Iron King
Encyclopedia
is a tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....

superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 TV series
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...

 about a giant cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...

. The series was produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha
Senkosha Productions
Senkosha Productions was the television production arm of the large Japanese advertising agency the Senkosha Company. The Tokyo-based Senkosha Company still exists, though it has long since closed its television division, now known as Senko Kikaku...

 (now Senko Planning), and aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

 from October 8, 1972 to April 8, 1973, with a total of 26 episodes.

Plot description

The Shiranui Clan
Shiranui
Shiranui is a Japanese term given to the optical or supernatural phenomenon similar to will-o'-the-wisp. It has also a name associated with:-People:*Shiranui Dakuemon , the 8th Yokozuna sumo wrestlers...

have planned for 2000 years to conquer Japan in retaliation for their nomadic ancestors being banished from the country by the Yamato Clan (who eventually became known as the Japanese people
Japanese people
The are an ethnic group originating in the Japanese archipelago and are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries...

). Each armored ninja-like member of the clan controls a gigantic robot warrior in order to overthrow the "Yamato Government," as they call it.

In response to this terrorist threat, Japan's National Security Organization send agent Gentaro Shizuka (pop star Shoji Ishibashi), disguised as what can best described as a Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...

 version of a singing cowboy
Singing cowboy
A singing cowboy was a subtype of the archetypal cowboy hero of early Western films, popularized by many of the B-movies of the 1930s and 1940s...

, to stop their plans with the assistance of comical, mountaineering
Mountaineering
Mountaineering or mountain climbing is the sport, hobby or profession of hiking, skiing, and climbing mountains. While mountaineering began as attempts to reach the highest point of unclimbed mountains it has branched into specialisations that address different aspects of the mountain and consists...

-clad Goro Kirishima (Mitsuo Hamada). In an unusual direction for such tokusatsu
Tokusatsu
is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....

(visual effects) programs, it is not the heroic but often surprisingly ruthless Gentaro but the bumbling, bespectacled Goro who has the power to become the giant cybernetic superhero Iron King by touching the medals on the sides of his funny red Turning Hat and shouting "Iron Shock!" when danger threatens.

However, often Iron King is unable to defeat the clan's giant robots without help from Gentaro, who wields a weapon called the Iron Belt that can become a slender rapier
Rapier
A rapier is a slender, sharply pointed sword, ideally used for thrusting attacks, used mainly in Early Modern Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries.-Description:...

-like sword or an infinitely extendable metal whip capable of hurting giant monsters. In addition, transforming into the hydrogen oxide-powered Iron King quickly dehydrates
Dehydration
In physiology and medicine, dehydration is defined as the excessive loss of body fluid. It is literally the removal of water from an object; however, in physiological terms, it entails a deficiency of fluid within an organism...

 Goro, and he can only remain as Iron King for a short period of time. Strangely, although Gentaro knows Iron King's time limit comes from using up his water supply he never manages to connect it with Goro's omnipresent thirst until the final episode.

In the tenth episode the Shiranui Clan is destroyed but their place is taken by the skull-symboled keffiyeh
Keffiyeh
The keffiyeh/kufiya , also known as a ghutrah , ' , mashadah , shemagh or in Persian chafiye , Kurdish cemedanî and Turkish puşi, is a traditional Arab headdress fashioned from a square, usually cotton, scarf. It is typically worn by Arab men, as well as some Kurds...

-clad Phantom Militia (A/K/A the Phantom Opposition Party) who also use giant robots to enact their revolution against the Japanese government, although rather than being humanoid in shape their's take the form of dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

-like kaiju
Kaiju
is a Japanese word that means "strange beast," but often translated in English as "monster". Specifically, it is used to refer to a genre of tokusatsu entertainment....

.

From the nineteenth episode to the end of the series Gentaro and Goro battle V For Vendetta
V for Vendetta
V for Vendetta is a ten-issue comic book series written by Alan Moore and illustrated mostly by David Lloyd, set in a dystopian future United Kingdom imagined from the 1980s to about the 1990s. A mysterious masked revolutionary who calls himself "V" works to destroy the totalitarian government,...

-like black cloak and Puritan hat-clad white-masked aliens called Titanians who have various inhuman powers such as flight, body-possessing mind control and the ability to enlarge themselves to giant size. Upon doing the latter they are then able to assume insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...

-like monster forms.

