Ōgon Bat

Last updated • 6 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Ogon Bat as seen in a kamishibai Ogon Batto Kamishibai.jpg
Ōgon Bat as seen in a kamishibai

Ōgon Bat (Japanese: 黄金 バット, Hepburn: Ōgon Batto, literally Golden Bat), known as Phantaman or Fantomas in various countries outside Japan, is a Japanese superhero created by Suzuki Ichiro and Takeo Nagamatsu in autumn of 1930 who originally debuted in a kamishibai (paper theater). [1] Ōgon Bat is considered by some to be the world's first superhero, [2] [3] 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 characters Superman (debut 1938) and Batman (debut 1939). [1]

Contents

Ōgon Bat later appeared in numerous Japanese pop culture media, including manga, anime, and Japanese films, as well as toys and postage stamps dating back to 1932. [4] It was adapted into a popular anime television series in 1967, which was released in various European and Latin American countries.

History

Kamishibai artist narrating a story on Ogon Bat. Kamishibai artist at kyomizudera 2.jpg
Kamishibai artist narrating a story on Ōgon Bat.

Ōgon Bat was created by 16-year-old Takeo Nagamatsu and 25-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 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. [1] [2] [3] The character was popular enough to survive the decline of kamishibai following World War II, and was eventually adapted into manga (including one by Osamu Tezuka) and anime. [5]

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.[ citation needed ] He also appeared in a 52-episode anime series that aired on Nippon TV from 1967 to 1968. [5]

In November 2022 a new manga adaptation illustrated by Kazutoshi Yamane was announced in Champion Red magazine by Akita Shoten. [6]

Character description

Ōgon Bat is a being from ancient Atlantis who was sent forward in time 10,000 years to battle evil forces threatening the present day. [3] [5] 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, invulnerability, and the ability to fly. [1] [2] [3] Ōgon Bat has an evil counterpart known as Kurayami Bat (暗闇バット "Dark Bat"). [3] 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. [3]

Film

Ōgon Bat
Directed byHajime Sato
Written bySusumu Takaku
Starring Sonny Chiba
Distributed by Toei Company (Japan)
Release date
  • December 21, 1966 (1966-12-21)(Japan)
Running time
73 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

A live-action film version of Ōgon Bat was released theatrically by Toei in Japan on December 21, 1966, starring Sonny Chiba as Dr. Yamatone (ヤマトネ博士, Yamatone Hakase).[ citation needed ]

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

Anime

  1. 1 2 3 4 Bradner, Liesl (2009-11-29). "The superheroes of Japan who predated Superman and Batman". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2015-06-19.
  2. 1 2 3 Bradner, Liesl (2009-11-27). "Origins of manga and anime". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-07-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Davisson, Zack (December 19, 2010). "The First Superhero – The Golden Bat?". Comics Bulletin . Archived from the original on November 9, 2014. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  4. ↑ Hagen, Dan (27 November 2019). Thomas, Roy (ed.). "The Golden Bat: Japan's "Dark Samurai" Returns!". Alter Ego . No. 162. TwoMorrows Publishing. pp. 35–28. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2014). The Anime Encyclopedia, 3rd Revised Edition: A Century of Japanese Animation. Stone Bridge Press. p. 193. ISBN   9781611720181 . Retrieved July 31, 2016.
  6. ↑ Moroboshi, Sig ra (21 November 2022). "Fantaman - Annunciato il nuovo manga". MegaNerd.it (in Italian). Retrieved 22 December 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.