Andro Melos

Andro Melos (アンドロメロス, Andoro Merosu) is a Japanese tokusatsu television miniseries produced by Tsuburaya Productions, aired in TBS from February 28 to April 29, 1983 on weekdays.[1] The miniseries was made as an adaptation to the popular Ultra Brothers Story Andro Melos and Ultra Super Legend: Andro Super Warriors magazine and manga publications,[2] hence it became the first tokusatsu in Japan to be available exclusively on home video.[1] The show's name was inspired by one of the protagonist of 1975 Ultra Series manga The Ultraman, Melos, but both him and the title character are entirely unrelated to each others.[3][4]

Andro Melos
Created byTsuburaya Productions
Written by
  • Kazuho Mitsuda
  • Masahide Fukushima
  • Takumi Fujimori
  • Naoyuki Eto
Directed by
  • Takahashi Yoshikazu
  • Tatsurō Furuta
Voices of
  • Makoto Ataka
  • Kenyu Horiuchu
  • Susumu Kotaki
  • Kumiko Mizukura
  • Shojiro Kihara
  • Shingo Kanemoto
  • Kyoko Oguma
ComposerShizuka Tamagawa
Country of originJapan
No. of episodes45
Production
ProducerTomohiko Hamada
Running time10 minutes per episodes
Release
Original networkTBS
Original releaseFebruary 28 –
April 29, 1983 (1983-04-29)
Chronology
Preceded byUltraman 80
Followed byUltraman Story

Synopsis

The Andro People (アンドロ人, Andoro Jin) is a tribe similar to the Ultras from Nebula M78. In addition to their devotion for peace and justice, they established the Andro Defense Force as their answer to the Inter-Galactic Defense Force. At that moment, the Guar Army started their conquest for universal domination and sent out their Fighting Bems to wreak havoc in multiple planets. To protect the peace of the universe, Melos and the Andro Defense Force rode the Andro Boat (アンドロ艇, Andoro-tei) to fly in the vast universe.[5][6]

Characters

Andro Defense Force

The Andro Defense Force (アンドロ警備隊, Andoro Keibitai) is an organization formed by the Andro People under Zoffy's advice to maintain peace in outer space.[7] When the Guar Army spread their influence, the team set out to fight the regime and its leaders.[5] Each members wear Cosmo Techtor (コスモテクター, Kosumo Tekutā) combat armor with distinctive colors and weapons. As revealed in Ultra Galaxy Fight, the team had recruited several new members (including Andro Ares), as Andro Melos left his position as a leader to join the Galaxy Rescue Force.[7]

  • Andro Melos:[8][9][10] The titular protagonist in the mini-series, he is the captain of the Andro Defense Force and is known for his green colored armor. The Ultra Cross (ウルトラクロス, Urutora Kurosu) badge on his armor is an award given by Zoffy himself. In the recent media of Ultra Series, Andro Melos had since left his position to join the Galaxy Rescue Force.
    • In Ultra Super Legend manga, the original owner of the green Cosmo Techtor was Caesar (セザル, Sezaru), who relinquished it to Zoffy to save his life at the cost of his own. Zoffy adopted the alias Andro Melos to fight against the Gua Army and eventually gave it to Caesar's son Bunowa (ブノワ), who assumed it and the Andro Melos alias ever since then, including his appearance in the eponymous television series.
  • Andro Wolf:[11][9][10] A team member who wears the red-colored Cosmo Techtor. He has a companion named Alien Ape "Elpa", who was killed by Juda of the Gua Army.
  • Andro Mars:[12][9][10] The strongest member of the team, known for his brute strength and orange Cosmo Techtor.
  • Andro Frohl:[13][10] The only female member of the team, her Cosmo Techtor is white colored and has a pair of wings.

Guar Army

The Guar Army (グア軍団, Gua Gundan) is the antagonist of the series, a barbaric empire lead by the unseen Combined Great Devil Emperor Guar (合身大魔帝 グア, Gasshin Daimatei Gua) and stationed on the similarly named planet.[5] The empire's main agenda is to spread their influence through iron fist and constantly fighting against the Andro Defense Force and Ultra Warriors for standing in their way of conquest.[14] Later in the series, it was revealed that Guar is actually the combined form of the siblings and his creation almost doomed the universe before Melos defeated him with the Grantechtor.

  • Space Devils (宇宙の悪魔, Uchū no Akuma): A trio of siblings that lead the Guar Army in their conquest, namely Mold, Gina and Juda. Following their near defeat by the Andro Defense Force, they merged into Guar in the final battle against Melos.[15]
  • Fighting Bem (ファイティング・ベム, Faitingu Bemu): The army's invasion soldiers, each were under servitude of a Space Devil sibling.[5]
  • Monster Battleships (怪獣戦艦, Kaijū Senkan): Massive combat mechas created in the image of past Ultra Monsters. The Space Devil siblings rode each one of them in a fight against the Andro Defense Force.[16]
  • Alien Magma Triumvirate (マグマ星人三人衆, Maguma Seijin Sannin-shu): A trio of Alien Magma mercenaries based on the similarly named alien from Ultraman Leo. Lead by the Re-Alien Magma (改造マグマ星人, Kaizō Maguma Seijin), they offered their services to Guar Army and has targeted multiple planets under their banner.

