is a Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 created by Makoto Kubota. It started serialization on Square Enix

Square Enix

is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...

's seinen manga magazine Young Gangan on August 25, 2005. An anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 adaptation produced by AIC A.S.T.A. aired from October 3, 2008 to March 27, 2009 in Japan. The second season of the anime started airing on October 3, 2009. Each manga chapter and anime episode is referred to as a FIGHT.

Plot

The story revolves around the Tama River

Tama River

The is a major river in Yamanashi, Kanagawa and Tokyo Prefectures on Honshū, Japan. It is officially classified as a Class 1 river by the Japanese government....

 area, based mostly in Kawasaki City Kanagawa where battles are fought between the evil organisation Florsheim and the ally of justice Sunred. The twist is that Sunred (referred to most characters familiar with him as simply 'Red') is a rough-talking, violent and rude hero while the villains of Florsheim (led by General Vamp) are for the most part polite, conscientious and easy-going.

Despite this, both sides still stay true to their roles, with Florsheim dedicated to destroying Sunred and taking over the world while Sunred battles against them. Other evil organisations and heroes are also mentioned from time to time.

Each episode is divided into various shorts of varying length. Most of the humour comes from the interactions of the characters, especially the main trio of Sunred, his girlfriend Kayoko and General Vamp. Kayoko and Vamp, for example, get along very well and she occasionally consults him about housework or cooking. In contrast, she and Sunred often argue like a long married couple.

Main characters

Sunred is the protagonist of the Astro Fighter Sunred, referred by most as 'Red-san' which is a reversal of his name in romaji. Despite being an ally of justice, Red does not come off as being heroic much of the time and comes off rude and violent, as well as impatient and impulsive. In addition, he wears regular clothing even when fighting Florsheim's monsters (generally a t-shirt and shorts). The only signs that show he is a hero is his superhuman strength and the fact he inexplicably wears his helmet all the time. He is somehow able to smoke and eat through the helmet, despite the fact that it covers his entire head.

Kayoko is Sunred's girlfriend, your usual working woman who has a job at an insurance firm and apparently supports Red financially, though annoyed at him asking her for money. Like Red, she is unafraid to speak her mind and knows that deep down he cares for her deeply. Kayoko gets along very well with General Vamp, and the two often talk. On occasion, she even asks him for advice on housework.

Florsheim

The are the general antagonists of the series.

General Vamp is the leader of Florsheim's Kawasaki Branch. Though out for world domination, Vamp and his followers tend to be contributing members of society when not attempting to kill Sunred.

:

The Combat Goons are Vamp's assistants, particularly #1.

Vamp's minions who go after Sunred while not enjoying their personal time.

:

Dolgon is bird

Bird

Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...

 kaijin who receives a beating for destroying Red's beef bowl. Dolgon works at a tavern and later in the series begins to have more feminine mannerisms and lipstick on the end of its beak.

:

Taiza is a wolf kaijin who speaks in simple repetitive words. During the new moon, he turns into an attractive young man with an IQ of 200.

:

Armor Tiger is a tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

 kaijin who lives in a dirty apartment and is usually very slovenly. He is the most powerful of Florsheim's members.

:

Khamenman is a mummy

Mummy

A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...

-themed kaijin who is 4002 years old. He used to live with his younger brother Ant Killer and he owns a red Toyota Vitz

Toyota Vitz

The Toyota Vitz is a line of three- and five-door hatchback subcompact cars produced since 1998 by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. Now in its third generation, the name "Toyota Vitz" has been used consistently in Japan, with most international markets receiving the same vehicle under...

.

:

Medaleo is a humanoid kaijin with cannons on his back. He usually hangs out with Khamenman and Usacots.

:

Geiras is a squid

Squid

Squid are cephalopods of the order Teuthida, which comprises around 300 species. Like all other cephalopods, squid have a distinct head, bilateral symmetry, a mantle, and arms. Squid, like cuttlefish, have eight arms arranged in pairs and two, usually longer, tentacles...

 kaijin who can also fly. Because of his ability to fly, he helps Red and Kayoko move into their new apartment.

:

Mossky is a mosquito

Mosquito

Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...

 kaijin. He also assisted in Red's and Kayoko's move.

:

Dels is a jellyfish

Jellyfish

Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...

 kaijin who arrived in Kawasaki as an amorphous blob.

:

Gyo is a humanoid kaijin with the ability to remove his hands from his body. He has a mother's boy complex.

:

Gamess is a turtle

Turtle

Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudines , characterised by a special bony or cartilaginous shell developed from their ribs that acts as a shield...

 kaijin who often mentors others, such as Gyo and Mukiebi.

