Ryusei Ningen Zon

Plot concerns a bunch of kids called the Zone family who become power ranger like superheroes to battle evil bugmen. One of the teens can become a giant ultraman superhero to take on giant monsters. Every episode of this show is painful to watch. After watching a two hour tape of this I felt so depressed (now I know how Joel, Mike and the bots feel after watching a bad movie). The only thing that saves this show are appearances by some of Toho kaiju often. Godzilla, King Ghidorah, Gigan, and Megalon all make appearaces.

Toho, the film company that made the Godzilla movies, also made this 26 episode TV series. Godzilla makes appearances.

Firstly, this review is coming from an adult in his 50s who made his first viewings of Zone Fighter in 2023. With that in mind, this review might be a little different from other reviews of this series. After Ultraseven (1967), this would have to be one of the very greatest Japanese TV shows ever made. The only thing going against it (for me) is that a couple of the fighters are little children which is a bit of a struggle for someone of my age to look at. But other than that, this series wonderfully captures mid-1970s Japan (the cars, the fashions, etc).

I am a massive fan of Godzilla and the goofy way he was shown in the 60s/70s movies. Well, this is THAT Godzilla, so basically 50% of the appeal is Godzilla. As a lover of old cars, it is great to see the villains drive around in a black 50s car (a 70s show with a bit of the 50s) and the heroes drive around in a flying white/red vehicle. The great looking cars are big characters in this series and they are well filmed chasing each other on interesting Japanese roads.

Other fun things to look at include retro blinking light hardware in the hidden Zone base and red. If you like red like I do there is a lot of red in this show. From the Zone car to the clothing to the creatures - RED everywhere!

Don't be turned off by the subtitles. The plots are very simple and the show is very visual, so if you miss the odd subtitle you can still follow the plot without any problems.

At the time of this post, several full length episodes of Zone Fighter can be found on the internet (with subtitles).

After the destruction of their own planet, Peaceland, the Zone Family, battle the Garoga Army to save Earth.

This is a fun series, with the strangest monsters on television. Better than any of the Ultras because the hero is actually on screen for more than the last 2 minutes of every episode.

Guest appearances by Godzilla, Gigan and King Ghidorah.

Toho, in my opinion, has created the more unique superhero shows, including RAINBOWMAN (which they did the previous year), but this particular tokusatsu series not only looks like a cross between an Ultra Series and a pre-Sentai Series (the first Sentai Series, GORANGER, came out in 1975), but what makes this series a treat among fans of giant monsters is that Godzilla appears in five episodes of this show, as does King Ghidorah (in another two episodes) and Gigan! Aside from that, this show's got the usual hard-hitting superhero action punctuated by innovative shows from that period like MASKED RIDER (1971) and KIKAIDER (1972)! Aside from Godzilla's pairing with Jet Jaguar in GODZILLA VS. MEGALON, it's rare to see Godzilla team up with a superhero kicking evil monster hiney! In this case, Godzilla teams up with Zone Fighter (the leader of a trio of superpowered Zone Siblings from the planet Peaceland, which was destroyed by the show's villains, the Garoga Army, who send out monsters every week), and the results are really fun and cute, but it's really a shame that more sophisticated fans take it too seriously. Don't let that bother you and give this series a chance! Not just the Godzilla episodes, but reccommendably every episode, which have some amusing treats and interesting guest appearances that people who only watch it for Godzilla would miss (ie. the late Baku Hatakeyama, who played Ooiwa Daita/Ki-Ranger in GORANGER a couple years later, made a guest appearance in one episode)!

Check out METEOR MAN ZONE! I highly reccomend it, to fans of both monsters and superheroes!

This is a superhero TV-series produced by Toho Studios, which is responsible for making the Godzilla films.

It tells about the Zone family, which battles the Garoga Army to save Earth - after their own planet was destroyed. The superheros battle a horde of strange and wacky looking monsters. Godzilla villains King Ghidorah and Gigan, who make guest appearances, look normal by comparison.

It's a perfect TV series for children who look up to superheros and for cheesy entertainment value. But, it's one of those heroic films reminiscence of the very childish Gamera movies, but in a more delightful way. Godzilla makes guest appearances in this series as well, furthering his defender-of-the-Earth status among the people of Japan.

Fun times here, and it's part of the Godzilla Showa Series canon.

Grade B