#tirema

I only just learned this week that former Godzilla suit actor, the late, great Kenpachiro Satsuma, was the suit actor for Thunder Mask, my favorite obscure Kyodai Hero.

(I’m gonna re-blog this with some important corrections at the end.)

Just some photos and such about one of my favorite obscure tokusatsu heroes: Thunder Mask!

First of all, the godfather of manga, Osamu Tezuka, was involved in Thunder Mask’s creation.   I’ve read/seen/heard so many conflicting versions of the history of this character, but Tezuka-san either a) created Thunder Mask for a manga, which was then adapted for the television show; or b) created a manga adaptation of the show.

Thunder Mask about to whomp the tar out of the devil beast, Tirema!

I think Tezuka-san created Thunder Mask, and it was adapted for television afterward.  The first episode of the TV show aired a week before the first manga story appeared, which may lead some people to think that Tezuka-san was adapting the show.

One reason I think the manga version is the original is that Tezuka-san himself is very much a character in the story.  He is a mangaka who stumbles upon a situation involving space aliens, giant monsters, and a superhero.  There is even an episode of the TV show (I forget which one) involving a mangaka, who is obviously supposed to be Tezuka-san - right down to the glasses and signature beret - who gets story ideas and notes from the main villain.

Another reason I believe that the manga is not an adaptation of the television show is that the stories, especially the origin of the hero, are very, very different.

Album cover for the Thunder Mask TV show opening theme.  Thunder Mask is battling Devil Dekander on the cover.

In the manga, teenager Koichi Inochi’s girlfriend, Mayumi, is possessed by an evil, gaseous Decander, an alien from outer space.  The Decander race plan to conquer Earth, and possessing Mayumi is just the first step.  Koichi wants to save Mayumi and Earth.  He is unable to do so until he, too, is possessed by another gaseous alien, the heroic Thundar, who enables Koichi to become the superhero Thunder Mask.

In the television show, the Thunder Stars Commonwealth learns of Devil Dekander’s plan to conquer Earth.  They send a warrior, Thunder Mask, to protect Earth, but he arrives 10,000 years too early (this could only happen on a took show, folks).  Then, Thunder Mask takes a page out of Golden Bat’s book: Thunder Mask buries himself in a space coffin, goes into hibernation, and leaves clues so that he can be revived when he’s needed.

Thunder Mask decking Devil Dekander on the back cover of the Thunder Mask TV theme album.  I imagine the flip-side of the album was the TV show’s closing theme.

Thunder Mask then creates a secret identity of Koichi Inochi, an adult male.  The show very much follows the formula of an Ultraman series: Koichi befriends (although never quite joins) a Science Patrol-type monster fighting organization that is inept beyond belief, and fights the monster-of-the-week.  Thunder Mask has a number of specialty attacks as well as being able to grow to kaiju size.

Of course, the no one ever suspects that Koichi is really Thunder Mask, even though he drives around in a flying red car that is more advanced than any technology available on Earth.

The manga also has a doomed romance between Koichi and Mayumi that sets it apart from the television show, where there is not even a whiff of romance.

Thunder Mask lands a thunderous (see what I did there?) upper cut to the devil beast Megatron.  Yes, that’s really his name!

If Tezuka-san was really creating a manga adaptation of the show, I believe the hero’s origin and story would have hewn much closer to the TV version.  Instead, it seems that the TV show producers took Tezuka-san’s concept and changed it to be like every other tokusatsu superhero show.

Thunder Mask still beating the stuffing out of Tirema!

The Thunder Mask television series consisted of 26 episodes which aired on Japan’s NTV from October 1972 to March 1973.  It was a joint production of Hiromi Production and Toyo Agency. 

It should be noted that Hiromi Production was formed by several staffers from Tezuka-san’s own Mushi Production.  Some sources state that Mushi Production was developing a tokusatsu show featuring Tezuka-san’s Majin Garon character.  Those plans fell through when it became apparent Mushi Production was failing; the company went out of business in 1973.  The staffers who formed Hiromi Production then took their plans for a Majin Garon show and changed it to Thunder Mask.

