Moonlight Mask
|
Moonlight Mask
 | |
|---|---|
| Episodes: | 141 |
| Year: | 1958-1959 |
| Country: | Japan |
| Seasons: | 5 |
| Seasons Breakdown: | |
| Category: | Superhero |
| Colour: | No |
| Format: | Series |
| Company: | TOEI |
| Creator: | Kōhan Kawauchi |
| Run Time (mins): | 10 |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Type of Show: | Live Action |
| Status: | Ended |
| Broadcaster: | TBS |
| First Aired: | February 24, 1958 |
| Last Aired: | July 5, 1959 |
Summary
Wrapped entirely in a white suit, turban, cloak, boots, and gloves, Moonlight Mask (portrayed by Ose) is depicted as a lunar emissary dispatched to Earth to defend humanity from malevolent forces. His guiding maxim , Don’t hate, don’t kill, but forgive ,articulates his moral code; although he avoids causing the deaths of his adversaries, each episode typically features at least one substantial confrontation. He travels by motorcycle on his crime‑fighting missions, a vehicle that frequently served as the production’s most costly prop. The advertising agency responsible for creating the series operated with extremely limited resources, to the extent that the chairman’s office was regularly repurposed as a filming set, and minor roles were often filled by passing employees, a practice later echoed in The Vampire.
The principal antagonist, Skull Mask, opposes Moonlight Mask in a struggle over the blueprints for a formidable new weapon known as the Ho‑Joe Bomb, a narrative element often interpreted as a poetic reflection of post‑war Japanese attitudes toward the United States. Ultimately, Moonlight Mask is revealed to be the police officer investigating the theft of the plans, while Skull Mask is exposed as the assistant to the weapon’s inventor.
Cast
FUMITAKE OMURA, JUNYA USAMI, HIROKO MINE, MITSUE KOMIYA, YAEKO WAKAMIZU, YASUSHI NAGATA, Jûrou Iwai/Moonlight Mask KOICHI OSE, Dai Gorohachi KANICHI TANI, YUKIE NUNOCHI, KAZUYA OGURI.
aka: Gekkō Kamen
Tags: Superhero, Japan, 1958, Japanese
Links: