Votoms Bibliography, Part 2
In Part 1, I covered books specifically devoted to the anime series, its spinoffs, and merchandising. This time I’ll dig into three separate categories: manga, novels, and “related books” that you’ll want if you’re a psycho-fan like I am. Japanese titles are included for online search purposes. Here we goooo…
MANGA
Armored Trooper Votoms 1
B&W, 190 pages
Kodansha, Oct 1983
Armored Trooper Votoms 2
B&W, 190 pages
Kodansha, Dec 1983
This was one of two manga adaptations that were published concurrently with the TV series. Adapted by artist Minoru Nonaka, it was serialized in Kodansha’s Comic Bon Bon magazine and collected into these four volumes. At the time the first was published, the series was just past its halfway point on TV.
Armored Trooper Votoms 3
B&W, 190 pages
Kodansha, Feb 1984
Armored Trooper Votoms 4
B&W, 190 pages
Kodansha, March 1984
Nonaka didn’t have all the story details when he needed them, so this version strays a bit from canon. Additionally, it had to be significantly streamlined to keep pace with a weekly TV series. The finished page count was roughly the equivalent of 30 American comic books, and you’d need about 20 more to capture everything on screen.
Cyber Comix
1988-894
Bandai published this long-running digest-size paperback series featuring original manga based on various Sunrise “real robot” anime. That made Votoms a curious addition since it was owned by Takara rather than Bandai, but that didn’t stop three spinoff stories from appearing: Excellent A.T. (vol. 2, June ’88), Blue Songs (vol. 3, Aug ’88), and Heat Up (vol. 12, Oct ’89). Only the first two have been reprinted, and only in doujinshi form.
Defenseless City
無防備都市
Written by Hiroshi Yamaguchi, this spinoff manga bears the distinction of being drawn by a female artist; Yuki Otake, working under the pseudonym Fumiaki Shibata. Originally serialized in seven volumes of Bandai’s Cyber Comix anthology, it pits intel officer Keik Karadyne against a rogue A.T. pilot in a prequel to Merowlink. Interestingly, it’s named after a 1945 Italian film titled Citta Aperta (Open City).
B&W, 140 pages
Bandai, Feb 1993
Shining Heresy
赫奕たる異端
Originally serialized in anthology magazine Comic Dengeki Daioh, this is a 5-chapter adaptation of the OVA series by Isamu Imakake. Both accurate and complete, it’s drawn in a sharp, high-contrast style that propels itself quickly through the story and captures all the most important moments.
B&W, 172 pages
Mediaworks, July 1995
Armored Trooper Votoms #1
This was my own contribution to the world of Votoms comics, and is thus the only one in English. When U.S. Manga Corps acquired publishing rights along with it, and handed me my dream job. It was meant to be a 4-issue miniseries, but the comic book market imploded and this was the only one that got released. However…
Color, 24 pages
CPM Comics, July 1996
Supreme Survivor graphic novel
…all four issues were fully drawn and completed, so they were all collected into this handsome graphic novel a year later, which is now extremely rare. The story content includes my adaptation of Roots of Ambition and the first TV episode, with a short bridge I created to link the two. Ten years later, an official bridge was created called Pailsen Files.
Color, 110 pages
CPM Comics, July 1997
AT Stories
B&W, 194 pages
Futabasha, May 2005
AT Stories 2
B&W, 194 pages
Futabasha, March 2007
Great Mechanics magazine has been around since 2001, in which time it has expanded its format twice and become the premiere publication for anime mecha-heads. In its original digest-size days, it featured a serialized Votoms manga called A.T. Stories, written by Masaki Okajima and drawn by Yoshihiro Sono. it follows the exploits of various pilots outside the anime continuity, taking advantage of all this world has to offer. All 21 chapters are collected in these two volumes, augmented by some new material.
