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Blade and Sabre's martial arts instructor. He's also an electrical engineer and one of the heaviest Teknomen. He tries to trap Blade and fight him one on one. Blade manages to defeat Axe by stabbing him with his hands in the shape of spears. Even though, Axe was dying he tries to kamikaze Blade by bear hugging him and performing a Tekno Bolt.. O'Rourke manages to break into the arena Blade was trapped in |
Blade and Sabre's martial arts instructor. He's also an electrical engineer and one of the heaviest Teknomen. He tries to trap Blade and fight him one on one. Blade manages to defeat Axe by stabbing him with his hands in the shape of spears. Even though, Axe was dying he tries to kamikaze Blade by bear hugging him and performing a Tekno Bolt.. O'Rourke manages to break into the arena Blade was trapped in and shoots Axe in the head. This allows Blade to escape and Axe self-destructs. |
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[[Image:Lance.jpg|frame|right|Lance]] |
[[Image:Lance.jpg|frame|right|Lance]] |
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Revision as of 14:47, 20 January 2006
Teknoman is the English-dubbed version of the Japanese anime Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade (宇宙の騎士テッカマンブレード "Star Knight Tekkaman Blade"). This series was intended to be a revamp of the original Tekkaman: The Space Knight anime, though these shows ultimately shared little in common besides the "armoured hero" concept
The original Tekkaman Blade series was followed by Tekkaman Blade II, a six part OVA. This, however, was less dramatic and centered more around action than it's heavily plot-based predecessor and its English counterpart .
Plot
Present Time: Earth, the Space Ring and the Space Knights
It is the end of the 21st century and the Earth is under attack from an extraterrestrial enemy, the Venomoids. Earth's defenses are helpless against this new enemy which attacks with large hordes of mutant Spider-Crabs. The Venomoids are lead by an even deadlier force, known as the Teknomen.
Surrounding the Earth is the huge man-made orbital ring known as the Space Ring. The Space Ring was constructed well before the arrival of the Venomoids and was the first human structure attacked by the them. As the aliens attacked, those that were left either fled or were killed, and the Space Ring was largely abandoned, serving only as a battle ground for Blade and the Teknomen.
Fighting against the Venomoids and the Teknomen are the Space Knights. Led by Commander Jamison, the Space Knights are a Special Defense Force, and Earth's last hope for defeating the mighty Venomoids. The Space Knights consist of Ringo Richards, the hotshot pilot of the Space Knights ship the Blue Earth; Star Summers, the Blue Earth Navigator; Tina Corman, Communications Operator; Maggie Matheson, computer wiz and mechanic; and Mac Mackelroy, Mechanic and Repairs. The Space Knights have been unsuccessful at repelling the Venomoids until the arrival of Blade, a mysterious young man who has the ability to transform into the powerful warrior known as Teknoman Blade.
Darkon, the Teknomen and the Venomoids
Commanding the Venomoids is Darkon, a Teknoman Warlord who leads the Venomoid invasion. Darkon's base was located on the dark side of the moon, where he lies in wait for the moment when he has enough power to raise the Venomoid Mother Ship and descend to plunge Earth into darkness. To prepare the Earth for Darkon's descent, the Venomoids have planted Teknopods across earth—deadly plants that have the ability to transform humans into Teknomen.
Also commanding the Venomoid armies are the other Teknomen. Once human, the Teknomen were captured and transformed by the Venomiods to assist in the takeover of Earth. They are endowed with super-human strength, impenetrable armor and quantum energy weapons. The Teknomen transform using power drawn from their Tekno Crystals, each unique to its holder. Blade is one of a handful of Teknomen. Unlike the others he fights to defend Earth and, for the most part, is free of the brainwashing influence which the Venomoids place over their captives to make them subservient.
The Argos
Before the arrival of the Venomiods there was a deep space exploration ship called the Argos. It was the Argos that first encountered the Venomiod probe ship. Aboard the Argos were the Carters: Blade (Nick)'s family, and their ship crew. Whilst exploring the outer rings of Saturn, the Argos' radar picks up an unusual disturbance. Going to investigate, the crew discover the disturbance to be an alien ship, and as they get closer, they are drawn in by a tractor beam. Excited at the prospect of encountering alien life the crew board the vessel and discover the Venomoids.
