Tiger Mask (Japanese: タイガーマスク, Hepburn: TaigÄ Masuku) is a Japanese manga series written by Ikki Kajiwara and illustrated by Naoki Tsuji. The series was first published in Kodansha's Bokura Magazine from 1968 to 1971 and was later published in Weekly ShÅnen Magazine from 1970 to 1971. It was later adapted into an anime series by Toei Animation which first aired on Yomiuri TV on October 2, 1969 and ended its run on September 30, 1971, airing 105 episodes. In real life, the name has been used by a succession of Japanese professional wrestling characters as a gimmick. The Tiger Mask persona is instantly recognizable by its trademark mask, designed to look like a tiger's head, as well as the combination of high flying attacks and martial arts in the ring.
Plot
In the manga and anime, Tiger Mask (whose real name was Naoto Date) was a feared heel wrestler in America who was extremely vicious in the ring. However, he became a face after returning to Japan when a young boy said that he wanted to be a villain like Tiger Mask when he grew up. The boy resided in an orphanage, the same one that Tiger Mask grew up in during his childhood. Feeling that he did not want the boy to idolize a villain, Tiger was inspired to be a heroic wrestler.
The main antagonist in the manga and anime was Tiger's Cave, a mysterious organization that trained young people to be villainous wrestlers on the condition that they gave half of their earnings to the organization. Tiger Mask was once a member of Tiger's Cave under the name "Yellow Devil", but no longer wanted anything to do with them, instead donating his money to the orphanage. This infuriated the leader of the organization and he sent numerous assassins, including other professional wrestlers, to punish him.
In Tiger Mask II (タイガーマスク二世), Naoto dies while saving a child, pushing him out of the path of a speeding car. The story begins with a new opponent called "Outer Space Mask" who bullies his way into the ring without representing any wrestling federation. Tatsuo Aku, once an orphan child from the "house of the children", was a fan of Naoto. He would put on his old hero's mask to become the new Tiger Mask.
Characters
Tiger Mask and His Comrades
- Naoto Date (伊é" 直人, Date Naoto) / Tiger Mask (タイガーマスク, TaigÄ Masuku)
- Voiced by: Kei Tomiyama, Katsuji Mori (ep. 32~39)
- KentarÅ Takaoka (高岡 拳太郎, Takaoka KentarÅ) / Yellow Devil (イエãƒãƒ¼ãƒ»ãƒ‡ãƒ"ル, IerÅ Debiru)
- Voiced by: Ryouichi Tanaka
- Daigo Daimon (大門 大å¾, Daimon Daigo) / Mister Fudo (ミスターä¸å‹•, MisutÄ Fudo)
- Voiced by: Kazuya Tatekabe
- Toranosuke Arashi (åµ è™Žä¹‹ä»‹, Arashi Toranosuke)
- Voiced by: Yonehiko Kitagawa
- The Great Zebra (ザ・グレイト・ゼブラ, Za Gureito Zebura)
- Voiced by: Shingo Kanemoto
Chibikko House
- Mr. Wakatsuki (若月先ç"Ÿ, Wakatsuki-sensei)
- Voiced by: Kenji Nakagawa
- Ruriko Wakatsuki (若月 ルリå, Wakatsuki Ruriko)
- Voiced by: Nana Yamaguchi (ep. 1~77), Michiko Nomura (ep. 78~105)
- Kenta (å¥å¤ª)
- Voiced by: Masako Nozawa
- YoshibÅ (ヨシåŠ)
- Voiced by: Masako Taki (ep. 1~55), Noriko Watanabe (ep. 56~105)
- Chappy (ãƒãƒ£ãƒƒãƒ"ー, ChappÄ«)
- Voiced by: Sachiko Chijimatsu
- Gaboten (ガボテン)
- Voiced by: Keiko Yamamoto
- Mikuro (ミクãƒ)
- Voiced by: Kazuko Sugiyama
- Yoko Takaoka (高岡洋å, Takaoka YkÅo)
- Voiced by: Reiko Katsura
Tiger's Cave
- Mister X (ミスターＸ, MisutÄ X)
- Voiced by: Hidekatsu Shibata
- Boss (ボス, Bosu) / Miracle 3 (ミラクル3, Mirakuru 3) / Tiger The Great (タイガー・ザ・グレイト, TaigÄ za Gureito)
- Voiced by: Taimei Suzuki
The Boss is the leader of the Tiger Cave. He makes his first appearance disguised as the unbelievably strong fighter Miracle 3, the only fighter with total supremacy in the three fundamental abilities (strength, speed and illegal moves). Miracle 3 wins every fight in a clear and correct way, studying Tiger Mask style against some fighters chosen by him. When he finally fights with Tiger Mask, he reassumes his old name: Tiger The Great.
Tiger The Great is too strong even for Naoto. The match rapidly becomes a brutal beatdown, culminating when Tiger The Great rips the mask off Naoto's face with a broken wood board. This act snaps the already fragile mind of Naoto, driving him to an escalation of violence that stops only with the death of Tiger The Great, smashed under the illumination stage.
- Big Tiger (ãƒ"ッグ・タイガー, Biggu TaigÄ)
- Voiced by: Yonehiko Kitagawa
- Black Tiger (ブラック・タイガー, Burakku TaigÄ)
- Voiced by: Kenji Nakagawa
- King Tiger (ã‚ング・タイガー, Kingu TaigÄ)
- Voiced by: Masao Nakasone
The third master of the Tiger Cave. He was considered the strongest fighter ever; he was forced to retire because nobody was capable to fight him on an even basis. Adding to his considerable technique, King Tiger is the absolute master of illegal moves. His fight with Tiger Mask rapidly escalates to a real bloodbath; in the end, King Tiger dies impaling himself on the jagged remains of a table.
Tiger Mask II characters
Publication history
The manga was originally created for the Bokura and Weekly ShÅnen Magazine in 1968 by Ikki Kajiwara and Naoki Tsuji. The manga would be reprinted by Kodansha comics, and made available in Hong Kong. Further versions include Sankei Comics and the Kodansha KC Special. The anime would be televised nationally in Japan, while two movies would be constructed from reusing footage of the series. Most of the environment and characters were fictional, but real-life pro wrestlers like Antonio Inoki, Giant Baba, Michiaki Yoshimura, Kintaro Ohki and Seiji Sakaguchi were included in the manga and anime as well.
Adaptations
Films
The movies were titled as such in English when exported outside Japan. They are not actual translations.
Video games
While the Tiger Mask character has shown up in quite a number of wrestling video games such as Fire Pro Wrestling D, Toukon Retsuden 3, and Virtual Pro Wrestling 64, the video games are not directly based on the story of the manga or anime. Tiger Mask was originally supposed to be a character in Street Fighter II.
The Tekken video game series has a character named King who is an homage of Tiger Mask, except King wears a jaguar mask instead.
Cultural influences
- In the early 1980s, the bookers in the New Japan Pro Wrestling promotion licensed the character and created a real-life Tiger Mask, originally portrayed by Satoru Sayama, to help boost their junior heavyweight division.
- In 2010 and 2011, several people in Japan donated to children's homes and other social welfare centers by using the name "Naoto Date" as an alias.
References
External links
- Tiger Mask (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
- Tiger Mask movie Japanese
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