Episode list

# Title Guest cast Director First aired
1. Secret Messenger of the Morning Wind
Shinzo Hotta
Kiro Abe
Fudeko Tanaka
Kinji Takinami
Hiroshi Ikaida
Shozo Tamura 1972-10-08
2. The Swan in the Ruins
Shinzo Hotta
Hiroshi Ikaida
Shozo Tamura 1972-10-15
3. The Warrior's Smile
Shinzo Hotta
Hiroshi Ikaida
Shozo Tamura 1972-10-22
4. Gentaro Travels Alone
Shinzo Hotta
Yosuke Akimoto
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1972-10-29
5. The Duel in the Autumn Wind
Shinzo Hotta
Shogo Hanagi
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1972-11-05
6. Lullaby for a Warrior
Shinzo Hotta
Seishiro Kuno
Masayuki Tobuyo
Shozo Tamura 1972-11-12
7. Those That Fly the Skies
Shinzo Hotta
Kaori Seki
Hisashi Kato
Shozo Tamura 1972-11-19
8. The Shadow Area
Shinzo Hotta
Mitsuko Hoshi
Yoshinori Furukawa
Shinobu Miura
Noriaki Yuasa
Noriaki Yuasa
was a Japanese director, most notable for his involvement in the Gamera film series. Yuasa was a special guest at G-Fest in 1999, 2000, and 2003, and was the recipient of the Mangled Skyscraper Award at the latter. He died on June 14, 2004 after suffering a stroke.-Directing Credits:* Shiawasa nara...

1972-11-26
9. Gentaro in a Close Shave
Shinzo Hotta
Yuki Ikazaki
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1972-12-03
10. A Kiss for the Dead
Katsumi Muramatsu
Shima Mizue
Kiyoshi Tokugawa
Gin Minemura
Hiroshi Fukuhara 1972-12-10
11. Tokyo Is Burning
Katsumi Muramatsu
Kiyoshi Tokugawa
Gin Minemura
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1972-12-17
12. State of Emergency in Tokyo
Katsumi Muramatsu
Teresa Noda
Junko Natsu
Wataru Mitsui
Ikuo Kosaka
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1972-12-24
13. Attacking the Underground Fortress
Katsumi Muramatsu
Junko Natsu
Wataru Mitsui
Isamu Matsuzawa
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1972-12-31
14. Secret of the Brainwave Robot
Katsumi Muramatsu
Hijiri Matsuki
Teppei Takasugi
Kazuo Arai
Hiromu Edagawa 1973-01-14
15. Marathon Monster Capri-Gon
Katsumi Muramatsu
Masahiro Takashina
Harue Kyo
Hiromu Edagawa 1973-01-21
16. Destroy Tora-Girasu!
Katsumi Muramatsu
Yumi Mizusawa
Hiromu Edagawa 1973-01-28
17. The Order to Assassinate Iron King
Katsumi Muramatsu
Chidori Tashiro
Koetsu Omiya
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1973-02-04
18. Monster Robot Annihilation
Katsumi Muramatsu
Eiko Ogawa
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1973-02-11
19. The Giant Bug Kabutoron Appears
Chiaki Ukyo
Hajime Izu
Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-02-18
20. The Titanians Strike Back
Chiaki Ukyo Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-02-25
21. Kama Guras Wants Lethal Gas!
Chiaki Ukyo
Mari Sakurai
Tetsuya Sano
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1973-03-04
22. Terrifying Titanian Underworld
Chiaki Ukyo
Fumio Ikeda
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1973-03-11
23. The Insect Humanoid Masquerades as a Woman
Chiaki Ukyo
Ryoko Sakaguchi
Hideo Saito
Shozo Tamura 1973-03-18
24. Tokyo Assault Frontline Base
Chiaki Ukyo
Yoku Shioya
Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-03-25
25. Iron King in a Panic!
Chiaki Ukyo Tetsuro Sotoyama 1973-04-01
26. The Great Tokyo War
Chiaki Ukyo
Hajime Izu
Tetsuro Sotoyama 1973-04-08

DVD releases

On November 6, 2007, BCI Eclipse released the complete series on DVD in Region 1. As of 2009, this release is now out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.

On March 9, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment
Mill Creek Entertainment is a home entertainment company that manufactures movie and television DVD compilation box sets at "value" prices. Nashville's Amity Entertainment is an affiliate to Mill Creek...

re-released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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