Blue Knight Berserga

Armored Trooper Votoms had a built-in advantage when it came to storytelling opportunities: enormous scale. With the entire Astragius Galaxy as a backdrop, it could literally go anywhere. And it didn’t take long to figure that out; six months after the TV series ended, the first spinoff appeared. I discovered it the same way other fans did at the time, in the magazine of its birth. Since then, it expanded again and again, with products still appearing over thirty years later. In a very real sense, it was an anime franchise without the anime part. Presented here is everything I’ve learned about it so far.

Introduction

by Tetsuya Asagiri (From the first Hobby Japan special, Feb 1987)

Blue Knight Berserga Story first appeared in September 1984 as a serial in Dual Magazine (published by Takara, edited by Shindosha). The intention of the project was to respond to the continued popularity of Armored Trooper Votoms, which was broadcast from 1983-84. This was in the days before many anime works were adapted into novels, as is the case now, and it attracted a lot of attention because it was a joint effort by up-and-coming creators.

For various reasons, the magazine ceased publication, and the series ended after just three installments. We felt it would be a shame to let it end like this, so we decided to turn it into a novel. It was published in two volumes by Asahi Sonorama Bunko.

In the planning stage, it was decided to use the battling of Votoms as the backbone of the story. the Berserga-type was chosen as the main mecha because it was the most heroic design of all the ATs in Votoms. Chirico had driven several types of ATs, including the Scopedog. The AT itself was thought of as a weapon, so none of them had the impact of a “hero mecha.” But Berserga, driven by Quent mercenary Lu Shako, was a unique design, and the most popular among Dual Magazine readers.

However, it appeared infrequently and fans were left dissatisfied, so the members of the project unanimously decided to remake Berserga into an AT for battling. The other ATs that appeared were designed by Kazumi Fujita. At the time of the Sonorama version, he was busy designing mecha for Zeta Gundam, so the only new AT he created was the FX-type Zerberus.

The AT designs for the novels were updated by Hiroyuki Hataike, who created the extensive illustrations in Dual Magazine. This work was his debut as an illustrator, and he is now active under several pennames in a variety of fields. He attempted to create a realistic high-contrast touch with familiar characters, and it was a strong hit with the readers.

However, the driving force behind this work is the author, Masanori Hama. The Dual Magazine edition was serialized only three times in a quarterly magazine, so it was difficult for him. But his unique tempo and powerful characterization were on full display in the Sonorama edition, and developed a new readership beyond the Dual Magazine audience.

In particular, his depiction of mecha has a precision that has never been seen in previous works of fiction. Hama’s descriptions are so vivid and detailed that the reader feels as if they are on board the mecha. As an automobile fanatic, he names his mecha and characters after foreign cars, a sensibility that is evident throughout his works.

Along with mecha action, Hama’s appeal lies in the characters he creates, with indomitable fighting spirit. Kain McDougal, the protagonist of this work, is placed in a similar situation as Chirico Cuvie in Votoms. However, their personalities and actions are yin and yang. Chirico is always portrayed as a fugitive, fighting as a soldier when defending himself.

Kain, on the other hand, is always fighting for something and taking charge of his own destiny. His body is damaged along with his beloved machine, the Berserga. Machines can be repaired and returned to normal, but that is not the case with human beings. Even when struck by bullets and losing a limb, he is motivated by something that will not allow him to retreat.

Mr. Hama wants to depict the way of life of such a man. Don’t choose a soft way of life. His passion for this is embedded in his writing. (Side note: Masanori Hama’s other contribution to the Votoms world was to write the Big Battle OVA released in 1986.)

Overview

Translated from the Blue Knight Wikipedia page

Blue Knight Berserga Story is a 4-volume science-fiction novel series written by Masanori Hama. It is a spinoff of Armored Trooper Votoms and is abbreviated as Blue Knight.

