, translated as ''Iron Man Tiger Seven'', was a Japanese

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live-action films or television programs that make heavy use of practical special effects. Credited to special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya, ''tokusatsu'' mainly refers to science fiction film, science fiction, War fi ...

television series that broadcast on

Fuji TV JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as or , is a Japanese television station that serves the Kantō region as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network System (FNS). The station is owned-and- ...

from October 6, 1973, to March 30, 1974, with a total of 26 episodes, produced by

P Productions is a Japanese production company, which has produced anime and tokusatsu television programs, with minor work in motion pictures. It was founded in 1960 by the late TV producer Tomio Sagisu (also known as Soji Ushio). The company exists today a ...

. Unlike ''

Kaiketsu Lion-Maru was a Japanese tokusatsu television series in the Lion-Maru franchise that aired in 1972–1973, produced by P Productions and set during Japan's Sengoku period (the Age of Warring States). Plot During the late 16th century (September 1, 1567 t ...

'' and ''

Fuun Lion-Maru , known as ''Lion-Man'' outside Japan, was a tokusatsu television series that aired on the Fuji Television Network in Japan in 1973. Produced by P Productions — the studio behind its previous tokusatsu series including '' Magma Taishi'', ''Spe ...

'', which focuses on cat-based ninja heroes in the feudal eras of Japan, this series is set in modern Japan. The international English title that P Productions refers to for overseas distribution is ''Tiger Seven.'' ''Tetsujin Tiger Seven'' was apparently P Productions' attempt at a ''

Kamen Rider The , also known as ''Masked Rider Series'' (until ''Kamen Rider Decade, Decade'' and except Thailand), is a Japanese superhero fiction, superhero media franchise consisting of tokusatsu television programs, films, manga, and anime, created by ...

'' style series. They even hired

Shunsuke Kikuchi was a Japanese composer who was active from the early 1960s until 2017. He specialized in incidental music for media such as television and film. Kikuchi was regarded as one of Japan's most highly demanded film and TV composers, working princi ...

, music composer of the first eight ''Kamen Rider'' television series, to write the music for this series.

Plot

Takigawa Go gets the power to transform into Tetsujin Tiger Seven from an artificial heart and a magic pendant. To transform, he utters the henshin (transformation) phrase "Tiger Spark." Takigawa Go is played by Tatsuya Nanjô (who also starred in '' Henshin Ninja Arashi''). Go rides a Suzuki motorcycle with rocket boosters. When he transforms into Tiger Seven, the motorcycle transforms as well to become "Spike Go." Spike Go can drive itself, coming to its master's aid when Tiger Seven roars.

Music

Opening Theme * "Iron Man Tiger Seven" (Tetsujin Tiger Seven) music by

, lyrics by Tomio Shinoda, vocals by Yuki Hide Ending Theme * "Run Tiger Seven" music by

, lyrics by Tomio Shinoda, vocals by Columbia Cradle Club & Blue Angels

Cast

*Takigawa Go/Iron Man Tiger Seven (voice):

Tatsuya Nanjô is a common masculine Japanese given name. Written forms Tatsuya can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *達也, "master/accomplished, to be" *達矢, "master/accomplished, arrow" *竜也, "dragon, to be" *竜哉, "dra ...

*Iron Man Tiger Seven (stunt actor): Kazuo Kamoshida *Professor Takigawa: Shizuo Chujô *Kitagawa Shiro: Shunichi Tatsu *Sanpei Hayashi: Hironori Sakuma *June Aoki: Yuka Kumari *Jiro Aoki: Tomonori Yoshida *Crown Prince Gill: Ryotaro Maki *Crown Prince Gill (voice):

Kiyoshi Kobayashi was a Japanese actor, voice actor and narrator from Tokyo. He was attached to the Tokyo Actor's Consumer's Cooperative Society. He was a graduate of the arts department of Nihon University. He was best known for his role as Daisuke Jigen i ...

*Black Mask: Masayoshi Kimizuka: *Black Mask (voice): Hiroshi Masuoka *Narrator: Masâki Okabe

International broadcast and home video

*In its home country of Japan, a single VHS and Betamax tape was released by

Toei Company , simply known as Toei Company or Toei, is a Japanese entertainment company. Headquartered in Ginza, Chūō, Tokyo, it is involved in film and television production, distribution, video game development, publishing, and ownership of 34 movi ...

under their Toei Video brand, including Episodes 1 and 9 in 1983. On February 22, 2002,

Pioneer LDC (abbreviated as NBCUEJ) is a Japanese music, anime, and home entertainment production and distribution enterprise that is a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, owned by American telecommunications/media company Comcast headquartered in Akasaka, Tokyo ...

released a DVD box set of the series that contained all 26 episodes of the series. Later on March 21, 2003, individual DVDs were also released by the company and split into six volumes. The first five volumes contained five episodes, while the final one contained two episodes. *The series has aired in Italy with a full Italian dub and has aired on syndication across private local TV channels during the 1980s under the name Tiger Man.

References

External links

* 1973 Japanese television series debuts 1974 Japanese television series endings Japanese television series with live action and animation Tokusatsu television series {{Japan-tv-prog-stub