Battle Fever J

Battle Fever J (バトルフィーバー) is a live-action Japanese–American TV series. The third entry of the Super Sentai series franchise, Battle Fever J was a co-production of Toei Company and Marvel Comics. A total of 52 episodes aired on TV Asahi from February 3, 1979, to January 26, 1980, following J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai and being followed by Denshi Sentai Denjiman.

The team have codenames named for countries around the world, also respectively named in their theme song: Battle France, Battle Cossack (Soviet Union), Battle Kenya, Miss America (United States) and Battle Japan. It marks the first appearance of a Black Ranger in the franchise. It was also the first series in the Super Sentai franchise where the heroes must control giant robots to defeat a monster who itself has grown to a gigantic size. Toei's tokusatsu adaptation of Spider-Man was the first to introduce this format and was also the inspiration for this and the subsequent entries in the Super Sentai series. The series was also partially inspired by the Marvel Comics character Captain America.

Battle Fever J was the first series to use the term Super Sentai (unlike the previous two who were just called Sentai, without the “Super”) until Toei announced in 1995 that its predecessors Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai were also part of the Super Sentai series, when Chouriki Sentai Ohranger was announced as the 19th Super Sentai team.

Plot
General Kurama assembles four young agents who had been dispatched around the world for training. They are joined by FBI investigator Diane Martin, whose father was murdered by Egos. The five don powered suits to become the Battle Fever Squad. The Battle Fever Squad's trump card is the Battle Fever Robo. Egos tries to stop the construction of the Robot, but the monsters they send to perform this task are defeated one by one by the Battle Fever Squad. Egos then unleashes the "younger brother" of the Buffalo Monster, a giant robot replica of its "older brother". The Robot, fortunately, is finished in time. Aboard it, the Battle Fever Squad defeats the Buffalo Monster and its successors. The Battle Fever Squad never stops, even when it lost two of its members (the original Miss America and Battle Cossack). With new members, the team defeats Hedder, now the Hedder Monster, and breaks into Egos' headquarters, where they are fed into the Egos Monster Making Machine so that they may be used as material for a Battle Fever Monster. The team destroys the machine and slays the mysterious deity Satan Egos himself with the Lightning Sword Rocketter sword-throwing move.

Battle Fever Squad
The Battle Fever Squad (バトルフィーバー隊) is unique among Super Sentai shows in that, originally, they did not "transform" into their costumes (as in the previous two series, Gorenger and JAKQ), instead they resorted to an unseen costume change. In most episodes, however, the members yell "Fever!" and spin around to transform although in episode 24 it is revealed they can store their costumes in their Battleceivers.
 * 🇯🇵 Masao Den (伝正夫) / Battle Japan (バトルジャパン): The red-colored warrior who received his combat training while in Japan. A former National Defense Ministry officer. He is good at judo and karate. He is armed with a spear. During the team's roll call, he performs a martial arts-inspired dance. 21 years after Battle Fever J ended, Battle Japan appeared as one of the 24 Red Rangers in Hyakujuu Sentai Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai, introduced by Liveman Red Falcon to inspire the current team.
 * Battle Cossack (バトルコサック): The orange-colored moniker (and the first Orange Warrior in Super Sentai history) who wielded twin sais.
 * Kensaku Shiraishi (白石謙作) (1-33): He was good at science as well as war. During the team's roll call, he performed a traditional Soviet dance. He was the original second in command of the team. In episode 33, he left the Big Baser without his Battle Cossack uniform and was fatally shot by a troop of Cutmen, attempting to save a little girl named Mayumi from Egos' forces. He loved to play Pachinko and enjoyed eating caviar.
 * Makoto Jin (神誠) (33-52): A silent cowboy. A man of action, not words. A scientist who trained in the Defense Ministry along with Kensaku. He joined Battle Fever to avenge the death of his friend. Makoto is an expert marksman. He is a loner, preferring to go off by himself. Makoto plays a trumpet to distract Egos.
 * 🇫🇷 Kyousuke Shida (志田京介) / Battle France (バトルフランス): The blue-colored warrior who received his combat training while in France. He became the new second in command of the team after Kensaku's death. He is normally a beautician, a dandy and playboy. He enjoys eating escargot. He is armed with a rapier sword. During the team's roll call, he performs a flamenco dance.
 * 🇰🇪 Shiro Akebono (曙四郎) / Battle Kenya (バトルケニア): The green and black-colored warrior who received his combat training while in Kenya. He is a wild child who can talk to animals. He is armed with a whip. During the team's roll call, he performs a tribal dance. He eats just about anything. The smell of his cooking is not appreciated by the other team members. Shirou later appeared in Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. He is also thematically similar to the Marvel superhero Black Panther.
 * 🇺🇸 Miss America (ミスアメリカ) : The pink-colored moniker who is armed with throwing knives. During the team's roll call, she performs a disco dance.
 * Diane Martin (ダイアン・マーチン) (1-24): An FBI agent who joined the Battle Fever Squad to avenge her father Bosner, who was slain by Egos. In episode 24, after she was wounded by the Dracula Monster, she returned to the United States. Diane has a sister named Catherine.
 * Maria Nagisa (汀マリア) (24-52): An FBI agent trained by Diane Martin's father. When Diane was injured, Maria took her place as Miss America and then stayed on permanently when Diane decided to return to the United States.

