Warrior of Love,Rainbowman | |
---|---|
Format | Tokusatsu, Science fiction, action |
Created by | Toho Company Ltd. |
Starring | Kunihisa Mizutani Eriko Ishigawa Akihiko Hirata |
Country of origin | Japan |
No. of episodes | 52 |
Production | |
Running time | 24 minutes (per episode) |
Broadcast | |
Original channel | NET (now TV Asahi) |
Original run | 6 October 1972 – 18 September 1973 |
Rainbowman (レインボーマン Reinbōman?) is the name and titular superhero of the tokusatsu TV series sometimes known as Warrior of Love Rainbowman (愛の戦士レインボーマン Ai no Senshi Reinbōman?). Created by Kōhan Kawauchi, this was the first superhero TV series produced by Toho Company Ltd., and was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) from October 6, 1972 to September 18, 1973, with a total of 52 episodes. Mitsuru Adachi wrote a manga series based on the show which was serialized in TV Magazine Otomodachi from 1972 to 1973.
Just like Kawauchi's earlier 7-Color Mask (1959), this series has a superhero with 7 different identities, but with a major differences: 7-Color Mask's separate identities were more like human disguises, whereas Takeshi Yamato, the Rainbowman, transformed into 7 different superhero forms (called "Dashes"). Dash 1 is moon, Dash 2 is fire, Dash 3 is water, Dash 4 is wood, Dash 5 is gold, Dash 6 is earth, and the main Dash, 7, is the sun; These represent the days of the week in Japan, from Monday to Sunday, respectively (rather than colors as the name would imply). Both this series and 7-Color Mask are said to be Go Nagai's inspiration behind his popular creation, Cutey Honey.
In 1982, a 22-episode anime remake of this series was produced. However, despite the updated version of the original theme song, it was very loosely based on this show (A young man commands 7 giant robots, and teleport into/activate a larger giant robot).
Rainbowman was a proposed name for Capcom's Mega Man early in development. This was to be a reference to the character's ability to take on the abilities (and color schemes) of his defeated enemies.[citation needed] A minor recurring character in the Mega Man Battle Network anime series, ShiningMan, is based on Rainbowman's Dash 7 form - even having the Rainbowman theme song play during his appearances (he does not appear in the video games).
Cast[]
- Takeshi Yamato / Rainbowman (大和 タケシ / レインボーマン Yamato Takeshi / Reinbōman?): Kunihisa Mizutani (水谷 邦久 Mizutani Kunihisa?)
- Devadatta: Shōbun Inoue (井上 昭文 Inoue Shōbun?)
- Tami Yamato (大和 たみ Yamato Tami?): Kakuko Motoyama (本山 可久子 Motoyama Kakuko?)
- Mizuki Yamato (大和 みゆき Yamato Mizuki?): Eriko Ishigawa (石川 えり子 Ishigawa Eriko?)
- Ichirō Yamato (大和 一郎 Yamato Ichirō?): Hiroshi Koizumi (小泉 汪 (as 小泉 博) Koizumi Hiroshi?)
- Hisasō Yamato (大和 久蔵 Yamato Hisasō?): Junji Masuda (増田 順司 Masuda Junji?)
- Akiko Yamato (大和 秋子 Yamato Akiko?): Reiko Mutō
- Toshie (淑江 Toshie?): Megumi Itō (伊藤 めぐみ Itō Megumi?)
- Mr. K (ミスターK Misutā Kei?): Akihiko Hirata
- God Iguana (神イグアナ Godo Iguana?): Machiko Soga
Theme songs[]
Opening song: Go Rainbowman
- Lyrics: Kawauchi Kohan
- Composition: Jun Kitahara
- Singer: Yu Mizushima (as Kenji Yasunaga)
Ending Songs: Theme of Yamato Takeshi
- Lyrics: Kawauchi Kohan
- Composition: Jun Kitahara
- Singer: Yu Mizushima
That Man's Name is Rainbowman"
- Lyrics: Kawauchi Kohan
- Composition: Jun Kitahara
- Singers: Cat's Eye and Young Fresh
External links[]
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