Teknoman
Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade (宇宙の騎士テッカマンブレード "Star Knight Tekkaman Blade") is a rather popular anime series, released in 1992. This series is a revamp of the original 1970's Tekkaman: The Space Knight anime, though these shows shared little in common besides the concept of "Tekka-Armour". The show was also dubbed and released in Western shores under the title "Teknoman".
The series was followed by Tekkaman Blade II, a six part OVA. This, however, was less dramatic and centered more around action than its heavily plot-based predecessor.
Plot
Present Time: Earth, the Space Ring and the Space Knights
It is Global Year 195 and the Earth is under attack from an extraterrestrial enemy, the Radam. Earth's defenses are helpless against this new enemy which attacks with large hordes of mutant creatures. The Radam are lead by an even deadlier force, known as the Tekkamen.
Surrounding the Earth is the huge man-made space ring known as the Orbital Ring. The Orbital Ring was constructed well before the arrival of the Radam and was the first human structure attacked by the them. As the aliens attacked, those that were left either fled or were killed, and the Space Ring was largely abandoned, serving only as a battle ground for Blade and the Tekkamen.
Fighting against the Radam and the Tekkamen are the Space Knights. Led by Commander Freeman, the Space Knights are a Special Defense Force, and Earth's last hope for defeating the mighty Venomoids. The Space Knights consist of Noal Vereuse, the hotshot pilot of the Space Knights ship the Blue Earth; Aki Kisaragi, the Blue Earth Navigator; Milly, the teenage Communications Operator; Levin, the effeminate male computer wiz and mechanic; and Honda, Mechanic and Repairs. The Space Knights have been unsuccessful at repelling the Radam until the arrival of a mysterious young man who has the ability to transform into the powerful warrior known as Tekkaman Blade.
Omega, the Tekkamen and the Radam
Commanding the Radam is Omega, a Tekkaman Warlord who leads the Radam invasion. Omega's base was located on the dark side of the moon, where he lies in wait for the moment when he has enough power to raise the Radam Mother Ship and descend to plunge Earth into darkness. To prepare the Earth for Omega's descent, the Radam have planted Tekkapods across earth—deadly plants that have the ability to transform humans into Tekkamen.
Also commanding the Radam armies are the other Tekkamen. Once human, these evil Tekkamen were captured and transformed by the Radam to assist in the takeover of Earth. They are endowed with super-human strength, impenetrable armor and quantum energy weapons. The Tekkamen transform using power from their Tek-Setter, a special crystal each unique to its holder. Blade is a Tekkaman, but unlike the others he fights to defend Earth and is free of the brainwashing which the Radam use to make their chosen vessels subservient to them.
The Argos
Before the arrival of the Radam there was a deep space exploration ship called the Argos. It was the Argos that first encountered the Radam probe ship. Aboard the Argos were the Aibas: Blade (Takaya)'s family, and their ship crew. Whilst exploring the outer rings of Saturn, the Argos' radar picks up an unusual disturbance. Going to investigate, the crew discover the disturbance to be an alien ship, and as they get closer, they are drawn in by a tractor beam. Excited at the prospect of encountering alien life the crew board the vessel and discover the Radam.
Radam Tekkapods rain down upon the crew, beginning the process of turning them to Tekkamen. All of the crew aboard the ship are put into Tekkaopods, though only the most ideal humans could become Tekkamen. While this occurred, the Argos was slowly being assimilated into Radam Mother Ship. Over time, Blade's father was rejected by the process and manages to survive and used what little time he had left to free one member of his family, Blade. It is through the crew of the Argos that the Radam learn of Earth and plan their invasion. On his last legs, Blade's father helps him into the escape pod and before activation the Argos' self destruct sequence, he casts Blade off into space telling him that the fate of the Earth rests in his hands. Upon the explosion, the Radam Mother Ship crash landed on the darkside of the moon.
