Jiro Kuwata was a legend in the manga world, extremely prolific in the space of boys’ adventure and science-fiction manga with dozens of titles to his name. In the West he is most famous for co-creating the cyborg-actioner 8-Man (which was popular enough to warrant its own animated series and even a live-action movie), as well as his excellent Batman manga (released around the time of the live-action TV series but which often repurposed DC comics’ stories with his style). In the world of tokusatsu, perhaps his most well-known work was his fantastic, serialized adaptation of Ultraseven—if you get a chance, it’s worth tracking down, as his reworked stories often are more exciting, with more action, and different twists from the original. However, in the world of Toho properties, he also worked on an adaptation of Toho’s Zone Fighter (1973), and we will look at one chapter of that series today. While this specific comic may not be equal to Kuwata’s best work (mostly due to brevity), for fans it’s certainly one of the best Zone Fighter manga out there.
Here, the chapter I have was reprinted in the Godzilla All-DVD Collectors’ Box Vol. 40, and it was originally published in Zone Fighter Early Summer back in May of 1973. This chapter is based on one particular episode—that being episode 10, sometimes translated as “Escape”. As many tokusatsu manga adaptations are based on movies and may sport just thirty pages, the fact this is a 31-page adaptation of a single episode gives the story some slight breathing room comparatively speaking. In my opinion, Kuwata’s excellent artwork and ability to create exciting action elevate this publication beyond the average, though the relative lack of story innovations and a few remaining cut corners prevent the publication from soaring to the absolute top of the heap.
The story, by and large, is the same as the show. Briefly, the set-up of the program as a whole is that our heroes are a family of aliens (the Zone Family) from Peaceland, a heavenly planet ultimately destroyed by a second alien race, the evil Garogas. The Zones escape to earth, where they bunk up as refugees in Japan and take on the surname Sakimori. Soon, those villainous Garogas attack earth, and the Sakimoris fight back with their array of futuristic technology—we are talking a flying car, blasters, a little communication robot, etc. Most notably, the oldest of the three children, one Hikaru, has the ability to transform into a size-shifting superhero called Zone Fighter, which he regularly does in order to trounce the beast of the week.
In this particular adventure, the Garogas set a trap for Hikaru by ambushing him with a strange drone device. When Hikaru blasts the thing out of the sky, he doesn’t realize that an evil presence within the drone has attached to his shadow.
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| Zone Fighter destroying the drone |
After his misadventure, the thing in his shadow (named, appropriately enough, Shadorah) begins sucking out his energy, and when he transforms to fight a big ambulatory octopus, Shadorah solidifies and beats the stuffing out of our hero. As the Zone Family attempts to figure out Shadorah’s origins, they are in a race against time, as Hikaru continues to weaken… and without Zone Fighter around, Japan is under looming threat should any more dastardly monsters appear. WILL HIKARU SURVIVE? HOW WILL JAPAN DEAL WITH THE MONSTROUS THREAT?
For the most part, the story of the manga mirrors the television episode quite closely—though there are a few notable discrepancies. Note that I will be spoiling the plot when discussing the changes, the larger of which I have arranged below.
One: The attack at the beginning. In the show, the attack craft that faces off against Hikaru looks like a miniature planet, and it just charges him while Hikaru does a series of flips. In the manga, the mini-planet has been redesigned as a sort of drone that shoots at Hikaru. Both versions end the same way, with the menace shot, and Hikaru “infected” with the shadow monster.
Two: In the manga, after Hikaru goes home, he has some kind of headache, and he collapses to the floor. Tsukiko (the mom) goes to check on him, and Hikaru's shadow comes to life, chuckling and startling the mother. In the show, Hikaru is outside and sees his shadow moving in strange ways on the pavement. His grandfather also sees it, and so they decide to examine his body more closely, leading to the discovery of the malignant evil of Shadorah.
Three: In the manga, Shadorah attacks Zone Fighter directly, stomping on him in their first encounter. In the television program, the shade beast doesn't physically attack Zone Fighter but simply rescues his monster buddy, Shipdraw.
