Giant Robo (TV series)
A boy controls a giant robot against an interstellar terrorist group.
Giant Robo (ジャイアントロボ, Jaianto Robo), released in the United States as *Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot*, is a manga and tokusatsu series by Mitsuteru Yokoyama. While it shares similarities with Yokoyama’s *Tetsujin 28-go* (known in the U.S. as *Gigantor*), *Giant Robo* incorporates stronger fantasy elements. The 26-episode live-action television series was produced by Toei Company and aired on NET (later TV Asahi) from October 11, 1967, to April 1, 1968.
The story follows an interstellar terrorist group called Big Fire (the Gargoyle Gang in the American version), led by Emperor Guillotine. Guillotine operates from a multicolored spaceship hidden at the bottom of the ocean, directing his forces to kidnap scientists and build a monster army for world conquest. After their ship is attacked by the sea monster Dakolar, a boy named Daisaku Kusama (Johnny Sokko) and young Unicorn agent Jūrō Minami (Jerry Mano) are shipwrecked on an island and captured by Big Fire. They escape into an elevator leading to a complex where a Pharaoh-like giant robot is under construction by captive scientist Lucius Guardian. Guardian gives them the robot’s control device, helps them flee, and is shot dead. Before dying, he triggers an atomic bomb that destroys the base. The radiation activates the robot, which now obeys only Daisaku. He joins Unicorn with Jūrō and Chief Azuma to fight Big Fire using Giant Robo.
The cast includes Mitsunobu Kaneko as Daisaku Kusama/Johnny Sokko, Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama as Giant Robo/Giant Robot, Koichi Chiba as Narrator, Akio Ito as Juro Minami/Jerry Mano, Shozaburo Date as Chief Azuma, Tomomi Kuwabara as Mari Hanamura, Hirohiko Sato as Emperor Guillotine, and Yumiko Katayama as Mitsuko Nishino. English voice actors include Bobbie Byers as Daisaku Kusama/Johnny Sokko, Ted Rusoff as Juro Minami/Jerry Mano, Paul Brown, and Mark Harris.
In the American version, the Gargoyle Gang is an ambitious but incompetent terrorist group with a high mortality rate. Its members wear a mix of Soviet and Wehrmacht uniforms, Central American guerrilla clothing, and Italian designer sunglasses, and each has an explosive device implanted to detonate instantly if captured.
Each episode features a monster sent by the Gargoyle Gang. These include Dakolar (Dracolon), a swimming creature with tentacle arms that spits sand; Globar (Nucleon/Radion Globe), resembling a walking li
- Creator
- Mitsuteru Yokoyama
- Production Company
- Toei Company
- Original Network
- NET (later TV Asahi)
- Original Run
- October 11, 1967 to April 1, 1968
- Number of Episodes
- 26
- U.S. Title
- Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot
Lore & Background
The series follows Earth's invasion by the interstellar terrorist group Big Fire (the Gargoyle Gang in the American version), led by Emperor Guillotine. Guillotine spends most of his time in a multicolored space ship hidden at the bottom of Earth's ocean, issuing orders. The group captures scientists to create an army of monsters. A boy named Daisaku Kusama (Johnny Sokko in the American version) and a young Unicorn peacekeeping agent named Jūrō Minami (Jerry Mano) are shipwrecked on an island after their ship is attacked by the sea monster Dakolar and captured by Big Fire. They flee onto an elevator leading to a complex where a Pharaoh-like giant robot is being built by captive scientist Lucius Guardian, who gives them its control device. Guardian helps them escape before he is shot to death; before he dies, he triggers an atomic bomb which destroys the base. The radiation activates the robot, which now obeys only Daisaku. The boy is invited by Jūrō and his chief, Azuma, to join Unicorn and fight Big Fire with Giant Robo.
Reader's Guide
Giant Robo is significant as a tokusatsu series blending science fiction and fantasy, created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created Tetsujin 28-go. Its American adaptation, Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, was broadcast in the United States in 1969 by AIP-TV and syndicated through the early 1980s, airing in Australia, the United Kingdom, Brazil, India, and various Southeast Asian and Latin American countries. The series features a boy protagonist controlling a giant robot, a formula that influenced later mecha and tokusatsu works. Stock footage from episodes was edited into a 100-minute made-for-TV film, Voyage Into Space, released in 1970. The series has seen multiple home media releases, including a complete DVD box set from Shout! Factory in 2013 and a remastered Blu-ray of Voyage Into Space in 2021. Despite violence concerns by 1960s American standards, only a minimum of violence was removed for the U.S. version.
Did You Know?
- The series was created by Mitsuteru Yokoyama, who also created Tetsujin 28-go (Gigantor).
- The robot is activated by radiation from an atomic bomb triggered by the dying scientist Lucius Guardian.
- In the American version, the Gargoyle Gang members have explosive devices implanted in their bodies to be detonated if captured.
- A 100-minute made-for-TV film called Voyage Into Space was edited from stock footage of episodes 1, 2, 10, 17, and 26.
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