IGPX

IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix(Japanese:IGPX インモータル・グランプリ,Hepburn:Ai Jī Pī Ekkusu: Inmōtaru Guranpuri)refers to twoanimeseries co-produced byProduction I.GandCartoon Network.The first is a "microseries" consisting of five 5-minute episodes, and the second is a 26-episode animated series loosely related to the first.

IGPX
Japanese cover of the first DVD volume
IGPX インモータル・グランプリ (Ai Jī Pī Ekkusu: Inmōtaru Guranpuri)
Genre	Action,sports,racing,mecha
Created by	Production I.G Cartoon Network
Anime television series
Immortal Grand Prix (microseries)
Directed by	Koichi Mashimo
Produced by	Maki Terashima-Furuta Kaeko Sakamoto Eric P. Sherman Satoshi Kanuma
Written by	Koichi Mashimo Yuuki Arie Eric P. Sherman Dave Wittenberg Jason DeMarco Sean Akins
Music by	Ninja Tune
Studio	Production I.G Bee Train
Licensed by	NA:Discotek Media
English network	US:Cartoon Network (Toonami)
Original run	September 15, 2003–September 19, 2003
Episodes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Mitsuru Hongo
Produced by	Hidekazu Terakawa Jason DeMarco Kenji Ōta Kunihisa Oki
Written by	Mitsuru Hongo
Music by	Ninja Tune
Studio	Production I.G
Licensed by	NA:Discotek Media
Original network	TV Asahi(#1–24) Cartoon Network(#25–26)
English network	US:Cartoon Network/Adult Swim(Toonami)
Original run	October 5, 2005–July 2, 2006
Episodes	26

IGPXmicroseries

The Immortal Grand Prix is a tournament between teams of gun-wielding mechs. As Team Velshtein is injured, the random drawing chooses Team Suzaku, led by pilot Takeshi Noa, as the one to face Team Sledge Mamma, a trio of cybernetically enhanced cyborgs. At first, Team Suzaku does not have weapons because their mechanic U-Matsu forgot them. Amy delivers weapons from Velshtein, but Team Suzaku has a hard time controlling them. Amy's cat co-pilot Luca takes control and knocks Timmer out of his mech. Liz, out of ammo, uses hercapoeiraimage training. She is eventually at the mercy of an opposing pilot and surrenders. The Sledge Mamma mechs shoot at Takeshi, but Amy jumps in to save him and is knocked out of the game. After being kicked around by the Sledge Mamma mechs, Takeshi reveals his plan. Using hisninjatōand shuriken, he knocks Dimmer and Yammer out of their mechs and wins. However, the series ends on a bitter note as Velshtein's owner Hamgra blackmails Team Suzaku to merge their teams and allow him to add cybernetic enhancements to their pilots, or else he will make them pay for the weapons they borrowed. This conflict is never resolved due to the end of the microseries.

English cast

• Beau Billingslea– Yammer
• Steven Blum– Cunningham
• Sandy Fox– Amy
• Steve Kramer– Timmer
• Lex Lang– Metoo
• Wendee Lee– BT
• Julie Maddalena– Luca
• Michael McConnohie– Dimmer
• Jamieson Price– Hamgra
• Michelle Ruff– Suzaku
• Joshua Seth– Takeshi Noa
• Julie Ann Taylor– PA
• Kirk Thornton– Umatsu
• Kari Wahlgren– Liz

IGPXTV series

Main articles:List ofIGPXcharactersandList ofIGPXepisodes

TheIGPXTV series made its hour-long premiere on November 5, 2005, at 10/9c. The series is set in 2049 and revolves around the Immortal Grand Prix, or IGPX, which is a mecharacing/battle circuit. The sport is so popular that an entire city has been built for the racing industry, where competitions take place on a huge 60-mile (97 km) track. In the IGPX, two teams of three mechs, high-tech fighting machines driven by humans, race at speeds greater than 350 mph (560 km/h). The IGPX also contains fighting elements; attacking the opposing team to disable their mechs (thus preventing them from winning the race) is not only legal, but also expected. Team Satomi, a crew of amateur pilots, has just won a minor-league championship, the IG-2, vaulting them into the sport's highest level, the IG-1. Now, the untested rookies of Team Satomi must overcome impossible odds and beat the world's most skilled and ruthless pilots.

The anime is Toonami's first ever original television series.

