The Devil Stars (デブルスター) are a special assassin force employed by Galactor. It is an all-women organization, and functions as the feminine counterpart to the Black Birds.
Their "Devil Star" name derives from the purple jets that they pilot along with Katse's Devil Star saucer, while the scripts refer to them as the Devil Star pilots or simply as "Female Galactors". One specific operative is name-dropped as "Devil Star #2" (デブルスター２号), though the others' number placements are not given.
These characters were exclusive to the first series, not being re-used for the sequels with the exception of a flashback involving a Devil Star assassin that killed Joe's parents.
Appearance[]
In their first appearance in episode 31, the Devil Stars wear magenta jumpsuits trimmed with black fur on the collars, fur-trimmed red gloves, teal boots with the same trim, and colorful full-face masks and wigs to obscure their identities. The Devil Star that appears in Joe's flashback to his childhood also dresses in that color scheme.
Five different mask and wig color combinations can be witnessed:
- Devil Star #2 wears a light blond wig, with a turquoise mask and red lines around the eyes that extend down the cheeks and nosepiece
- Another Devil Star wears a deep blue wig and a lighter green mask with red lines, which can also be seen with the Devil Star that killed Joe's parents; however, there doesn't seem to be any intended connection and it would be a mere re-use of the colors
- One can be seen wearing a deep purple wig and a mask in a lavender shade (although one shot depicts her wig as black), with green lines
- Another has a bright red wig, with a light pink mask
- The last of the five has a magenta wig, with a light grey mask
By the time of the Devil Stars' reappearance in episode 66, their costumes were changed likely due to color oversight/error since it had been long since they had last showed up (although some fan interpretations will believe this is to also show them as a separate group). These Devil Stars wear red jumpsuits with white fur trim, and have identical blue masks and blonde wigs. These versions of the masks leave their mouths exposed.
Going by the way the characters' mouths move freely and are drawn even in the first iteration, it appears they were designed with the intent of having exposed skin and lips to start but had their faces fully colored (and given darker "lipstick") as a way to treat them as being unrecognizable.
In both iterations, the Devil Stars' jumpsuits have yellow star symbols on their breasts.
The Devil Star unit in 66 can also be seen to wear black, full-body ninja suits when they are sneaking around and trying to infiltrate Queen Flake's palace.
Mad Cave[]
The Mad Cave comics opt to go with the general idea of the first color scheme for the Devil Stars, although with the habit of depicting all members' masks as blue. The boots are also colored red to match the gloves, and there happens to be a little more variety in their wig styles compared to the classic anime designs.
Members[]
The initial Devil Star squadron shown in episode 31 consisted of five women, who all wound up dying in their mission to assassinate Dr. Nambu; two had their machines spiral out of control and explode, while another two committed a suicide-bombing and blew their machines up on the bridge to collapse it. The final one would get away, only to encounter Joe the Conder in a one-on-one match on the rest of the bridge.
A second, larger team appeared in episode 66 to crash the Monalince fashion show but were defeated by the Science Ninja Team with their Bird Whip technique.
Devil Star #2[]
See Devil Star 2 for more info
The second-in-command of the first team was a young woman who Joe had rescued from a malfunctioning car earlier on, and that he'd planned to race the next day. Joe would unfortunately wind up killing his planned race date in her Devil Star guise, and never learned that they were one and the same until much later on in the series.
Her own mother was also the very Devil Star that killed Joe's parents 10 years prior to the series.
Weapons and Arsenal[]
Devil Star S Aircraft[]
In the first Devil Star group's appearance, all five pilot small, purple-and-red personal jets that can also drive on land. These crafts' wheels also contain circular saws that can cut into other vehicles.
Rifles[]
The original five are shown to tote rifles on their back, just as the Devil Star that had killed the Asakuras had and utilized to fulfill her first part of her assassination plot.
Ring Bombs[]
The later group of Devil Stars in episode 66 are shown to use these among their different deadly techniques.
Alterations in English Adaptations[]
Battle of the Planets[]
These characters were renamed "The Galaxy Girls" and their fates were excised, leaving them to presumably be arrested for their crimes. The character of Star #2 was split into two women, one named Yana (when she initially attacked Chief Anderson and Jason) and one named Lani Hill (all scenes afterward). As episode 66 of Gatchaman was not utilized for the adaptation, the Galaxy Girls did not make any return appearances.
Lani's ultimate fate remains unknown, as Jason vanishes for the rest of the plot as well.
In another difference to the Gatchaman plot, Lani also forewarns Jason that they won't ever be able to meet again (due to her secret job), versus Joe and Star #2 making plans to race the next day. Due to the flashback involving the deaths of Joe's parents being deleted, we are also never told how Jason became an orphan and the significance of the rose bomb used by Yana/Lani is downplayed.
Top Cow Comics[]
The Devil Star assassins are referred to by their original names instead of being called Galaxy Girls, and the original Condor backstory involving one assassinating his parents is incorporated into Jason's own settings.