Four: There are a lot more city attack scenes in the TV show.
Five: When Hikaru goes to lure out Shadorah at the end, he has to physically change into Zone Fighter before Shadorah appears. In the manga, Shadorah appears before Hikaru transforms.
Six: A much bigger change, in the TV show, when the two kids Hotaru and Akira go to destroy the secret base towards the end, Yoichiro/Zone Father insists on going along. The three of them go inside the base together, and after they create a diversion that attracts the Garogas away from the control room, Dad fights with one straggling Garoga while the kids shoot up the tech that enables Shadorah to function. In the manga, only the two kids go, and they never go inside the base--they dive underwater in their flying ship and blast the secret base with missiles/torpedoes.
Seven: In the manga, after the base is destroyed, Zone Fighter gets his strength back and fights with Shadorah, defeating him in a final bout. In the TV show, Hikaru is bedridden during Shadorah's climactic rampage, and the monster self-destructs when the base is destroyed.
Eight: There is a final little gag at the end of the manga that wasn't in the show where Hikaru pretends his shadow is still possessed, basically teasing his little brother and sister for a laugh. The show, by contrast, ends with a friend of the family needling Hikaru about his recent absence (since he was sick from Shadorah’s influence).
The changes generally serve to streamline the action, though occasionally they add drama and excitement. Certainly, having Shadorah manifest as a demonic presence in front of Tsukiko is more frightening than the shivering shadow from the TV version. However, some cuts also excise character and thematic depth, particularly with how Zone Father is taken out of the climactic action. The theme of the Zone Family working together to overcome evil is hampered slightly here, with Dad taking a more background role and the kids taking all the real battle positions. In this way, the parents feel a bit neutered and less consequential. As the manga portrays it, the attack on the enemy base (while still snazzy and dynamic) also loses some of its personal involvement. On the other hand, the manga gives Hikaru a more active role in the end—instead of sleeping out the final fight, Zone Fighter gets to enact a final revenge-bout against Shadorah which is a lot more satisfying.
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| The enemy base being obliterated |
Other manga adaptations of this episode also exist and are worth exploring. An extremely brief version, only four pages, was drawn by Yoshihiro Morifuji, and retains almost nothing from the television version. The full-color comic, originally published in Bessatsu Tanoshii Youchien (Fun Kindergarten Extra), features the Zone kids in the Mighty Liner facing off against a “miracrogas” spewing Shadorah, but the entire comic is just the heroes encountering and engaging with the monster in battle with no additional story beats. It isn’t a real adaptation of the show. Another version, written by Tomoyuki Tanaka (!) and illustrated by Takeshi Koshiro, might be the most well-known as it was collected and republished in a tankobon by Sunday Comics. In this version, Shadorah’s tale is combined with that of Barakidon. Koshiro’s version retains the planet-like sphere from the TV show (rather than the robot drone from Kuwata’s version), though here Hikaru blasts the thing from the sky without transforming. Kid Akira also first spots Shadorah’s infestation when Hikaru’s movements and his shadow do not match—though later his shadow wriggles on the ground like in the show. In the short battle sequence, Shadorah manifests a new power as Zone Fighter’s Missile Might attack goes through him as if the monster were smoke. Like in the TV program, Shadorah saves his octopus-monster friend Shipdraw… but then Hikaru is bedridden, and when Hotaru tries to find eggs to make him an omelet, she stumbles on a secret Garoga base dedicated to creating a chicken monster. Sure enough, Barakidon eventually emerges, but because it is nighttime, Hikaru can go into action without consequence from Shadorah, and when they manage to kill the bird Barakidon and destroy the base, Hikaru is freed from Shadorah as well (who doesn’t get a final one-on-one throwdown with Hikaru). The manga ends with yet another gag that differs both from the TV show and Kuwata’s manga—this time, Akira stands so that his own shadow overlaps with Hikaru’s and pretends like Shadorah is still possessing his older brother by “manipulating” the shadow, startling our hero and prompting a comical chase. Finally, Yoshimitsu Shintaku’s Zone Fighter adaptation also included a reworking of this episode. At only sixteen pages, it cuts down the action even more severely than Kuwata’s version. While the mini-planetoid attack at the beginning is retained (with the thing actually physically attacking Hikaru and smashing into the ground), we never see Shadora manipulating Hikaru’s shadow before Shipdraw appears. Shipdraw actually feels like the main threat here, as his rampage leads to multiple on-screen deaths and even an impalement. When Shadorah does emerge, Zone Fighter is weakened, but the Zone Family immediately locates the Garoga’s secret base by means unexplained, and like in Kuwata’s version, Akira and Hotaru fly into the water and simply shoot the underground dome (instead of the sunken ship in the original) that houses the Garoga’s hideout. In moments, the conflict is resolved, with Shadorah frozen in place with the destruction of the base, and Zone Fighter blowing up both kyouju at once in a quick, efficient climax followed by a straight denouement minus the comedic shenanigans in the other manga.
A few notes about the art. Overall, I love Kuwata’s linework, in all the manga I have read of his. I think he has a great eye for action, and his clean, exciting battle sequences and dynamic poses are always sharp and expressive. I don’t think the human characters look too much like their real-life counterparts, but they possess a refined, distinctive look immediately recognizable as Kuwata—angular, robust, heroic. I think his main heroes (Hikaru here, and Moboroshi Dan in Ultraseven, Bruce Wayne in his version of Batman, Yokoda from 8-Man) tend to look overly similar, as if they are just slight retoolings of a basic heroic template… But like with Ghibli, while there are clear foundational designs that underpin Kuwata’s character aesthetic, that framework also creates a familiar world and sense of uniformity. Kuwata’s Zone Fighter manga features beautifully detailed, heavily shadowed, finely sketched backgrounds, technology, and monsters as well—all executed with a style not too far removed from an illustrated story. Shipdraw makes an impression upon his entrance, busting a dam like Megalon, and Kuwata’s illustrations follow the suit closely—but his Shadorah is even better. Shadorah gets a full-page entrance, showcasing a slightly reworked, more muscular and menacing design which I find superior over the clumsy-looking original. While Kuwata doesn’t retool Shadorah as much as he did Eleking in Ultraseven (in an early chapter, the electric beast possesses a set of vicious-looking sharp teeth instead of the canonical baleen-adjacent dentures), the look is frightening and exciting and towers over Zone Fighter. Our hero (who looks fantastic himself) gets stomped into the ground—Shadora’s clawed paws are nearly as big as Zone Fighter entire body and just looking at the pair side-by-side, the peril of this shade-dwelling fear-beast is immediately apparent.
Of the wide range of adaptations of this episode, Kuwata’s is probably the best, with great art, stylish battles, and a mean-and-lean script that jams the action into high gear… with some character moments lost. Kuwata’s reworking of the episode script isn’t quite as engaging as his better episodes of Ultraseven, but those manga often had twice as many pages, which gave the manga artist license to add additional action sequences and character bits. With just over thirty pages, Kuwata’s Zone Fighter is workable and manages to tell a compelling story, even if it’s still a little light on details. While this manga version doesn’t stray far from the original (Takeshi Koshiro’s hybrid story makes more original choices), it works well as a simple and straightforward action-adventure yarn… with aliens, monsters, and a shadow monster to give Peter Pan the shivers. Recommended if you can find it.
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No Escape for Zone Fighter adapts one of my favorite episodes from the Zone Fighter TV series. This particular story centers on Shadorah, a standout opponent in an otherwise often formulaic monster-of-the-week format. In the original show, Zone Fighter tends to feel slightly overpowered, with most enemies falling to his Meteor Missile Might. Shadorah, introduced in episode 10, broke that mold. He not only proved to be Zone Fighter's most formidable adversary but even rescued another Terror-Beast and forced the entire Zone Family to intervene for victory. It's a rare moment where Zone Fighter doesn't emerge victorious thanks to his own powers, and that made the episode memorable.
