Go! Go! Ackman (V-Jump Festival Anime)

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Go! Go! Ackman
GO! GO! ACKMAN Gō! Gō! Akkuman
Premiere Date	28 July 1994
Premiere Event	V-Jump Festival 1994
Running Time	15 minutes
Main Staff Credits
Scenario	Takao Koyama
Art	Ryūji Yoshi'ike
Animation	Naoki Miyahara
Director	Takahiro Imamura
Production	Satoshi Shimomura, Kōzō Morishita

The Go! Go! Ackman short animated feature (running roughly 15 minutes long) is an adaptation of the early parts of the original 1993-1994 manga series by Akira Toriyama which premiered at the V-Jump Festival event in 1994 (held 28 July 1994 and 06 August 1994 in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively).

A VHS release (comprised of footage from the event along with this animated feature) followed soon after, along with an anime comic inclusion in a special magazine covering the event.

The special's script was written by Takao Koyama with animation direction by Naoki Miyahara, and was directed by Takahiro Imamura.

The animated feature adapts chapters 1, 3, 4, 6, and 7 of the original manga.

Event Background

An initial "V-Jump Festival '91" (sometimes shortened to "Victory Festival" as ビクトリーフェスティバル or "V-Fes" as ブイフェス similar to later incarnations) was held by Shueisha — in conjunction with their new V-Jump magazine and overall "Jump" brand of publications — 08 August 1991 in Osaka and 10 August 1991 in Tokyo. While no major new animation products were produced for this event, it was the first major V-Jump-branded event in Japan, coinciding with the original trial launch of the magazine, which spanned three issues across 1990 to 1991.

Following the magazine's full monthly reboot publication in 1993, a revised event called V-Jump Festival ran from 1994 to 1999. During those years, the event was held first in Tokyo, and then again soon after in Osaka; for 1994 in particular, these respective event dates were 28 July 1994 and 06 August 1994.

V-Jump Festival ended with its 1999 event. Shueisha kicked off a larger event called Jump Festa later that year in December 1999 (dated for calendar year 2000), which continues to this day. With the launch of the magazine Saikyō Jump in 2010, V-Jump Festival as a sub-branded event was later spiritually reborn into Saikyō V-Jump Festa for 2012 and 2013, itself morphing into Jump Victory Carnival in 2014 (which, as with Jump Festa, still runs annually to this day).

Production

July 1994 issue of V-Jump featuring Naoki Miyahara cover artwork

Shueisha launched V-Jump as a special extra publication of Weekly Shōnen Jump in 1991 with a three-issue trial run. Akira Toriyama provided three chapters (one per issue) of the original Savings Soldier Cashman for this run. Shueisha rebooted the magazine at a different print size in 1992, this time running for four issues; Toriyama once again contributed an original manga, this time the four-chapter series Dub & Peter-1.

The magazine was rebooted once again in May 1993 (dated for July 1993), this time launching as an independent monthly magazine (a schedule it maintains to this day). Toriyama returned yet again, this time with Go! Go! Ackman, which ran for 11 chapters in Shueisha's V-Jump magazine from its July 1993 issue (released 21 May 1993, kicking off its monthly reboot) to October 1994 issue (released 22 August 1994); there was a five-month hiatus between the seventh and eighth chapters.

When the series returned to V-Jump for its eighth chapter in the July 1994 issue (released that May), as part of a multi-page blowout of Akira Toriyama-related content, a two-page splash announced that Go! Go! Ackman would receive an animated adaptation at that year's inaugural V-Jump Festival, showcasing a small tease at storyboards and noting the fact that Toriyama himself provided the adapted character designs for the feature (a fact that goes uncredited in the actual feature itself):

なんたって魅力的なのは、鳥山先生がアニメ用キャラクターデザインをしてくれたこと。(上のがそうだョ) Vジャンプオリジナルアニメになるんだからキバらなくっちゃ!! ってなもんでグレードアップ! 猛烈 カッコいいアックマンに早く会いたい!

---

What's really exciting is that Toriyama-sensei did the character designs for the anime. (The ones above are his!) Since it's going to be a V-Jump original anime, we have to go all out, so we've kicked it up a notch! We can't wait to see this incredibly cool Ackman!

The cover for this July 1994 issue was provided by Naoki Miyahara, animation director (and one of several key animators) on the Go! Go! Ackman animated presentation.

