"Dengeki!! Strada 5": 1974 Tokusatsu series, episode four of thirteen recap

 

 Air Dates: April 5th until June 28, 1974 on NET-TV(now Asahi-TV), Fridays at 7:30 pm

Series subbed by Big Nova Subs, Dengeki can mean Lightning in Japanese but there is no word in the language for Strada though in Italian means Road.

One thing you can always count on in a Sentai/Tokusatsu series is an opening theme song which is such an upbeat one. Will leave this video up at the top for all of the recaps which features the opening song plus a bit of dialogue from the narrator who was Eiji Maruyama, the song was sung by Charlie Choi and Young Fresh.

 

 

 This was just a thirteen episode series but does have quite a bit of history behind it. At first the show was scheduled to be 26 episodes as most were back then but the original filming had to be put on hold in August 1973 because of various problems. So when the cast assembled again none had the time to film an entire 26 show series so it was cut in half and though not as well known as most other older Sentai or Tokusatsu shows it does seem to have a cult following. I have noticed many toys, comic books, models and such for this show so it may have been popular while it aired. These days Super Hero shows usually air on Sunday mornings but back from the 1960's to 80's they often aired in prime time, this one did at 7:30 pm on Friday nights. This was also scheduled to be a semi-sequel to the "Wild 7" series but in the end run never was, that's a show which looks interesting and while I have found the entire series it was never subbed.

 An episode lasts for 24 minutes yet this may be one of the larger intro sections, longer than for dramas where the episodes are twice the length! After the character bios will also have more info plus such things as the cars the Heroes drive, those are right above. Did call this a Tokusatsu series in the title and will continue to do so though it's not officially one of them nor a Sentai show either. Tokusatsu means a show or movie that has a lot of special effects such as a monster shooting lasers from his eyes, a Human transforming into a creature five times his size, etc. This series will have very little of that but is very similar to those kinds of shows. It's also similar to a Sentai show, in those the main characters use special guns, have unique powers and the like, a good example of that would be a Kamen Rider or Dekaranger series. In this show there's a little bit of both as humans are the Heroes and do use weapons to protect the Earth from being taken over, sure most who are reading this know what I'm talking about. After the character bios will have a mini section with the weapons and vehicles they use.

 Have only viewed the first two episodes so of course there will be some changes to the stories and it was nice going into a show not knowing too much of what will be taking place. A nice bonus was having Jo Shishido as the leader for the Strada 5 group, he's one of my all time favorite actors. He was very popular but after the 1960's TV became more of the 'in thing' to do instead of going to the Cinema so Shishido and others had to take roles such as this though nothing wrong with being in these kinds of shows. He still appeared in many movies but just not as many, bet he just filmed his scenes in 2-3 days and then they were inserted into the thirteen episodes. Let's get to the characters, there's five on the Strada 5 team along with their commander and the one enemy who is Mr. Asmodeus. He's the leader of the evil group Big Nova and think he will have a different person in each show carry out his orders to destroy the world so those seven should be it for characters. Each show will have it's own title, that is the first screenshot below which I will change for every episode and it also has the air date....

**** The members of Dengeki Strata 5 all have numbers, will go in order from one to five. They also have civilian names so will list them and also the names which they use when fighting as a team. Each member also has a unique ability which is why there were chosen to be on the Dengeki Strada 5 team, will say what those strengths are in their bios. You have to chuckle now and again at things such as that, these five have such powers that only they can defend the Earth and none of the world's super powers can assemble a larger or more powerful force? The five work for an organization named the International Police, nothing else is known about them.

Toru Okazaki as Kansuke Hotta aks Pegasus.... The son of a detective who of course was also named Hotta. He was murdered by the Big Nova group at the beginning of the first show, naturally Kansuke wants revenge and will usually use Hotta when referring to him. Hotta is often paired up with the next character who had been his father's partner and did witness the man dying. So Hotta felt his father's murder could have been prevented which wasn't the case, the tensions are often high between the two but will slowly cool off. Hotta is a bit of a hothead but also a very skilled fighter plus is an ace marksman, when he's not saving the planet Hotta is a race car driver!