Venomoid Teknopods rain down upon the crew, beginning the process of turning them to Teknomen. All of the crew aboard the ship are put into Teknopods, though only the most ideal humans could become Teknomen. While this occurred, the Argos was slowly being assimilated into Venomoid Mother Ship. Over time, Blade's father was rejected by the process and manages to survive and used what little time he had left to free one member of his family, Blade. It is through the crew of the Argos that the Venomoids learn of Earth and plan their invasion. On his last legs, Blade's father helps him into the escape pod and before activation the Argos' self destruct sequence, he casts Blade off into space telling him that the fate of the Earth rests in his hands. Upon the explosion, the Venomoid Mother Ship crash landed on the darkside of the moon.
Battle for Earth
Blade floats towards earth for six months, in the confines of his tiny pod, alone with his thoughts. By the time he arrives, the Earth is already under heavy attack from the Venomoids. Fueled by his hatred for the Venomoids, Blade bursts free from his pod and begins to attack them. The attack draws the attention of the Teknoman, Dagger. The two fight and Blade is sent hurtling towards Earth, however, his Tekno armor protects him and he crash lands on Earth without sustaining serious injury. His arrival attracts the attention of the two Space Knights, Ringo and Star who discover a naked and bleeding Blade lying in a crater, and take him back to their headquarters.
In the beginning, Blade is mysterious and hostile towards the otherwise helpful Space Knights, however, as time progresses, he begins to respect and admire them for their dedication in even the toughest of situations, and soon develops a relationship with Star.
The Space Knights, with the help of Blade, slowly begin to repel the Venomoid Spider-Crabs until, during a battle, Blade's Teknocrystal is shattered, rendering him unable to transform into Teknoman Blade. Blade gives up hope, however the technically brilliant Maggie develops the Teknobot, who later takes the name Pegas (Short for Pegasus, in reference to the flying horse of Greek mythology). Pegas contains the shards of Blade's crystal, and amplifies their power, allowing Blade to transform once more. Pegas and Blade develop a close friendship, despite Pegas being a robot. In his first transformation using Pegas, Blade challenges Dagger and easily overpowers him, destroying him with blasts from his shoulder cannons.
Eventually more Teknomen arrive on Earth to challenge Blade: Saber, Blade's twin brother, Lance, Axe and Sword, are all keen to destroy him. As well, Blade's sister Shara arrives on Earth, however she—like Blade—is not under the control of the Venomoids. After pulling herself free from Darkon's base, she arrives very ill and is given a blood transfusion from Blade. The Teknomen Saber, Lance, Axe and Sword assault the Space Knights' base, attempting to kill Shara. Although outnumbered, Shara strikes back and fights them, eventually self-destructing in a vain attempt to take the evil Teknomen down with her. Blade—now left without a family—is strengthened by these events and resolves to destroy the Venomoids, . He managed to kill Lance and Axe, gaining the power to take on a super-form. Saber also was gaven the same ability to serve as the final line of Darkon's defensive, while Sword was destroyed by Balzac, preventing the Blue Earth from reaching the moon.
The final battle
Towards the end of the saga, Blade and Saber meet for one last time to duel. They battle and eventually Blade impales Saber. As he dies, Saber is freed from the Venomiod control and hands Blade his Teknocrystal, instructing him that he will need its power to reach Darkon's base on the moon.
Blade takes off on Pegas whilst falling further and further into the depths of his rage. He finally arrives on the moon and confronts Darkon, who reveals the whole Venomoid plan and that he is Conrad, Blade's eldest brother. Darkon has begun to ressurect the Venomoid mother ship, to descend upon Earth. Blade attacks Darkon, but he is too powerful and easily stops Blade. Darkon is about to kill Blade when Pegas steps in. Darkon easily destroys Pegas, whose last words are a farewell to Blade.
The death of Pegas sends Blade over the edge, and he erupts, drawing all his power into a huge green beam which encompasses him. Darkon tries to stop him, but cannot. As Darkon is about to die, Blade tells him, "Conrad, dear brother, it's over." The Venomoid mothership spectacularly explodes. As pieces of it fall to the Earth, so too does Blade, crash landing, once again. The series ends with Blade and Star watching a sunset and Ringo recalling what a miracle it was that Blade survived. However prices were paid, as Blade is now wheelchair-bound, can barely speak and is almost completely amnesiac. With the Venomoids destroyed, the threat to the Earth was no more...
Characters
Name Changes
| English Name | Japanese Name |
|---|---|
| Balzac Saint Jaques | Balzac Asimov |
| Mac Mackelroy | Honda |
| Maggie Matheson | Levin (Or Rebin) |
| Ringo Richards | Noal Vereuse |
| Shara Carter | Miyuki Aiba/Tekkaman Rapier |
| Nick (or Ness) Carter/Teknoman Blade (or Slade) | Takaya Aiba/D-Boy/Tekkaman Blade |
| Star Summers | Aki Kisaragi |
| Tina Corman | Milly |
| Commander Jamison | Chief Heinrich Freeman |
| Sergent O'Rourke | Bernard O'Toole |
| General Gault | General Colbert |
| Conrad Carter/Darkon | Kengo Aiba/Tekkaman Omega |
| Catherine/Teknoman Sword (or Rapier) | Hun Rii/Tekkaman Sword |
| Cain Carter/Teknoman Sabre | Shinya Aiba/Tekkaman Evil |
| Teknoman Dagger (or Gunnar) | Fritz/Tekkaman Dagger |
| Grant Goddard/Teknoman Axe | Goddado/Tekkaman Axe |
| Teknoman Lance | Morotu/Tekkaman Lance |
| Venomoids | Radamu (also written 'Rahdam') |
Blade
His real name is Nick Carter (Takaya Aiba in the Japanese Version, and Ness Carter in the US English Dub), although he is more commonly referred to as Blade, his Teknoman name (Slade in the US English dub). Originally on board the Argos when it was taken over by the Venomoids, Blade was freed by his father before the process of transformation could be completed, leaving him almost free from Venomoid influence. Blade swore to avenge the loss of his family and destroy Darkon and the Venomoids.
Although one of the more powerful Teknomen, Blade is disadvantaged by a number of factors: in battle, Blade's Tekno Crystal was shattered and he was no longer able to transform independently—having to rely on the robot Pegas instead; also, Blade cannot stay in Teknoman form for longer than half an hour, lest he digresses into a primal state in which he becomes uncontrollable; furthermore, the more he transforms into Teknoman, the weaker his mind becomes—in one episode, he completely forgets how to transform into Teknoman. The transformation process itself also puts a considerable strain on Blade's body, increasing his metabolism and, later in the series, causing temporary blindness and threatening his very life. These effects are aggravated later on in the series when he uses a Venomoid spore plant to evolve into an advanced "Super Teknoman".
Despite these weaknesses, Blade is able to defeat Darkon and save the Earth at the expense of his mental health.
Sabre
Blade's twin brother, Sabre (Tekkaman Evil in the original Japanese version). Sabre believes that there was a mistake during their births and that only one of them can exist, this drives Sabre to become more concerned with defeating his brother than with the invasion of Earth, and this gradually become obsession. As Blade becomes more powerful so too does Sabre receive a number of increases in power from Darkon.
Sabre seeks to destroy Blade on an equal footing to prove that he can beat him, and in the final battle, when Blade is over come by his 30-minute limit, Sabre allows him to recover before resuming battle. In the battle that ensues Blade eventually impales Sabre, holding him in his arms as he dies. As he dies Sabre redeems himself by handing Blade his Tekno Crystal explaining to Blade that he will need its power to defeat Darkon.
Shara Carter
Blade's younger sister (known as Tekkaman Rapier in the original Japanese version). She managed to escape the final process of the Teknoman transformation and left Darkon's base to seek out Blade. Arriving on Earth very ill and weak, she is not expected to live for very long due to a fatal virus that has spread through her system as a result of her incomplete Teknoman powers. Aware that her life will end soon, she bids Blade a heartfelt farewell and self-destructs in a vain attempt to vanquish Saber and his Teknoman followers Axe, Rapier and Lance. It is later discovered that a piece of her Tekno Crystal has remained in Blade's possession, temporarily boosting his speed and strength.
Darkon
Darkon (Tekkaman Omega in the Japanese version) is the Teknoman warlord of the Venomoid army. He remained in the shadows as he was physically linked to the Venomoid mothership until he can eventually raise the mothership from the moon and descend to Earth. He is eventually revealed to be Blade's eldest brother, Conrad. Darkon is also the most powerful Teknoman, however Blade is able to destroy him by harnessing his rage over the loss of his family.
Dagger
Known also as Teknoman Gunnar in the US English Dub. He is the first to fight Blade upon his return to earth and sends Blade crashing down. He is extremely cocky and arrogant, and believes that Blade could never defeat him. When Blade's crystal is shattered, Dagger leads an offensive on the Space Knights' base, offering to relent if they provide Blade, knowing he can no longer transform into a Teknoman. Blade, however, uses Pegas to transform and easily destroys Dagger. His first name is given as Fritz, but his connection to Blade and the Carter family is not known.
