Tekkaman Blade

Tekkaman Blade (宇宙の騎士テッカマンブレード) is a 1992 Japanese animated television series created by Tatsunoko Productions. It is a remake and alternate continuity of the original Space Knight Tekkaman.

Fall of the Argos & Tekkaman Origins
Sometime in the past, before the arrival of the Radam, there was a deep space exploration ship called the Argos. It was the Argos that first encountered the Radam spaceship. Aboard the Argos were Takaya's family, the Aibas, and their ship crew. While exploring the outer rings of Saturn, the Argos' radar detected an unusual gravitational disturbance. Investigating the anomaly, the crew discovered the disturbance to be an alien ship. Too curious for their own good, they came too close and was drawn in by a tractor beam. Excited at the prospect of encountering alien life, the crew boarded the vessel and discovered the hostile Radam.

Radam "Tek System" plants rain down upon the crew, beginning the process of turning them into Tekkamen. All of the crew aboard the ship were put into Tek System pods, though only the most ideal humans could become Tekkamen. While this occurred, the Argos was slowly being assimilated into the Radam spacecraft. Takaya Aiba's father was rejected by the process and used what little time he had left to free Blade, who was the only member of the family that wasn't brainwashed by the Radam. It is through the crew of the Argos that the Radam discovers the planet Earth and plan their invasion. On his last legs, Blade's father helps him into the escape pod and before activating the Argos' self-destruct sequence, he ejects Blade into space, telling him that the fate of the Earth rests in his hands. Upon the explosion, the Radam spaceship crash lands on the dark side of the Moon.

Radam War & Rise of Tekkaman
By the United Earth Year of 192, the Radam started their campaign against Earth. The Radam are parasites that take other creatures as hosts. The Radam forces are composed of grotesque bug-like monsters and armored soldiers known as the Tekkamen. Surrounding the Earth is an enormous man-made ring-shaped structure known as the Orbital Ring System. The Orbital Ring was a space station that once served as a launch point into space and was constructed well before the arrival of the alien invaders. It was thus the first human structure attacked and occupied by Radam, with its human inhabitants having either fled or been killed. Now it serves merely as a battle ground for the military against the aliens.

Meanwhile in space, Takaya spends the next six months in the confines of his escape pod slowly drifting back to Earth, still in his basic Tekkaman form and alone with his thoughts. By the time he arrives, the Earth is already under heavy attack from the Radam. Fueled by his hatred for the Radam, Takaya bursts free from his pod and fully transforms into his full Tekkaman armor. He transforms into Tekkaman Blade and begins to attack the Radam which draws the attention of a Tekkaman called Dagger. The two fight and Blade is sent hurtling towards Earth, however, his armor protects him and he crash lands on Earth without sustaining serious injury. His arrival attracts the attention of Noal Vereuse and Aki who discover a naked and bleeding Takaya walking out of a crater and take him back to their headquarters.

Fighting against the Radam and their Tekkamen are the Space Knights. Led by Commander Heinrich von Freeman, the Space Knights are a special defense force and Earth's last hope for defeating the Radam. The Space Knights consist of Noal Vereuse, the pilot of the Space Knights' ship the Blue Earth; Aki Kisaragi, the Blue Earth's navigator; Milly, the communications operator; Levin, computer mechanic; and Honda, mechanic and repairs. The Space Knights have been unsuccessful at repelling the aliens until the arrival of D-Boy, a young man who has the ability to transform into an armored warrior known as Tekkaman Blade.

Commanding the Radam is Tekkaman Omega, a Tekkaman general who leads the alien invasion of Earth. Omega's base is located on the dark side of the Moon, where he waits for the moment to gain enough strength to raise his spaceship from the Moon's surface for the Radam's conquest of the Earth and the universe.

Also commanding the Radam armies are other Tekkamen. Once ordinary humans, the Tekkamen were captured and transformed by the Radam to assist in the takeover of Earth. They are endowed with impenetrable armor, superhuman strength, and quantum energy weapons. The Tekkamen transform using crystals that are unique to each holder. Blade is one of a handful of Tekkamen. Unlike the others, he fights to defend Earth and for the most part, is free of the brainwashing which the Radam have imposed over their captives to make them subservient.

In the beginning, Takaya is mysterious and hostile towards the otherwise helpful Space Knights. However, Takaya has no memory of anything before the battle on the orbital ring with Tekkaman Dagger and as time progresses, he begins to respect and admire the Space Knights for their dedication in even the toughest of situations and eventually develops a romantic relationship with Aki.