Crimson Eyes 1
B&W, 180 pages
Akita Shoten, July 2009
Crimson Eyes 2
B&W, 180 pages
Akita Shoten, July 2009
This unusual entry ran in Champion Red magazine from 2008-09, written and drawn by Mugita Sugimura. Synopsis from Wikipedia: Civil war rages between a military regime and anti-government guerrillas on planet Clavius. One day, a girl named Rekka, wearing an explosive collar, arrives at the guerrillas’ base as the government forces launch an offensive against the stronghold, but they are defeated thanks to her superhuman efforts. After having her collar removed, Rekka sets off to participate in the Grand Duero, a battling tournament held in the capital. Her goal is to kill her brother, Sagut, the president of Clavius.
Armored Trooper Votoms 1
B&W, 384 pages
Daitosha, May 1999
Armored Trooper Votoms 2
B&W, 384 pages
Daitosha, May 1999
This interesting project reunited Votoms with Minoru Nonaka, giving him the opportunity to revisit and upgrade his original 4-volume manga. Many characters were redrawn and many new pages were added to this 2-volume omnibus reprint, but the adaptation remains the same.
4-Volume reprint
B&W, 190 pages each
Kodansha, Dec 2003/Jan 2004
This is the most recent reprint of Nonaka’s manga, returning to the original format with new cover art.
Dougram + Votoms
太陽の牙ダグラム + 装甲騎兵ボトムズ
The other vintage manga adaptation of the TV series is also the most recent entry on this list. TV Anime Magazine was another place to go in the early 80s for manga versions of your favorite mecha anime, and its serialized Votoms adaptation was written and drawn by Yu Okazaki. It kept pace with the anime as it aired, from May 1983 to April 1984. Okazaki’s art style is very similar to Minoru Nonaka’s, but the adaptation is completely different and more abbreviated. Okazaki also drew Dougram for the same magazine, and this book reprints both works in full. Dougram ran for a longer time, so it takes up about 75% of the pages.
B&W, 392 pages
Manga Shop, March 2011
NOVELS
Blue Knight Berserga Story 1
青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語 1
B&W, 256 pages
Asahi Sonorama, June 1985
Blue Knight Berserga Story 2
青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語 2
B&W, 288 pages
Asahi Sonorama, Sept 1985
The first Votoms side story was the first to be novelized. Blue Knight Berserga started as a serialized novella in Takara’s Dual Magazine, written by anime writer Masanori Hama and illustrated by Hiroyuki Hataike. That material was expanded into the first novel, which then spun off into a bigger story with its own direction. Hataike’s stylish and evocative illustrations can be seen throughout.
Blue Knight Berserga Story, K’
青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語 『K’』
B&W, 256 pages
Asahi Sonorama, May 1986
Blue Knight Berserga Story
Screaming Knight
青の騎士ベルゼルガ物語 絶叫の騎士
B&W, 320 pages
Asahi Sonorama, July 1987
The story is concurrent with the Votoms TV series, but does not cross over. AT pilot Kain McDougall embarks on the path of revenge when his best friend is murdered, using Planet Melkia’s Battling circuit to track down the killer. From there, the story jumps forward into the start of the next war and the arrival of cyber-enhanced Perfect Soldiers. The huge variety of mecha design inspired plenty of modelmaking and eventually a Playstation game.
Audio drama editions (dramatizations) Book 1: Nov 1987 / Book 2: Sept 1988 / K’: June 1989
1997 editions, cover artist unknown
2017 editions, cover art by Takuhito Kusanagi
The First Red Shoulder
装甲騎兵ボトムズ ザ・ファーストレッドショルダー
B&W, 196 pages
Animage Library, June 1988
The Last Red Shoulder
装甲騎兵ボトムズ ザ・ラストレッドショルダー
B&W, 196 pages
Animage Library, Dec 1988
Anime writer Soji Yoshikawa penned both of these novelizations, based on his own scripts for Roots of Ambition and The Last Red Shoulder. Unlike the OVAs, they were released in continuity order. Each contains a small batch of illustrations by Character Designer Norio Shioyama.
