Immortal Grand Prix
| IGPX - Immortal Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Demographic | Shōnen |
| Genre | Action, |
| TV anime | |
| Director | Koichi Mashimo (2003), Mitsuru Hongo (2005) |
| Studio | Production I.G. |
| Network | Cartoon Network (U.S.), ABC, Cartoon Network Japan (Japan) |
| Original run | 5 November 2005 – 26 August 2006 (TV series) |
| Episodes | 5 Micro Episodes (2003), 26 TV Episodes (2005) |
IGPX (short for Immortal Grand Prix) refers to two anime series co-produced simultaneously by Cartoon Network and Production I.G. The first is a "microseries" consisting of five 5-minute episodes. The second is a loosely-related 26-episode animated series.
Production I.G wrote, directed, and animated the series, while Bandai Entertainment acts as the North American distributor. The series' production was managed by Williams Street in Atlanta, Georgia. Bang Zoom! Entertainment in Burbank, California produced the English dub for the series, as well as adapted the scripts alongside Williams Street.
An IGPX video game was released on September 12, 2006 for the Sony Playstation 2.
IGPX TV Series
The IGPX TV series made its hour-long premiere on Saturday, November 5, 2005, at 10:30PM. This series appears to revolve around an "Immortal Grand Prix", which is a mecha racing/battle circuit, whereas the Toonami "microseries" primarily revolved around tournament battles, with similar (yet still separate) thematic development.
In the regular series, the year is 2049 and the Immortal Grand Prix has become the world’s most-popular sport. It’s so big that an entire city was built for the racing industry where competitions take place on a huge, 60-mile track. In the Immortal Grand Prix, two teams of three mechas, high-tech fighting machines driven by humans, race at speeds greater than 350 mph. While it has transformed from a battle event to a race in the intervening 2 years since the microseries, the Immortal Grand Prix retains ties to its fighting roots, as attacking the opposing team in order to disable their mechas (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 in the planet’s biggest event, the Immortal Grand Prix.
Rules of the IGPX
An IGPX race consists of two teams of three pilots: a forward (usually places first or second), a midfielder (usually places third or fourth), and a defender (usually places fifth or sixth). They compete on a 60-mile track, going at speeds upwards of 350 mph. The overall objective is to make it to the finish line and accumulate more points then the opponent. 1st place receives 15 points; 2nd receives 7 points; 3rd gets 5 points; 4th gets 3 points; 5th gets 2 points and 6th gets 1 point. No points are awarded to pilots who are unable to finish the race. Lap one is basically a setting up lap. Teams set up their positions on the track as well as troubleshoot any problems that the mechs might be having before the second lap. In the second lap, also known as the Battle Round, the teams now fight their way to the finish line. The pit machines, also known as the Running Skeletons, are only employed during this lap. Each skeleton is designed to be able to hold two people, with one being the mechanic that fixes the mecha. Each skeleton has an open center that allows the mecha to be held between the two cockpits while the parts for each mecha are stored along the sides for quick and easy replacement. However, throughout the entire race, the Running skeleton can only be called on once for each team. So each team has to strategically call on it for themselves before the other team does. You don't want to call it to early because you never know how much more of a beat down you'll get and you don't want to call it too late because the other team might get it before you. It alone can play a key part in the race as to who the victor will be mainly because if the repairs take to long points can be lost. In the third lap, pilots are allowed to set their mechs into speed mode. Speed mode allows the mech to achieve maximum speed, and make a quick sprint to the finish line.
Team Satomi
Team Satomi is a crew of young rookies who have just won the minor league IG-2 Championship and are now entering the big leagues as an IG-1 team. This young and inexperienced group actually did achieve the impossible dream to go from complete obscurity to winning in the IG-1 and later, the IG-2.
- Takeshi Jin/Takeshi Jinno (タケシ・ジンノ) (Haley Joel Osment/Kouzou Mito) -
Position: Forward
Nationality: 
Japanese
Age: 15 years old
Gender: Male
Height: 172cm
Weight: 56kg
As Team Satomi's forward, Takeshi is a gifted pilot who frequently annoys his fellow team members when his talent gets to his
head. Takeshi seems to take nothing seriously, but his determination is strong when racing and he is also a practitioner of
kendo. He has an affinity for hot dogs and video games, particularly Watch World where his
dog-like character is named Katana. Although Takeshi is a skilled pilot, he has an emotional breakdown from a blow to his ego.