:

Ant Killer is an ant lion kaijin who is Khamenman's younger brother by only two years and still treats Khamenman as an older brother after 4000 years. An on-again-off-again smoker, he is most often seen with Mogira and Mogera.

:

Mogira and Mogera are two mole

Mole (animal)

Moles are small cylindrical mammals adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have velvety fur; tiny or invisible ears and eyes; and short, powerful limbs with large paws oriented for digging. The term is especially and most properly used for the true moles, those of the Talpidae family in the...

 kaijin who are Ant Killer's assistants.

:

Seminga is a cicada

Cicada

A cicada is an insect of the order Hemiptera, suborder Auchenorrhyncha , in the superfamily Cicadoidea, with large eyes wide apart on the head and usually transparent, well-veined wings. There are about 2,500 species of cicada around the world, and many of them remain unclassified...

 kaijin who in the middle of the series undergoes metamorphosis from larva to adult, however he gets stuck in his pupa casing.

:

Mukiebi is a shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

 kaijin and resembles a steamed on tail shrimp. He has problems fitting in with other kaijin because he assumes he has a shell (mukiebi is "shelled shrimp" in Japanese) and that he can become an Animal Soldier.

:

Ganymede is a crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

 kaijin who lives in an apartment with poor soundproofing and often complains that he gets very little sleep.

:

Gota is an octopus

Octopus

The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...

 kaijin who is beaten by Red during the mix up with Sa-Qoon's suit.

:

Gurugege is a frog

Frog

Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...

 kaijin who operates a blog where he is a critic of various ramen

Ramen

is a Japanese noodle dish. It consists of Chinese-style wheat noodles served in a meat- or fish-based broth, often flavored with soy sauce or miso, and uses toppings such as , , kamaboko, green onions, and occasionally corn...

 stands throughout Japan.

:

Kabirajay is a mold

Mold

Molds are fungi that grow in the form of multicellular filaments called hyphae. Molds are not considered to be microbes but microscopic fungi that grow as single cells called yeasts...

 kaijin who unknowingly spreads his spores throughout the Florsheim HQ.

: A robot that Vamp orders to fight Sunred, but eventually has to ask Red to put the model together.

:

Jalgo is a humanoid kaijin that Vamp has come over from Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

 to fight Red. Despite his fierce reputation, he is actually a calm and controlled person who speaks English in a relatively high pitched voice.

:

Yorojishi is a lion

Lion

The lion is one of the four big cats in the genus Panthera, and a member of the family Felidae. With some males exceeding 250 kg in weight, it is the second-largest living cat after the tiger...

 kaijin who is in a rivalry with Armor Tiger as they are both armored large cat kaijin (Yoroijishi uses samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

 armor).

:

Night Man is originally a hero and one of Sunred's juniors. He decides that he does not wish to be a hero anymore and joins Florsheim as Night Owl.

: Living stuffed toys usually lying around when not sent after Sunred. Although they are some of Florsheim's top agents, their small size and cuteness often gets in the way of their intentions.

:

A stuffed bunny with a bionic eye, feathery wings, and sharp claws. He is serious about being in Florsheim, and is intent on destroying Sunred.

:

A stuffed cat who is often the voice of reason. He is most often seen wearing a fanny pack

Fanny pack

A fanny pack , belt pack , belly bag , Buffalo pouch , hip sack , waist bag , hip pack , bum bag , cangurera , banano or moon bag is a small fabric pouch secured with a zipper and worn by use of a strap around the hips or...

. His weapon is a spike that comes out of his head.

:

A stuffed chick who is more robotic than the others and does not speak. Among his various abilities, he can also transform into a liquid metal

Liquid metal

Liquid Metal may refer to:* Metals in a liquid state** Metals which have a relatively low melting point, such as tin or lead.** A fusible alloy** A poor metal.* Liquid Metal , a radio channel* XM Liquid Metal, a radio channel...

.

:

A stuffed wolf who has a speech impediment, but transforms into a monstrous wolf in the light of a full moon.

Other Florsheim members

:

:

Head of the Tokyo Branch and a certified genius

Genius

Genius is something or someone embodying exceptional intellectual ability, creativity, or originality, typically to a degree that is associated with the achievement of unprecedented insight....

 with a 150 IQ and a (removable) scissor hand. He performs all actions with utmost sincerity.

:

Hengel's right hand man.

:

Head of the Shizuoka Sub-Branch and Vamp's younger brother.

:

Loafer's mentor.

:

A part-time worker who serves as one of the Shizuoka Sub-Branch's Combat Goons.