Armored Trooper Votoms
Sonorama Warehouse Cassette Edition
ソノラマソノラマ庫 カセット版
Not a novel, but a dramatized audiobook with the original anime cast reprising their roles. The story goes about halfway through the Uoodo arc.
Sonorama, Dec 1988
Armor Hunter Merowlink 1
機甲猟兵メロウリンク
Ryusuke Takahashi himself wrote this novelization for Merowlink, covering the first five episodes of the OVA series. Unfortunately, there was no volume 2. Includes a few illustrations by animator Moriyasu Taniguchi.
B&W, 256 pages
Asahi Sonorama, March 1989
AT Votoms 1: Uoodo Chapter
B&W, 270 pages
Kadokawa Sneaker Library, Nov 2002
AT Votoms 2: Kummen Chapter
B&W, 288 pages
Kadokawa Sneaker Library, Feb 2003
This was a full-up novelization of the original TV series; one volume per arc and one chapter per episode, all written by Ryusuke Takahashi with illustrations by Norio Shioyama.
AT Votoms 3: Sunsa Chapter
B&W, 224 pages
Kadokawa Sneaker Library, June 2003
AT Votoms 4: Quent Chapter
B&W, 272 pages
Kadokawa Sneaker Library, Oct 2003
Each of the four volumes also contains an afterword, including interviews with Mecha Designer Kunio Okawara and Character Designer Norio Shioyama.
The Last Red Shoulder
装甲騎兵ボトムズ ザ・ラストレッドショルダー
Confusingly, this hardcover contains reprints of both The First Red Shoulder and The Last Red Shoulder by Soji Yoshikawa, but only the second is named in the title. Norio Shioyama’s illustrations were not used, but painter Hidetaka Tenjin created the cover art and one interior piece. Also includes an afterword and six pages of anime designs.
B&W, 288 pages
Tokuma Shoten, Feb 2005
Commando Vorct
Encounter with the Wolf
装甲騎兵ボトムズ コマンドフォークト • 群狼邂逅
B&W, 272 pages
Hobby Japan, April 2007
Commando Vorct
Birth of a Legend
装甲騎兵ボトムズ コマンドフォークト • 伝説誕生
B&W, 272 pages
Hobby Japan, Oct 2007
This story was a collaborative effort between two different magazines. The content in these books was originally published in Novel Japan (which changed names midstream to Chara No!), accompanied by new character and mecha designs from the masters themselves, Shioyama and Okawara. The other magazine was Hobby Japan, which carried more text chapters and custom model dioramas. The story follows an ace A.T. unit during the Hundred Years War, prior to the TV series. Each book has numerous illustrations by Shioyama.
Pailsen Files
装甲騎兵ボトムズ ペールゼン・ファイルズ
Soji Yoshikawa stepped up again to adapt his own screenplay, this time for the 2007 Pailsen Files OVA series, set between The First Red Shoulder and the TV series. Text only, no illustrations.
B&W, 336 pages
Hobby Japan, Jan 2009
Equal Ganeshis
EQUAL ガネシス
This oddball project debuted as a serialized novella by Ryosuke Takahashi in the pages of Newtype magazine from Feb 1993 to Dec 1994, then was collected into this volume. Unfortunately, the prodigious illustrations in its original format were not included. The story is set about 300 years after the TV series in a time when A.T.s and humans have fused together into androids called Robotribes.
B&W, 354 pages
Kadokawa, May 2011
Alone Again
孤影再び
A collection of short stories by Ryosuke Takahashi, originally published as an online series, that revisits several original characters. He describes it thusly: “In the novella series Armored Trooper Votoms Alone Again (posted online at Nikkei Entertainment!), I wrote stories that attempted to organize and deepen the characters that appeared in the past series. In that sense, it brings closure to the characters that appeared in Votoms.” Some of this material became the basis for the 2011 Alone Again OAV. Text only, no illustrations.
