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Ninja Senshi Tobikage (忍者戦士飛影, lit. Ninja Warrior
Tobikage
?), also known as Ninja
Robot Tobikage and Ninja
Robots, is a Japanese anime
television series, produced by Studio Pierrot, which aired from 6
October 1985 to 14 July 1986 on the Nippon Television network.
It was also broadcast across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia by Cartoon Network, under the title
Ninja Robots, across Russia by Ren-TV, across the Philippines by Solar USA after Cartoon
Network Philippines removed it from it airwaves, across France by TF1, under the title Tobikage, and across
Chile by TVN de Chile , Mexico by Televisa Canal 5 and Peru America Television 4 .
Plot
The events of Ninja Senshi Tobikage take place in the 23rd
century, an age when Earthlings have colonized both Mars and the Moon. The Martian colony is a harsh
environment where, like old Australia, all of the settlers are
convicts. Given a choice between prison on Earth and helping to
build and maintain the colony on Mars, they chose the latter... and
soon came to realize they'd chosen poorly. The Martian colony is
run by the military dictator Hazzard Pascha, who tests every
settler to decide whether they should be part of the oppressive
military or live a life of hard labor as a Worker.
The story starts off on Mars
and follows 16-year old Joe Maya, who lives with his father. Joe's
biggest dream is to return to Earth. Joe has two best friends - his
sworn brother Mike and a girl named Renny - who prove to be helpful
allies since, like him, they later turn out have the unusual power
to operate the series' three giant robots.
During a hair-raising escape from Martian military police, Joe
and Mike stumble upon a crashed spaceship - the Ellshanc, personal craft of
the princess of planet Ladorio. The Ellshanc is targeted by another
alien craft lurking in Martian orbit - a space fortress of the
Zaboom army. The Zaboom base-ship sends out humanoid robots to
attack the Ellshanc. Joe investigates and ends up being chased by
one of the robots. Having no choice, he hides in the damaged
Ellshanc.
Inside he encounters three human-looking aliens: the young
Princess Romina (whom Joe instantly finds attractive), her willowy
attendant Schaffe, and young red-headed general Yllbora Saro.
Before the language barrier can be overcome, Joe's robot pursuer
bursts in. The three aliens run away, and Joe scrambles to hide
inside some unrecognizable machine. This machine turns out to be a
humanoid robotic weapon. Joe quickly grasps the controls and fights
the killer robot.
The battle leads outside the ship, where suddenly a mysterious
robot ninja appears. This machine, Tobikage, wipes out several
Zaboom robots before merging with Joe's super robot, changing it
into a mechanical lion. The Zaboom attackers are eradicated by this
new form, and Tobikage returns to wherever it came from.
After the attack, the visitors from Ladorio calibrate their
auto-translators and presuade Joe, Renny, and Mike to help them. It
seems only the three teenagers have the innate ability needed to
operate the three super robots which are the Ellshanc's cargo.
Inevitably, our heroes' fate becomes entangled with that of the
aliens; they agree to travel with Princess Romina to protect her
and the Ellshanc from the Zaboom army during the long journey to
reach Earth. Along the way, new friends are made, old wounds are
opened, and the mystery of Tobikage itself looms ever in the
background.
Characters
COLONISTS AND EARTHLINGS:
- JOE MAYA - Jō Maya (ジョウ・マヤ
?) - Voiced by: Kazuhiko
Inoue
- Age 15~16. A boy living with his father in the colony on Mars.
His father is a calm, thoughtful figure, almost his opposite. He
lost his mother when he was young but often reminisces about the
fun he had on Earth. His rebellious and impulsive behaviour lands
him in the adventure of his life. He is the first to discover and
operate the robots on the Ellshanc, becoming the pilot of the
Kurojishi.
- His best friend is Ronin, a long-lost childhood pal. Among his
other friends are Renny and Mike. Joe and Mike refer to each other
as "brother". At first Joe leaves his friends friends behind in
order to defeat Hazzard but they carry on to help him later,
especially when his father is kidnapped.
