Starzinger II - the sequel that never fly

Episode 64 of Starzinger ended with Belamis death, and the company landed at the Great Planet, where Princess Aurora restored the Galaxy Energy. It was supposed to be the end.

The producers went on to make the sequel dubbed Starzinger II, where the story line returned to the old formula - the three cyborgs and the Princess' adventure in space.

The sequel could only sustain 9 episodes, with no spark at all. I recently came across the introduction to this sequel:
「ＳＦ西遊記」として好評を博した同題作品の第二弾。前作最終回の翌週から放映された、完全な後日談である。宇宙を救う愛の王女オーロラ姫を目的の星に送 り、その使命を終えた戦士ジャン・クーゴ、サー・ジョーゴ、ドン・ハッカたち３人。だがまだ宇宙の辺境では、邪悪なスペースモンスターが暴れていた。その 事実を知ったオーロラ姫はふたたび３人の戦士を呼集。現在、最凶のモンスターが住むというゴルゴア星系に向かい、そこを浄化する決意を固めた。４人の新た なる旅が始まる。前作で主人公ジャン・クーゴのライバル役だった男装の麗人ベラミスが退場した以外は、ほぼ従来と同じ方向で描かれる宇宙冒険もの。ただし 今回は新趣向として、クーゴは巨大化能力「アストロ変身」、縮小能力「ミクロ変身」を獲得。活劇演出に新味が加えられた。

Using Google translate, I sort of deduced the meaning. The producers created the sequel because the series got very positive ratings. It was aired right after the last episode of the first series. Interesting the introduction mentioned the 退場 (end of the role) of Kugo's arch-rival Belamis, and described Belamis as 男裝麗人 (a beautiful woman dressed like a man).

In Japanese manga and anime, 男裝麗人 is a kind of character that attracts audience. The classic examples are Lady Oscar and Prince Sapphire.

These 男裝麗人 is like the Prince Charming, often female audiences adored these 男裝麗人, and such roles appeared again and again in Japanese anime series.

For Starzinger II, the sequel lost an interesting character, one sharply contrasted with Princess Aurora, and one with a distinct personality. Even though the producers gave Kugo new powers, dressed the Princess up to look more tough, they could not get the series to sustain.

My thought was confirmed when I came across discussion threads saying that the ratings of Starzinger II dropped significantly. Belamis was the most talked about person from the "enemy side", overwhelmingly popular and got a lot of sympathy.

If Belamis lived, her presence would have created a tension in the show, like a wildcard that surprised viewers. Her love to Kugo could also creat a suspense among viewers - who would Kugo choose ? The gentle, soft spoken and beautiful and Princess Aurora or the strong, tough-talking warrior Belamis ? Belamis change of heart after she decided to fight Prince Guyma would also create suspense on what kind of person Belamis would become eventually, and what would be her relationships with Kugo et al in the subsequent adventures -- or would Belamis eclipse Kugo ? In a lot of the case where such 男裝麗人 appeared, 男裝麗人 would eclipse the leading male and female character. This happened for the manga Rose of Versailles, where the author originally created Oscar Francois de Jarjayes as the supporting role to the main character Marie Antoinette, but Oscar's popularity among the readers quickly caused the author to change direction and Oscar eclipsed all other characters.

It did not happen exactly the same way in Starzinger. Firstly Kugo was the protagonist, the good guy, and Belamis was in an opposing trajectory to Kuguo. . Yet the producers gave Belamis the fine chivalrous character, emotions already earned her enough sympathy to draw a lot of fans, even as the "rival" of Kugo.

Imagine if she became the "good guy" and started to fight the evil ones with her charm, wits and chivalry - I would think her charm, personality and cool look would really make Kugo and the Princess looked like supporting roles. It would be natural for the producers to have intended that Kugo and the Princess to remain the leading characters, not to be eclipse by a character, originally intended to be a passing role. I don't think they anticipated how successful Belamis became then.

In the manga, Belamis appeared only a few pages, less than 10% in the 3 volume set. In the manga Belamis looked a lot more feminine, emotional and less tough (though in the manga Belamis actually injured Kugo!). The character in the manga was short-lived and would not impress many people.

However, the producers for Starzinger made a lot of changes to Belamis in the anime. First she became the 男裝麗人, much more handsome and cool than the manga depicted, her fighting powers were more impressive (though she did not injure Kugo in the series, we could see her powers and Kugo were very close match).

Moreover, in the anime the producers expanded a lot on her character, and went to great length to give Belamis more role and let her feature in nearly a third of Starzinger I. The anime spent a lot of time depicting Belamis' tragic past, inner feelings, compassionate character, bravery, ambition, chivalrous act and her love to Kugo. Belamis interacted more with other characters, showing her inner conflicts, toughness and her willingness to show compassion. As a result, Belamis stood out as a very vivid and interesting female character, one that contrasted with Princess Aurora, and with more inner emotions the viewers could experience. I can imagine viewers started out disliking her in the first place, but gradually become more sympathy of her as they learned of her tragic past, and later on as her more positive side were revealed, people began to admire her, and hoped she would recant her service to Queen Lacets and became a warrior of justice. Eventually Belamis did recant her loyalty to the evil empire and fought alongside with Kugo, and to the dismay of many, the character expanded to the point that she became the courageous warrior to make the ultimate sacrifice for people who lost their home planets.

I think a lot of people missed dearly Belamis like I do, and wondered how would the show became if Belamis lived.

I recently found this online vote for the most popular 男裝麗人 in anime series, The vote excluded Lady Oscar and Prince Sapphire who would be the obvious winners all time winners. I was delighted to find that Belamis came in third place (i.e. number five if we include the two obvious winners). Given that Belamis was not the main character, and only appeared in part of the show, she ranked the highest among "non-main characters". The top two, Tenoh Haruka from Sailor Moon and Amari (Three Musketeers in Japanese Anime) were main characters and appeared throughout their respective series, Belamis' position meant that she impressed a lot of viewers even till this day.

Informal it may be, it showed that among Japanese anime fans, there were a lot of people who remembered Belamis and regarded her as a fine heroine.

The vote for the 男裝麗人 in 2008.