is an

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

produced by Tatsunoko Productions for

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- ...

. It ran from September 7, 1980, to September 27, 1981.

Plot

Twelve-year-old Rin Yuki loyally supported his father when the world laughed at the scientist for saying that

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

was about to be face an

alien invasion Alien invasion or space invasion is a common feature in science fiction stories and films, in which extraterrestrial lifeforms invade Earth to exterminate and supplant human life, enslave it, harvest people for food, steal the planet's resource ...

. But Rin did not expect to become personally involved—until he met Takoro, the strange young "deputy sheriff" from another world who was on the trail of notorious space criminals. There were only four Kurodako Brothers, but they plotted to use their alien science and natural

shapeshifting In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shapeshifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through unnatural means. The idea of shapeshifting is found in the oldest forms of totemism and shamanism, as well as the oldest existen ...

powers to become the secret masters of Earth. With Takoro's help, Rin became the mighty

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a fictional character who typically possesses ''superpowers'' or abilities beyond those of ordinary people, is frequently costumed concealing their identity, and fits the role of the hero, typically using their ...

, Muteking, to foil their schemes.

Release

The series was televised in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

under the title of simply ''Muteking''. An English dub of episode one was also made, apparently in an unsuccessful attempt to sell the series to the United States. In this one-episode dubbed version (which has been posted on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

in three parts), Rin Yuki is named "Scooter Loon," and his father is renamed "Linus Loon."

Reboot plans

In 2019, Tatsunoko announced a reboot of the series titled ''Muteking the Dancing Hero'' that aired from October 3 to December 19, 2021.

Staff

* Original story: Tatsunoko Production * Executive producer: Kenji Yoshida * Planning: Ippei Kuri, Shigeru Yanagawa * Producers: Ippei Kuri, Tomoyuki Miyata * Production supervisors: Minoru Uchima, Minoru Uno, Tsuneo Tamura * Scripts: Shigeru Yanagawa, Kazuo Sato, Akiyoshi Sakai, Seiya Yamazaki, Takeshi Shudo, Yu Yamamoto et al. * Episode direction: Hiroshi Sasagawa, Masayuki Hayashi, Koichi Mashimo, Yutaka Kagawa, Shinya Sadamitsu, Yoshizo Tsuda, Hidehito Ueda, Kenjiro Yoshida, Kazuo Yamazaki, Masakazu Higuchi et al. * Character designs: Ippei Kuri, Akiko Shimomoto * Mechanical design:

Kunio Okawara is a mecha designer in the Japanese anime industry. He was born and currently lives in Inagi, Tokyo, where he works out of a studio in his home. He was one of the pioneering mecha designers in Japan and established the profession of 'mecha des ...

* Key animation supervisor: Sadao Miyamoto * Key animation director: Shizuo Kawai * Art director: Kikuko Tada * Music: Koba Hayashi * Produced and distributed by: Tatsunoko Production Co., Ltd. / Fuji Telecasting Co., Ltd.

Cast

*Rin Yuki:

Kazuhiko Inoue is a Japanese actor, voice actor, narrator and singer. His notable works include Anthony Brown in '' Candy Candy'', Joe Shimamura in the 1979 iteration of '' Cyborg 009'', Jerid Messa in '' Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam'', Kakashi Hatake in ''Naruto ...

*Takoro: Yumiko Uzaki *Dr. Dankichi Yuki: Isamu Tanonaka *Koharu Yuki: Kazue Komiya *Sonny Yuki: Rokuro Naya *Mitchi: Takako Tsutsui *Nubon: Takemi Nakamura *Takokichi: Toru Ohira *Takomaru: Shigeru Tsuji *Takosaku: Shin Aomori *Takomi: Makoto Kōsaka

Episode list

Reboot

In 2019, Tatsunoko announced a reboot of the series titled ''Muteking the Dancing Hero'' that was going to air in 2020. The companies Tatsunoko and

Horipro is a Japanese talent agent, talent agency that manages actors, entertainers and musicians, as well as commercial and television productions. It has locations in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville and Los Angeles in the United States. History I ...

hosted an audition for who will voice the titular character Muteking; the winner will voice the character and will also have a singing debut with character songs, and will get a contract with Horipro. HoriPro was accepting applications for the audition until July 19, 2019, and after several rounds, the final round took place on September 8. The reboot is animated by Tatsunoko and

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as ''Marvelous Melmo'', the Astro Boy (1980 TV series), 1980 and Astro Boy (2003 TV series), 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and ''Black Jack ...

and directed by Yūzō Satō, with Ryōsuke Takahashi serving as chief director and Hiroshi Sasagawa serving as executive director, Masafumi Satō serving as assistant director and battle dance director, Yūji Kondō supervising series' scripts, and Takamitsu Shimazaki and Takeshi Masuda composing the series' music. The opening theme song, "Labyrinth", is performed by Orange Range, while the ending theme song, "Kibō no Uta" (Song of Hope), is performed by Kalma. It aired from October 3 to December 19, 2021 on

TV Osaka JOBH-DTV (channel 7), branded as , is a Japanese television station serving as the affiliate of the TX Network for the Osaka prefecture. Owned-and-operated by , the station's headquarters and studios are in the Chūō-ku, Osaka, Chūō-ku ward of ...

and other channels.

Funimation Funimation was an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming service. Launched in 2016, the service was one of the leading distributors of anime ...

streamed the anime.

Episode list

; : ;DJ : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; : ; :

Notes

References

External links

* {{Ryōsuke Takahashi 1980 anime television series debuts Television about alien invasions Animated television series about shapeshifting Japanese children's animated superhero television series Animated television series about brothers Action anime and manga Adventure anime and manga Crunchyroll anime Fuji Television original programming Science fiction anime and manga Tatsunoko Production Television shows set in San Francisco Tezuka Productions