Crusher Joe

Crusher Joe was created by Haruka Takachiho. Takachiho was one of the main starters of the popular Studio Nue. Crusher Joe was his first foray into manga work. It was first published in 1979 and comprises of ten volumes, ending in 1983. Unlike most popular mangas, Crusher Joe was not turned into a full-fledged anime series. It was only made into a movie and two original video animations, or OVA’s. There has been some talk about the influence Crusher Joe had on the popular manga and anime series Cowboy Bebop. The crew in both are remarkably similar, as is the work that they do. Each has a cool and confident leader, a home ship, and smaller ships that get flown by crew whenever they need to separate from the main ship.

Characters

• Joe – Joe is the leader of the Crusher Team. He decided to follow along in his father’s footsteps and become a Crusher. At the young age of ten, Joe took over command of the Crushers and has been the leader ever since. He is nineteen years old and does not care for authority. His role as the leader is good, as he will not take orders from anybody. He is calm and has a good sense of humor.

• Alfin – Alfin used to be the Princess of the planet Pizanne. She tossed aside her throne and her crown in order to join the Crushers. She is fast and fearless and is in love with the leader, Joe. Fortunately Joe returns her feelings.

• Talos – Talos is an older member of the crew. He is in his forties and due to all of his years, most of his extremities have been changed from flesh into metal. Over 80% of his body, in fact, is actually cybernetic. His left arm is a machine gun, which comes in handy in sticky situations. He is the pilot of the crew and has a strong streak of loyalty, coming to the aid of the younger members quite often.

• Ricky – Ricky is the youngest member of the crew. At only fifteen, he is talented enough to be the chief engineer on the Minerva. He was orphaned at a young age when gang members murdered his mother and father. Even though he is the youngest, he is not the weakest. He is quick to action and has to be held back frequently by Talos.

• Dongle – Dongle is an android. He is different from most androids in that he portrays many human characteristics. He is loyal to the crew and to Joe and often runs the ship when the crew finds themselves on a mission.

Crushers Missions

The Crushers are always taking on diverse assignments. Sometimes they merely transport things, or people, and other times they need to explore different parts of outer space. They became known as Crushers because they once got the job to destroy a large group of asteroids. They used this as their business name and it stuck. They do not accept missions from shady people, and have passed up a lot of money because of it. Whenever a mission is accepted, however, a Crusher is duty-bound to complete it, which causes problems when headquarters accepts shady missions for them.