Gear

 * Battleceiver (バトルシーバー): The Battle Fever Squad's communication device, in Episode 24 it is revealed that the Battle Fever suits can be stored inside.
 * Command Bat (コマンドバット): The Battle Fever Squad's standard issue weapon. It transforms into the Battle Fever Squad's assigned weapons. Forms the Penta Force (ペンタフォース) bazooka or boomerang.

Vehicles

 * Battle Fever Car (バトルフィーバーカー): Stock green Mazda RX-7 used by Battle Japan and Miss America.
 * Three Machines (スリーマシーン): The motorcycles used by the rest of the BFS. In episode 35, Miss America rode Battle France's motorcycle.

Mecha

 * Big Baser (ビッグベイザー): The Battle Fever Squad's box-like undersea headquarters. It can move from place to place under the sea.
 * Battle Shark (バトルシャーク): A submarine-like mecha carrier. Splits in half to launch the Battle Fever Robo and stores all of its weaponry.
 * Battle Fever Robo (バトルフィーバーロボ): Resembling a samurai, this the first mega-robot in Super Sentai history. It has a variety of weapons:
 * Lightning Sword (電光剣): Samurai-type sword with scabbard. On the grip are the letters "ACFKJ" (America, Cossack, France, Kenya, Japan).
 * Bamboo Slice (唐竹割り): The Battle Fever Robo's primary finisher.
 * Battle Fever Power (バトルフィーバーパワー): The auxiliary finisher using the robot's total energy. It was used to kill Hedder Monster.
 * Lightning Sword Rocketter (電光剣ロケッター): The auxiliary finisher used to kill Satan Egos in the final battle.
 * Swords Fever (ソードフィーバー): The throwing daggers stored in sheaths attached to the robot's legs. It was used in the Cross Fever (クロスフィーバー) attack.
 * Fever Axe (フィーバーアックス): The hatchet.
 * Chain Crushers (チェーンクラッシャー): The chains stored in the robot's arms.
 * Stick Attacker (スティックアタッカー): A spear.
 * Attack Lancer (アタックランサー): A trident. It can be used in conjunction with either Chain Crusher.
 * Cane Knocker (ケーンノッカー): A shakujo. It was used in Episode 24 to fight the Dracula Robot.
 * Battle Shield (バトルシールド): A defense tool. It can withstand 28,000 tons of pressure.
 * Knuckle Punchers (ナックルパンチャー): Knuckle dusters.
 * Cross Turn (クロスターン): The robot can attack using its detached horns.
 * Fever Cannons (フィーバーカノン): The cannons stored inside the robot's lower legs.

Allies

 * General Tetsuzan Kurama (倉間鉄山将軍): The chief of the special science office of the National Defense Ministry who established the Battle Fever Squad. He is a master of traditional Japanese swordsmanship.
 * Keiko Nakahara (中原ケイコ): One of the operatives that runs Big Baser.
 * Tomoko Ueno (上野トモコ): The other operative that runs Big Baser.
 * Masaru Nakahara (中原マサル): Keiko's little brother.
 * Yuki Ueno (上野ユキ): Tomoko's little sister. Was used by Egos in episode 27 to find Battle Fever's base.
 * Kyutaro (九太郎): Robot mynah bird built by Tetsuzan as a present. Often had insight into the situation. Revealed in episode 51 to have a freezing ray built in.