He, unlike his teammates, seems to have a normal family life, along with a younger sister named Yuri, who loves teasing her
brother, and barging in on him without asking, though it is obvious that she loves her big brother dearly and she claims to be
his biggest fan and supporter. Takeshi also looks to his idol, a famous IGPX pilot known as Rocket G, or simply "The Rocket", as
a source of inspiration. The Rocket is later revealed to be Team Satomi's coach Andrei Rublev. Takeshi was an item with Fantine
Valjean and met with her at times when playing Watch World, however, in season 2, they broke up. Fantine realized that Takeshi
and Liz have feelings for each other and thought of Takeshi as a friendly rival rather than a boyfriend. At the end of the series
finale, Takeshi finally realizes his feelings for Liz. He also matures throughout the series.
- Amy Stapleton (エイミー・ステイプルトン) (Hynden Walch/Ryoko Ono) -
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: 
Irish
Age: 14 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 152cm
Weight: 43kg
A child prodigy, Amy is Team Satomi's Midfielder and battle tactician. She, being the physically weakest of the team,
synchronizes with her cybernetically enhanced cat, Luca (Kari Wahlgren/Vanilla
Yamazaki), to form a composite personality during IGPX Races. Shy and sympathetic, Amy will often patch up conflicts between
other team members, but her sweetness belies her considerable combat abilities. In season 2, Amy is suspended from racing after
she is injured in Satomi's race against White Snow. Andrei replaces her for both Velshtein vs Satomi and Skylark vs Satomi
matches. Throughout the series only Amy could hear Luca's 'voice' while racing with him in her mech. However, at the end of the
series, at the beginning of Satomi's first race of the 2051 racing season, it is revealed that now all members of Team Satomi can
now hear his voice. In episode 4, "The Ghost", it is revealed that Amy dearly misses her parents, who are always out on
business.
- Liz Ricarro (Michelle Rodriguez/Akeno Watanabe) -
Position: Defender
Nationality: 
Puerto Rican
Age: 16 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 169cm
Weight: 50kg
An orphan whose only family is her teammates and her coaches, Liz is Team Satomi's defender and a ferocious opponent. Very busty,
often loud and obnoxious, she generally behaves like a tomboy. Liz is one of the more dedicated members of the team, living and
breathing nothing but IGPX. Takeshi's brash attitude infuriates her when he doesn't listen to her, but she cares for him deeply.
She is also a an avid martial artist, always practicing her Kung Fu
(Capoeira in the microseries) and quoting Confucius.
Takeshi's attitude and antics on and off the track are a constant annoyance to her, but it is because she feels he's never being
'honest' with her about his feelings. At the end of the series, Takeshi finally admits his true feelings for her and asks her on
a date. After a moment of exaggerated thought, she accepts his offer with a passionate kiss.
- Michiru Satomi/Satomi Satomi (サトミ・サトミ) (Kari Wahlgren/Emi Shinohara) -
Position: Team supervision and owner
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 24 years old
Gender: Female
Michiru Satomi is the granddaughter of the chairman of Satomi Heavy Industries. Her family allows her to manage Team Satomi in
the faint hope that she can turn this failing franchise into a success story. Michiru may be young, but she is a hard worker and
knows she has a special team, including a one-in-a-million pilot like Takeshi.
- Mark Ramsey/Masa Ishikawa (マサ・イシカワ) (Kirk Thornton/Jin Horikawa) -
Position: Mechanic
Nationality: Japanese
Age: 26 years old
Gender: Male
Mark is one of the best IGPX mechanics in the game, and he's in it for the love of his craft. He's actually the heir to the Hiratake Conglomerate, the world's largest investment banking group, though he keeps it a
closely guarded secret. Mark may care more about his beautiful machines than the team's pilots.
- Andrei Rublev (アンドレ・ルブレブ) (Lance Henriksen/Masahiko Tanaka) -
Position: Coach / Substitute Pilot (Midfielder)
Nationality: Russian
Age: 45 years old
Gender: Male
The coach of Team Satomi. Andrei practices an almost "zen" coaching style, in which he appears to be doing very little and
motivates the team primarily with cryptic comments and instructions. The other team members do not know about Andrei's past prior
to his joining team Satomi, apparently as a result of Andrei's contracts with unknown persons, but a promise that Andrei makes to
Takeshi suggests that he could have connections with or be Rocket G. It was recently revealed that he is actually the Rocket
himself and used to race with Sir Hamgra of Team Velshtein. He substitutes for Amy after she is injured during Satomi's race
against White Snow, and plays Midfielder during their matches against Velshtein and Skylark. Despite being way out of practice,
he manages to hold his own during the races and even manages to surprise a few people. It is noted, however, that despite his
pacifistic coaching style, he's not above using some 'questionable' tactics on the field; he intentionally spins out his mech and
crashes into and destroys two of Velshtein's mechs during the speed round of their race to ensure that Satomi doesn't lose. Turns
out that he had a daughter and wife but they had left him. Recently however, due to his more positive lifestyle gained from
coaching Team Satomi, they have come back and are living together once more.
