Warrior of Love Rainbowman (1972-73)
Kawauchi Trilogy series | |||||||
|
|
|
|
Warrior of Love Rainbowman (愛の戦士レインボーマン, originally aired as simply Rainbowman Ai no Senshi Reinbōman) (レインボーマン, is a Reinbōman)tokusatsu series co-produced by NET and Toho which aired from October 6, 1972 to September 28, 1973. It was succeeded by the 1973 series Warrior of Light Diamond Eye, and is the first in a trilogy of superhero stories authored by Kohan Kawauchi.
An anime adaptation of the series was also later produced in 1982 by Tsuchida Productions.
Plot
Takeshi Yamato was an undisciplined professional wrestler who fought frivolously in the ring, putting no care in to how he won a match. After being kicked off of the team for being too violent, he traveled to India to train with a yogi saint named Daiba Datta. He taught Yamato discipline and granted him the ability to transform into Rainbowman. Rainbowman battles magical monsters created by the witch Iguana, hired by Mr. K, a World War II veteran who abhors Japan. Together, with Mr. K's terrorist army the Die Die Gang, they seek to destroy Rainbowman and the whole of Japan.
Episodes
This section is a work in progress. Please help in the creation of this article by expanding or improving it. |
52 total episodes of Warrior of Love Rainbowman were produced. For the show's 2001 DVD release, it was split into four 13-episode arcs, each named after a scheme carried out by the Die Die Gang against Rainbowman.
Episode no. | Title | Director(s) | Writer(s) | Air date | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Overall | Arc | ||||
"Operation Cat's Eye" (キャッツアイ作戦編) | |||||
1 | 1 | "The Miraculous Holy Man" | Takeshi Yamada | Tsunehisa Ito | 1972/10/06 |
2 | 2 | "The Birth of Rainbowman" | Takashi Nagano | 1972/10/13 | |
3 | 3 | "Rainbow Dash 7" | 1972/10/20 | ||
4 | 4 | "The Macanese Murder Show" | Takeshi Yamada | 1972/10/27 | |
5 | 5 | "The Die Die Gang Conspiracy" | 1972/11/03 | ||
6 | 6 | "5 Hours of Evil Have Come!" | Takashi Nagano | 1972/11/10 | |
7 | 7 | "Operation Cat's Eye is a Go" | 1972/11/17 | ||
8 | 8 | "The Lonely Battle" | Takeshi Yamada | 1972/11/24 | |
9 | 9 | "Takeshi's Gone Mad" | 1972/12/01 | ||
10 | 10 | "Kill Them All!" | Takashi Nagano | 1972/12/08 | |
11 | 11 | "Spring the Trap!" | 1972/12/15 | ||
12 | 12 | "Critical Moment!!" | Takeshi Yamada | Yoichi Onaka | 1972/12/22 |
13 | 13 | "The Great Rainbow Operation" | Tsunehisa Ito | 1972/12/29 | |
"Operation M" (M作戦篇) | |||||
14 | 1 | "The Horrifying Operation M" | Takashi Nagano | Tsunehisa Ito | 1973/01/05 |
15 | 2 | "The Professional Killer" | 1973/01/12[note 1] | ||
16 | 3 | "Revenge of the Pro Killer Garuma" | Hiroyasu Sahara | Tsunehisa Ito, Koei Yoshihara |
1973/01/19 |
17 | 4 | "Witchcraft: The Human Fossil" | Takeshi Yamada | Yoichi Onaka | 1973/01/26 |
18 | 5 | "Hoshikko's Transformation" | Tsunehisa Ito | 1973/02/02 | |
19 | 6 | "Race! The Flying Squirrel Technique" | Takashi Nagano | 1973/02/09 | |
20 | 7 | "Thwart Operation M!" | 1973/02/16 | ||
21 | 8 | "Defeat the Sparkman!!" | Takeshi Yamada | 1973/02/23 | |
22 | 9 | "Rescue One Hundred Million People!!" | Hiroyasu Sahara | 1973/03/02 | |
23 | 10 | "There's Their Base!!" | Takashi Nagano | 1973/03/09 | |
24 | 11 | "A Man's Promise" | 1973/03/16 | ||
25 | 12 | "In the Morning Sun, the Witch Disappeared" | Takeshi Yamada | 1973/03/23 | |
26 | 13 | "The Secret Base is Destroyed!!" | 1973/03/30 |
- "The Miraculous Holy Man"
- "The Birth of Rainbowman"
- "Rainbowman Dash 7"
- "Makao's Murderer Show"
- "Plot of the Shine Shine Dan"
- "The Evil 5 O'Clock has Come!"
