, known as Spaceketeers in the United States, is an anime series produced by Toei Animation. It is a sci-fi remake/adaptation of Wu Cheng'en's fantasy novel Journey to the West. It was directed by Yugo Serikawa and written by Leiji Matsumoto. It aired in Fuji TV in Japan from April 2, 1978, to August 24, 1979. In the United States, it was referred to as Spaceketeers and was part of Jim Terry's Force Five series. In the United Kingdom, it was referred to as Sci-Bots on VHS releases. In Latin America, it was known as El Galáctico. Story The story revolves around the Princess of the Moon, Aurora and her three cyborg companions (Kugo, Djorgo, and Hakka) who must travel to the Great King planet and restore the Galaxy Energy in the year 2072. The universe was becoming more and more unbalanced as the Queen of the Great Planet grows older. Their adventure includes battling the starmen who are transformed from the unbalanced minerals and planets. Concept Starzinger was essentially a sci-fi space opera retelling of the 16th-century shenmo fantasy novel Journey to the West, a Chinese literary classic written by the Ming dynasty novelist Wu Cheng'en. The sci-fi twists were designed by Leiji Matsumoto based on the Terebi Magazine manga with art by Gosaku Ohta. Characters Production The series was produced by Toei Animation. Production staff include: Directors: Yugo Seirikawa, Kozo Morishita, Kazumi Fukushima Creator: Leiji Matsumoto Screenwriters: Tatsuo Tamura, Mitsuru Majima, Sukehiro Tomita Character Designs: Masami Suda Animators: Masami Suda, Satoshi Jinguu Music: Shunsuke Kikuchi Adaptations In March 1979, a movie was aired reusing footage from the first segment of the series. The movie was more or less a summary. The last nine episodes of the actual series was re-branded as "SF Saiyūki Starzinger II", though when shown outside Japan it was treated as one continuous series. It was never intended to be anything more than re-marketing of the last few episodes, since it was aired immediately after the first sixty-four episodes were shown in June 1979. The 65th episode began instantly in July 1979 with all the galactic energy restored in the storyline. Media A total of 73 episodes of Sci-Fi West Saga Starzinger were broadcast in Japan. Starzinger was aired in the early 1980s in Latin America under the name of El Galáctico (The Galactic), as part of the four-series show "El festival de los robots",