, known as ''Lion-Man'' outside Japan, was a

tokusatsu is a Japanese term for live action film or television drama that makes heavy use of practical special effects. ''Tokusatsu'' entertainment mainly refers to science fiction, war, fantasy, or horror media featuring such technology but is som ...

television series that aired on the

Fuji Television Network JOCX-DTV (channel 8), branded as and colloquially known as CX, is a Japanese television station based in Odaiba, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Owned and operated by the it is the key station of the Fuji News Network (FNN) and the Fuji Network Sys ...

in Japan in 1973. Produced by P Productions — the studio behind its previous tokusatsu series including '' Magma Taishi'', '' Spectreman'' and ''

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 ...

'', it was the second series in the ''

Lion-Maru is a Japanese tokusatsu television franchise that began in 1972 by P Productions as '' Extraordinary Hero Lion-Maru''. The basic premise of the series is that the main character has the ability to transform into a superpowered anthropomorphic ...

'' trilogy, and featured a third Maru-like character named Black Jaguar. It also reunites only two actors: Tetsuya Ushio as Shishimaru (Lion Maru) and Yoshitaka Fukushima as Jonosuke (Tiger Joe), since Akiko Kujo and Norihiko Umechi were not featured in the sequel series. This Lion-Maru is deemed "the Rolling Tempest Ninja Warrior." This series was popularized in Brazil as ''Lion Man'' in 1989, the only other country besides Japan to show the 25 episodes of this series.

Story

The series has its context in

Feudal Japan The first human inhabitants of the Japanese archipelago have been traced to prehistoric times around 30,000 BC. The Jōmon period, named after its cord-marked pottery, was followed by the Yayoi period in the first millennium BC when new inve ...

where, for any warrior, more important than life itself was to maintain his honor. It tells the story of Dan Shishimaru, a 22-year-old

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

who, after having his brother Dan Kage Noshin killed by Nezuma, a human monster allied with the evil group Mantle, goes into battle with a desire for revenge and justice.

Cast

*Shishimaru Dan/Lion Maru (voice): Tetsuya Ushio *Shinobu: Ryoko Miyano *Sankichi/Taro (ep 14): Tsunehiro Arai *Hyoba Kurokage/Black Jaguar (voice) (2-11 & 25) : Masaki Hayasaki *Jōnosuke Tora/Tiger Joe (voice): Yoshitaka Fukushima *Nijino Nanairo (17-20, 22 & 24): Naoyuki Sugano

Voice Actors

*Mantle God:

Kiyoshi Kobayashi Kiyoshi, (きよし or キヨシ), is a Japanese given name, also spelled Kyoshi. Possible meanings *'' Kyōshi'', a form of Japanese poetry *Kyōshi, a Japanese honorific Possible writings *清, "cleanse" *淳, "pure" *潔, "undefiled" *清志, ...

*Agdar:

Tōru Ōhira was a Japanese narrator and voice actor from the Tokyo Metropolitan Area. He was the founder of Ōhira Production and was also attached to 81 Produce. One of his best-known roles was the dub voice of Darth Vader in ''Star Wars'', on the series' ...

(ep 1), Yoshiaki Yoda (2-23) *Narrator/Monsters: Masaki Okabe *Kaiketsu Lion Man (voice) (ep 9): Tetsuya Ushio *Shizue (voice) (ep 17 & 18): Ryoko Miyano

Stunts

*Fuun Lion-Maru: Kanehiro Nomiyama *Tiger Joe, Jr.: Kenzo Nakayama, Masami Yogawa *Kaiketsu Lion Man: Kazuo Kamoshida *Agdar: Hiroshi Mihara *Monsters: Hajime Araki, Hiromi Hara *Shizue (17 & 18): Noriko Egawa

Music

;Opening Theme * by & ;Ending Theme * by &

External links

Fuun Lion-Maru
DVD site

References

1973 Japanese television series debuts 1973 Japanese television series endings Fictional ninja Japanese television series with live action and animation Ninja fiction Tokusatsu television series {{Japan-tv-prog-stub