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Idaten Jump
韋駄天翔 (Idaten Janpu)
Genre	Adventure, Sports
Manga
Author	Toshihiro Fujiwara
Publisher	Kodansha
English publisher	TOKYOPOP
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Comic Bom Bom
TV anime
Director	Takayuki Hamana
Studio	Aniplex, Trans Arts, Production I.G(computer effects)
Network	TV Tokyo
Other networks: YTV WKAQ-TV Cartoon Network Spacetoon GMA Network TVB Chilevision Animax
Original run	2005-10-01 – 2006-09-09
Episodes	52
Anime and Manga Portal

Idaten Jump (韋駄天翔, Idaten Janpu ^?) is a manga series created by Toshihiro Fujiwara serialized in Comic Bom Bom, about a boy who loves dirt biking. It was adapted into a 52-episode anime by Aniplex. A toyline was also made by Tomy. The manga was released in America by Tokyopop, with all the sound effects in Japanese only.

Story

Sho Yamato enjoys MTB (mountain biking) a whole lot, he's always practiced at the "X-Zone" with his friends, Kakeru and Makoto, on a bike his dad has built, called "Flame Kaiser". One day, he was challenged to a race by a MTB team called Shark Tooth and whoever won the race got the X-Zone. For Sho, the X-Zone had always been a place of happy memories. He had spent many days there with his father who had disappeared, so he couldn’t lose the game. During the race with the leader of Shark Tooth, black smoke suddenly covered the ground around them, and they were sent to another world that's also called the X-Zone. When Sho woke up, he found Kakeru, Makoto, and his MTB Flame Kaiser, were also there. Of course, they didn't know where they were... While they were wondering what had happened, MTB riders came. They challenged Sho to a Idaten battle, a form of MTB race in X-Zone. They said the only way for Sho to return is by collecting 10 emblems by winning Idaten battles. This is how Sho came down to compete in Idaten Battles at various courses, such as ghost towns, volcanoes, ancient ruins, deserts, and snow-topped mountains. Now Sho must Idaten Battle for the sake of returning home.

After returning home, Sho returned to X-Zone to find his lost father, Takeshi while taking on the mysterious Team X.

Characters

Protagonists (Sho and Co.)

• Sho Yamato (山登翔(やまと しょう)): The main character of the story, he is an excellent MTB rider and can do amazing tricks. He later defeats Gabu for the control of X City with the assistance of Koei, Kyoichi and Makoto, then Arthur. After defeating his father (who was under the control of an ancient evil), Sho chose to leave behind his friends to stay in X-Zone, but with the help of Hosuke, Sho was able to travel freely between Earth and X-Zone and reunite with his friends in the X-Zone MTB course. His MTB is Flame Kaiser.
• Makoto Shido (獅堂まこと(しどう まこと)): She is a girl MTB rider and is Sho's childhood friend. She later realizes that her MTB is a legendary Idaten Bike called Neptune Emperor.
• Kakeru Sakamaki (坂巻駆(さかまき かける)): Kakeru is a very skilled mechanic and helps Sho fix his bike a lot. He is also one of Sho's best friends.
• Hosuke (ホースケ): A talking owl that accompanies Sho on his journeys. Hosuke followed Sho during a prison break attempt to rescue Sho, Makoto, and Kakeru. After Sho had defeated his father, it was revealed that Hosuke is Yuki's grandfather disguised as an owl. After his brother Takeshi had been transported to Earth, Hosuke became the king of X-Zone. However, time moves much faster in X-Zone than it is on Earth, so Hosuke became an old man when Takeshi finally returned to X-Zone. Plotting to stop the ancient evil, Hosuke secretly became the talking owl, but without the memory of his former identity until he returned to his human form. In the end, Hosuke managed to help Sho get to Earth.