B&W, 274 pages
Kadokawa, May 2011
God’s Child Arc
チャイルド 神の子篇
Ryosuke Takahashi returned to Chirico’s timeline yet again, picking up from the end of Phantom Arc and taking him to wherever he’s going next. The story was published online at Web Newtype in 54 biweekly chapters from August 2020 to December 2022. It was then released in a 2-volume paperback edition in February 2023. Illustrations are by anime director Moriyasu Taniguchi.
Order them here
B&W, 2 volumes
Kadokawa, Feb 2023
RELATED BOOKS
Each of these titles has something to offer that can’t be seen elsewhere. Many art collections with paintings for promotions and product packaging. Of course, there are many more general-interest anime reference books with Votoms content; those can be seen here.
Kunio Okawara Iron Works
大河原邦男アイアンワークス
7 pages of color paintings
Color and B&W, 112 pages
Bandai, 1989
Mecha Designer Kunio Okawara
Mecha Design for 1/1
メカニックデザイナー大河原邦男 メカデザイン FOR 1/1
14 pages of color paintings and design art
Color and B&W, 139 pages
Unbranded, 2009
Kunio Okawara
Legend of Mechanical Design
大河原邦男展 レジェンド・オブ・メカデザイン
Exhibition catalog with English text, 20 pages of color paintings and design art.
Color and B&W, 352 pages
Hyogo Prefectural Museum of Art, 2013
Mechanic Designer Kunio Okawara Exhibition
メカニックデザイナー 大河原邦男展
Exhibition catalog with English text, 8 pages of color paintings and design art.
Color and B&W, 346 pages
Sankei Shimbun, 2015
Norio Shioyama Art Collection
塩山紀生画集
21 pages of color and B&W art
Color and B&W, 96 pages
Movic, 1996
Permanent Collection: Masterpieces of Norio Shioyama Artwork
永久保存版 塩山紀生アートワーク傑作選
32 pages of color paintings
Color and B&W, 111 pages
Village Center Publications, 2002
Yutaka Izubuchi Mechanical Design Works 1
出渕裕メカニカルデザインワークス (1)
9 pages of designs from Shining Heresy
B&W, 103 pages
Movic, 2000
Yutaka Izubuchi 30th Anniversary
Art Collection IIIX
出渕裕画業30周年記念画集 IIIX
2-volume hardcover set, includes two pages of design from Shining Heresy
Color and B&W, 232 pages
Tokuma Shoten, 2008
Sunrise Mechanics CG Artworks Vol. 2
サンライズメカニクス CG アートワークス 2
18 pages of CG models for the Sunrise Heroes R video game
Color, 64 pages
Movic, Feb 2001
Wonder Art Takani Style
ワンダーアート タカニスタイル
2 pages of color paintings
Color and B&W, 144 pages
Oakla Publishing, 2002
Steel Man, Naochika Morishita Artworks
鋼人 ― 森下直親画集
16 pages of color paintings
Color and B&W, 129 pages
Futabasha, 2007
Shin Ueda Art Collection
Character Mechanic Sunrise Edition
上田信画集 キャラクターメカニック・サンライズ編
19 pages of color and B&W art
Color and B&W, 144 pages
Dainippon Kaiga, 2016
The Art of Hidetaka Tenjin
天神英貴 WORKS
6 pages of color paintings
Color, 103 pages
Ascii Mediaworks, 2010
Hidetaka Tenjin
20th Anniversary Art Collection
天神英貴20周年記念画集
10 pages of color paintings
Color, 199 pages, color
Hobby Japan, 2018
Anime Character Drawing & Design Techniques
アニメキャラクターの作画 & デザインテクニック
4 pages of character design from Votoms Finder
Color, 176 pages
Genkosha, Sept 2014
Junichi Hayama, Brush Work
羽山淳一 ブラッシュワーク
5 pages of color art
Color, 128 pages
Genkosha, July 2015
Robot Anime of 1983
1983年のロボットアニメ
1983 was a terrific year for mecha anime, and this book confines itself to that singular topic. Ten shows are profiled, with the lion’s share of pages devoted to Dunbine, Votoms, and Vifam.
