I first encountered this series through the UPN version of Teknoman. It was a decent telling of a fairly standard story: Aliens invade Earth, and a plucky team of humans, alongside their mysterious ally (Blade, Slade, or D-Boy) fight back against this alien foe (Radam in the original, Venomoids in the English translation).
Unfortunately, the story kind of left us Americans hanging, and it would be years before I had a chance to actually see the ending. In other parts of the world, the show did run to completion.
The problem with detailing the story is that there are multiple versions, with slightly different tellings. As an example, in the Japanese version, D-Boy is lying about not knowing his past. Most of the references to his past in the US and UK version, however, are treated as though he suddenly remembers it. in other words, it's more consistent with amnesia.
Most of the plot points are similar in both versions. The Radam have set up to invade Earth, using the Orbital Ring (A space platform around the planet) as a platform to launch their attacks. Nobody on Earth knows exactly what is happening until D-Boy arrives. He is badly injured after crashing to Earth, and claims he has no memory of his past. He is rescued by Aki and Noal (Starr and Ringo in Teknoman) and taken back to the base of the Space Knights. Nobody believes him when he says that only he can fight the Radam until he transforms into Tekkaman Blade.
Tekkaman Blade (Teknoman) is the product of the Radam. Tekkamen normally serve as the commanding officers of the Radam forces, and while the Radam are dangerous, the Tekkamen are all but unstoppable. Using a special crystal, each can develop armor, weapons, and phenomenal strength. With the exception of Evil and Omega, each Tekkaman is named after a type of weapon (Axe, Rapier, etc.).
Blade's power is phenomenal, but it is soon discovered that he has limits. He can only remain transformed for 30 minutes, or his mind is reverted to that of a beast. Before his time limit is up, he becomes incredibly weak and vulnerable. Later in the series, the Tekset process threatens his health and then legitimately begins to take away his memory.
On Earth, General Colbert (Galt) wants to get his hands on D-Boy to discover the secrets of the Tekkaman process. Commander Freeman (Jamison) protects him from the military, and gives him a home. D-Boy is not interested in friends, and remains taciturn through much of the story, though he grows closer to many of his allies. Noal doesn't trust him at first, as he is potentially incredibly dangerous.
Over the course of the first few episodes, a trap is laid in which D-Boy's crystal ends up shattered. The Space Knights are resourceful, and attempt to create a machine to compensate. The result is Pegas, Blade's battle partner. He acts primarily as Blade's Transformation chamber and a sort of space-age steed, but is capable of fighting or performing other tasks.
The real meat of the story begins when Tekkaman Evil shows up. Evil is Blade's twin brother, and is considerably powerful. He discovers Blade's Time limit, and uses it to set him loose on the planet. Jamison uses the resemblance between D-Boy's Sister (Myuki or Shara) and Space Knight Milly (Tina) in a desperate attempt to bring him back to his senses. Blade nearly kills her in the process, leaving him afraid to transform and risk losing control.
Blade is fighting his family, save for his father and his little sister. His father was rejected by the Tekset process, and used his last moments of life to save D-Boy and cripple the Radam ship. His sister is also rejected, but attempts to help Blade before she dies.
Two "Sol Tekkamen" are created, but they are weak compared to Blade. Both are capable of firing weapons which resemble Blade's "Voltekker." while they are capable of handling many threats, much of the story relies on Blade as the only one who can stop his own kin.
The Teknoman version of the series is pretty damn good, but the Japense version is better. The English version features some pretty heavy editing (The US one moreso than the UK), and leaves out some things which make the plot a bit more dramatic. Blade begins to risk his health just by transforming, and then later, his memory. With literally nothing left to lose, he takes on Tekkaman Evil, and finally, Tekkaman Omega (His older brother) in a fight that leaves him wheelchair bound and apparently amnesiac.
The series is rather amazing, especially given its roots as a remake (Or a reboot, more appropriately) of Tekkaman: The Space Knight. I'm not normally a fan of Anime, especially of the Armored Hero or Giant Robot genres, but this is a show that has some serious mainstream appeal, with well-paced plots and sufficient action and drama.
Media Blasters has released both the English (International) version and a subtitled Japanese version of the series, though the final discs for both are yet to be released (Amazon lists the final release of the JP version in August). I highly recommend this series, though I must warn that the English Version's release is pretty terrible in terms of sound and picture. While the visuals on the Japenese version suffer from being dated, and the limitations of the original media, they are still really strong, and the soundtrack does not suffer at all. The JP version also features on of the OVAs that were released between TB and TB2 (Though I'm not a fan of Takaya and Shinya as Digimon). Another worthwhile note is that the English intro on the English discs has been replaced with the Japanese intros, even though the "Teknoman" Theme appears in the show a lot.