Supporting characters

• Kyoichi Shido (獅堂京一(しどう きょういち))：Makoto's older brother, and a trial bike champion. He appeared in masked form in early episodes up to episode 5 when his identity was revealed. He was captured by Mr. Teacher when trying to find out more about Team ST. He later helps Sho fight Gabu. When it came to Team X, he ended up under the control of them and is trying to fight the Dark Emblem's control. Sho managed to defeat him. His MTB is Thunder Emperor (Thunder King in the English anime), but rode Imperial Tiger when under the control of Team X.
• Yuki (ユウキ): An expert mechanic. She helps Sho and Co. on different occasions. After Gabu's defeat, it was revealed that Yuki is a princess of a royal family and part of a group who protects the X-Zone and the secrets of the X-Zone.
• Koei (孤影(こえい)): A ninja biker hired by Gabu. He first appeared to take on Sho and Kyoichi. He injured Kyoichi and broke his MTB Thunder King, and took out the Four Kings that were battling Makoto. When he battled Sho, it ended up a draw when the Four Kings interfered. He thwarted another plot by the Four Kings when they tried to "assist" him when he thought of it as dishonorable. In his battle against Arthur, the Four Kings successfully interfered causing Arthur to lose. It is later revealed that Koei works for Gabu because he couldn't afford a doctor for his sister Kiku. Once she was rescued from Gabu's clutches, Sho and Koei battled again and he lost. Afterwards, he stopped serving Gabu and aided Sho in defeating him as he took out the adult members of Team ST. Later, he ends up under the control of Team X and was freed by Sho. He has Taiga watch over X-City while he is away. His Idaten Bike is called Aero Scissors.
• Arthur (アーサー): Nicknamed "The Painter," Arthur is a knight biker. He first appeared in Gabu's tournament where he beats Taiga. Prior to his battle against Koei, he stumbled onto a plot by the Four Kings only for them to be thwarted by Koei. In Gabu's tournament, he lost to Koei due to interference by the Four Kings. It is later revealed that he worked alongside Yuki to help protect the secrets of the X-Tower and heal the X-Zone. His Idaten Bike is called Hammer Head (Iron Hammer in the English anime).
• Ayumu Yamato (山登あゆむ(やまと あゆむ)): Sho's younger brother. He later joins Sho in his search for their father. Ayumu was forbidden to ride on bike because he became maniacal whenever riding one.
• Takeshi Yamato (山登猛(たけし))/ Takeru Yamato: Sho Yamato's father. When he was falling during a bike accident, he was brought into the X-Zone to repair Imperial X during a power crisis. When he tried to return to the his home world, he disappeared alongside Yuki's father and was never seen again. During his disappearance, he had also built Thunder Emperor, Neptune Emperor, Imperial Tiger, and Imperial Dragon while struggling against the power of Dark Emblem, and also seen by Kyoichi in hooded form. He was later reappear in Imperial Island as Team X leader, possessed by the ancient evil of the X-Zone, to challenge Sho and destroy both worlds. After Sho had defeated his father, it was revealed Takeshi was an X-Zone native that had been transported from Imperial Island to Earth, then he subsequently started a family, built Flame Kaiser and X-Zone MTB course before the accident. At the end of the series, he chose to stay in X-Zone to train Sho as the new guardian.

Team Shark Tooth

A group of bikers that serve as the first antagonists of the first half of the series. Upon their invasion on X-City, they went by the name of Team ST (チームＳＴ) and gained some followers in the process. Besides a substantial number of unnamed grunts, the members of Team ST are:

• Gabu Samejima (鮫島牙舞(さめじま がぶ)): Leader of the Shark Tooth MTB team. Upon his arrival in the X-Zone one year ago. he became dictator of X-City after overthrowing its mayor. He was said to have lured many MTB Riders to his team. In episode 10, Revelations, it is revealed that although he is the leader of the Shark Tooth gang, he is actually the younger Samejima brother and that his team arrived earlier. He was also in Kakeru's algebra class. He was defeated by Sho in X-City, but later returns to help fight Team X. His bike is called Bloody Fang (changed to Poison Fang in the English anime).
• Taiga Samejima (鮫島大牙(さめじま たいが)): The oldest Samejima brother and second in command of Shark Tooth. When confronted in the cave and defeated in an Idaten battle with Sho, he revealed that the Shark Tooth MTB team came to the X-Zone one year ago. In his brother's tournament, he lost to Arthur resulting in him being kicked out until Gabu's defeat. When Team X later came to power, he became X-City's protector while Koei is away.
• The Four Kings: Made up of Kiyoshi, Mitsuru, Sayji, and Mantaro, The Four Kings are four MTB Riders who are members of the Shark Tooth MTB team. Though they are unskilled riders, they are often a cause problems by interfering through their underhanded tricks.
• Captain Jackal: Member of Team ST. He and his crewmen challenged Sho when Sho was on a ship to X-City. They did get away with some of Sho's Emblems and handed them to Gabu and Taiga. He also helped the other adult members of Team ST into preventing Sho from reaching Gabu. He was defeated by Koei and arrested by the X-Zone Police Captain prior to the black smoke returning him to Earth.
• Yoko & Rika: Two sisters who are resort tycoons and members of Team ST. They turned a local village into a slum when they used the villager's money to build their resorts in Gold Celebresort City and ended up making everything in their resorts expensive. While Yoko does the MTB battles, Rika uses parts of MTBs to build Yoko's MTB rider. They defeated the villagers to gain their money. When their men captured Yuki, Sho had to Idaten Battle Yoko for her freedom. Despite the difficulty on the sand dunes, Sho beat Yoko when her bike, overlaid with expensive jewels, fell apart. They reappeared to help the other adult members of Team ST into preventing Sho from reaching Gabu. They were defeated by Koei and arrested by the X-Zone Police Captain prior to the black smoke sending them to Earth.
• Mr. Teacher (ミスターティーチャー): A biker in a school theme park and member of Team ST. He captured Kyoichi and Sho had to beat him in order to rescue him. He reappeared to help the other adult members of Team ST into preventing Sho from getting to Gabu. He was defeated by Koei and arrested by the X-Zone Police Captain prior to the black smoke returning him to Earth.
• Prince Ryota: Ruler of a kingdom in the middle of a lake and member of Team ST (despite this, he isn't like the other members of that group). To get info on how to get to X-City, Makoto challenged him to an Idaten Battle. The reason why Ryota was winning is because his butler Sebastian has been secretly sabotaging the wooden bridges on the courses without the Prince knowing.
• Pete & Danny: Members of Team ST. They sabotaged Sho's bike trailer and framed Makoto causing them to get into a fight. They challenged Sho to an Idaten Battle in the rain since they knew that they would have the advantage after stealing Flame Kaiser's pedal from the sabotage. When Sho and Flame Kaiser are sidelined, Makoto ended up defeating them, realizing that her bike is a legendary Idaten Bike that specializes in water. They reappeared to help the other adult members of Team ST to prevent Sho from reaching Gabu. They were defeated by Koei and arrested by the X-Zone Police Captain prior to the black smoke returning them to Earth.
• Jiro: Nicknamed "The Leopard," he worked for his father's mattress store in X-City until he joined Team Shark Tooth. When Gabu gave him an MTB that has a motor engine, he didn't use it until Gabu took control of the bike. After that and being defeated by Sho, he quit the Shark Tooth team. He later ended up under the control of Team X and Idaten Battled Sho on Earth and was defeated again. He was sucked back into the X-Zone for his failure.
• Shadow: An MTB Rider who specializes in MTB Battles in dark places. In Gabu's tournament in X-City, Sho Idaten Battled him in the subway where he was defeated. He seems to be working for Gabu since he is seen helping the other adult members of Team ST into preventing Sho and Co. from getting to Gabu. He and the others end up fighting and defeated by Koei and are arrested by the X-Zone Police Captain prior to the black smoke returning him to Earth.

Team X (チームX)

A team of bikers that invaded X-City and turned everyone they defeated into their slaves with the Dark Emblems they placed on their MTBs. Their base is on Imperial Island and have served as the secondary antagonists of the second half of the series. Among the known victims are:

• Fisherman Masagi: A fisherman MTB Rider and his fellow villagers who ended up under the control of Team X. A disguised Kyoichi under the control of Team X had given orders to Masagi to capture Ayumu and defeat Sho. Ayumu was challenged to an Idaten Battle by him and fell into the fisherman's trap. Sho Idaten Battled him where Masagi anticipated that Sho would get caught in the high tide. Ayumu escaped and tried to help Sho before the high tide occurred. Once Masagi was defeated, the rest of the villagers were free from the Dark Emblem.
• Count Freddy: A vampire-like MTB Rider under the control of Team X who resides in a haunted mansion. He was the one who infected Makoto, Kakeru, Ayumu, Hosuke, and many of the mansion's inhabitants with Dark Emblems that gave them zombie-like personalities. When Sho encountered him, he Idaten Battled Count Freddy in the mansion with the windows shut. Once he was defeated, the victims were freed.
• Spike and Whip: The male and female MTB Rider duo. They lost against Sho Yamato and Gabu Samejima in an Idaten Battle.
• Imperial Knights: The white-suited MTB riders that appear in large groups in Imperial Island. They serve as the foot soldiers to Team X. In the final battle with Team X, all of them were defeated by Ayumu.

