Spider-Man (Japanese TV series)
Spider-Man (Japanese: スパイダーマン, Hepburn: Supaidāman), also referred to as Japanese Spider-Man or Toei Spider-Man, is a Japanese live-action tokusatsu superhero television series produced by Toei Company, loosely based on Marvel Comics' character of the same name via a contract that was negotiated by producer Gene Pelc. The series lasted 41 episodes, which aired on Tokyo Channel 12 from May 17, 1978, to March 14, 1979. A theatrical episode was shown in the Toei Manga Matsuri film festival on July 22, 1978. From March 5 to December 24, 2009, Marvel uploaded English subtitled versions of all 41 episodes on their website.
| Spider-Man | |
|---|---|
Series logo | |
| Created by | Toei Company Marvel Comics |
| Based on | |
| Written by | Shozo Uehara Susumu Takaku |
| Directed by | Koichi Takemoto |
| Starring | Shinji Tōdō Rika Miura Mitsuo Andō Yukie Kagawa Izumi Ōyama Yoshiharu Yabuki |
| Narrated by | Tōru Ōhira |
| Composer | Michiaki Watanabe |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| No. of episodes | 41 (+ 1 film) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 24 minutes |
| Production company | Toei Company |
| Original release | |
| Network | Tokyo Channel 12 (TV Tokyo) |
| Release | May 17, 1978 – March 14, 1979 |
| Related | |
While Toei's version of the character, Takuya Yamashiro/Spider-Man (portrayed by Kōsuke Kayama (Shinji Tōdō)), wore the same costume as his Marvel Comics counterpart, the show's storyline and the origin of the character's powers deviated from the source material. In addition to fighting by himself, this incarnation of Spider-Man piloted a giant mecha known as Leopardon, which he would summon to fight off enlarged versions of the show's monsters. Toei would later adopt the giant robot concept for their Super Sentai franchise. Yamashiro subsequently appeared in the comic storylines Spider-Verse and Spider-Geddon.