- He often teases Renny about his friends' interest in her. He
also treats her like one of the guys. Joe shows romantic feelings
for both Renny(Jenny) and the Princess. He is attracted to the
Princess from the very first meeting and is willing to do anything
to protect her, but during the last episode, he confesses her love
for Renny(Jenny). He develops an enmity with Yllbora from the
beginning due to his rude and rash behaviour and his interest in
the Princess. He is also very curious about the Tobikage, who
continuously appears in battle to aids him.
- RENNY AI - Renī Ai (レニー・アイ
?) - Voiced by: Noriko
Hidaka
- Age 17. Renny ("Jenny" in the English version) is portrayed as
a tomboy, but is actually a very sweet girl. However, like any
girl, she also gets jealous. and is possessive about Joe. She is a
good fighter and almost as daring as Joe, although she is extremely
concerned about her family who stayed behind on Mars. She is the
second to operate a robot, the Houraioh.
- She acts as a sister to Mike and helps him get the girl of his
dreams - Schaffe. Local boy Kenji has a crush on Renny, which she
doesn't reciprocate. She gets irritated when Joe teases her about
him. When the princess hugs or flirts with Joe, Renny becomes upset
and hurt. She believes Romina has feelings towards Joe, which is
proved to be true later on. She asks Joe how he feels about her
many times and even says that she loves him and just wants to be
with him, even if he went to Ladorio. She is hopelessly in love
with Joe, which later on he reciprocates her feelings for him.
- MIKE COIL - Maiku Koiru (マイク・コイル
?) -
- Voiced by: Masami
Kikuchi
- Age 15. Mike is the pilot of the Bakuryu and is portrayed as a
younger brother to Joe Maya. He is a soft and reserved in contrast
to Joe's character. He is in love with Schaffe, Romina's aide.
- DAMIAN - Damian (ダミアン
?) -
- .Voiced by:
Masamichi Satō
- Age 18. Son of the Martian north pole's Guerilla leader, Damian
first mistrusted Joe and the others but later ends up joining them.
Damian is not very prominent during the early part of the series,
but when Joe permanently takes control of Tobikage, Damian succeeds
him as the pilot of the Kurojishi. He falls in love with a female
ninja who was sent to trap his friends, but she sacrifices her life
due to his love.
- RONIN SANADA - Rōnin Sanada (ローニン・サナダ
?) -
- Voiced by: Masashi
Hironaka
- Age 18. A childhood friend of Joe, Mike and Renny, Ronin is the
son of an Earth military commander. He's always sincere with his
friends and, through his father's connections, supports them by
providing necessities and assisting in their struggle.
- KEGARE SANADA - Kegare Sanada (ケガレ・サナダ
?) - Voiced by: Rokurō
Naya
- Age ?. Ronin's father, an Earth military commander.
- HAZZARD PASCHA - Hazādo Pasha (ハザード・パシャ
?) -
- Voiced by: Takeshi
Aono
- Age 46. Hazzard Pascha is one of the series' main antagonists.
He was driven to Mars by the Earth's people and he became the
commandant of the Mars colony. He is shown as power-hungry and
opportunistic. During the first few battles on Mars he allies
himself with the Zaboom army to gain greater power in his aim of
conquering Earth. He is also shown to be very manipulative he often
took innocent people into his side by clever tactics. He is at last
killed by the fearsome Houraioh when he tried to kill everyone
aboard the Ellshanc. His rise and fall is highlighted well in the
series. In fact he was the enemy of all.
- DOG TACK - Doggu Takku (ドッグ・タック
?) -
- Voiced by: Takashi
Taniguchi
- Age 35. Dog Tack is Hazzard Pascha's right-hand man and
military assistant.
PEOPLE OF LODARIO:
- ROMINA LADORIO - Romina Radorio (ロミナ・ラドリオ
?) - Voiced by: Sumi
Shimamoto
- Age 15~16. Romina is the princess and future Empress of the
planet Ladorio. She is very beautiful: a slender girl with sad blue
eyes and a mane of silvery-lavender hair. Romina is modest and
sincere. Her home planet of Ladorio was a peaceful planet until it
was violently invaded by the Zaboom army. Her narrow escape is
actually a mission given to her by her parents: to find 'ninjas'
from Earth who would be able to pilot Ladorio's three super robots.