 Takeo Chii as Genjiro Tonomura aka Orion.... Is only a few years older than the younger Hotta above so don't why Tonomura had been working with his father. Tonomura had been a detective and as of now don't think he still is after watching the elder Hotta get killed by the Big Nova group. There was zero Tonomura could have done to prevent the death and the younger Hotta shouldn't be blaming him but both will defend each other in their battles to save the Earth! It appears that Tonomura quit being a detective and now works at a hospital lab, he's an expert at disguises. **** Takeo became even more popular as the years went on, have seen him in a few other movies. In future posts will talk about him more along with a few of the other main characters. EDIT: Not sure yet but have the feeling Tonomura wasn't a FT detective and actually may have been on a Strata 5 assignment with the elder Hotta. If so that may mean he too was with the team and hope that gets explained later on.

 Tatsuto Go as Kazunen Takenaka aka Apollo.... Is a Monk who oversees a small temple and does have quite a sense of humor. Takenaka was chosen to be on the team for his powerful strength as he is one very strong man but also has the best deductive abilities.

Shinya Ono as Tadashi Takagi aka Luna.... Works as a car mechanic when not on the team but is even more skilled than that. For Takagi was chosen for being a master at defusing bombs and deciphering codes, because of those he could be the most key member of Dengeki Strada 5.

 Yuri Yamashina as Kaori Hoshi aka Andromeda.... The only female on the team and that's often the case in shows such as this one. When not helping the team Kaori works as a fashion model and why not as she is ultra attractive! Kaori's biggest strength is her Telepathic powers, she can see tragic events in the future and almost all are evil acts done by Big Nova. However Kaori cannot often decipher what she has seen, that's where the deductive skills of the Monk Apollo come in handy.

Jo Shishido as Terujiro Takamura aka Jupiter.... Will always refer to him as Jupiter and as mentioned what a famous actor he was. Many of the team call him Chief, Jupiter is the commander of the five that he chose personally to defend the Earth and know zero to date about his background. Jupiter drives around in a truck named Headstrong, in the back is the HQ of Dengeki Strada 5 where he meets the members and is also the place where Jupiter makes contacts with his superiors who are the International Police.

Goro Hayakawa as the physical Mr.Asmodeus, the voice was done by Shozo Izuka.... Don't know why the man donning the suit couldn't have also been the voice. Mr. Asmodeus is the leader of he evil organization Big Nova, in every show he creates a foolproof plan to destroy the world or at least Tokyo but none of those plans are ever foolproof! Mr. Asmodeus always wears a mask to make him appear to be an alien but is he one? We only ever see Mr. Asmodeus in his secret lair and he never does any of the fighting. That he assigns to a different subleader for each show, failure is not acceptable and if that leader fails Death is what awaits them, that may happen in each episode! It appears the HQ for Mr. Asmodeus is very advanced, he can send videos of himself to any spot and often does to Strada 5 warning them of their demise! Mr. Asmodeus is in the top screenshot, the leader for this episode is in the second. If the subleader is a woman will refer to her as Maki, if a man it will be Abe and for the second episode in a row it was a male who tried to follow the orders of Mr. Asmodeus and failed.

 As far as weapons go the Heroes don't have powerful ones that you will see in other series. They all have Shotguns but no laser guns but do use Flamethrowers, Grenades and a Baton that has a built in Knife. Unlike Sentai shows where the heroes will say a special command and change instantly into their costume the Strada 5 carry their weapons and uniforms in a case so have to change into them, always right after the action begins. The five also wear a special red pendant around their necks which doubles as a radio transmitter, the female Andromeda uses it often to tell her mates of what doom is impending.

 Though there's five members of the team there's only four vehicles, the fifth is the Headstrong HQ truck driven by their commander Jupiter. Below are the four vehicles the team uses along with Jupiter's truck, to date it doesn't appear any of the four used in combat are anything special though all are very speedy. The four are Flying Pesagus used by Hotta aka Pesagus, Tri-Shark used by Tonomura aka Orion, Red used by Takagi aka Luna and Ladybird which is shared by the Monk Apollo and the only female Andromeda. **** This is a long intro section but also helps you out immensely as you can refer back to this for so much info about everything, I use it often too. 