Minor Characters

• Masumi: Sho Yamato's mother.
• Rogue MTB Riders Leader (町のボス): His real name is unknown, but is referred to as "The Boss." He is an outlaw biker who challenged Sho immediately after Sho had entered X-Zone. After he was defeated, the biker help saved Sho and Hosuke from the local X-Zone Police.
• X-Zone Police Captain (警備隊長): A police officer and captain of the northern guard who arrests unsanctioned Idaten Battlers. Sho beat him to prove that he is not associated with the Rogue MTB Boss. He reappeared to help protect the citizens of X-City from danger. He later ends up under the control of Team X and Idaten Battled Sho on Earth only to end up being defeated and freed from the Dark Emblem, then he was pulled back into the X-Zone. He later returns to help fight Team X when Sho is on Imperial Island.
• Shin the Shadow (シン): A cowboy biker. His winning secret is that he has a twin brother taking over the course in the middle of Idaten battle. He used that cheating move to defeat Sho, but Shin the Shadow was defeated by Kyoichi who exposed Shin's winning secret.
• Terry the Megaton (テリー): A heavyset MTB Rider in a bear-skinned cape who is the leader of Team Bandits (チーム・バンディッツ). They uses traps to steal MTBs. Sho had to beat him in order to get his bike back. Once he was defeated, he and Team Bandits renounced their thieving ways.
• Zentaro (ゼンタロウ): A professional MTB rider who owns a bike shop in Volcano Village. He owns the blueprints of Imperial X.
• Takuma (タクマ): Leader of the Poison Spider MTB Team (毒グモ団). He accused Zentaro of giving him a rigged tire which injured one of his teammates and planned to take some of the bike parts in Zentaro's shop as a refund. Sho had to MTB Battle him in a volcano in order to prove Zentaro's innocence. Takuma lost to Sho when the volcano shook, but he was saved by Kyoichi.
• Seiji (セイジ): Leader of the Hyper Brain (ハイパーブレーン) MTB team.
• Jun (淳): Mechanic of the Hyper Brain MTB team.
• Tasuku (たすく): Rider for the Hyper Brain MTB team. In Gabu's tournament in X-City, he lost to Kyoichi.
• Ken (ケン): Nicknamed "The Grim Reaper," he and his henchmen disguised themselves as girls to learn Sho's weaknesses from Hosuke. Sometimes, he ends up laughing which turns into a girl's laugh. He reappeared on TV where he and his minions were fighting Gen while being a victim of Team X.
• Native MTB Rider: An unnamed MTB Rider in a tiki mask. He and his team resided in a temple and used a mist that causes hallucinations on opposing teams. They used it to defeat Sho, but were defeated by Makoto who recently obtained Neptune Emperor.
• Gen: An MTB rider who lives in the snowy mountains with his daughter Rin. In Gabu's tournament in X-City, he lost to Taiga. He was eventually returned to Earth where he was seen fighting Ken and his minions on TV.
• Rin (リン): Daughter of Gen.
• Go: Nicknamed "The Falcon", Go is an MTB Rider in a miner town who claimed that he beat Flame Kaiser. He claimed that to impress his younger sister Saya. After an accident years ago, he's been afraid to get on his bike. With Sho's help, he got back on and defeated two punks that were attacking their town.
• Sunset Brothers: Joe and Reiu are the gatekeepers of the North Gate of X-City. Sho had to Idaten Battle them at dawn in order to get into X-City. Sho learned from their mother that Joe had a bump on his forehead during their Idaten Battle with Team Shark Tooth who defeated them. Sho eventually defeated them and went on to X-City.
• Mayor of X-City: The unnamed mayor that ruled X-City before Gabu overthrew him.
• Bonnie C: She serves as emcee of Gabu's tournament in X-City.
• Nostradamus Saiyaka: A gypsy MTB Rider who can predict the future. In Gabu's tournament, Arthur Idaten Battled her and beat her when she dropped her crystal ball and tripped over it with her MTB at the starting line. She later crashes the battle against Arthur and Taiga and ended up being saved by Arthur when she fell off the ramp.
• Kiku (菊(キク)): Koei's younger sister. She falls ill in her first appearance and is later captured by Gabu causing Koei to end up doing whatever he wants. Once she was freed, Koei and Sho continued to returned to their battle.
• Takahiro: A boy who had lent his bike to Ayumu during the match between Sho Yamato and Jiro in real world.
• Ichibashi and Honda: Yuki's trusted MTB trainers who resided in the X-Zone. When Takeshi was in X-Zone, they were trained by him to be mechanics. They gave Sho and Co. an all-terrain bike trailer on their journey to Imperial Island
• Germ Man: A microbial MTB rider and his germs that infected Makoto with bad fruit found in the Nameless Forest. Sho was shrunken down to size to face Germ Man. Once Sho won the Idaten Battle, Germ Man and his Germ Men were vanquished.

