036: SoraRabbit Watches: Thunder Mask

In recent months I’ve become fascinated with the concept of lost media… entertainment that for one reason or another has become lost to time. Or at the very least, is difficult to find. There are countless examples of this phenomenon and many YouTubers have made their careers documenting and investigating these missing relics. Commercials, TV shows, animation, entire movies… in some cases the investigations bear fruit and these missing items can be found in one form or another. In other cases they seem to be lost for good.

A very well-known example of lost media is Doctor Who. I will talk more about that when I finally post about the good Doctor, but for now I’ll just say that due to the BBC’s archiving practices (or lack thereof) many original early Doctor Who episodes were destroyed forever. Through the tireless efforts of fans, every missing episode has been reconstructed using surviving materials, but not every TV show was so lucky.

The mighty Thunder Mask! (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

This post is about one such TV show. Recently I learned about a mysterious and obscure Japanese tokusatsu show called Thunder Mask. The status of this show is a strange one as most episodes are missing, and the episodes that have been found are in varying degrees of quality. Thunder Mask originally aired on Nippon Television in 1972 for 26 episodes.

The Thunder Mask manga. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu)

Thunder Mask was created as a manga by Tezuka Osama. Tezuka is best known for creating the enduringly popular Astro Boy, which ran from 1952 to 1968. Astro Boy is a well-loved work that has inspired and entertained many for decades.

Thunder Mask, in comparison, is much less well-known. The manga seems interesting. Tezuka wrote himself into the story playing himself. The character Tezuka is a mangaka (creator of manga) who is transported to a science fiction story involving robots and kaiju. The series is not currently licensed in English and I couldn’t find any translations. If I ever do, I’d be interested in reading it. Bear in mind that I have no idea how closely the series follows the manga, but I get the sense it’s mainly an adaptation in name only.

The episodes that have been found were clearly taped off broadcast via VCR. The reasons for the series being lost are uncertain, with some citing legal issues with rebroadcast, while other state that Tezuka Osama hated the television adaption so much that he demanded all copies be destroyed. If this is true, then his crusade was only partially successful, as eight episodes still exist. At a running time of 24-25 minutes per episode, only around three and a half hours of this show is viewable.

Thunder Mask, force for good! (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

The story of the live action Thunder Mask is the story of an alien warrior who battles against the forces of the evil Devil Dekanda (and later the great Devil Bem King) to protect the Earth and his friends from the Devil’s evil invasion. Pretty simple setup, right? This is the standard for tokusatsu and the formula has been seen on Supaidaman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and more. The concept of having a big bad to fight (unlike Ultraman’s kaiju of the week) gives the convenience of having a baked-in reason for the hero or heroes to battle the kaiju week after week.

After learning about Thunder Mask I decided to track it down (what still exists) and give it a try. I’m a big fan of the obscure. I consider things like this to be hidden treasures, just waiting to be found. My only hesitation was that if I liked it, I would never be able to watch it all, which is something that grates at me. (I am a completionist at heart.) I decided that I had to try anyway. I figured if it was bad I would only have to watch 8 episodes after all, and then I would have an interesting post. Unexpectedly, I enjoyed it. I found it odd but charming. If you want to watch it yourself, the episodes are easily found on YouTube. Just know going into it that the picture quality is very poor in places, so if you’re prone to eye strain or headaches, use caution.

Since the series is so short, I decided to break down each episode, unlike my usual SoraRabbit Watches format of discussing key episodes. I did my best with the screencaps, but honestly I didn’t have too much to work with. Subtitles are credited to Hi No Tori. With all that out of the way, let’s embark on the adventure of Thunder Mask!

The evil Devil Dekanda. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Episode 1 shows the origin of Thunder Mask and sets up the plot and characters. The theme song is reminiscent of other tokusatsu series I’ve watched like Ultraman and Supaidaman. (Not quite as catchy, though.) The episode starts with the evil Devil Dekanda summoning a kaiju named Concorne. Corncorne— as well as all the kaiju in the series— is referred to as a “Devil Beast”. It immediately flies off to cause chaos, destroying everything in its path.

