Warrior of Love Rainbowman (partially found mecha anime series based on tokusatsu; 1982-1983)
Series poster.
Status: Partially Found
Ai no Senshi Rainbowman (愛の戦士レインボーマン), or in English and known as Warrior of Love Rainbowman, is a mecha anime animated by the now-dissolved Tsuchida Productions that aired on the Japanese network, TBS, and started airing from October 10th, 1982, and ended on March 27th, 1983, spanning 22 episodes with each episode having a runtime of 25 minutes[1][2]. The series was loosely based on the tokusatsu show of the same name which aired 10 years prior from 1972 up until 1973, created by the Toho Company[3][4].
Difference in Premises
While the anime series was adapted from the tokusatsu show that aired years prior, both differed greatly in various details, with the most notable being the differences between the two shows' premises. The tokusatsu show follows a lone young professional wrestler, Takeshi, who had developed seven different superhero abilities based on colors. Known in the series as "Dashes", Haruki, with his newly-obtained dashes that he had gained from extensive training, dubbed himself as "Rainbowman".[3].
The anime series, however, doesn't follow the tokusatsu's directions. The anime series revolves around Takeshi gaining the ability to control seven different colored robots which can merge into one larger robot (situationally). He then dubs himself a "Rainbowman", where he, along with his friends, fights invading aliens to save the world.
Various reasons for the sudden change in its premise are theorized, with one theory around the sudden change loosely based on the "mecha boom" happening around the time it was airing. The "mecha boom" is the rise in popularity and success both critically and commercially of the armored robots/"mecha" genre in the late-70s to the early-80s, which is a reason why there is an abundance of anime OVAs and series to the "mecha" genre in that time period, and this series was in no exception. The Rainbowman franchise might've wanted to bring its franchise back to mainstream popularity and with the sudden burst of the "mecha" genre, lead to its sudden change when it was adapted into an anime series. Another theory suggests that it was due to copyright complications between the original Rainbowman tokusatsu show developed by Toho, and the anime series developed by Tsuchida Productions ten years after the original tokusatsu show premiered[5] .
Aside from its premise, there are various other notable differences from the tokusatsu to the anime, with some of them listed on its Japanese Wikipedia page. It still does retain details from the tokusatsu show however, like the character's name (Haruki), the seven different colors of the rainbow, and various other major and minor details notable from the tokusatsu.
Staff
The series was directed by Nobuhiro Okasako, with scripts written by Tsunehisa Itō, and the music composed for the series was composed by Jun Kitahara[2]. The ending theme and opening theme made specifically for the series, "Ai no Senshi Rainbowman", was sung by the chorus group, Young Fresh[2].
Cast
- Yū Mizushima as Takeshi Yamato/Rainbowman[2]
- Asami Mukaidono as Shōsuke Yamada[2]
- Banjou Ginga as Major Heinz[2]
- Hiroko Nômura as Jun Yamato[2]
- Hiromi Tsuru as Yōko Ōmiya[2]
- Kazue Komiya as Fairy Rose[2]
- Kazuhiko Kishino as Doctor Ōmiya[2]
- Ken Yamaguchi as Gōta Yamada[2]
- Takeshi Kuwabara as Mr. K[2]
- Shōzō Iizuka as Emperor Dongoros[2]
- Norio Wakamoto as the Narrator[2]
Availability
After its run on TBS, the series never received any home media release[6], and the anime series quickly faded to obscurity with little to no footage of the series available, and episodes from the series being unlikely to resurface. Though it is more than likely however for episodes of the series to be recorded as home recordings on television were becoming mainstream and typical during that time.
On August 24th, 2007, Nicovideo user gagahn uploaded the 21st episode of the series entitled, "父・一郎は生きていた!" (Father, Ichiro is Alive!) on Nicovideo. This was then shared on various video-sharing and torrent sites. This would be the only episode of the series available online to be watched prior to September 2021.
On September 11th, 2021, 14 years after the 21st episode was uploaded online, YouTube user TokyoMaxAnimation would upload a bootlegged version of the first episode of the series, entitled "宿命の出会い" (Confrontation of Destiny). The video contains a user recording said episode on a recording device, and the first few seconds shows that the episode came from a DVD. It is currently unknown how said user obtained the DVD though it is very likely that this video was reuploaded on their YouTube channel and the original source for the video is deleted or yet to be found.
