Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot: The Complete Series

Since there are currently no other reviews I added a little synopsis of each show.(Seems I was wrong there are 46 other reviews, well enjoy the synopsis) Now onto the good stuff.There are 26 episodes on 4 DVD's, there are no sound options but all the episodes are in English. Picture and sound quality are actually better than I remember in the 70's.As an added benefit there is a little booklet included with the DVD'sBooklet includes~~1) A boy and his Giant Robot~~ The Making of Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot2) Johnny Sokko Speaks~~ Mitsunobu Kaneko talks about his days with Giant Robo3) Episode Guide1) Dracolon, The Great Sea MonsterShipwrecked, Daisaku (Johnny Sokko) and Juro Minami (an agent for Unicorn) drift to an island and are captured by theBF gang. The island is in fact, a base of the B.F. gang. They happen to discover a huge robot while they are running away.2) Nucleon, The Magic GlobeEmperor Guillotine, king of BF syndicate, plans to take back Giant Robot and to arrest Daisaku (Johhny Sokko), the onlyone that can give orders to the robot. He sends a huge magic metal globe called Glober to the earth.3) Gargoyle Vine, A Space PlantUnder Emperor Guillotine's orders, Dr. Over, a leading member of BF Syndicate, comes to the earth with a fossil of adevilish space plant called Satan Rose.4) Monster Ligon-Tyrox, A Strange MonsterEmperor Guillotine sends Dr. Over and Ligon, a new weapon in the shape of a pyramid, to the earth. By operatingLigon, Over destroys oil fields in Araia one after another.5) The Gigantic ClawDr. Tadokora develops QQV, a super-excellent transparent metal. He tests it and QQV endures all the attacks of GiantRobot. BF gang watch the experiments using TV cameras and try to rob the specifications of QQV.6) Dragon, the Ninja MonsterA monster called Dorogon swallows a jet plane of the Commonwealth of Sordia when it is flying and an atomic submarineof Furenkov Republic when it is under the sea.7) Scanlon, the Starfish MonsterThere is the decoding office of the Japanese Branch of Unicorn Organization in the basement of a lighthouse on the coastof the Pacific Ocean.8) Challenge of the Two-Headed MonsterDaisaku and Minami happen to help a one-eyes man BF members are chasing. According to the man's story, they aretrying to kill him as a traitor because he became frightened by the inhumanity of the syndicate and quit it.9) Tentaclonn, an Electric MonsterEmperor Guillotine gives Dr. Over a spaceship equipped with all kinds of scientific weapons. After landing at the earth,Over sends an electric monster called Sparky to the ground of a soccer game and kidnaps all 30,000 spectatorsas hostages.10) The Transformed Humans (The Giant Lagorian)Dr. Over makes Ligon swallow a train near Lake Biwa to kidnap Suzuki, one of the passengers and head of theKyoto Branch of Unicorn Organization.11) The Terrifying Sand CreatureThe underground office of the South Pole Unicorn Branch is buried in red sand which suddenly started to gush out in theice field. As the communications are cut off, Azuma sends Daisaku and Ninami there to see what happened.12) Ameron, the Synthetic MonsterUnicorn members locate the secret headquarters of the Japanese Branch of BF Syndicate. They attack the house andarrest Dr. Over by taking his blue star-shaped metal on his chest, the source of his magical power.13) Opticon Must Be DestroyedThere is a small quiet Allah Republic at the foot of the Alps. The only product of this beautiful country is gold. Her peaceis broken when a vein of new ores is found in a gold mine.14) The Monstrous Flying JawboneThe office of Unicorn Chinese Branch is attacked by tank corps led by Red Cobra. Chang, its head, asks the help of theJapanese Branch. Azuma, Daisaku and Minami fly there on Giant Robo's back.15) Igganog, the Iceberg MonsterDaisaku