Tekkaman: The Space Knight

Tekkaman: The Space Knight
Italian DVD cover of Tekkaman The Space Knight.
宇宙の騎士テッカマン (Uchū no Kishi Tekkaman)
Genre	Action, Science fiction
Anime television series
Directed by	Hiroshi Sasagawa Hisayuki Toriumi
Produced by	Ippei Kuri Shinichi Miyazaki
Studio	Tatsunoko Productions
Original network	NET
Original run	July 2, 1975 – December 24, 1975
Episodes	26

Tekkaman: The Space Knight (宇宙の騎士テッカマン, Uchū no Kishi Tekkaman^?) is an anime produced by Tatsunoko Productions in 1975. A short-lived English adaptation aired in the US in 1984. The first 13 episodes streamed in Japanese with English subtitles on Anime Sols as of spring 2013 exclusively in North America, but the website is now defunct. As of 2016, all 26 episodes are streaming on Viewster in several countries. In the 1990s, it was followed by the much more popular Tekkaman Blade, which was dubbed in the U.S. by Saban as Teknoman.

The Earth has entered the 21st century and it is in peril. The “Green Earth” project has been abandoned and scientists look to the stars to find a “Second Earth.” The Space Angel, on its mission to find this “Second Earth,” is attacked by a group of aliens named the “Waldarians.” The Space Angel is destroyed and with it the hope of mankind. Dr. Amachi manages to create “Pegas” and the “Tekset” system, designed to combat the aliens by augmenting a human with a certain wavelength into a Tekkaman, giving them enhanced strength abilities. Test pilots Joji Minami and Hiromi Amachi, along with Andro Umeda and Mutan, two alien beings from the planet Sanno, rid the dying Earth from the threat of the “Waldaster” and continue to research the “Leap Flight Engine” to reach a new home for humanity.

The opening theme, “Tekkaman no Uta,” is sung by Ichirou Mizuki, written by Tatsunoko’s Planning Department (lyrics) and Asei Kobayashi (music) and arranged by Bob Sakuma, who composed all the music for the series.

An English-language version was created by a small independent company called William Winckler Productions. However, the dub was cancelled in mid-story with only 13 of the show’s 26 episodes produced.