Andro Melos

Andro Melos (アンドロメロス) is a Japanese tokusatsu television miniseries produced by Tsuburaya Productions, aired in TBS from February 28 to April 29, 1983 on weekdays. The miniseries was made as an adaptation to the popular Ultra Brothers Story: Andro Melos (ウルトラ兄弟物語アンドロメロス) and Ultra Super Legend: Andro Super Warriors (ウルトラ超伝説アンドロ超戦士) magazine and manga publications, hence it became the first tokusatsu in Japan to be available exclusively on home video. The show's name was inspired by one of the protagonists of 1975 Ultra Series manga The Ultraman (ザ・ウルトラマン), Melos, but both he and the title character are entirely unrelated to each other.

Synopsis
The Andro (アンドロ人) is a tribe similar to the Ultras from Nebula M78. In addition to their devotion for peace and justice, they established the Andro Defense Force as their answer to the Inter-Galactic Defense Force. At that moment, the Gua Army started their conquest for universal domination and sent out their Fighting Bems to wreak havoc in multiple planets. To protect the peace of the universe, Melos and the Andro Defense Force rode the Andro Boat (アンドロ艇) to fly in the vast universe.

Andro Defense Force
The Andro Defense Force (アンドロ警備隊) is an organization formed by the Andro (a race with similar traits to the Ultra Warriors) under Zoffy's advice to maintain peace in outer space. When the Gua Army spread their influence, the team set out to fight the regime and its leaders. Each members wear Cosmo Tector (コスモテクター) combat armor with distinctive colors and weapons. As revealed in Ultra Galaxy Fight, the team had recruited several new members (including Andro Ares), as Andro Melos left his position as a leader to join the Galaxy Rescue Force.


 * Andro Melos:  The titular protagonist in the mini-series, he is the captain of the Andro Defense Force and is known for his green colored armor. The Ultra Cross (ウルトラクロス) badge on his armor is an award given by Zoffy himself. In the recent media of Ultra Series, Andro Melos had since left his position to join the Galaxy Rescue Force.
 * In Andro Melos magazine, the original owner of the green Cosmo Tector was Cesar (セザル), who relinquished it to Zoffy to save his life at the cost of his own. Zoffy adopted the alias Andro Melos to fight against the Gua Army and eventually gave it to Caesar's son Benoit (ブノワ), who assumed it and the Andro Melos alias ever since then, including his appearance in the eponymous television series.
 * Andro Wolf (アンドロウルフ): A team member who wears the red-colored Cosmo Tector. He has a companion named Alien Ape "Elpa" (エープ星人 エルパ), who was killed by Juda of the Gua Army. In the magazine series, he was originally known as Andro Melos II (アンドロメロスII).
 * Andro Mars (アンドロマルス): The strongest member of the team, known for his brute strength and orange Cosmo Tector.
 * Andro Flor (アンドロフロル): The only female member of the team, her Cosmo Tector is white colored and has a pair of wings. Flor came from a family of royal descendants, hence she is able to conjure the Super Barrier (スーパーバリヤー) force field like her family members.

Gua Army
The Gua Army (グア軍団) is the antagonist of the series, a barbaric empire led by the unseen Combined Great Devil Emperor Gua (合身大魔帝 グア) and stationed on the similarly named planet. The empire's main agenda is to spread their influence through iron fist and constantly fighting against the Andro Defense Force and Ultra Warriors for standing in their way of conquest. Later in the series, it was revealed that Gua is actually the combined form of the siblings and his creation almost doomed the universe before Melos defeated him with the Grantechtor.
 * Space Devils (宇宙の悪魔): A trio of siblings that lead the Gua Army in their conquest, namely Juda (ジュダ), Mold (モルド), and Gina (ギナ). Following their near defeat by the Andro Defense Force, they merged into Gua in the final battle against Melos.
 * Fighting Bem (ファイティング・ベム): The army's invasion soldiers, each were under servitude of a Space Devil sibling.
 * Monster Battleships (怪獣戦艦): Massive combat mechas created in the image of past Ultra Monsters. The Space Devil siblings rode each one of them in a fight against the Andro Defense Force.
 * Alien Magma Trio (マグマ星人三人衆): A trio of Alien Magma mercenaries based on the similarly named alien from Ultraman Leo. Led by the Re-Alien Magma (改造マグマ星人), they offered their services to Gua Army and has targeted multiple planets under their banner.

Voice cast

 * Andro Melos: Makoto Ataka (あたか 誠)
 * Andro Wolf: Kenyu Horiuchi (堀内 賢雄)
 * Andro Mars: Susumu Kotaki (小滝 進)
 * Andro Flor: Kumiko Mizukura (水倉 久美子)
 * Alien Ape "Elpa", Edoras (エドラス): Shigeru Chiba (千葉 繁)
 * Juda: Shojiro Kihara (木原 正二郎)
 * Mold: Shingo Kanemoto (兼本 新吾)
 * Gina: Kyoko Oguma (小熊 恭子)
 * Dakumiran (ダクミラン): Hiroshi Ikaida (伊海田 弘)
 * Bazelia (バゼリア): Yoshiaki Nemoto (根本 好章)
 * Narrator: Takashi Tsuda (津田 喬)

Songs

 * Opening theme
 * "Andro Melos" (アンドロメロス)
 * Lyrics: Noboru Tani (谷 のぼる)
 * Composition: Shunsuke Kikuchi (菊池 俊輔)
 * Arrangement: Kōji Yoshimura (吉村 浩二)
 * Artist: Ichirou Mizuki (水木 一郎), Columbia Yurikago Kai (コロムビアゆりかご会)


 * Ending theme
 * "Kaettekoi yo Andro Melos" (帰って来いよアンドロメロス)
 * Lyrics: Noboru Tani
 * Composition: Shunsuke Kikuchi
 * Arrangement: Kōji Yoshimura
 * Artist: Ichirou Mizuki

Appearance in other media

 * Ultraman Story (1984): Juda was featured in this movie as the adversary of Father of Ultra and created Grand King to fight against Ultra Brothers. The appearance of Juda was to promote the Andro Melos media as both series and related magazines.
 * Ultraman X (2015): The Space Devil siblings appear as the antagonist of episodes 13 and 14 during the series' crossover with Ultraman Ginga S.
 * SSSS.Gridman (2018): Andro Melos appear alongside Hunter Knight Tsurugi and Techtor Gear Zero in a cover for in-universe Uchusen magazine.
 * Ultraman Taiga (2019): Episodes 13 to 15 of the Voice Drama features original characters Andro Ares and Imbeeza in Taiga's recollection in his past. The two characters pay tribute to the Andro Melos miniseries.
 * Ultra Galaxy Fight: The Absolute Conspiracy (2020): Andro Melos returned to live action media for the first time since the end of his titular series. Having left the Andro Defense Force to join the Galaxy Rescue Force, he would eventually become part of Zero's Ultra League team to curb Tartarus' nefarious plot.