Tekkaman Blade (宇宙の騎士テッカマンブレード Uchū no Kishi Tekkaman Burēdo, lit. "Space Knight Tekkaman Blade") or Teknoman is an anime series, released in 1992 and 1995 in both Japanese and English language versions.
Plot[]
During the year 2300 AD (2087 in the English dub), otherwise known as United Earth Year 192, the Earth is under attack from an extraterrestrial enemy known as the Radam. The Radam (Venomoid) forces comprise of grotesque bug-like monsters (spider-crabs) that are led by armored soldiers known as the Tekkamen (Teknomen). Surrounding the Earth is an enormous man-made ring known as the Orbital Ring (Space Ring). The Orbital Ring was a space station that once served as a launch point into space and was constructed well before the arrival of the alien invaders. It was thus the first human structure attacked and occupied by Radam, with its human inhabitants having either fled or been killed. Now it serves merely as a battle ground for the military against the aliens and Tekkaman (Teknoman).
Fighting against the Radam and their Tekkamen are the Space Knights. Led by Commander Heinrich Freeman (Commander Jamison), the Space Knights are a Special Defense Force and Earth's last hope for defeating Radam. The Space Knights consist of Noal (Ringo), the pilot of the Space Knights' ship "Blue Earth"; Aki (Star), the Blue Earth Navigator; Milly (Tina), Communications Operator; Levin (Maggie), computer mechanic; and Honda (Mac) mechanic and repairs. The Space Knights have been unsuccessful at repelling the aliens until the arrival of Blade, a young man who has the ability to transform into an armored warrior known as Tekkaman Blade (Teknoman).
Commanding the alien forces is Omega (Darkon), a Tekkaman general who leads the alien invasion of the planet Earth. Omega's (Darkon's) base is located on the dark side of the Moon, where he waits for the moment to gain enough strength to raise his spacecraft from the Moon's surface, along with his Tekkamen soldiers, preparing for their conquest of the planet Earth and the universe.
Also commanding the Radam armies are other Tekkamen. Once human, the Tekkamen were captured and transformed by the Radam to assist in the takeover of Earth. They are endowed with impenetrable armor, super-human strength, and quantum energy weapons. The Tekkamen transform using power drawn from their System Box crystals that are unique to each holder. Blade is one of a handful of Tekkamen. Unlike the others, he fights to defend Earth and for the most part, is free of the brainwashing influence which the Radam imposed over their captives to make them subservient.
Before the arrival of the Radam there was a deep space exploration ship called the Argos. It was the Argos that first encountered the Radam probe ship. Aboard the Argos were the Aiba (Carter) family: Blade's family and their ship crew. Whilst exploring the outer rings of Saturn, the Argos' radar picks up an unusual gravitational disturbance. Going to investigate, the crew discover the disturbance to be an alien ship, and as they get closer, they are drawn in by a tractor beam. Excited at the prospect of encountering alien life, the crew board the vessel and discover the Radam (Venomoid).
Radam "Tek-System" plants rain down upon the crew, beginning the process of turning them into Tekkamen. All of the crew aboard the ship are put into Tek System pods, though only the most ideal humans could become Tekkamen. While this occurred, the Argos was slowly being assimilated into the Radam spacecraft. Over time, Takaya Aiba's (Nick Carter) father was rejected by the process and uses what little time he had left to free one member of his family; Blade, who was the only one still not brainwashed by the Radam. It is through the crew of the Argos that the Radam discovers the planet Earth and plan their invasion. On his last legs, Blade's father helps him into the escape pod and before activating the Argos's self destruct sequence, he casts Blade off into space telling him that the fate of the Earth rests in his hands. Upon the explosion, the Radam spacecraft crash lands on the dark side of the Moon.
Takaya Aiba travels back to Earth for six months, in the confines of his tiny pod, alone with his thoughts. By the time he arrives, the Earth is already under heavy attack from the Radam. Fueled by his hatred for the Radam, Takaya bursts free from his pod and begins to attack them. The attack draws the attention of a Tekkaman called Dagger. The two fight and Blade is sent hurtling towards Earth, however, his armor protects him and he crash lands on Earth without sustaining serious injury. His arrival attracts the attention of two Space Knights, Noal Vereuse (Ringo Vereuse) and Aki Kisaragi (Star Summers) who discover a naked and bleeding Takaya (Nick) walking out of a crater, and take him back to their headquarters.
In the beginning, Takaya (Nick) is mysterious and hostile towards the otherwise helpful Space Knights. However, he has no memory of anything before the battle on the orbital ring with Tekkaman Dagger (Teknoman Dagger) and as time progresses, he begins to respect and admire them for their dedication in even the toughest of situations, and eventually develops a relationship with Aki.