Look at this Rodan-looking motherfucker. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Captain Yaro, Chief of the Science Patrol, visits the lab of a Doctor Takase. (Science Patrol… really? Maybe it’s an homage to Ultraman.) The scientists found a 10,000 year old document written by space aliens that predicted Devil Dekanda’s invasion. Dekanda is trying to stop them from using the “Three Stars” which have the power to summon a mighty hero named Thunder Mask. (I have definitely watched too much tokusatsu when this sort of explanation seems commonplace.) The scientists have all the Stars but refuse to reveal where they are. What they need now is the location where Thunder Mask slumbers.

As they’re searching, Concorne attacks. Not content with letting his monsters have all the fun, Dekanda straight-up strangles Dr. Yamano, who dies to protect the secrets of the Stars.

Dekanda is kind of a badass. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Dr. Kudo is the next target. Although under the Science Patrol’s protection, Kudo soon proves to be doomed. Dekanda poses as his wife, serves him tea, and then slashes him with his claws. I’ve got to admit, I appreciate the Devil’s approach. Usually the bad guys hide behind their henchmonsters, but Dekanda is right down there committing homicides left and right. You never saw Professor Monster do this in Supaidaman.

Generic heroes to the rescue! (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

The heroes try in vain to stop him but Dekanda actually jump kicks one of them, shrugs off a point blank gunshot, and then runs away.

Captan Yaro just doesn’t get it. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Yaro warns Dr. Takase to give the Stars to the Devil, but the Doctor refuses. Their only hope is Thunder Mask. Right on cue, Takase’s daughter Mayumi finds the tomb/sleeping chamber of Thunder Mask. This is where we learn the location of the Stars. Takase had implanted the Star of Earth into Mayumi’s arm. The Star of Sea was in the arm of his young son Katsuya. Takase himself had the Star of Heaven. Not in his arm, though. No, it was in his damned eye. (Didn’t see that coming.)

After digging the Stars out of his children’s flesh and his own eye, they’re ready. They put the small jewels into little openings in the entrance to the tomb and enter the cave. Thunder Mask is in a capsule, but he won’t wake up. They realize they have to drag it out of the cave and expose it to the sun. Before he can awaken, however, Devil Dekanda arrives. In an effort to impale the sleeping hero with his spear, Dekanda accidentally kills Doctor Takase.

Epic battle. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Thunder Mask emerges from his capsule and spars with Dekanda. (This is another change from the tokusatsu I have seen. Normally you have to wait for the end of the series for the main villain to fight the hero.) Devil Dekanda puts up a good fight, but after a bit he can tell he won’t be able to win. He teleports away and summons Concorne. Since the kaiju is so much larger than Thunder Mask, TM must use his “Two-Stage Transformation” to grow to giant size.

SPLOOSH. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Concorne sets the city on fire and apparently Thunder Mask comes equipped with a fire extinguisher ray or something. Whatever it is, he manages to put out the fire.

Brutal. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Thunder Mask then uses his finishing move… a throwing star that is called the “Thunder Shoot”. (All of his moves are thunder-related. Maybe his fire extinguisher is “Thunder Spray”?) It cleanly decapitates Concorne, killing him instantly. Dekanda swears vengeance on Thunder Mask and disappears.

Thunder Mask’s alter ego. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Thunder Mask then turns into a man named Koichi Inochi, who the kids find praying at their father’s grave. The kids immediately realize that he’s Thunder Mask. He explains that he comes from the Planet Thunder and since time works differently for aliens (?) he arrived at Earth 10,000 years too early to stop Dekanda. So he took a little nap. He asks the kids to keep his identity a secret for some reason he doesn’t really elaborate on. (This is a trope in the genre— a secret identity for the hero that no one or only a few people know.)

And that was the first episode! I found it a solid start to the series, although it didn’t really elaborate on the side characters much or explain what the Science Patrol’s role is in their world. (They kind of look like the police actually. But maybe also the military?) Also there appears to be no reason for Koichi to have to keep his real identity secret, as we’ll see later that he actively assists the Science Patrol and Dekanda knows who he is already. (Dekanda never seems to dox him, which is odd. You’d think the villain would want to ruin his secret identity.) We don’t get to see Koichi’s introduction to the Science Patrol, so I have no idea what kind of cover story he gave. This show brings up more and more questions we can’t answer.

