Astro Fighter Sunred is a Japanese manga created by Makoto Kubota. It started serialization on Square Enix's seinen manga magazine Young Gangan from August 25, 2005 to December 19, 2014. An anime adaptation produced by AIC A.S.T.A. aired from October 3, 2008 to March 27, 2009 in Japan. The second season of the anime started airing on October 3, 2009. Each manga chapter and anime episode is referred to as a FIGHT. On October 26, 2018, it was announced that Makoto Kubota was working on a new Astro Fighter Sunred work and he plans to self-publish it.
Plot
Astro Fighter Sunred is a parody of the Sentai superhero genre, most notably of the Super Sentai Series. The story revolves around the Tama River area, based mostly in Kawasaki CityKanagawa where battles are fought between the evil organisation Florsheim and the ally of justice Sunred. The twist is that Sunred is a rough-talking, violent and rude hero while the villains of Florsheim are for the most part polite, conscientious and easy-going. Despite this, both sides still stay true to their roles, with Florsheim dedicated to destroying Sunred and taking over the world while Sunred battles against them. Other evil organisations and heroes are also mentioned from time to time. Each episode is divided into various shorts of varying length. Most of the humour comes from the interactions of the characters, especially the main trio of Sunred, his girlfriend Kayoko and General Vamp. Kayoko and Vamp, for example, get along very well and she occasionally consults him about housework or cooking. In contrast, she and Sunred often argue like a long married couple.
Characters
Main characters
;Sunred ;Kayoko Uchida
Florsheim
The Florsheim Kawasaki Branch are the general antagonists of the series. ;General Vamp ;Combat Goons 1 and 2: ;Monsters ; Animal Soldiers: Living stuffed toys usually lying around when not sent after Sunred. Although they are some of Florsheim's top agents, their small size and cuteness often gets in the way of their intentions.
Other Florsheim members
;King Florsheim: ;Tokyo Branch ;Shizuoka Sub-Branch ;Godom and Sodorrah:
;Armor Tiger's Next Door Neighbor: ;Mrs. Morisue: ;Pudding Empire
Climate Squadron Weather Three
It is revealed that Sunred was once part of a Sentai team called Climate Squadron Weather Three in which he was known as Weather Red. After he became the solo hero Sunred, his teammates went on to find new jobs. ;Weather Blue ;Weather Yellow ;Pelial Even in their "Theme Song" which played in the flashback, that the Weather Three team was a parody of one specific super Sentai team, Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan.
Media
Manga
Astro Fighter Sunred began as a manga series written and drawn by Makoto Kubota and began its serialization in Young Gangan. Twenty volumes have been published by Flex Comix in Japan, and by Tong Li Comics in Taiwan.
