| Ōgon Bat | |
| 黄金バット (Ōgon Batto) |
|
|---|---|
| TV anime | |
| Network | Yomiuri TV, Nihon TV |
| English network | Nine Network |
| Original run | April 1, 1967 – March 23, 1968 |
| Episodes | 52 |
Ōgon Bat (黄金 バット Ōgon Batto, lit. "Golden Bat"), also known as Phantaman or Phantoma, is a seminal Japanese superhero created by writer Ichiro Suzuki and illustrator Takeo Nagamatsu in 1930. Ōgon Bat is considered to be the first Japanese superhero.[1]
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The character made his debut in Kamishibai, a traveling show in which a sequence of pictures is narrated by a storyteller.[2] He was popular enough to survive the decline of Kamishibai following World War II, and was eventually translated into manga and anime form.
A live action movie, Ôgon bat: Matenrô no kaijin, was released in 1950[3], followed by another in 1966, simply titled Ôgon batto, and starring Sonny Chiba. A 52 episode anime series was produced the following year, followed by another film, Ôgon Batto ga yattekuru in 1972.
Ōgon Bat is portrayed as golden, with a skeletal face and muscular body. He wears a high collared black and red cape, carries a pointed scepter that is able to conjure lightning and cause minor earthquakes. His appearance is heralded by a little golden bat flying in, followed by a reverberating laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.
Ōgon Bat is actually a protector from Ancient Atlantis, who is put into suspended animation in an Egyptian-like sarcophagus, to be awakened in the future to fight the forces of evil.
In modern times, Ōgon Bat is discovered by Prof. Yamatone's family and a little orphan girl called Marie in a tomb in modern Egypt. The tomb's inscription describes him as a “god of justice and protector of the weak”. When Yamatone's family is threatened by Mazo (マゾ), Dr. Nazō's main henchman, Marie starts to cry and beg for help. Her tears fall on Ōgon Bat's body and re-animate him. From then on, he appears whenever Marie asks for his help.
His main antagonist is Dr. Erich Nazō (ナゾー), the leader of a crime syndicate bent on world domination. Nazō wears a black mask with Batman-like ears and has four different colored cat eyes which can each fire a different deadly beam. He also has no lower body, and hovers around atop a mini-flying saucer. Nazō also has a metal pincer in place of his right hand and has a habit of booming the name “LOMBROSO”.
Ōgon Bat's other great nemesis is Kurayami Bat (暗闇バット Dark Bat), a somewhat darker version of himself who he was supposedly created to fight.
Ōgon Bat is known as Fantasmagórico in most of Latin America, Fantomas in Brazil, Fantaman in the Italian dub and Phantoma in Australia. Dr. Nazō is called "Dr. Zero", and Kurayami Bat is called "Dr. Death".
In Brazil, the series arrived without an intro and one was quickly spliced together by Cinecastro using scenes from an episode and the theme from another cartoon, Journey to the Center of the Earth. This was also the case for at least two other anime series: Shadow Boy and Paaman (Super Dinamo).
Source:[4]