Battle for Earth
Blade floats towards earth for six months, in the confines of his tiny pod, alone with his thoughts. By the time he arrives, the Earth is already under heavy attack from the Radam. Fueled by his hatred for the Radam, Blade bursts free from his pod and begins to attack them. The attack draws the attention of the Tekkaman, Dagger. The two fight and Blade is sent hurtling towards Earth, however, his Tekka-Armor protects him and he crash lands on Earth without sustaining serious injury. His arrival attracts the attention of the two Space Knights, Noal and Aki who discover a naked Blade lying in a crater, and take him back to their headquarters.
In the beginning, Blade is mysterious and hostile towards the otherwise helpful Space Knights, however, as time progresses, he begins to respect and admire them for their dedication in even the toughest of situations, and soon develops a relationship with Aki.
The Space Knights, with the help of Blade, slowly begin to repel the Radam until, during a battle, Blade's Tek-Setter is shattered, rendering him unable to transform into Tekkaman Blade. Blade gives up hope, however the technically brilliant Levin develops the Tekkabot, who later takes the name Pegas (Short for Pegasus, in reference to the flying horse of Greek mythology). Pegas contains the shards of Blade's crystal, and amplifies their power, allowing Blade to transform once more. Pegas and Blade develop a close friendship, despite Pegas being a robot. In his first transformation using Pegas, Blade challenges Dagger and easily overpowers him, destroying him with blasts from his shoulder cannons.
Eventually more Tekkamen arrive on Earth to challenge Blade: Evil, Blade's twin brother, Lance, Axe and Sword, are all keen to destroy him. As well, Blade's sister Miyuki arrives on Earth, however she—like Blade—is not under the control of the Radam. After pulling herself free from Omega's base, she arrives very ill and is given a blood transfusion from Blade. The Tekkamen Evil, Lance, Axe and Sword assault the Space Knights' base, attempting to kill Miyuki. Although outnumbered, Miyuki strikes back and fights them. Eventually,her incomplete Tekkaman powers overload while the evil Tekkamen torture her, and she bids a fond farewell to her brother before dying in a fantastic blaze of light. Blade—now left without a family—is strengthened by these events and resolves to destroy the Radam, . He managed to kill Lance and Axe, gaining the power to take on an upgraded form known as "Blastor Tekkaman". Tekkaman Evil also was gaven the same ability to serve as the final line of Omega's defensive, while Sword was destroyed by Balzac, preventing the Blue Earth from reaching the moon.
The final battle
Towards the end of the saga, Blade and Evil meet for one last time to duel. They battle and eventually Blade impales Evil. As he dies, Saber is freed from the Radam control and hands Blade his Tek-Setter, instructing him that he will need its power to reach Omega's base on the moon.
Blade takes off on Pegasus whilst slipping further and further into a dark rage. He finally arrives on the moon and confronts Omega, who reveals the whole Radam plan and that he is Kengo, Blade's eldest brother. Omega has begun to ressurect the Radam Mother Ship, to descend upon Earth. Blade attacks Omega, but he is too powerful and easily stops Blade. Omega is about to kill Blade when Pegasus steps in. Omega effortlessly destroys Pegasus, whose last words are a farewell to Blade.
The death of Pegasus sends Blade over the edge, and he erupts, drawing all his power into a huge green beam which encompasses him. Omega tries to stop him, but cannot. As Omega is about to die, Blade tells him, "Come back. Come home" Soon after, the Radam mothership spectacularly explodes. As pieces of it fall to the Earth, so too does Blade, crash landing, once again. The series ends with Blade and Aki watching a sunset and Noal recalling what a miracle it was that Blade survived, however Blade has no memory of the events he took part in. With the Radam destroyed, the threat to the Earth was over...For now.