and Minami suspect that a strange villa standing in the heart of the Japanese Alps is a secret base of BF Syndicate.They approach the house to get some proof, when men in the house notice them and look for them.16) Torozonn, an Enemy RobotBeginning with the Swiss Branchg, the Unicorn branch headquarters are mysteriously destroyed one after another. Rome,Cairo, Bombay, Singapore, Hong Kong, then Tapai. It is easy to guess that Tokyo will be next.17) Destroy The DamThe Gargoyle Vine is back, and this time it's sucked up all the water in a lake. Will it grow to an incredible size and defeat thecombined military might of the Earth? For Dr. Botanus' sake, let's hope so.18) A Mysterious Enemy AgentThe mysterious enemy agent X-7 is assassinating Unicorn operatives around the world with the help of a giant flying hand.As a precaution, Jerry is assigned to protect Johnny, since only U7 can control Giant Robot. That same day, new kid Kennyjoins Johnny's class. Coincidence?19) Metron, the Mysterious Space ManThe mysterious space man Metron lands in his flying saucer and befriends the Unicorn crew. And yet, it should come as nosurprise that he's actually working for Gargoyle. Torozon makes an encore appearance, but Giant Robot literally tearshim apart.20) Captured By The Radion GlobeThe Radion, close relative of the Nucleon, captures Giant Robot and Fangor is going to replace the robot's electronic brain.Johnny and Jerry find the robot. Johnny's tears of frustration reactivate the robot's brain so it can fight Radion.21) The Terrifying Space MummyThe Space Mummy has poisoned the water supply so anyone who drinks it is turned into a mummy. Space Mummy andGargoyle are hiding out in a convent dressed at nuns. Agent U5 is captured and Jerry dresses as a nun to save her. Mariestorms the convent with guns blazing to save them. Giant Robot must fight the Starker, a monster that can change sizeat will.22) The Robot Called CleopatThe country of Melcon wants their own giant robot, and Giant Robot's birthday is spoiled by the news. The Melconians buildCleopat, but Goldenaut steals it. Gargoyle scientists can't activate Cleopat, but the robot's reaction defense disables GiantRobot by using his own attacks against him. Even blinded, Giant Robot defeats Tentaclon and throws it at Cleopat,destroying them both.23) Dr. Engali, Master of EvilU7, member of Japan Branch of Unicorn, is the one who controls the gigantic GIANT ROBO with the wrist-watch controllermicrophone. One day, he receives from his father a parcel as a birthday gift. It is a kit for constructing a man-size robot.24) Hydrazona, a Terrifying BacteriaTokyo's night sky is hit with flood of headlights flowing through the veins of elevated speedways.But below, the ground is dark and gloomy.25) Drakulan, Creature of DoomU13, member of the Japan Branch of Unicorn, is on night patrol. At the entrance of a town he picksup a girl who is half frantic with fright. The girl explains that all the people of the town are dead.So it is. The street is littered with corpses.26) The Last of Emperor GuillotineJohnny is shot by a very careless assassin, and Emperor Guillotine pulls out all the stops, throwing his three remainingmonsters at Giant Robot. Guillotine then grows to an incredible size and declares himself ruler of the world. Giant Robotcan't defeat him, because Guillotine is made of atomic energy and traditional attacks would 'splode the entire world(Chief Azuma's words). Will Giant Robot make the ultimate sacrifice to save the planet and Johnny?P.S. I read through a bunch of the other reviews. I am wondering if this is the same set. It is put out by shout but I have none of the blurry images they complain about. Copyright is still 2013. I know Amazon compresses reviews from different releases into 1 "List" Not sure if that was done here. But like I said I don't see the quality issues that have been reported.