- Jesse Martin/Himawari Aoi (ヒマワリ・アオイ) (Julie Maddalena/Yumi Sudou) -
Position: Assistant
Age: 19 years old
Nationality: Japanese
Gender: Female
The peppy one, Jesse is Miss Satomi's assistant. She's always the one to cheer up her fellow members of Team Satomi when they are
depressed. Once, when Miss Satomi talked about dropping out of the race between Team Satomi and Team Velshtein after Amy got sent
to the hospital in the White Snow race, Jesse was the one to convince her otherwise, inspiring Andrei to temporarily replace Amy
as Midfielder.
Team Velshtein
The members of Team Velshtein were last year's IGPX champions, having upset Sledge Mamma last year in the IG-1 of 2048. Their coach is Sir Hamgra (Kim Strauss / Jouji Nakata), who coaches in a military fashion and was also responsible for the Rocket's success. The Velshtein mechs are also specially designed to discharge a pulse that disrupts the air pressure and creates a high voltage tornado. This attack has been named the Indraga Mano or Ace up the Sleeve. In the commentary of Season 1 one DVD, they stated that the word "Indraga Mano" is just a made up word created by the writers, essentially they had to make a crafty translation for the English version hense "Ace up the Sleeve".In the second season, the move was made illegal by the IGPX League stating that it was starting to get unfair how richer teams were able to buy more expensive equipment than poorer teams such as Team Satomi. Their mechs are also capable of gliding short distances due to small wing-like extensions which are usually retracted. Aside from that, they are extremely skilled pilots, with mechs that have immense reserves of strength for conventional combat.
Alex "Cunningham" Hume AKA:The Ghost (Steve Blum / Shinichiro Miki) -
Position: Forward
Nationality: 
German
Age: 22
Gender: Male
Height: 189 cm
Weight: 75 kg
Alex "Cunningham" Hume is Team Velshtein's forward and an idol to IGPX fans. He has had the MVP title for three years. His
nickname "The Ghost" comes from his style that intimidates opponents. Later, it is revealed that he had a rich family but he
lived an empty life until the IGPX. He likes to stand in the track when no one is there because it pumps him up. Cunningham is
also skilled in swordsmanship like Takeshi but uses fencing.
Jan Michel (Dave Wittenberg / Kiyotaka Furushima) -
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: 
French
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 75 kg
Jan Michel is the midfielder for Team Velshtein. Although he knows of the risks of Team Satomi, he still believes that his team
is still the best.
Dew (Lex Lang / Yuuto Kazama) -
Position: Defender
Nationality: 
Spanish
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Height: 183 cm
Weight: 77 kg
Dew is the defender for Team Velshtein and an observer. He observes team plays and reports that information to his team to give
them an edge. He also pays attention to minor details.
Team Sledge Mamma
The team that frequently dominates the IGPX, Sledge Mamma is made up of Yamma, Timma, and Dimma, three legendary pilots who are 10-year veterans as well as notoriously ruthless fighters, plus former Satomi team member and rookie River Marque. The team despises the young upstarts of Team Satomi and will stop at nothing to put the rookies in their place on the field.
Team Sledge Mamma apparently draws the line at cheating off the field, and once helped protect Team Satomi from an attack by overzealous Sledge Mamma fans. However, in Season 2 you learn that it actually was Team Sledge Mamma who was behind Takeshi's machine error and the gang that fought them.
Team Sledge Mamma's mechs are armed with detachable fists connected by strands, which allows them to attack enemy mechs from a distance. Except for the defense mech that has arms attached at the back of its elbow. the ends of which spin extremely fast thrashing at the opponent like a spinning punch.
