Supaidā-Man

Supaidā-Man
Premiere	May 17, 1978
Finale	March 14, 1979
Creator	Tōru Hirayama Susumu Yoshikawa
Network/Provider	Tokyo Channel 12
Style	30-minute action adventure
Company	Toei Company Ltd.
Seasons	1
Episodes	41
Origin	Japan

Supaidā-Man (1978–1979) is a tokusatsu action series loosely based around the Marvel comics character Spider-Man. When Yamashiro Takuya's father is killed by the Iron Cross Army, his life is saved by the prince of the Spider Planet, who imbues him with super-strength, the ability to stick to walls and spider-sense through a bracelet.

Although the series had nearly nothing to do with the American super-hero, producers originally wanted to keep with the original origin of the character. However, Bandai demanded that they include a giant robot to ride along with a popular trend. This forced Tōru Hirayama and Susumu Yoshikawa to rewrite the character completely. However, this did serve to create the first series to show a superhero piloting a giant robot which ultimately popularized the Super Sentai style of Japanese television and anime.

Seasons

Season	Premiere	Finale	#
Tokyo Channel 12
Season One	May 17, 1978	March 14, 1979	41

DVD Releases

Title	Release Date	#
Season Sets: Region 2
The Complete Series	December 9, 2005	8

External Sites

• Henshin Hall Of Fame Fan Page