She escaped the invaders in her ship, the Ellshanc, along with her
two closest friends: Lady Scahffe and Lord Yllbora Saro. She cries
over her lost parents, her world and eventually Yllbora. However in
public Romina puts on a brave front.
- Romina is a person who is extremely loyal to the friends and
expects the same loyalty from them. Joe falls in love with Romina,
and Joe always cheers her up and tries to help her out. Although a
Princess, she supports her new friend and even risks her life to
save Joe. Slowly they understand each other as their romance
blooms.
- SCHAFFE - Shafu (シャフ
?) -
- Voiced by: Rika
Fukami
- Age 18. Schaffe (or "Jade" in the English Version) is the
constant companion and maid of Romina and initially didn't believe
Joe was actually a ninja. She is always kind, considerate and
understanding. She is shown to reciprocate Mike's feelings.
- YLLBORA SARO - Irubora Saro (イルボラ・サロ
?) - Voiced by: Masashi
Sugawara
- Age 20. Yllbora ("Icelander" in English dubs) is a reserved,
ambitious general who can be egotistic and aggressive, but noble
and courageous at the same time. He's known as 'The Best Warrior of
Ladorio'. He tends to look down on others, nevertheless he seems to
be deeply in love with Romina and is determined to fight for her to
the end. Although, she remains unaware of his love for her and her
own feelings for the commander.
- He becomes very jealous of Romina's attention towards Joe. Both
are "people of action" and this mutual antipathy ends up in open
quarrels and endless fights - a very upsetting situation for Romina
who wants to avoid aggression and violence. He is man of great
ambition and he dreams of great power; when Zaboom general Grathan
Gryn offers Ylldora power in exchange for princess Romina's life,
for a moment Yllbora considers killing her. As a result, Yllbora
leaves the Ellshanc for good, but cannot forget his own his own
love for Romina and is racked with guilt.
- Yllbora finally obtain his own robot, Zerokage, and turns out
to be a ninja too. But he never chose between absolute power and
his love for Romina, no matter how he wanted to forget her in
battles. In the end as he was seriously injured he decided to tell
Romina about his feelings.
GAMELLUN - Gameran (ガメラン
?) - :Voiced by: Masashi
Sugawara
- Age 19. Gamellun is the second in command of the ship Ellshanc,
serving under Yllbora. He is shown to be loyal throughout and very
protective of the princess. His ego lends towards his hatred of Joe
and has sometimes tried to kill him. However in times of danger he
has sided with Joe in order to protect the Princess.
ZABOOM ARMY:
- GRATHAN GRYN - Gurasan Gurin (グラサン・グリン
?) -
- Voiced by: Hōchū
Ōtsuka
- Age 40. Grathan was the first commander of the Zaboom army. He
is referred to by Hazzard as a silly commander, and he is killed by
Tobikage when he tries to kill Romina.
- CHARME VEKER - Sharumu Bēkā (シャルム・ベーカー
?) - Voiced by: Eiko
Yamada
- Age ??. Emperor Annex's devoted advisor, Charme is lovely
and devious.
- ANNEX ZABOOM - Anekkusu Zabūmu (アネックス・ザブーム
?) -
- Voiced by: Masaaki
Okabe
- Age approximately 40. Emperor Annex, the ruler of planet
Zaboom, seeks to become the master of the universe and thus tries
to conquer Lodario, the home planet of Romina. He is the arch
villain of the series and possesses a large fleet of spaceships and
robots. He was killed by the time bomb explosion by Joe in the last
part of the series.
Machines
- Tobikage - 飛影（とびかげ）
- A small robotic ninja, Tobikage is wholly mysterious. Appearing
whenever the Ninja Machines are low on power or are facing
overwhelming odds, Tobikage comes to their aid and, at times,
combines with one of them to form a more powerful beast mode.
Tobikage is very formidable and incredibly fast by itself. In later
episodes, it unites with Joe when he calls it. It is later found
that the robot comes out from a secret chamber within Ellshanc. Its
name means "Flying Shadow" (although it is known as "Cybertron" in
the English version of the show). Height: 3.6m. Weight: 500kg.