MTB

• Flame Kaiser (フレイムカイザー): Sho Yamato's MTB. Although Sho and his father have built Flame Kaiser before entering X-Zone, the MTB is regarded as a legend in X-Zone. He can move faster with its special attack, and is later shown to be capable of flight after being knocked off a building by Gabu. Sometimes, the powerful energies surrounding Sho and Flame Kaiser can take the form of a phoenix.
• Neptune (ネプチューン) / Neptune Emperor - Makoto Shido's MTB. Can ride through water with greater speed than a normal MTB going through land. Sometimes, the powerful energies surrounding Mokoto and Neptune Emperor can take the form of a dolphin when on water.
• Thunder Emperor (サンダーエンペラー) / Thunder King: Kyoichi Shido's MTB.
• Bloody Fang (ブラッディファング) / Poison Fang: Gabu Samejima's MTB. its strongest attack is Poison Impact, which creates a red shockwave powerful enough to destroy concrete buildings around him, literally blowing Gabu's competition away. Sometimes, the powerful energies surrounding Gabu and Bloody Fang can take the form of a wolf.
• Aero Scissors (エアロシザース): Koei's MTB. its strongest attack is Ninjitsu Hurricane which is used to blow away the competition. Sometimes, the powerful energies surrounding Koei and Aero Scissors can take form of a fox.
• Hammer Head (ハンマーヘッド) / Iron Hammer : Arthur's MTB. The Iron Hammer Crush attack has the power to break throgh solid objects and gives Arthur more gripping power.
• Terry's Junior Giant (?): Terry the Megaton's MTB. It is a 3-wheel MTB with 2 wheels on front axle that can trap a biker ahead of him.
• Imperial X (インペリアルX): It was built by the ancients. Imperial X gives peace to X-City. When it was broken, Sho's father had to fix it. Zentaro's Imperial X blueprint revealed that it can reach top speed on any terrain. It is said to even create racing terrains. When Takeru rode it under the influence of an ancient evil, its attack is Even's Destruction.
• Imperial Dragon (インペリアルDG(ドラゴン)): Ayumu Yamato's MTB. A miniature version of Imperial X, it appeared after the match between Sho Yamato and the X-Zone Police Captain (who was under the control of Team X at the time), before Sho and the others returned to the X-Zone.
• Imperial Tiger (インペリアルタイガー?): An MTB riden by a Kyoichi Shido while he was being controlled by Team X. After Sho had defeated Kyoichi, Imperial Tiger had also been used by Sho to train for the ultimate technique after losing the Flame Kaiser platinum emblum to his father.
• Bacteria Baron: Germ Man's MTB.
• Defense Bike: Team X's autonomous black MTB guarding Imperial Island.

Emblems

Each gold emblem is worth 10 silver emblems, while a platinum emblem is worth 3 gold emblems.

The Dark Emblem appears after Sho has returned to X-Zone, which is used by Team X to control MTB Riders. It can apparently control any living creature (or at least owls in Hosuke's case) also.