A year later, on September 3rd, 2022, Internet Archive user Media-Monster, would upload 8 more episodes from the series (episodes 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 19, and 20) with its original commercials that aired with the episodes. They stated in their description of the Internet Archive upload that they had obtained said episodes from Lost Media Wiki Forums user anime1979[7] with their respective permission to upload and share them publicly.
With 10 out of 22 episodes found, 12 episodes are still missing and considered lost as of February 2023.
Episodes List
- Note that dates tend to be uncertain due to different broadcasts schedule across different channels in Japan, so this schedule listing was taken from Tokyo schedule[4] to avoid confusion with other broadcast dates and conflicting information.
| # | Episode Title (English Transl.) | Air Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 宿命の出会い (Confrontation of Destiny) | October 10th, 1982 | Found |
| 2 | ゆけ! 愛の戦士 (Go! Warrior of Love) | October 17th, 1982 | Found |
| 3 | 戦え! レインボーセブン (Fight! Rainbow Seven) | October 24th, 1982 | Found |
| 4 | 恐怖のロボット工場 (Robot Factory of Terror) | October 31st, 1982 | Found |
| 5 | レインボーセブン大爆発! (Rainbow Seven Giant Explosion!) | November 7th, 1982 | Lost |
| 6 | 甦れ!! レインボーセブン (Revive! Rainbow Seven) | November 14th, 1982 | Found |
| 7 | 恐怖のダム破壊作戦 (Dam Destruction Strategy of Terror) | November 28th, 1982 | Found |
| 8 | 狙われた大宮研究所 (Omiya Laboratory Targeted) | December 5th, 1982 | Lost |
| 9 | 恐怖! 死ね死ね少年団 (Terror! Die Die Boy Gang) | December 12th, 1982 | Lost |
| 10 | 魔の鬼ヶ崎海岸 (The Devil of Onigasaki Coast) | December 19th, 1982 | Found |
| 11 | ロゼが正体を見た! (Roze Saw the True Colors!) | December 26th, 1982 | Lost |
| 12 | タンカー破壊作戦！(Tanker Destruction Strategy!) | January 9th, 1983 | Lost |
| 13 | 地底大洞窟の秘密 (Secret of the Giant Underground Cavern) | January 16th, 1983 | Lost |
| 14 | 盗まれた町 (The Stolen Town) | January 23rd, 1983 | Lost |
| 15 | デスノイド改造マシン (Deathnoid Remodeling Machine) | January 30th, 1983 | Lost |
| 16 | 炎の中に消えたタケシ (Takeshi Disappeared Into the Flame) | February 6th, 1983 | Lost |
| 17 | 富士山を爆破せよ! (Mount Fuji Explosion!) | February 20th, 1983 | Lost |
| 18 | 分解消滅!? レインボーセブン (Disassembly Annihilation!? Rainbow Seven) | February 27th, 1983 | Lost |
| 19 | Vアーマーのスーパーメカニズム (Super Mechanism's V Armor) | March 6th, 1983 | Found |
| 20 | 帝王ドンゴロスの秘密 (Secret of Emperor Dongolos) | March 13th, 1983 | Found |
| 21 | 父・一郎は生きていた! (Father, Ichiro is Alive!) | March 20th, 1983 | Found |
| 22 | ドンゴロスの最後 (The End of Dongolas) | March 27th, 1983 | Lost |
Gallery
External Links
Links
- Japanese Wikipedia page for the anime.
- r/LostMedia post on the anime.
- WikiZilla page for the anime that includes its English Titles.
- aniDB page for the anime that includes its air dates,
Episodes
Additional Material
References
- ↑ MAL Page for Warrior Of Love Rainbowman Retrieved 09 Mar '23
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 ANN Page for Warrior Of Love Rainbowman Retrieved 09 Mar '23
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Archived JapanHero page that contains info on the tokusatsu show. Retrieved 09 Mar '23
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fan blog detailing the Warrior Of Love Rainbowman anime. Retrieved 09 Mar '23
- ↑ pixiv page on the Warrior Of Love Rainbowman Retrieved 09 Mar '23
- ↑ pixiv page that adds more info on the Rainbowman anime. Retrieved 09 Mar '23
- ↑ LMW Forums post from anime1979 stating they have episodes of Rainbowman. Posted 04 April '22