RMWC Reviews: Shin Super Robot Sunday: Ambassador Magma

I messed up slightly on last week's preview since there were a couple more things to cover before the follow up to Tetsujin 28-go. We'll get there soon enough, but first a lesser known work by one of the most important individuals in the world of manga.

Manga writer/artist Osamu Tezuka has a well-earned reputation for being the “God of Manga” and the “Japanese Walt Disney” for works like Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. Astro Boy in particular, which began as a manga in 1952 and was later turned into a show, would have a huge influence on the mecha genre, despite the titular character being an android and not at all humongous. Respect is most certainly due, but the character is outside the scope of this project.

Astro Boy, in case you didn't know what he looked like.

What is inside the scope is another series by Tezua: Maguma Taishi (translated to Ambassador Magma).

First published in Shōnen Gaho magazine in 1965, the series ran until 1967. On July 4, 1966, a live-action, color tokusatsu television from P Productions (an anime and tokusatsu studio) which aired on Fuji TV, beating out the first Ultraman series by a matter of days (we'll get to Ultraman in some capacity eventually).

Historical footnotes aside, the plot of Ambassador Magma is that young Mamoru Murakami (and his parents) are warned by the arrogant Lord/Emperor Goa of his impending invasion and demonstrates his power by transporting the family to a jungle and destroying a dinosaur that threatens the kid. Mamoru's father is a journalist with international connections, and Goa gloatingly wants him to spread the word.

Help arrives in the form of a 15 meter (50 ft) tall golden giant who can transform into a rocket. This is the titular Ambassador Magma, and despite being an artificial being created from metal who can transform into a vehicle, is “not a robot.” Magma is the creation of an ancient wizard named Earth who lives deep underground and protects the planet. Magma is accompanied by his human-sized wife Mol (who looks like a normal woman in a silver jumpsuit with antennae) and eventually his son Gam (a kid made in the image of Mamoru with a helmet and antennae). All three can transform into rockets, but only Magma is huge. Mamoru is given a whistle that he can blow to summon members of the magical robot family; one toot for Gam, two for Mol, and three for Magma. Over the course of the show's 52 episodes, Magma and family would fight the giant and human-sized monsters sent by Gao to conquer Earth (the planet, not the wizard).

In addition to transforming into a flight form, Magma also possessed great strength, could fire a volley of missiles when he opened his chest, and could shoot energy/electricity bolts from his antennae. For the show, mostly he wrestled with giant dinosaur enemies. He also had a mane of glorious golden Fabio hair.

The show was a success and subsequently dubbed into English and aired in the United States as The Space Giants as early as 1970, then subsequently dubbed into Spanish as Monstruos del Espacio (Monsters from Space) or in other English speaking markets as Space Avenger. Most of the show remained the same, but the the names were changed: Gao became Rodak, Magma became Goldar, and Earth became Methusan (the wizard, not the planet), for example.

Ambassador Magma doesn't hold a candle to Astro Boy in terms of lasting impact, but it did usher in a number of firsts for the post-Tesujin 28-go mecha genre. A sentient, transforming giant “robot” with a mystical origin instead of a purely technological one. The mystical aspect is similar to the Daimajin trilogy of films (also released in 1966) where a giant stone statue is animated by an angry mountain spirit and wreaks havoc on Feudal Japanese warlords/bandits. (As cool as Daimajin is, I have to draw a line somewhere, and he's much more of a golem than a mecha). These aspects would be downplayed in subsequent mecha shows for a time, but mystical mechs would come back in a big way later on.