Gun Frontier

Characters

Tochiro Oyama

Voiced by: Kappei Yamaguchi (Japanese); Derek Stephen Prince (English)

He is the main character. He is one of the survivors of Samurai Creek, a town of Japanese immigrants who were mysteriously all slaughtered, with only a few exceptions. Tochiro's purpose is to find the scattered remains of his people, no matter who or what he has to destroy to find them. Tochiro uses a Shikomizue very skillfully, but has awful aim with his gun, a fact which is often poked fun at throughout the series. Despite wearing glasses, he refers to himself as "not being able to see past the end of a shovel [he is] holding". He is also abnormally short, as well as bowlegged, and while he wears his cloak he can often avoid a fatal gunshot wound as his attacker would likely have no idea how small or awkwardly shaped he actually is. He is also a very heavy drinker.

Franklin Harlock Jr.

Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto (Japanese); Steven Blum (English)

He is a sea captain turned gunslinger. He owes his life to Tochiro, and therefore takes him to America on his ship. Harlock is a master gunman, a quick draw like no other, and sharp as a tack. he is able to detect that Sinunora is trying to pry him and Tochiro apart for her own unclear reasons. He is very loyal to Tochiro. He is also quite enigmatic and silent, often grumbling and dismissing any mention of the past. Harlock has an x-shaped scar on his cheek, which is later revealed to be from a sword duel he and Tochiro had on Harlock's ship while they were still enemies.

Sinunora

Voiced by: Rica Matsumoto (Japanese); Karen Strassman (English)

She is a woman who joins Tochiro and Harlock at the end of the first episode. Beautiful and capable, she's not the damsel in distress as she is very good at using manipulation to get out of traps and get what she wants (It's revealed later in the series that she is an expert on human behavior). It also comes to Harlocks attention that Sinunora gets close to the pair so that she can spy on them and report back to the mysterious "Organization that guides the world" but in truth, she eventually is warmed by Tochiro's struggle and uses her position as their tracker to protect them instead. Her real name is never mentioned, except by a man named Baron De Noir F. Tat Endale, always referred with his full name and title, who is believed to be her husband. He mentions the first part of her name being "Anrei", but it is cut off and her real name is never mentioned again.

Shizuku

Voiced by: Chisa Yokoyama (Japanese); Dorothy Elias-Fahn (English)

Darkmeister is the leader of the "organization" that guides the world. He desires Tochiro and all the other Japanese immigrants so that he can force them into slavery. He wants to use their superior knowledge of metalcraft (Known as Stardust Steel) to create unparalleled weapons to use in war to overthrow the American government. His face is never shown, but he is revealed to have incredibly long fingernails. It is also believed that he wears a mask of some kind.

Printing history

In 1975 the original manga series was completed into two volumes. In 1988 the manga was reprinted and which Leiji Matsumoto added more content into. In 1999, Leiji Matsumoto published his first novel, Gun Frontier II. The novel was published by Daiwa Shobo and it was told in a non-erotic way compared to the original manga. The novel is now out of print.

Anime

In 2002, an anime adaptation of the original series aired on AT-X. The opening theme song is called "Style" by Grand Zero, while the ending theme song is called "Ame to Sanbika" by Umeno Yoshizawa.

It started being streamed in the US on Hulu in Fall 2009. In Latin America, it aired through Animax, beginning July 5, 2006. The title was translated to Frontera sin ley, except in Brazil where the original title was kept.