Warrior of Love Rainbowman is Toho's first toku show that aired in 1972-1973. The show ran for 52 episodes. It was created by Kohan Kawauchi, who is also responsible for the first tokusatsu, Moonlight Mask.
The toku series began with Takeshi Yamato, a pro wrestler who goes to India to learn discipline from the old sage Daibadatta. When Daibadatta trains him, he gives Takeshi Yamato the Henshin Hero abilities that allow him to transform into Rainbowman. He has seven different forms, each based off a different element and day of week. He goes back to Japan and finds out a racketeer wants to hustle his coach, and friend runs into a Racketeer, who wants him to go to Macao, to do a wrestling match. When he goes to Macao he meets Mr. K, a foreigner so bent on revenge he wants to destroy Japan, and leads the Shine Shine Dan (literally Die Die Army). He makes it his goal to stop them.
The series was successful enough to receive a 1982 anime remake, which replaced the title hero with a robot named Rainbowman, who was piloted by Takeshi Yamato.
Warrior of Love Rainbowman provides examples of the following tropes:
- Anti-Villain: Strangely averted. It's implied that most of the Shine Shine Dan are WWII vets suffering from violent post-traumatic stress, but the show treats them as just a bunch of monsters.
- Being Tortured Makes You Evil: Mr.K's Backstory
- Blessed with Suck: See Healing Factor.
- Big Bad: Mr. K.
- Bittersweet Ending: In the series finale, Rainbowman delays the missiles,yet Mr.K escapes capture, vowing to torment Japan again, someday. Miyuki finally gets her leg surgery ,and leaves abroad to travel the world. Meanwhile Takeshi battles the remaining armada of DAC, missing Miyuki leave on the plane. He must prepare for another battle with Mr.K, if he is to return, and rides into the sunset, towards her plane.
- Book Ends:With Takeshi dodging bullets, to get somewhere urgent.
- Daiba Datta saving Takeshi from Doom
- Takeshi goes on a journey to another land, Miyuki decides to travel the world while he's out fighting the forces of evil
- Cliffhanger: Kawauchi is a master at them.
- Diegetic Soundtrack Usage: Takeshi sings his own theme song (the first ED of the show) in episode 43.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Majo Iguana's reason for targeting Takeshi, is only to get his blood.
- Darker and Edgier: The first and most successful in Kawauchi Toku series in color is also more political,and serious.
- Elite Mooks: The flamethrower-carrying members and the DAC.
- Eye Scream: Takeshi is blinded in one episode by gunfire.
- Expository Theme Tune: And how!
- Faceless Goons: The Shine Shine Dan's army.
- Faux Affably Evil: Mr.K.
- Gratuitous English: The mooks and officers answer to Mr. K with "YES SIR!"
- Healing Factor: If wounded, Takeshi can go into a healing trance in which his body is frozen. However he is unaware of his surroundings and is very vulnerable to attack when he is in this state.
- Healing Hands: Daibadatta has a form of this, but Rainbowman has to learn it.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Several are done. Yamato Ichiro Long thought to be dead is kept captive by Mr. K. Takeshi Revives him once when he's wounded but decides to fight back against Mr. K from destroying Japan, resulting in death.
- Hook Hand: Mr.K gets his hand shot by Yamato Ichiro, in the1st season finale.
- Kick the Dog: Mr.K is usally prone to doing this for the "greater good".
- Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy: Actually averted for once, as both the Shine Shine Dan Army and DAC hit Takeshi in several episodes.
- Lightning Can Do Anything: Rainbowman destroys Dr. Borg's underground base by carpet-bombing it with lightning.
- Lyrical Dissonance: The second ending theme is an uptempo tune with a cheerful kids choir as backup — about the villains' desire to destroy Rainbowman.
- Manly Tears: Takeshi cries a lot during the series.
- McNinja: Inverted. Takeshi looks ,and uses techniques like a ninja, but trained in India.
- Midseason Upgrade: Later in the show Rainbowman gets the power to combine Dash 7 with two of his other forms, gaining the powers of all three at the same time.
- Monster of the Week: Sort of. The "monsters" were human assassins with strange abilities and costumes, and they didn't really show up until episode 13.
- Mook Chivalry: Both subverted and played straight: The goons shoot at the same time, but they melee attack like typical mooks.
- Multiform Balance / Elemental Powers: Rainbowman possesses seven different superhero forms called "Dashes", with the seven Dashes representing yin and yang (the Moon and the Sun) and the five elements (wu xing) of ancient Chinese philosophy.
- Lunacy: Dash 1
- Playing with Fire: Dash 2
- Making a Splash: Dash 3
- Green Thumb: Dash 4
- Extra-ore-dinary: Dash 5
- Dishing Out Dirt: Dash 6
- The Power of the Sun: Dash 7
- Our Cyborgs Are Different: Cyborgs in the series were not just mechanical humans, but also insane homicidal maniacs with super strength and dark circles around their eyes.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: The anime version toned down the political messages heavily.
- Religion of Evil: The Shine Shine Dan.
- Scary Black Man: Pagora, also a cyborg.
- Supernatural Martial Arts: Takeshi uses a variety of techniques to defeat enemies, using his surroundings. Similar to a ninja.
- The Villain Knows Where You Live: Shine Shine Dan, attack Takeshi's family several times.Majo Iguana does this once but fails.
- Wicked Cultured: The Shine Shine Dan In general.
- Vain Sorceress: Iguana and her mother.
- Villain Song: Shine Shine Dan's Theme.
- What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Dash 1 does nothing but make Takeshi able to squeeze through small crevasses. Later on it's given one offensive ability; the ability to cause thunderstorms, but it's used once.
- Would Hurt a Child: The Shine Shine Dan always give zero qualms about who they kill,as long their victims are Japanese.
- Yellow Peril: Both inverted and played straight. Some of the villains are Americans who see the Japanese as this, while Big Bad Mr. K actually is.
- You Have Failed Me: Whenever a mook is about to be nabbed by the police or an officer fails one too many times, Mr. K pulls out a device called "The Vaporizer" and reduces them to bone fragments or skeletons. Averted in one episode, where Mr.K gives a second chance to females.
- You Killed My Father: Yamato Ichiro, Father Of Takeshi gets killed by Mr.K. twice in an episode