The Space Knights, with the help of Takaya who is given the nickname of Dangerous-Boy ("D-Boy") by Noal because of his dangerous ideology, slowly begin to repel the Radam troops until, during a battle with Tekkaman Dagger, Blade's crystal is shattered, rendering him unable to transform. Takaya gives up hope until Levin then develops a battle robot who later takes the name Pegas. Pegas contains the shards of Blade's crystal and amplifies its power, allowing Blade to transform once more. Pegas and Blade develop a close friendship, despite Pegas being a robot. In his first transformation using Pegas, Blade challenges Dagger and easily overpowers him, destroying him with a blast from his Voltekka shoulder cannons.

Eventually more Tekkamen arrive on Earth to challenge Blade, led by Tekkaman Evil, Blade's twin brother; Tekkaman Lance, Tekkaman Axe, and Tekkaman Sword, are all keen to destroy him. Blade's sister Miyuki also arrives on Earth. However, like Blade, she is not under the control of the Radam. After pulling herself free from Omega's base, she arrives very ill and is given a blood transfusion from Takaya and Aki. Evil, Lance, Axe and Sword attack the Space Knights' base, attempting to kill Miyuki. Although outnumbered, Miyuki strikes back and fights them, eventually self-destructing in the form of her own Voltekka in a vain attempt to destroy the other Tekkamen. Blade, now left without a family, is strengthened by these events and resolves to destroy the Radam. He manages to kill Lance and Axe and later gains the power to take on the Blaster transformation mode, but at the expense of having worse effects on his brain and body. Evil is given the same ability to serve as the final line of Omega's defense, while Sword is killed by Balzac as they both burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, preventing the Blue Earth from reaching the Moon.

Towards the end of the war, Blade and Evil meet for one last time to fight. They battle and eventually Blade kills Evil. As he dies, Evil is freed from the Radam parasite's control and hands Blade his crystal, instructing him that he will need its power to reach Omega's base on the Moon. Evil also tells Blade that despite all the events that have led to his death, he is glad to have fought his own brother on equal ground for the first time, and that he is glad that he became Tekkaman Evil.

Blade takes off on Pegas while falling further and further into the depths of his rage. He arrives on the Moon and confronts Omega, who reveals the entire Radam plan and that he is Kengo, Blade's eldest brother. Omega begins to resurrect the alien mothership in order to land upon Earth. Blade attacks Omega, who proves too powerful and easily defeats Blade. Omega is about to kill Blade when Pegas sacrifices itself for Blade, stepping in front of the killing blow. Pegas' last words are a farewell to Blade.

The destruction of Pegas sends Blade over the edge and he erupts, transforming him into Blaster Tekkaman mode for the last time. Before killing Omega, Blade says to his brother, "Come on, let's go home now", and causes the Radam spaceship to explode. The remnants of the spaceship fall to Earth along with Blade, now stripped of his armor. The series ends with Blade and Aki watching the sunset and Noal recalling what a miracle it was that he and Blade survived the war. However, Blade is now bound to a wheelchair and completely amnesic. While all appearing an empty victory, all isn't lost. Earth's scientists and engineers later reverse-engineered Tekkaman technology and figured a means to repair the damage and restored Takaya's mind and body. Both Takaya and Aki would later become new commanders of a reformed Space Knights program in the events of Tekkaman II to lead a new group of Tekkamen.

Episodes
The Teknoman US episode
 * 1) Friend or Foe
 * 2) Invasion
 * 3) Power of the Space Knights
 * 4) Falling Star
 * 5) Time's Up
 * 6) Shattered Crystal
 * 7) Tenkobot
 * 8) Snapshot
 * 9) Convoy
 * 10) Bold Soldier Boy
 * 11) Brother Beware
 * 12) Sibling Rivalry
 * 13) Family Feud
 * 14) Saber Strike
 * 15) Spy Game
 * 16) Sword and Steel
 * 17) The Visitor
 * 18) Battleground
 * 19) Resurrection
 * 20) Mind Game
 * 21) Decision
 * 22) Reunion
 * 23) In the Beginning
 * 24) Shara's Secret
 * 25) Forget me Not
 * 26) Chronicle
 * 27) Red Savior
 * 28) Running on Empty
 * 29) Tekno Trap
 * 30) Lady in Waiting
 * 31) Reformation
 * 32) Axe Trap
 * 33) Axe Attack
 * 34) On Ice
 * 35) Fifty-Fifty
 * 36) Evolution
 * 37) Reflection
 * 38) Amnesia
 * 39) Metamorphosis
 * 40) Sword Strike
 * 41) Battle of the Space Ring
 * 42) Beginning of the End
 * 43) Final Battle