BOTTOM LINE: Dated and childish, but in the best way. JOHNNY SOKKO is a great Japanese TV series from the 'good old days' that still manages to charm and delight the young and young at heart. This Shout!Factory DVD release of JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT is a mixed blessing though. This basic DVD set is likely to be the only shot at a legit R1 release for this show we'll get, so I guess we have to take what we can get. 5 STARS for the classic, action & monster-packed series itself, (but only 3 STARS for the so-so DVD presentation).THE STORY: In the not too distant the future, a young boy accidentally gains control of a 100ft tall robot which was originally designed & constructed as a weapon of terror for those sinister intergalactic meanies, The Gargoyle Gang, and their squid-headed leader, that ruthless space tyrant, Emperor Guillotine. Under the mastery of young Johnny, Giant Robo instead becomes a defender of mankind. Johnny & Robo sign on with the United Nations Investigative Criminal Organization Response Network, (that's UNICORN to you & me), and together with his crime-fighting, spy-in-disguise partner Jerry Mano (aka Agent U3 ), 10 year-old Johnny guides Giant Robot's formidable atomic-powered strength & impressive array of built-in weaponry into combat against an army of wildly bizarre monsters from Planet Gargoyle to defend our Earth! When you think about it, this show was a fairly clear prototype/pre-cursor for Guillermo Del Toro's 2013 big budget 'Bots-n-Beasties mash-up, PACIFIC RIM!THOUGHTS: I think JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT is a great if somewhat silly show. Just keep in mind when the series was made and who its intended audience was. While it most definitely shows its age when viewed through modern eyes, its big heart & sense of bold adventure shine throughout. Johnny is your average good-natured kid who finds himself plunged into an incredible world of mystery, danger, and bizarre alien beings intent on enslaving mankind and colonizing the Earth. Kids are amazingly adaptable types and young Johnny takes the weirdness all in stride, teaming with the good guys of UNICORN in order to Atomic Punch those space jerks all the way back to Planet Gargoyle, where they belong. The various colorful villains of The Gargoyle Gang are one of the show's biggest strengths: unique, inspired and totally over the top. There's Nazi-wannabe Spyder (and his seemingly indestructible sidekick Piranha), the orthodontically-challenged Fangar, acne-nightmare Dr. Snake, the double-crossing 3-eyed Metron from Andromeda, the ghoulish Space Mummy, lumpy-skinned Dr. Engali (from the 5th dimension of Evil!), cosplay reject Harlequin ...and the baddest of the bunch, the creepy, chrome-domed Doctor Botanus. By comparison the agents of UNICORN come off as a boring bunch of one-dimensional squares. But hey! they're the good guys, right? So we'll stick with 'em. As the series progresses Johnny becomes emotionally attached to Giant Robot, forming a deep psychological bond to the big metal lug; one which sees the mismatched pair through many a hair-raising predicament. Being an older Japanese-created series, JOHNNY SOKKO AND HIS FLYING ROBOT is filled with legitimate life & death situations for young Johnny and tons of gory violence that would send modern Action for Children's Television members into apoplectic fits. Surprisingly however, there are also moments of genuine misty-eyed emotion sprinkled throughout this 26 episode kids' show. And if, like me, you first watched this as a youngster then I doubt you'll be able to hold back the tears during the heart-breaking series finale. The memorable climax was copied almost verbatim some 30 years later in Brad Bird's outstanding animated film THE IRON GIANT.THE DVD SET: Well, the good news is that, FINALLY, the complete JOHNNY SOKKO series has arrived on DVD. The bad news is that the sourced "masters" Shout! Factory used are what MGM had sitting in their vaults. (The self-same masters that Fox Home Releasing deemed unsatisfactory for them to use for their proposed manufactured-on-demand home release.) After languishing for almost two years, the pop culture genre hounds at Shout!Factory stepped in and sub-licensed JS&HFR. If not for them this show would likely still be sitting in a vault somewhere collecting dust. It's too bad they didn't cough up the cash to obtain original source materials from Toei Studios, but the strangely complicated world of international licensing just didn't make it feasible. The video portion is a mixed bag: the English-language opening titles are pretty awful-looking while the actual episodes themselves are decent, though truthfully only marginally better than many bootleg sets which routinely pop up on eBay. Audio is strong & level though a little 'crackly' due to age. (Special mention to the jazzy, James Bond-ian tinged soundtrack, which was mercifully left intact by the American International Pictures dubbing team.) Speaking of which, the English language dub is your only audio language choice and there are no subtitles. Also please note that with the exception of some excellent liner notes by Japanese SPFX historian & guru August Ragone there are no extras. If you want this boxset then my advice is to pick it up used and save yourself some $$$.