Characters

• Ackman (アックマン Akkuman): The "hero" of our story, a young (200 years old) demon looking to get out there and collect souls!
• Gordon (ゴードン Gōdon): Ackman's winged, bat-like attendant.
• Papa (パパ Papa): Ackman's father, also a demon.
• Mama (ママ Mama): Ackman's mother, also a demon.
• Angel (天使 Tenshi): Ackman's primary opponent, though he doesn't pose much of a threat.
• Yakimo Hedel (ヤキモ・ヘーデル Yakimo Hederu): A champion fighter that the angel pays to fight Ackman in his place. It's possible that his name is taken from or influenced by fighters like Lee Hasdell (リー・ハズデル), Kimo Leopoldo (キモ・レオポルド), and/or Igor Yakimov (イゴール・ヤキモフ), widely known (including within Japan) during this time period.
• Josephine Yamamoto (ジョセフィーヌ山本 Josefiinu Yamamoto): Hired by the angel to dance for Ackman with a little sore, sore and a little swing, swing.

Ackman's sister also appears, though (unlike the manga) she does not appear with any speaking lines.

The Great Demon King (大魔王様 Daimaō-sama) is also mentioned by name, but never seen.

Summary

Different voices call out for "Ackman" to wake up. A demon child stirs awake, moving his way over to brush his teeth, and asking how long he was asleep. His little bat-like attendant notes it has been about 50 years. As he pees, he wonders why he was woken up so early.

Ackman makes his way downstairs to greet his father, mother, and sister at the table. His father states that the reason they woke Ackman up is that today is his 200th birthday! This means it is time for him to get out there and start collecting souls. His mother explains that he needs to kill people and collect lots of souls which he can then sell to the Great Demon King for a good price. Ackman is excited; he's been waiting for this day! His family is taken aback by his excitement, but his mother is proud of him!

Out in the burning sun, Ackman's attendant hurries over to let him know that girls have been spotted swimming down at the beach — this is great, because the souls of young girls are worth a lot! Ackman hurries down and announces himself as the demon Ackman, grabbing his sword... but is promptly embarrassed and taken aback by the gorgeous, bikini-clad young lady he's just run down to. Ackman politely states that he has made a mistake as his attendant face-plants.

Ackman can't believe these girls are just hanging out looking like that way down there at the beach. He needs to find someone a bit more modest; after all, the soul of someone pure is worth a lot more.

Ackman notices someone helping an old man cross the street, saying this is more like it. Ackman rushes in to attack, when a small angel yells for him to stop! Ackman figures this just isn't his day. The angel cannot forgive demons who threaten world peace! Ackman sticks his tongue out in return, saying he'll have the whole world living in fear soon enough. Suddenly the angel whips out a gun and fires right at Ackman... who quickly leans to the side, leaving the bullet to instead take out a poor, innocent civilian working in their yard. Ackman mocks him, saying that an angel just killed a human! Ackman's attendant collects the soul, and the two of them run away. The angel whips out a bazooka this time, firing down at them... but Ackman simply walks sideways, leaving the bazooka to take out an entire bus full of people. Ackman thanks him again for the souls.

The angel starts chasing Ackman down in a tank, firing from its rocket and indiscriminately killing humans all over town in the process — this is all so much, that Ackman figures he could make a ton of money by actually teaming up with this guy! The angel is left in the middle of a half-destroyed town cursing.

With all of those souls, Ackman was able to afford a nice car. He pulls back up to look at a "WANTED" poster, which names "Angel-kun" as a mass murderer with a reward of two million yen. Ackman laughs at this, saying they should capture him and bring him in to the police for the reward. The angel tries to snoop from bushes alongside the road (hidden only with a pair of sunglasses), but a group recognizes him... and he has a grenade! This sets off a panic as everyone runs away, causing the angel to get angry all over again and toss the grenade at Ackman's car... except a passing bus drives by, catching the grenade through an open window, and it explodes off-screen. Ackman says he got lucky all over again and rushes off to collect the souls when he notices the angel standing in the road. He's going to fight with his bare hands! The angel powers up and rushes in with his Ultra Magnum Super Angel Punch, leaving Ackman actually scared for a brief moment... but he was just faking, and easily clocks the angel straight in the face, knocking him down.

As the police sirens go off, Ackman says he might be able to make even more money if he breaks that guy out of jail. The angel, behind bars with a bed, a toilet, and a plate of food, promises Ackman that this is not the end.

Ackman shows his family all the money he made, and says his mom can buy whatever she wants!

Outside hiding in his sunglasses and now with a trench-coat, the angel wanders off...

Some time later, the angel has brought Ackman out to a fight: it will be him against some tall guy. This is the world champion Yakimo Hedel! Ackman isn't very impressed. The angel says it is going to cost him 10,000 yen a month for five whole years to have him kill Ackman — 600,00 yen in total! Ackman says he doesn't need to worry about the money, because there's no way he's going to win. The angel walks up and starts pointing his finger into Ackman, who just punches him in the face. Crying, he turns things over to his "master" here. Hedel performs a bunch of fighting motions on the ground and in the air, then grabs a boulder and crushes it with his bare hands. Without any expression at all, Ackman pulls out a gun and shoots him where he stands straight between the eyes. Hadel falls over as the angel rushes over to him. Ackman and his attendant slowly walk away when they suddenly start yelling — who left this here?! Ackman tries to regain his composure as they walk away, but the angel soon trails after them, finding a porn magazine left on the ground. He's finally found Ackman's weakness — and his nose bleeds as he flips through the magazine.