Strike a pose! (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

As I was writing this post, my research uncovered that 5 minutes of Episode 2 were discovered. It’s a pity there wasn’t more, since this portion is actually the best quality footage I’ve seen. The clip is not subbed, but because of the “Next Time on Thunder Mask” segment from Episode 1, I know that this episode is about a boy named Hiroshi who seems to be able to remotely control a fire-breathing kaiju named Tirema.

This kaiju’s name is Tirema, but I’m gonna call him Chubby Gamera. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

There was an “oh shit” moment in this episode where, with no explanation, Koichi draws a gun and just fucking shoots the little kid in the chest. Of course it turns out to be Dekanda in disguise, but at first the hero seems to have lost his damned mind. He transforms into Thunder Mask, which we get to see on this episode. In order to transform, he presses a button on his belt, screams “THUNDER!” and then vaults through the air like an acrobat. (It’s pretty cool actually. If I was in better shape I would totally try it.) Thunder Mask rumbles with Dekanda, and then takes on Tirema. Tirema can transform into a spiked wheel and fly around. Thunder Mask destroys him with his red throwing star, Dekanda curses and disappears, and the clip cuts off there.

Devil Dekanda is a manga fan. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Episode 3 was an interesting one. We learn that Koichi has psychic powers and can predict disasters. This was touched on briefly in Episode 1 where he mentioned the prophecy that brought him to Earth. His prediction this time is that Barajudon, an 8000 year old kaiju, was returning to Earth. This prediction is made stranger by the fact that a popular manga also predicted this would happen. Dekanda also has the comic, and it’s likely that the story is what inspired him to call on this new kaiju threat. (I really like the idea of a super villain sitting around reading comic books and planning his world domination after the stories. That could be a series all by itself!)

The comic is written and drawn by an artist named Yumeno. (I do feel like they’re referencing the original Thunder Mask manga, though, since Tezuka was a character in it.) Captain Yaro demands that Yumeno changes the next volume of the manga to show Barajudon being defeated. He didn’t want to compromise his art, and his fears were valid, since the next volume sells like shit. Meanwhile the Science Patrol plans to destroy the kaiju’s power cell to defeat it.

The dreaded Barajudon. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Dekanda, never satisfied with just letting his plans fall apart, appears to the mangaka and suggests a new ending for his comic… the death of Thunder Mask. For reasons the show doesn’t entirely get into, the Patrol’s plans are foiled because the comic was changed. I mean, it’s not like the comic was really impacting reality… but maybe it was? I dunno. This episode was confusing. I watched it twice and still don’t get it. The nearest I can figure is that Dekanda matched the plot of the manga to trick them. Then Yaro put too much stock in the comic and got distracted. Anyway, Thunder Mask gets tired of waiting and arrives to fight with Dekanda before growing and defeating Barajudon.

The “Next Time” segment reveals that Episode 4 was about a kaiju named Lydon that could freeze people and automobiles. Dekanda pretends to be a monk to trick them.

This kaiju looks like he’s utterly done with my shit. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Episodes 6 and 7 were, sadly, not subbed, so I had to guess on what was going on. I didn’t notice Yaro in these episodes… there appeared to be a different character named Taiju in his place.

Near as I could figure in Episode 6, Dekanda sends a meteorite that sprays gas and then becomes a kaiju. According to the Wiki, his name is Sand Abyss Devil Beast Hakaider. Thunder Mask transforms right away, a sure sign that he’s not going to win on his first try. Hakaider has really high defenses and injured Thunder Mask in the fight. While the kaiju snacks on some buildings, Koichi and the kids sneak away to Thunder Mask’s capsule so he can heal. The Science Patrol tries to float the kaiju away with balloons, which obviously fails.

Thunder Mask finally recovers and engages Hakaider again. Not even his magical throwing stars can penetrate the kaiju’s thick skin. Thunder Mask ends up shrinking down and jumps into the kaiju’s mouth where he grows and kicks it from the inside until it explodes. (It just made me think of the internet theory about Antman being the one to defeat Thanos in Endgame.)

