Dangaioh (OAV)

U.S. Renditions' release of Dangaio episode 1 is infamous for the "Side-Kick" translation error. The finishing attacks Psychic Wave and Psychic Sword are mistranslated as "Side-Kick Wave" and "Side-Kick Sword." A second print of the VHS had the translation error corrected.

For the 2016 Blu-ray release by King Records, episodes 1-2 were remastered from the original 35mm prints to 1080p HD. Episode 3 was upconverted from the DVD source to 1080i HD, as the master tapes have reportedly been lost.

While Shoji Kawamori was credited for designing Dangaioh, his design for the robot mode was rejected. Masami Obari streamlined the final robot design while retaining Kawamori's designs for the Dan-Mechanics.

Dangaioh's production traces its roots to Dai-Mazinger, an aborted OAV remake of Mazinger Z. Despite receiving approval by Dynamic Planning, the copyright owner of Mazinger Z, the project was scrapped due to Toei Animation asserting their rights to the Mazinger Z TV series. Elements of Dai-Mazinger were reworked into this OVA series and Daimaju Gekito Hagane no Oni.

Pai Thunder is an homage to the Great Mazinger character Jun Honoo, who was half Afro-American and the first female anime character of mixed color.

Creator and director Toshihiro Hirano planned for Dangaioh to run for 6-12 episodes, but the series was cancelled following poor sales of episode 3. The Dangaioh/Iczer-One crossover audio CD features "next episode preview" audio tracks describing how the series would have continued.

Spot the Shameless Plug: In episode 1, when Gil Berg's Bloody-1 mecha lands on Tokyo, a building with the AIC logo collapses.

Much of the soundtrack by composer Michiaki Watanabe is recycled material from his earlier works in anime and tokusatsu (live-action hero shows). One example is the ending battle in episode 1, where the background music is taken directly from Uchuu Keiji Gavan. Samples of tracks from Great Mazinger and Fight! Iczer-One are also heard throughout the series. Some of the original music was later used in Shinkon Gattai Godannar!!

Unlike most giant robot anime titles, Dangaioh uses different scenes and angles for the combination sequence rather than reuse the same footage. In episode 2, the sequence features the location of Lamba Nom's cockpit, as well as Mia Alice's cockpit turning dark when Dangaioh is combined. In episode 3, Roll Kran jumps from Mia's Dan-Mechanic to his unit during the sequence.