Description

In the “Black Flame” arc (volumes 1 and 2), the main character Kain McDougal pursues revenge for his former comrade-in-arms, a benefactor who guided him through the war. In the “Melkia Knight Project” (volumes 3 and 4) Kain confronts a conspiracy involving the entire Astragius Galaxy. The “Black Flame” arc is written in first person form from Kain’s point of view, while the “Melkia Knight” arc is written in third person. The story was initially based on the Votoms worldview, but the concepts and mecha design deviated as it progressed.

Background

Blue Knight first appeared in issues 10-12 (Sept ’84 to March ’85) of Dual Magazine, a hobby magazine published by Takara. The project was inspired by Votoms, which remained popular even after it ended on TV. It was based on the idea that battling, a unique element of Votoms, should be the main focus, and that the main character’s Armored Trooper (AT) would be a Berserga-type. This was similar to what Director Ryosuke Takahashi had envisioned before starting the series.

Masanori Hama did all the editing, ordering of illustrations, and writing of the series. However, the story had to be finished abruptly when the magazine ceased publication with the third installment. Voices on the planning side said, “It would be a shame to end it here,” so it was decided that Sonorama Bunko would publish a novel based on story. The original plan was to finish it in two volumes, but due to the popularity of the “Black Flame” arc, it was decided to publish the “Melkia Knight” arc, which added two more volumes.

The Story

The Hundred Years War, which divided the Astragius Galaxy, has ended. Kain McDougal, an AT pilot, returns to the planet Melkia. Kain knows nothing but fighting. A dispute reunites him with a Quent mercenary, Sha Bak, who leads him into the world of battling.

By the time Kain’s battling skills have improved to make him unbeatable, Kain and Sha Bak are challenged and defeated by a mysterious black AT called Shadow Flare. During the battle, Sha Bak is brutally killed. Kain swears revenge and leaves the city with Sha Bak’s prized Berserga-type AT.

He wanders from town to town, battling for bounties and information in pursuit of Shadow Flare. Kain is nicknamed the “Blue Knight,” a reference to Berserga, a knight with a blue-colored design.

In the course of his battles, Kain discovers the whereabouts of his nemesis. However, Shadow Flare is an entity that seeks to take control of the Astragius galaxy, and Kain is caught up in a massive conspiracy as he fights against it.

Mecha

The mecha design of this work was the result of a rather complicated process. In the original Dual Magazine serialization, Kazumi Fujita was the mecha designer. In the Sonorama novels, illustrator Hiroyuki Hataike modified the designs and created the general image of the work.

Fujita then redesigned the ATs, including the FX series, for two Hobby Japan books. Therefore, many of the ATs created in this work were seen differently in Dual Magazine and the novels, and some ATs have 3 versions.

Staff

This work is a novel, but since it was originally published in a model maker’s magazine, there were other staff members besides the author, Masanori Hama.

Planning and production: Shindosha
Original idea: Katsumata Jun
Illustration: Hiroyuki Hataike
Design cooperation: Kazumi Fujita
Layout: Mitsuo Shiiba
Director: Satoshi Chiba
Production manager: Shoichi Shimizu
Producer: Yoshihiro Nozaki


The Novels

Wiseman determined that in a galaxy of war, human evolution would advance just as technology did, and one day humans of supreme ability would appear. Chirico Cuvie was one. Here we meet another: Kain McDougal. Three years before the Hundred Year War ended, Kain joined a controversial Gilgameth unit called the “Corpse Army,” so named because of the sea of bodies often left in their wake, not all of them soldiers. After the war ends, members of this unit are branded criminals and hunted down by police. It is Astragius Year 7213…


Volume 1

B&W, 256 pages
Asahi Sonorama, June 1985

Captured by Balarant soldiers, Kain breaks out of prison and steals a smuggling ship on which he finds a female captive, Roni Shatrait. She stays with him as they return to Gilgameth territory and meet Sha Bak, a Quentman formerly of the Corpse Army and now the pilot of a Berserga-type AT in the local battling circuit.

Staying with him and becoming friends, Kain watches Sha Bak die at the hands of another former unit member, Kris Kurtz, piloting the powerful A.T. Shadow Flare. Claiming Sha’s Berserga and vowing revenge, Kain makes a name for himself as a roving battling pilot. He finds Shadow Flare again and challenges Kurtz to a battle…which Kain begins to lose.


