In the seventies, while the Hulk was all the rage in one of the best superhero series, the Japanese Spider-Man did the same in the East.
By Donnie Lederer
If you have already seen the documentaries of Marvel’s 616, surely Supaidaman, the Japanese Spider-Man, conquered you. If you haven’t seen them, this is an eight-episode series that looks at different parts of the Marvel Universe and shows their real-world effect.
Its first episode delves into the world of one of Marvel’s most popular heroes, but in a way that will make it feel like you’re meeting him for the first time. Thanks to the Spider-Verse, we know that Earth-616’s Peter Parker isn’t the only Spider-Man in existence. From Miles Morales to Gwen Stacy aka Ghost-Spider and Spider-Gwen, there are a plethora of men, women, and pigs who have taken on the mantle of the web-slinger.
However, before Miles, Gwen, and even Peter Porker, there was Takuya Yamashiro. He is the Spider-Man of Earth-51778. Also called Supaidaman, or the Japanese Spider-Man, who was one of his first live-action portrayals.
The origin of Supaidaman, the Japanese Spider-Man
Takuya Tamashiro couldn’t be more different from Peter Parker. He is not a scientist or a photographer, but a motocross racer. Garia, the last survivor of the Spider Planet, bestows her powers on him. Garia’s ship crash lands on Earth after being attacked by Professor Monster and the Iron Cross Army. The accident also causes the death of Takuya’s father. To help protect Earth and get revenge for his father’s death, Takuya assumes the mantle of Spider-Man.
Can you create webs of any size?
Takuya has powers similar to Peter’s, such as super strength, agility, and the ability to climb walls. He also has “spider-senses,” which not only help him sense immediate danger, but also when enemies are nearby.
But Takuya not only matches Peter’s powers, he also seems to have a similar version of “Parker Luck.” He’s always chided by his friends for running away from danger (so he can transform into Spider-Man), and his adventures as the Wall-crawler have reduced the amount of time he has on the motocross track, forcing him to get a second job. “With great power comes great responsibility, and also a lot of adult discomfort” should be the full sentence for you.
This is where the similarity between Takuya and Peter ends. While Peter wears his suit under his clothes, Takuya keeps it all in his Spider-Bracelet. In this item is his suit, called the Spider-Protector, and when activated, it covers Takuya almost instantly. The Spider-Bracelet is where Takuya uses his Spider-String and Spider-Net. Its function is basically the same as Peter’s web shooters, but it has the added advantage of “alien technology” of not running out at inopportune moments.
At one point in his career, Peter Parker had an apartment in Chelsea, and its main feature was a skylight that he could easily get in and out of as Spider-Man. Takuya has something similar…just replace “skylight” with “transforming alien spaceship”. Takuya inherited Garia’s ship, the Marveller, which he used in his battle against the Iron Cross Army. After accessing it with his GP-7 Spider-Machine (his flying car), Takuya is able to transform the Marveller into the giant robot Leopardon.
Wait, was it a TV show?
Correct. All these adventures, powers and gadgets that we have talked about were not in a comic, but in a Japanese television series. Shinji Tōdō played Takuya, with Hirofumi Koga and Ryusuke Sakitsu playing the hero when wearing the suit.
A total of 41 episodes aired between 1978 and 1979, around the same time as the American live-action Spider-Man series starring Nicholas Hammond, which ran for 13 episodes.
The use of Marveller and Leopardon was a product of the times. Toei Company, the studio that produced the series, also produced similar shows such as Super Sentai (known in the West as Power Rangers) and Kamen Rider (Masked Rider), which used similar tropes of evil armies and large robots.
I want to see the program of Supaidaman, the Japanese Spider-Man!
Unfortunately, you would need a time machine to watch the full episodes. You’d have to go back to the ’70s and see them as they happened, or to 2015 where, for a while, Marvel’s YouTube channel had them streaming. For now, we will have to wait.
Or you can find it in Marvel Comics.
YES, it’s canon!
Thanks to Dan Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man, nearly every incarnation of the Wall-crawler officially became a part of the Marvel Universe in one way or another during the first Spider-Verse story. That includes Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends (well, for a minute, at least)! In 2014’s Amazing Spider-Man #9, we get our first look at Takuya inside the Great Thread of Life and Fate. He made his official debut in Amazing Spider-Man #12, where he unleashed the full power of Leopardon on Solus, Morlun’s father. While, yes, it may seem silly within the confines of ’70s television, Olivier Coipel’s stunning art makes “The Emissary of Hell” not one to be trifled with.
Takuya would go on to be a major part of later Spider-Verse stories, proving that you can’t keep a Spider and his robot hidden when it comes to saving the Multiverse.
Wait… what did you call it?
We were hoping someone would notice the issue. You have not misunderstood anything. While Peter Parker is Awesome and Spectacular, and Miles started out as Ultimate, Takuya refers to himself as “The Emissary of Hell.” It may not be the Spirit of Vengeance, but anyone calling themselves that is certainly cause for concern.
He is worthy of the mantle
Takuya Yamashiro may not have the same background as Peter Parker or the other members of the Spider-Verse, but his quest for the right thing earns him the name Spider-Man.
Via: Marvel.com
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