Message from Space: Galactic Wars
Message from Space: Galactic Wars (宇宙からのメッセージ・銀河大戦, Uchū kara no Messēji: Ginga Taisen) is a Japanese TV series written by Shotaro Ishinomori, co-produced by Toei Company and TV Asahi and aired on TV Asahi from July 8, 1978 to January 27, 1979, with a total of 27 episodes. It is a spin-off of the 1978 film Message from Space.[1]
| Message from Space: Galactic Wars | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Tokusatsu, Science fiction |
| Created by | |
| Based on | Message from Space by Kinji Fukasaku Shotaro Ishinomori Masahiro Noda |
| Written by | Masaru Igami |
| Directed by | Minoru Yamada |
| Starring |
|
| Narrated by | Asao Koike |
| Composers |
|
| Country of origin | Japan |
| No. of episodes | 27 |
| Production | |
| Producers |
|
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production companies | Toei Company Ishimori Productions I.D.D.h. |
| Release | |
| Original network | ANN (TV Asahi) |
| Original release | July 8, 1978 – January 27, 1979 |
Cast
- Hayato Gen/Maboroshi (ゲン・ハヤト/まぼろし, Gen Hayato/Maboroshi): Hiroyuki Sanada (真田広之, Sanada Hiroyuki)
- Ryu/Nagareboshi (リュウ/流れ星, Ryū/Nagareboshi): Akira Oda (織田あきら, Oda Akira)
- Ape-Man Ballou (猿人バルー, Enjin Barū): Ryo Nishida (西田良, Nishida Ryō)
- Tonto (トント) (Voice): Iwao Tabuchi (田渕岩夫, Tabuchi Iwao)
- Sofia (ソフィア): Yoko Akitani (秋谷陽子, Akitani Yōko)
- Narrator (ナレーター, Narētā): Asao Koike (小池朝雄, Koike Asao)
Suit actors
- Maboroshi: Jun Murakami
- Nagareboshi: Osamu Kaneda, Tsutomu Kitagawa
Staff
| Producers | Kanetake Ochiai, Keizo Shichijo, Akimasa Ito, Masahide Shinozuka, Hubert Chonzu |
|---|---|
| Created by | Shotaro Ishinomori |
| Serialized in | Shogakukan's "Televi-Kun", Kodansha's "TV Magazine", Tokuma Shoten's "TV Land" |
| Written by | Masaru Igami, Miyoko Nagase, Ayuko Anzai, Taku Eren |
| Music | Shunsuke Kikuchi & Kenichiro Morioka |
| Theme Song | "Oh Braves Cross the Galaxy"
"Love is Beyond the Stars" |
| Lyrics | Shotaro Ishinomori |
| Performed by | Isao Sasaki, Columbia Male Choir |
| Monologue | Asao Koike |
| Theme From "Sankuokai" | Éric Charden |
| Stunts by | Japan Action Enterprises |
| Staff | |
|---|---|
| Directors of Photography | Sakuji Shiomi, Shozo Sakane, Yuhei Harada, Takeharu Kobayashi, Kiyoshi Kitasaka |
| Lighting | Tokuji Wakaki, Keiichi Kano, Yasuo Otani, Yoshikazu Watanabe, Heisaku Kato, Tsuyoshi Muguruma |
| Sound Recordists | Koichi Sakamoto, Masayuki Kato |
| Art | Akira Takahashi (Cosmo Productions) |
| Editing by | Takeo Araki |
| Scripter Girls | Kyoko Kurokawa, Yuko Nishikawa, Yoshiko Ishida, Yoko Miru |
| Equipment and Decorating | Shigekazu Yoshioka, Yoshiaki Shiraishi, Terumasa Tabata, Shigeharu Yamamoto |
| Assistant Directors | Mitsukazu Kawamura, Hideo Suzuki, Kiyomi Yada, Yuji Takakura, Isamu Sone, Kazue Saito, Masaki Godai |
| Beauty & Hairdressing | Towa Beauty |
| Costumes | Tamotsu Iwatuki, Muneyuki Kuroki |
| Acting Officers | Eiji Morimura, Takayasu Kuzuhara, Yoshiaki Yamashita, Masaru Fujiwara, Mamoru Shimokawa |
| VFX | Minoru Nakano |
| Special Video Programming | Commodore Japan |
| Stunt Arrangers | Toshio Sugawara, Ikuo Miyoshi, Junnosuke Doi, Junji Yamaoka (JAC) |
| Chief Managers | Yoshio Yamamoto, Manshu Sugiura, Takahiro Tarayaka, Hiroshi Mazawa, Hiroshi Kanada, Susumu Uji |
| Special Thanks | Nara Dreamland |
| Film Processing | IMAGICA |
| English Dubbing | 3B Productions |
|---|---|
| Music
Sound Design |
Doug Lackey, Joseph Zappala |
| Associate Producer
Supervising Editor |
Michael Part |
| Written, Produced and Directed by | Bunker Jenkins |
| Editor | Floyd Ingram |
| Additional FX | George Budd |
| Post Production | Gomillion Sound, American Film Factory |
| Another Presentation from | Newhope Entertainment |
| SFX Unit | |
|---|---|
| SFX Made By | Special Effects Research Laboratory |
| Practical Effects | Subaru Suzuki |
| Director of Photography | Satoru Takanashi |
| Art Director | Tetsuzo Osawa |
| Lighting | Akiyoshi Hiji |
| Produced by | Yoshiyuki Nakamura |
| Director | Nobuo Yajima |
| Directed by | Minoru Yamada, Tomoomi Yoda, Miki Wakabayashi |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Toei Company, TV Asahi |