Unfortunately, the story kind of left us Americans hanging, and it would be years before I had a chance to actually see the ending. In other parts of the world, the show did run to completion.
The problem with detailing the story is that there are multiple versions, with slightly different tellings. As an example, in the Japanese version, D-Boy is lying about not knowing his past. Most of the references to his past in the US and UK version, however, are treated as though he suddenly remembers it. in other words, it's more consistent with amnesia.
Most of the plot points are similar in both versions. The Radam have set up to invade Earth, using the Orbital Ring (A space platform around the planet) as a platform to launch their attacks. Nobody on Earth knows exactly what is happening until D-Boy arrives. He is badly injured after crashing to Earth, and claims he has no memory of his past. He is rescued by Aki and Noal (Starr and Ringo in Teknoman) and taken back to the base of the Space Knights. Nobody believes him when he says that only he can fight the Radam until he transforms into Tekkaman Blade.
Tekkaman Blade (Teknoman) is the product of the Radam. Tekkamen normally serve as the commanding officers of the Radam forces, and while the Radam are dangerous, the Tekkamen are all but unstoppable. Using a special crystal, each can develop armor, weapons, and phenomenal strength. With the exception of Evil and Omega, each Tekkaman is named after a type of weapon (Axe, Rapier, etc.).
Blade's power is phenomenal, but it is soon discovered that he has limits. He can only remain transformed for 30 minutes, or his mind is reverted to that of a beast. Before his time limit is up, he becomes incredibly weak and vulnerable. Later in the series, the Tekset process threatens his health and then legitimately begins to take away his memory.
On Earth, General Colbert (Galt) wants to get his hands on D-Boy to discover the secrets of the Tekkaman process. Commander Freeman (Jamison) protects him from the military, and gives him a home. D-Boy is not interested in friends, and remains taciturn through much of the story, though he grows closer to many of his allies. Noal doesn't trust him at first, as he is potentially incredibly dangerous.
Over the course of the first few episodes, a trap is laid in which D-Boy's crystal ends up shattered. The Space Knights are resourceful, and attempt to create a machine to compensate. The result is Pegas, Blade's battle partner. He acts primarily as Blade's Transformation chamber and a sort of space-age steed, but is capable of fighting or performing other tasks.
The real meat of the story begins when Tekkaman Evil shows up. Evil is Blade's twin brother, and is considerably powerful. He discovers Blade's Time limit, and uses it to set him loose on the planet. Jamison uses the resemblance between D-Boy's Sister (Myuki or Shara) and Space Knight Milly (Tina) in a desperate attempt to bring him back to his senses. Blade nearly kills her in the process, leaving him afraid to transform and risk losing control.
Blade is fighting his family, save for his father and his little sister. His father was rejected by the Tekset process, and used his last moments of life to save D-Boy and cripple the Radam ship. His sister is also rejected, but attempts to help Blade before she dies.
Two "Sol Tekkamen" are created, but they are weak compared to Blade. Both are capable of firing weapons which resemble Blade's "Voltekker." while they are capable of handling many threats, much of the story relies on Blade as the only one who can stop his own kin.
The Teknoman version of the series is pretty damn good, but the Japense version is better. The English version features some pretty heavy editing (The US one moreso than the UK), and leaves out some things which make the plot a bit more dramatic. Blade begins to risk his health just by transforming, and then later, his memory. With literally nothing left to lose, he takes on Tekkaman Evil, and finally, Tekkaman Omega (His older brother) in a fight that leaves him wheelchair bound and apparently amnesiac.
The series is rather amazing, especially given its roots as a remake (Or a reboot, more appropriately) of Tekkaman: The Space Knight. I'm not normally a fan of Anime, especially of the Armored Hero or Giant Robot genres, but this is a show that has some serious mainstream appeal, with well-paced plots and sufficient action and drama.
Media Blasters has released both the English (International) version and a subtitled Japanese version of the series, though the final discs for both are yet to be released (Amazon lists the final release of the JP version in August). I highly recommend this series, though I must warn that the English Version's release is pretty terrible in terms of sound and picture. While the visuals on the Japenese version suffer from being dated, and the limitations of the original media, they are still really strong, and the soundtrack does not suffer at all. The JP version also features on of the OVAs that were released between TB and TB2 (Though I'm not a fan of Takaya and Shinya as Digimon). Another worthwhile note is that the English intro on the English discs has been replaced with the Japanese intros, even though the "Teknoman" Theme appears in the show a lot.