Thunder Mask (partially found Japanese tokusatsu series; 1972-1973)

Title Screen

Status: Partially Found

Thunder Mask (サンダーマスク) is a tokusatsu series that aired on NTV from October 3, 1972 to March 27, 1973. The series consists of 26 episodes and was co-produced by Toyo Agency (currently, Sotsu) and Hiromi Production.

Premise

The series was originally planned by Mushi Productions in 1971 as a live-action adaptation of the manga Majin Garon by Osamu Tezuka, but the project was changed when the Toyo Agency, which served as the agency, was not satisfied with the content of the pilot that was produced. At the time Thunder Mask aired, a manga adaptation by Tezuka was also serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.

The general plot of the series is that a warrior, Thunder Mask, sent to Earth by the Federation of the Thunder Planet, battles the monsters that Dekanda unleashes to thwart the ambitions of Dekanda, the Dark Space Demon King, who is attempting to invade Earth.

Rights disputes and rerun

At the time Thunder Mask was broadcast, the production cost for one episode was only 3 million yen, and the production company suffered from insolvency (the Ultra series, for example, had a production cost of 5 million yen, while a Tokusatsu program usually requires a large production cost). The filming was divided into two teams, one for the main series and one for special effects, but the schedule was always a struggle due to the shortage of staff. As a result, the program was completed in 26 episodes and received an average rating of around 15%. After the show aired, employees of Toyo Agency visited Hiromi Production and unilaterally retrieved the master tapes, claiming that we had paid for the production of the show. Hiromi Production protested that no such agreement had been made, but the master tapes were eventually kept by Toyo Agency.

Thunder Mask was apparently rerun in the early 1980s, and on March 27, 1994, episodes 1, 13, and 26 were aired on local station Chukyo Television's program Ima Yomigaeru! Showa Hero Retsuden, but this was the last time Thunder Mask was rerun. As to why the show was no longer rerun, according to Sotsu, two or three different explanations were given, "the master tapes are in poor condition," "negatives are available," and "not all of them are extant. The reason for not being able to rerun the show is probably that the rights to the show have been dispersed over the years, and because the rights and interests of each party do not match, Sotsu, which owns the master tapes, cannot rerun the show or make it available on home media.

Availability

Although the show's home media adaptation cannot be officially released, pirate DVDs recorded the eight episodes at the time of airing are currently available. It is unclear how long these pirated copies have been available, but the earliest information is that they were available around 2006. The YouTube channel, Thunder Mask Archive, has uploaded eight digitally corrected episodes, which can be viewed. The channel has also uploaded partially scenes from episode 2, partially audio from episode 10, and trailers for episodes 14 and 20.

Episodes

#	Episode Title	English Translated	Air Date	Status
1	見よ！暁の二段変身	Behold! Akatsuki's Two Step Makeover	October 3, 1972	Found
2	魔獣をあやつる少年	A boy who puts out monsters	October 10, 1972	Partially Found
3	火を吐く魔獣	The monster of the fire	October 17, 1972	Found
4	魔王冷凍作戦	Operation freeze the Demon King	October 24, 1972	Partially Found (Trailer)
5	吸血半魚人の復讐	Revenge of the Vampire Half-Fish	October 31, 1972	Lost
6	東京砂漠だハカイダー	Tokyo Desert, Hakaider	November 7, 1972	Found
7	地球の油を吸いつくせ	Suck up all the oil on earth	November 14, 1972	Found
8	ジャンボジェットを喰いつくせ!!	Eat up the Jumbo Jet!!	November 21, 1972	Lost
9	地球に風穴をあけろ！	Put a hole in the earth!	November 28, 1972	Lost
10	ドロドロン！人間どもを骨にしろ	Dorodoron! Bone the humans!	December 5, 1972	Partially Found
11	魔獣たちの待ち伏せだ	The ambush of monsters	December 12, 1972	Lost
12	残酷！サンダーマスク死刑	Cruelty! Thunder Mask capital punishment	December 19, 1972	Found
13	はるかなる銀河の果て	The edge of a galaxy far away	December 26, 1972	Found
14	魔獣を呼ぶけむり	The smoke that attracts monsters	January 2, 1973	Partially Found (Trailer)
15	死の汽笛だ デーゴンH	Death whistle, Degon H	January 9, 1973	Lost
16	生きかえったデカンダ	The Revival of Dekanda	January 16, 1973	Lost
17	電波魔獣デレビング	The radio wave monster Derebingu	January 23, 1973	Lost
18	魔獣バッテラー エレキの逆襲	Monster Battery Ereki strikes back	January 30, 1973	Lost
19	サンダーマスク発狂	Thunder Mask Madness	February 6, 1973	Found
20	不死身魔獣ギャタビラン	Immortal monster Gatabiran	February 13, 1973	Partially Found (Trailer)
21	死の灰でくたばれ！	Die by ashes of death!	February 20, 1973	Lost
22	危い！君のオモチャが魔獣だ！	Dangerous! Your toy is a monster!	February 27, 1973	Lost
23	怪談！吸血鬼と霧の夜	Ghost Story! Vampire and Foggy Nights	March 6, 1973	Lost
24	凍りづめの東京を救え！	Save Tokyo from freezing!	March 13, 1973	Lost
25	大逆転！鉄人13号	The great reversal! Iron Man 13	March 20, 1973	Lost
26	さらば勇者 輝く星よ	Farewell hero, shining star	March 27, 1973	Found

Note

Although Osamu Tezuka is sometimes introduced as the original creator, this is incorrect, as Tezuka was only writing at the request of Hiromi Production.