Yamma (Mark Hamill / Keiji Fujiwara) -
Position: Midfielder (Formerly Forward)
Nationality: 
American
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Height: 192 cm
Weight: 71 kg
Yamma was the forward of Team Sledge Mamma and is the leader. He is considered one of the most formidable pilots in the league
and gives a fierce intimidation to oppponents. An ill-tempered man who is willing to use underhanded methods, he is also skilled
in knife fighting. Later, it is shown that Yamma holds a dislike for Takeshi because of his
similarities to Cunningham. Yamma has also been revealed to be the oldest pilot in the IG-1, second only to Andrei during his
brief return while Amy was out with an injury. Later, after losing to Team White Snow, he is kicked off the team.
Timma (Dave Wittenberg / Tatsuhisa Suzuki) -
Position: Midfielder (former)
Nationality: American
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Timma is the former midfielder for Team Sledge Mamma. He is loyal to his leader Yamma and had no objections when he was kicked
off when River joined. However, Timma was a sharp midfielder during his tenure.
Dimma (Andre Ware / Tomoyuki Shimura) -
Position: Defender
Nationality: American
Age: 29
Gender: Male
Height: 205 cm
Weight: 120 kg
Dimma, an African-American, is the defender for Team Sledge Mamma. He knows how to make himself look tough in every race. He
stays true to his character but knows how strong his team is. Dimma also seems to cooperate well.
River Marque (Steve Staley / Kazuya Nakai) -
Position: Forward
Nationality: 
Canadian
Age: 16
Gender: Male
Height: 181 cm
Weight: 65 kg
River is the new forward of Team Sledge Mamma and a rival to Takeshi. He used to be the back-up pilot for Team Satomi and was
frustrated about being on the bench. River is an outspoken and pushy troublemaker and shows it when he pushed Takeshi into a
security machine during a confrontation in the hangar, locking them in for the night. River was offered to replace Liz as
defender at one time, but it was not the forward position he wanted. He then decided to leave Team Satomi so that he could
challenge Takeshi in a friendly rivalry rather than a hateful one.
Team Black Egg
The team from Argentina that has a very distinct racing style: They place emphasis on defense rather than offense, preferring agility, smokescreens, and similar tactics to avoid attacks and concentrate on racing. Since the IGPX is descended from a battle sport, this strategy completely bowls over most teams. They unfortunately placed sixth in Season 1. Finishing last place in Season 1 lead to their demotion to the IG-2. Their place in the IG-1 is filled by a team promoted from the IG-2, Team White Snow. Their mechs are equipped with hologram projectors and smokescreens, the likes of which scramble enemy opponents when their mechs are in the smoke.
Ricardo Montazio -
Position: Forward
Nationality: 
Argentine
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Ricardo Montazio is the forward and leader of Team Black Egg. He believes in defense rather than offense so that his team can win
the race. Ricardo is an honest person and a good sport about losing, even though he tries hard. He is also seen to be constantly
smiling.
Grant McKain -
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: 
Australian
Age: 18
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Grant McKain is the midfielder for Team Black Egg. Not much is known about him other than the fact that he does not always seem
to cooperate very well.
Glass Jones -
Position: Defender
Nationality: 
English
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Height: Unknown
Weight: Unknown
Glass Jones is the defender for Team Black Egg and a girl-getter. He would rather hang out with females than take the race
seriously. Glass underestimates the opponents, including Team Satomi.
Team Edgeraid
From Switzerland, Edgeraid is a team based on teamwork. Edgeraid mechs are equipped with arms that shoot out thin, nearly invisible wires, which they use to manipulate their opponents and to throw each other around the track. Edgeraid's speciality is the Edge Monsoon.
Bjorn Johannsen (Crispin Freeman) -
Position: Forward
Nationality: 
Swedish
Age: 15
Gender: Male
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Bjorn Johannsen is the forward and leader of Team Edgeraid. He takes pride in teamwork and that is what got his team far. Bjorn
is not exactly arrogant but he tends to think he knows what he is doing. He is the only other pilot aside from Amy to have an
animal copilot. Bjorn's animal copilot is Sola (Wendee Lee) the dog, and just like Luca, has
her own commercial for dogfood.
Bella Demarco (Stephanie Sheh) -
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: 
Italian
Age: 15
Gender: Female
Height: 155 cm
Weight: 42 kg
Bella Demarco is the midfielder for Team Edgeraid with an affinity for piercings. She comes up with good formations for her team
to win. Bella also seems to have romantic/lustful feelings towards rival pilot Takeshi Jin.
Frank Bullit (Dave Wittenberg) -
Position: Defender
Nationality: English
Age: 19
Gender: Male
Height: 175 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Frank Bullit is the defender for Team Edgeraid. He likes to keep his opponents guessing and is sometimes off guard. He is always
there for teamwork.