 

Previous recaps

 It wouldn't affect the view counts and it's something that has been mentioned before which would help you viewers follow a series better. Which is that after reading the first 2-3 recaps and you find out it's a series you would want to read all of the recaps for it could be better to wait until I have finished recapping the entire drama. If you wait until the end you can click on the bottom links to read the posts in order which would make following the series so much easier and you would also understand that took place much better.

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three

 Soon will be having some kinds of different pics of Yuri Yamashina who played Kaori aka Andromeda and that's her right above. She was twenty in age when this show was filmed and was very surprised to learn she was also a popular Pinku actress while this series was airing, is that why she had such a large role in this show? This was another enjoyable view but was the shortest episode to date. They last for for about 24 1/2 minutes, the last thirty seconds is a preview of the next show and this episode did have one. However the previous minute had reran the opening credits for a second time as it appeared they had one minute to fill and the ending was a bit rushed which is common in these kinds of shows. On to the recap and we did see more of the diabolical Mr. Asmodeus whose dream is to rule the world but of course with the Dengeki Strada 5 protecting the Earth it will never happen. He always wears a mask and only communicates with everyone via video and that was very hi-tech for 1974. In this show we did see the tyrant without his mask but just from behind and viewed him putting it on, wonder if we'll ever learn about his background?

 This episode opened up with Mr. Asmodeus viewing some old footage of the Vietnam War which in a way was still going on in 1974 but it was mostly guerilla warfare. What the fiendish Mr. Asmodeus had discovered was that many of the weapons used in the war were manufactured by a Japanese firm called Far East Heavy Industries, what a lucrative company as its yearly income was 500 billion yen! Have noticed one thing Mr. Asmodeus loves is money, some has to go towards his dream of ruling the world but wonder if some of that is for personal use? So the elaborate plan of Mr. Asmodeus was to take over the successful company and his plan was actually quite good but it wasn't carried out well. The criminal organization Mr. Asmodeus controls is named Big Nova, he never leaves his HQ so Mr. Asmodeus has a subleader do the dirty work. In this show he was codenamed Tokyo Number Four which makes sense as this is the fourth show. The subleader's name is Abe who is wearing the sunglasses in the middle screenshot, you'll be seeing more of him. The devious plan that Mr. Asmodeus had come up with and is expecting Abe to succeed at is kidnapping the Far East Heavy Industries president and owner Shigemura, he's the older man with a collie above and you could also say the same man in the bottom screenshot.

 Besides having access to the 500 billion yen the main reason Mr. Asmodeus wanted to take over the company is because of their weapons. Having so many of them would strengthen the Big Nova group immensely plus these weapons were brand new and quite advanced. So the plan was for Abe's troops to kidnap Shigemura but not to kill him.... yet. The elaborate part of the plan was that Mr. Asmodeus had an underling undergo plastic surgery and impersonate Shigemura, if that works well the Far East Heavy Industries weapons company would be in the hands of the Big Nova group. Shigemura was known not to be a friendly man but seemed like a decent man to me, he lived with his attractive daughter Taeko. Shigemura loved to fish, when he went out on his small cruiser to do that activity he was abducted by the Big Nova thugs in the sixth screenshot above. Because Shigemura was such an important man in the weapons industry immediately called in were the show's heroes, the Dengeki Strada 5. They're led by the man using the walkie talkie above whose codename is Jupiter, his team surprised him for Shigemura had been found right away by the Strada 5 team on his mini cruiser. That was very suspicious to Jupiter and though his team was successful he ordered them to keep tabs on Shigemura's mansion but don't think he had any idea that the man was an imposter. However Shigemura's daughter Taeko felt something was off with her father, he was so snappy towards her which he never was and the key thing to take place was of how this fake Shigemura treated his beloved collie.

