Skull Man

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Skull Man


caption = Logo for 2007 anime series
ja_name = スカルマン
ja_name_trans = Sukaru Man
genre = ShōnenInfobox animanga/Manga
author = Shotaro Ishinomori
publisher = flagicon|Japan Kodansha
demographic =
magazine = Shōnen Magazine
first = 1970
last =
volumes = 1Infobox animanga/Manga
author = Kazuhiko Shimamoto
publisher = flagicon|Japan Media Factory
publisher_other = flagicon|Canada flagicon|USA Tokyopop
demographic =
magazine =
first = April 7, 1998
last = May, 2001
volumes = 7Infobox animanga/Anime
director = Takeshi Mori
studio = Bones
network = Fuji TV
first = April 28, 2007
last = July 22, 2007
episodes = 13

While the TV series Kamen Rider (Masked Rider) was still in development, Ishinomori, who created that series with producer Toru Hirayama, made this manga as his own personal version, which the producers at Toei Company Ltd. used as the basis for the show. Several changes in content were made, as this 100-page one-shot story was too dark and gruesome (even cerebral) for a children's show.

In the late 90s, before Ishinomori's death, the ill cartoonist contacted young mangaka Kazuhiko Shimamoto to do a remake (ambiguously a continuation) of his original one-shot manga. This remake boasted an extensive, continuing storyline and more complex artwork (along with a tribute to Ishinomori in the final issue, with several of his famous characters gathered together). This was the manga that was presented in the US by TOKYOPOP. The original 1970 version has yet to be released in America.

An animated TV series adaptation, produced by Bones and directed by Takeshi Mori, has been airing on Fuji TV since April 282007.

tory

1970 version

There are mass murders and catastrophes all over Japan, committed by a masked/caped psychic madman called the Skull Man, and his shape-shifting aide Garo (named after the manga ninja Garo created by Sanpei Shirato), who can turn into various powerful mutant monsters. The calamities caused by the Skull Man are investigated by the Tachiki Detective Agency, with the help of a young man named Tatsuo Kagura, the son of a yakuza in the Kagura Clan.

Eventually, later in the story, Police Chief Tachiki, who heads the Tachiki Detective Agency, suspects Tatsuo to be the Skull Man, who, in turn, suspects the detective to be part of a public conspiracy that has been after him for fifteen years. It turns out that he was "adopted" by the Kagura Clan, and his "real" parents were murdered, and for those fifteen years, Tatsuo was hunting for the mastermind, who manipulates all industry, finance and even politics. Tatsuo, the Skull Man, threateningly demands Tachiki to tell him the name of the mastermind, but just as he mutters the culprit's first name, Chisato, he suddenly expires. Skull Man realizes who it is, and he and Garo race off to finally meet him.

The duo race to the estate of a reclusive old man named Chisato Kogetsu, who lives with a girl named Maya, who is mute and blind (she has perpetually closed eyes). With psychotic rage, Skull Man threatens to kill Chisato, who not only kindly welcomes him, but has been looking forward to his arrival. But Maya telepathically persuades him not to kill Chisato, and she reveals a shocking secret: Chisato is Skull Man's grandfather and Maya his younger sister.

Chisato tells his shocked grandson the whole story: his own son, Tatsuo's father, was a scientific genius beyond geniuses. In fact, he was so intelligent and unearthly that he was a mutant, a being of Newmanity ("Shinjinrui" - similar to that in Ishinomori's later creation, "Inazuman"). His wife, whom he married and had Tatsuo with, was a mutant also. The couple conducted bizarre experiments that could be capable of destroying humanity as we know it. Chisato feared this greatly, so when Maya was born, he killed his own son and daughter-in-law, and also sought to kill his grandson Tatsuo, who was rescued and raised by Garo. He couldn't bring himself to kill Maya, however, and raised her to be his faithful servant. Maya then told Skull Man that Chisato wanted to bring him back before he could do anything.

Chisato then traps himself with Skull Man, Garo and Maya in glass walls, proceeding to set himself and all the others ablaze, sadly stating that "We were born in the wrong era!". Along with his entire "family", Tatsuo, the Skull Man, dies a tragic, horrible death in the inferno, thus ending the original story.

