Choushinsei Flashman

is a Japanese television show broadcast on TV Asahi from 1986 to 1987. It was the tenth instalment in the ''Super Sentai'' metaseries produced by Toei Company, replacing ''Dengeki Sentai Changeman''. It ran for 50 episodes before it was replaced by '' Hikari Sentai Maskman''.

The show also aired in South Korea from 1989, where it saw popularity.

Yutaka Izubuchi designed all the characters in the series. He would return to design characters for '' Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters''.

In 2018, the costume worn by the character Red Flash was sold for ¥1,553,000 on Yahoo Auctions in Japan.

Storyline

In 1966, five infant children were kidnapped by an alien group known as the Alien Hunters for the Reconstructive Experiment Empire Mess, who wanted samples of humans from Earth to experiment on. The children were rescued by Mess' arch enemy, the Flash alien race, which took each one to a different planet of the Flash solar system for training. Each child was trained separately in a range of superpowers that will allow them to fight Mess, their bodies also adapted to the atmosphere of the Flash Solar System making them gain special abilities. When they finally return to Earth in 1986 to combat Mess, who is now trying to invade it, they use the opportunity to search for their birth parents.

Characters

Flashman

Raised in the harsh conditions of Planet Flash and its four moons, gaining powers in the Flash Star System, the eponymous Flashman team was brought up for the purpose of defeating Mess. The team can perform team attacks like the ''Combination Super Spear'', a large energy spear created from the combined powers of the Flashmen.

* /: He learned science on the desert planet Flash Star, gaining scientific mental powers and scientific knowledge including a wealth of knowledge dealing with machinery. Kidnapped from Earth at age 3, given a scar by an Alien Hunter in the process. Since he was the oldest of the five kidnapped, his memories about the kidnapping are the strongest, although still fuzzy. He is the strongest of the team and as the eldest, takes an older brother-like role, making him a strong leader. Red Flash would reappear again 15 years after the series ending in '' Gaoranger VS Super Sentai'' along with his 23 fellow Red Warriors led by Red Falcon, in which all 24 Red leaders performed their respective role calls.
* /: He gained great strength training on the rocky Green Star, enduring the most physical pain compared to his teammates. He made friends with boxer Ryuu Wakakusa, who further trained him in his boxing abilities. He arms himself with brass knuckles. Although he has a cold exterior, he is actually a very warm and charming person. He has a weak spot for women and loves nature and ramen. He befriended the teenage Sumire, who had actually died some years back and had been contacting Dai through telepathy.
* /: He gained speed and agility on the deserts of the Blue Star planet. He learned survival skills on the harsh planet of Blue Star, such as surviving 30 days on one cup of water and how to climb walls. He is sarcastic. As the youngest team member, he yearns most to find his parents.
* /: She developed a sharp mind on the ice planet Yellow Star, often seen as cold and serious herself by most people. However, she is actually a caring person. She is able to analyze the attacks and strategies of the villains. In the series finale, Sara learns that she is the biological daughter of Doctor Tokimura.
* /: She developed incredible jumping abilities on high gravity planet Pink Star. She possesses immense physical strength, which causes her to easily exhaust herself. She once mothered a Beast Warrior.

Allies

* : A robot programmed by the aliens of the Flash Star to guard the Round Base from intruders. After being subdued by the Flashmen, Mag is reprogramed to assist them. He upgrades the prisms in their helmets to give them stronger prism weapons when the Mess officers power up, Mag can also pilot the Star Condor as seen in an episode where Jin Needs parts for his Flash Hawk.
* : A scientist and family man who lost one of his children 20 years to the Alien Hunters. Because the Alien Hunters blurred his memories of the event, he has created a time machine in order to return to that time to find out more information regarding the events. He helps the Flashmen with his inventions. In the series finale, he discovers that Sara is his daughter.
* : The wife of Doctor Tokimura, who is also Sara's mother.
* : A legendary warrior of the Flash Stars. He is the one who the Flash aliens based their Flashman technology and mecha after. He was an honorable soldier who tracked down Mess from planet to planet in order to stop them. As a result of his travels away from the Flash system, he developed the Anti-Flash Phenomenon and died while in battle with Baraki.
* : The first creation of Lie Köpflen. He fought with Hero Titan and was saved by him. In awe of the legendary warrior's courage and honor, Leh Baraki decided to defect from Mess and promised the dying Titan that he would deliver the Flash Titan when it was needed. Therefore, he fell into a slumber aboard the Flash Titan, who followed the Star Condor when it arrived to Earth, lying dormant until it was needed. He was killed by Kaura and the monster The Drake. In his dying breath, he tries to warn the Flashmen about a weak point of theirs that shall be their downfall, but expires before succeeding.

Reconstructive Experiment Empire Mess

The is a space-traveling alien empire that takes over planets, using their lifeforms as raw materials in its experiments. Their goal is to transform its leader Ra Deus into the strongest being in the universe through repeated bio-augmentation. The Reconstructive Experiment Empire Mess' base of operations is the UFO-like spaceship called Labo.

