Chōjin Sentai Jetman

Plot

This series takes place in 199X. On the Earth Ship, the command center of a defence agency called Sky Force, the guardians of peace on Earth, scientists have developed "Birdonic Waves", a newly developed technology which gives the subject superhuman abilities. Experiments called "J-Project" were successful. Aya Odagiri, the director of the project, chooses five elite Sky Force officials from Earth to use this technology. Ryu Tendoh, one of the Sky Force officers, is successfully exposed to the Birdonic Waves, making him the first Jetman, the Red Hawk.

However, the Earth Ship is suddenly attacked by Vyram, an evil outer-dimensional organization bent on inter-dimensional domination. They successfully destroy the ship, apparently killing Ryu's lover and fellow candidate member Rie. In the chaos, the remaining Birdonic Waves for the other four officials become scattered on Earth, hitting four civilians. Odagiri and Tendoh successfully escape and begin searching on Earth for the four remaining Jetmen, training them to aid them in stopping Vyram's plans of conquering their dimension.

The series later follows the tribulations of Ryu as he learns of Rie's survival and enlistment in the Vyram forces, as well as a love triangle between Gai, Ryu, and Kaori.

Earth Defence Force Sky Force

Earth Defence Force Sky Force (地球防衛軍スカイフォース, Chikyū Bōeigun Sukai Fōsu) is the military organization the Jetmen belong to.

Jetmen

Based at the Sky Camp (スカイキャンプ, Sukai Kyanpu), a high-tech base provided by the Sky Force, the Jetmen can launch their mecha from it. Each Jetman has a wing suit called the Jet Wings in order for them to glide in the air.

Ryu Tendoh

Ryu Tendoh (天堂 竜, Tendō Ryū)/Red Hawk (レッドホーク, Reddo Hōku): Born at May 10, 1965. He is 25 years old at the beginning of the series, but turns 26 in episode 13. He is originally a Sky Forcer codenamed "W6" and leader of the Jetmen. Being the only official to become a Jetman, his policy is to be always professional and never let feelings affect himself in battle, enforcing it to his team mates. This leads to a conflict when he discovers that his beloved Rie has become Maria, eventually coming to terms with the revelation as he resolves to save Rie from the Vyram's hold over her. However, Maria's death at the hands of his nemesis Radiguet exceeds into the final battle, causing him to face Radiguet alone before Kaori consoles Ryu and advises him not to take revenge. During the final battle, Ryu has his superior and the other Jetmen use Jet Icarus to destroy Raguem and Jet Garuda, injuring him as a result. Three years later, Ryu marries Kaori and the two have a son, whom they name after their late teammate, Gai.

Ryu Tendoh is portrayed by Kotaro Tanaka (田中 弘太郎, Tanaka Kotaro).

Kaori Rokumeikan

Kaori Rokumeikan (鹿鳴館 香, Rokumeikan Kaori)/White Swan (ホワイトスワン, Howaito Suwan): The 22-year-old heiress of the Rokumeikan Enterprises empire. She is taken care of by her butler, Jiiya, since her parents live in New York City. She joined the Jetmen to escape the boredom of her heiress life. She is good at Kendo and is the best shot in Jetman. Kaori was in the middle of a love triangle with Ryū and Gai, learning in battle what a spoiled rich girl she was and what were the really important things. Raita also had feelings for her. She was once engaged to a wealthy businessman named Soichiro Kitaoji and was close to marrying him, but she quickly ended their relationship when she saw his selfishness in contrast to her team's selfless determination as warriors of justice. She does sometimes use her wealth to help the team, like when she used a lot of diamonds to try and snap Ako from the curse of the monster Red Diamond. At the end of the series, she marries Ryū and they have a son, Gai.

Kaori Rokumeikan is portrayed by Rika Kishida (岸田 里佳, Kishida Rika).

Raita Oishi

Raita Oishi (大石 雷太, Ōishi Raita)/Yellow Owl (イエローオウル, Ierō Ōru): A 22-year-old overweight, eyeglasses-wearing nature lover who enjoys vegetables, Raita hates Vyram for their destruction of nature. He was raised by his grandmother, Kiyo Ōishi, because Raita's parents were busy learning to be good at cooking. He looked after Kaori, vowing to be there for her even if he has no chance with her. As Yellow Owl, he specializes in raw strength techniques like head butts, body blows, sumo-based techniques, and hurling boulders. Three years after Vyram is defeated, he runs a farm with his childhood friend, Satsuki, before later taking their business to the next level via the internet.