English cast

• Haley Joel Osment– Takeshi Jin
• Hynden Walch– Amy Stapleton
• Michelle Rodriguez– Liz Riccaro
• Kari Wahlgren– Luca, Michiru Satomi
• Steven Blum– Alex Cunningham
• Louise Chamis – Jane Rublev
• Peter Cullen– Opening Narration
• Erik Davies – Ricardo Montazio
• Doug Erholtz– Zanak Strauss
• Michael Forest– Hans
• Crispin Freeman– Bjorn Johassen
• Barbara Goodson– Misaki
• Mark Hamill– Yamma
• Lance Henriksen– Andrei Rublev
• Kate Higgins– Jessica Darling
• Megan Hollingshead– Judy Ballasteros
• Tom Kenny– Benjamin Bright
• William Frederick Knight– Ichi
• Lex Lang– Dew
• Mela Lee– Max Erlich
• Wendee Lee– Sola
• Julie Maddalena– Jesse Martin
• Dave Mallow– Glass Jones, MC
• Tony Oliver– Edgeraid Coach
• Michelle Ruff– Elisa Doolittle
• Stephanie Sheh– Bella Demarco, Yuri Jin
• Brianne Siddall– Johnny Lipkin
• Steve Staley– River Marque
• Karen Strassman– Fantine Valjean
• Kim Strauss– Sir Hamgra
• Julie Ann Taylor– Boy A
• Kirk Thornton– Mark Ramsay
• Cristina Vee– Sage Rublev
• Andre Ware – Dimma
• Dave Wittenberg– Frank Bullitt, Jan Michael, Timma

IGPXpromotions

• A promotional DVD featuring the Comic-Con early cut of episode 1 ( "Time to Shine" ), theIGPXtrailer, music, and a screensaver was distributed withAnime Insiderv. 26 (November 2005) andNintendo Powerv. 198 (December 2005).
• Special editions of the U.S. DVD volume 1 release came with a puff pack artbox, a Team Satomi T-shirt, the first episode from the microseries and team stickers, one for each of the teams from season one.

Allusions

• Fantine Valjean's name is an allusion to the charactersFantineandJean Valjeanin the bookLes MisérablesbyVictor Hugo.Likewise, Team Skylark member Elisa has the same name as the main character ofPygmalionbyGeorge Bernard Shawand as the leading lady inMy Fair Lady.
• Andrei Rublev bears the name ofa Russian iconographer.
• In the episode "Cat vs. Dog", the owner of Team Edgeraid bears a striking resemblance toGendo IkarifromNeon Genesis Evangelion.The man also sits with his hands crossed over his face, which was notably done by Gendo and has since been done in many other anime series. This character insertion was probably due to Production I.G working on bothIGPXand theEvangelionmovies.
• In "Cat vs. Dog", the mecha of Team Edge Raid haveGITSpainted on their arms. This is a reference toGhost in the Shell,a franchise animated by Production I.G, who also animatedIGPX.Team Satomi's mechs have the wordAbsolutepainted on their arms, a nod to the "Absolution" spaceship featured in the Toonami commercial bumpers.
• In the final episode ofIGPX,Team Black Egg's symbol is shown on the TV located on one of the triple towers that surround the track, which only shows team emblems for IG-1. This suggests that Black Egg has regained their spot in IG-1, replacing Team Skylark after they are demoted to IG-2.
• In the eighth episode ofReideen,a banner titled "Satomi" hangs in the city that Saiga Junki (the main protagonist) lives in. Production I.G's studio created both theIGPXandReideenanime series. Both series were directed byMitsuru Hongo.

Production

Koichi Mashimoco-wrote and directed the microseries, whileBee TrainandProduction I.Ganimated it, andBandai Entertainmentacted as the North American distributor. The full-length anime series was handled by director and writerMitsuru Hongoand was animated by Production I.G, with Bee Train returning for in-between animation. Production I.G presidentMitsuhisa Ishikawajoined on asproducerfor the series. It was the first time he had worked on a joint U.S. Japanese production, due to thePokémoncompanion franchise.

The series' English dub was produced byWilliams StreetinAtlanta, GeorgiaandBang Zoom! EntertainmentinBurbank, California.Both studios collaborated on the English script and casting, Bang Zoom directed and recorded the actors, and Williams Street handled the final mi xing for the dub.

The program returned to the Toonami block on April 28, 2013, at 2 a.m.ETonAdult Swim.On November 21, 2014, anime distributorDiscotek Mediaannounced their license to the TV series and re-released both cuts (including Toonami cut and Production I.G cut) of the series on DVD on February 9, 2016.Discotek announced a Blu-ray version on October 17, 2023, which was released on May 28, 2024.Diskotek Media's HD remastered version of the first two episodes of the show were aired commercial-free on Adult Swim on November 5, 2023, as part of theDaylight savings timebonus hour on the Toonami block to celebrate the show's 18th anniversary since its initial run on Cartoon Networkand to promote its Blu-ray release. The show returned in full to the Toonami block with the HD remastered version on November 12, 2023.

Media

AnIGPXvideo gamewas released on September 12, 2006, for thePlayStation 2by Bandai Namco.

External links

• Production I.G official English websiteIGPXpage
• Production I.G official Japanese websiteIGPXpage(in Japanese)
• JapaneseIGPXofficial website(in Japanese)
• TV Asahi'sIGPXwebsite(in Japanese)
• IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix microseriesatIMDb
• IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix TV seriesatIMDb
• IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix microseriesatAnime News Network's encyclopedia
• IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix TV seriesatAnime News Network's encyclopedia