The Space Knights, with the help of Takaya, who is given the nickname of D-Boy by Noal because of his dangerous ideology, slowly begin to repel the Radam troops until, during a battle with Tekkaman Dagger (Teknoman Dagger), Blade's crystal is shattered, rendering him unable to transform again into Tekkaman Blade. Takaya gives up hope until Levin develops a battle robot, who later takes the name Pegas (Short for Pegasus, in reference to the flying horse of Greek mythology). Pegas contains the shards of Blade's crystal and amplifies its power, allowing Blade to transform once more. Pegas and Blade develop a close friendship, despite Pegas being a robot. In his first transformation using Pegas, Blade challenges Dagger and easily overpowers him, destroying him with a blast from his shoulder cannons known as the Voltekka (Tekno-Bolt).
Eventually more Tekkamen arrive on Earth to challenge Blade, lead by Tekkaman Evil (Teknoman Sabre), Blade's twin brother, Tekkaman Lance (Teknoman Lance), Tekkaman Axe (Teknoman Axe) and Tekkaman Sword (Teknoman Sword) who are all keen to destroy him. Blade's sister, Miyuki (Shara), also arrives on Earth. However, like Blade, she is not under the control of the Radam. After pulling herself free from Omega's base, she arrives very ill and is given a blood transfusion from Blade and Aki. Evil, Lance, Axe and Sword attacks the Space Knights' base, attempting to kill Miyuki. Although outnumbered, Miyuki strikes back and fights them, eventually self-destructing (in the form of her own Voltekka) in a vain attempt to destroy the other Tekkamen. Blade, now left without a family, is strengthened by these events and resolves to destroy the Radam. He manages to kill Lance and Axe and later gains the power to take on the Blaster transformation (Super Teknoman) mode, but at the expense of having worse effects on his brain and body. Evil is given the same ability to serve as the final line of Omega's defense, while Sword is killed by Balzac as they both burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, preventing the Blue Earth from reaching the Moon.
Towards the end of the war, Blade and Evil meet for one last time to fight. They battle and eventually Blade kills Evil. As he dies, Evil is freed from the Radam's control and hands Blade his crystal, instructing him that he will need its power to reach Omega's base on the Moon. Evil also tells Blade that despite all the events that has led to his death, he is glad to have fought his own brother on equal ground for the first time, and that he is glad that he became Tekkaman Evil.
Blade takes off on Pegas whilst falling further and further into the depths of his rage. He finally arrives on the Moon and confronts Omega, who reveals the whole Radam plan and that he is Kengo (Conrad), Blade's eldest brother. Omega has begun to resurrect the alien mothership, to descend upon Earth. Blade attacks Omega, who proves too powerful and easily defeats Blade. Omega is about to kill Blade when Pegas sacrifices itself for Blade, stepping in front of the killing blow. Pegas' last words are a farewell to Blade.
The destruction of Pegas sends Blade over the edge and he erupts, transforming him into a Blaster Tekkaman mode for the last time. Before striking the final blow of the first Radam War, Blade says to his brother, "Come on, let's go home now." His spaceship explodes; as parts of the spacecraft fall to Earth, so too does Blade, stripped of his armor and crash landing. The series ends with Blade and Aki watching a sunset and Noal recalling what a miracle it was that himself and Blade had survived the war. However, prices were paid, as their comrade Balzac dies during his battle with Sword and Blade is paralyzed and wheelchair-bound, can barely speak and is almost completely amnesiac.
Armor Analysis[]
| Japanese Version (Name) | American Version (Name) | Height | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sol-Tekkaman 1 (Original and Custom) (Balzac Asimov) | Tekno-Suit 1/Balzac Saint Jaques | 2.30 | 181 |
| Sol-Tekkaman 2 (Noal Vereuse) | Tekno-Suit 2/Richard 'Ringo' Vereuse | 2.30 | 181 |
| Miyuki Aiba/Tekkaman Rapier | Shara Carter/Teknoman Shara (Rapier) | 1.95 | 70 |
| D-Boy/Takaya Aiba Tekkaman Blade | Nick Carter/Teknoman Blade | 2.32 | 81 |
| Blaster Blade | Super Teknoman Blade/Teknoman Plus | 2.38 | 87 |
| Kengo Aiba/Tekkaman Omega | Conrad Carter/Darkon | 2.41 | 108 |
| Shinya Aiba/Tekkaman Evil | Cain Carter/Teknoman Sabre | 2.36 | 90 |
| Fritz von Brown/Tekkaman Dagger | Fritz Heidenreich/Teknoman Dagger (Gunnar) | 2.40 | 89 |
| Goddard/Tekkaman Axe | Grant Goddard/Teknoman Axe | 2.32 | 90 |
| Molotov/Tekkaman Lance | Kengo Moroto/Teknoman Lance | 2.42 | 86 |
| Feng-Li/Tekkaman Sword | Catherine Ayano/Teknoman Sword | 2.20 | 70 |
| Pegas | Teknobot/Pegus | 2.70 | 6500 |
A Tekkaman (known as a Teknoman in the English version) is a human who has been biologically altered by the Radam's (Venomoid) ?Tek-System? plants. Not all humans are biologically compatible with the Tek-System?plants. Incompatible candidates are eventually ejected from the plants and die shortly afterwards.
