GingaiOh: Five as One

Which animal gets the legs

The finished GingaiOh gives both legs to the blue gorilla. That choice was once very different. In drawings 23-24, the yellow wolf and white cat become the legs, with the animal faces all looking forward. Drawing 25 reshapes the gorilla dramatically to make a combination work.

Even drawings 26-29, which look closer to the finished warrior, use different torso structures. The artbook describes a difficult search for the assembly system beneath the styling. Look from these proposals back to the opening pair: moving an animal from leg to arm changes the whole warrior. Early Sketches, printed 144 / PDF 152.

In the story

The animals are partners. In Seijuu Sentai Gingaman, the Starbeasts have minds of their own and fight beside the heroes against the space pirates Balban. Gingaleon, Gingalcon, Gingarilla, Gingaverick and Gingat begin as living creatures: lion, dragon, gorilla, wolf and cat. Their first designs make that living quality clear, from the gorilla’s muscular torso to the dragon’s yellow wing membranes.

Before they can combine, the five undergo Great Rebirth, taking on mechanical bodies as the Silver Starbeasts. GingaiOh first forms in chapter seven. The images below show the partners before that change; the five comparisons that follow show their metal forms and the matching original DX units. Artbook, printed 040-041 / PDF 48-49.

Five bodies to follow

Follow the five mechanical partners into the finished body. Gingaleon, the red lion, supplies the chest and helmet. Gingarilla, the blue gorilla, provides the waist and both legs. Gingalcon, the green bird, spreads its wings across the back.

The two quadrupeds become the arms: yellow Gingaverick on the robot’s left and white-and-pink Gingat on its right. In a front view, those sides are reversed for us. Compare each design with its original Japanese DX unit, then find its animal face in the opening warrior. Finished designs, printed 040-041 / PDF 48-49.

A lion folds into a warrior

Watch the red body become compact. The original DX photographs show the lion’s raised head and folding body, then the assembled torso and face reveal. The artbook’s product note singles out two storage details: the horns attach beneath Gingaleon’s belly in animal form, and the fists tuck into the soles. Those loose parts participate in the change of shape. Artbook DX note, printed 040 / PDF 48; original toy photographs.

Once the five units join, the lion helmet opens to frame a silver humanoid face. Compare that small reveal with the finished front and side head drawings. The broad warrior is assembled from different animals, yet the helmet gives it a single expression.

The bird becomes a weapon

Gingaiken is the great sword; Galcon Bowgun has the green bird’s unmistakable wings. The book describes the bird body transforming into the bowgun and notes that an early setting also had the sword change into it. Keep that story idea separate from the physical toy: the photographs show the separate sword and the bird-shaped weapon held by the DX. Weapon notes, printed 040 / PDF 48.

Look at the rear pair first. The green body sits between the shoulders, with its wings reaching behind the arms. In the weapon drawings, that same bird identity becomes a long, pointed shape. On the sword, the book points out Gingaleon’s face worked into the blade decoration.

A second layer of armor

Super Armor Shine GingaiOh gains the Light of Ginga, an enlarged head crest and chest plate, and an upgraded Cho Gingaiken. The book places its introduction in chapter 24. The drawing makes the change easy to spot: a radiant gold headpiece and a much larger V dominate the upper body. Artbook, printed 041 / PDF 49.

The matching toy photograph uses the original DX with armor from Bandai’s separate Ginga Daikessen accessory set. Its larger chest V and radiant headpiece fit over the familiar body; the loose parts and separate package show how that extra layer was supplied. Accessory set photographs and packaging.

On the toy shelf

Bandai’s 1998 catalog presents these five mechanical animals as DX Chogokin Seijuu Gattai GingaiOh, advertises the die-cast body and lists ¥9,500. The original Japanese package carries the GD-11 identifier. Its straight-standing robot makes a useful comparison with the dramatic, low-angle finished artwork. Contemporary catalog, unnumbered DX page / PDF 6.

On the drawing board

The first animal sketches explore geometric faces as well as bodies. Drawings 1-3 precede the settled names and final mechanical forms. Look for circles, sharp triangles and mask-like faces in the early ideas.

The book says the mechanical Great Rebirth concept arrived late in development. Earlier work aimed to combine the animals while retaining more of their living forms. Drawings 12-21 document that search, including armored bird and gorilla ideas. Some proposals look much closer to the living creatures than the final Silver Starbeasts do. These are alternative development studies, rather than successive retail releases. Early Sketches, printed 144 / PDF 152.

Another rebirth for space

One further possibility survives in drawings 48-52: new transformed bodies for the five Starbeasts to fight in space. The book reports that their combined form was not found. These five sketches preserve an idea without establishing a completed combination or a manufactured toy. Notice how the animal heads remain legible even as the bodies acquire spacecraft-like shapes. Early Sketches, printed 145 / PDF 153.

Five faces, one warrior

Try the five-face invitation again. The lion frames the warrior’s face, the gorilla looks out below the chest, and the cat and wolf sit high on the shoulders. Turn to the rear view for the fifth face: the green bird that can leave the back and become a weapon.

Those positions changed from one proposal to the next. The early cat-and-wolf legs make the finished solution easier to appreciate: one warrior, with a visible way back to each of its five partners.