:

A normal human who lives at the Shizuoka Sub-Branch to save money on rent.

:

Two Florsheim kaijin who live together.

Other heroes

:

Two heroes based in Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

 who come to visit Sunred. They are extremely tall to where their heads are never in frame. It is revealed that they killed all of the members of their world conquering organization in a drunken bender.

:

A hero from Nagoya themed after the shachihoko

Shachihoko

A is an animal in Japanese folklore with the head of a tiger and the body of a carp. It was believed that this animal could cause the rain to fall, and as such, temples and castles were often adorned with roof ornaments crafted in the form of a shachihoko, in order to protect them from fire.The...

. He used to live with Red and greatly disliked his smoking habit.

:

A hero from Tottori Prefecture

Tottori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region. The capital is the city of Tottori. It is the least populous prefecture in Japan.- History :Before the Meiji Restoration, Tottori encompassed the old provinces of Hōki and Inaba...

 and one of Red's students. When Red accidentally gets Sa-Qoon's suit from the dry cleaners he tries it on and actually fights crime in it.

:

Two heroes from Yamaguchi Prefecture

Yamaguchi Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Yamaguchi, in the center of the prefecture. The largest city, however, is Shimonoseki.- History :...

 and the father and older brother of Night Man (now Night Owl). They come to Kawasaki to support Night Owl's career choice of becoming a Florsheim kaijin.

A Super Sentai

Super Sentai

The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...

-esque team with a forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

 motif from Aomori Prefecture

Aomori Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region. The capital is the city of Aomori.- History :Until the Meiji Restoration, the area of Aomori prefecture was known as Mutsu Province....

. The leader Natural Green is the nephew of the Abisilin brothers and originally was a hero from Hokkaidō who went by the name . He also previously served as a member of Weather Three (becoming Weather 4) as until the group disbanded. After meeting up with Red, they reveal that they are going to move to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 to fight crime instead of protecting Aomori.

Other villains

:

Devil Eye is the leader of the Devil Eye Army who tries to take the position of world-conquering organization in Kawasaki.

:

A Devil Eye member who tries to attack Vamp but is intercepted by Armor Tiger.

:

Another Devil Eye member.

:

A strange green monster that lives in the Kawasaki Florsheim HQ ceiling that sometimes appears out of nowhere and gives some advice or sing a song about Sunred.

:

Taremimi is a dog kaijin and former Animal Soldier who mentored Usacots in the past. He now works as a host under the name .

:

Barapi is a capybara

Capybara

The capybara , also known as capivara in Portuguese, and capibara, chigüire in Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador ronsoco in Peru, chigüiro, and carpincho in Spanish, is the largest living rodent in the world. Its closest relatives are agouti, chinchillas, coyphillas, and guinea pigs...

 kaijin who is originally hired to be a monster for Red to fight at the advent of the Year of the Rat

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year – often called Chinese Lunar New Year although it actually is lunisolar – is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It is an all East and South-East-Asia celebration...

. He later serves as a Florsheim delivery monster.

:

Pdora is a pteranodon

Pteranodon

Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...

 kaijin who works at day and goes to night school who one day accidentally comes across Vamp.

:

Horai is an earthworm

Earthworm

Earthworm is the common name for the largest members of Oligochaeta in the phylum Annelida. In classical systems they were placed in the order Opisthopora, on the basis of the male pores opening posterior to the female pores, even though the internal male segments are anterior to the female...

 kaijin from Shimane Prefecture

Shimane Prefecture

is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region on Honshū island. The capital is Matsue. It is the second least populous prefecture in Japan, after its eastern neighbor Tottori. The prefecture has an area elongated from east to west facing the Chūgoku Mountain Range on the south side and to...

 who works at a ramen stand.

:

Gaima is a kaijin who only appeared in his own little sketches and did not do much of anything. He apparently lives in the same apartment as Sodom and Godorah.

Other characters

:

A taxi driver who complains of the smallest noise made by Armor Tiger.

:

An old woman who has befriended the Florsheim Kawasaki Branch.

:

:

Crossover characters another manga by Makoto Kubota titled GOGO! Pudding Empire. They come to Earth to visit their dear friend Vamp.

Kishou Sentai Weather Three

It is revealed that Sunred was once part of a Sentai

Super Sentai

The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...

 team called in which he was known as . After he became the solo hero Sunred, his teammates went on to find new jobs.

Having the power over rain

Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...

, Weather Blue fought with Muay Thai

Muay Thai

Muay Thai is a combat sport from Thailand that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. It is similar to other Indochinese kickboxing systems, namely pradal serey from Cambodia, tomoi from Malaysia, lethwei from Myanmar and muay Lao from Laos...