Characters
Name Changes
| English Name | Japanese Name |
|---|---|
| Balzac Saint Jaques | Balzac Asimov |
| Mac Mackelroy | Honda |
| Maggie Matheson | Levin |
| Ringo Richards | Noal Vereuse |
| Shara Carter | Miyuki Aiba/Tekkaman Rapier |
| Nick (or Ness) Carter Teknoman Slade/Blade | Takaya Aiba/D-Boy/Tekkaman Blade |
| Star Summers | Aki Kisaragi |
| Tina Corman | Milly |
| Commander Jamison | Chief Heinrich Freeman |
| Sergent O'Rourke | Bernard O'Toole |
| General Gault | General Colbert |
| Conrad Carter/Darkon | Kengo Aiba/Tekkaman Omega |
| Catherine/Teknoman Rapier | Hun Rii/Tekkaman Sword |
| Cain Carter/Teknoman Sabre | Shinya Aiba/Tekkaman Evil |
| Teknoman Gunner | Fritz/Tekkaman Dagger |
| Grant Goddard/Teknoman Axe | Goddado/Tekkaman Axe |
| Teknoman Lance | Morotu/Tekkaman Lance |
| Venomoids | Radamu (also written 'Rahdam') |
Tekkaman Blade
The titular character of the series. His real name is Takaya Aiba, though he is more commonly referred to as D-Boy (Short for Dangerous Boy, a nickname given to him by Noal) or Blade; his Tekkaman name. Originally on board the Argos when it was taken over by the Radam, Blade was freed by his father before the process of transformation could be completed, leaving him almost free from mind control. Blade swore to avenge the loss of his family and destroy Tekkaman Omega and the Radam.
Although one of the more powerful Tekkamen, Blade is disadvantaged by a number of factors: in battle, Blade's Tek-Setter was shattered and he was no longer able to transform independently—having to rely on the robot Pegas instead; also, Blade cannot stay in Tekkaman form for longer than half an hour, lest he digresses into a primal state in which he becomes uncontrollable; furthermore, the more he transforms into Tekkaman, the more memory loss he experiences—in one episode, he completely forgets how to transform into Tekkaman. The transformation process itself also puts a considerable strain on Blade's body, increasing his metabolism and, later in the series, causing temporary blindness and threatening his very life. These effects are aggravated later on in the series when he uses a Radam spore plant to evolve into a Blastor Tekkaman.
Despite these weaknesses, Blade is able to defeat Omega and save the Earth at his mind's expense.
Tekkaman Evil
Blade's twin brother, Shinya Aiba, now serves the Radam as Tekkaman Evil. Evil believes that there was a mistake during their births and that only one of them can exist, and this drives Evil to gradually become obsessed with defeating his brother than with the invasion of Earth. As Blade becomes more powerful, so too does Evil receive a number of increases in power from Omega.
Evil seeks to destroy Blade on an equal footing to prove that he can beat him, and in the final battle, when Blade is over come by his 30-minute limit, Evil allows him to recover before resuming battle. In the battle that ensues Blade eventually impales Evil, holding him in his arms as he dies. As he dies, Evil redeems himself by handing Blade his Tek-Setter and explaining to Blade that he will need its power to defeat Omega.
Tekkaman Rapier
Blade's younger sister Miyuki, known also as Tekkaman Rapier. She managed to escape the final process of the Tekkaman conversion and left Omega's base to seek out Blade. Arriving on Earth very ill and weak, she is not expected to live for very long due to a fatal virus that has spread through her system as a result of her incomplete Tekkaman powers. The virus ultimately overloads her powers and kills her. It is later discovered that a piece of her Tek-Setter has remained in Blade's possession, temporarily boosting his speed and strength.
Tekkaman Omega
Omega is the Tekkaman Warlord of the Radam army. He remained in the shadows as he was physically linked to the Radam mothership until he can eventually raise the mothership from the moon and descend to Earth. He is eventually revealed to be Blade's eldest brother, Kengo Aiba. Omega is also the most powerful Tekkaman, however Blade is able to destroy him by harnessing his rage over the loss of his family.
Tekkaman Dagger
He is the first to fight Blade upon his return to earth and sends Blade crashing down. He is extremely cocky, believing that Blade could never destroy him. When Blade's crystal is shattered, Dagger leads an offensive on the Space Knights' base, offering to relent if they provide Blade, knowing he can no longer transform into a Tekkaman. Blade, however, uses Pegasus to transform and easily destroys Dagger. His first name is given as Fritz, but his connection to Blade and the Aiba family is not known.