Episode Guide

1. Idaten Jump:
2. Detour:
3. Rush:
4. Trap:
5. Reveal:
6. Hidden:
7. Challenge:
8. Palace:
9. Rain:
10. Revelations:
11. Training:
12. Enemy:
13. Guardian:
14. City:
15. Who's Who:
16. Duel:
17. Darkness:
18. Shadow:
19. Race:
20. Showdown Pt. 1:
21. Showdown Pt. 2:
22. Homecoming Pt. 1:
23. Homecoming Pt. 2:
24. Breakthrough:
25. Return:
26. Runner:
27. No Exit:
28. Rescue:
29. Crash Course:
30. High Stakes:
31. Imperial X:
32. Tower:
33. Formidable:
34. Confrontation:
35. Warp:
36. With a Little Help From My Friends:
37. Hero:

Changes

For unknown reasons, the entire 52 episode series was edited into a total of 27 episodes. In most cases, 1 English episode was actually two Japanese episodes, however two episodes were kept in their entirety. This was similar to the first episode of Shinzo (except Episode #2 of that show was reaired separately). Additionally, Idaten ("EE-da-ten") is regularly pronounced "eye-DAHT-en" in the English dub.

Cast

Japanese Cast

• Akeno Watanabe - Sho Yamato
• Sawa Ishige - Makoto Shido
• Makoto Tsumura - Kakeru Sakamaki
• Yuuichi Nagashima - Hosuke
• Risa Mizuno - Yuki
• Akiyo Kaneda - Gabu Samejima
• Toshiyuki Kusuda - Taiga Samejima
• Chiro Kanzaki - Ayumu Yamato
• Akira Nakagawa - Rin
• Ben Takada - Mr. Teacher
• Chihiro Suzuki - George
• Eiji Takemoto - Terry
• Fuyuka Oura - Akira
• Hidenobu Kiuchi - Zentaro
• Hideyuki Umezu - Gen
• Hozumi Gôda - Narration
• Jin Domon - Shin
• Kentarou Itou - Takuma
• Kunihiro Kawamoto - Tasuku
• Norihisa Mori - Ken
• Noriko Namiki - Rika
• Rio Natsuki - Yoko
• Ryo Naitou - Jun
• Yoshiaki Matsumoto - Jackal
• Yuuki Masuda - Masa

English Cast

• Brian Beacock - Seiji, Kiyoshi (of The Four Kings), Arthur, Jero
• Steven Blum - Takeshi Yamato, Koei, Terry the Megaton, Zentaro, Poison Spider Team Member, Gen, Boris, Peter, Crewman A, Go, Townsfolks, Guards, Additional Voices
• Dorothy Elias-Fahn - Mokoto Shido
• Megan Hollingshead - Bonnie C.
• Yuri Lowenthal - Sho Yamato
• Mona Marshall - Ayumu Yamato, Jun, Prince Ryota, Nostradamus Saiyaka
• Paul St. Peter - Mayor of X-City, Shadow
• Jamieson Price -
• Michelle Ruff - Yuki, Rin
• Philece Sampler - Kakeru Sakamaki, Sho's Mom, Rika
• Michael Sorich - Hosuke, Rogue MTB Team Leader, Rogue MTB Team Member, Crewman, Villager, Sebastian, Danny, Four Kings Member #3, Sunset Reiu, Captain Masagi, Germ Man
• Steve Staley - Taiga Samejima, Ken
• Kirk Thornton - Gabu Samejima, X-Zone Police Captain, Shin the Shadow, Takuma, Tasuku, Captain Jackal, Mr. Teacher, Pete
• Dave Wittenberg - Kyoichi Shido, Rogue MTB Team Member, Team Bandits Member, Poison Spider Team Member, Native MTB Rider

Adaptations

Takara Tomy produced a plug and play bike racing video game on 2005-10-27 for 7329 yen. The plug and play system came from SSD Company Limited (as XaviX).

Taito published an Idaten Jump bike racing game for Nintendo DS on 2006-9-7.

Toys

Takara Tomy produced miniature bikes, parts, courses based on the show. The toys were also sold by Hasbro.

A life-sized version of Flame Kaiser and the matching helmet were also sold by Keiyo D2 and Toys R Us stores in Japan.

References

External links

• (Japanese) Official Japanese site
• Hasbro.com: Idaten Jump
• Idaten Jump (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Idaten Jump (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia