There was a lot of joy as I put Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot: The Complete Series in my player. This is one of the Japanese shows I watched growing up. There are a number of them in this genre, giant robot/monster, a guy in a big rubber suit, and while it may be a bit cheesy especially by today’s standards, there’s more heart and soul in these programs than in many others geared towards similar audiences produced over the decades.
Children’s programming can be difficult, with science fiction being especially troublesome. By pandering to the audience all integrity is gone as is believability. This is where the Japanese science fiction genre of Tokusatsu comes in – basically a guy in a rubber suit tropping around miniature city sets. Goofy? Sure. Fun? Absolutely. Realistic? As much as a boy and his giant robot could be.
The basic plot goes like this – Earth is under attack by Emperor Guillotine, and each advance is eliminated by UNICORN (United Nations Investigative Criminal Organization Response Network). Generally Emperor Guillotine sends in his regular troops which are then usually taken care of by UNICORN’s normal troops. Then Emperor Guillotine executes his backup plan, that of summoning a giant monster. Well, UNICORN happens to have Johnny Sokko in control of a giant flying robot to handle just such occasions.
While the series does devolve into a monster of the week affair, there is a clear story arc with a beginning and end. The first episode deals with how Johnny, a sort of wandering orphan stumbles onto UNICORN as well as Emperor Guillotine’s base. There Johnny fortuitously gains control of a giant robot and the series is off and running.
And the ending is a real and final ending. I don’t want to spoil it, but I remember being shocked when I first saw it. Shocked!
Shout Factory brings us this television series in a “complete series” package on 4 DVDs. The show itself looks good, but the opening and closing credits don’t. Old masters apparently. That’s fine. We’re lucky to be getting this. Add to this the decently thick booklet included in the DVD case. There’s a nice long essay on the making of the series and another piece that interviews the late Mitsunobu Kaneko, the actor who portrayed Johnny. These are fantastic in providing context in the absence of on-disc special features. Then there’s episode summaries and credits.
This is a great package for a relatively obscure show. Not as high profile as UltraMan, Johnny Sokko And His Flying Robot is still a series that is well worth checking out for any fan of quirky science fiction with a Japanese giant robot twist. It may have been initiated as a kids’ program, but it has appeal to anybody that loves a good robot versus monster story.