View source for Gekisatsu! Uchuuken (lost unreleased anime pilot based on lolicon manga; existence unconfirmed; 1985)

{{NSFW}}
{{InfoboxLost
|title=<center>Gekisatsu! Uchuuken</center>
|image=Gekisatsuuchuuken.jpg
|imagecaption=An animation cel depicting the main character, Lien Yun.
|status=<span style="color:orange;">'''Partially Lost'''</span>
}}
'''''Destroy! Space Fist''''' (Japanese: '''''撃殺! 宇宙拳''''' '''''Gekisatsu! Uchuuken''''') is a 1980s Japanese manga series created by Hurricane Ryu. It was originally serialized in the adult-oriented lolicon magazine ''Lemon People'' from March 1982 to February 1988. In 1983, it was announced that ''Destroy! Space Fist'' would be adapted into an animated television series. However, the television series was never fully produced. The music and story were released as an "image album" on vinyl in 1985, but no animation has ever been released.

==Plot==
''Destroy! Space Fist'' is a sci-fi adventure manga, with additional martial arts and slapstick themes. It follows the adventures of Lien Yun, a 9-year-old kung fu expert, who travels throughout the galaxy fighting crime. Her father taught her deadly martial arts techniques, and her trademark move is the Rising Galactic Dragon pose. Yun is assisted by Chief Kishida Hayashi, a military leader who could turn into Hakaider from ''Android Kikaider''. The anime would focus on Yun's rivalry with another martial arts girl, Lan Liya, and Yun would also have to defeat an army of space monsters and robots.

==Production==
[[File:Lemonpeoplesept1983.jpg|thumb|left|Lien Yun on the cover of ''Lemon People'''s September 1983 issue.|311x311px]]
The manga was serialized in ''Lemon People'', a lolicon manga magazine, during the height of the "Lolicon Boom" in the anime industry. As such, the magazine's contents generally revolved around erotica involving young female characters. Author Hurricane Ryu originally created the series when he was 17 years old and in high school. Yun was originally supposed to also be 17 years old, but the editors of ''Lemon People'' persuaded Hurricane to make Yun 9 years old instead.<ref>[https://twitter.com/zkHc5amiVbaGWSY/status/1149500371426897921 Tweet by Hurricane Ryu explaining the age change.] Retrieved 10 Sep '21</ref> Unlike much of the other manga in ''Lemon People'', ''Space Fist'' was not primarily about fanservice. Its action and parody themes made it one of the magazine's most popular series, as well as its most accessible series for mainstream audiences.

Lien Yun would be featured on the cover of ''Lemon People'''s September 1983 issue, along with the announcement that a ''Space Fist'' anime was going into production. The magazine would continue to release promotional materials about the anime, including character designs and the names of staff members. A single episode, either a pilot or the first TV episode, was confirmed to be fully written.<ref>[https://aaltomies.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/83_3.jpg A scan with some pages of the ''Gekisatsu! Uchuuken'' pitch script.] Retrieved 10 Sep '21</ref> However, no further animation would ever be released.

Fans in Japan have speculated that the series was shelved for a number of reasons. Many of the staff members were busy with other projects, such as the 1984 anime movie ''Super Dimensional Fortress Macross: Do You Remember Love?'' (''超時空要塞マクロス 愛・おぼえていますか'', ''Chōjikū Yōsai Makurosu: Ai Oboete Imasu ka''), and likely did not have the resources to also work on ''Space Fist''. It is also likely the series was having trouble getting sponsors, due to the manga's occasional ''lolicon'' themes and its association with ''Lemon People''. Additionally, the manga used a number of licensed characters, places, and logos for satirical purposes, and these elements would have to be replaced in order to avoid costly copyright infringement. Without a budget, the series was never fully produced, beyond some storyboards and keyframes.

Certain elements of the series are said to have gone on to inspire ''Fight! Iczer One'' (''戦え!!イクサー1, Tatakae!! Ikusā Wan''), released in 1985. ''Iczer One'' creator and director Hirano Toshiki was originally the character designer for ''Space Fist''.<ref>[https://aaltomies.wordpress.com/2016/08/17/monthly-three-space-punch/ An article discussing the history of ''Space Fist''.] Retrieved 10 Sep '21</ref> That same year, all existing audio elements of the ''Destroy! Space Fist'' anime were released on vinyl record by Toshiba EMI's sub-label Futureland.

==Staff==
All known staff were listed in issues of ''Lemon People'' or confirmed by Hurricane Ryu. The anime pilot was handled by a collective of many of the following personnel, as '''Jin Productions'''.
* '''Artland''' - Animation studio
* '''Okasako Nobuhiro''' - Animation director
* '''Ishigoro Noboru''' - Key animator
* '''Hurricane Ryu''' - Creator, concept artist
* '''Hirano Toshiki''' - Character designer
* '''Itano Ichiro''' - Mecha designer
* '''Machida Yoshito''' - Theme song composition
* '''Koroku Reijiro''', '''Ichiro Nitta''' - Music composers <ref>[https://twitter.com/zkHc5amiVbaGWSY/status/1149920160024653825 Tweet by Hurricane Ryu regarding the series music.] Retrieved 10 Sept '21.</ref>

===Cast===
* '''Lien Yun''' - Shou Mayumi
* '''Helmer Zack''' – Shiozawa Kaneto
* '''Member Ooba''' – Tatsuta Naoki
* '''Lien Kenryu / Chief Kishida''' – Shibata Hidekatsu
* '''Lan Liya''' – Inoue You

==Availability==
[[File:Gekisatsulp.jpg|thumb|right|The cover of ''Gekisatsu! Uchuuken'', featuring Liya, Yun, and Helmer.]]
The ''Space Fist'' pilot was released as an audio drama, known in Japan as an "image album", on December 21, 1985. The album contains all completed music for the series. The vinyl record also comes with cel-painted character art by Hirano Toshiki.<ref>[https://aaltomies.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/%e6%92%83%e6%ae%ba%e5%ae%87%e5%ae%99%e6%8b%b3-gekisatsu-uchuuken-lp/ Scans and information about the ''Uchuuken'' album.] Retrieved 10 Sep '21</ref> These images, along with what was published in ''Lemon People'', are the only known glimpses into what the finished anime would have looked like.

The complete ''Space Fist'' album is easily accessible online. Archivists have digitized the album, and it is accessible on Youtube in four parts ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqxoTZ2CL_A Side A1] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC4GOOmn4KA A2], Side [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlidSZUGk94 B1] and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH7n9VvaIqk B2]). Much of the album contains instrumental tracks, with occasional dialogue recorded by the originally slated voice actors. It also includes an additional insert song, "Requiem", performed by Yuki Hyodo imitating a child's voice. Hurricane Ryu has said that he wanted this song to be performed by an actual child as if Lien Yun herself were singing it.<ref>[https://twitter.com/zkHc5amiVbaGWSY/status/1149918329483608064 Hurricane Ryu mentioning his choice with "Requiem."] Retrieved 10 Sep '21</ref>

==External Links==
* [https://aaltomies.wordpress.com/2016/08/17/monthly-three-space-punch/ Monthly Three; Space Punch! - An English article discussing the manga.]
* [https://aaltomies.wordpress.com/2014/12/07/撃殺宇宙拳-gekisatsu-uchuuken-lp/ 撃殺!宇宙拳 – Gekisatsu! Uchuuken LP - An English article by the same author, discussing the 1985 vinyl record.]
* [https://www.discogs.com/Various-撃殺-宇宙拳/release/10657751 ''Destroy! Space Fist'' on Discogs.]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Lost animation]]
[[Category:Partially lost media‏‎]]