Changes: Ryoma Nagare (Disambiguation)

Revision as of 05:23, 24 May 2014

Ryoma Nagare (流竜馬 Nagare Ryōma) is one of the central protagonists of Getter Robo, primarily acting as the leader of the Getter Team, or as an aloof mentor to newer teams. Throughout the numerous installments of the series, Ryoma is usually a hot-blooded karate master who ends up getting involved with the Saotome Getter Ray Research Institute due to his impressive strength and durability, and more often than not his power attracts the attention of the Getter Rays themselves.

History

Manga

In the original manga, Ryōma is an aggressive and short tempered martial artist who crashes a martial arts tournament, then challenges and quickly knocks out most of the students with his more brutal martial arts style. His abilities and durability catch the attention of Professor Saotome, who is looking for suitable pilot candidates for the Getter Machines. To further test Ryoma's abilities, Saotome hires three highly skilled assassins to hunt down and try to kill Ryoma. Ryoma manages to defeat them while trying to resist the effects of a highly potent tranquilizer shot into him by one of Satome's assistants, before finally being rendered unconscious by a combination of fatigue, the tranquilizer, and Saotome humorously tapping Ryoma on his head with one of his wooden sandals. Ryoma wakes up at the Saotome Research Lab, where he is told that the fight before was a test to determine whether or not he had the exceptional capabilities required to handle the Getter Robo, and is given the offer to be one of its pilots. He is made the pilot of Getter Eagle/Getter-1.

Anime

Ryoma goes to high school with Musashi Tomoe, Hayato Jin, and Michiru Saotome. He travels to the Saotome Research Institute on the day the Prototype Getter Robo is being tested. He witnesses the death of the Prototype Getter Robo team including the son of Professor Saotome at the hands of the evil Dinosaur Empire. He enlists the aid of Musashi Tomoe and Hayato Jin in order to pilot the real Getter Robo. Ryoma piloting Getter-1 is key to battling the Dinosaur Empire. Ryoma and his friends fight the Dinosaur Empire until the final battle in which Musashi gives his life to defeat them.

Even after the defeat of the Dinosaur Empire, a new threat arises in the form of the Clan of the 100 Demons. The remaining members of the Getter Robo team get Benkei Kurama to pilot the last jet of the Getter Robo G. Ryoma pilots the Getter Dragon in the second series.

Getter Robo Armageddon

In the 1998 OVA series Getter Robo Armageddon, Ryoma was framed for the murder of Dr. Saotome. After a resurrected Dr. Saotome threatens to destroy the world, he is released from jail to commit the very murder he was accused of. Ryoma holds a grudge with Hayato; who not only committed the murder of Saotome, he also testified against him. After failing to stop a nuclear attack on Shin Dragon, he vanishes from Earth. He reappears 13 years later in an abandoned base located on the Moon. He rejoins the fight against The Invaders piloting a customized Getter, the Black Getter. During a battle with Shin Dragon, Ryoma shields Shin Getter Robo with his Black Getter which causes it to be seriously damaged. Both Shin Getter and Black Getter are then forced to return to the Tower for some repairs. Hayato and Professor Shikishima proceed to ram the Tower into the Shin Dragon. Doing so kills Professor Shikishima before he reveals the connection between Go and Shin Dragon. Hayato manages to survive and Shin Getter is once again piloted by the original team. The Shin Dragon managed to survive the ramming and Saotome, Stinger, and Cohen decide to personally sortie in a Mechabeast Dragon to deal with the Shin Getter once and for all.

After dealing damage to the Mechabeast Dragon, it just heals itself as Saotome says that it can't be defeated as long as it's connected to the Shin Dragon. The Getter team are then trapped in a dimension where they are haunted by the spirits of Musashi and Michiru. Their real spirits soon appear and break the illusion that the Getter team are trapped in. After knowing the truth behind Michiru's death, Hayato and Ryoma are back to normal and Benkei is encouraged by Musashi to continue to look after Genki/Kei and take the fight to outer space after beating Saotome.

After a long fight with the Invaders in outer space, Ryoma, Hayato and Benkei sacrifice themselves to take them out once and for all with a Shin Shine Spark. The three of them are then thrown into Getter Valhalla where they are welcomed by another version of Ryoma. They fight with their other counterparts against numerous foes forever.

Shin Getter Robo vs. Neo Getter Robo

Ryoma appears as a supporting characters in Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo. Mentally scarred after being tortured by the Dinosaur Empire and the death of Musashi, he quits the Getter Team and wanders Japan as a martial artist. He returns and helps the New Getter Team when the Dinosaur Empire attempts to destroy Shin Getter Robo.

New Getter Robo

RyōmaNagare Shin — If you know what I mean...

Rather than being something of a high school dropout, New Ryoma Nagare is the owner of a dojo deep in debt from what are implied to be mob enforcers who is pulled into the Getter program after being tracked by Dr. Saotome. Instead of fighting the cunning Dinosaur Empire along with Hayato and Musashi, this version of Ryoma fights against the savage Oni with Hayato and Benkei Musashibō (a lecherous Buddhist monk who serves as an amalgamation of both Benkei and Musashi). After returning from the past, their mech is upgraded by a Getter Ray-obsessed Dr. Saotome. When Ryoma pilots Getter-1 in a training exercise, he is transported to a Getter-ruled future where his colleagues and the rest of humanity have become biomechanical slaves to their Getters. After attempting to challenge the beast that rules this Earth, Ryoma is snapped back to his own time, where the rest of Saotome Labs are convinced that he simply passed out during his flight to the upper atmosphere. After attempting to destroy Getter Robo, Ryoma decides to simply abandon Saotome Labs. When faced with an old foe seeking revenge, Ryoma is forced back into the Getter despite his feelings on the matter. After confronting Dr. Saotome, who hears his deceased son in the Getter Rays, Ryoma is forced into combat when four entities claiming to be gods appear. After Dr. Saotome sacrifices himself -and his lab- to power up Getter Robo, the Getter and the four beings fight against each other before being transported to a world filled with abandoned Getter Robos. Ryoma, after being dominated by these vengeful beings, stabs himself with a knife and suddenly starts to go berserk due to over-exposure to Getter Rays absorbed from the uncountable amount of wrecked Getters. While the leader of these four claims that "the fusion has started...", Ryoma pummels the other three with his copilots suffering all throughout. After regaining his senses due to Hayato and Benkei's intervention, Ryoma finally defeats the three 'gods' before going after their leader. After a long struggle, the three Getter pilots defeat their last foe with a powered-up Getter Beam. After witnessing Getter Emperor crush the broken being, Ryoma decides to seperate and go after the behemoth. While Hayato and Benkei somehow return to Earth and ponder Ryoma's fate, the man himself is finally seen in space (or Getter Valhalla) facing numerous foes in a Getter Robo closer to the original. The OVA ends with Ryoma brandishing two tomahawks and rushing towards his foes.