Team Skylark
The all-female team from France. Team Skylark's machines have all been designed to maximize drafting techniques. The Skylark mechs are more of the aggressive melee type where team members Elisa Doolittle and Jessica Darlin help protect team forward Fantine Valjean and use their special attack to take the lead after expending minimal energy for most of the race. Their mechs don't possess any kind of special weaponry or equipment except extremely fast-moving arms, so the pilots focus mainly on their combat prowess. Their drafting techniques may also be out of necessity for their mech's safe handling, since Fantine's mech overheated during their first match with Team Satomi after trading blows with Takeshi for an extended period. After losing to Satomi in Season 2, Skylark was demoted to the IG-2.
Fantine Valjean (Karen Strassman) -
Position: Forward
Nationality: French
Age: 17
Gender: Female
Height: 169 cm
Weight: 49 kg
Fantine is the forward and leader of Team Skylark. She is all about speed in the races and is unpredictable. She is considered
the "princess" of her team and she seems to be attracted to Takeshi along with the fact that they both play Watch World. Takeshi
and Fantine were in a relationship starting at Episode 7 and ending at Episode 19 when Fantine and Takeshi broke up before the
Season 2 Satomi-Skylark race.
Jessica Darlin (Kate Higgins) -
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: 
Dutch
Age: 19
Gender: Female
Height: 187 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Jessica is the midfielder for Team Skylark and is very close to Fantine and respects what she wants. She also takes advice from
Elissa during races and stops opponents alongside her.
Elissa Doolittle (Michelle Ruff) -
Position: Defender
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Nationality: 
New Zealander
Height: 185 cm
Weight: 60 kg
Elissa is the defender for Team Skylark and the oldest member. She makes a lot of decisions and gives guidance to Jessica. She
also likes to watch as much as she competes.
Team White Snow
This team replaces Team Black Egg in Season 2 after Black Egg finished in last place during the first season. They started in the same place as Team Satomi did in Season 1, coming up from the IG-2 to take a crack at becoming IG-1 champions. Team White Snow is composed of Zanak Strauss, Judy Ballasteros, and Max Erlich. Their mechs have the ability to hack into enemy mechs and take total control of their systems, though this requires physical contact with the other mech and was banned by the IGPX League after it was used against Team Satomi. In their first match against Satomi, they score a resounding victory by taking control of the Satomi mechs and forcing them to attack each other. Amy's mech ends up being destroyed from the waist down by a kick from above by Takeshi controlled by Zanak. Amy is sent to the hospital, and is suspended from the next 2 races: Satomi vs Velshtein and Satomi vs Skylark. Team White Snow also has the tendency to sabotage or spy on Team Satomi by hacking into their computer systems thus memorizing all of Team Satomi's plays as shown in the last race.. Team White Snow has also combined their mechs into "Snowman", a large behemoth designed to prevent the other team from passing them on the track. It also has many extended, spiked arms.
Zanak Strauss (Doug Erholtz) -
Position: Forward
Nationality: Australian
Age: 17
Gender: Male
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 65 kg
Zanak is the one-eyed forward and leader of Team White Snow. He believes in preparation for everything. Even if cheating is
involved, Zanak wants it prepared already. He is also concerned for his teammates' well-being. Zanak also is skilled in kendo
like Takeshi.
Max Elrich (Mela Lee) -
Position: Midfielder
Nationality: 
Norweigian
Age: 13
Gender: Female
Height: 149 cm
Weight: 39 kg
Max is the shy and reserved midfielder for Team White Snow. She makes up for her verbal communication in communication through
computers. Max is loyal to her team and would even cheat for them. It is revealed towards the end of the series that Max is in
fact a child prodigy and master programmer, and that she is the team's true captain, not Zanak. Max, it turns out, orchestrated
all of Satomi's troubles as a way for her to understand Takashi's tactics and find out if she had what it would take to beat
him.
Judy Ballasteros (Megan Hollingshead) -
Position: Defense
Nationality: American
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Height: 171 cm
Weight: 58 kg
Judy is the defender for team White Snow. She is casual in her ways and is close by with her leader Zanak. She is still herself
and will use others in that way. She does her best when playing defense.
Benjamin Bright
As the "voice of IGPX" announcer, Benjamin Bright (
Episodes
Season 1
- Time To Shine
- Win or Lose
- Black Egg
- The Ghost
- Come Together
- Cat vs. Dog
- Spring has Come
- I Like You, I Like You, I Love You
- Holiday
- Showdown
- And Then...