Jason eventually tracks down the Devil Star responsible for his parents' death and kills her, but finds that she's already killed his uncle and left him with no remaining family. He also learns that his parents were working for Spectra in having betrayed Earth, and that his father was killed for trying to manipulate Spectra and betray them in turn for his own agenda. This leaves Jason wondering if he is destined to betray his own team as his father had, foreshadowing plot developments that never were resolved (such as the cliffhanger in issue #12 leaving viewers wondering if the mysterious man with father issues working for Zoltar is in fact Jason or not).
In this adaptation, the Devil Stars are depicted as wearing blonde wigs and blue masks like #2 had, along with the original magenta uniforms.
G-Force: Guardians of Space[]
The assassins are referred to outright as Devil Stars, but Star#2 is changed to STAR-ONE in their debut episode. Another alteration, to soften the impact of the suicide-bombing scene, has dialogue from Agatha June claiming that they are only cyborgs which then sets up STAR-ONE's death scene to be softened by having her refer to herself as a cyborg as well. Dr. Brighthead continues the cyborg narrative and explains that Dirk had killed one who had just learned to feel human emotion, and then stating that he kept the secret of her identity from him.
Due to the removal of Dirk's childhood flashback in that episode except him saying they were "almost killed" by Galactor and the Lady Captain referencing a failed assassination, the evidence of a Devil Star in his past (or her having any relation to STAR-ONE) is not present. When the Marine Satan episode was adapted, the Devil Star flashback was kept intact.
Since Fred Ladd did not bother adapting the BC Island plot due to lacking a basic English translated script from Tatsunoko, it would remain a mystery how he would have handled any reveal of STAR-ONE as Alan's fiancee (not to mention the violent elements), or if she would have been treated as a separate character. With the present inconsistencies in the dub related to character names and the above detail with Dirk's parents, there would be a possibility that the treatment of her as an inhuman cyborg could very well have been forgotten or that the dead fiancee could have been adapted separately.
Voice Actors[]
Devil Star #2 was voiced by Keiko Tomochika.
The voice of Devil Star #2's mother in the flashback in episode 78 was provided by Rihoko Yoshida, who also doubled as Joe's mother in the same scene. However, when this scene was redone in Joe's recollection of his parents' deaths in Gatchaman II episode 13, that past Devil Star was voiced by Natsuko Fuji instead (and her vocals were also used in the re-used and redubbed footage in episode 16).
The group of Devil Stars in episode 66 had their voices provided by Sumiko Shirakawa, Ai Sakuma, and Mitsuyo Tobe.
English Adaptations[]
- Battle of the Planets: Takayo Fischer (Yana), Janet Waldo (Lani Hill)
- G-Force: Guardians of Space: Barbara Goodson (STAR-ONE, Devil Stars in episode 66, Devil Star in episode 78 flashback)
In the ADV Films dub, the Devil Star in Joe's flashback was played by Shannon Grounds.
Devil Star#2 was voiced by Samantha Inoue-Harte, while the group in episode 66 had their actresses left uncredited.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- It is unknown who was officially in charge of designing the Devil Stars, though it may possibly have been Yoshitaka Amano; this is due to him being tasked with coming up with the designs for guest characters, and having already designed the Lady Captain mode for Katse.
Development Period: "Galactor's Beautiful Ladies"[]
The episode "The Plan to Assassinate Dr. Nambu" was conceived as early as the series planning, with it slated to be the third episode. However, when it came to actually writing the scenario script, it was the seventh in line. A reprint of the planned story chart for "Science Ninja Team Shadow" (one of that various production names for the series) shows it was tentatively slated to be the sixteenth story at that point[1], but it was pushed further back with rewrites.
What can be glimpsed of the scenario script[2] shows that the concept of woman assassins in Galactor was intact from the start, referred to as "Galactor's Beautiful Ladies" (ギャラクターの美女たち) who would pilot the Devil Star ships. The assassins in the script were described as being five glamorous girls in extra short hot pants, but their only other distinguishing characteristics to tell them apart by would be their hair colors, as seen with these four:
- The Red-haired Beauty (赤毛の美女)
- The Chestnut-haired Beauty (栗色の美女)
- The Black-haired Beauty (黒髪の美女)
- The Silver-haired Beauty (銀髪の美女)
The fifth member of the group and their leader would be Katse, labeled as "The Blonde Female Captain" (金髪の女隊長). The ships in the scripts were specified as the Devil Star K (the large craft) and the Devil Star S (smaller crafts stored inside).
After the numerous attempts to assassinate Nambu would fail, Katse would order nine Devil Star S ships piloted by different groups of Beauties to attack the God Phoenix. However, its firebird technique would immolate all the Devil Star S ships, taking all the Beauties out with them.
References[]
- ↑ http://gatchaman.c.ooco.jp/data/zyunbikou/shadowset.html Science Ninja Team Shadow story chart, GatchaKan.
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20120603064539/http://homepage1.nifty.com/shampoo/G-kan/shiryoukan/daihon/kyakuhon031.html