It's time for another "exorcism". Now, I thought about how UNUSUALLY hard I was on Seiiun Kamen Machineman back in the day. It's just 35 episodes (36 was a special clip show) and the show was a cheap production. However, one must note that this Shotaro Ishinomori production was OUTSIDE the official franchises of Kamen Rider (which was still shaky back in the day) than inside. Whatever money was given for the show may have been like, "I'm not giving you a budget for 50 episodes!" That's what the show looked like. The show was relying on absurdity.
The show most likely had no intention to run an entire year. The plot feels like it's a random series of chaotic events. Nick from Planet Ivy goes to Earth to do his thesis. That plot alone feels all too random. Nick goes by the alias Ken Takase and keeps his Machineman alter-ego secret -- hence it's called NEBULA MASK.Ken's arrival on Earth gets him at odds with the Tentacle organization. Children keep getting into trouble with low-budget androids that blatantly had NO BUDGET for fancy designs of MOTW. Some of them look all-too-recyclied like having the same head and only a different arm. Some of them had a different head but got recycled. You can imagine the show relied on low-budget humor to keep it running. Strangely enouyh, Ball Boy was voiced by the late Machiko Soga.
In fact, I also laugh at how the Machine Dolphin serves more as a power-up than an actual vehicle. Machineman drove it in "flight position" whether the car was on land or flying. The car may have been a reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. I remember laughing at the unorthodox way Machineman drove his car took Toku absurdity to a whole new level.
Machineman relied on the silly antics of the villains. Professor K (played by the late Hideo Amamoto) is a silly old man. The show NEVER told us why he's evil or why he's allergic to children. Pretty much, Machimeman never told us why Professor K was evil -- he JUST IS. Professor K engages in incredibly absurd plans that somehow make Witch Bandora's plans in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger feel more "genius" in comparison. The robot Monsu is always suggesting diverting resources for world conquest rather than Professor K's antics, which are comparable to Baron Bomburst from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Apparently, every android sent to attack Machineman is based on the Child Catcher. Later, Professor K's niece, Madame M, arrives. It's somewhat unexplained how Professor K can dote on his niece (who also hates children) and hate children at the same time. It's probably those moments you just need to suspend your disbelief. He's like those villains from children's fairy tales -- a villain who forgot they were once children and never explained WHY they hated children.I guess that's why Monsu was written off in episode 17. Later, Monsu was replaced by the silly strongman Ton Kin Chan. Lady (played by Chiaki Kojo, who was Keller in Denshi Sentai Denjiman) who was M took over her uncle's operations while her uncle was away. IRL, Amamoto was vacationing in Spain leading to the change in cast.
It felt that the show was meant to be absurd. I remember criticizing the finale where Professor K and Lady M "retreated back to nature". Professor K and Lady M used a teleportation machine. Returning to nature means disconnecting from current society for a simpler life. However, I'd really want to imagine the two probably ended up teleporting to jail (most probable), to outer space (which they may have died in the most absurd way), or probably even to Planet Ivy (where Machineman might've apprehended them after all). The show chose a silly way to deal with the villains. Sure, Lady M's actress was a JAC member. Also, Amamoto was Dr. Shinigami in The First Kamen Rider. The show chose a rather absurd way to end a rather absurd show. Either way, the show's finale of the seemingly Karma Houdini move was a good fit to the show's end.What's even funnier is that neither Professor K nor Lady M discovered who Machineman was -- a direct reference to how American supervillains fail to unmask the costumed superhero.
As I look at it, Machineman had all the excuses to be absurd. It still understood comedic timing better than Engine Sentai Go-Onger. For Go-Onger, I still have that flip-flop thinking, "It's not bad, but it's not good." to riding the bandwagon of haters. In Machineman's case, it's a show that I might defend as it actually knew what it was doing within a limited budget.
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