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Ambassador Magma

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Ambassador Magma
Cover of the second volume from the Osamu Tezuka Manga Complete Works edition
マグマ đại sử
(Maguma Taishi)
GenreMecha
Kyodai Hero
Manga
Written byOsamu Tezuka
Published byShōnen Gahosha
MagazineShōnen Gaho
DemographicShōnen
Original runMay 1965–August 1967
Volumes3
Television drama
StudioP Productions
Terebi Doga
Licensed by
Original networkFNS(Fuji TV)
Original runJuly 4, 1966–June 26, 1967
Episodes52
Original video animation
Directed byHidehito Ueda
Written byKatsuhiko Koide
Music byToshiyuki Watanabe
StudioBandai Visual,PLEX,Tezuka Productions
Released1993
Episodes13
iconAnime and manga portal

Ambassador Magma(マグマ đại sử,Maguma Taishi)is the title and protagonist of amangaandtokusatsuTV series created byOsamu Tezuka.The TV series, produced byP Productions,aired onFuji TVfrom July 4, 1966, to June 26, 1967, lasting a total of 52 episodes. It is the firstcolortokusatsu TV series in Japan, beatingTsuburaya Productions'Ultramanto the air by six days. The show later aired in the US, dubbed in English byKrantz Films,asThe Space Giants.[1]Digital Mangacrowdfunded the manga, and it is currently available for digital purchase on theirEmangasite.

Basic plot

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The alien invader Goa plots to conquer Earth. He first warns the Murakami family (father Atsushi, mother Tomoko, and son Mamoru) of their invasion, and demonstrates his powers by transporting them to a prehistoric jungle and destroying a Giant Dinosaur (in reality,Agon,the title monster of aGodzilla-like TV series) before their very eyes. But they will not agree to surrender to Goa, so hope comes in the form of Magma, an armored, golden giant with long hair and antennae. He and his human-sized wife Mol, both of whom were created by the wizard of Earth (who indeed lives deep beneath the Earth), are sent to defend our world against Goa. They befriend Atsushi and Mamoru; the latter has touched Magma emotionally, as he wanted to have a child with his wife Mol, so Earth creates a duplicate of Mamoru, whom he names Gam, and who wears a white helmet, with built-in antennae, on his head. Earth gives Mamoru a whistle, with which he can call Gam (when blown once), Mol (when blown twice) and Magma (when blown thrice) in times of crisis. So when Goa unleashes his variousdaikaiju,chances are that Magma, Mol, and/or Gam will fly to the rescue.

Ambassador Magma

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Ambassador Magma, despite his robot-like appearance, is not a true robot, but actually a living giant forged from gold. In fact, true to his original manga appearance, in the series' pilot opening, Tetsuya Uozumi, the actor who played Magma, actually wore goldmake-upon his face. But such difficulties as Uozomi's own face turning beet-red, drowning out the gold make-up, quickly arose. The solution proved to be an easy one; in all the show's subsequent episodes, Uozumi wore a golden human-like mask.

Magma, just like his human-sized wife Mol and son Gam, transforms into a giant rocket ship. Indeed, he is considered one of the earliest transforming mecha, even before theanimesuper robot,Brave Raideen,which set the standard for the genre.

He also shoots rockets out of a panel located in his chest, and (as do Mol and Gam) shoots electrical bolts from his antennae.

English localization (The Space Giants)

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The Space Giantsis the English title of this series. The show is most notable for its humanoidrobotheroes who responded to crises by transforming intorocketsto combat a wide variety ofdinosaur-like space monsters, and faceless,ninja-like villains calledLugomen ( nhân gian モドキningen-modokiliterallymock-human) whose corpses melted into oozing, blob-like slime whenever they were killed.

The main conflict of the story involved an evil space villain namedRodakwho continually tried to conquer Earth by sending a new dinosaur-like monster from deep space to attack Japan. The stories were generally resolved in two to four episodes,[2]much like theBBC'sDoctor Who,and a new monster would be found by Rodak to begin another two- to four-part struggle. Rodak's efforts were opposed by an ancient white-bearded wizard named Methusan (sometimes called Methuselah or Mathusem), aided by a trio ofhumanoid robotswho were all capable of transformations fromhumanoidform intorocketforms.

The human interest in the story was a family of three: a boy named Mikko, his mother Tomoko, and his journalist father Ito Mura. The family became involved in the story due to the villain Rodak's desire to publish news of his presence to world media. The Mura family found themselves continually caught in the crossfire of monster attacks and harried by the Lugo men and Rodak's spies. A major sub-plot in the series developed when Mikko's mother was kidnapped by theLugomen and held in uncertain conditions for a number of episodes.

