I had heard of Tekkaman before, but I never had a chance to watch it, nor did I get the opportunity to see the American version, Teknoman. Luckily I had the honor of viewing Tekkaman Blade II, which takes place 10 years after the original series and while I didn’t know much about its history, I was quickly assimilated into the Tekkaman world.

     Tekkaman Blade II rocked! I became totally immersed in the show and watched all six episodes back-to-back, highly anticipating the next scene. The show focuses on three original members, three new members and one evil Tekkaman that really made this show worth watching. Yumi Francois is a young girl who dreams about the time she was saved by D-Boy, the original Tekkaman, who now leads the new group. It has been her dream to be a Tekkaman ever since. A Tekkaman is like a robot, but more like an armor that becomes one with your skin. The interaction between Tekkaman and the person kind of reminds me of Guyver, Evangelion and PatLabor. Yumi wants to be a member of the Space Knights, the group of good Tekkaman who defend the world from the evil alien Radam. Although an unlikely addition to the team, she becomes a member, along with two more experienced fighters, Natasha Pablochiva, a mysterious woman whose father has a dark past, and David Kruegel, who also has a history with an original Tekkaman.

     While the show focuses on Yumi, David steals the show. In the city of Prague, David witnesses vast destruction as a group of Tekkaman revolt against a government and a civil war ensues. Aki, the Red Tekkaman, was fighting the battle with D-Boy, and saves David as the city is blown up by the government with Natasha’s father making the doomsday call. The event is called Black September and resulted in most of the inhabitants being killed, setting the storyline for the new series.

     The first three episodes serve as a starting point for what has to be the most well written final three episodes to a series that I have ever seen. Virgin Flush brings the group together. Yumi, who seems to have just joined the group because of her love for D-Boy, is accidentally given the power of the Reactor Voltekka, an upgrade to her Tekkaman powers. Just one problem Natasha was supposed to get it. Needless to say, this causes tension within the group, as Yumi, the most inexperienced of the three, is now the most powerful. However, she can’t control these powers and the team looks certainly screwed. Episode 2, Virgin Blood, shows Yumi improving, as they fight the Radam and their Tekkaman. The group believed their training was done, but when they see that the alien Tekkaman have feelings, they freeze and must be saved by Aki, who teaches them what war is all about. Virgin Dream ends this arc as the Radam have an advantage and D-Boy becomes Tekkaman Blade. This episode also reveals that Aki loves D-Boy as much as Yuki, and the friendly competition is on.

Continued on the Next Page

Return to BANDWIDTH's Main Page