Volume 2

B&W, 288 pages
Asahi Sonorama, Sept 1985

Defeated by a strange power he does not understand, Kain recovers with the help of a Gilgameth spy named Mima Sencutter. They rebuild the Berserga and Mima reveals the truth: five years earlier, the Corpse Army was a radical group who wished to possess the power of the Quent Mutants (referred to as Old-Types), leading them to launch an ill-fated attack on Wiseman.

Trying to attain his own mutant-like ability, Kurtz rebuilt himself into a cyborg and linked with Shadow Flare, gaining psionic powers. Furthermore, Sha Bak befriended Kain for similar purposes; Kain has manifested Old-Type abilities, and Sha wished to possess them. Angered by this revelation, Kain is saved from madness by his growing
love for Roni, and with her support, he fights Shadow Flare again, this time emerging the victor.


Volume 3: K’ (K-Dash)

B&W, 256 pages
Asahi Sonorama, May 1986

Two years later, Kain has disappeared, and the Melkian Army has begun a new super-soldier experiment: fully mechanized A.T.s called W-1 (Warrior-1). An anti-government force opposes them, and a mysterious new soldier named Kroma Zender, piloting a “Calamity Dog” AT, appears to help.

In a particular battle, Kroma feels a resonance, or affinity for a W-1, and withdraws to contemplate it. He finds Roni working as a battling matchmaker and reveals himself to be Kain, but the two are captured and imprisoned on Melkia.

There, Kain learns the truth: to duplicate his Old-Type abilities, the army ordered Mima to get a blood sample with which they would create bio-organic clones of Kain and plant them into W-1 AT’s to give each one independent thought. This is called the Melkia Knight Project. Roni is killed and Kain destroys the base in a rage after learning the name of the project leader: Lorinser.

Volume 4: Screaming Knight

B&W, 320 pages
Asahi Sonorama, July 1987

On a bloody rampage, Kain destroys all the W-1 bases he can find, but Lorinser has taken the Melkia Knight Project to its next phase by creating K-Dash, a humanoid supermutant who pilots an ancient, mythical A.T. called “Rectioneter.”

Long ago, Rectioneter spoke to Lorinser (like Wiseman to Chirico) and directed him to develop a superhuman who would destroy the entire galaxy. Lorinser used his position in the Gilgameth Army to pursue this, and has succeeded.

Having risen at last, K-Dash and Rectioneter fight Kain, who now pilots a super-advanced Berserga called “Testa Rossa,” given to him by Mima in return for his betrayal. The stake in their battle is the future of the Astragius Galaxy itself, and only the best warrior will survive.



1997 editions, cover artist unknown



2017 editions, cover art by Takuhito Kusanagi


Audio dramas

The first three books in the series were adapted as audio dramas, published on cassette by Asahi Sonorama. They all came out after the novels finished, but the fourth book was not included.

Book 1

November 1987

Listen to it here

Book 2

September 1988

Listen to it here

Book 3: K’

June 30, 1989

Listen to it here

Side note: the third book is substantially longer than the first two, so it may incorporate the fourth book. Listen and find out…if you can!


Other books

The Tale of Blue Knight Berserga

BLUE KNIGHT 青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語
ホビージャパン別冊

Color and B&W, 150 pages
Hobby Japan, Feb 1987

The Tale of Blue Knight Berserga II
in the Three Dimensional World

BLUE KNIGHTⅡ 青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語
ホビージャパン別冊

Color and B&W, 134 pages
Hobby Japan, July 1988

Hobby Japan magazine took notice of how popular Blue Knight garage kits were becoming, and published these two special issues. The first is a phenomenal collection of art, design, and story with a full reprint of the Dual Magazine material and a glance toward custom modeling. The second flips the balance and is almost entirely occupied with modeling. Together they represent the largest body of work on the series. The first book also contains an illustrated script that was likely an attempt to develop a Blue Knight anime. In later years, these two volumes were reprinted and bound in the slipcase shown below left.