Raita Oishi is portrayed by Ikko Tadano (ただの いっこ, Tadano Ikko) (Credited under Tomihisa Naruse (成瀬 富久, Naruse Tomihisa)).

Ako Hayasaka

Ako Hayasaka (早坂 アコ, Hayasaka Ako)/Blue Swallow (ブルースワロー, Burū Suwarō): An 18-year-old senior student at Miharakita High School, Ako was a bright and cheerful girl who wants to marry a rich man. She first thought of being a Jetman as a means to get ¥1,500 per hour, but her first battle helps her see justice and made her realize that she must fight for good. She is best friends with her classmate, Kyōko, who learned of her true identity during the voice Jigen incident. From the Gomi Jigen incident, the monster being her childhood toy Pootan, Ako learns of how wasteful humans can be. She debuts as an idol singer three years after the fall of Vyram.

Ako Hayasaka is portrayed by Sayuri Uchida (内田 さゆり, Uchida Sayuri).

Gai Yuki

Gai Yuki (結城 凱, Yūki Gai)/Black Condor (ブラックコンドル, Burakku Kondoru): The 25-year-old second-in-command of the Jetmen, a loner who hates being told what to do. Gai loves to fight but prefers things to work out without violence. Gai's fighting styles are street fighting and mixed martial arts: his combat skills match Ryu's, though he fights dirty and hits below the belt sometimes. He initially clashes with Ryū when drafted against his will, but they eventually become friends. His interests include motorcycle, swimming, saxophone, gambling and womanizing. He loves Kaori, and often tries to flirt with her, without results, which ends up with him suffering from the frustration of his unreciprocated feelings. When she finally accepts him, they frequently have problems in their relationship, as they are too different. He is rivals with Grey. He defeated Grey in their final encounter, in which a part of his helmet was damaged. Years after the defeat of Vyram, while buying a bouquet for Ryu and Kaori's wedding, Gai chases after a mugger, who stabs him in the stomach. He makes it to the church after the wedding party and talks to Ryu before he dies of his wound while watching everyone enjoy themselves. Ryu and Kaori name their son after him.

Gai Yuki is portrayed by Toshihide Wakamatsu (若松 俊秀, Wakamatsu Toshihide).

Arsenal

Vehicles

Mecha

Allies

Aya Odagiri

Commander Aya Odagiri (小田切綾長官, Odagiri Aya-chōkan): The first female commander of Sentai. She is good at martial arts, and the inventor of the team vehicles. She can be both caring and severe to the Jetmen, and the most important thing to her is the life of her underlings, so much that she is willing to fight in the line of fire if necessary. Her subordinates call her "Chōkan" (meaning 'chief' or 'commander'). She pilots Jet Garuda when necessary such as in the final battle.

Commander Aya Odagiri is portrayed by Mikiko Miki (三輝 みきこ, Miki Mikiko).

Supreme Commander Ichijō

Supreme Commander Ichijō (一条総司令, Ichijō Sōshirei, 40-41) : A Sky Force officer who cares only for himself and bears a grudge against Aya for being the commanding officer in the Jetmen project. With his Neo-Jetmen, Ichijō takes command of Aya's station, bent on making her suffer while removing her Jetmen from the picture. However, after his true colors are revealed, Ichijō is removed from his position before being attacked by Meteor BEM.

Neo Jetman

Others

Dimensional War Party Vyram

The Dimensional War Party Vyram (次元戦団バイラム, Jigen Sendan Bairamu) appears as a clan of outer-dimensional nobles, who conquered many worlds in the Back Dimension, and are now moving on to Front Dimension, ours. They boast about having achieved godhood, while they despise humans and see them as stupid and worthless. Their base of operations is the Vylock (バイロック, Bairokku), a brain-shaped castle capable of traversing dimensions and sending its forces to Earth due to its Dimensional Transfer Machine. After their leader got lost in the Back Dimension, its four leading members compete in a game to defeat the Jetmen with the prize being full-leadership. Tran eventually becomes powerful enough to assume command, but is deposed by Radiguet, who leads Vyram up to its destruction.

Back Dimensional Count Radiguet

Back Dimensional Count Radiguet (裏次元伯爵ラディゲ, Urajigen Hakushaku Radige): A cold-hearted officer who is the nearest presence to a leader of Vyram, refusing to acknowledge anyone above and will do anything to accomplish his goals including being the one who kills the Jetmen. In battle, Radiguet wields the Demon Sword Bloody Gate (魔剣ブラディゲート, Maken Buradi Gēto) and can transform into his true form, Evil Beast Radigan (凶獣ラディガン, Kyōjū Radigan), when enraged. When Juuza returned to power, Radiguet attempts to kill her and ends being punished for his treachery by living as a human with no memory of his life in Vyram. Cared for by Saki, a girl on the verge of death, Radiguet unconsciously saves her life with his power. But though he wanted nothing to do with his past, Radiguet eventually regains his memories and helps the Jetmen in fighting Juuza. After killing Juuza to acquire Semimaru, Radiguet kills Saki to discard his humanity before nurturing Semimaru to assume its adult form though it was destroyed by the Great Icarus. Radiguet later attempt to bring the Majin under his control, managing to succeed with Ramon when he absorbed Gorg. When Tranza takes over the Vyram throne, Radiguet attempts to kill him off, only to be made an example of by the stronger opponent and forced into humbling himself before Tranza. Baring a terrible grudge against Tranza since then, Radiguet allied himself with Maria and Grey to summon the meteor used to create Meteor BEM to take out the Jetmen, enraged to find Tranza used his plan as a springboard from his own scheme. Attempting to sabotage Veronica, Radiguet is hooked up to have his life force sucked out. However, instead of having the life sucked out of him, Radiguet drains Veronica's power. Later, after using the Jetmen to do his dirty work, Radiquet tortures Tranza before breaking his mind and leaving him powerless, becoming Vyram's leader. Ultimately, the side effects of his power boost manifest in his newly gained giant form, the armored Raguem (ラゲム, Ragemu) (48), (50-51). After killing Rie so Red Hawk could not have her, Radiguet battles him until the other Jetmen arrive. After the five Jetmen defeat him, Radiguet assumes his Raguem form which not even the Great Icarus is a match for until the Tetra Boy exposes the weak point Rie made. To counter their advantage over him, Raguem assimilates the Vylock into armor that he uses to overpower the Tetra Boy. The Great Icarus separates and Ryu uses the Jet Garuda to rip the armor off and the others destroy both the Jet Garuda and Raguem. Radiguet says that he will continue to curse the Jetmen for eternity from the Back Dimension before he explodes.

Back Dimensional Count Radiguet is portrayed by Daisuke Tachi (舘 大介, Tachi Daisuke). He changed his working name to Masaki Tachi (舘正貴Tachi Masaki).

Tran

Tran (トラン, Toran) (1-36) / Emperor Tranza (帝王トランザ, Teiō Toranza) (36-47): A psychokinetic child who suggested a game to settle who would be Vyram's new leader. He specialized into creating toy-ish monsters to satisfy his fun desires, and thought both enemy or ally fatalities as "just part of the fun". Being the youngest of the Vyram was a big complex to him until his failed attempt to take out the Jetmen during their retreat to the Yamada Ranch was the last straw. The constant anger became unbearable to the point of Tran using it energy to undergo a super-rapid growth. With his new-found power and maturity, Tranza easily defeats both his comrades and Jetmen for underestimating him before seizing leadership of Vyram. In addition to his psychokinetic powers, and new-found arrogant nature, he can now assume disguises and wields the Boltranza (ボルトランザ, Borutoranza) rapier. After his Veronica scheme was ruined by Radiguet, after completing his new Bio Gun, Tranza heads out to hunt both him and Jetmen down. Fighting the entire Jetman team on his own, Tranza uses his Bio Gun to turn each Jetman member into a trophy portrait until only Ryu remained. However, with Radiguet aiding Red Hawk before betraying him, the Bio Gun is destroyed and the others are freed as they use Jet Bazooka on Tranza. Though he survives the attacks, Radiguet tortures Tranza before sparring him to live in misery in a catatonic state at a mental institution.

Tran is portrayed by Miku Kuga (久我 未来, Kuga Miku). Emperor Tranza is portrayed by Yutaka Hirose (広瀬 裕, Hirose Yūtaka).

Maria

Maria (マリア, Maria) (1-49): She was formerly known as Rie Aoi (藍リエ, Aoi Rie), ranked Sky Forcer W3, a love interest of Ryu's who plays the piano. Though originally to be a Jetman, Vyram's attack on the Earth Ship resulted with Rie being sucked into space. However, Rie is saved by Radiguet, who brainwashed her to be devoid of her memories as a human and made an official of Vyram. However, though he loved her and tells her that she is his, Maria defies Radiguet to suit her own agenda to be leader of Vyram. She loves to battle, and her methods are cruel and cold. She is armed with the Necrod, which has sword, gun, and whip modes. The monsters created by her were often motivated by envy, and attacked mainly women. Since the Camera Jigen incident, unconsciously playing the piano, Maria develops a relationship with Grey. Since then, she played piano music for Grey despite not knowing why, until her identity was found out and the relationship got difficult. Grey was willing to let her go if it made her happy. During the Majin incident, Maria momentarily reverted to Rie until Radiguet forced her back to her Vyram persona with a vendetta against Red Hawk. Eventually forfeiting their contest, Maria accepts Radiguet's proposal of ruling by his side in return of becoming even stronger than she is now. As a result, Maria is infected by a parasite born from Radiguet's blood that turns her into a vampiric being as she targets men, though unaware that she would transform into mindless puppet overtime. While fighting Ryu, Maria assumes her monstrous form as she battles Red Hawk before assuming Rie's appearance to catch him off guard as the parasite transfers itself to Ryu in order to have him take out the Jetmen. While Ryu manages to return to normal, Maria is in the final stage of her transformation as she defeats the other Jetmen before Ryu arrives and manages to reach Rie, causing Maria to remember her true self as she reverts to her true form. When Radiguet comes to reclaim her, Rie pretends that she will go with him, only to stab him in the back before he mortally wounds her. Before her death, Rie asks Ryu to leave her out of it before being spirited away by Grey. Her ghost later appeared in the finale, saying farewell to Ryu after his marriage to Kaori.

Maria is portrayed by Maho Maruyama (丸山 真穂, Maho Maruyama).

Grey

Grey (グレイ, Gurei) (1-50): A robot who ironically was always the most reasoning member of the Vyram. He is armed with the Grey Cannon (グレイキャノン, Gurei Kyanon), Mulshot Gun (マルショットガン, Marushotto Gan), and Hand Greyzer (ハンドグレイザー, Hando Gureizā). Despite being a robot, he showed human feelings, especially love for wine, music, cigars, and particularly Maria, learning to play the piano from example. As a result, Grey supports Maria in shielding her when fighting Jetman, seeing Gai Yuki as an ideal rival. Learning of Radiguet's plan for her, Grey attempts to talk Maria out of it to no avail. This forces Grey to ask the Jetmen to save Maria. However, he instead takes her dying body away as he takes her death hard. With nothing to live for other than his code as a soldier, Grey calls Gai out in a final match. Eventually, Grey is mortally damaged as Gai lit his one last cigar as a sign of acknowledgment as a worthy rival before Grey shuts down.

Grey is portrayed by Hideaki Kusaka (日下 秀昭, Kusaka Hideaki).

Empress Juuza

Empress Juuza (女帝ジューザ, Jotei Jūza) (17-18): The previous ruler of Vyram, referring to herself as the mother of all creation, Juuza along her underlings Radiguet, Grey, and Tran had conquered the Reverse dimension's worlds. While able to use telekinesis and breathe fire in her human form, Juuza can assume a Demon Beast form where she fires bullets from her fingers and shock-waves and beams from her mouth. Thought to be dead in the last battle in the back dimension, she actually went under a long sleep to regain her strength after acquiring the Semimaru and incubating it, and came to Earth via a meteorite. She makes her presence known by causing a momentary blackout across the city. By the time the Jetmen investigate, finding Radiguet as he was about to kill her while asleep, Juuza emerges and resumes control of Vyram. She then proceeds to turn every human in the city into a crystal pillar so she can feed Semimaru. The Jetmen nearly lose to her as Gai is affected by Juuza's spell. After banishing Radiguet for his treachery, Juuza resumes her attack as the Jetmen battle her before Gai succumbs to Juuza's spell. With some unexpected assistance from Radiguet, the Jetmen destroy her forehead crystal to free everyone she turned into crystal. Enraged that her face is scarred, Juuza assumes her Demon Beast form as the rest of Vyram and Black Condor join the fight against her as the Jetmen use the Fire Bazooka to defeat her. Near death, she is killed by Radiguet when he jabs his sword onto her throat just before Semimaru hatched.

Grinam Soldiers

Grinam Soldiers (グリナム兵, Gurinamu Hei): The black-skinned grunts born from Grinam seeds. They are armed with axes and capable of launching explosive shells from their hands. The group were later summoned by Zaigan during Super Sentai World.