Episode 7 was about Dakanda making some sort of flying fish monster. (Again referring to the Wiki, its name was Giant Whale Devil Beast Boure.) Dakanda then disguises himself as a good Samaritan who gives gas to some teenagers. The gas explodes, wrecking their car and clothes. (I have no idea what his plan was there, unless he was just being a dick. I seriously felt the missing subtitles. I’m sure there was a reason for him to do that and I wish I knew what it was because it seemed disconnected to the rest of the episode.) Thunder Mask arrives to put out the fire Boure causes, but the kaiju is too fast for him. He ends up trapped in a rock slide and the kids have to rescue him. He transforms again and fights Dekanda and Boure. He makes his throwing star spark and tosses it right into Boure’s mouth, making him explode. (Note, there was no “Next Time” segment on this episode.)

This is the picture quality I’m dealing with here. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Episode 12 is back to the subtitles and this one is a good one. Unfortunately it’s also poor picture quality, so it was hard to get coherent screenshots. In this one we get to meet Dekanda’s superior who was introduced in Episode 11. His name is the Great Devil Bem King. (Side note, Machine BEM were the names of the monsters in Supaidaman. Nearest I can find it stands for “Bug-eyed Monsters”. It seems to be a common term in science fiction.) Tired of Dekanda’s failures, Bem King has summoned his own Thunder Mask-like warrior named Shooting Star Iron Mask. He has a pretty cool design— he’s armored and has spikes. He duels with Dekanda and easily decapitates him. (Don’t worry, he’s not dead. He apparently gets better.)

Iron Mask disguises himself as Rin, Koichi’s younger sister. His plan is to plant a device called an “electromagnetic wave” to “untune Thunder Mask’s brain wave”. Meanwhile Koichi has a nightmare about fighting a kaiju named Megatron. (No relation to the Decepticon of the same name.) Koichi soon encounters Fake Rin and is understandably confused. She should be on Planet Thunder.

Things escalate from here for Koichi, with a terrible ringing sound from Iron Mask’s device messing with his head. Iron Mask/Rin psychically taunts Koichi, explaining his plan. Koichi hallucinates Megatron rampaging and transforms into Thunder Mask, causing a rampage of his own and totally wrecking shit. Afterwards, he starts slapping his sister around in front of all his friends, effectively ruining both his and Thunder Mask’s reputations.

Iron Mask challenges him to a duel on Decapitated Heads Hill… which is an indisputably awesome name for a hill.

Aww. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Some kids still believe in him, which gives Koichi enough courage to face his challenge. He battles Iron Mask, soon finding out this foe’s armor makes him immune to the Thunder Shoot. What makes things worse is that Megatron arrives and Iron Mask also has the ability to grow. Thunder Mask is outmatched trying to fight both of them. He’s gored by Megatron’s horn and impaled on Iron Mask’s spear. Then they crucify him. Holy shit.

Yikes. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Episode 13 was the continuation and we pick up right where last episode left off. Thunder Mask is still crucified and Iron Mask is taunting all his friends. They insist that even though it looks bad, Thunder Mask is an immortal superman and will obviously come back to life. (Side note: I wondered why this image of Thunder Mask crucified looked so familiar to me. I finally remembered that the same thing happened to Supaidaman. So I guess that’s a whole thing.)

Shooting Star Iron Mask is a savage. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

We cut to the lab where the scientists are working to revive Thunder Mask with electricity, apparently forgetting he has a capsule that can heal his injuries. Iron Mask appears, whips people, and orders the scientists to build a mind control device for him. They all learn at this point that he was impersonating Rin and so Thunder Mask and Koichi weren’t crazy after all.

Poor guy. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

After this whip-heavy scene they finally remember the capsule and drag Thunder Mask’s corpse to it. But they’re too late. Megatron arrives and smashes the capsule flat. (That was pretty good. From a story standpoint it kills the suspense to have a cure-all plot device lying around like that.) Speaking of plot devices… Mayumi suddenly remembers there a flying space car nearby. (What a twist… Probably something from an episode we missed.) She decides that if they can’t bring him back to life, they may as well let him drive off into space and drift forever.

