, known as Magma Man in some markets, is a Japanese tokusatsu television series about the titular <!--Do not add "fictional" as it is tautological; superheroes (and characters in general) are by definition implied to be fictionalized to some extent.-->superhero who fights kaiju and other villains. Produced by Tsuburaya Productions, the show was broadcast on Nippon Television from January 7 to July 31, 1973, with a total of 30 episodes. This was also one of several shows Tsuburaya did to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary (the other two being Ultraman Taro and Jumborg Ace).

Plot

A strange phenomenon happened throughout the world, causing giant, mutant dinosaurs to suddenly appear. The people of the Aban continent, living underground for the last 12,000 years sends a courageous young man named Misaki to live as an archeologist and SAF (Scientific Attack Force) agent Daisuke Misaki. Whenever monsters and space aliens attack the world, Misaki transforms into Fireman by using the fire-stick, and defends the human race against them.

Production

Productions of both Fireman and Daigoro vs. Goliath (1972) involved human and physical resources from the Daiei Film, a major film studio which went bankrupt in 1971. The Daiei Tokyo Studio was utilized for their filmings, and expertises and materials from Daiei's tokusatsu productions such as the Gamera franchise were put into practice by former Daiei staffs.

Cast

  • Naoya Makoto as Daisuke Misaki / Fireman
  • Goro Mutsumi as Dr. Gunpachi Umino
  • Shin Kishida as Dr. Saburo Mizusima

: Kishida wrote screenplays ep.12 as Shin Akegawa.

  • Sei Hiraizumi as Dr. Futoshi Chiba
  • Keiko Kunihara as Mariko Hayama
  • Mitsuru Saijō as Fireman (Suit Acting)
  • Voice of Fireman by Michihiro Ikemizu
  • Narrated by Ichirō Murakoshi

Staff

Producers

  • Akira Tsuburaya
  • Kimihiko Eto (Mannensha)
  • Yoshikazu Morita (NTV)

Script

  • Bunzo Wakatsuki
  • Fumito Imamura
  • Toyohiro Ando
  • Shin Kishida
  • Ikuko Okamoto

Music

  • Toru Fuyuki

Theme Song by

  • Asei Kobayashi
  • Bob Sakuma

Directors of Photography

  • Toshiyuki Machida
  • Koji Yokote

Lighting

  • Masanori Ando

Production Designed by

  • Osamu Yamaguchi

Assistant Directors

  • Hiroshi Okamoto
  • Toshihiko Nakajima

VFX Unit

Cameraman

  • Yuzo Kaneko

Lighting

  • Eihachi Kubo
  • Yukio Ito
  • Nagaharu Watanabe
  • Shoichi Uehara
  • Masao Ohara
  • Shinichi Fujino

Art Directors & Monster Design

  • Senkatsu Ikeya, Kazumasa Otani

Assistant Directors

  • Shiya Nakamura
  • Masao Kobayashi
  • Isao Matsumoto
  • Masahiro Ito
  • Seishiro Kameda
  • Setsuo Mizunuma

Wire Operators

  • Rumichi Kumazawa, Isamu Morohoshi, Haruo Sekiya

Special Effects

  • Masamichi Takayama

VFX

  • Minoru Nakano

Scripter Girls

  • Yuko Morita
  • Isao Matsumoto
  • Mayumi Nakamachi
  • Masahiro Ito
  • Haruyo Matsumaru
  • Setsuo Mizunuma
  • Seishiro Kameda
  • Miyo Tabata

Production Chiefs

  • Takahiro Katagiri
  • Yukio Ohno
  • Masana Takahashi

Editing by

  • Toyo Suzuki, Tatsuharu Nakashizuka, Sachiko Yamaji, Junko Yoneuchiyama

Effects

  • Akira Kojima, Makoto Ishida

Sound Recording

  • Kisaburo Goda, Hideo Okuyama

In Charge of Production

  • Masayuki Shitara

Post Production Manager

  • Teruyoshi Kokubo

Music Selecting by

  • Kiyoshi Suzuki
  • Masami Hara

Production Contacting

  • Hiroshi Saito

Special Thanks

  • Miyazaki Transportation, Nippon Car Ferry Co., Ltd.

Devices

  • Isamu Sugimoto

Post Production

  • Den Film Effects

Film Processing

  • Tokyo Laboratory

Special Technology

  • Kazuo Sagawa, Junkichi Oki, Masao Kobayashi, Iwataro Ishii, Shiya Nakamura

Directed by

  • Junkichi Oki, Koji Otsuka, Tatsumi Ando, Toshiki Suzuki, Taiji Saeki, Hiromi Higuchi, Hiroshi Okamoto

Produced by

  • Tsuburaya Productions
  • Mannensha
  • Nippon TV

Songs

Opening song

;

  • Lyrics: Yū Aku
  • Composition: Asei Kobayashi
  • Arrangement: Bob Sakuma
  • Artists: Masato Shimon

Other songs

;

  • Lyrics: Hajime Tsuburaya(as Kyouichi Azuma)
  • Composition and Arrangement: Tōru Fuyuki
  • Artists: Columbia Yurikago-kai and The Photons

;

  • Lyrics: Kyouichi Azuma
  • Composition and Arrangement: Tōru Fuyuki
  • Artists: Masato Shimon with The Photons

;

  • Lyrics: Mieko Arima
  • Composition and Arrangement: Go Misawa
  • Artists: Masato Shimon

List of episodes

References

  • Official Site (Japanese)