Iron King
Encyclopedia
is a tokusatsu
superhero
TV series
about a giant cyborg
. The series was produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha
(now Senko Planning), and aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System
from October 8, 1972 to April 8, 1973, with a total of 26 episodes.
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
). 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
version of a singing cowboy
, to stop their plans with the assistance of comical, mountaineering
-clad Goro Kirishima (Mitsuo Hamada). In an unusual direction for such tokusatsu
(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
-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
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
-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
-like kaiju
.
From the nineteenth episode to the end of the series Gentaro and Goro battle V For Vendetta
-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
-like monster forms.
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
re-released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.
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 ClanShiranui
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 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
- Watch Iron King at DramaFever