Color and B&W, 130 pages
Futaba Co., May 2017
I’m an animation director… or am I?
How to deal with mecha from Dougram and Votoms
アニメ監督で・・・いいのかな?
ダグラム、ボトムズから読み解くメカとの付き合い方
Ryosuke Takahashi’s autobiography, with a chapter devoted to each of his major robot-based anime works. Text and illustrations.
B&W, 336 pages
Kadokawa, Feb 2019
Kuniko Okawara
Professional of 50 Years
大河原邦男 プロフェッショナルの50年
An extensive series of interviews with Okawara spanning his entire mecha design career that makes all the major stops with Gundam, Votoms, Yatterman, etc. Mostly text, psycho-fans only.
Order it here
B&W with some color, 216 pages
Kadokawa, Oct 2023
The Viewer’s Guide covers several stories from Cyber Comix except it doesn’t mention issue 012 which includes a Battling story called ‘Heat Up’. It features a heavily modified Scopedog called Death Angel and an opponent in a modified Bloodsucker (I can’t remember the ring name). Death Angel looks suspiciously like Blodia from the arcade games Armored Warriors and Cyberbots, however, the issue came out in 1989 and the games came out in 1994 and 1995 respectively.
https://ameblo.jp/minotaurss/entry-11982836338.html
Thanks! Adding Cyber Comix 12 to the search list!
Additionally, there is a series called ‘Black History’ from the artist of Wardog VOTOMS and Blue Songs (GRUMMAN&). I believe the first two volumes reprint the material from Cyber Comix and other VOTOMS art that came out around the time of Shining Heresy. Several volumes also include MADOX-01 material from Cyber Comix and elsewhere. These are very hard to find, unfortunately (I have them somewhere in storage, though). There was an incredibly limited and rare Kazumi Fujita artbook (that I have never obtained) which presumably contains Blue Knight art.
Black History Vol 1 is available from Mandarake:
https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1093120209
Some pictures of the Fujita artbook:
https://aucview.aucfan.com/yahoo/m106076053/
https://order.mandarake.co.jp/order/detailPage/item?itemCode=1183590251
This may be too many degrees of separation from legitimate VOTOMS material, but the Kazuhisa Kondo artbook ‘GO AHEAD’ included this Kondo-style Scopedog:
https://64.media.tumblr.com/3ef7319d4a6027baf0de45e8dce65ca5/tumblr_pnroeaOR261x445y9o1_540.jpg
A slightly modified version of the design (called Grasshopper) ended up in a standalone Kondo manga titled ‘OVER GLOSS’ (probably meant to be ‘Over Growth’):
https://www.amazon.com/dp/4829183225
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EyDnUQOVEAIohCf.jpg
‘OVER GLOSS’ is basically Kondo’s version of a VOTOMS story.
NICE! Thank you for the tips.
You’re welcome! I recently found your wonderful site while searching for images of the Heavy Gear toy prototypes (I’m sorry that your experience was less than ideal). You sent me a VOTOMS Viewers Guide in the late 90’s and I actually met you at your house in Los Angeles in the mid to late 00’s. I vividly remember you showing me the Scopedog watch that came with one of the LDs and some other LD bonus items. I also still have a complete collection of Chaser Platoon.
Here’s an auction for Black History Vol.2 that’s almost over:
https://page.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/e421416213
Since the art is very detailed and intricate, these volumes are great because the format is larger (8″ x 10″ I think) than the Cyber Comix version (about 5″ x 8″).
Thanks again! It’s in my target scope!
Thanks! The TRPG book will be included in the catalog of Votoms games that is on my to-do list. (There are a LOT of them.)