* (1-49): The leader of the Reconstructive Experiment Empire Mess who sought to become the ultimate life form. To fulfill that end, he recruited several Great Doctor's over the Eons, some he abducted like Doctor Köpflen. As a result, he has undergone several reconstructive operations in those years. He could fire energy shots from his fingers to punish his officers. Before the finale, after Kaura and Gardan dismantled Ra Deus, Ra Deus was transformed by Köpflen into the Deus Beast Warrior . After being destroyed by the Flashmen, his broken mask was taken by Köpflen in order to extract its DNA and fuse it with Kragen for his final creation . A big immobile character, The Demoss is actually portrayed by a kaiju-sized puppet-like mannequin. THe Demoss was put down by Great Titan
* : The right-hand man of Deus and creator of the empire's Beast Warriors by using a keyboard-like device called DNA Synthesizer. The centuries gave Köpflen a god complex as he turned his back on Lah Deus to become the ruler of Mess. Köpflen does not know that he is actually an Earthling just like the Flashmen and was abducted 300 years ago as a baby by Deus, who later trained him in genetics. In the final episode, he offers the Flashmen a chance to operate on them to repair their Anti-Flash Phenomenon in exchange for his life in the finale. After their refusal and the destruction of the DNA Synthesizer, Köpflen dies in Labo's explosion.
* (1-47): A bat-winged, zebra-striped swordsman full of pride and overconfidence. He believes himself to be superior but is disgusted once he learns from Köpflen that he was a composite being created from five grotesque and ordinary creatures making him similar to a Chimera. Later powered up as the monster , in which he possessed the power to stop time for exactly 3 seconds. By combining his powers with a Beast Warrior, he could stop time in an area for an indefinite amount of time. He challenged Red Flash to a final duel to prove his strength after losing his power and was eventually destroyed.
* : A cunning and cruel leopard-like loyal soldier, Näfel was among the first creations of Köpflen and in the final episode calls him "father". She had a talent for disguise and often caught members of Flashman off guard this way in order to attack them. She was later powered up to be able to transform into the cat/leopard monster . She was stabbed to death by Red Flash while protecting Köpflen in the finale.
* (1-28): A big and strong commander made up of genes of wild beasts making him similar to a Chimera like Leh Wanda. This monster does not talk, but roars a lot while fighting the Flashmen. He receives a power-up in Episode 28, but is destroyed by the Flash King.
* (1-45): The assistants of Näfel which are derived from a wolf and a cat. In Episode 45, Kilt was transformed by Keflen into the Deus Beast Warrior and was nearly killed by the Flashmen. To save her, Wolk decided to let herself be absorbed by her partner. However, their unified form was ultimately destroyed by the Great Titan.
* : They are a gang of bounty hunters who worked most for Mess in rounding up lifeforms for them to experiment on.
** (15-49): The leader of the Alien Hunters, He was the one who kidnapped the five infants who grew up into the Flashmen. He rebels once Mess keeps considering him an outsider, despite the success he has brought them. Red Flash severely wounded him in a fatal exchange of blows in Episode 48. After letting Sara discover the truth about her parents, Kaura decides to perform a kamikaze attack on Labo to kill Köpflen, but fails and ultimately dies in his UFO's explosion.
** (43-48): The assistant leader of the Alien Hunters. He dual wields a pair of steel sticks. He was involuntarily mutated by Köpflen into the Deus Beast Warrior .
** (15-43): An Alien Hunter who wields a laser gun. He was eaten alive by the monster The Gitan.
** (15-44): An Alien Hunter who wields a huge scythe.
** (15-44): Wielding a bow and arrow, she was the sole female Alien Hunter. She was able to emit damaging beams from her eyes.
** (15-44): An Alien Hunter dual wields a pair of boomerangs. He was also able to grapple opponents and electrocute them.
* : The mass-produced foot soldiers of Mess are green-eyed, red-carapaced insectoid ants. They sprayed acidic strings from their mouths, which caused victims to disappear. Since the word "Zolo" is Nihongo, the plural form is the same as the singular.
* : A giant monster created from jellyfish DNA that enlarges the Beast Warriors by energy transfer, shrinking itself in the process. Its name comes from the Japanese word for jellyfish - ''kurage'' (海月). Kragen was later used with what's left of Desura's DNA to form The Demoss.

Beast Warriors

The are Chimera-based monsters that are created by Great Doctor Lie Köpflen through his DNA synthesizer.

Episodes

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Movies

*''Choushinsei Flashman'' (theatrical short released the same day as episode 3)
*''Flashman: Big Rally! Titan Boy!'' (theatrical edit of episodes 15-18)

Cast

* Jin: Touta Tarumi
* Dai: Kihachirō Uemura
* Bun: Yasuhiro Ishiwata
* Sara: Youko Nakamura
* Lou: Mayumi Yoshida
* Doctor Tokimura: Akira Ishihama
* Setsuko Tokimura: Tamie Kubota
* Great Doctor Lie Köphlen: Koji Shimizu
* Leh Wanda: Yutaka Hirose (credited as Kazuhisa Harose)
* Leh Näfel: Sayoko Hagiwara
* Leh Gals: Hiroyuki Uchida
* Wolk: Miyuki Nagato
* Kilt: Yuko Kojima
* Sir Kaura: Jouji Nakata
* Hero Titan: Yoshinori Okamoto
* Bo Gardan: Yoshinori Okamoto (Episode 43-48)
* Narrator: Eiichi Onoda

Voice actors

* Great Emperor Ra Deus: Unshō Ishizuka
* Mag: Hiroko Maruyama

Guest Stars

* Miran: Kazuoki Takahashi (credited as Kenji Kawai) (Episode 21)
* Ryuu Wakakusa: Ryousuke Kaizu (Episode 27)
* Sibelle: Mina Asami (Episode 40)

Songs

; Opening Theme
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** Lyrics:
** Composition:
** Arrangement:
** Artist:

; Ending theme
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** Lyrics:
** Composition: Yukihide Takekawa
** Arrangement: Keiichi Oku
** Artist: Taku Kitahara
* Episode 50 has a special ending where credits roll like the end credits with a last scene special BGM, followed by a special preview of '' Maskman''.

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Choshinsei Flashman
Super Sentai
Extraterrestrial superheroes
1986 Japanese television series debuts
1987 Japanese television series endings
TV Asahi original programming
1980s Japanese television series