The scientists make a weak attempt to electrocute Iron Mask, which just pisses him off. They also learn that Megatron is missile-proof. Mayumi— for some reason speaking for everyone— agrees they will be Iron Mask’s slaves. The scientists set to work building the mind control device and the kids lurk off into their dad’s secret weapon room that they just now found. (They kind of hint that maybe it was Doctor Takase’s ghost that led them there, but they don’t spend much time on it.)

They probably don’t carry that in Home Depot. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

In this room they find the Thunder Spark Gun V-7, which was the Doctor’s backup plan to fight Devil Dekanda if Thunder Mask was never found. It seems pretty OP, but unfortunately it’s missing a component. This is hastily resolved though, as Katsuya makes his way to the National Laser Research Center and encounters zero resistance or obstacles. What’s more, outside the Center he meets a friendly scientist just strolling by who knows exactly where the beam tube is and is willing to hand it right over to this strange kid. How convenient.

Well that’s fancy. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Meanwhile in space, the flying car (Thunder One, they later call it) is abducted by a large spaceship. The lifeless corpse of our hero is put into a capsule by a woman. Back on Earth the plot advances quickly as the scientists finish the mind control device and the kids finish the gun.

Back in space Koichi is alive again. It turns out that the woman was the real Rin and she says that she got an SOS from Thunder One and rushed right out in her ship. She gives her brother something called a “Thunder Zymar” and Koichi rushes off to save everyone. (Wait, this brings up another question that just occurred to me. If Rin can travel to Earth so quickly from Planet Thunder, why did Thunder Mask nap in the capsule? Couldn’t he have just gone home and lived his life until it was time to come back? Ugh, now I’m confused.)

On Earth Iron Mask has ordered a scientist to be strapped into the device to test it and Mayumi sees her chance. She shoots Iron Mask with her father’s badass gun, but shockingly his armor is protection even against the might of the Thunder Spark Gun V-7. Luckily before Iron Mask can get his whip out, Thunder Mask appears and gives his rival a mighty Thunder Kick. (Of course he has a move called Thunder Kick. Did you ever doubt it? I’m sure he also has a Thunder Punch.)

Poor Megatron. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Thunder Mask grows and fights Megatron and a giant Iron Mask. It goes better this time because he is able to negate the disrupting bell with his Thunder Zymar. Thunder Mask picks up Iron Mask and tosses him at Megatron, which was amusing. He then decapitates Megatron with his Thunder Shoot. Stubbornly, Megatron’s decapitated head flies at our hero, but it’s quickly blown up by the Thunder Zymar Beam, which is a new power. He turns the beam onto Iron Mask and blows him up too. (Thunder Mask has levelled up!)

These episodes were fun. I always enjoy the two-parters… that was the case in Ultra Q and Ultraman also. There’s less of a rush when the story can be stretched over two episodes. Also I love the idea of Thunder Mask having a similarly-powered nemesis. Still, some of the plot threads were glossed over, like the ghost of Takase, what exactly the Thunder Zymar is, and Devil Dekanda’s fate (I like to picture Bem sewing his head back on.)

I apologize for the quality of the screenshot but trust me… he’s going to town on that brain. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Episode 19 was hands-down my favorite episode, but the picture quality was so poor in places that I couldn’t even read the subtitles. (Which is weird… I thought the subtitles were added digitally afterwards, so the picture quality shouldn’t have effected them. I guess I’m not sure how that works.) I unfortunately couldn’t get decent screen caps from this one, so we’ll have to settle for the three blurry shots I’ve included.

This episode had a great title: “Thunder Mask Goes Crazy“. The tale begins with a group of punk teenagers huffing paint thinner fumes to get high. They’re wildly stoned, giving a Lady Cop a hard time. (One even calls her a bitch, which I think may be the subtitle person going rogue. This is supposed to be a kid’s show after all.) Lady Cop tells them they’ll become paint thinner addicts, which caused me to have to pause the video as I frightened my cat with my laughter.

Lady Cop takes the paint thinner addicts to a secluded location before blowing up two cops and the cop car. She then kills the punks, laughing evilly. That’s right— Lady Cop is actually our old friend Devil Dekanda! He calls out Thinnerman, a kaiju whose favorite food is brains that have been contaminated by paint thinner. (Is this a PSA? Don’t do paint thinner kids, or your brains will get tasty and eaten!)

