Barom-1

Information on Choujin Baromu-Wan

No. of episodes: 35

Mecha: Machrod(Car)

Enemy Force: AKUMA NO AGENTO(Demon Agents)

CAST:
Shiratori Kentaro: Takano Hiroyuki
Kido Takeshi: Izuka Hiroki
Barom-1(voice): Koichi Ueda
Kido Matsugorou: Keisuke Sumakawa
Kido Rintaro: Kobayashi Kiyoshi
Sugizaki Kume: Saito Hiroko
Doruge: Iizuka Shozo
Mr. Doruge: Murota Hideo

PLOT:
A long time ago, a fight between an evil force known as Kopuu and a power that stood for justice known as Dolge, started somewhere in the universe. Now, many years after it began, Kopuu has arrived to Earth and is planning to take over the planet by using his Doruge Kaijin (Doruge Mutants) and soldier Antmen.

Thankfully, Dolge has found two young earthlings, who register enough power (200 Baroms - power born out of friendship) to successfully form the heroic fighter of justice and the only power strong enough to stop Kopuu’s evil plans, Barom 1. These young men are: Kentaro Shiratori, who excels in academic work & studies, and Takeshi Kido, who does well in sports & other physical activities; together they will form Barom 1 and fight Kopuu’s Doruge Kaijin.

To aid them on their mission Dolge provides our young heroes with the Barom-Bopp, a small device that alerts the youngsters whenever the forces of Kopuu are on the move. The device can also transform into Barom 1's personal vehicle, Mach Road, which he uses to pursue the Doruge Kaijin.

REVIEW:
Based on Saito Takao's manga of the same name, Superman BAROM-1 was a very unique and novel toku show even today. It featured what only a couple other toku shows did- two child protagonists who are the central characters of the plot. They often quarelled in the earliest episodes, which had a color timer-esque effect on Barom-1. Barom-1 also had the first multipurpose device in a tokusatsu- Bop, which functioned in several ways, including a car, radar, and even henshin device in the later eps.

Chojin Barom-1 had some of Toei's most well known actors. Debuting as a voiceover artist for the first time in a tokusatsu was Iizuka Shozo, who throughout the 70s and 80s, was Toei's primary voice for much of it's head villains. Also in the same role as him essentially(the human form of Doruge was a wheelchair-bound man) was Hideo Murota, who had played in GIANT ROBO among many things. And playing one of his few non-voiceover roles was Kobayashi Kiyoshi, who played Takeshi's father.

This was one of the first tokusatsu to be affected by real-life circumstances. A child was being teased severely because his family name was Doruge. His parents complained to Toei, who decided to insert a disclaimer in episodes 9-12 stating Doruge was fictional.

The concept of two people transforming into one hero was extremely new at the time. Ultraman Ace had it, but BAROM-1's manga was written 2 years before it. The two children in the main roles would also hand-to-hand fight Doruge's Antmen on occasion, which was a very daring thing to do at the time considering child labor laws.
Barom-1 himself was a completely separate entity from the two boys- he fought independently, with the two boys deciding what to do from inside his eyes. (Barom-1 was human sized.) He was also one of the few henshin heroes to fight with entirely melee based attacks. All of the moves he used were heavily based on grappling arts such as Aikido and Judo.

Barom-1 is well known today still, having been remade into an anime in 2001. It has been referenced in popular media at times and has had an impact on both toku and manga alike.