Aired in North America in the early 1980s as part of "Force Five," a syndicated package of five 1970 anime series consisting of Gaiking, Wakusei robo Dangard A (1977), Gettâ robo Jî (1975), Goldorak (1975) and SF Saiyûki Starzinger (1978).
When the series was first aired in Japan, Toei Animation credited Akio Sugino as the series original creator to avoid paying royalties to the real creator, 'Go Nagai'. This resulted in a legal battle between Nagai and Toei that lasted for 10 years. Nagai finally confirmed that he was the creator of Gaiking in the Comicon 2007 in Naples, Italy.
The show was broadcast in Latin America as part of a 4-show feature called "El Festival de los Robots" ("Festival of Robots"), along with SF Saiyûki Starzinger (1978), Kôtetsu jîgu (1975) and "Magne Robo Gakeen". They were respectively retitled "El Gladiador" (The Gladiator), "El Galactico" (The Galactic), "El Vengador" (The Avenger) and "Supermagnetron".
The toys from this anime series were featured in Mattel's phenomenal Shogun Warriors toy collection. Gaiking's name remained the same, as did Nessar (the brontosaurus mecha) and Bazoler (the triceratops mecha), although Daikû Maryû (Great Sky Demon Dragon) was renamed "Cargosaur" and Skylar (the pteranodon mecha) was renamed "Kondar."
This was the first "super robot" series by Toei Animation which was based on an original concept, rather than being a manga adaptation. It was part of a new wave of works in the genre during the 1970s.