- The Final Battle
- Into Tomorrow
Season 2
- A New Challenge
- Feeling Lost
- Vulnerable Mind
- White Snow
- Puzzled
- Moving On
- Comeback
- Decision
- Function, Not Fashion
- Fate
- Winner's Circle
- Hostile Contradiction
- The End and the Beginning
Team Satomi Race Record
| 2049 | |
|---|---|
| Race | Winner |
| Satomi vs Sledge Mamma | Tie |
| Satomi vs Black Egg | Satomi |
| Satomi vs Velshtein | Velshtein |
| Satomi vs Edgeraid | Satomi |
| Satomi vs Skylark | Satomi |
| Satomi vs Sledge Mamma | Satomi |
| Satomi vs Velshtein | Satomi |
| 2050 | |
| Race | Winner |
| Satomi vs Edgeraid | Satomi |
| Satomi vs White Snow | White Snow |
| Satomi vs Velshtein | Tie |
| Satomi vs Skylark | Satomi |
| Satomi vs Sledge Mamma | Satomi |
| Satomi vs Velshtein | Satomi |
| Satomi vs White Snow | Satomi |
Trivia
- Fantine Valjean's name is an allusion to the characters Fantine and Jean Valjean in the book Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Likewise, Team Skylark member Elisa has the exact same name as the main character of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw and as the leading lady in My Fair Lady.
- Andrei Rublev bears the name of the Russian iconographer Andrei Rublev .
- In the episode "Cat vs. Dog", there is a man who looks exactly like Gendo Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. The man also sits with his hands crossed over his face, which was first done by Gendo and has been done in many other anime series. This character insertion was probably due to Production I.G working on both IGPX and the Evangelion movies.
- The leader of Team Velshtein, Sir Hamgra, is an exact lookalike of Patrick Zala from
Mobile Suit Gundam SEED . - In "Cat vs. Dog", the mecha of Team Edge Raid have GITS painted on their arms. This is a reference to Ghost in the Shell, a pair of feature-length films and a TV series animated by Production I.G, who also animated IGPX. Team Satomi's mechs have the word Absolute painted on their arms.
- IGPX's episodes alternate between TV-Y7-FV and TV-PG. Originally, the PG-rated episodes had no objectionable content, however, many fans believed that the reason for this higher rating was due to the band Wagon Christ appearing in the credits. In later episodes, the use of some profanity has contributed to the TV-PG-L rating, making IGPX the first Toonami exclusive, and the only show on the entire network (Adult Swim is considered a separate channel), to have that rating.
- The two IGPX series share several similarities: Both leading pilots are named Takeshi (Takeshi Noa in the microseries and Takeshi Jin in the TV series), there is a Team S-(Suzaku or Satomi), Sledge Mamma, and Velshtein, Satomi and Sledge Mamma team members share the same names, and they are set in the same year. Also, the Team Satomi mechanics from both series look exactly alike, although they have different names (U-Matsu in the microseries and Mark in the TV series). Not surprisingly, they both share the same American voice actor (Kirk Thornton).
- On July 8th, IGPX was moved from the Toonami block to the regular Cartoon Network schedule (Fridays at midnight), perhaps
due to lower-than-expected ratings. Toonami advertised the show's move, unlike many of
their other series such as .hack//Legend of the Twilight,
Gundam SEED , YuYu Hakusho, and Megas XLR.
IGPX Promotions
- A promotional DVD featuring Episode 1 ("Time to Shine"), the IGPX trailer, music, and a screensaver was distributed with Anime Insider v. 26 (November 2005).
- The same was released with Nintendo Power v. 198 which was, however, the (December 2005) issue.
- Special editions of the US 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.
Sources
- TV.com article on IGPX (the micro-series).
- Cartoon Network section on IGPX (full length series).
- Toonami Infolink for Upcoming schedule
Theme songs
Japan and U.S. Special edition DVD release
Opening
- "Go For It!" by GRAN RODEO
Ending
- "Believe yourself" by exige
U.S. DVD Releases
IGPX - Season 1 - DVD
IGPX Volumes 1-7 DVDs
IGPX - Season 2 - DVD
External links
- (English)Production I.G official English website IGPX page
- (Japanese)Production I.G official Japanese website IGPX page
- (English)IGPX: Immortal Grand Prix English site
- (English)Cartoon Network - IGPX
- (Japanese)Japanese IGPX official website
- (Japanese)TV Asahi's IGPX website
- (English)Immortal Grand Prix at TV.com
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