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Iron King (アイアンキング Aian Kingu) is a tokusatsu superhero TV series about a giant cyborg. The series was produced by Nippon Gendai and Senkosha (now Senko Planning), and aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System from October 8, 1972 to April 8, 1973, with a total of 26 episodes.


The Shiranui Clan have planned for 2000 years to conquer Japan in retaliation for their nomadic ancestors being banished from the country by the Yamato Clan (who eventually became known as the Japanese people). Each armored ninja-like member of the clan controls a gigantic robot warrior in order to overthrow the "Yamato Government," as they call it.

In response to this terrorist threat, Japan's National Security Organization sends agent Gentaro Shizuka (pop star Shoji Ishibashi), disguised as what can best described as a spaghetti western version of a singing cowboy, to stop their plans with the assistance of the comical Goro Kirishima (Mitsuo Hamada). In an unusual direction for such tokusatsu programs, it is not the heroic but often surprisingly ruthless Gentaro but the bumbling, bespectacled Goro who has the power to become the giant cyborg superhero Iron King by touching the medals on the sides of his unique red Turning Hat and shouting "Iron Shock!" when danger threatens.

However, often Iron King is unable to defeat the clan's giant robots without help from Gentaro, who wields a weapon called the Iron Belt that can become a slender rapier-like sword or an infinitely extendable metal whip capable of hurting giant monsters. In addition, transforming into the water-powered Iron King quickly dehydrates Goro, and he can only remain as Iron King for a short period of time. Strangely, although Gentaro knows Iron King's time limit comes from using up his water supply he never manages to connect it with Goro's omnipresent thirst until the final episode.

In the tenth episode the Shiranui Clan is destroyed but their place is taken by the skull-symboled Phantom Militia (A.K.A. the Phantom Opposition Party) who also use giant robots to enact their revolution against the Japanese government, although rather than being humanoid in shape their's take the form of dinosaur like kaiju.

From the nineteenth episode to the end of the series Gentaro and Goro battle black cloak and Puritan hat-clad white-masked aliens called Titanians who have various inhuman powers such as flight, possession, mind control and the ability to enlarge themselves to giant size. Upon doing the latter they are then able to assume their true, insect-like monster forms.


Shiranui Clan (1-10)

Phantom Militia (11-18)

Alien Titanians (19-26)

Theme Song


Iron King Opening Theme

Episode List

# Title[1] Guest cast Director First aired
1. Secret Messenger of the Morning Wind


Shinzo Hotta

Kiro Abe Fudeko Tanaka Kinji Takinami Hiroshi Ikaida

Shozo Tamura 1972-10-08
2. The Swan in the Ruins


Shinzo Hotta

Hiroshi Ikaida

Shozo Tamura 1972-10-15
3. The Warrior's Smile


Shinzo Hotta

Hiroshi Ikaida

Shozo Tamura 1972-10-22
4. Gentaro Travels Alone


Shinzo Hotta

Yosuke Akimoto

Toru Sotoyama 1972-10-29
5. The Duel in the Autumn Wind


Shinzo Hotta

Shogo Hanagi

Toru Sotoyama 1972-11-05
6. Lullaby for a Warrior


Shinzo Hotta

Seishiro Kuno Masayuki Tobuyo

Shozo Tamura

Kiyoshi Suzuki

7. Those That Fly the Skies


Shinzo Hotta

Kaori Seki Hisashi Kato

Shozo Tamura

Kiyoshi Suzuki

8. The Shadow Area


Shinzo Hotta

Mitsuko Hoshi Yoshinori Furukawa Shinobu Miura

Noriaki Yuasa

Kiyoshi Suzuki

9. Gentaro in a Close Shave


Shinzo Hotta

Yuki Ikazaki

Toru Sotoyama 1972-12-03
10. A Kiss for the Dead


Katsumi Muramatsu

Shima Mizue Kiyoshi Tokugawa Gin Minemura

Hiroshi Fukuhara 1972-12-10
11. Tokyo Is Burning


Katsumi Muramatsu

Kiyoshi Tokugawa Gin Minemura

Toru Sotoyama 1972-12-17
12. State of Emergency in Tokyo


Katsumi Muramatsu

Teresa Noda Junko Natsu Wataru Mitsui Ikuo Kosaka

Toru Sotoyama 1972-12-24
13. Attacking the Underground Fortress


Katsumi Muramatsu

Junko Natsu Wataru Mitsui Isamu Matsuzawa

Toru Sotoyama 1972-12-31
14. Secret of the Brainwave Robot


Katsumi Muramatsu

Hijiri Matsuki Teppei Takasugi Kazuo Arai

Hiromu Edagawa 1973-01-14
15. Marathon Monster Capri-Gon


Katsumi Muramatsu

Masahiro Takashina Harue Kyo

Hiromu Edagawa 1973-01-21
16. Destroy Tora-Girasu!


Katsumi Muramatsu

Yumi Mizusawa

Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-01-28
17. The Order to Assassinate Iron King


Katsumi Muramatsu

Chidori Tashiro Koetsu Omiya

Toru Sotoyama 1973-02-04
18. Monster Robot Annihilation


Katsumi Muramatsu

Eiko Ogawa

Toru Sotoyama 1973-02-11
19. The Giant Bug Kabutoron Appears


Chiaki Ukyo

Hajime Izu

Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-02-18
20. The Titanians Strike Back


Chiaki Ukyo Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-02-25
21. Kama Guras Wants Lethal Gas!


Chiaki Ukyo

Mari Sakurai Tetsuya Sano

Toru Sotoyama 1973-03-04
22. Terrifying Titanian Underworld


Chiaki Ukyo

Fumio Ikeda

Toru Sotoyama 1973-03-11
23. The Insect Humanoid Masquerades as a Woman


Chiaki Ukyo

Ryoko Sakaguchi Hideo Saito

Shozo Tamura 1973-03-18
24. Tokyo Assault Frontline Base


Chiaki Ukyo

Yoku Shioya

Hiroshi Fukuhara 1973-03-25
25. Iron King in a Panic!


Chiaki Ukyo Toru Sotoyama 1973-04-01
26. The Great Tokyo War


Chiaki Ukyo

Hajime Izu

Toru Sotoyama


Home Media

[1]Cover to the 2007 DVD release

On November 6, 2007, BCI Eclipse released the complete series on DVD in Region 1.

[2] As of 2009, this release is now out of print as BCI Eclipse ceased operations.

On March 9, 2010, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released the entire series on DVD in Region 1.[3]


  1. ^ Ragone, August (2007). The Super Hero Samurai Spaghetti Western. Ronin Entertainment.
  2. ^ "Iron King - The Complete Series". TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved 2007-11-28.
  3. ^ http://www.amazon.com/Iron-King-Various/dp/B00310PSTY


External Links

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