Ōgon Bat

"Phantoma" redirects here. You may be looking for Fantomah.

Ōgon Bat
黄金バット (Ōgon Batto)
TV anime
Network	Yomiuri TV, Nihon TV
English network	Nine Network
Original run	April 1, 1967 – March 23, 1968
Episodes	52
Anime and Manga Portal

Ōgon Bat (黄金 バット, Ōgon Batto^?, lit. "Golden Bat"), also known as Phantaman or Phantoma, is a seminal Japanese superhero created by writer Ichiro Suzuki and illustrator Takeo Nagamatsu in 1930. Ōgon Bat is considered to be the first Japanese superhero.^[1]

Character history

The character made his debut in Kamishibai, a traveling show in which a sequence of pictures is narrated by a storyteller.^[2] He was popular enough to survive the decline of Kamishibai following World War II, and was eventually translated into manga and anime form.

A live action movie, Ôgon bat: Matenrô no kaijin, was released in 1950^[3], followed by another in 1966, simply titled Ôgon batto, and starring Sonny Chiba. A 52 episode anime series was produced the following year, followed by another film, Ôgon Batto ga yattekuru in 1972.

Character overview

Ōgon Bat is portrayed as golden, with a skeletal face and muscular body. He wears a high collared black and red cape, carries a pointed scepter that is able to conjure lightning and cause minor earthquakes. His appearance is heralded by a little golden bat flying in, followed by a reverberating laughter that seemed to come from everywhere.

Ōgon Bat is actually a protector from Ancient Atlantis, who is put into suspended animation in an Egyptian-like sarcophagus, to be awakened in the future to fight the forces of evil.

In modern times, Ōgon Bat is discovered by Prof. Yamatone's family and a little orphan girl called Marie in a tomb in modern Egypt. The tomb's inscription describes him as a “god of justice and protector of the weak”. When Yamatone's family is threatened by Mazo (マゾ), Dr. Nazō's main henchman, Marie starts to cry and beg for help. Her tears fall on Ōgon Bat's body and re-animate him. From then on, he appears whenever Marie asks for his help.

His main antagonist is Dr. Erich Nazō (ナゾー), the leader of a crime syndicate bent on world domination. Nazō wears a black mask with Batman-like ears and has four different colored cat eyes which can each fire a different deadly beam. He also has no lower body, and hovers around atop a mini-flying saucer. Nazō also has a metal pincer in place of his right hand and has a habit of booming the name “LOMBROSO”.

Ōgon Bat's other great nemesis is Kurayami Bat (暗闇バット Dark Bat), a somewhat darker version of himself who he was supposedly created to fight.

Ōgon Bat is known as Fantasmagórico in most of Latin America, Fantomas in Brazil, Fantaman in the Italian dub and Phantoma in Australia. Dr. Nazō is called "Dr. Zero", and Kurayami Bat is called "Dr. Death".

In Brazil, the series arrived without an intro and one was quickly spliced together by Cinecastro using scenes from an episode and the theme from another cartoon, Journey to the Center of the Earth. This was also the case for at least two other anime series: Shadow Boy and Paaman (Super Dinamo).

List of anime episodes

Source:^[4]

1. The Birth of Golden Bat
2. Mammoth Killer
3. Ge-Georg
4. Crisis
5. Man Eating Plants
6. In Pursuit of the Melon Bombs
7. Monster Sand Beronya
8. Space Monster Alligon
9. Worm Monster Gaigon
10. The Battle of Uranium Island
11. Mysterious Finkhamen
12. Singer's Poison Mushrooms
13. Mutant 5
14. Atomic Black Cat
15. Nero the Destructor
16. Ghilton, The Man of Stone
17. Galgar the Monster
18. The Star of Polynesia
19. Bat vs. Bat
20. The Land of the Blue Flame
21. The Queen of Heart Sigma
22. The Mysterious Volcano Peron
23. Black Mask the Thief
24. The Devil's Ruby
25. The Robot City
26. Rayman Bolt
27. The Eye of Tarangé
28. Sword of the Axis
29. Mystery of the Space Bat
30. ESP Cyborgs
31. The Ghost Tower
32. The Devil's Statue
33. The Invisible Monster Glassgon
34. The Great World Flood
35. Underground Monster Mogurā
36. The Great Explosion
37. Two-Headed Monster Gegera
38. The Dinosaur Trap
39. The Skeleton's Pilotage
40. The Day of Darkness
41. The Indian Princess
42. The Witch Monster Hīdoro
43. The Cyclops in the Mine
44. Revenge of the Liger Man
45. The Death-Bringing Woman
46. The Bat Hag and The Monster Shelgon
47. The Mysterious Gerontium 90
48. Rock Monster Gildon
49. Mysterious Vampire Men
50. Circus Monster Gablar
51. The Resurrection of Dark Bat
52. The Crumbling of the Nazō Empire

Notes

1. ^ http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/o/ogonbat.htm
2. ^ http://delphiessential.comicgenesis.com/Essay.htm
3. ^ http://monsterkidclassichorrorforum.yuku.com/topic/16117/t/
4. ^ http://www.marumegane.com/seiyu/anime_data/1967/bat.html

References

• Japanese Movie Database
• Il Dottor Zero
• http://www.marumegane.com/seiyu/anime_data/1967/bat.html
• http://movie.goo.ne.jp/movies/PMVWKPD22220/

External links

• Ōgon Bat (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Ôgon bat: Matenrô no kaijin at the Internet Movie Database
• Ôgon batto at the Internet Movie Database
• Ôgon Batto ga yattekuru at the Internet Movie Database
• The First Superhero – The Golden Bat?—Ogon Bat article on ComicsBulletin
• Theme Song (MIDI)
• http://home.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/phantoma.htm
• http://www.internationalhero.co.uk/o/ogonbat.htm
• http://delphiessential.comicgenesis.com/Essay.htm
• http://foywonder.com/current_columns/foy_0209.html