A.T. Votoms Side Story • Blue Knight in the Three Dimensional World

Hobby Japan Mook 1089

装甲騎兵ボトムズ外伝 青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語3D

Color, 98 pages
Hobby Japan Press, June 2021

Amazingly, the 2010s brought us revival of Blue Knight in the form of elaborate 1/35 and 1/24 scale model kits. The kind we would have gotten if it had actually made it to anime, which it still hasn’t. Nevertheless, Hobby Japan covered them over many issues and collected all the articles into the handsome standalone volume shown above right. Let’s hope it’s not the last.


Kazumi Fujita Works Collection 1

B&W, 64 pages
LongShot, Dec 1994

This extremely rare doujinshi collects Kazumi Fujita’s mecha designs from the mid-80s, including his contributions to Blue Knight. It’s the only known print source for this body of work outside the Hobby Japan specials and it annoys me that I don’t have a copy yet.

EX 3, Blue Knight Berserga General Materials Collection

B&W, 118 pages
Votoms Guild, March 2002

This doujinshi is another rarity, an unofficial roundup of materials from the Hobby Japan specials and elsewhere, assembled by a fan group that published several more volumes. See them all here.


Playstation game

Released by Takara, October 1997. Distributed in the US with the title Blue Saber Knights. It could only be played on a PS console with a Japanese chip.

Character design is by Hiroyuki Hataike, and music is by Votoms composer Hiroki Inui.

Overview from the Blue Knight Wikipedia page:

Story

After the end of the Hundred Years War, an AT rider (the player) arrives in the town of Bow.

You step into the battling world and spend your time fighting. You become famous as a strong player along with the Blue Knight, which exposes you to many people’s calculations, greed, and ambitions. Ultimately, you are pursued by a mysterious organization that threatens Melkia itself.

You are not a mutant, but you are not an ordinary human being, either. Depending on your choices, you can become a Berserga like Kain, follow Kris Kurtz as a member of the Last Battalion, or simply disappear.

HAOH Game Special

Strategy book by Kodansha
Color, 130 pages, Oct 1997

V-Jump Game Book

Strategy book by V-Jump
Color, 152 pages, Nov 1997

Description

This is a 3D shooting game based on Blue Knight Berserga, released four years after the first Votoms console game, The Battling Road. The player becomes the main character, customizing their AT and participating in battling matches.

The story follows Kain McDougal, the protagonist of the original game, and his beloved AT, the Blue Knight, as well as Kris Kurtz’s Shadow Flare. Also appearing is Zerberus, the FX-AT from the third novel. Characters and mecha from the “Black Flame” arc appear in the game and can be played against each other.

The game has four modes: “story mode,” in which the story of the game progresses, “Blue Knight mode” in which players fight characters from the novels, “training mode” for practicing AT operations, and “battle mode” where players play against each other either on the same screen or separate screens.

In “story mode,” players contract with a matchmaker of their choice to fight in battling games. When you win against your opponent, your name recognition increases, and various events occur. If you go to the bar, events will lead to more battling matches. If you win, you can obtain items and ATs. You can customize your own original AT by changing the combination of parts and coloring, but some ATs cannot be customized.

A limited edition first pressing of the game was bundled with a Dual Model Scopedog

RELATED LINKS

TV commercial | Opening title animation | A.T. action demos | Complete playthrough | Original score by Hiroki Inui


MORE LINKS

Blue Knight Berserga hashtag on Twitter

Shadow Flare appears in Votoms Playstation 2 game

Homemade Blue Knight anime

Search term for more Blue Knight on the web: 青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語


Toys and models

This is where the Blue Knight rubber truly hit the road. For a series that never got to anime form, it truly thrived in the 3D world where the amazing mecha designs never failed to please. The first products were garage kits with modest production runs that nevertheless caught on and created a movement that ultimately went mainstream with toys and plastic models. These galeries may not capture every single one of them, but there are certainly a lot to chew on here.


Illustrations by Hiroyuki Hataike


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