is a Japanese superhero created by Suzuki Ichiro and Takeo Nagamatsu in 1931 who originally debuted in a ''

kamishibai is a form of Japanese street theater and storytelling that was popular during the Great Depression of the 1930s and the post-war period in Japan until the advent of television during the mid-20th century. were performed by a (" narrator") w ...

'' (paper theater). Ōgon Bat is considered by some to be the world's first superhero, and is a precursor to later superhero characters such as the Japanese ''kamishibai'' character ''Prince of Gamma'' (debut early 1930s), and the American

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

characters '' Superman'' (debut 1938) and '' Batman'' (debut 1939).

History

Ōgon Bat was created by 16-year old Takeo Nagamatsu and twenty-five year old Suzuki Ichiro in 1931 and was named after the '' Golden Bat'' cigarette brand. The two were inspired by drawings of mythological characters in Tokyo's

Ueno Royal Museum is a district in Tokyo's Taitō Ward, best known as the home of Ueno Park. Ueno is also home to some of Tokyo's finest cultural sites, including the Tokyo National Museum, the National Museum of Western Art, and the National Museum of Na ...

to create a new hero based on science rather than mythology. The character debuted in a ''kamishibai'', a type of traveling show in which a sequence of pictures are shown, narrated by a storyteller. The character was popular enough to survive the decline of kamishibai following

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and was eventually adapted into manga (including one by Osamu Tezuka) and

anime is hand-drawn and computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

. The character featured in three live-action movies: ''Ôgon Bat: Matenrô no Kaijin'', released in 1950; ''Ôgon Batto'', released in 1966; and the comedy biopic ''Ôgon Batto ga Yattekuru'', released in 1972. He also appeared in a 52-episode anime series that aired on Nippon TV from 1967 to 1968.

Character description

Ōgon Bat is a being from ancient

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and '' Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

who was sent forward in time 10,000 years to battle evil forces threatening the present day. He has a golden skull-shaped head, wears a green and white swashbuckler outfit with a high-collared red cape, and carries a rapier. He lives in a fortress in the Japanese Alps. His superpowers include

superhuman strength Superhuman strength is a superpower commonly invoked in fiction and other literary works such as mythology. A fictionalized representation of the phenomenon of hysterical strength, it is the power to exert force and lift weights beyond what is ph ...

, invulnerability, and the ability to fly. Ōgon Bat has an evil counterpart known as Kurayami Bat (暗闇バット "Dark Bat"). His main enemy is Dr. Erich Nazō (ナゾー), the leader of a crime syndicate bent on world domination, who wears a black costume and mask with bat-like ears, a red eye and a blue eye.

Film

A live-action film version of Ōgon Bat was released theatrically by Toei in Japan on December 21, 1966, starring

Sonny Chiba , known internationally as Sonny Chiba, was a Japanese actor and martial artist. Chiba was one of the first actors to achieve stardom through his skills in martial arts, initially in Japan and later before an international audience. Born in Fuku ...

as .

Plot

When young Akira Kazahaya spots the rogue planet Icarus on a collision course for Earth, he is recruited by Captain Yamatone into the Pearl Research Institute in the Japanese Alps, secretly an U.N. organization that protects the Earth, who is searching for the final component to complete Dr. Pearl's Super Destruction Beam Cannon to destroy Icarus. When Captain Yamatone's unit, along with Akira and Pearl's granddaughter Emily, searches for the material for the lens on a mysterious island they soon realize is Atlantis, they are attacked by the evil forces of the Ruler of the Universe Nazō (ナゾー) in a drill-shaped tower ship, who is the one who sent Icarus towards Earth, and force Yamatone to retreat into an ancient tomb holding a sarcophagus with a prophecy that after 10,000 years, a crisis will inevitably come and to awaken the one within to fight it. Just as Nazō's men burst in and try and surround the institute's people, Emily places water on Ogon Bat's chest and revives him. Laughing, Ogon Bat sizes up the situation, defeats the alien attackers and sends a bat to Emily, which turns into a pin, allowing her to call him when there is danger. Ogon Bat then fights off Nazō's tower, allowing Yamatone and the institute people to return with the lens. Undeterred, Nazō gathers his three top agents, Viper, Piranha, and Jackal, who he sends to infiltrate the Institute and retrieve the lens and the beam cannon using their own unique abilities. Nazō successfully captures Dr. Pearl, Emily, and the Super Destruction Beam, but is frustrated by his minions' inability to find the lens and Dr. Pearl's resistance to interrogation, Pearl realizing far more than Earth would be in danger if a villain like Nazō were to gain the weapon, until he realizes Yamatone gave the lens to Ogon Bat, and Nazō tricks Emily into calling for him, resulting in a climactic battle with the fate of Earth at stake.

Cast

as * Wataru Yamakawa as Akira Kazahaya * Hisako Tsukuba as Naomi Akiyama * Emiri Takami as Emily Beard * Andrew Hughes as Dr. Parl * Hirohisa Nakada as agent Shimizu * Kōsaku Okano as agent Nakamura * Kouji Sekiyama as Nazō * Youichi Numada as Keroido / Viper * Keiko Kuni as Perania / Piranha * Keiichi Kitakawa as Jackal * Yukio Aoshima as police officer

Anime

List of anime episodes

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ogon Bat 1950 films 1960s Japanese films 1960s superhero films 1966 films 1967 anime television series debuts Alien invasions in films Comics characters introduced in 1931 Fictional Atlanteans Fictional skeletons Japanese films Japanese science fiction action films Japanese superhero films Nippon TV original programming Superheroes in anime and manga Television superheroes Toei tokusatsu films Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation original programming