The History of the Toei Fushigi Comedy Series
Ойын-сауық
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Special thanks to Windii ( / girlbossuran ) for translating the sources for this video. ko-fi.com/windii
Thumbnail by Bohbear: • Video
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John Notes:
I originally conceived this video as a shorter video mostly focusing on Poitrine but outlining the details regarding the other series and a few fun facts I had known of. As I researched I found more and more information that lead to me buying several books/magazines to get the biggest and clearest picture possible turning this into my largest video to date (and also my most expensive).
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0:00 intro
2:10 Robot 8-Chan
6:02 Batten Robomaru
9:07 Petonton
12:31 Nemurin
15:43 Kamitaman
17:00 Morimori Bokkun
18:33 Hard Gumi
21:30 Marin Gumi
24:33 Chinese Magical Girl Pai Pai
27:27 Chinese Magical Girl Ipanema
29:58 Masked Beauty Poitrine
33:36 Mysterious Girl of the Nile Thutmose
35:23 Sing! Palace of the Great Dragon God
38:21 Three Sister Shushutorian
42:32 Epilogue
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Sources (available on Patreon):
Toru Hirayama - Confessions of a Crybaby Producer
Gekisou Sentai Carranger Mook
Revised Ishinomori Hero Guide
Toei Hero MAX Vol. 29
Tokusatsu Encyclopedia 1980-90
Пікірлер: 180
Naoko Takeuchi is on record saying that Captain Harlock was one of the biggest influences on Tuxedo Mask, though this may have more to do with their attitude than their appearance.
I think it's very important to mention that Robomaru is an ABSOLUTE SOCIOPATH. In one episode, he sees a man about to commit suicide, tells him to wait, and then Robomaru BRINGS HIS FRIENDS OVER SO THEY CAN WATCH.
@therafey4310
2 жыл бұрын
If this scene aired today, the show will be banned for life. 80s japan had all crude joke.
@theskullraider5058
2 жыл бұрын
The original "DO A FLIP!!"
@disneyboy3030
8 ай бұрын
I think it's because of the head writer's strange comedy.
I spaced out for a little bit, but was snapped back into attention by the phrase "throughout the series the three sisters were assisted by Fried Chicken Man"
19:32 Oh cool its the Phanton Renegade from Medabots 21:57 ITS LITERALLY THE PHANTOM RENEGADE
Hitting me with that 80s nostalgia that I never experienced. You're covering the best lesser known media bro.
I had a blast watching these shows on the Toei channel a bit ago. I never thought I'd hear so much about their development in English! I literally jumped for joy a few times, watching this while making breakfast. Wonderful work.
your commitment to relaying the history of this era is incredibly admirable. thanks for the work you do.
A small trivia regarding German Tanteidan Maringumi, the character of Zigomar is inspired by a master criminal character from a series of newspaper and magazine stories by French author Leon Sazie, which was pretty popular in Japan.
Damn, these live-action shows looks like something I'd wake up every Sunday morning and eat a bowl of sugary cereal to in 80s Japan.
@kingj9664
2 жыл бұрын
me too
@maximilian3544
2 жыл бұрын
Or a bowl of salty miso and a sour umeboshi, depending on how traditional your hypothetical family is lol
@Germania9
2 жыл бұрын
@@maximilian3544 You're right! That sounds lovely! A simple rice with egg would be great too.
Holy crap! The God character in Poitrine is portrayed by famous blacklisted Nikkatsu film director Suzuki Seijun. Wow, this is the first time I’ve been able to see his appearance in this show, amazing video!
@paulforder591
Жыл бұрын
Why was Suzuki Seijun blacklisted? 😯
@dmhayman
Жыл бұрын
@@paulforder591 Nikkatsu fired him for making “incomprehensible” films, specifically Tokyo Drifter then Branded to Kill was the mail in the coffin.
@machetesaint2355
5 ай бұрын
@@paulforder591 He sued Nikkatsu for breach of contract
@zwarga100
4 ай бұрын
wow !
27:40 a "Chinese" magical girl named after a Brazilian city? Now that's something...
@TheRealZenman
4 ай бұрын
More like named after a popular song.
I never grew up in the 80s ans havent watched many Japanese shows from that era, let alone thede specifoc ones but there's just something so nostalgic and joyful about all these characters and shows that just brought a smile to my face. Im going to have to watch some of this now. Thanks for this video! I remember Poiltrine was in Kamen Rider Wizard for some reason though
At 12:20 that is Bolo Yeung from Enter the Dragon and Blood Sport, who they got instead of Jackie Chan.
Thank you ever so much for looking into this series and giving it some love. :) Arigato!
Robot 8-chan is perfection, as soon as I watched it I had to get the chogokin figure
@BenKirb
Жыл бұрын
I've only seen the 1st 2 episodes.
There's a correction. On Ipanema, Rie Shibata only reprising her role as Aunt Sangenjaya. Nobuko Watanabe played Happosai. However thanks for the video on TFCS. Great insight.
Great Vid as always man, the finale crossing over with Ultraman with Hayata himself blew me away I did not expect that.
The last time I was this early, the Yakuza hadn't shut Bubblegum Crisis down yet!
A first--class mini--documentary covering the lesser--known (outside of Japan) Toei children's comedy--dramas. . .love the humour the writers added to some programs, and of course, there are well--plotted stories as well as ones where robots fail to grasp the complexities of human nature and failings--westerners might not like that.Thank you for all your research. 🤖👸😻😸
Fantastic work man, the amount of research and work you put into this is really impressive, very cool learning about a part of Toei history thats been a bit of a blindspot for me
Toei has changed Sunday morning in Japan forever. 😀👍
@noneofyourbusiness4616
2 жыл бұрын
are there still shows for the family like this on Sunday morning?
@irrespondible
Жыл бұрын
@@noneofyourbusiness4616 Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Precure are the Nichi Asa Kids Time block on TV Asahi. It goes from 7:30 to 9:00. Not sure what the other channels have in that spot, but sure it haven't changed that much.
45 minute mercury falcon video The length if an average ova I could Get used to this
Ahhh yes, the good old days. Bringing back old memory I didn't have.
I have heard about the franchise in general but it was so good to learn more about it. Thank you so much!
Weird connection but, the dynamic of Yuko's Brother and Usagi's Brother are the same sibling hero Dynamic that Becky and her brother have in the American Cartoon "WordGirl"
robot detective wasn't the only show where they tried to give suit actors more expressions. Akumaizer 3 had animations much like batten robomaru where our heroes would have a close up of their face showing a different expression being made from their previous one, followed by the camera panning back to the scene with the suit actor mask changed to match the new expression
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
That's true, I only mentioned Robot Detective because that particular part of the script for this video is pretty much taken word for word from Toru Hirayama's book.
@armoredvistitor2197
2 жыл бұрын
and the petonton episode in hong kong stars bolo yeung and takes place in the exact same spot bolo yeung fought yasuaki kurata for another japan-hong kong tv collaboration 'Fight! Dragon'
Great video as always! I’ve been interested in these shows ever since I saw that reference in Kakuranger, glad to see a video on them that’s so informative.
I found this episode about a week ago and I have returned several times because this is just a wonderful history lesson of Japanese television. I even checked out Nemulin after seeing the history of the show and I LOVE it! Thank you so much for making these episodes!
Absolutely fantastic job on this video man! It was a very interesting watch. These shows make me feel all nostalgic even though I wasn't even born when they ended their run. Hell, I've never even watched Japanese TV shows outside of anime... but man am I tempted now. I also had to look up the Three Sister Shushutorian theme song, it gets me all excited.
@Ziko577
Жыл бұрын
There's an English version of it too. I have it on my phone.
9:35 „Freude, schöner Götterfunken Tochter aus Elysium. Wir betreten feuertrunken...“ beautiful 😢
This is a great informative video, thanks so much for making it. I would shit my pants if I were a kid at the time of the Shushutorian finale, that is some madness
Dang, amazing job! I'm really happy that someone made a dedicated video about Toei Fushigi Comedy series! I admire how well you illustrated the flow of time and how trends affected the shows. I eventually would like to try something similar in my channel and explain the history of certain trends in Japanese media, but I'm still figuring out how to go about it. Anyways, I just wanted to let you know that I'm inspired by how well you made this video. Keep up the good work!
43:42 It's not because of music rights. Toei did upload the series fully due to the COVID Pandemic that had tons of folks shut in (I remember watching the three Rescue Police Series fully after my "Essential Work" shifts over several months), but at some point in 2021 or 2022, they privately put many videos except for the first two or three episodes of each series.
Oh god, now i'm interested to see video of Sailor Moon made by you
Excellent documentary, and very well researched. All the behind the scenes insights were especially interesting.
This video is amazing, MercuryFalcon.
i come back to this video a lot and I'm not entirely sure why pffpfp. this is just a really good video about something i had no idea existed until i saw it for the first time a few months ago. I'm super interested in the detective and magical girl shows and will try to give them a watch when i can. Thank you for making this vid!
19:22 Is this where the Phantom Renegade/Space Medafighter X from Medabots comes from?
Thanks for your work man, this is legit a documentary
Dude…I love the effort, insights and research you put into these videos.it’s amazing and I look forward to each one!
Bolo Yeung is no slouch, though.
@OmegaKatanaXIII
2 жыл бұрын
At least bolo yeung has tons of films under his belt as well.
This was really a delightful video to watch! I can tell you put a ton of effort into researching this. I really want to watch some of these shows now, they look so fun.
I remember watching Poitrine's first few eps and really liking it. Finally i find better info on these shows, thanks.
Never though a harmonica would make me laugh but low and behold 9:35
This was so facinating, thanks for all your deep research!
Any plans to talk about Getsuyobi Dramaland? They had a TON of cheesy manga adaptions, AND a version of What's Michael that involved a cheap puppet...
@SlapstickGenius23
2 жыл бұрын
A pair of What’s Michael TV movies had the meh Jim Henson Puppet imitators.
Another great video, and easily the most convincing NordVPN ad I've seen lol
Holy crap! Is this series from the man behind cyborg 009 and Kamen rider?
that looks like a giant short green phallus
Lol. For a moment I thought I was watching a re-upload because the first part seemed very familiar. Then I remembered that I was at the live-stream where he previewed part of the video. Now I feel stupid....and decided to share this with everyone...
I've watched and rewatched the 2 episodes of Nemulin on the Toei channel and I genuinely think they are the funniest things I've ever seen... but I can't find anything other than a couple of short, less than ten minute clips on some japanese websites. Does anybody know where I can watch the rest of the series?
Great video! I LOVE the Fushigi Comedy Series, and it feels like it's really starting to become less obscure lately! In case anybody is interested in watching these in English, my fansub group, Bistrot Jurer Subs, has subbed Batten Robomaru in English, and we're about to start subbing HadoGumi!
@christiandacanay3086
2 жыл бұрын
Cool! Keep up the good work. I bet you'll be able to sub all of it, hopefully including the Pettonton in Hong Kong special and the HardGumi-MarinGumi crossover.
Thanks for this video! I’m a big Tokusatsu hero show fan and have a passing knowledge on these shows. This added some extra toku knowledge to the brain.
Thus has to be your best video yet 👍
Seriously getting better and better with each video… and that thumbnail work ain’t bad either…
Back in 2016 I went to Tokyo to look for retro games and I remember seeing a Famicom Disk System game with a label that had a still from some tokusatsu featuring kids and a guy with a hat and golden mask. It took a long time to find information on it but I found out it was the Hardgumi game but there wasn't a Wikipedia article for the game or the show. I eventually found out about the Fushigi Comedy series and eventually this video. I must say, what a journey! I was especially interested in how the Magical Girl shows ended up inspiring Sailor Moon. This is a fantastic video that brings some much needed English-language attention to the series.
Petonton just reminds me of ALF.
fun fact in petonton the famous Yuki Hide makes an appearance as a singer dancing with a female unit and is considered one of his few appearances
Wow. I knew about Poitrine and a little about Shushutorian, but didn't really know anything about all the others. It's really interesting to see what else they made.
nemurin is so cute and pudgy
Man great vid once again super informative and well presented. I have to ask how many of these shows have been fully translated
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
a whopping 0
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
Wait, that's not true, Robomaru actually has been completely fansubbed.
@nekonekopanicnekonekopanic7335
2 жыл бұрын
Thought so well super Sentai and kamen rider have been fully subbed so hopefully the same can happen for the fishing comedy shows and the metal hero shows
@BohbearonYT
2 жыл бұрын
The Toei Toku KZread channel has a few episodes subbed but no full series
@azurillkirby
2 жыл бұрын
As said, currently only Batten Robomaru has been fully subbed by my group, Bistrot Jurer Subs. In addition to that, 7 episodes of Nemurin have been subbed by The Skaro Hunting Society, and Bistrot Jurer is going to start releasing HadoGumi (Hardgumi) soon! And the first two episodes of every series (except for Bokkun and Shushutorian for some reason) are in English on Toei's KZread channel!
Poitrine aired here in Brazil in the 90s and was pretty popular, the show is titled "Fascinating Star Patrine" here
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
I figured several of these shows where aired in Brazil since all the clips on Toei’s channel are in Portuguese
@bruno23567
2 жыл бұрын
@@MercuryFalcon Tokusatsu was a big hit here in the 80s and 90s, and even today has a big fanbase
@BenKirb
2 жыл бұрын
Did Robot 8-chan air in Brazil?
@bruno23567
2 жыл бұрын
@@BenKirb If i remember well, no
We can chalk it up to Kabutack,Robotack and Robocon 90's being somewhat tied to the Toei Fushigi Comedy series then? 21:58, I thought in the episode, Zigomar was already an existing entity according to a flashback of what the kids say: kzread.info/dash/bejne/k4untcd9ecaahbA.html 23:30,holy shit! They are in the same place?! 0.0 TOEI!! 29:20, talk about poetic justice. 30:25, though the character design does remind me a lot of La Seine No Hoshi, even down to the Zorro inspiration: kzread.info/dash/bejne/gGp9mrdse5TXppM.html 39:44,wait what! It ended on my birthday?! 0.0 37:18,well...this is starting to smell like Virtua Fighter vs Eternal Champions by Sega. Whoops. 41:40,I KNEW I WASN'T INSANE!
12:15 Yoooooo, it's Bolo Yeung, the guy from Bloodsport!
There is something about Robomaru I am curious about and it's about a commercial he was in. It's tone was darker then the show itself.
Awesome video.
In his latest video essay "How Toei Changed Sunday Mornings", MercuryFalcon takes an extensive look at The Toei Fushigi Comedy Series, a loosely connected franchise of lighthearted fantasy adventures and mystery comedies that had major influences on the creation of SAILOR MOON and how it all came to an unlikely but satisfyingly end with a kaiju-filled crossover with the one and only ULTRAMAN. kzread.info/dash/bejne/gpmXxc2Pl63cg6g.html
25:53 good thing Amblin/John Williams didn't sue Toei for copyright infringement over Indiana Jones and his iconic leitmotif
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
Or ET
Incredible work on this video!!!
Thank you so much for this video, hope you make more tokusatsu videos.
34:44 That sounds pretty cool, to be honest. 😂😂
Wait, is God in Poitrine played by GOAT director Seijun Suzuki? That sure as hell looks like him
That skateboarding monster is the funniest thing i've ever seen in my life.
12:17 wait, that's Bolo Yeung? Wow, it's not Jackie Chan, but damn.
@inversion66
8 ай бұрын
No mistaking Bolo. He and some of the other Hong Kong martial arts actors also turned up in the Japanese cop series G Men '75 and its sequel G Men '82. There are a few clips on KZread.
@luchomscyfy
7 ай бұрын
@@inversion66 Awesome.
1:20 Muteking? How did this funky rollerskating hero? become just a footnote
yelled holy fuck out loud when i got to 35:52 in the video because i'm like pretty sure the cab driver is played by the same guy who plays Dr. Kubota in Denji Sentai Megaranger
7:13 So why not make masks where you can see the actor's face? They can wear a helmet with eyes and mouth exposed like Captain America's mask, a helmet with a clear visor like Gatchaman, or a helmet that exposes the entire face. If it is necessary to cover the face of the stuntman, you can use a translucent mask and the original actor for close shots, and use an opaque mask and stuntman for far shots. I remember Kyuukyuu Sentai GoGoFive doing this. I usually draw, and when I design superheroes, I will definitely let them show their faces, or at least their eyes and mouths, and design masks with their eyes and mouths exposed, or just make them not wear masks; and when I draw American comics and Japanese Toku’s superheroes, if I can, I will try to make them all have their eyes exposed. Because I think in visual media, seeing the character’s expression is the most important thing.
9:30 And thus someone from Gainax developed a taste in Classical Music.
30:39 So that's where Ojamajo Doremi got their punishment from.
The illustrations by Ishinomori looks so good! What book is it and are there other scans?
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
Revived! Ishinomori Hero Files. I don’t think so, I have the book irl and I took the pictures with my phone
2:00 - 2:10 What art book did those Ishinomori sketches come from?
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
Revived! Ishinomori Hero file Galen Mook
@ZeeOwlMan
2 жыл бұрын
@@MercuryFalcon Thank you!
@15:00 Ten points for calling out japan's sexism in this era (which of course still continues to this day)
@MercuryFalcon
Жыл бұрын
your blocked
@reichen609
Жыл бұрын
@@MercuryFalcon Huh? 😳 Why? Does this channel support sexism and misogyny? Yikes! 😬
@MercuryFalcon
Жыл бұрын
@@reichen609 Actually no, its satanism I dont support mr. 666. Go worship the D*vil somewhere else.
Hold on... was the phantom thief Matenrou the inspiration for phantom renegade in Medabots?
@MercuryFalcon
Жыл бұрын
Phantom Renegade is also based on Arsene Lupin, I'm not sure if Hard Gumi was the direct inspiration. I actually know very little about Medabots.
Have you thought of doing a similar video on the history of the Metal Heroes franchise?
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
Maybe someday, I’ve only seen Juspion though.
Interesting to see a character named Happosai that isn't the ancient martial arts master and pervert from Ranma 1/2.
13:52 didn’t expect it to get that heavy, kinda feel bad for her
What is the early episode of Robomaru where he mentions all of those other Justice Characters, got a title or number? Edit: Found it, episode 2.
Where can I see nemurins corner?
Pai Pai's characters reminds me of the characters from Dragon ball .
@therafey4310
2 жыл бұрын
But this fushigi pai pai is more softer and cuter than the dbz one.
@23RedTechno
2 жыл бұрын
@@therafey4310 Dude ! i said Dragon Ball the Mystical Adventure not Z 🙄Z is more take the Mystical Adventure and turn it up to 11x times
@therafey4310
2 жыл бұрын
@@23RedTechno ah thanks. Forgot to say just dragon ball, not Z!
@23RedTechno
2 жыл бұрын
@@therafey4310 you're welcome 😐
Holy smokes I had no idea about the Shushutorian Ultraman crossover!
8:46 what is the titled of this episode?
Hard Gumi and Marin Gumi is the great show in my opinion because it's fun like having 5 kids grouped up together to defeat the villain by solving the mystery.
24:33 OMG it’s like a crossover between this channel & Kenny Lauderdale 😱 …and i couldn’t be happier 😁 edit- 41:43 OK that’s just too frikkin cool… although i’m not too sure about the Science Patrol coveralls 😅
@kandigloss6438
2 жыл бұрын
Kenny Lauderdale sucks he spouts off a lot of misinformation and is a terrible human being. No the fact that he found a couple of pieces of lost media doesn't make up for this before you make that common argument.
So Petonton is where Metal Slug got their aliens from huh?
Without these shows, we wouldn't get Sailor Moon or Utena
what episode has ymo and what song is it?
@MercuryFalcon
2 жыл бұрын
22 I believe and Rydeen
Is Sunday Morning the Japanese Equivilent of Saturday Morning?
@christiandacanay3086
2 жыл бұрын
Yup! Most toku aired on that timeslot.
Nimoto man is very Shazam from the plot synopsis
Dude is that ultraman jack in robot hacchan?
有難う御座居ました。