The manga adaptation by Jiro Kuwata alters the structure of the story in a few notable ways. Most significantly, Zone Fighter plays a more active role during the climax. In the TV version, he spends much of the episode incapacitated under Shadorah's influence. In contrast, the manga depicts Zone Fighter taking the fight to Shadorah, resulting in a more energetic and dynamic finale. However, this change comes at a cost as Shadorah feels less like an overwhelming threat and more like a standard villain, ultimately defeated by the same Meteor Missile Might finishing move used on most enemies in the show.
As for the visuals, Kuwata's artwork is a highlight of the manga. His human (or I guess alien) character work is particularly expressive, with a great range of emotion conveyed through facial expressions that avoid slipping into exaggeration. A standout visual moment involves Hikaru quietly watching the sunrise, fully aware it signals his coming loss of control to Shadorah.
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| Awaiting sunrise and the coming of Shadorah |
Action sequences are also well executed. Shipdraw, who felt stiff and underwhelming in the show, gets a fresh redesign that's more octopus-like and visually dynamic. His brief skirmish with Zone Fighter is entertaining, capped by a satisfying moment where he's hurled to the ground by a tentacle. The battles with Shadorah are shorter than in the episode, but they're intense. The first fight ends with a brutal, literal curb stomp, effectively establishing Shadorah's threat in just a few panels. The final confrontation, while less impactful than in the show as it demonstrated there that Shadorah was immune to Zone Fighter's attacks, still feels climactic thanks to Kuwata's strong visual storytelling.
Though the manga doesn't stray far from the TV episode's plot, the differences in presentation make it feel distinct, particularly how Shadorah is portrayed. While I still prefer the original episode for its unique place in the Zone Fighter series, Kuwata's version is an engaging reinterpretation. I'm now curious to see how other episodes fare under his pen, as this adaptation suggests they could potentially surpass their televised counterparts.
As a small note of interest, the episode and manga share almost identical titles in Japanese although have subtle differences. The show's title is "絶体絶命！ゾーン・ファイター" (Zettaizetsumei! Zoonfaitaa) which could be translated to No Escape! Zone Fighter. Meanwhile the manga's title is "ゾーンファイターぜったいぜつめい" (Zoonfaitaa Zettaizetsumei) and could more directly be rendered as No Escape for Zone Fighter. For reference, we opted to translate both as the latter for consistency, although omitting the exclamation mark for the manga.
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While there are some stand-out episodes, the 1973 Zone Fighter series can be very repetitive. Often, the plots are more simplistic in comparison to other contemporary giant hero shows. Many episodes involve the Garoga formulating a simple plan to trap or kidnap Hikaru, the alter-ego of the titular Zone Fighter before unleashing a giant monster as a back-up. Some of the better episodes feature monsters from Toho’s monster menagerie, most notably, Godzilla and King Ghidorah. However, one episode that stands out from the rest, is the 10th episode of the series, “No Escape for Zone Fighter”. With more of a complex plot involving a powerful monster, Shadorah, created from the shadow of Zone Fighter it’s definitely worth a watch for anyone curious about the show.
Intriguingly, there is also a manga adaptation based on the episode. It’s evidence that Zone Fighter was never intended to be unloved and underpresented by Toho, and instead perhaps there was a time that they hoped the show would catch on like the Ultraman franchise. The manga adaptation is a mostly faithful retelling of the episode with art by Kuawata Jiro and the story credited to Moto Nagai. Considering it’s one of the most unique episodes of the series it was a smart choice to adapt it into a manga. In many ways both the episode and its manga adaptation are the Zone Fighter series boiled down to its core, and represent the series well.
So how is the manga adaptation? And are there any major differences between it and the episode?
To begin with, the manga is drawn well, but very much in the style of manga from the 1970’s. Like Nagai Go’s and Tezuka Osamu’s art, the character's human frames are simplistic, but their faces are filled with expression. Backgrounds are mostly simplistic, but a lot of great linework provides for a dynamic sense of moment. A great example of this is when Zone Fighter transforms into his human-sized form early on with a swoosh. The end result is a rushing sense of acceleration thanks to the speed lines drawn by Kuawata Jiro.