Tekkaman Axe
He was once Blade and Evil's martial arts instructor, Goddaado. He's also an electrical engineer and one of the heaviest Tekkamen. He tries to trap Blade and fight him one on one. Blade manages to defeat Axe by stabbing him with his hands in the shape of spears. Even though Axe was dying he tries to kamikaze Blade by bear hugging him and performing a Voltekker.. O'Toole manages to break into the arena Blade was trapped in at shoots Axe in the head. This allows Blade to escape and Axe self-destructs.
Tekkaman Lance
He can stand sideways on the wall like Spider-man. Not much is known about his past except that he was one of the crew on the Argos, and his name was Morimotoh. He is tremendously strong in human form. He breaks into the Alaskan Space Knight Command Center while Blade is upgrading. The Space Knights had to distract Lance long enough so that Blade could finish his evolution. O'Rourke makes a final stand by going Kamikaze on Lance with a grenade. The resulting explosion does not harm Lance. O'Rourke is impaled by Lance. Blade, however, finishes his transformation and destroys Lance with a Voltekker in his upgraded form.
Sword
Catherine (Hun Rii in the Japanese version), Conrad Carter's former lover and fiancée. She is now the Teknoman, Sword (oddly enough, she is called Rapier in the US English dub). Although she is loyal to the Venomoid cause, she still clings to the memories of her past life and wishes that Darkon was still the man she was in love with. She saves Sabre from being killed by Blade and also destroys all but one of the space ports on the space ring (though the last one is destroyed by Blade in an attempt to blow Saber out of the sky). Sword damages the Blue Earth while Ringo and Balzac are on a mission. She finally dies when she burns up while entering Earth's atmoshpere, after being gunned down by Balzac.
Star Summers
A member of the Space Knights, Star is the Blue Earth's navigator. She is headstrong yet compassionate, though she sometimes romantisizes situations. Star, along with Ringo, discovered Blade when he crashed on Earth, and soon developed a friendship that eventually became love. As Blade slips into his primal state after the final battle with Sabre, he holds on to the image of Starto keep him sane. She accompanies the Space Knights on many missions.
Analaysis of Armor
A Tekkaman (or, in the English version, a Teknoman) is a human who has been biologically altered by alien technology. The process, however, is so physically taxing that most don't survive it.
Those that do survive gain the ability to transform into a powerful armored form. The armor is capable of self-propelled flight, functions as an environmental suit, and is is virtually invulnerable to most forms of attack-- Blade withstood a nuclear explosion at point-blank range without any ill effects.
Tekno-Armor also has a number of built-in offensive systems. First, physical strength is enchanced considerably. For melee combat, a Teknoman uses a spearlike weapon called a Tekk Lancer (Tekno-Lance in English). The lances weilded by some Tekkamen had special abilities: Dagger's could double as a bow capable of firing energized arrows, Blade's had launchable boomerang blades, and Sabre's could generate an electrical charge in addition to being used as a throwing star.
Most Teknomen (the one notable exception being Dagger) also had access to weapons called Voltekker (aka Tekno Power Blasters in English), massively powerful energy cannons that could fire increible blasts of energy.
Blade had a technique called Crush Intrude which increased his flight speed and generated a bird-shaped aura around him, allowing him to destroy enemies by crashing into them. Miyuki is also seen performing this move later in the series.