- "Operation Cat's Eye Comes Ashore"
- "Lonely War"
- "Let's Drive Takeshi Mad"
- "Kill The Bastards!"
- "Let's Spring the Trap!"
- "Critical Moment!!"
- "Mission: Rainbow"
- "Terror Operation M"
- "Murder Professional"
- "Murder Pro Garuma's Revenge"
- "Witchcraft-Human Petrification!!"
- "Hoshikko Catastrophic Change"
- "Racing! Giant Flying Squirrel Killing Technique"
- "Abandon Operation M!!"
- "Let's Attack the Electric Current People!!"
- "Rescue One Hundred Million People!!"
- "That Over There is the Bastards' Base!!"
- "A Man's Promise"
- "In the Morning Sun, the Witch Disappeared"
- "The Secret Big Ground Explosion"
- "The Resurrected Shine Shine Dan"
- "Hold Back the Underground Tank Mogurard!"
- "The Demonic Corps DAC"
- "Operation Mogurard Wreak Havoc"
- "The Terrifying Sequential Explosions"
- "The Cyborg Pagora"
- "Dakaa Airforce, Sortie!!"
- "The Vacuum Waterspout Technique"
- "The Invisible Black Hand"
- "Your Sweetheart is an Assassin"
- "X Zone Destruction Order!!"
- "Big Explosion on the ABCD Line"
- "The Final Sun in the Capitol of Tokyo"
- "Operation Diamond Plunder"
- "The Battle With Cyborg Mark 1"
- "Pursuit 1000 km!"
- "I Swear by the Sun and the Green!"
- "The Rainbow Combination Technique"
- "Doctor Borg's Tenacity"
- "The Cyborg Slave Corps"
- "The Black Star is an Accursed Mark"
- "A Bluff is the Only Decision"
- "Burn! Great Victory or Defeat"
- "The Bullet That Went Insane"
- "The Cross of the Mission"
- "The Rainbow Soars, Warrior of Love"
Staff
Staff role on the left, staff member's name on the right.
- Directed by Takeshi Yamada (episodes 1, 4-5, 8-9, 12-13, 17-18, 21, 25-26, 29-30, 35-36, 39, 42-43, 46-47, 52), Takashi Nagano (episodes 2-3, 6-7, 10-11, 14-15, 19-20, 23-24, 27-28), Hiroyasu Sahara (episodes 16, 22, 33-34, 38, 48-49), Hideo Rokushika (episodes 31-32, 37, 40-41, 44-45, 51), Susumu Kodama (episode 50)
- Written by Tsunehisa Ito (episodes 1-11, 13-16, 18-26, 29-30, 33, 37, 39, 41, 44-45, 47, 51), Yoichi Onaka (episodes 12, 17), Koei Yoshihara (episode 16), Tatsuo Tamura (episodes 27-28, 34-35, 38, 40, 42-43, 45-46, 48, 50, 52), Takayuki Kase (episodes 31-32, 36)
- Based on a Story by Kohan Kawauchi
- Produced by Masayoshi Kataoka, Koichi Noguchi
- Music by Jun Kitahara
- Cinematography by Fumio Tajima
- Edited by Yasuo Hiraki
- Production Design by Toshio Mamada
- Assistant Directing by Hideo Rokushika, Masami Masuko
- Special Effects by Sadamasa Arikawa
- Narration by Goro Naya
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Kunihisa Mizutani as Takeshi Yamato
- Shobun Inoue as Daiba Datta
- Kanuko Motoyama as Tami Yamato
- Eriko Ishikawa as Miyuki Yamato
- Hiroshi Koizumi as Ichiro Yamato
- Junji Masuda
- Megumi Ito
- Masao Murata
- Takehiko Ono
- Junji Yamazaki as Iron Yappa
- Machiko Washio as Sakura
- Yoichi Sase as Roko
- Michio Kida
- Moto Noguchi
- Shiro Kuno
- Osman Yusuf as Daringer
- Takashi Asakura
- Rumiko Mori
- Akihiko Hirata as Mr. K
- Mayumi Yamabuki as Dianna
- Mieko Saegusa as Mitchy
- Yoko Takagi as Cathy
- Ritsuko Fujiyama as Olga
- Taeko Minagawa as Lolita
- Toki Shiozawa as Witch Iguana
- Shuntaro Emi as Herodenia III
- Ulf Otsuki as L-Banda
