"Jaianto robo" (1967) TV series 1967-1968

User Rating:

8.2/10   

Creator:

Mitsuteru Yokoyama

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

11 October 1967 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

A young boy aids in the fight against a mechanized terrorist organization as the sole controller of a prototype giant robot.

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Giant Robot | Manga | Based On Comic | Kaiju

Cast

Mitsunobu Kaneko

...

Daisaku Kusama / ... (unknown episodes)

Also Known As:

"Giant Robo"
"Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" (USA)

Runtime:

30 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

American-International Television (AIP-TV)

Quotes:

Unicorn Chief Azuma: It's almost dawn, get rid of that eye.

Movie Connections:

Edited into Voyage Into Space (1970) (TV)

Beatnik Man rises...

This is a weird one, from back in the late 60s you have this Japanese import, about a kid, a Casio-watch controlled 100 foot flying robot, a guy in a real bad Squid/jellyfish papier-mache mask who shakes a trident alot(he's the evil villain, Emperor Guillotine!), fakey rubber suited monsters, a group of terrorists who shoot plastic machine guys, and intend to take over the world with their 9 inter-changeable members, a '58 Bel-air and some godawful monsters.

You have to see it to believe it-the dreaded Nuclion, a bowling ball/landmine/baby toy from outer space(!!) which rolls downhill and crushes an onslaught of plastic tanks before being hauled up by Giant Robot, who then drops it onto the '58 Belair that the 'Gargoyle Gang' have helpfully piled into(actually, the last guy diving for cover dives UNDER the car...oh its a scream...)...

You have these villains...fanger, silver-faced DrBotanus, who is some kind of Evil Plant wiz, a panther-griffin cross who likes eating toy trains whole, a giant eye Opticus(oh that one is a scream!), and this short guy with a peg-leg, who is sposedly a master of disguise(!?)...God, WHAT were they thinking??

Guys get killed and come right on back without explanation. Take 'Beatnik Man'-one of the head Gargoyle Gang guys. Has the shades, bad greasepaint beard(troweled on by the looks...) and beret. I think he winds up quite dead at least 4 times-shot up by a plastic machine gun, caught in an atomic cherry bomb explosion(don't ask), flattened by Nuclion, etc. At the end, he is now wearing a goatee, but its our guy, Beatnik Man in the flesh...

Bad models, bad acting, bad dubbing--and as a kid, I loved every minute of it! People Do remember it, not from its name but from the content, of seeing Giant Robot(who looks like a silver George Washington in a King Tut get-up...),who flies, shoots missiles outta his fingers, etc.

It is kinda fun in a MST3K way, but not more than that.

I give it *** stars outta **** on the hilarity scale, *1/2 in the actual quality scale. Its a hoot. Yes! See it if you can or dare.