Thinnerman eagerly drills into one of the girl’s heads and starts contentedly sucking her tasty brains out with a straw. As you can imagine, I was fully invested in the episode by this point. When you bring a brain-sucking kaiju into an anti-drug PSA, I’m right there. (I haven’t researched it, but I’m assuming there must have been a paint thinner epidemic in Japan in the 70s and it was bad enough for them to believe Thunder Mask could stop the youth from getting corrupted.)

He seems pretty okay with this. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

That’s just phase one of Dekanda’s dastardly plan, though. He disguises himself as Lady Cop again and visits a famous brain surgeon, Doctor Karigane. He explains that since Koichi can always see through his disguises, he will need help.

Meanwhile Katsuya almost got high on paint thinner because of the school’s poor ventilation. They warn him to stay away from that stuff so he doesn’t become an addict. Lady Cop stalks Mayumi and knock her out, taking her to the Brain Surgery Laboratory (which is what the caption states it’s called). Doctor Karigane calls Koichi and tells him where she is, so he rushes off. The Doctor threatens to perform an operation on him, but Koichi rushes off (leaving Mayumi in danger, by the way) to fight Thinnerman for awhile. He knocks the kaiju out quickly and returns to the lab, leaving me to wonder why they even bothered to have him leave and come back. (Padding the episode, I suppose.) Mayumi is chained to the table with dynamite, so Koichi has to agree to the operation. Showing some odd courtesy, Dekanda (still disguised as Lady Cop) wipes Mayumi’s memory and transports her out of the lab. (Strange choice, evil plot-wise. Story-wise it just gives her a chance to come back and save Koichi.)

This is where it gets strange (ha ha). The plot is to swap Koichi’s brain with Thinnerman’s. They keep saying brain, but I’m pretty sure the doctor just swapped the contents of their brains, since he didn’t cut open their skulls or anything. All the doctor did was put a metal cap on them and flip a switch, triumphantly stating their brains had been transplanted.

Koichi, with Thinnerman’s drug-addled brain, goes nuts. He stumbles around and acts drunk, harassing a woman on the street, throwing around trashcans, and shouting that he wants paint thinner. (Once again he shames himself in front of his friends. This seems like a recurring theme.) Back in the lab, Dekanda is pissed because Thinnerman is attacking him and isn’t listening to his orders. The doctor explains that it’s because Koichi’s brain is not loyal to Dekanda and so it would be natural for him to attack the Devil. Dekanda’s response? “Damn.” (Showing that he really didn’t think this plan through at all.)

Thinnerman/Koichi unplugs something and magically the doctor is free? I’m not sure why that worked, but whatever. Mayumi and Katsuya have arrived with Koichi’s body and the doctor quickly reverses the operation. Koichi promptly transforms to do battle with Thinnerman.

This is why you don’t huff paint thinner, kids. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

I couldn’t get a decent shot of Thinnerman, but he’s got a white and black striped body, a jagged beak, and his head is a big throbbing brain with glowing googly eyes. He has drill arms and sprays paint thinner gas and then lights it on fire somehow to make a flamethrower. Thunder Mask shoots him with a Thunder Missile (I love when they just make up new powers on the fly) and then uses a spinning move to get rid of the gas. I think it was called Thunder Cleaner, but I couldn’t entirely read the subtitles at this point. That’s what it sounded like he screamed before he started spinning around. Then he uses his trusty Thunder Shoot to split the kaiju’s head-brain in half.

After this, the narrator gravely warns the viewers to not abuse paint thinner or you’ll help Devil Dekanda’s cause. Good advice for us all. I think we’ve all learned a valuable lesson today. (See, I can be educational!)

The scenes from Episode 20 show a kaiju named Gatabilan, who is heavily armored and looks kinda like a rhino. I couldn’t read the subtitles, so I have no idea what the plot of the episode was.

