"Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!"
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"Destroy the Terror-Beast Missile!" (恐獣ミサイル爆破せよ！ Kyōjū Misairu Bakuhase-yo!) is the first episode of Zone Fighter. Written and directed by Jun Fukuda with special effects by Teruyoshi Nakano, it aired on April 2, 1973.
Plot
Within the recesses of space, two planets orbit near each other, Planet Peaceland and Planet Garoga. However, conflict would soon arise from Planet Garoga's ambitions for conquest, destroying any semblance of tranquility on Peaceland. War broke out between the two planets, ending in Peaceland's destruction from one of the many missiles fired at the planet by the Garogas. The surviving Peacelandians boarded Pandora Capsules and traveled to a peaceful planet to now inhabit with the goal of becoming "Meteor Men". The Garogas quickly set sights on Earth as their next target and built the Garoga Space Station within the planet's orbit in order to better fire Terror-Beast Missiles at it. However, one Pandora Capsule made its way towards Earth, containing the Zone Family, who made it their life goal to protect the Earth from the Garoga and save their new home while simultaneously living in secret amongst humanity.
One day, the eldest son of the Zone Family, Hikaru Sakimori, notices a strange red capsule falling from the sky while driving in his car, swerving out of its way after it almost hits him. The capsule eventually impacts a distance away, with three Garogas emerging from the wreckage. The gold alien reiterates orders from their leader to destroy the Zone Family to his silver subordinates. At home, Hikaru's father Yoichiro tells his father Raita about the red capsule Hikaru saw earlier that day, both concurring that the Garogas must have found them. Hikaru questions what the two men are talking about before Raita explains to Hikaru and his siblings, Hotaru and Akira, that the capsule belonged to the Garoga bent on conquering inhabited planets and taking control of the cosmos as a whole. He adds that their home planet, Peaceland, was only their first target. Unwilling to give up the new lives they've created on Earth, Hikaru and his siblings eagerly prepare to defend it from the Garoga. Walking in on the conversation, their mother Tsukiko exclaims that since only their family knows about the Garoga, they will likely strike against them first before making any moves on the Earth. She tells her children to not alarm the human public and to keep the capsule Hikaru saw a secret.
The next day, Hikaru drives to the crash site while the rest of his family stay behind at home at the Sakimori Toy Laboratory. When Akira and Hotaru leave for the day, they suddenly meet up with Akira's friend Junichi. They decide to bring him along on their trip to Summer Land after he tells them his parents are both out for the day. While at the theme park, Hotaru spots a security guard with webbed fingers, a telltale sign of a disguised Garoga. While inside, Hotaru alerts Akira about the disguised Garoga before concluding that they cannot allow Junichi to know about the dangers nearby. After leaving the theme park and getting into a taxi, Hotaru tells the driver to take them to Utsukushigaoka. Having finally reached the crash site, Hikaru exits his car and observes the wreckage, before being knocked unconscious from behind and stuffed into a Garoga Car. While in the taxi, Hotaru notices that their driver is not headed towards Utsukushigaoka and glances towards his hands, discovering they are webbed and that they have been taken by a disguised Garoga. Back at the Zone Family household, Junichi's mother sits with the Sakimoris waiting for them to return, only to receive a phone call from the security guard Garoga, who convinces them that all three were involved in a traffic accident. The security guard then offers a car to pick them up so that they can see their children. Regaining consciousness within the trunk of the Garoga Car, Hikaru manages to reach his Zobot and records a message into it before leaving it on the ground to fly off toward the Zone household after being removed from the trunk and led into the Garogas' hideout.
At the Zone household, Hikaru's Zobot finally arrives and slides down a tube in the basement, which acts as their center of operations in stopping Garoga activity. Grabbing the Zobot, Yoichiro plays the message, in which Hikaru warns that his capture is most likely for a trap, and for them to be ready for anything. Yoichiro and Raita deduce that the phone call from earlier in the day was likely part of the same trap. From the Garoga Space Station orbiting Earth, the Baron Garoga is pleased at his underlings' success and instructs them to kill the Zone Family as soon as possible, regarding them as the only thing standing in their way of conquest. As a precaution, he dispatches a Terror-Beast Missile from the station containing the robot Jikiro to aid them. The rest of the Zone Family and Junichi's mother are held at gunpoint by the taxi driver Garoga at the base and forced inside to join their families. The leading Garoga then brings out Hotaru, Akira, and Junichi, having them walk over to their families before the security guard Garoga brings over Hikaru. Junichi's mother attempts to bargain for her and her son's life, claiming they have no ties to the Zone Family, with the security guard Garoga firing at her after growing impatient. Before they can be executed, Hikaru, Hotaru, and Akira transform into Zone Fighter, Zone Angel, and Zone Junior. In their transformed states, they are unharmed by the aliens' machine guns and begin to advance towards the trio of Garogas. However, the Garogas soon transform back into their true forms before engaging in hand-to-hand combat with the Zone siblings. As everyone else escapes, the siblings manage to defeat the Garogas.