 Dogs know their owners well, though it looked like Shigemura the collie knew it wasn't his master. Right after realizing that the dog began to bark(a warning?), the irate imposter Shigemura shot and killed the collie which of course startled his daughter Taeko to no end! That's her telling the story to the Strada 5 member Kaori aka Andromeda at the gravesite of the collie, though it looked and sounded like her father Taeko wondered was it really him? That's what the other four Strada 5 members wondered too along with their commander Jupiter, was it possible that plastic surgery was done and this person was an imposter? Of course we viewers knew that was the case and here's where Mr. Asmodeus made his second mistake, the first being having such an incompetent man impersonate Shigemura for his personality was entirely different. At one time Shigemura had been an avid pilot but had a severe accident and quit doing that activity. Because of the accident Shigemura needed surgery done to his head, Orion was instructed to get the old X-rays which he did. Luna was ordered to get new X-rays of this imposter Shigemura's head and that assignment would be much tougher if not impossible. But I have considered Luna to be the most key member of the Dengeki Strada 5 team, he's an ace at defusing bombs and also creating devices. Such as the one you see in the fourth screenshot above which looks like a camera and sort of is in a way.

 The device had been quickly devised by Luna as it was a combination camera and X-ray machine, from a distance of about 500 yards(!) Luna was able to take an X-ray of this imposter's head!!!! That new X-ray did not match up with the older one so that was the concrete proof the Strada 5 team needed but what do do with that info? While that was taking place the real Shigemura was being held captive at a secret hideout of the Big Nova criminal group, don't think the commander Mr. Asmodeus is ever in the same building as his troops. Above he was communicating via a video feed to the real Shigemura and that was something rare in 1974. Mr. Asmodeus told Shigemura of his plans and how a person was impersonating as the real Shigemura, it was just a matter of time until Big Nova takes over his huge weapon company! Shigemura said though he's the owner and president there's a board of directors who all vote on company matters so though Shigemura is still a hostage Mr. Asmodeus won't be able to control his Far East Heavy Industries company. 'HA HA' laughed Mr. Asmodeus as he knew all of that, he's had more of this henchmen undergo plastic surgery for part two of this plan. Which is to kill all of the directors in an explosion and have these Big Nova henchmen take their place, it's a foolproof plan to Mr. Asmodeus and soon the company with it's vast amount of weapons will all be his!!!!

 As mentioned in the intro the time frame for this episode wasn't planned out so well as at the end there was one remaining minute and the theme song in the opening credits was played again. The Far East Heavy Industries board of directors met up at the mansion of Shigemura which bordered the sea. This imposter told the group to hop onto his mini cruiser, sail out to sea and he will meet them later. At the time and still do wondered why the group would so willingly go out into the ocean without asking WHY but sometimes it's best not to overthink these things. In the top screenshot a bomb was attached to the boat's bottom by Big Nova, when it was out far enough they would detonate it and kill the board of directors. In the third screenshot the Telepathic Andromeda foresaw those plans of Big Nova, she did that with the help of Apollo. Pegasus and Orion quickly swam out and confronted the Big Nova thugs, a skirmish in the water isn't nearly as exciting as one on land but the bomb now wouldn't blow up the boat. For the first time the Dengeki Strada 5 commander Jupiter jumped into action, he also did in the next episode. The imposter Shigemura was no match for the fighting skills of Jupiter who found out the location of where the real Shigemura was being held hostage. He radioed Pegasus and Orion with the info so they raced there to save the man but do the Strads 5 team also have hopes of ever finding their nemesis Mr. Asmodeus at one of these locations?

 The Big Nova group of thugs is competent and do win some small battles against the Dengeki Strada 5 team but in the end the show's Heroes always come out on top! Shigemura was found by Orion and freed but that was no easy task, what also wasn't easy was taking out the subleader Abe who soon had Apollo and Luna on his tail. Abe was able to jump on a small boat and zoomed away to their frustration but help was soon in the way. For quickly chasing Abe in a boat were Pegasus and Orion, would they have ever caught up with this Big Nova subleader? Asked that question as they didn't have the chance for to the Big Nova commander Mr. Asmodeus failure is not acceptable, when a subleader is not successful at his mission the penalty is always death!!!! Which is what happened with Abe, he stopped at a small island and within seconds was killed by a deluge of spears though no other person was around! This character of Mr. Asmodeus can do some very eerie things such as that and communicating with other though he's miles away. So a bit of a quickish ending but it was still an enjoyable show though to date none have been award winners and sure none will be. Below are a few more screenshots of what took place in this show and the next post has the recap for the fifth episode.