What would he do without them? (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

And now we come to the end of our journey, Episode 26. To my great disappointment, Thunder Mask’s final showdown with Shooting Star Iron Mask was among the missing episodes… that happened in Episode 25. Episode 26 is actually the continuation of that one, and thankfully we do have a decent recap of 25 at the beginning of this episode, so we can piece it together.

Apparently in Episode 25, Koichi created anti-kaiju missiles that defeated the Devil Bem King’s latest creation Vampiric Monster Samera, as well as Shooting Star Iron Mask. Angry, Bem King created a robot called Transforming Robot Tetsujin 13. The Science Patrol fired a missile at it but Tetsujin turned into Thunder Mask and the missile hit the real one.

Episode 26 picks up right with that cliffhanger. “Don’t die!” Mayumi helpfully shouts.

The dreaded Robot Tetsujin 13. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Koichi staggers up, weak and blinded. They make a headstone for Thunder Mask, who Koichi insists is essentially dead. He can no longer transform. Well, he says there is a way for him to transform, but it would kill him. Mayumi assures him his mission is over and he can rest. Meanwhile Bem King orders Dekanda to do his job and kill the weakened Koichi. Dekanda summons a new kaiju named Tokagerus, who is kind of blue and looks like he’s made of stone. (The video quality makes it hard to tell for sure.)

The bad guys accost Koichi in a field, where he’s trying unsuccessfully to transform. (Mainly he’s just shouting “THUNDER” and falling on his face.) Dekanda sends chicken ninjas after him. You may think I’m kidding, and if so, you haven’t been paying attention to how weird this show is. I’m not sure exactly what these guys are supposed to be, but they’re wearing black body suits that even cover their faces, they make bird sounds, and they have black rooster crests. (I couldn’t get a good shot of them, so use your imaginations.) While Koichi fights against the hoard of chicken ninjas, Dekanda taunts him, trying to get him to transform. I’m not sure why Dekanda doesn’t want to kill him in his weakened human form, unless maybe it’s an honor thing.

Koichi has made up his mind. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Dekanda sends Tetsujin 13 to rampage and the Science Patrol battles him. One of the ships is caught and the Captain (a different one from Captain Yaro) hesitates, not firing. The crew member is killed. Poor Oki. Not sure if he was a recurring character or not, but the moment was given a lot of weight, so I think he was. When they do fire, Tetsujin 13 is ready and blocks the missile. Seeing the damage that’s being done, Koichi promises to duel Dekanda the next day. The Devil doesn’t want to wait, but Koichi insists he’ll need that long before he can transform.

Koichi contacts Rin’s ship and she reluctantly gives him a device. She warns him that if he uses it, he’ll be evaporated in three minutes. He insists it’s the only way. The device is a belt called the Increase Machine and its function is to store 1 million volts of electricity in his body. (Something that is clearly dangerous even for aliens.) Koichi straps on his performance enhancer and promises Rin he’d see her back on Planet Thunder.

Then Koichi goes to say goodbye to his friends. He tells Katsuya to never forget Thunder Mask’s heart and dedication to fighting evil. He gives Mayumi a small crystal and tells her to watch the star when she wants to see him. With these cryptic words, he’s off!

The final battle. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Koichi fights the chicken ninjas before turning into Thunder Mask and knocking them all out. He swiftly defeats Tokagerus with his Thunder Shoot. And then he kills Dekanda with a Thunder Arrow to the face! Dekanda explodes, finally truly dead. (Not like that weak decapitation death he suffered earlier in the series.) It’s not over yet. Thunder Mask finds himself face to face with Tetsujin 13 and a giant Bem King. Thunder Mask grows to battle them. (I have to wonder does he know Bem King? Did they meet in a previous episode or was Bem King a part of his prophecy? Is TM standing there like “Now who the fuck is this guy?“ We may never know the answers to these burning questions.)

He tries to Thunder Zymar them, but it’s out of power. (I tried to make a joke here about the plot device being exhausted, but I don’t think it worked well.) Tetsujin 13 starts messing him up and Thunder Mask states that his three minutes is almost up (even though it had actually been four minutes by this point… but who’s counting? Hell, the Tournament of Power in Dragon Ball Super was only 48 minutes and that took up 34 episodes.)

Bem is a jerk. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Bem King grabs him and orders Tetsujin 13 to finish him off. This proves to be a fatal mistake.