- Kurojishi - 黒獅子（くろじし）
- The "Black Lion" was the first Ninja Machine to be activated,
once it responded to Joe. It is later piloted by Damian. It merges
with Tobikage to form the Jyuuma ("Beast Demon") Kurojishi, which
is a lion-type formation. The most agile and speedy of the
combinations, it is the most frequently-used powered machine. It
has an armored mane and shoots bullets from it. Height: 6.5m.
Weight: 10t.
- Houraioh - 鳳雷鷹（ほうらいおう）
- The "Phoenix Thunderhawk" is the Ninja Machine used by Renny,
and has powers of fire. It merges with Tobikage to form the Kuuma
("Sky Demon") Houraioh, which is a phoenix-type formation. It
possesses the power of flight, and can cast a flame from its wings
across its wingspan. Height: 7.2m. Weight: 9.6t.
- Bakuryu - 爆竜（ばくりゅう）
- The "Burst Dragon" is the Ninja Machine used by Mike. After it
joins with the Tobikage it forms the dragon-type formation Kaima
("Sea Demon") Bakuryu, which is very powerful and capable of
casting lighting but is slow and ungainly. It is incredibly large
and strong, capable of wiping out entire robot armies with
lightning storms, but has minimal mobility and appears only twice.
Height: 8.3m. Weight: 12t.
- Ellshanc - エルシャンク
- The mothership used by the aliens from Ladorio. In the English
dubs, it is known as 'Xenos 5'. Length: 300m. Wingspan: 250m. Crew:
50 people.
- C-Terahertz - Ｃ・テラヘルツ
- The space fortress used by the Zaboom army. Height: 500m.
- Shaman - シャーマン
- The Shamans (known as Shadow Bots in the English dub) are the
generic battle mecha used by the Zaboom army. They are colored red
and are small in size. Height: 3.6m. Weight: 750kg.
- Vankes - バンクス
- The Vankes types (known as Stealth Destroyers in the English
dub) are a more powerful model of battle mecha used by the Zaboom
army. They're usually armed with naginata and are significantly
larger than Shaman types (approximately 10m tall).
- Skeleton - スケルトン
- The Skeleton is the giant blue machine that Yllbora initially
pilots when he joins the Zaboom army.
- Zerokage - 零影（ぜろかげ）
- The "Null Shadow" (known as the Mantis in English) is a very
agile, sentient robot skilled in ninja moves, which merges with
Yllbora. It has clashed with Tobikage on several occasions and both
the robots seem very equally matched. Height: 4m. Weight:
550kg.
Staff
Original Creator, Series Composition: Yūji Watanabe
Chief Director: Masami Annō
Character Design: Shigeru Katō, Toshihiro Hirano
Mechanical Design: Kōichi Ōhata
Music: Eiji Kawamura
Theme
songs
- Opening theme
- LOVE Survivor (LOVEサバイバー, LOVE Sabaibā?)
- Lyrics: Kumiko Aoki, composition and arrangement: Yūichirō Oda,
performance: HIT BOY
- Ending theme
- Ichi Seikime no Angel (一世紀めのエンジェル, Ichi Seikime no
Enjeru?)
- Lyrics: Kumiko Aoki, composition and arrangement: Yūichirō Oda,
performance: HIT BOY
English
Dubbing
The series was broadcast across certain countries such as
Australia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Malaysia, the Philippines,
under the title Ninja Robots, on Cartoon Network. Approximately 10
years after it was originally aired in Japan. The dubbing directors
also changed the opening theme, and made numerous significant
changes to the characters and robots involved. For example,
Tobikage's name in the English dub is Cybertron.
The English dub was produced and recorded at Sonic III Studios
in Miami, Florida. Main character actors included Omar Garcia as
"Joe" and Kelly Parker as the princess of Planet Radorio.
The English script was loosely translated from the original
Japanese and adapted by the actors and interns on the day of
recording.
References
- General
External
links
Nippon
Television
Cartoon
Network
Wikis
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