Was talking to Car the other day, and her excited anticipation of this week’s broadcast of ULTRAMAN TIGA (solely because of V6’s Hiroshi Nagano’s lead role in the show) led us to talking about those tokusatsu shows we grew up with as kids here in Hawaii. She related how, though the status quo seemed to love Kikaida and Kamen Rider V3, the show SHE liked as a kid was the Toho Superhero show RAINBOW MAN, though she admittedly could remember absolutely nothing about it as a grown up!
We went online to see if we could find video clips of the show that might jog her memory. Though we found several uploads which features the beginning and ending songs with slideshow-type videos, there didn’t seem to be anyone that had uploaded the actual opening and closing credits (or at least, none that have survived the dreaded REMOVED BY TERMS OF COPYRIGHT VIOLATION removal requests!
I thought I’d go ahead and rip my laserdisc opening and closing credits for her to see (as well as Takeshi henshining into Rainbow Man, which she also had forgotten), and then it crossed my mind that there might be some of you out there that wouldn’t mind checking these out either, so I went ahead and upped them for you to check out and reminisce as well!
Digging out that old Rainbow Man DVD Box Set brought back memories of not only the episodes of the show itself, but the drama of actually acquiring the set! Back in the mid-nineties era of the LASERDISC, Toho Productions released the first season of AI NO SENSHI RAINBOW MAN in a beautiful LD Box Set, a set that I tried in VAIN to get, but, (naturally) by the time I was aware of the Box set’s existence, it was (drumroll) OUT OF PRINT. SHIMATTA!
I was, however, informed that I could make a pre-order for the upcoming Season TWO Box Set, an offer I TOTALLY took up, and in the long run I have to say it satisfied me pretty well, for I was to discover that Season Two’s episodes were the ones that I actually remembered as a kid! This was when Rainbowman was shifting away from Yakuza and mobsters and moving more into the supernatural/science fiction phase of its run, and with witches, demons and skeletons filling the screen every week, it sure kept THIS kid creeped out!
Though I didn’t catch on at the time, re-watching the second season now, I am amazed at how “cool” the show was, with its’ James Bond style espionage baddies and that oh-so-mod outfits and music! And while we’re on the subject of Mod, NOTHING in Season Two embodied that swingin’ time more than Mister K’s four leading ladies DIANA, OLGA, KATHY and LOLITA. These chicks were the fiercest kick-ass evil agents ever, and in true “Faster Pussycat Kill Kill” fashion, spent their entire time making poor old Rainbow Man’s life a living hell!
With the implementation of new DAC Terrorist Attacks from Mister K and his minions as well as diversions from the dark side with God Iguana and her spooky spirit ghoulies, you would have thought the novelty of those agent girls had run its course and they could offer no more… but Evil Scientist named Dr. Borg came on the scene and bumped up the girls a notch by changing all of them (sans Olga, who developed a nasty turn with the procedure) into CYBORGS a la THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN!
We’re talking rocket boots, laser-beam eyes, bulletproof bodies and superhuman strength here, guys! Why, they even gave the girl all new futuristic silver space-age costumes to better complement their newfound powers!
And you wonder why Rainbow Man spent so much of the series groaning in pain!
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