The Gold Garoga commander and his two Silver Garoga grunts declare their dedication to their race before fusing together, creating Red Spark. Upon becoming a Terror-Beast, Red Spark broke free from the hideout, kicking away at the debris in his wake. As the two began their fight, Jikiro's Terror-Beast Missile flew overhead; Yoichiro and Tsukiko noticed it while fleeing in a car. Wasting little time, Hikaru Sakimori transforms into his giant state and knocks the creature over with a Meteor Kick. Red Spark unleashes a stream of sparks from his hands and waves them around wildly. Zone Fighter cautiously backs away and covers his face, then pushes forward and tackles Red Spark to the ground, with the Terror-Beast breaking off the spark attack as he regains his footing. Red Spark gains the upper hand on Zone Fighter despite continued strikes, overpowering him with blows from his barbed hands and catching and slamming the hero into the ground. While watching their older brother fight the giant monster, Hotaru launches a Zobot and sends it towards their household for their grandfather to hear, just in case. Red Spark then slowly approaches the downed hero, eyes glowing, before bombarding him with shells from his chest cannon, causing fire to cling to the hero's body. Zone Fighter summons his Meteor Gauntlets and initiates his Meteor Missile Might attack. Missiles pelt Red Spark's body and lights flicker across it before he explodes, ending the life of the first Terror-Beast.
Unfortunately, the fight with Red Spark results in some of Zone Fighter's energy draining, causing his Zone Meter to change from blue to yellow. Jikiro's Terror-Beast Missle arrives, releasing his capsule and exploding in the air, with Jikiro parachuting down. After landing, Jikiro roars wildly while slowly advancing towards the hero. Unwilling to wait any longer, Zone Fighter charges towards Jikiro, only to be floored by the mecha's Magnetic Ray. Jikiro uses his magnetism to pull over an oil tank and radio tower before igniting them with his Magnetic Ray. Jikiro then repeatedly uses his magnetism powers to draw Zone Fighter close to him, battering him to the ground each time. During the battle, Jikiro notices a Boeing 747 flying by, and with Zone Fighter injured and low on energy, magnetically draws it closer to him. However, Zone Fighter stops Jikiro just in time, knocking the mecha to the ground and safely catching and launching the plane back into the air. This bold action causes Zone Fighter's Zone Meter to turn red, indicating that he only has 110 seconds left to fight Jikiro before being forcibly shrunk back down. Zone Angel and Zone Junior come to his aid, summoning the hidden aircraft Smokey and boarding it through Sky Jump. Meanwhile, Jikiro continues to toss around Zone Fighter with his magnetism, before Zone Great intervenes and severs the machine's left hand with Bolt Thunder. With Jikiro on the ground in pain, Angel and Junior fly Smokey close to Zone Fighter in order to recharge his energy via Zone Marker Change. Thus invigorated, Zone Fighter delivers a thorough pummeling to the Garogan mecha. He then summons his Meteor Gauntlets and cuts off Jikiro's tail with one volley of his Meteor Missile Might attack. Jikiro's tail flies off his body and lands in Zone Fighter's hands. The hero tosses it back at the mecha, who has turned around, attempting to run away, before firing a second volley which explodes Jikiro into pieces.
With the Garogas plan thwarted and the Terror-Beasts taken care of, the Zone Family returns home, with Junichi's mother apologizing for how readily she tried to spare her and her son's life over theirs. Junichi's father, who had been gone all day, also apologizes on his wife's behalf and claims that they were forced to reflect on their actions, with their goal being to be a more attentive and caring family like the Sakimoris.
Cast
Actor's name on the left, character played on the right.
- Kazuya Aoyama as Hikaru Sakimori / Zone Fighter
- Kazumi Kitahara as Hotaru Sakimori / Zone Angel
- Kenji Sato as Akira Sakimori / Zone Junior
- Shoji Nakayama as Yoichiro Sakimori / Zone Father
- Sachiko Kozuki as Tsukiko Sakimori / Zone Mother
- Shiro Amakusa as Raita Sakimori / Zone Great
- Masaaki Oyama as Junichi
- Sachiko Mohri as Junichi's mother
- Eizaburo Komatsu as Junichi's father
- Munemaru Koda as Baron Garoga
- Yurio Araki, Ohmae Wataru, Yenji Temple as Garogas
- Isao Zushi as Terror-Beasts
- Tatsumi Nikamoto as Zone Fighter (human-sized transformation)
- Mamoru Kusumi as Zone Fighter (giant)
- Kiyoshi Kobayashi as narrator
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