SPACE RUNAWAY IDEON
Densetsu Kyojin Ideon (Legendary Giant-God Ideon) aired in Japan from May, 1980 to January, 1981. More commonly known as Space Runaway Ideon, this series was produced right after Mobile Suit Gundam and, like MS Gundam, was written by Tomino Yoshiyuki with mechanical designs by Okawara Kunio and Studio Submarine. Although 43 episodes were planned, the series was canceled after 39 episodes due to poor ratings. These poor ratings were misleading, though. Over a year later 2 movies came out in Japanese theaters to end the story for a multitude of waiting fans. A Contact was a compilation of the previous 39 episodes and Be Invoked brought the story to an unexpected finale. Today, Ideon is a favorite of many Japanese people and was listed among the 10 best anime series ever (Animage 2000).
In the distant future, humanity has moved out into the galaxy to colonize new worlds and in so doing, has discovered the remains of several ancient alien civilizations. While excavating alien ruins on planet Solo, the Terrans are attacked by an alien group calling themselves the Buff Clan. They also discover a starship and a huge humanoid machine called the Ideon. The Terrans board the starship, taking the Ideon with them, to escape the Buff Clan and begin their lives as space runaways.
Many themes from Ideon will be familiar to fans of Neon Genesis Evangelion. The producers of Evangelion list Ideon as one of their greatest inspirations.
