Star #9: =Magma=
Through the ages: Ambassador Magma manga, A.M. Live-action, A.M. Anime, 1980 cameo
See him in action: 1966 LIVE-ACTION OPENING, 1993 A.M. ANIME EPISODE 2, 1980 EPISODE 28
You can read the manga HERE, I’m relatively certain it’s fan-translated but was unable to find the original source, if anyone knows it I’ll totes credit them.
Tezuka character list bio: Number 30
[b]
- He is usually called “Ambassador Magma”. A Rocket-Man created by the guardian god of Earth, “Master Earth.” Magma, his wife, and his son can all be summoned by a special whistle. The live-action version created by P Productions is possibly the most famous. Tezuka was friends with the cartoonist, Ushiosouji of P Productions. There is much material that was created, but not published in the manga. The live-action version featured animation that was revolutionary at the time. It was created by Kenzou Masaoka, who is the father of Japanese animation. It was a very influential relationship that Osamu Tezuka had with him.[/b]
It’s a rocket! It’s a man! It’s…A ROCKET-MAN!
“Ambassador” Magma holds a special place in history as the star of the world’s first full-color Tokusatsu, predating even the famous Ultraman. He’s large, he’s metallic, and he has visible bolts, but he’s NOT a robot – don’t be fooled. Like many of Tezuka’s other main stars, Magma’s a fighter of the people, a defender of justice; unlike his peers, however, his duties are a little more…cosmic in scale.
He was born deep within the Earth’s crust, made by a kindly old man known only as “Earth”. He’s a being of living metal, a golden giant, created for the sole purpose of protecting the Earth, and he’s quickly put on full-time duty seeing as the Earth soon finds itself threatened by a menace from outer space – the interstellar conqueror, Goa. Goa’s a force of universal evil, a plague that’s spread across the galaxy, and Earth is but the latest target of his ambitions.
It’s Goa that serves as the primary antagonist of Magma’s story, sending minions and monsters alike down to Earth’s surface in an attempt to ready it for his invasion. In turn, Magma fights the extraterrestrial onslaught off utilizing his host of superpowers: His large size and strength, his laser-firing antennae, his turbo-powered arms, and the arsenal in his chest are all powerful tools in his fight for Earth.
Magma’s not hoofing it alone, though. He’s a family man, and has a Rocketonian wife and son waiting for him to come home, or occasionally going out to do some of the heavy lifting themselves. Wifey’s named Mol, and the kid’s named Gum… and is based upon yet another character.
Defending the Earth’s a full-time job, after all, and the more the merrier, so co-staring with Magma is the Japanese Murakami family. This here’s the father, Atsushi, alongside his wife Tomoko – He’s a newspaper reporter, and is one of many charged by Goa to spread the word of the impending invasion. And this little tyke’s Mamoru, who manages to snap a pic of Goa and gets himself involved when Magma comes looking for the picture and takes a liking to the kid. Gum’s based on him, and as Mamoru’s already in the thick of things, he gets presented with a spiffy little whistle with which he can summon Magma and co. This whistle is the same as the one given to Astro in this game, and can be used to summon any of the three Rocketonians for assistance in fighting the forces of evil; they’ll drop what they’re doing, engage transformation and –
The game doesn’t really make this clear, but the classification “Rocketman” is not hyperbole – Magma is literally a man, that is also a rocket. He (and his family) are all capable of transitioning into a sleek, streamlined vehicular mode, and while it varies between a smooth and rough transition depending on the adaption, the end result is always an elegant, efficient, and deadly fighter more than capable of holding its own in an aerial battle. This allows Magma and Co. to rapidly come to Mamoru’s aid, to fight Goa in the air, and even to transport humans within their bodies – and it’s pretty damn cool besides.
As for Magma’s Astro appearances: They don’t exist! The only time he’s popped up in an Astro work is as a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo in the 1980 show, where he showed up (alongside Big X) in a big movie studio packed with various Tezuka characters. Having said that, though, he’s fairly famous in his own right – that live-action thing WAS pretty big at the time, and even got an English dub under the name “The Space Giants”, that links to the first episode for your viewing pleasure. It’s definitely a product of its time, and shows its age, but it’s actually still fairly enjoyable despite this. If you’re looking for something a little more modern, the 1993 OAV series might be more up your alley; it’s nicely modernized (for the ‘90s, at least) and has some pretty great gross alien action.
Other facts:
- Magma’s name comes from his birthplace being deep within the Earth’s crust; he’s literally an ambassador of Earth from the magma.
- Magma’s whistle always makes the same distinctive sound, as heard here.