Thunder Mask vs Thinnerman, a devil beast who literally sucks juice out of the brains people high on paint thinner fumes.  Sadly, that was an actual problem back in the early 1970s (people getting high on fumes, not monsters sucking brain juice).

Tokusatsu director supreme, Ishiro Honda (Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Destroy All Monsters, and many, many more!), directed some of the episodes of the series, although I don’t know which ones.  Of the 26 episodes that were made, only 8 can be viewed today (episodes 1,3,6,7,12,13,19,and 26).  All are available on YouTube.

Thunder Mask can’t seem to get enough of punching Devil Dekander!

Be warned, though: the video and audio quality of those episodes is beyond dreadful.  The YouTube videos are from videotapes made by someone who taped the show when it was briefly broadcast in the US.  Sadly for us completists, no one was able (or had the foresight) to videotape the entire series.

Thunder Mask faces Mothman Parajudon!

The series has never been made available for home video release on any format.  This is not, as most sources would have you believe, because Tezuka-san hated the television series and demanded that all film of the episodes be destroyed.

"Good Lord, man!  Use some Old Spice or something!” scream Tirema and Devil Dekander.

Actually, the real reason (though not as juicy) is that there was a legal dispute between the two production companies.  One company locked all the episodes in their vault, like a kid having a tantrum and taking all their toys home.  Those episodes are still locked away to this day, although the company (I think it is Toyo Agency, which is now known as Sotsu Co. Ltd.) always changes their story as to why they won’t release the episodes.  Sometimes they say they only have the negatives, sometimes they say the film has deteriorated, and sometimes they deny that they have the episodes at all.

“Boot to the eye!” Thunder Mask yells at Genshiron.

While I sure would love to see the TV series in its entirety, prefereably with video quality that doesn’t threaten my eyesight and sanity, I don’t see it happening.  Despite being directed (at least for some episodes) by Honda-san, the episodes (at least the eight that I’ve seen) are marred by poor scripts, cardboard characters, editing that is absolute rubbish, and terrible special effects.  In short, it’s not a good show.   I don’t see there ever being any fan demand for it to be released for home viewing.

Thunder Mask and Girigorin prepare for a make out session.

What might be a better idea is to remake the show, only this time using good scripts, acting, and special effects.  I’d even go one step further to make it stand out from other tokusatsu shows and use Tezuka-san’s original story with the alien-possession and doomed romance elements. 

Thunder Mask gets his groove on with Dorodoron

Filmmakers are always trying to remake good movies and TV shows, and the results are usually not as good as the originals.  It would be a safer bet to tackle a bad show; unless you’re hopelessly inept, you couldn’t help but make it better.

Thunder Mask and the devil beast Dorilling

I do like Thunder Mask’s costume.  It’s one I’m planning to cosplay sometime soon.  I want to modify the mask to be like the manga version, so I’m actually looking through the eye lenses.  We’ll see how that works out; helmets and masks are not my strong point.

Devil beast Gusting gets socked at sundown!

And dat’s all I got to say about this guy.

ADDENDUM:

Apparently, that’s not all that I’ve got to say about this guy.

Thanks to @radmoonlover​, who has provided information much more reliable than 99% of the the other information on the Interwebs about Thunder Mask, I have learned that my Osamu Tezuka theory is COMPLETELY WRONG!

There are written interviews with Tezuka-san where he definitively states that he was approached to draw the manga adaptation of Thunder Mask after the show was created and filmed.

Be that as it may, he certainly put his own very unique spin on the manga.

There is also information that points to Tohl Narita, the designer of Ultraman and Ultraseven, being approached by Hiromi Productions to design Thunder Mask.  Narita-san designed a character, which at the time named “Greenman” (but not the same character as Tsuburaya Productions’ Greenman).