Voice cast
  • Andro Melos: Makoto Ataka (あたか 誠, Ataka Makoto)[6]
  • Andro Wolf (アンドロウルフ, Andoro Urufu): Kenyu Horiuchi (堀内 賢雄, Horiuchi Ken'yū)[6]
  • Andro Mars (アンドロマルス, Andoro Marusu): Susumu Kotaki (小滝 進, Kotaki Susumu)[6]
  • Andro Frohl (アンドロフロル, Andoro Furoru): Kumiko Mizukura (水倉 久美子, Mizukura Kumiko)[6]
  • Alien Ape "Elpa" (エープ星人・エルパ, Ēpu Seijin Erupa), Edoras (エドラス, Edorasu): Shigeru Chiba (千葉 繁, Chiba Shigeru)[17]
  • Juda (ジュダ): Shojirō Kihara (木原 正二郎, Kihara Shijirō)[6]
  • Mold (モルド, Morudo): Shingo Kanemoto (兼本 新吾, Kanemoto Shingo)[6]
  • Gina (ギナ): Kyoko Oguma (小熊 恭子, Oguma Kyoko)[6]
  • Narrator: Takashi Tsuda (津田 喬, Tsuda Takashi)[6]

Appearance in other media
  • Ultraman Story (1984): Juda was featured in this movie as the adversary of Father of Ultra and created Grand King to fight against Ultra Brothers. The appearance of Juda was to promote the Andro Melos media as both series and related magazines.[18]
  • Ultraman X (2015): The Space Devil siblings appear as the antagonist of episodes 13 and 14 during the series' crossover with Ultraman Ginga S.
  • SSSS.Gridman (2018): Andro Melos appear alongside Hunter Knight Tsurugi and Techtor Gear Zero in a cover for in-universe Uchusen magazine.
  • Ultraman Taiga (2019): Episodes 13 to 15 of the Voice Drama features original characters Andro Ares and Imbeeza in Taiga's recollection in his past. The two characters pay tribute to the Andro Melos miniseries.[7]
  • Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy (2020): Andro Melos returned to live action media for the first time since the end of his titular series. Having left the Andro Defense Force to join the Galaxy Rescue Force, he would eventually become part of Zero's Ultra League team to curb Tartarus' nefarious plot.[7]

References
  1. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, p. 162, 「アンドロメロス グラフィティ」
  2. 白書 1987, pp. 166–167, 「アンドロメロス」
  3. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, pp. 176–177, 金田益実「アンドロメロス 雑誌特写とVTR撮影が生んだ新戦士」
  4. 円谷プロ全怪獣図鑑 2013, p. 193, 「column アンドロメロスの変遷」.
  5. "アンドロメロス - 円谷ステーション" (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  6. "アンドロメロス vol.1 [DVD]" (in Japanese). Amazon. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  7. @tsuburayaprod (January 17, 2021). "＼ビッグファイト！／【#ギャラファイTAC 大百科】本編に登場するあれ？なんだぁ？ポイントをピックアップ解説!今週は「#アンドロ警備隊」" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, p. 163, 「アンドロメロス」
  9. 白書 1987, pp. 22–23, 「アンドロメロス」
  10. 円谷プロ全怪獣図鑑 2013, pp. 190–193, 「アンドロメロス」
  11. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, p. 164, 「アンドロウルフ」
  12. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, p. 165, 「アンドロマルス」
  13. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, p. 166, 「アンドロフロル」
  14. @tsuburayaprod (December 27, 2020). "＼ビッグファイト！／【#ギャラファイTAC 大百科】本編に登場するあれ？？ポイントをピックアップ解説今週は懐かしき強敵「#グア軍団」解説シーンをチェック" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, pp. 168–169, 「グア軍団」
  16. エンターテインメントアーカイブ 2018, pp. 170–171, 「怪獣戦艦」
  17. メーキング・オブ・円谷ヒーロー〈2〉サイエンスヒーロー・ワールド (in Japanese). Kodansha. 1987-08-01. p. 213. ISBN 978-4061901032.
  18. 円谷プロ全怪獣図鑑 2013, p. 198, 「ウルトラマン物語」.
Sources
  • 不滅のヒーロー ウルトラマン白書. 宇宙船別冊 (第2版 ed.). Asahi Sonorama. 1987-03-01. 雑誌コード：01844-03.
  • 大石真司 (2013-03-11). 円谷プロ全怪獣図鑑. 円谷プロダクション監修. 小学館. ISBN 9784096820742.
  • エンターテインメントアーカイブ 電光超人グリッドマン. NEKO MOOK. 構成・執筆：中村宏治. Neko Publishing. 2018-04-17. ISBN 978-4-7770-2130-7.CS1 maint: others (link)
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