Line #5 Series/MightyJack


1	[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mighty_Jack_6274.jpg]]
2
3	''Mighty Jack'' (later retitled ''Fight! Mighty Jack'') is a 26-episode action-adventure {{Tokusatsu}} series created by Creator/EijiTsuburaya (creator of ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'') from his own studio, Creator/TsuburayaProductions, that ran throughout 1968 on Creator/FujiTelevision. A great deal of the crew from Tsuburaya's ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' worked on this show, notably Ultraman designer Tohru "Tohl" Narita, who designed the Mighty Jack sub.
4
5	The series centers around a team of secret agents serving a top-secret international peacekeeping organization known as Mighty Jack. They are:
6	* Toshiro Hachiro, the team leader. Played by Hideaki Nitani.
7	* Megumi Katsura, the secretary. Played by Naoko Kubo.
8	* Ippei Amada, Hachiro's NumberTwo. Played by Hiroshi Minami.
9	* Takeshi Hanabusa, the resident doctor. Played by Akira Kasuga.
10	* Yuzuru Murakami, the resident MadScientist and DemolitionsExpert. Played by Hideyo Amamoto[[note]]Better known as Dr. Shinagami from ''Series/KamenRider''[[/note]].
11	* Akira Genda, one of the [[AcePilot Ace Pilots]]. Played by Masanori Nisei[[note]]Who had appeared in ''Series/{{Ultraman}}'' as Ide/Ito and would later appear in ''Fight! Mighty Jack''[[/note]].
12	* Ichijo Mali, the resident {{Polyglot}} who can speak 26 languages. Played by Wakako Ikeda.
13	* Susumu Terakawa, another AcePilot. Played by Noraki Inoue.
14	* Hideaki Tamaki, the youngest member of the team. Played by Hidetaka Tanaka.
15	* Rokusuke Hattori, the resident GreaseMonkey. Played by Masatake Fukuoka.
16	* Mitsuru Tomii, the resident eletronics genius. Played by Mitsuru Oya.
17	* Noboru Kawakami, the resident field agent. Played by Goro Mutsumi[[note]]Who would later appear as Kuronuma and Mugal in ''Film/GodzillaVsMechagodzilla'' and ''Film/TerrorOfMechagodzilla'', respectively[[/note]].
18	* Emma Yumi, the intelligence agent. Played by Annu Mari.
19	* Gonosuke Yabuki, DaChief and the ManBehindTheMan for the organization as a whole. Played by Jiro Yanagi.
20
21	These brave agents face the nefarious exploits of the subversive terrorist/saboteur organization known only as "Q". And to do so, each agent brings their own unique skillset to the table. But more significantly, the whole team possesses a highly advanced flying submarine also called Mighty Jack. This 800-foot behemoth is a virtual flying fortress, carrying all manner of weapons and vehicles while taking its team of superspies to every corner of the world in the global struggle against Q's endless plots.
22
23	A sort of hybrid of ''Franchise/JamesBond'' and ''Series/VoyageToTheBottomOfTheSea'', with cues taken from ''Series/{{Thunderbirds}}'' and Creator/{{Toho}}'s ''Film/{{Atragon}}'', Eiji Tsuburaya considered ''Mighty Jack'' his MagnumOpus. While the series proved to be popular in its own right, ExecutiveMeddling was not happy enough with the series' dark tone, and ''Mighty Jack'' was given a major {{retool}} as the more kid-friendly ''Fight! Mighty Jack'' in its second season. The result was a more comical tone that replaced the espionage with rampaging MonstersOfTheWeek, not unlike ''Ultraman'', as well as episode lengths being cut from one hour to just half an hour and almost all of the cast being replaced.
24
25	The first season's first and sixth episodes were strung together by Sandy Frank Entertainment and dubbed in order to create a feature-length movie released in 1986. The result (or perhaps more accurately, butchering) was featured on ''Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000'''s KTMA season and later on its first Comedy Central season. For that version, please go to the [=MST3K=] [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E14MightyJack episode recap page]].
26
27	But regardless of what Joel and the Bots thought of Sandy Frank's film or what the executives did to the show in its second season, ''Mighty Jack'' is considered a classic in its home country, with model kits of the series' various vehicles still being readily available for collectors and hobbyists. In fact, the title sub's emblem is that of Tsuburaya Productions!
28
29	!! ''Mighty Jack'' provides examples of:
30	* ActorAllusion: [[https://ultra.wikia.com/wiki/File:Ultraseven_Reference_in_Fight_Mighty_Jack.png here. Kohji Moritsugu appears in one episode as a mechanic.]] [[Series/UltraSeven He then takes out a small red item in a very familiar fashion...]]
31	* ArtisticLicensePhysics: The freeze gun is supposed to work by inducing molecular motion. Molecular motion is ''heat''.
32	* CoolShip: The titular Mighty Jack is an 800-foot-long flying submarine.
33	* ManBehindTheMan: Yabuki for Mighty Jack.
34	* NebulousEvilOrganisation: Q.
35	* {{Retool}}: Into ''Fight! Mighty Jack'' for its second season, turning the show into a goofy MonsterOfTheWeek kiddie show with cues ripped off from ''Series/{{Ultraman}}''.

Context Series / MightyJack