Ninja Warrior Tobikage (忍者戦士飛影,Ninja Senshi Tobikage), also known as Ninja Robot Tobikage and Ninja Robots, is a Japanese anime television series, produced by Studio Pierrot, which aired from 6 October 1985 to 14 July 1986 on the Nippon Television network.
It was also broadcast across South Asia, Southeast Asia and Australia by Cartoon Network, under the title Ninja Robots, across Russia by Ren-TV, across the Philippines by Solar USA after Cartoon Network Philippines removed it from it airwaves, across France by TF1, under the title Tobikage, and across Chile by TVN de Chile and Mexico by Televisa Canal 5.
The events in this anime take place in 2200 and start off in a fictional colony on the planet Mars (in this anime's universe people have colonized both Mars and the Moon by the time in which the events occur).
The main character is a 16-year old boy Jou Maya who resides on Mars with his father. Jou's biggest dream is to return to Earth - his home planet. Jou has two best friends - his sworn brother Mike and a girl named Reny who prove to be helpful allies with the power to also opperate the robots.
One day, while escaping from the Martian police Jou and Mike stumble over a giant spaceship that appears to belong to aliens of some sort. At the same time another spaceship, located outside Mars, sends out humanoid robots which starts attacking the aforementioned spaceship. Jou goes to investigate and finds himself being chased by one of the robots. Having no choice, he hides in the damaged spaceship.
Here he encounters three aliens, who look like humans. One of them is a young Princess who Jou instantly finds attractive. However the other alien - a young red-headed general yells at Jou in a foreign language and points a gun. Then the robot entering the ship and they runs away leaving Jou standing face to face with the killer robot. Panicking, Jou hides inside an unidentified object, which turns out to be a "manually operated" vast robot. Jou gets quickly accustomed to the machine and destroys the aforementioned killer robot and scares the other ones.
After the attack Joe's fate has become tangled with the aliens. He will accompony them on their journey to Earth while making new friends and meeting old friends.
Joe Maya is 16 year old currently residing in Mars. His rebellious and impulsive behaviour lands him in the adventure of his life. He lost his mother when he was young but often remincises about the fun the had on Earth. His father is a calm, thoughtful figure, almost his opposite. He is the first to opperate and discover the robots.
His best friend is Ronen, his childhood friend. Among his other childhood friends are Jenny and Mike. Joe and Mike refer to each other as "brother". Joe leaves behind two of the friends in order to defeat Hazard,even though they continue to help him espicially when his father is kidnapped.
He often teases Jenny about his friends interest in her. He also treats her as a guy. Joe show romanitic feelings for both the Princess and Reny. He is attracted to the Princess and often will do anything to protect her. He has an enmity with Irubora from the beginning due to his rude and impulsive behaviour. He is also very curious about the Tobikage who continously aids him in battle.
Renī Ai (レニー・アイ, Renī Ai?) - Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka
Jenny is also 16. She is a potrayed as a tomboy however like any girl, she also gets jealous! She can be possessive about Joe, but she's very sweet. She is a good fighter and almost as daring as Joe, although her is extremely concerned about her family who stayed behind on Mars. She is the second to opperate her robot.
Shes acts as a sister to Mike and helps him get the girl of his dreams - Shafu. Kenji has a crush on Jenny which she doesn't reciprocate. She gets irritated when Joe teases her about him. When the princess hugs or flirts with Joe, she becomes upset and hurt. Shes believes Romina harbours feelings towards Joe, which is proved to be true later on. She asks Joe how he feels about her many times and even says that she loves him and just wanted to be with him, even if he went to Andromeda. She is hopelessly in love with Joe.
Romina is a princess and future empress. She is very beautiful: a slender girl with long white hands, sad blue eyes and a mane of silvery-lavender hair. Romina is modest and sincere. She reseded on a once peaceful planet which was violently invaded by Alex, she is now a hunted princess. Forced to escape from invaders in Erushang with her two closest friends: lady Shafu and lord Irubora Saro. She cries over her losses: parents, her world and Irubora however, in public Romina puts on a brave front.
Romina is a person who is extremely loyal to the friends she expects the same loyalty. Joe falls in love with Romina, their feelings grow as Joe always cheers her up and helps her out. While Princess, support her new friend and even risks her life to save Joe. Slowly they understand each other as their romance blooms
Irubora is a reserved, ambitious general who can be egoistic and aggressive but, noble and courageous at the same time. He is called The Best Warrior of Andromeda. He tends to look down on others, nevertheless, he seems to be deeply in love with the Princess and is determined to fight for her to the end. Although she remains unaware of his love for her and her own feelings for the commander
He becomes very jealous of Romina's attention towards Joe. Both are "people of action" and this mutual antipathy ends up in open quarrels and endless fights - a very upsetting situation for Romina who want to avoid aggression and violence. He is man of great ambition and he dreams about great powers, Grathan offers power in exchange for princess Romina's life and for a moment Irubora thought about killing her. As a result, Irubora leaves Eruchang for good, but it will be much more difficult to forget love that he left behind!
Irubora finally obtain his own robot, Skeleton, and turned out to be a ninja too - one of the most powerful ninja! But he never chose between absolute power and his love for Romina, no matter how he wanted to forget her in battles. In the end as he was seriously injured he decided to tell Romina about his feelings.
This robot is a mystery, and little is known about it. Appearing each time the Ninja machines are low on power, it assists them, and at times, bonds with one of them, transforming and becoming stronger. In later episodes, it unites with Jou.
lion
When the Golden Ninja fuses with Tobikage, it transforms into a lion. The most agile and speedy of the powered Ninjas, it is the most frequently-used powered machine.
Falcon
Tobikage combines with the Scarlet Ninja to form a robot shaped like a falcon. It possesses the power of flight, and can cast a flame from its wings across its wingspan.
Dragon
The fusion of Tobikage and the Blue Ninja is a giant dragon. It is incredibly large and strong, capable of wiping out entire robot armies with lightning storms, but has minimal mobility and appears only twice.
Zerokage
Golden Ninja
Super Robot Taisen UX ~Tobikage Units~
This machine was the first found by Jou, who initially piloted it, while Damien manned it in later episodes. It was a human-shaped robot, which could bond with Tobikage.
Scarlet Ninja: This machine used by Reni, and had powers of fire. It was a human-shaped robot, which could bond with Tobikage.
Blue Ninja: This machine was used by Maiku, and though very powerful, capable of casting lighting, was slow and ungainly. It was a human-shaped robot, which could bond with Tobikage.
Staff[]
Original Creator, Series Composition: Yūji Watanabe
Chief Director: Masami Annō
Character Design: Shigeru Katō, Toshihiro Hirano
Mechanical Design: Kōichi Ōhata
Music: Eiji Kawamura
Theme[]
Opening theme
LOVE Survivor (LOVEサバイバー, LOVE Sabaibā)
Lyrics: Kumiko Aoki, composition and arrangement: Yūichirō Oda, performance: HIT BOY
Ending theme
Ichiseikime no Angel (一世紀めのエンジェル, Ichi Seikime no Enjeru)
Lyrics: Kumiko Aoki, composition and arrangement: Yūichirō Oda, performance: HIT BOY