In the first episodes, the robot team were a duo consisting of a 50-foot (15 m) gold robot aptly named Goldar and his companion, a silver-clad humanoid female named Silvar. It was implied that they had been created by the wizard Methusan. Early in the series, the wizard Methusan completed the team to mirror the Mura family by creating a humanoid rocket-boy named Gam, in the image of Mikko Mura, complete with his trademark red-and-white sweater vest. All members of the robot team were capable of transforming into rockets identified respectively by gold, silver, and red-and-white color schemes. Each had bulb-tippedantennaeprotruding from their heads, capable of discharging directed blasts ofgamma rays.Goldar and Silvar were capable of firingmissilesfrom their chest cavities, but Silvar was only shown doing this once. A regularly featured plot device was Mikko's ability to summon the robots by blowing a special high-frequency whistle: once to summon Gam, twice to summon Silvar and three times to summon Goldar.

The show first aired in Japan on July 4, 1966, and its international title wasSpace Avenger(one episode was dubbed for international markets). Originally intending to title itMonsters from Outer Space,the entire series was dubbed into English by Bernard H. Schulman's Lakeside Television Company and syndicated to a limited number of U.S. television stations in early September 1970 (such asWSNS-TVin Chicago andWTAF-TVin Philadelphia), under the titleThe Space Giants.The show was not distributed widely to U.S. television stations until the late 1970s, when it became a staple of fledglingSuperstation TBSafternoon programming. 52 episodes were made, each running 25 minutes. It was known in Spanish asMonstruos del Espacioand in some English-speaking countries asSpace Avenger.

As of late January and early February 2017, Bernard Schulman still owned the North American television and home video distribution rights toThe Space Giants,under his Lakeside Television banner. At that time, rumors continued to circulate that the series would be issued in Blu-ray and Digital HD format for the 50th Anniversary in 2016, exclusively produced and distributed through AnimeImages and Lakeside Television Company in a joint partnership for production and distribution.

Ambassador Magma makes a cameo appearance in the 2004Astro Boy: Omega Factorgame for theNintendoGame Boy Advance,along with a number of other characters created by Osamu Tezuka.

English version name changes

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  • Magma – Goldar
  • Mol – Silvar
  • Goa – Rodak
  • Atsushi Murakami – Ito "Tom" Mura
  • Tomoko Murakami – Tomoko Mura
  • Mamoru Murakami – Mikko Mura
  • Earth – Methusan
  • Atsuya Sekita – Kita
  • Modoki Men –LugoMen

TV series cast

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Ambassador Magma (TV series)/ The Space Giantscast
Role Japanese English
Live actor Voice actor
Narrator — Paul Hecht(first)

Ray Owens (second)

Ambassador Magma Tetsuya Uozumi Tetsuya Uozumi (pilot)

Yoshio Kaneuchi (series)

Goldar
Paul Hecht(first)

Ray Owens (second)

Goa Tooru Oohira Tooru Oohira Rodak
Paul Hecht(first)

Ray Owens (second)

Mamoru Murakami Toshio Egi Mikki Mura
Atsushi Murakami Masumi Okada Itou "Tom" Mura
Larry Robinson
Tomoko Murakami Machiko Yashiro Tomoko Mura
Paulette Rubinstein
Gam — Hideki Ninomiya (usual voice)

Masako Nozawa(episodes 42-43)

Atsuya Sekita Ryou Kuroma Kita
Peter Fernandez
Earth Gen Shimizu Methusan
Earl Hammond
Mol Shigeko Mise Silvar
Paulette Rubinstein

1993 OVA series

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A 13-episodeOVAanimeremake was produced in 1993. This series served as a retelling of the original series. The OVA was produced byBandai Visual,Tezuka Productionsand PLEX, and was directed by Hidehito Ueda.

Ambassador Magma (OVA series)cast
Role Japanese English
Mamoru Murakami Masami Kikuchi Jonathan Fahn
Atsushi Murakami Juurouta Kosugi Sonny Byrkett
Tomoko Murakami Rika Fukami Emma Jackson
Fumiaki Asuka Hidetoshi Nakamura Steve Blum
Miki Asuka Miki Itou Debra Jean Rogers
Magma Akio Ootsuka Steve Blum
Jagabu Bill Kestin

Adaptations

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In 1979, Americancomic bookpublisher FBN (Fantasy Book Novels) Publications produced a comic book adaptation (written and drawn byAngel Gabrieleand artist Richard Lynn) of the first four episodes ofAmbassador Magma.In 1994, Gabriele did anotherSpace Giantscomic book one-shot published byBoneyard Press.[3]

See also

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References

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  1. ^Woolery, George W. (1985).Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series.The Scarecrow Press. p. 473.ISBN0-8108-1651-2.
  2. ^"What We're Not Watching: The Space Giants".25 December 2016.
  3. ^Ragone, August and Johnson, Bob."TheSpace GiantsSeries Guide: A Look Back at the Many Incarnations of Ambassador Magma, "SciFi Japan (Aug. 27, 2007).Accessed Apr. 17, 2009.
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