A High Quality Remake!
- Episodes : 49
- Genre : Action, Adventure, Space, Mecha, Romance, Military, Drama, Sci-Fi
- Airing Date : Feb 18, 1992 – Feb 2, 1993
- Studios : Tatsunoko Productions
Contains Spoilers
Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade Introduction
In the year 192 of the United Earth calendar, the Earth is about to go the way of the dodo due to an invasion of the Radam, an alien plant race. Humanity has no chance against the Radam, and even the Space Knights, their last line of defense, is more likely to win the lottery. However, they find hope through a teenage amnesiac who can turn into an armored soldier, Tekkaman Blade. Due to his knack for danger, Noal, one of the Space Knights’ elites, gives him the nickname Dangerous Boy, or D-Boy for short. Not only does D-Boy have to combat the Radam, he has find the truth about his past.
What We Liked About Uchuu no Kishi Tekkaman Blade
Tekkaman Blade is a remake of Tatsunoko’s previous Tekkaman series from the 70s. Thankfully, you don’t need to watch the original Tekkaman in order to enjoy Blade. Blade tells its own original story with its own cast. Other than the name, it shares little to nothing in common with the first Tekkaman series. Some of you older folks probably saw Teknoman, the North American dub. Screw that version and watch the original uncensored Japanese version instead for the real story jam packed with action and excitement!
1. It’s excellently paced and structured
The story is excellently structured with two acts between the first and second half. It’s very easy to follow and gets straight to the point. It is professionally organized and moves at a relatively fast pace. This anime is pretty easy to binge watch thanks to how smoothly it flows. Its countless mysteries will keep you hooked until the end, and that’s where the story’s strongest appeals form. While some Sci-Fi anime these days tend to go all over the place (most notoriously with G-Reco), Blade takes an ideally focused approach that all Sci-Fi anime should follow.
2. It has a strong cast
In addition to its organized story, Tekkaman Blade has an amazing cast of characters that keep the series engaging. The dynamic between D-Boy, Aki, and Noal is going to captivate you into the world of Tekkaman Blade. The cast, most especially Noal, will grow on you. At first, viewers are likely to hate Noal due to how much of a jerk he presents himself, but by the second half, viewers can appreciate his development and maturation as D-Boy’s most trusted ally. With D-Boy, he is self-centered and selfish, but the series provides more than enough reason as to why he’s that way, and you can emphasize with his personal hardships and why he wants to keep them to himself.
3. Action!
If you want a mix of Dragon Ball Z, Evangelion, and Guyver, then Tekkaman Blade is for you! While it’s not to the level of intensity and creativity of the fights you see in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Blade still has some balls to the walls action. Considering that Dragon Ball Z was in its prime when Blade was broadcasted, it borrows a good percentage of its explosiveness. Blade knows how to re-introduce Tekkaman’s Voltekka attack for the 90s, and does it excellently well and dramatically to set it apart from the original. So if you like mech and action, Tekkaman Blade won’t disappoint.
1. Too many recap episodes
While the story does flow and develop at a great pace, once every 10 episodes or so, you’re going to get a recap episode. While taking into consideration of its debut as a weekly broadcasted series (and less than 10 years before the dawn of DVD/Bluray sets and streaming services), we can agree that recaps can make sense. But when you’re binge watching on DVD or streaming services, they aren’t really necessary. Thankfully, you can just skip them and move on.
2. Recycled animation
Like a good majority of older anime, it abusively recycles animation like a red-headed step child - most notably with D-Boy’s transformation into Blade. We’ve already seen this done to death in Sailor Moon, Saint Seiya and Gundam SEED. Of course, a good majority of anime are on a tight budget and Tekkaman Blade is no different. If audiences take that into context, it’s relatively easy to forgive because anime as a whole has a history of recycling animation for the sake of costs.
Final Thoughts
Blade not only has a captivating story and engaging characters, it has a rocking soundtrack and an amazing seiyuu cast. Megumi Hayashibara, one of the best female seiyuus of our times, plays Aki so her name value alone is enough to recommend this anime. If there is any true reason to enjoy Tekkaman Blade, it’s that it shares universal values on how we can deal with internal and external conflicts, family, friendship, and love. By the time you finish watching, whatever it is you may be going through in life, this anime teaches us that we’re not alone and it’s ok to be vulnerable and to seek and accept the support of the people who care about you. All of these relatable themes are pretty much why, even after more than 20 years after its debut, is why we strongly recommend Tekkaman Blade.
Author: Justin "ParaParaJMo" Moriarty