Secret Society Egos
Secret Society Egos (秘密結社エゴス) is a religion of mad egocentrists who intend to plunge the world into chaos.
 * Satan Egos (サタンエゴス): The mysterious head, entirely draped in black. He creates the Egos Monster's inside the Egos heart, calling them "My beloved Children". They call him "Father". He is ultimately slain by the Lightning Sword Rocketter.
 * Commander Hedder (ヘッダー指揮官) (1–51): The high priest of Egos. He later becomes the Hedder Monster after his death at the hands of Kurama and is slain a second time as such by the Battle Fever J's new attack, Battle Fever Power.
 * Salomé (サロメ) (19–52): An Egos American branch officer who came to Japan to aid Hedder with her super strength. She is responsible for all the assassinations in America. She allowed herself to be captured by Battle Fever after attacking and replacing several policemen with disguised cutmen, with whom she stole a billion yen to give to Egos. She believes she is taken to the Battle Fever Base, but in reality she is taken to a warehouse. She carries a hand mirror with a tracker in it, which she uses to fire solar beams or to bludgeon people. She was killed in the collapsing castle as Satan Egos fled. Her last words were begging Egos to help her.
 * Cutmen (カットマン): The foot soldiers in grey and black armed with MP40 machine guns.

Movie
There was a theatrical release of Battle Fever J, released as part of the Toei Manga Matsuri on July 29, 1979. It was a blown up version of Episode 5 "Robot Big Dogfight". Interestingly though, this theatrical version did not appear on Toei's Super Sentai Movie compilation DVD's, but it did make its way onto Toei's Tokusatsu Hero The Movie DVD series, being featured on Volume 5 of that collection.

Cast

 * Masao Den: Hironori Tanioka (谷岡弘規)
 * Kensaku Shiraishi: Yukio Itou (伊藤武史)
 * Makoto Jin: Naoya Ban (伴直弥)
 * Kyosuke Shida: Yuuhei Kurachi (倉地雄平)
 * Shiro Akebono: Kenji Ohba (大葉健二)
 * Diane Martin: Diane Martin (ダイアン・マーチン)
 * Diane Martin (voice): Lisa Komaki (小牧リサ) (Episodes 1-14 & 17-24) / Keiko Yokozawa (横沢啓子) (Episodes 15 & 16)
 * Maria Nagisa: Naomi Hagi (萩奈穂美)
 * General Tetsuzan Kurama: Chiyonosuke Azuma (東千代之介)
 * Keiko Nakahara: Noriko Itō (伊東範子)
 * Masaru Nakahara: Takumi Satō (佐藤たくみ)
 * Tomoko Ueno: Keiko Kanno (菅野啓子)
 * Yuki Ueno: Michiyo Satō (佐藤三千代)
 * Akio Hamamura: Shin'ichi Yoshimiya (吉宮慎一)
 * Shigeo Aoki: Seiji Suzuki (鈴木誠司)
 * Kyutaro (voice): Hisako Kyōda (京田尚子)
 * Commander Hedder: Kenji Ushio (潮建志) (Episodes 1, 3, 5 & 7 ) / Masashi Ishibashi (石橋雅史) (Episodes 4, 6 & 8-51)
 * Salome: Maki Ueda (マキ上田) (Episodes 19-52)
 * Satan Egos (voice): Shōzō Iizuka (飯塚昭三)
 * Narrator: Tōru Ōhira (大平 透)

