Nebula Mask Machine Man

Nebula Mask Machine Man
Seiun Kamen Machine Man titlecard
Genre	Tokusatsu
Created by	Shotaro Ishinomori Toei
Starring	Osamu Sakuta
Narrated by	Osamu Kobayashi
Composer(s)	Yuji Ohno
Country of origin	Japan
No. of episodes	36 (35 episodes + 1 roundup)
Production
Running time	24 minutes
Release
Original network	Nippon TV (NTV)
Original release	January 13 – September 28, 1984

Nebula Mask Machine Man (星雲仮面マシンマン, Seiun Kamen Mashin Man^?) is a Japanese tokusatsu television series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by Toei Company. It aired from January 13 until September 28, 1984. It revolves around the adventures of Nick (Nikku), a college student from the Ivy planet (located at the Pleiades) and his arrival on Earth to study the earthlings' behavior. Upon arrival, he is called in for the activities of the evil organization called "Tentacle", whose don, Professor K, wishes to eliminate all children in the world.

The series is rumored to have been inspired by American DC Comics superhero Superman, although this was never confirmed by either Ishinomori or Toei.

Travelling in the spaceship "Space Colony", Nick, with the help of his ball-shaped robot "Ball Boy", arrive on Earth to study the behaviour and manners of human beings for his doctoral degree thesis. Under the human identity of a young man named Ken Takase, he meets Maki Hayama, a photographer at Shukan Hit newspaper, and later saves her from a building fall. Maki was taking pictures for a scoop about a building which had been mysteriously demolished. Later, she and Ken find that the evil organization "Tentacle" is behind the demolitions and other evil deeds around the world. Nick then decides to extend his stay on Earth and uses his advanced technology and superior powers to protect his Maki and the children of Earth under the alter-ego Machine Man, a red and yellow suited superhero. Armed with an advanced technology weapons, he begins fighting Tentacle's cyborgs and protect humankind.