Those that do survive gain the ability to transform into a powerful armored form. The armor is capable of self-propelled flight, functions as an environmental suit, and is virtually invulnerable to most forms of attack, Blade withstood a nuclear explosion at ground zero without apparent ill effect. All Tekkamen (Teknomen) transform into their armor by use of a crystal that is stored in their bodies while not in use, known as a System Box. Blade's crystal is shattered early on by Tekkaman (Teknoman) Dagger and he is forced to use Pegas to transform. In addition, the crystal is capable of enabling the Tekkaman (Teknoman) to travel through space at high speeds (without his crystal, Blade is Earth-bound without the assistance of the Blue Earth). The armor also has a number of built-in offensive systems. First, physical strength is enhanced considerably. (Tekkaman Lance also demonstrated extraordinary strength in human form, lifting a man off of the ground one handed, and throwing him hard enough to crack concrete). For melee combat, a Tekkaman uses a spear-like weapon called a Tekk Lancer (テックランサー Tekkuransā) (called Tekno-Lance in Teknoman). The lances wielded by some Tekkamen had special abilities: Dagger's could double as a bow capable of firing energized arrows, Blade's had launchable boomerang blades, and his and Evil (Sabre's) could generate an electrical charge in addition to being used as a throwing star. Blade also had a grappling spike that could be fired out of the right wrist of his gauntlet as was shown at the end of episode three when he tows the Blue Earth. Miyuki (Shara) and Evil (Sabre) are later shown using similar tools. Most Tekkamen have access to Voltekka (ボルテッカ Borutekka) (known as Teknopower Blasters and later Tekno-Bolt in Teknoman), massively powerful energy cannons. Evil (Sabre) is capable of using his blasters to power a controllable "ball lightning" blast known as a "Psy-Voltekka", and Blade is later able to boost the power of his blast using Pegas' expansion to create the "High-colt Voltekka" attack. Blade and Evil (Sabre) later evolve into a Blaster Tekkaman (known as Super Teknoman/Teknoman Plus/Penultimate Embodiment in Teknoman).
During battle, they can change their armor into an enhanced form which boosts their Voltekka weapons and speed considerably, and in Blade's case, he is able to perform variations of the Voltekka such as the "Lancer Voltekka" where he throws a Voltekka charge using his Tekk-Lancer (a technique also used by Axe) and the powerful "Blaster Voltekka", where the energy is built up in front of Blade before he unleashes it in the same manner as his original Voltekka attack. This form is temporary, as they are shown reverting to their original armors either when they don't need the boost in power anymore, or when they simply lack the strength to maintain it. This enhancement also has serious neurological effects for both of them, especially Blade as he was suffering from excess fatigue and strain before he even gained this ability. Blade had a technique called Crash Intrude (クラッシュ イントルード Kurasshu Intorūdo) (Tekno Battle Mode in Teknoman) in which his armor generated a bird-shaped aura of green energy, allowing him to destroy enemy targets by crashing into them. Miyuki (Rapier) is also shown using this technique.
Video games[]
There have been a total of three video games based on the Tekkaman Blade anime series. The first one was on Game Boy and is a simple scrolling action game. The next Tekkaman Blade game was on Super Nintendo and is a side-scrolling action game mixed with player vs. computer fighting scenes. The final game was released on the Japanese home computer system the PC98 and is a strategic game.
The Tekkaman Blade characters have been incorporated into the Super Robot Wars video game series, a long-running series of turn-based strategy games operating under the premise of a crossover between various mecha anime. Tekkaman Blade has been featured in the Super Robot Wars J and Super Robot Wars W games.
- The Super Robot Wars W game merged aspects of the series' backstory with that of the The King of Braves GaoGaiGar anime series by making the Radam and the Zonders enemies, and explaining that the Tek-System was created specifically to protect against Zonderization. The Tek System is also said to be the basis behind the Evoluders from Detonator Orgun, who also war against both the Radam and Zonders. The game follows parts of the story up until the battle with Tekkaman (Teknoman) Axe, switches to the plot of Tekkaman Blade II, and then picks back up with the original story with Blade's mental and physical deterioration. After the battle with Omega (Darkon), Blade is thought lost when the ZAFT superweapon GENESIS is redirected to fire on the rising Radam (Venomoid) ship, but Blade is saved and cured by Miyuki (Shara), who survived due to interference from the Zonders (who attempted to capture her and study the Tek System), with the help of Shinya's (Cain's) Tek Crystal.
Both Tekkaman Blade and the original Tekkaman: The Space Knight (which the series is based on) appear as playable characters in the game Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars. A Tekkaman Blade-themed stage, based in the Cargo Bay of the Space Ring, is featured as well.
Theme songs[]
Japanese version[]
Openings
- "Reason" by Yumiko Kosaka (Eps. 1-26)
- "Eternal Loneliness"(永遠の孤独) by Yumiko Kosaka (Eps. 27-49)
Endings
- "Energy of Love" by Yumiko Kosaka
- "Lonely Heart" by Yumiko Kosaka
English version[]
- "Teknoman Theme" by Saban