Cast

Songs

Development

Chōjin Sentai Jetman is the first Sentai series that paid homage to another series, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman. Developed before the ending of Chikyu Sentai Fiveman, Toei chose Keita Amemiya to be the series's director. During its development, the series is once called "Chōjin Sentai Birdman" (超人戦隊バードマン, Chōjin Sentai Bādoman, Lit. Superhuman Task Force Birdman), and searched for actors who would play the main characters. One of them were Toshihide Wakamatsu who would go on to play Gai Yuki/Black Condor. Before the series, the members were all referred to by their color but both Amemiya and Suzuki said that "this [was] unnatural" and decided the characters to refer each other by their names instead of their colors. Episodes without the characters transforming and fighting were also proposed, but seriously opposed by Bandai until the later half of the series.

The more mature themes such as drama, romantic love triangles and tragedy were in the series's after Takeyuki Suzuki watched Tosho Daimos, and wanted to capture its "high romance". Both the comedy and dramatic tones influenced the series's overall popularity and had become its defining part.

Novels

Following the conclusion of the TV series, the series main screenwriter, Toshiki Inoue, wrote a trilogy of Jetman novels from 1992 to 1995 that retold the events of the TV series. The novels were written specifically for adult fans of the TV series and included mature content, such as detailed descriptions of sexual intercourse between Ryū and Rie, Gai and Kaori, and Radiguet and Maria. Empress Jūza, a one-off villain in the series, had an extended role while the Dimensional Beasts and giant robots were eliminated, with the Jetmen fighting humans subjected to the Vyram's experiments instead.

Manga

A manga sequel to Jetman was published in 1996 authored by Akiko Fujii, in cooperation with the series' writing team (still under the Saburo Yatsude pen name). It was titled Chōjin Sentai Jetman: Toki o Kakete (鳥人戦隊ジェットマン 時を駆けて, "Time Flies"). Set five years after the series (and, therefore, two years after the story ends), it shows the four remaining Jetmen rejoining to battle a revived Radiguet, who had possessed Tranza's broken body. Radiguet kidnaps Ryu and Kaori's one-year-old daughter Aya Tendoh and, much in the same way he turned Rie into Maria before, he accelerates her growth and brainwashes her into becoming Ruma, whom he considers a daughter. Meanwhile, Gai's empty spot in the team is filled by a young rock guitarist called Jeffrey "Jeff" Kenzaki (ジェフリィ剣崎, Jefuryi Kenzaki), who is empowered by Birdonic Waves after a meteorite crashes next to him, and becomes Green Eagle (グリーンイーグル, Gurīn Īguru). In this manga series, the Jetmen uniform is slightly different, with the helmets more closely resembling those of Gatchaman (translucent, protruding visors, and uncovered faces).

Video game

A video game version of Chōjin Sentai Jetman was released for the Famicom on December 21, 1991. The game was published by Angel (a subsidiary of Bandai) and developed by Natsume. It is a single-player side-scrolling action game where the player assumes role one of the Jetmen members as they fight against the forces of Vyram. The player can choose which Jetman they want to control at the start of each stage, each having their own weapon and maximum hit points:

The initial five stages, Area A to Area E, can be played in any order, while the sixth and final stage, Area F, becomes available once the others have cleared. Each stage begins with a standard side-scrolling level in which the player fight their way to the end of the level in order to reach the stage's boss. Each Jetman has three types of attack: a weapon attack, a kick, and a special attack that destroys all enemies, but can only be used once (unless a replenishment is found). The boss segments consists of one-on-one battles between the team's giant robot, the Great Icarus, and a giant monster (all based on monsters from the show). The player has a four-level power gauge that will gradually fill up during the course of battle, which can be used to perform one of four possible special attacks.

The following is a list of bosses in the game and the stages where they appear:

The game features four difficulty settings, a password option, and a Battle Mode where the player can fight against any of the first five bosses.

Reception

As of 2015, the series has become one of the most popular and darkest entries in the Super Sentai Franchise. It officially gained a much wider audience and got a rating of 7.1% average, beating Fiveman's 6.5%. Despite the series also receiving criticism for adding "romance drama to a children's show", Gai Yuki became an instant hit with Japanese mothers; who sent clemency pleas to TV Asahi so that they did not kill him off. It is still today considered to Sentai fans a masterpiece and topped the number 1 popular vote in both Bandai's B-CLUB magazine and Toei's "Super Sentai Request Tournament".

In the end, total revenue from the series greatly exceeded over 15 billion yen.

Jetman was originally going to be adapted into the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.