SciFi/Fantasy

A boy and his giant, flying, missile-shooting robot

I have found the most awesome show in the universe, and it is “Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot.” In it, a little boy uses his wristwatch to control a giant robot that kind of looks like a pharaoh. The boy and his robot work for Unicorn, an international peace-keeping organization constantly tasked with battling bizarre monsters and foiling dastardly plots set into motion by the nefarious Gargoyle Gang.

The show — originally called “Giant Robo” in Japan — was a tokusatsu (live-action sci-fi) series renamed and redubbed for American audiences. The dubbing, strange translation and low-budget special effects just add to the show’s charm. Where else can you hear great lines like “You’re under Unicorn arrest!” and “Darn that giant robot!”

I’ll do my best to summarize its complicated premise:

Aliens land on Earth and force a brilliant scientist to build an indestructible giant robot to destroy the planet. These same aliens also brought a giant reptile that attacks a Japanese ship. The shipwreck survivors – young boy Johnny Sokko and Unicorn agent Jerry Mono – happen to wash up on the island where the aliens are hatching their evil plan.

The scientist tells them of the aliens’ plan and explains how the robot will forever obey the first voice that commands it. The only catch is that it requires atomic power. The scientist tries to destroy the giant robot with a bomb. However! It is an atomic bomb, so the bomb actually powers the robot. Young lad Johnny Sokko finds the wristwatch that controls the robot and speaks into it, thus becoming the robot’s master.

They return to Tokyo with the robot and little Johnny becomes a Unicorn agent. With the help of the giant robot, Johnny makes sure that Unicorn always defeats the alien ne’er-do-wells, known as the Gargoyle Gang.

So basically, everything that is fun about 1960s Japanese science fiction is packed into one show.

To put it in equation form: mecha + kaiju = awesome

The giant robot – who, by the way, is always referred to simply as “giant robot” – has special monster-defeating features that include finger missiles that look alarmingly like enormous Lee-Press-On nails emerging from his giant fingers and shooting into the sky. He also engages in a set of little karate-meets-disco moves before he slowly smashes or blows up his monster foe.

I am still burning through the available episodes now that I’ve found this gem. So far my favorite is “Dragon, the Ninja Monster.” Yes, that’s right. It’s a dragon monster … that is a ninja. If you had asked me, “What do you want a giant flying robot to fight?” my answer would have been “a ninja dragon monster.” To use a line from the episode, the monster is part of a plan to stop Unicorn from “solving the international trouble that is threatening world peace.”

If you know of any other Japanese tokusatsu (TV or film) that is as fun as this show, please share it with us all in the comments!