1 April 1974 – 28 June 1974
Chargeman Ken! (チャージマン研！ Chājiman Ken!) is a Japanese animated science fiction series created by Tetsuji Suzukawa and Eiji Tanaka and animated by Knack Productions (now ICHI Corporation). It was directed by Noboru Miura and written by Masaaki Wakuda, Toyohiro Andō and Yoshio Tamado, with the characters designed by Tanaka. A total of 65 episodes were broadcast in syndication on TBS from 1 April to 28 June 1974, in 10-minute slots from 5:30 to 5:40 PM, Monday through Friday. Each episode of the series is a self-contained story. Discotek Media currently licenses the series outside Japan.
Chargeman Ken! remained obscure until 2007, when a two-part DVD box set was released by Line Communications, with the episodes collected on a different order from the initial broadcast. The series became a viral hit on 2channel and Niconico, which found unintentional comedic value in the show's flaws—including opportunistic and incoherent storytelling, poor pacing, animation inconsistencies, poor voice acting, and artifacts including hairs that appear on the film. It then became an Internet meme, leading to dozens of video remixes and AMVs. On 20 August 2010, almost 40 years after the original broadcast, the first official website for the anime was opened, and on 27 October 2010, the official soundtrack and tribute album "Chargeman Ken! Tribute to Soundtracks vol.1" was released. In response to the boom on the Internet, the show was rebroadcast on AT-X from 2008 to 2009, and on Kids Station from July 2011 to January 2012, with the airing order being the same as that of the original broadcast. Discotek Media released the entire series on DVD in North America on 31 October 2017.
Storyline[]
The story takes place in the year 2074, in a futuristic city where science has developed by leaps and bounds, and the Juralian aliens are planning to invade Earth. The protagonist, Ken Izumi, disguises himself as Chargeman and struggles to protect the Earth from the threat of the Juralians.
Sound Effects Used[]
- Anime Explosion Sound 15
- Anime Guitar Twang Sound
- Anime Pop Sound 18
- Anime Pose Sound (debut; Heard once in "The Delinquent's True Colors".)
- Anime Siren Whistle Sound 2
- Anime Sunlight Sound
- Audio Fidelity, Pin Ball Machine/Sound Ideas, PINBALL - SINGLE MACHINE, BELLS, BALL NOISE, PADDLES
- Audio Fidelity, Three Electronic Effects (2nd and 3rd effects)
- Classic Rifle Shot
- Gamera Roar (Heard once in "Dynamite in the Brain".)
- Godzilla Roar (Heard twice in "Dynamite in the Brain".)
- Joel Valentine Thunder Sound
- Miscellaneous Anime Sound 71
- Miscellaneous Anime Sound 168
- RICOCHET - LONG DESCENDING SHELL SCREAM RICCO (Heard once in "Bank Gang - Caron's in Danger!".)
- Sound Ideas, CRASH, CARTOON - BIG CAR CRASH
- Sound Ideas, RICOCHET - SLICK RICCO 01 (Heard once in "Bank Gang - Caron's in Danger!".)