Armored Insect Corps Beetras
Armored Insect Corps Beetras (機甲虫隊ビートラス Kikō Mushi-tai Beetras) is a short-lived 1984 toyline and franchise produced by Takatoku Toys, with designs from Artmic. It became relevant to the Transformers franchise in 1985 when Hasbro borrowed all four of its figures to create the little-appearing "Deluxe Insecticons".
Conceived as an answer to the boxy Insect Robo of Diaclone that would become the core trio of Insecticons, Beetras did not live for long, as Takatoku closed down soon after they began the toyline, leaving figures beyond the third unreleased and ceasing production of a planned cartoon.
Overview
The idea for Armored Insect Corps Beetras seems to have began when creator Shinji Aramaki (yet to work at Artmic) proposed a line of "realistic bugs", after seeing the boxy Insect Robo produced by Takara for Diaclone, to Artmic President Toshimitsu Suzuki in 1983.[1] From there, they worked in conjunction with Takatoku Toys, developing at least five designs to sell as action figures of robots that could convert into insects (which, despite the name's implication, are not all beetles).
There is no fully definitve backstory for the series, but most media uses a general template. The fictional setting of the franchise takes place in in the 1980s or the contemporary near future, where inhabitants of Komun (コムン), an advanced city hidden within Earth in a "hollow world" are split into two tribes—the Ekimu (エキム),[2] a peaceful offshoot of the Mayans who migrated underground and developed mental, spiritual, and physical strength beyond that of surface humans, and the Gaimu (ガイム),[3] who were once like the Ekimu, but their selfish natures corrupted them into monsters. The two tribes are initially at peace (or the Gaimu are under the control of the Ekimu), but ecological destruction on the surface world causes turmoil in the world within. The Gaimu take the opportunity to invade the world above with their monstrous Mecha Insects (メカ昆虫 Meka Konchū), while the Ekimu, led by Karim (カリム) arrive to save humanity with the Beetras—Battle Expert Emergency Task Ranger Anthromobile System.
External links
- ↑ "In an interview for “Artmic Design Works”, Beetras creator Shinji Aramaki described the impetus of the series: “Toy company T_____ released some toys called ‘Insect Robo’, and I thought ‘Wouldn’t it be great if they turned into more realistic bugs?’"—Necronomitron, Twitter, 2022/07/12
- ↑ Based on an odd reading of "beneficial insect" (益虫 ekichū) as ekimushi.
- ↑ Based on an odd reading of "pest" (益虫 gaichū) as gaimushi.
