It's really sad that Akira Yamaguchi, probably one of my favorite Japanese hero actors, died so young (he was around 39 when he died in 1986), and left behind a few TV performances to choose from. More tragically, one realizes that he lost a few roles to Hiroshi Miyauchi (he was considered for Miyauchi's role in KEY HUNTER and the part of Shirou Kazami/Masked Rider V3, which Miyauchi eventually got), and despite his minimal martial arts experience, he was a real natural in the roles he played. From his debut in NINJA CORPS MOONLIGHT to a villainous role in GIANT IRONMAN 1-7. Perhaps his best roles are Jouji Yuuki/Riderman in MASKED RIDER V3 and his starring role as bionic streetfighter detective Yutaka Daimon in this series, which really showcases Yamaguchi at his wildest!
The show's plot is a human-sized MAZINGER Z of sorts: Yutaka Daimon (Yamaguchi) avenges the death of his father at the hands of the evil wheelchair-bound cyborg Dr. Akunomiya (Ken Okabe, who later played the main villain in Toho's GUYFERD), who leads the evil Sigma Organization. Decked out in all-terrain street gear and a motorcycle helmet, Daimon uses his late father's invention, the cool super robot Zaborger, which is not only fitted with death dealing weapons, but can transform into a motorcycle! Zaborger is both powered by the bionic implant in Daimon's heart whenever he gets really angry (he was killed in an auto accident when he was 6) and controlled by the commands he gives in the microphone attachment on his helmet! Each week, Daimon and Zaborger fight not only Sigma's murderous robot monsters (later ones included these crazy-looking car/truck monsters; One looked like that silly dog car from DUMB & DUMBER, and some of the others were trucks with robot monster bodies sticking out from on top), but also Sigma's diverse bionic streetfighters with really wacky powers (for example, two motorcycle riding brothers whose arms combine to form a gun, and a leather-clad kickboxer with extendable legs)! There was even a transsexual robot called Miss Borg (which transforms from a woman in silver tights and antennas to a silver man robot with antennas), and later, an evil counter-Daimon named Ken Akizuki (who also has a cool eagle-like motorcycle, though it doesn't transform)!
The show went downhill by Episode 39 (the end of Sigma), with the introduction of the lame, infantile villain faction, the Dinosaur Army. The last 13 episodes (40-52) were said to be so bad that they were never shown in Hawaii, where the series was shown subtitled (I think)!
Aside from Yamaguchi, another treat is child actor Masahiro Kamiya (KIKAIDER, GIANT IRONMAN 1-7) as a regular character! The creator of ELECTROID ZABORGER was none other than Kazuo Koike, who also created CRYING FREEMAN, LONE WOLF AND CUB, and wrote the theme songs for GREAT MAZINGER and DYNAMAN! The composer of the show is Shunsuke Kikuchi (one of my favorite composers), whose score is great! Masato Shimon (my favorite Japanese singer) sang the OP and ED theme songs!
In short, this show is highly recommended! An awesome tokusatsu hero action series, bar none!!!