Axe
Blade and Sabre's martial arts instructor. He's also an electrical engineer and one of the heaviest Teknomen. He tries to trap Blade and fight him one on one. Blade manages to defeat Axe by stabbing him with his hands in the shape of spears. Even though, Axe was dying he tries to kamikaze Blade by bear hugging him and performing a Tekno Bolt.. O'Rourke manages to break into the arena Blade was trapped in and shoots Axe in the head. This allows Blade to escape and Axe self-destructs.
Lance
Not much is known about his past except that he was one of the crew on the Argos, and his name was Morimotoh. He is tremendously strong in human form. He breaks into the Alaskan Space Knight Command Center while Blade is upgrading. The Space Knights had to distract Lance long enough so that Blade could finish his evolution. O'Rourke makes a final stand by going Kamikaze on Lance with a grenade. The resulting explosion does not harm Lance, and Lance returns the favor by impaling O'Rourke. Blade, however, finishes his transformation and destroys Lance with a Tekno Bolt in his upgraded form. Lance is also able to cling to walls and hang upside down from ceilings, much like Spider-Man
Sword
Catherine (Hun Rii in the Japanese version), Conrad Carter's former lover and fiancée. She is now the Teknoman, Sword (oddly enough, she is called Rapier in the US English Dub, and during her first appearance in the International English Dub, most likely owing to the fact that Blade's sister has no Teknoman moniker in either dub). Although she is loyal to the Venomoid cause, she still clings to the memories of her past life and wishes that Darkon was still the man she was in love with. She saves Sabre from being killed by Blade and also destroys all but one of the space ports on the space ring (though the last one is destroyed by Blade in an attempt to blow Saber out of the sky). Sword damages the Blue Earth while Ringo and Balzac are on a mission. She finally dies when she burns up while entering Earth's atmoshpere, after being gunned down by Balzac.
Star Summers
A member of the Space Knights, Star is the Blue Earth's navigator. She is headstrong yet compassionate, though she sometimes romantisizes situations. Star, along with Ringo, discovered Blade when he crashed on Earth, and soon developed a friendship that eventually became love. As Blade slips into his primal state after the final battle with Sabre, he holds on to the image of Starto keep him sane. She accompanies the Space Knights on many missions.
Analaysis of Armor
A Teknoman (or, in the Japanese version, a Tekkaman) is a human who has been biologically altered by alien technology. The process, however, is so physically taxing that most don't survive it.
Those that do survive gain the ability to transform into a powerful armored form. The armor is capable of self-propelled flight, functions as an environmental suit, and is virtually invulnerable to most forms of attack-- Blade withstood a nuclear explosion at point-blank range without any ill effects.
Tekno-Armor also has a number of built-in offensive systems. First, physical strength is enchanced considerably. For melee combat, a Teknoman uses a spearlike weapon called a Tekno-Lance (called Tekk Lancer in Tekkaman Blade). The lances weilded by some Teknomen had special abilities: Dagger's could double as a bow capable of firing energized arrows, Blade's had launchable boomerang blades, and Sabre's could generate an electrical charge in addition to being used as a throwing star.
Most Teknomen (the one notable exception being Dagger) also had access to Teknopower Blasters (aka Vol Tekka in Japan), massively powerful energy cannons that could fire incredible blasts of energy called Tekno Bolts.
Blade had a technique called Crush Intrude which increased his flight speed and generated a bird-shaped aura around him, allowing him to destroy enemies by crashing into them. Shara is also seen performing this move later in the series.
Armor Stats
| English Name | Height (in meters) | Weight (in kilograms) |
|---|---|---|
| Balzac Saint Jaques | 2.30 | 181 |
| Ringo Richards | 2.30 | 181 |
| Shara Carter | 1.95 | 70 |
| Nick/Ness Carter Teknoman Slade/Blade | 2.32 | 81 |
| Blastor Blade | 2.38 | 87 |
| Conrad Carter / Darkon | 2.41 | 108 |
| Cain Carter/Teknoman Sabre | 2.36 | 90 |
| Teknoman Dagger | 2.40 | 89 |
| Teknoman Lance | 2.42 | 86 |
| Teknoman Sword | 2.20 | 70 |
| Pegas | 2.70 | 6.5 TONS |
Episode List
| Episode Number | English Version | Japanese Version |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Friend or Foe | The Skywalking Superman |
| 02 | Power of the Space Knights | Lonely Warrior |
| 03 | Falling Star | Treachery of the Defense Force |
| 04 | Falling Star | A Senseless Desertion in The Face of The Enemy |
| 05 | Time's Up | Kill Me |
| 06 | Shattered Crystal | Tek Set Disabled |
| 07 | Teknobot | The Launch of the Mobile Unit Pegas |
| 08 | Snapshot | The Mysterious War Journalist |
| 09 | Convoy | Rescue! The Jupiter Crew |
| 10 | Bold Soldier Boy | A Lullaby in the Flames of War |
| 11 | Brother Beware | D-Boy File (recap episode) |
| 12 | Sibling Rivalry | The Red Terror, Evil |
| 13 | Family Feud | The Destined Siblings |
| 14 | Saber Strike | A Devil Divides the Ties of Blood |
| 15 | Spy Game | Demon God Reborn |
| 16 | Sword and Steel | Portrait of Treachery |
| 17 | The Visitor | The Steel Savior |
| 18 | Battleground | The Price of Glory |
| 19 | Resurrection | Warrior with a Caged Heart |
| 20 | Mind Game | Resurrected, the Transformation of Rage |
| 21 | Decision | A feeling of Love and Death |
| 22 | Reunion | Miyuki's Decision |
| 23 | In the Beginning | Bloody Reunion |
| 24 | Shara's Secret | Ripped Open Past |
| 25 | Forget Me Not | New Demons |
| 26 | Chronicle | Life Risking Battle |
| 27 | Red Savior | Title Unknown (recap episode) |
| 28 | Resurrection | The White Majin |
| 29 | Running on Empty | Flowers in the Battlefield |
| 30 | Lady in Waiting | A Father's Memory |
| 31 | Reformation | The Town of Vengeance |
| 32 | Axe Trap | Lady in Waiting |
| 33 | Axe Attack | Wilderness Reunion |
| 34 | On Ice | Siblings of Dark and Light |
| 35 | Fifty-Fifty | Enemy in the Midst |
| 36 | Evolution | Bloody Battle! Axe! |
| 37 | Reflection | Wearing Down, Mind and Body! |
| 38 | Amnesia | Labyrinth of Death |
| 39 | Metamorphosis | Extreme Warrior, Blastor |
| 40 | Sword Strike | The Fight and Love of Two (recap episode) |
| 41 | Battle of the Space Ring | Evil, Devil that Revives |
| 42 | Beginning of the End | Collision! The Red Foe! |
| 43 | Final Battle | The Bullet of Separation |
| 44 | The Approaching Darkness | |
| 45 | ||
| 46 | ||
| 47 | ||
| 48 | ||
| 49 |
Video Games
There have been a total of 3 video games based on Teknoman. All 3 games are simply called 'Tekkaman Blade' and none of these games were released outside of Japan.
The first one was on Gameboy, and is a simple scrolling action game. The next Tekkaman Blade game was on Super Nintendo and is a scrolling action game mixed with 1vs1 fighter scenes. The final game was released on the Japanese home computer system the PC98 and is a strategic game.
Trivia
Two separate English versions exist. The first one produced, known as the "International Version" among fans because it was broadcast in Europe and Australia, was less severely edited than the second, which was only shown in the United States.
Differences between the two dubbed versions include the following...
- Different opening sequences
- Different title cards
- Slightly different voice casts.
- Additional name changes
- Teknoman's Tekno-Transformation scene (rarely shown in the Japanese version) was reinserted into most episodes.
The American version had more cuts for "objectionable content" such as...
- Nudity (During Shara's Tekno-Transformation scene, the viewer is given a somewhat clear view of her breasts as the camera pans up to her face)
- Cross-dressing which cause the effeminate male character Levin to become a female character in the English Dub.
The US-Only English Dub was cancelled after 26 episodes, while it's International counterpart was shown in it's relative entirety (Due to the merging of certain episodes, the episode count was cut down to 43 from the Japanese version's 49)
With the exception of a few changes (for example, Blade is called Slade in the US-Only English Dub), most Tekkaman names are retained from the original Japanese series.
There are 3 OVA's that have been dubbed by fans as "The Missing Specials". One told the story of The Carter family and how Cain, Nick and Shara's mother died and goes into further detail about Cain and Nick's rivalry. Two others were made, one in which Star becomes pregnant to Blade and becomes a Venomoid Teknoman (This is plays no part in the story and is considered a "What If" scenario)and the other is the story of Prague from the Tekkaman Blade II series and what happened to Ringo from Tekkaman Blade.
See also
External links
- Tekkaman Blade Subtitled into English
- Tekno-mania
- Space Knight: Tekkaman Blade TV - review summaries for each episode of Tekkaman Blade
- Anime News Network - Tekkaman Blade
- Tekkaman Blade Editing Report
- Uchû no kishi tekkaman bureido at IMDb