Giant Robo (TV series)


Giant Robo, also known as Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot in the United States, is a manga and tokusatsu series created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. It is similar to Yokoyama's Tetsujin 28-go, but Giant Robo has more elements of fantasy. The original 26-episode tokusatsu TV series, produced by Toei Company, aired on NET from October 11, 1967 to April 1, 1968.

Plot

Earth is invaded by an interstellar terrorist group, Big Fire, led by Emperor Guillotine. Guillotine spends most of his time in a multicolored space ship hidden at the bottom of Earth's ocean, from which he issues his orders.
The group has been capturing scientists to create an army of monsters to help them conquer Earth. A boy named Daisaku Kusama and a young man named Jūrō Minami are shipwrecked on an island after their ship is attacked by the sea monster Dakolar and captured by Big Fire. They end up in an elevator leading to a complex where a Pharaoh-like giant robot is being built by captive scientist Lucius Guardian, who gives Daisaku and Jūrō its control device. Guardian helps them escape before he is shot to death; before he dies, he triggers an atomic bomb which destroys the base. The explosion activates the robot, which now obeys only Daisaku. The boy is invited by Jūrō and his chief, Azuma, to join Unicorn and fight Big Fire with Giant Robo.

Cast

The Gargoyle Gang

In the American version of the series, the Gargoyle Gang is an ambitious, but incompetent, terrorist group with a high mortality rate. They wear a combination of Soviet and Wehrmacht military uniforms, Central American guerrilla clothing and Italian designer sunglasses. The members of the gang all have explosive devices implanted in their bodies that are to be detonated instantly if they are captured.

Monsters

In each episode, the Gargoyle Gang sends a monster to attack its enemies :
Guillotine is a blue-skinned alien who has tentacles extending from the bottom of his head. He wears a long robe, carries a staff with a white orb at one end and can grow to a great height, which he does only in the final episode of the series.
Guillotine leaves day-to-day matters in the hands of various commanders :
Giant Robo has a number of weapons, including finger missiles, a back missile, a bazooka cannon, radion eye beams, a flying-V missile, a flamethrower and electric wires.

Alternate versions

The English-dubbed American version of the series was developed by Reuben Guberman for American television, was produced by American International Television. It was first broadcast in the United States in 1969 by AIP-TV, peaked in distribution from 1971 to 1974 and was in syndication through the early 1980s. Giant Robo was broadcast in India from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s. It also aired during the early 1970s in Australia, Brazil and various parts of Southeast Asia and Latin America.
In 1970, stock footage from episodes 1, 2, 10, 17 and 26 was edited together and released by AIP-TV as a 100-minute made-for-TV film called Voyage into Space. A 10-minute highlight version of Voyage into Space was created for the Super 8 home-movie market during the early 1970s by Ken Films.

Home media releases

released the series on LaserDisc in Japan during the 1990s. It is also available on DVD. In 1996, the series was re-released through distribution by Orion Home Video, containing eight episodes on four volumes. On March 26, 2013, Shout! Factory released the 26-episode, four-disc Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot: The Complete Series on DVD in Region 1.

Violence concerns

Although the series was violent by 1960s American standards for children's programming, in Japan it was no more violent than other tokusatsu TV series airing at the time. Gunfights are a staple of each episode and the show's two child leads were frequently seen shooting with the other Unicorn agents. In one episode, Johnny and Mari are captured and tied to trees by Gargoyle and are within seconds of being executed by a firing squad when they are rescued by Unicorn agents. Nearly every Japanese anime exported to the United States during that period was edited for violence, but in Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot, only a minimum of violence was removed. In addition to dubbing American voice actors for the American version, many of the show's sound effects were remixed or re-recorded.

Episodes

The following episode titles were transcribed from the on-screen title cards of the American version. They are in their original Japanese and American broadcast order, verified by previews for the next episode at the end of each one:
NºTitleDirected by:Written by:Air date

Related series

'' and directed by Masahiko Murata. At the dawn of the 21st century, Earth is overrun by giant robots. Daisaku Kusama encounters the titular Robo in a ruin in Okinawa. Beckoned by forces he cannot understand, Daisaku is made to bond, body and spirit, with the ancient weapon and defend his homeland from the incoming evil.

In popular culture

, a Johnny Sokko fan as a child, describes several episodes of the show in his book Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White.
Guitarist Buckethead named his early band and second studio album after the series, including several references to characters and events from the series in his music.
Punk band The Vandals recorded "Big Bro vs. Johnny Sako" on their 1984 album When in Rome Do as The Vandals.
The indie band Johnny Socko took their name from the TV show.
Giant Robo makes an unauthorized appearance in the 1987 Arcade Game Ginga Ninkyouden as a boss character named G Robo, who suffers from nosebleeding when he is defeated.
Giant Robo makes a background cameo in the South Park episode, Imaginationland Episode III and in the 1991 OVA Otaku no Video.
The show's now-famous ending has been paid tribute to in several other mecha series, including Daitetsujin 17 and The Iron Giant.