Guest stars

 * Boiser Martin (Diane's father) (1 & 24): David Friedman
 * Fake Diane Martin (Umbrella Monster's Human Form) (1)/Ayoko Ichijoji (52): Eri Kanuma
 * Hikaru Amano (2): Maki Tachibana
 * Miyoko Akiyama (2): Sumiko Kakizaki
 * Hidemi (2): Ako Kami
 * Editor In Chief Azuma / Death Mask Monster (3): Machiko Soga
 * Member Of Scientific Journal (3): Kenzo Arai
 * Bengal Tiger / Psychocinesis Monster (4): Masashi Ishibashi
 * Sambo Segawa (4): Teiji Omiwa
 * Sagaguchi Family (5)
 * Director Sakaguchi: Nobuyuki Katsube
 * Yoko Sakaguchi: Yukiko Ebina
 * Kenichi Sakaguci: Yoichi Hirose
 * Ken (6): Seiichi Ando
 * Hideo Toyota (7): Minoru Takeuchi
 * Nurse (7): Ritsuko Fujiyama
 * Fireman (7): Satoshi Kurihara
 * Policeman (7): Toshimichi Takahashi
 * Dr. Yoneyama (8): Yoshikazu Sugi
 * Koji Matsui (8): Kazuhito Ando
 * Katayama Family (9)
 * Shinichiro Katayama: Shun Domon
 * Mitsuko Katayama: Junko Mihara
 * Master Of Dealer Gun (9): Koji Sekiyama
 * Teacher Moriyama (10): Kei Sunaga
 * Teacher (11): Junko Asashina
 * Xinyi Fukuda (11): Nobuyoshi Fukuda
 * Junko Nogata / Rosalinka Monster (12): Mariko Jun
 * Suzumoto Family (13)
 * Yuzo Suzumoto: Masaya Taki
 * Yaeko Suzumoto: Ai Komachi
 * Yuichi Suzumoto: Masami Zaizen
 * Yuichi's Sister: Tsuneko Kikuchi
 * Rumi (13): Akemi Watanabe
 * Yohei Oyama (14): Hiroshi Kusajiki
 * Mizusawa Family (14)
 * Kumiko Mizusawa: Rika Miura
 * Miyoko Mizusawa: Michiyo Sato
 * Cuttman (14): Hiro Kawarazaki
 * Catherine (15): Tomomi Umeda
 * Raita (15): Mirai Takeshi Sekiguchi
 * Black Tiger Mari (16): Mitchi Love
 * Mitsuru Okiyama (16): Naoya Uchida
 * Black Snake (16): Jaguar Yokota (as Rimi Yokota)
 * Hand-to-Hand Combat Monster : Kim Oomae
 * Torishima Family (17)
 * Daisuke Torishima/Dr. Taichi Torishima: Akira Oizumi
 * Kuroda (17): Eiji Karasawa
 * Racing Driver (17): Yojiro Terada
 * Iwamoto Family (18)
 * Director Iwamoto: Takashi Tabata
 * Kazuki Iwamoto: Hajime Nakamura
 * Grandmother Iwamoto: Toyoko Takechi
 * Ryoko (20): Sayoko Tanimoto
 * Spy Women's (21 & 22)
 * Zero One: Yukie Kagawa
 * Zero Two: Rie Mikawa
 * Arishima Family (21 & 22)
 * Senzo Arishima: Genji Kawai
 * Shinobu Arishima: Kaoru Asakawa
 * Old Woman (24): Keiko Orihara
 * Catherine Martin (24): Louise Phillipe
 * Sayuri Kurihara (25): Lisa Komaki
 * Director (25): Gozo Soma
 * Charmain Yumeno (25): Takeshi Yamamoto
 * Yoshio Murano (32): Kenichi Endō
 * Professor Mimura (33): Shiro Ooki
 * Mayumi Mimura (33): Mika Matsushita
 * Akira Jin (34): Toshiaki Kamohara
 * Car Owner (34): Kin'ya Sugi
 * Doutor Sekine/Hyde Monster (39): Shinji Todo
 * Tsuyoshi Takeuchi (The Jackal) (43): Ryo Tomota
 * Eye's Man (1944): Shinzo Tanabe
 * Monshiro Ocho / Illusion Monster (44): Sumie Sakai

Songs

 * Opening theme
 * "Battle Fever J" (バトルフィーバーJ)
 * Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa (山川 啓介)
 * Composition and Arrangement: Michiaki Watanabe (渡辺 宙明)
 * Artist: MoJo with the Columbia Yurikago-Kai
 * "Battle Fever J (Alternate Opening)"
 * Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa
 * Composition and Arrangement: Michiaki Watanabe
 * Artist: MoJo, Columbia Yurikago-Kai, Feeling Free


 * Ending theme
 * "Yūsha ga Yuku" (勇者が行く)
 * Lyrics: Saburō Yatsude
 * Composition and Arrangement: Michiaki Watanabe
 * Artist: MoJo

International broadcast and home video

 * In its home country of Japan, only Episode 8 was released on VHS by Toei Video. From June 21, 1999 to June 21, 2000, it was then released for the first time as a full series release on Laserdisc and spread through several volumes. Each volume contains two discs with eight episodes, with Volume 7 only having 1 disc with four episodes. From February 21, 2007 to June 21, 2007, it was given a DVD release for the first time. But it did go out of print for a while until September 21, 2012, when production resumed with the completion of all Super Sentai DVDs. Each volume contains 11 episodes (Volume 4 contains 10 episodes and Volume 5 contains 9 episodes).
 * In the Philippines, this series was aired on BBC-2 in 1982 until 1983.
 * The series aired in the United States in the state of Hawaii where Battle Fever J got very popular. That along with Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, Android Kikaider, Kamen Rider V3, Warrior of Love Rainbowman and many others, all of which were shown in the original Japanese dialogue with English subtitles provided by JN Productions on then KIKU Channel 13.
 * The show was also broadcast in Thailand late in the mid-1990s with the title Ranger J on MCOT Channel 9 with a Thai dub.