Some time later all over again, Ackman stands face-to-face with the angel again. This time, however, the angel says he knows Ackman's weakness, but Ackman says he has no such thing. The angel runs over to a boombox and turns it on and welcomes Josephine Yamamoto to the stage! Josephine jumps out and begins dancing with a fan, tossing more clothes off along the way. The angel yells for Josephine to step it up a notch, and suddenly the bra comes off and tassels are flipping all over the place. Ackman turns blue and falls over backward; the angel picks him up, forces him to watch, and cheers Josephine on some more. The panties come off and... swing, swing. Both the angel and Ackman have separate reactions: the angel realizes that Josephine is transgender, while Ackman simply turns around and knocks the angel to oblivion in retaliation. Josephine continues to dance, but runs off when Ackman yells for them to shut up. The angel reflects that Josephine seemed cheaper than expected for the services offered...

Release

VHS

Full back-to-front spread of the "V-Fes '94 Video" release

Following the actual V-Jump Festival event that July and August (in Tokyo and Osaka, respectively), a "V-Fes '94 Video" was released on VHS which compiled live footage from the event, commercials for games, as well as the full Go! Go! Ackman animated feature.

TO DO: AVAILABILITY / HOW TO PURCHASE

Anime Comic

Cover of the V-Fes '94 Bulletin Special magazine issue

Like the "V-Fes '94 Video" release, a V-Fes '94 Bulletin Special magazine issue was released later that summer (dated for September 15th, but actually released (TBD)) compiling information about the various games featured at the festival (including Dragon Quest VI, Dragon Ball Z: Super Butōden 3, Chrono Trigger, Breath of Fire II, and more). The issue also contained bonus chapters of The Brief Return of Dr. Slump and Slime Adventure, along with a condensed, seven-page anime comic adaptation of the Go! Go! Ackman animated feature.

Cast

The following table provides the cast as credited in the original Japanese version.

Character	Cast
Ackman	Megumi Urawa
Gordon	Bin Shimada
Papa	Kōji Totani
Mama	Yōko Kawanami
Angel	Yōko Teppōzuka
Hedel	Hisao Egawa
Josephine Matsumoto	Noriko Uemura

Main Staff

The following list provides the main staff responsible for the production of this special feature as specified in the credits.

• Original Work: Akira Toriyama (as serialized in V-Jump)
• Producers: Satoshi Shimomura (Yomiko Advertising), Kōzō Morishita (Toei Animation)
• Script: Takao Koyama
• Animation Direction: Naoki Miyahara
• Art Direction: Ryūji Yoshi'ike
• Production Manager: Yūichi Suenaga
• Storyboard: Daisuke Nishio
• Direction: Takahiro Imamura
• Voice Cast: In Cooperation With Aoni Production
• Key Animation: Tadayoshi Yamamuro, Akira Inagami, Akio Katada, Naoki Miyahara
• In-Between Animation: Fusae Satō, Chikako Uesugi, Akikho Hashimoto, Eriko Kimura, Maki Yamada
• Backgrounds: Morihito Ōhara, Kōji Sakaki
• Finishing Touches: Yōko Obori, Keiko Yoshizawa, Masae Motohashi, Aiko Seguchi, Yasuko Kan'no
• Color Coordination & Check: Taeko Yamamoto
• Special Effects: Masayuki Kawachi
• Photography: Yukio Katayama
• Recording: Kenji Ninomiya
• Editing: Shin'ichi Fukumitsu
• Sound Effects: Yasuyuki Konno
• Music Selection: Daisuke Nishio
• Documentation: Mamiko Ogawa
• Recording Studio: TAVAC
• Assistant Producer: Sei'ichi Hiruta
• Art Manager: Hiroshi Misono
• Finishing Manager: Yōichi Shimizu
• Assistant Director: Masahiko Watanabe
• Assistant Production Manager: Munehisa Sakai
• Film Development: Toei Chemistry
• Animation Production: Toei Animation
• Production Committee & Copyright: Shueisha

Staff Notes

It is notable that there is no dedicated "Music" or "Composer" credits for the Go! Go! Ackman animated feature. Instead, Daisuke Nishio — who handled the feature's storyboard — is also credited with "Music Selection" (選曲).

Akira Toriyama's character designs are not acknowledged or credited within the feature itself — only his role as the original author / creator of the original work (原作) and the manga's serialization in V-Jump are credited.

Erroneous Citations

Yakimo Hedel's name is often mistransliterated as "Yagimo" (either mishearing or confusing the キ ki for ギ gi).