12:00 JST, May 10, 2024
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the airing of “Chodenshi Bioman,” a tokusatsu superhero TV drama from the Super Sentai series that aired from 1984 to 1985.
Singer Takayuki Miyauchi, who sang the show’s theme song, and I have been talking for several years about our desire to organize an anniversary event focusing on the songs from the series. From all the ideas presented, we decided to celebrate the anniversary year in style with Michiko Makino and Sumiko Tanaka, who played the show’s female leads, Pink Five and Yellow Four, respectively.
By the way, I must confess that one of the reasons for holding this event in Osaka, and not in Tokyo, was that we wanted to eat delicious food from Osaka. So we traveled there a day early for a kushiage skewer dinner. Just as we had hoped, we were able to smack our lips as we feasted on fried beishoga (red pickled ginger) and other delicacies.
The event took place on a Sunday afternoon and started with Miyauchi singing the theme song ‘Bioman’, followed by a toast to the venue. The three on stage – Miyauchi, Makino and Tanaka – were all smiles as they reflected on “Bioman” and expressed their amazement at the occasion.
“Never did I think there would be a day when I would celebrate the 40th anniversary in Osaka,” Makino said.
“At that time, I hardly had the opportunity to share the same stage with actors,” Miyauchi recalls.
“I watched ‘Bioman’ on TV from the beginning because of my fellow Japan Action Club members [JAC, now called Japan Action Enterprise] took part in the show,” said Tanaka, who went on to play Yellow Four. “I never expected to join the cast, not to mention that I would be coming to this event 40 years later.”
It is not without reason that the event took place on April 14. It was the first day that the second Yellow Four, whose human persona was named Jun Yabuki and played by Tanaka, appeared in ‘Bioman’ to join the superhero team. Therefore, there was a lot of discussion about how the first Yellow Four died during the show and how Tanaka became the second Yellow Four.
As mentioned above, Tanaka initially watched “Bioman” to see her fellow JAC members. Then she was suddenly cast as a cover and before she knew it, she was going through costume fitting and other procedures to appear in “Bioman,” according to her.
“Great men came and things were decided one after the other at breakneck speed. There was no room for me to express my opinion. I was told to put on a miniskirt and wear my hair in a braid. Besides, I braided my hair myself, not the person with hair and makeup,” Tanaka said with an embarrassed smile.
Meanwhile, Makino talked about the “changes” that happened after Tanaka’s participation in “Bioman.” Her predecessor, Yuki Yajima, was an accomplished actress known for her action scenes with many films and theater productions to her credits.
“That’s why, as a newcomer, I hid behind her and relied on her when it came to action [scenes]which also suited my character,” Makino said.
However, both Makino and Tanaka were new to the industry, so the two were treated equally.
“Before I knew it, I was jumping off a cliff with her [Tanaka]. I was not a JAC member, so it felt like an accident to me,” Makino said with a smile.
For Miyauchi, who sang almost all the Bioman songs that day, it was the first drama that gave him the opportunity to sing hero songs. The singer, who recently recovered from a serious illness and made a successful comeback, talked about his thoughts on those songs.
“I used to sing those songs thinking they were songs to encourage heroes, but then I realized I was getting encouragement from those songs myself,” he said.
Makino and Tanaka talked a lot about the “Bioman” locations, which they said were much trickier than today in every way, from hair and makeup to meals and bathrooms.
“It wasn’t convenient, but we could move around freely. If something was missing, we could rack our brains and complement each other,” Makino said. “That’s why we were able to make a show like that.”
Her words made a huge impression on me. The charm of ‘Bioman’, which never fades even after forty years, probably arose from such a free atmosphere.
And I was grateful for the miracle of the day in Osaka, being able to celebrate the anniversary together with the theme song singer, cast members and fans of ‘Bioman’.
