Movies - Moonlight Mask

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	Movies - Moonlight Mask

Gekkō Kamen (月光仮面), known in English as Moonlight Mask, is a fictional superhero that has appeared in Japanese tokusatsu and anime TV shows and movies since his TV debut in 1958. Created by writer Yasunori Kawauchi, Moonlight Mask is best described as Japan's answer to The Lone Ranger and Batman.

Japan's first TV superhero

Whereas Super Giant is Japan's first celluloid superhero (only he had debuted in movies), it was Moonlight Mask who set the standard as Japan's first live-action TV superhero, and was a huge success with children. Television was already new in Japan, so many children that didn't have a TV set were gathered around to watch it at a friend or neighbor's house. Children also bought toy capes, sunglasses, masks and pistols and played Moonlight Mask in schoolyards and backyards (but as with every children's superhero, Japanese or American, Moonlight Mask was not without liability casualties; See "Liability Issues & Cancellation").

Who is Moonlight Mask?

Moonlight Mask's identity has always been a mystery (which is why the Moonlight Mask persona is credited as being played by "?" in the original series).

Decked out in white tights, white & red cape, white scarf, yellow gloves & boots, dark glasses, face cloth and Indian-style turban (pinned with a "moon" ornament), Moonlight Mask is armed with a whip, two six-shooters, shuriken and moon-shaped boomerangs. He also rides a motorcycle.

However, only audiences know that Moonlight Mask could very well be detective Jûrô Iwai (祝　十郎), who seems to disappear from his friends before the caped crusader rides to the rescue in his motorcycle! Even his comical assistant Gorohachi Fukuro (袋　五郎八), his friend Inspector Matsuda, and children Shigeru, Kaboko and Fujiko are oblivious to Iwai's secret identity.

The original 1958 series

The original B&W Moonlight Mask (月光仮面) tokusatsu TV drama series, produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha was aired on KRTV (now TBS) from February 24 1958 to July 5 1959, with a total of 130 (or 131) episodes, divided into 5 segments.

Jūrō Iwai/Moonlight Mask was played by Koichi Ose.

Chapters

Skull Mask (どくろ仮面 - Dokuro Kamen) - Episodes 1-72, 72 episodes (February 24 1958-May 17 1958)
The Secret of the Paradai Kingdom (パラダイ王国の秘密 - Paradai Ōkoku no Himitsu) - Episodes 73-93, 21 episodes (May 25 1958-October 12 1958)
Mammoth Kong (マンモスコング - Manmosu Kongu) - Episodes 94-104, 11 episodes (October 19 1958-December 26 1958)
*Features TV's first daikaiju, Mammoth Kong.
The Ghost Party Strikes Back (幽霊党の逆襲 - Yureitō no Gyakushū) - Episodes 105-117, 13 episodes (January 4 1959-March 29 1959)
Don't Turn Your Hand to Revenge (その復讐に手を出すな - Sono Fukushū ni Te wo Dasu na) - Episodes 118-131, 14 episodes (April 5 1959-July 5 1959)

The movies

To coincide with the Nippon Gendai/Senkosha TV series, Toei produced the Moonlight Mask theatrical movies. This was Toei's first involvement in the tokusatsu superhero genre (although their first original superhero production was the TV series 7-Color Mask
in 1959). All movies (which are in B&W, just like the TV series) are basically feature adaptations of the show's story arcs, and were filmed in "ToeiScope" (2.35:1).

For these movie versions, Jūrō Iwai/Moonlight Mask was played by Fumitake Omura.

Moonlight Mask (月光仮面 - Gekkō Kamen) July 30 1958; Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi
Moonlight Mask - Death Fight in the Distant Seas (月光仮面 - 絶海の死斗 - Gekkō Kamen - Zekkai no Shitō) August 6 1958; Directed by Tsuneo Kobayashi
Moonlight Mask - The Claw of Satan (月光仮面 - 魔人〈サタン〉の爪 - Gekkō Kamen - Satan no Tsume) December 22 1958; Directed by Eijiro Wakabayashi
Moonlight Mask - Monster Kong (月光仮面 - 怪獣コング - Gekkō Kamen - Kaijū Kongu) April 1 1959; Directed by Satoru Ainoda
Moonlight Mask - The Ghost Party Strikes Back (月光仮面 - 幽霊党の逆襲 - Gekkō Kamen - Yureitō no Gyakushū) July 28 1959; Directed by Shoichi Shimazu
Moonlight Mask - Evil's Final Moment (月光仮面 - 悪魔の最後 - Gekkō Kamen - Akuma no Saigo) August 4 1959, Directed by Shoichi Shimazu

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Moonlight Mask ]

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