| In Association with | IDDH, France 2 |
Songs
- Opening theme
- "Yūsha yo Ginga o Watare" (勇者よ銀河を渡れ)
- Lyrics: Shotaro Ishimori (石森 章太郎, Ishimori Shotaro)
- Composition and Arrangement: Shunsuke Kikuchi (菊池 俊輔, Kikuchi Shunsuke)
- Artist: Isao Sasaki (ささきいさお, Sasaki Isao) with Columbia Male Choir (コロムビア男声合唱団, Koromubia dansei gasshō-dan)
- Ending theme
- "Ai wa Hoshizora no Kanata ni" (愛は星空の彼方に)
- Composition and arrangement: Kenichiro Morioka (森岡賢一郎, Morioka Ken'ichirō)
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Bizarre! The Black Spaceship" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | July 8, 1978 | |
| When the evil Gavanas Empire invades the 15th Solar System, Hayato Gen joins forces with Ryu and Balu to fight back! | |||||
| 2 | "Terror! The Ninja Corps" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | July 15, 1978 | |
| Hayato, Ryu, and Balu are scouted by a local band of rebels, but Ryu has doubts about joining up. | |||||
| 3 | "A Beautiful Messenger From Earth" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | July 22, 1978 | |
| Hayato saves a beautiful messenger from Earth. But does her arrival bring hope, or despair? | |||||
| 4 | "Fighter for Justice, Shooting Star" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | July 29, 1978 | |
| Roxair commissions a grand palace to be built on Analys, and Hayato makes a rash decision. | |||||
| 5 | "The Cursed School" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | August 12, 1978 | |
| Hayato's attempt to check in at his old school reveals a conspiracy and a trap that will turn Balu on his colleagues. | |||||
| 6 | "What is the Monster Empire?" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | August 19, 1978 | |
| Ryu steals a Gavanas transport and attempts to gain an audience with Roxair. | |||||
| 7 | "Friendship Shining in the Starry Sky" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | September 9, 1978 | |
| An SOS call on Analys leads the Liabe crew to kindly resistance leader Dan and his adopted sister Hana. | |||||
| 8 | "The Cruel Ape Hunt" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | September 16, 1978 | |
| In order to cement Roxair's rule over Cita, the Gavanas attempt to round up the planet's native population. | |||||
| 9 | "The Devil Castle of the Gavanas" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | September 23, 1978 | |
| Hoping to sacrifice Sofia to consecrate the new Imperial Palace, Roxair sets a trap for Ryu, Hayato, and Balu. | |||||
| 10 | "Destroy the Planet Earth" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | September 30, 1978 | |
| The Gavanas blackmail a brilliant scientist into creating a ship that will let them attack Earth! | |||||
| 11 | "The Princess of the Underground Kingdom" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | October 7, 1978 | |
| A visit to the Ghost Mountains of Belda leads Hayato, Ryu, and Balu to a previously unknown civilization. | |||||
| 12 | "Duel! The Mysterious Ninja Tower" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | October 14, 1978 | |
| When the princess of the underground kingdom is kidnapped, the crew of the Liabe must fight to bring her back. | |||||
| 13 | "The Miracle of the God Magnol" | Tomoomi Yoda | Miyoko Nagase | October 21, 1978 | |
| An old friend of Balu's plans to sell his island's religious artifacts to the Gavanas. | |||||
| 14 | "The Terrible Flying Ninja" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | October 28, 1978 | |
| The life of a kindly old man is disrupted when the Gavanas try to blackmail him into killing Hayato and Ryu! | |||||
| 15 | "Fly, Embracing Love!" | Minoru Yamada | Ayuko Anzai | November 4, 1978 | |
| Hayato must stop a terrible man-made plague from spreading on Belda. | |||||
| 16 | "The Girl in the Trick House" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | November 11, 1978 | |
| A disguised assassin works her way into Hana's good graces and sets a trap for Hayato and Ryu. | |||||
| 17 | "The Golden Vampire Princess" | Miki Wakabayashi | Taku Eren | November 18, 1978 | |