1990s version

Skull Man revolves around Tatsuo Kagura, who early in his life was subjected to several mutating science experiments that ended up giving him amazing powers and skills. Longing revenge for the murder of his parents he becomes Skull Man, a shadowy crusader who battles The Syndicate and its evil leader Rasputin.

The story begins abruptly with a woman who possesses immense psychic powers killing a man, only to then be attacked herself by a man who can become a bat, a wolf or an alligator named Garo. Garo is revealed to be Skull Man’s childhood protector and present ally in the coming war against Rasputin and his hordes of evil mutants.

Skull Man makes allies, loses comrades and dies in combat with a lethal mutant just in the first book. What follows is a trip into the world of shadows and the evil within all of us. Throughout his journey Skull Man will face spiders, wasps, scorpions, plants, cobras, vultures, grasshoppers (all based on monsters also featured in the first Kamen Rider series), and finally Rasputin himself.

Creation

While based on Ishinomori's original manga story, the 1990s version was actually put together by well known mangaka Kazuhiko Shimamoto, who had been a fan of Ishinomori's work since childhood. Ishinomori contacted Shimamoto towards the end of the former's life, requesting him to work with him on reviving the story of The Skull Man. In accomplishing this, Ishinomori faxed Shimamoto the story premise and plot notes, while Shimamoto put it all together and did the artwork. As well, Shimamoto had previously worked on a Kamen Rider story in the past.

Hero cameos

The Skull Man manga features a myriad of cameos of other famous Ishinomori heroes, although this is mainly contained in the final few pages of the manga's last chapter. They include:

*Joe Shimamura: Joe Shimamura/Cyborg 009 makes his appearance in Chapter 36 and is seen punching out a mugger after rescuing the mugger's victim. During this event, he and Ryuusei, the Skull Man, meet and debate evil and the nature of man over coffee. After the two part company for the evening, they meet again by chance at the docks to stop an illegal deal between corrupt politicians, Ryuusei in his Skull Man garb and Joe in his 00 Cyborg uniform (albeit only seen in silhouette aside from close ups on his face).

*Kamen Rider: Detective Hioka, who pursued the Skull Man, was changed into a Reconstructed Human by the Syndicate. After being rescued by Maria and brought back to Tatsuo/The Skull Man, he then further reconstructed him to be more advanced than the other grasshopper mutants the Syndicate created. In his original mutant form Hioka closely resembles the designs of Kamen Riders ZO and J, and grows his antennae after a battle with Syndicate grunts; his upgraded form is based heavily on the designs of Kamen Rider #1, Hongo Takeshi, Hioka's Kamen Rider rides a motorcycle very much like the original Cyclone motorcycle, possesses a scarf around his neck, and his head appears to be a helmet instead of physically becoming the grasshopper head. However, unlike Kamen Rider #1, his costume is much closer to a motorcycle jacket and pants than the cloth pants and "armored" tunic that costumed Kamen Rider #1, and is seen using a laser pistol in his rescue of The Skull Man

*Henshin Ninja Arashi: In the Skull Man manga, he is seen as a young ninja in the city who is almost killed by an ape-like Syndicate mutant, who stabs him in the chest with a knife. He is found on the brink of death by The Skull Man, and taken back to his laboratory. As The Skull Man's thoughts are heard, the scene transitions in a burst of feathers, revealing the young man has become Henshin Ninja Arashi, with several other Ishinomori heroes behind him.

*Goranger: The five members of Himitsu Sentai Goranger can be seen in the hero collage at the end of the manga's final chapter.
*Robotto Keiji: Robotto Keiji, in his civilian clothing, can be seen directly in front of Ki Ranger in the hero collage at the end of the manga's final chapter.
*Inazuman: Inazuman can be seen directly in front of Momo Ranger in the hero collage at the end of the manga's final chapter.
*Kikaider: Kikaider can be seen in his android form in front of and between both Robot Detective K and Inazuman in the hero collage at the end of the manga's final chapter
*Uchuu Tetsujin Kyodain: Sky Zero and Ground Zero can both be seen behind and to the right of Henshin Ninja Arashi in the hero collage at the end of the manga with Sky Zero on the right and Ground Zero on the left.

Anime

Studio BONES has adapted Skull Man into a TV anime series which premiered on Fuji TV in April 2007. The series is directed by Takeshi Mori and written by Yutaka Izubuchi. A live action "Episode Zero" was shown on April 21st, titled "Skullman: Prologue of Darkness," staring Ami Suzuki and Kamen Rider Hibiki and Death Note's Shigeki Hosokawa. [" [http://henshinjustice.com/?p=447 Skullman Prologue of Darkness] " - "Henshin Justice Unlimited"] It was also set up to be a pseudo prequel of Cyborg 009.

Unlike previous stories of Skull Man past, the story closely focuses on a journalist named Hayato Mikogami who returns to his hometown at Otomo to investigate strange rumors of killings done by a man wearing a skull mask. Tailed tightly by a young photographer, Kiriko Mamiya, the two soon uncover the many strings of connections between the victims, a local pharmaceutical company, a mysterious new religious sect and strange half human, half animal creatures which roam the night streets out for blood.

Characters

;nihongo|Skull Man|スカルマン|Sukaru Man:A mysterious man in skull shaped mask making appearances in Ōtomo City and rumored to have been killing numerous victims in the city, especially those roaming at night.

;nihongo|Hayato Mikogami|御子神 隼人|Mikogami Hayato:Hayato Mikogami once lived in the orphanage in Ōtomo City. After being adopted and raised, he left Ōtomo to move to Tokyo so he can work for a famous newspaper. Years later at 23 years old, he is working for a second rate newspaper and with permission leaves to go back to Ōtomo City to search for the legendary figure, Skull Man who by rumors had recently killed an actress. While on the train trip, he meets young Kiriko who doesn't have the correct passport to get into the city and he helps her in by presenting a business card of Gōzō. Later, after getting comfortable into his old house, he gets locked outside due to Kiriko's tantrum. Without realizing, he breaks the midnight curfew and witnesses a man who is running away from someone. The man injures Hayato after he tries to help him but the man gets killed by the Skull Man. Hayato collapses on scene, pinning him to the murder but is let off due to this ties with Gōzō.:Hayato is a care free guy who smokes and is constantly annoyed by Kiriko. Later he develops a close friendship with her.

;nihongo|Kiriko Mamiya|間宮 霧子|Mamiya Kiriko:A 16 year old girl aspiring to be a photographer. Hayato helps her get into the city, and she decides to stick to him and help him in his work. She actually enters the city to look for a friend of hers, Jin, who was with her in the resistance and disappeared two years ago.

;Kyōichirō Tachigi:Kyōichirō Tachigi is a 50 year old man who arrives to Ōtomo City on the same train as Hayato Mikogami and Kiriko Mamiya. He is a private investigator who seems to have interior motives of catching Skull Man.

;Father Yoshio Kanzaki:A 23 year old priest working at an orphanage, and a childhood friend of Hayato.

;Hitomi Tachibana :An actress who is killed days prior to the start of the story.

;Yui Onizuka:Another actress and a friend of the late Hitomi.

;Sayoko Karasuma:Yui's assistant. A mutant who transformed to protect Yui, but is killed by the Skull Man.

;nihongo|Gōzō Kuroshio|黒潮 豪蔵|Kuroshio Gouzou:An 58 year old acquaintance of Hayato and leader of the Ōtomo Concern. While he pretends to be a philanthropist on the outside, he is directly involved with the incident ten years ago, and is not below using dirty means such as assassination to advance his own agenda.

;Sara Kuroshio:Gōzō's wife. She is the chairwoman of the religious organization "Byakureikai".

;Maya Kuroshio:Gōzō's 17 year old daughter. Despite her weak health she secretly helps out at the orphanage, apparently due to her attraction to Kanzaki. She is also deeply involved with the Byakureikai sect.

;Tatsuo Kagura:Allegedly killed in an arson case ten years ago, but rumored to be alive and seeking revenge. Hayato believes this person to be the prime suspect for the identity of the Skull Man.

Episodes

Cast

References

External links

*ja icon [http://www.skullman.jp/ Official Website]
* [http://www.tokyopop.com/S-1028/ 'Creator profile page'] - Tokyopop's creator profile page for "The Skull Man"
*ann anime|id=7467
*ann manga|id=1576