Choshinsei Flashman (50 episodes, 1986-1987)
By Dave Anderson/Gladrius

The Story

Twenty years ago, five young children were kidnapped by a group known as the Alien Hunters, thankfully these youngsters were rescued by the Flash people, who then trained the kidnapped children to be superhuman warriors in five different planets within the Flash Solar System, each gaining a different special ability. Once grown-up the Earthlings go back to their home planet in search of their real parents and to protect their world from an invasion by Mess, an evil empire that raids planets in order to gene-craft the perfect creature out of Lar Deus, their leader. They must work quickly, though, because if they don’t return to Flash in a year they will die from the Anti-Flash Phenomenon.

The Characters

Each the Flashman, grew up on different planet of the Flash solar system and by doing so each gained a special super-power. Jin/Red Flash, was the leader who learned science and swordplay. Dai/Green Flash gained super-human strenght. Bun/Blue Flash, the youngest member of the team, could climb walls like Spider-Man. Sara/Yellow Flash gained incredible intellectual power. Lou/Pink Flash obtained amazinge jumping abilities that allow her to almost defy gravity. Also worthy of mention are the Flash aliens, who looked vaguely like the stars of another famous tokusatsu series that starts with a U.

Opposing the Flashman are Mess, a group of conquerors trying to find the best genes to implant into their leader, Great Emperor Lar Deus so that he can become the most advanced creature in the universe. Other members of Mess include the Great Doctor Lee Keflen, a scientist from Earth who created Mess’ monsters and the generals: Ley Wanda (played by Takumi Hirose, my favorite sentai villain actor ever), Ley Nefel, her sidekicks Ulk (wolf-woman) and Kilt (cat-woman), bestial Ley Garus, Sir Cowler and his Alien Hunters, who captured the baby Flashman all those years ago. Also along for the ride were the Zorors, Mess’s bug-like foot soldiers (love those working mandibles!).

The Show

I was unsure about Flashman at first. Compared to the fairly modern sentai and Kamen Rider stuff I’m used to, it looked positively archaic. Rest assured though, this was an action-packed and dramatic show worth any tokusatu fan’s time.

The characters run into all sorts of people and problems as they fought Mess and tried to find their parents, like the inventor trying to create a time machine so he could go back to the night his baby was kidnapped by aliens, and who may just be the father one of them. Some other characters they interact with include Baraki, another warrior trained by the Flash aliens, who they become allies with only to lose him in battle.

I was surprised at how engrossing this program was., just about every story was memorable. Some stand outs included the episode where Dai found out a girl he saved was actually a ghost and the one where a Mess monster lost his magic horn that grants wishes. Some other favorites included the “we’re having a fight but it’s up to us to save the day” episode that every sentai with two female rangers seems obligated to include and the last group of episodes in which a countdown appears as the Anti-Flash Phenomenon starts getting closer.

Flashman was about characters and stories you will care about if you give it a chance. There was a kind of seriousness to Flashman that seem lost in its more recent counterparts, but Flashman delivered slam-bang action as well as any I’ve ever seen. In fact, when our heroes and Mess get together some really big fights tend to break out that include not only the episode's monster but also the generals and the Zorors, making for some pretty fantastic fight scenes.

Titan King

Flashman was a landmark in TOEI's Super Sentai series for being the first show to give its heroes more than one giant robot. Flash King, their regular robot, was badly damaged after fighting a pair of monsters, and they were left without anything they could use against giant Mess monsters while it was being repaired. Fortunately, along came this giant trailer truck, driven by Baraki, another warrior trained by the Flash aliens who came to Earth to get revenge after Mess killed his mentor. Lucky for the team, he brought the Flash Titan, the giant truck that can turn into a giant robot, the Titan Boy, and combine with the trailer for even more power as the Great Titan.

Unfortunately, the Flash Titan is one of the things about the show that I really din't like. It seemed exactly like what it was, another addition to a program with no other purpose than to sell toys. I’ll be frank: Titan Boy and Great Titan are dopey-looking robots and when they even get used, it only seems to remind us that the Flashman have more than one robot and you should tell your parents to go buy it for you as soon as possible. There isn’t any of the tension that exists in later prograns like Dairanger or Zyuranger, where the heroes are in terrible trouble if they have to call on their new, stronger second robot. Still, it started one of the big concepts that I think helped make modern sentai what it is.

Final Thoughts

If you like sentai, you’ll like Flashman, it’s that simple. There’s a certain serious quality to this show, but also the simplistic charm that older tokusatsu has. It has action, drama, and a great story that expands as the series goes on. I’ve given away more than I should already, so just do yourself a favor and pick up a set sometime.

Dave Anderson/Gladrius