is the name and title character of a

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 ...

TV series, later called . It was created by Kōhan Kawauchi, who also created '' Moonlight Mask''. This B&W TV show was the first superhero TV series by Toei Company Ltd. It was broadcast on NET (now TV Asahi) from June 3, 1959, to June 30, 1960, with a total of 57 episodes divided into 7 segments. Aside from being Toei's first TV superhero show, this series was also the debut of actor

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 to an international audience. Born in Fukuo ...

, who was 19 at the time, who took over the title role from Susumu Namijima after Episode 32.

Summary

The hero of this series is a young detective named Kotarō Ran, unknown to anyone (even his friends), is a master of disguise, utilizing seven different personalities. Most of his disguises are odd characters, like a magician and a cigar-smoking Indian, but Kotarō's 7th disguise is the 2-gun-toting caped, golden-masked superhero, Seven Color Mask! In the first story arc called the ally of justice Seven Color Mask must confront the evil Cobra Mask who terrorizes Japan. In the second story arc an armored car loaded with 80 million yen is attacked by the . The police and Seven Color Mask must hunt down King Rose. The third story arc is called . The fourth story arc is called {{Nihongo, Three Ace, スリー・エース, Suri Esu. This series was "remade" by creator Kawauchi in 1972 as '' Warrior of Love Rainbowman'', and it is also considered an inspiration behind

Go Nagai , better known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and a prolific author of Japanese science fiction, science fiction, fantasy, Japanese horror, horror, and erotica. He made his professional debut in 1967 with ''Meakashi Polikichi'', b ...

's '' Cutey Honey''.

Staff

*Creator: Kōhan Kawauchi *Planning: Masahiro Sato, Yoshifumi Ohga *Screenplay: Kōhan Kawauchi, Saburo Yuki & Yoshinari Matsubara *Music: Hiro'oki Ogawa Toei tokusatsu Tokusatsu television series 1959 Japanese television series debuts 1960 Japanese television series endings TV Asahi original programming