use 3D "to full effect." Furusato concluded that this caused the battle scenes to appear "a little bit unique." Furusato credited the customization and element attributes in each gear to Sunrise's "already well-established know-how." In addition the producer credited his own experience on Gear Fighter Dendoh and director Shūji Iuchi's experience on Mashin Hero Wataru in the formation of Crush Gear Turbo.^[4]
Furusato intended for the creators of the series to "encourage children to think and place on value on things like friendship and trust in others" and for the series to express deepening human relationships. He added that the series "got kind of a Heisei Era [1989-present] "Kyojin no Hoshi" and "Ashita no Joe" feeling to it" and that the current generation of children "are fundamentally a more cheerful lot and go in for a bit of a slapstick flavor."^[4]

DVD release

In Australia Volumes 1-2 were released on 1 July 2004.^[1][5] Volumes 3 and 4 were released on 8 September 2004.^[6][7] Volume 5 was released on 6 October 2004.^[8] Volume 6 was released on 10 November 2004^[9] Volume 7 was released on 19 January 2005.^[3]

References