- Machiko Soga as God Iguana
- Dai Sagasawa as Dr. Borg
- Enver Altenbay as Dr. Guld
- Hatsuko Wakahara
- Maria Mizuno as Malinda
- Mei Jun as Norma
- Chico Roland as Pagora
- Akira Yamauchi as DAC One
- Tetsu Nakamura as Calimos
- Asao Matsumoto
Appearances
Characters and Monsters
- Takeshi Yamato
- Tami Yamato
- Miyuki Yamato
- Toshie Mizuno
- Daiba Datta
- Mr. K
- Die Die Gang
- Diana
- Mitchy
- Cathy
- Die Die Gang Fighter Plane Squadron
- Witch Iguana
- Ichiro Yamato
- Fudora
- Garuma
- Herodenia III
- Hedoron
- Icelee
- Geno-Bat
- L-Banda
- Ghost Cat
- Malinda
- Norma
- Mogurard
- Olga
- D.A.C.
- Pagora
- Lolita
- Dakkaa Air Force
- Doctor Borg
- God Iguana
- Bat Sister
- Mummy Sister
- "Master Sorcerer Death's Head Man"
- Mantis Man
Trivia
- Warrior of Love Rainbowman was the first Japanese superhero series to be aired in Hawaii.[1]
- Episode 15 of Warrior of Love Rainbowman was release theatrically on July 28, 1973 as part of the Toho Champion Festival, alongside Son of Godzilla, episode 1 of Ultraman Taro, episode 22 of Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, episode 8 of Toy Shop Ken-chan, and episode 3 of Fables of the Green Forest.[2] It was the first of two Toho series to be given a theatrical run, followed by Flying Saucer War Bankid in 1977.
- Despite popular belief, Warrior of Love Rainbowman aired just one day after Go! Godman began airing therefore making it Toho's second kaiju series rather than the first.
- This series is considered to be a bit controversial, as it portrays elements of racism between the Americans and Japanese. Another is the fact that the some of the enemies are alluded to be WWII veterans of the Allied forces suffering from what can only be described as PTSD induced insanity. The last controversy is that the show is criticized by some as a platform of creator Kōhan Kawauchi's nationalistic views of Japan.
- Manga writer and creator Go Nagai has stated that this TV series inspired him to create the super heroine Cutie Honey.[3]
- A 1982 anime remake of the series was made by Tsuchida Production for MBS. Instead of being a Superhero show, it focused mainly on Giant Robots. Takeshi Yamato could still transform into the seven redesigned dashes of Rainbowman, but could also access an eighth form: that of a giant robot named Rainbow Seven. Another notable element of the anime was that the WWII references of the original show were removed, as Japan and America were on friendlier terms during the 1980s and thus bringing up such things would have likely offended both nations.
Notes
- ↑ Released theatrically as Rainbowman: The Professional Killer on July 1, 1973.
References
This is a list of references for Warrior of Love Rainbowman (1972 series). These citations are used to identify the reliable sources on which this article is based. These references appear inside articles in the form of superscript numbers, which look like this: [1]
|
|
Comments
Showing 3 comments. When commenting, please remain respectful of other users, stay on topic, and avoid role-playing and excessive punctuation. Comments which violate these guidelines may be removed by administrators.
<comments voting="Plus" />