In comics, paneling is just as important as the art that they contain within themselves. In the page following Zone Fighter’s first transformation, there’s a series of three triangular panels where Zone Fighter fires a gun at a Garoga drone, before being doused in light. It’s simple, but the way that the three triangular panels “respond” to each other is excellent. Of course, this isn’t the case throughout, following this there’s a lengthy series of simplistic and dialogue-heavy square panels that can feel somewhat simple. While I’m not overly praising it, this manga is basically emblematic of all of the strong points of classic manga, making this adaptation a good “case study” of works from this era.
Unlike a television show, instead of worrying about time, a comic needs to worry about the amount of pages that can be used. While the story in the manga feels complete, a lot the events that occur in the episode have been slimmed down and truncated. This doesn’t impact the story much, and I’d argue that it improves on the pacing. A big issue with the Zone Fighter TV show is that to me it’s always felt like there’s a lot of filler. The show is filled with a lot of pointless human-sized fights between a smaller Zone Fighter and the Garogas. While this can be interesting and provide tension, most of it feels like it’s trying to extend simple stories into longer narratives while also emulating Kamen Rider (1971). Thankfully this has been removed from the manga, allowing for a better paced story. The core elements of the story exist, and the main focus is on Hikaru’s struggle and the ensuing fight between Zone Fighter and Shadorah.
A major difference between the televised episode and manga is the size of the monsters in comparison to the titular hero. Shipdraw and Shadorah, both generally listed sixty-eight and seventy meters respectively, tower over Zone Fighter. Zone Fighter needs to leap up to connect a kick with Shipdraw’s upper half and Shadorah is able to pin Zone Fighter under its foot. While it’s unclear if this is caused by the monsters being bigger—or Zone Fighter being smaller, more human-sized, its an interesting change up that allows for more dynamic action and tension. Plus, it adds to the context of Shadorah being a shadow-creature, morphing and growing with perspective. Obviously, this is an advantage of manga being able to freely portray monsters and characters of varying sized, versus the sometimes-limiting medium of suitimation.
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| The much larger Shadorah |
Another big difference between the manga adaptation and the television show’s original airing is how Shadorah is defeated. In the show, Shadorah disappears after it’s source of energy, a control center hidden in a sunken ship, is destroyed by Zone Angel and Zone Junior. Something similar happens in the manga, but it’s much more abrupt. Rather than killing Shadorah immediately, it also seems to only weaken the beast, before Zone Fighter can directly destroy it with a blast of meteor missiles. In some ways, this climax is better; Zone Fighter more directly defeats his foe. However, personally I think this results in lessening the achievements and contributions of Zone Great, Zone Angel, and Zone Junior, who often take a backseat in the show. Additionally, the creepy and unique atmosphere of the sunken ship is lost. Why the Garoga have chosen to set up base in a sunken ship is still beyond me.
Other than that, there’s a lot of little minor discrepancies between the manga and the show. For example, Shipdraw and Shadorah do not appear in or attack cities and some of the monsters are lacking their powers. The biggest difference in my opinion is not a plot-related one, but the use of color. Obviously, many manga publications are printed in primarily only black and white. This manga does have some color in it, but the audience misses out on the bright yellow colors of Shadorah’s eyes and the green mist it produces. Still, the manga has a great advantage, the use of shadows and silluotettes. Before the final confrontation with Shadorah, there’s a few beautiful panels showing the outline of Hikaru in the darkness waiting for the sun to rise. The moment that Shadorah appears again is quite creepy. Shadorah appears less like a bug monster and more like an apparition. Fitting. Overall, despite missing out on color, the manga makes up for it through excellent use of light and shadow.
Overall, if you can find it, or have access to it, it’s an enjoyable read. “No Escape for Zone Fighter” is neat as a historical record because it depicts a time when Toho took Zone Fighter more seriously and was trying to make it reach more audiences through various mediums. It didn’t work out, but Zone Fighter is cool nonetheless. Here’s to hoping Zone Fighter will get more recognition by Toho! |