Zapppp. Dumbass. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

Tetsujin 13 stabs Thunder Mask and due to the voltage in his body, all three of them are electrocuted. The robot and Bem King fall, dead and on fire. Thunder Mask shoots up into the sky and becomes a star. The kids look up at the star, realize it’s Koichi, the narrator says goodbye, and the credits roll.

It’s just like the Lion King. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

And that’s where it ended. I felt like the last episode was a bit rushed—especially the final battle with Dekanda— but I do love the way Japanese shows include a conclusion to their stories in contrast to the American tendency to cancel things before they can properly end.

My thoughts on Thunder Mask: This was a very enjoyable show. It’s formulaic, as all tokusatsu superhero shows are to some extent. (Anyone who’s ever watched Power Rangers knows what I mean.) A danger arises— usually a kaiju— and the heroes stop it in dazzling ways… generally with special moves and giant robots. However, Thunder Mask had some notable differences from the usual formula. The main one of those was that the major baddie, Devil Dekanda, was very hands-on. He was constantly lurking around, and Thunder Mask had to battle him in nearly every episode. For a main villain, Dekanda was not afraid to get his hands dirty. He didn’t fully rely on incompetent henchmen, preferring to put his plans into motion himself. Of course his plans were usually needlessly convoluted and not always clear on intent, but you can’t have everything.

Upsides: I liked the kaiju and character designs. Dekanda and Iron Mask were especially well-crafted. The battles were well-choreographed and fun. I liked the concept and the escalating threats of the enemies. (Bringing in the bad guy’s supervisor halfway through the series was a neat little twist.)

Downsides: Most of the episodes had poor picture and sound quality due to the recordings that have surfaced. The characters— aside from Devil Dekanda— were not fleshed out. At least in Ultraman each character had a basic personality and each member played a distinctive role in the team. Not so here. It was usually just a bunch of people standing around waiting for Koichi to tell them what to do. Koichi was not necessarily a likeable character either… he came across as a bit harsh and cold.

I like Devil Dekanda’s style. (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)

In conclusion, although I feel like Ultraman was higher quality and had more likable characters, I did enjoy Thunder Mask. There were a lot of unexpected moments, and that’s putting it mildly. Seriously, though, this show was wild! Even putting aside Thinnerman and his addiction to sucking on sweet, sweet damaged brains… We have a villain who, rather than unleash a dozen kaiju on the population, instead doles them out one at a time, spending his energy on complex plans that usually involve him playing dress up. We have the main character punching out his supposed sister, shooting a little boy with no warning, decapitating kaiju mercilessly, and going on a rampage that partially destroys the city at least twice. Thunder Mask is gored, impaled, blinded, crushed by rocks, forced to have brain surgery, crucified, and ultimately electrocuted before being turned into a literal star. And that’s just in the 8 1/5 episodes we got! Honestly, due to its over-the-top plotlines and twists and turns, it reminded me less of Ultraman and more of Supaidaman (which I WILL cover here some day).

I had fun watching this, much more than I expected. The only problem is that now I will forever have a hole inside me that will never be filled… unless the remaining 18 episodes are released. (I know it sounds like I’m being overly dramatic, but it’s true. I hate leaving things unfinished. And this, by its very nature, will probably always be unfinished.) If the rest of the series ever resurfaces in whatever quality, subbed or not, I would eagerly watch it. (And do a sequel to this post.)

Tokusatsu super hero shows are all about adventure and spectacle. Heroes facing grave danger and fierce opponents to protect the innocent with no concern for their own safety. Justice prevails, but not without cost. Along these lines, Thunder Mask did a fantastic job. There may be better tokusatsu out there, but this one deserves recognition. Hopefully one day we can all watch the entirety of this strange little series in higher quality. It was truly a hidden treasure… one I’m grateful to have discovered and to have shared with you.

Thank you for reading my exploration of the rare, mostly missing series Thunder Mask. Until next time, I leave you with a grave warning. Don’t become addicted to paint thinner… or Devil Dekanda will win!

When you wish upon a Thunder Mask… (Credit: Tezuka Osamu, Sotsu Co. Ltd.)