. After Weather Three broke up, Blue became a host.

The beer-bellied Weather Yellow hails from Osaka

Osaka

is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...

 and has the power over lightning, although due to his laziness uses a stun gun

Stun gun

Stun gun may refer to:*Electroshock weapon, an incapacitant weapon that momentarily disables a person with an electric shock*Directed-energy weapon, a weapon that emits energy in an aimed direction without projectile, if it causes unconsciousness...

 in battle. After Weather Three broke up, he took over his family's construction company back in Osaka.

A Florsheim Monster that is shown as an opponent for Weather Three in the second season of Sunred during a flashback.

Manga

Astro Fighter Sunred began as a manga

Manga

Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...

 series written and drawn by Makoto Kubota and began its serialization in Young Gangan. Currently, six volumes have been published by Flex Comix

Flex Comix

is a Japanese company specializing in the sale of manga magazines, and goods related to the anime and manga industry in Japan. Flex Comix is affiliated with Asian Groove and Soft Bank BB, forming the Movida Holdings joint-investment company. The company publishes two magazines: Comi Digi +, and...

 in Japan, and by Tong Li Comics

Tong Li Comics

Tongli Publishing Co. , most known as Tong Li Comics, is a publishing company which distributes a variety of domestic and imported comics in the Republic of China .-History:...

 in Taiwan.

Anime

Directed by Seiji Kishi

Seiji Kishi

is a Japanese director of anime.-TV anime:*Yugo the Negotiator - Director*Ragnarok The Animation - Director, Storyboard*Izumo: Takeki Tsurugi no Senki - Art*Magikano - Director, Storyboard...

, an anime

Anime

is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....

 adaptation is being produced by the animation studio AIC A.S.T.A.. The anime series consist of 26 episodes and its first episode aired in Japan on October 3, 2008 to March 27, 2009. It was broadcast on KIDS STATION

Kids Station

Kids Station is a Japanese children's television channel showing animation and other cartoon material. Kids Station also airs some anime aimed at adults during the night, such as Narutaru, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi, Genshiken, Kujibiki Unbalance and "Rosario + Vampire". It is broadcast on...

, TV Kanagawa, and Nico Nico Douga

Nico Nico Douga

is a popular video sharing website in Japan managed by Niwango, a subsidiary of Dwango. Its nickname is "Niconico" or "Nico-dō", where "nikoniko" is the Japanese ideophone for smiling. Nico Nico Douga is the thirteenth most visited website in Japan...

. The second season began airing on October 3, 2009.

Theme songs

Opening theme:

• Lyrics, Composition, & Performance: manzo
• Season 1

• Lyrics, Composition, & Performance: manzo
• Season 2

Ending theme:

• Lyrics, Composition, & Performance: Kumahachi Morino

• Lyrics: Nezumi Ro-ri
• Composition: Takaaki Fujioka
• Arrangement: Yatsutaka Mizushima
• Performance: Kumahachi Morino
• Season 2

Other songs

• • Composition: Kei Takahara
  • Episode 10's ending theme
  • Composition: manzo
  • Arrangement: Shinji Kakijima
  • Episode 13's opening theme
  • Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement, & Performance: Ceiling (Tomomi Kasai
    Tomomi Kasai
    , born November 16, 1991 in Tokyo, Japan, is a singer, actress, footsal player and a member of idol group AKB48 under Team B. She had a recurring role on Kamen Rider W as Elizabeth, alongside group member Tomomi Itano...
    
    ) and Little Ceiling (Tomomi Itano
    Tomomi Itano
    is a member of the Japanese idol group AKB48, as well as a soloist.- Biography :In 2005, she joined the all-female Japanese idol group AKB48. After becoming a model for the popular woman's fashion magazine Cawaii!, she released her first photo book titled T.O.M.O.row in April 2009. In early 2010...
    
    ) (Originally manzo)
  • Episode 16's ending theme
  • Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement, & Performance: Shinji Kakijima
  • Opening of show within a show
    Story within a story
    A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
    
     
  • Lyrics: Yoshiko Higo
  • Composition: Miyuki Ishimoto
  • Arrangement: Naozumi Yamamoto
  • Vocals: Yoko Seri
  • Chorus: Royal Knights
  • Kawasaki, Kanagawa
    Kawasaki, Kanagawa
    is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....
    
    , city anthem
  • Episode 33's ending theme
  • Lyrics, Composition, Arrangement, & Performance: Shinji Kakijima
  • Nightman's theme song
  • Episode 43's ending theme

External links

• Official anime website
• Official manga website
• Louis Yamada LIII website