| The Liabe brings the last survivor of a doomed worldto the village of Nazca, which is facing a mysterious threat. | |||||
| 18 | "Great Escape! The Boy Ninja Team" | Miki Wakabayashi | Masaru Inoue | November 25, 1978 | |
| The heroes must stop the Gavanas's plan to kidnap children and turn them into a ninja army! | |||||
| 19 | "Rise! The Warrior of the Wasteland!" | Tomoomi Yoda | Taku Eren | December 2, 1978 | |
| A mysterious water shortage on Planet Cita leads Hayato and the others to an occupied town and a fallen hero. | |||||
| 20 | "The Legend of the Golden Ship" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | December 9, 1978 | |
| In order to quell a possible Delan uprising, the Gavanas exploit a local legend. | |||||
| 21 | "The Monster From Another Dimension" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | December 16, 1978 | |
| The fall of an extradimensional meteorite presages the appearance of a terrible monster on Belda. | |||||
| 22 | "Great Demon God Roxair" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | December 23, 1978 | |
| After Sofia is set adrift in space, the crew of the Liabe goes in search of her. | |||||
| 23 | "Blow Up the Imperial Palace" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | December 30, 1978 | |
| Roxair's terrible new form leads the rebels to plot the destruction of the Imperial Palace. | |||||
| 24 | "Great Comet Zatan Appears" | Tomoomi Yoda | Masaru Inoue | January 6, 1979 | |
| As a terrible comet approaches Planet Belda, Hayato seeks a way to destroy Roxair once and for all. | |||||
| 25 | "The End of Planet Belda" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | January 13, 1979 | |
| Hayato, Ryu, and Balu race to evacuate Belda before the comet strikes. | |||||
| 26 | "The Mystery of the Emeralida" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | January 20, 1979 | |
| The Liabe searches for the pieces of the Emeralida, the only weapon that can destroy Roxair. | |||||
| 27 | "Farewell, Heroes of the Galaxy" | Minoru Yamada | Masaru Inoue | January 27, 1979 | |
| The heroes face off against Roxair for the final time to try to restore peace to their planets. | |||||
Manga adaptation
A manga adaptation by Kaoru Shintani was published in Kodansha's TV Magazine from August to December 1978.
International broadcasts
Message from Space: Galactic Wars was broadcast in the Philippines in the early 1980s under the title Space Wars. It also aired in 1979 in parts of Europe under the title San Ku Kaï. It aired in parts of Latin America in the early 80s under the title "Sankuokai". In the United States, the series was retitled Space Ninja and dubbed by 3B Productions (Tranzor Z), but released straight-to-video (there is no documentation, currently, of any television broadcast) in 1981. 3B produced a compilation feature, Swords of the Space Ark, which was aired on the Christian Broadcasting Network in 1983. In Indonesia, it aired on SCTV In Mid 90s under the name title Ksatria dari Zelda (Knight from Zelda (Not to be confused with Legend of Zelda). Toei promoted the series overseas as Message from Space: Galaxy Wars.
- The French version's theme music for the opening and closing credits, different from the Japanese original one, was composed by Eric Charden.
DVD release
During Otakon 2018, Discotek Media announced that they licensed the show for a one-disc SD on BD release.[2] It was released on October 29, 2019, in Japanese with English subtitles.
In popular culture
A television set playing an episode of Message from Space: Galactic Wars can be seen during a scene in the 2021 Netflix film Kate, which is set in Japan. The three main characters Hayato, Ballou and Ryu appear clearly during the scene.
References
- Otaphysica - Memories of Message from Space: Galactic Battle
- . August 12, 2018 https://twitter.com/discotekmedia/status/1028666678660526080.
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External links
- Message from Space: Galactic Battle at Toei Tokusatsu BB Archives (in Japanese)
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