Armor Stats
| English Name | Height (in meters) | Weight (in kilograms) |
|---|---|---|
| Balzac Asimov | 2.30 | 181 |
| Noal Vereuse | 2.30 | 181 |
| Miyuki Aiba/Tekkaman Rapier | 1.95 | 70 |
| Takaya/Tekkaman Blade | 2.32 | 81 |
| Blastor Blade | 2.38 | 87 |
| Kengo Aiba/Teknoman Omega | 2.41 | 108 |
| Shinya Aiba/Tekkaman Evil | 2.36 | 90 |
| Tekkaman Dagger | 2.40 | 89 |
| Tekkaman Lance | 2.42 | 86 |
| Tekkaman Sword | 2.20 | 70 |
| Pegas | 2.70 | 6.5 TONS |
Episode List
| Episode Number | English Version | Japanese Version |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Friend or Foe | The Skywalking Superman |
| 02 | Power of the Space Knights | Lonely Warrior |
| 03 | Falling Star | Treachery of the Defense Force |
| 04 | Falling Star | A Senseless Desertion in The Face of The Enemy |
| 05 | Time's Up | Kill Me |
| 06 | Shattered Crystal | Tek Set Disabled |
| 07 | Teknobot | The Launch of the Mobile Unit Pegas |
| 08 | Snapshot | The Mysterious War Journalist |
| 09 | Convoy | Rescue! The Jupiter Crew |
| 10 | Bold Soldier Boy | A Lullaby in the Flames of War |
| 11 | Brother Beware | D-Boy File (recap episode) |
| 12 | Sibling Rivalry | The Red Terror, Evil |
| 13 | Family Feud | The Destined Siblings |
| 14 | Saber Strike | A Devil Divides the Ties of Blood |
| 15 | Spy Game | Demon God Reborn |
| 16 | Sword and Steel | Portrait of Treachery |
| 17 | The Visitor | The Steel Savior |
| 18 | Battleground | The Price of Glory |
| 19 | Resurrection | Warrior with a Caged Heart |
| 20 | Mind Game | Resurrected, the Transformation of Rage |
| 21 | Decision | A feeling of Love and Death |
| 22 | Reunion | Miyuki's Decision |
| 23 | In the Beginning | Bloody Reunion |
| 24 | Shara's Secret | Ripped Open Past |
| 25 | Forget Me Not | New Demons |
| 26 | Chronicle | Life Risking Battle |
| 27 | Red Savior | Title Unknown (recap episode) |
| 28 | Resurrection | The White Majin |
| 29 | Running on Empty | Flowers in the Battlefield |
| 30 | Lady in Waiting | A Father's Memory |
| 31 | Reformation | The Town of Vengeance |
| 32 | Axe Trap | Lady in Waiting |
| 33 | Axe Attack | Wilderness Reunion |
| 34 | On Ice | Siblings of Dark and Light |
| 35 | Fifty-Fifty | Enemy in the Midst |
| 36 | Evolution | Bloody Battle! Axe! |
| 37 | Reflection | Wearing Down, Mind and Body! |
| 38 | Amnesia | Labyrinth of Death |
| 39 | Metamorphosis | Extreme Warrior, Blastor |
| 40 | Sword Strike | The Fight and Love of Two (recap episode) |
| 41 | Battle of the Space Ring | Evil, Devil that Revives |
| 42 | Beginning of the End | Collision! The Red Foe! |
| 43 | Final Battle | The Bullet of Separation |
| 44 | The Approaching Darkness | |
| 45 | ||
| 46 | ||
| 47 | ||
| 48 | ||
| 49 |
Trivia
Two separate English versions exist. The first one produced, known as the "International Version" among fans because it was broadcast in Europe and Australia, was less severely edited than the second, which was only shown in the United States.
Difference between the two dubbed versions include different opening sequences, different title cards, and slightly different voice casts. The American version had more cuts for "objectionable content," additional name changes, and Teknoman's transformation scene (rarely shown in the Japanese version) was reinserted into most episodes.
The US-Only English Version was cancelled after 26 episodes, while it's International counterpart was shown in it's relative entirety (Due to the merging of certain episodes, the episode count was cut down to 43 from the Japanese version's 49)
With the exception of a few changes (for example, Blade is called Slade in the US-Only English Dub), most Tekkaman names are retained from the original Japanese series.
See also
External links
- Tekkaman Blade Subtitled into English
- Tekno-mania
- Space Knight: Tekkaman Blade TV - review summaries for each episode of Tekkaman Blade
- Anime News Network - Tekkaman Blade
- Tekkaman Blade Editing Report
- Uchû no kishi tekkaman bureido at IMDb