Chargeman Ken!: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Chargeman Ken!: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

Chargeman Ken! is a classic action-adventure anime staple in the vein of Astro Boy or Speed Racer. The classic action anime series is compiled in this collection by Discotek Media. The release contains all 65 episodes of the classic anime series. The series was broadcast in syndication and always aired within short 10-minute time slots.

Based on the original work created by Tetsuhisa Suzukawa, Chargeman Ken! was originally broadcast on the Tokyo Broadcasting System. Produced by Hiromichi Mogaki (Fatal Fury: The Motion Picture, Initial D), the classic anime features series animation by Tama Production (Gatchaman, Speed Racer). The anime features narration by Fuyuki Takahashi. Featuring the voices of Setsuko Takemoto, Fuyuki Takahashi, Kiiko Nozaki, Kiyoshi Kawanishi, and Noboru Sato.

Set in the year 2074, Ken Izumi (Setsuko Takemoto) is at first glance just an ordinary ten-year-old boy with a wild imagination. Yet Ken has some secret powers hidden up his sleeve: using weapons and special accessories, Ken transforms himself from his ordinary appearance to the superhero Chargeman Ken. Ken will do whatever it takes to fight villains and to protect his family. Ken takes special care in looking out for his younger sister Caron Izumi and his unique robot friend Barican (Fuyuki Takahashi).

Dangers await as the villainous alien enemies are out to destroy humanity – the evil Juralians, who are space-shifting alien beings capable of taking over the appearances of others while fighting the human race with flesh-thirsting butterflies, diabolical scientists, mummies, and more – the aliens will always come up with some new trick to thwart the human race. There is no time left to contemplate action. Chargeman Ken is to the rescue! Can Ken stop all of the plots of the evil alien invaders?

The characters are at the heart of the production and why Chargeman Ken! works so well as a series. The main characters have a great sense of chemistry and cohesion between them – Ken and Caron, alongside the “pet” robot Barican. Chargeman Ken makes for a sold protagonist for the series and certainly delivers a classic heroic sensibility that reminds one of Astro Boy and the like – an upbeat, up-tempo, and heroic superhero determined to do good. Chargeman Ken! is all the more fun as a result of the strong hero at the front-and-center of the story. The series character designs by Eiji Tanaka (The Adventures of the Little Prince, The Adventures of Hutch the Honeybee) are great, too.

The animation is enjoyable and has a nice old-school vibe that is easy to appreciate. The series features art direction by Kiyoshi Kato (Don Chuck Monogatari, Toshi Gordian) and animation direction by Eiji Tanaka (Dame Oyaji, Time Bokan) and Juji Mizumura (Gu-Gu Ganmo, Smart-san). The animators certainly made something fun and inventive with Chargeman Ken! – a big part of why it gained a surprisingly solid cult fan-base over the years. Despite the low production budget and some visual inconsistencies, Chargeman Ken! is a creative example of hand-drawn animation – and it makes the program all the more entertaining (even if the series doesn’t match the likes of classics like Speed Racer in production quality).

The score composed by Kunio Miyauchi (Shin Ultraman, The Ultraman) is high-energy fun and it adds to the series excitement. The music is certainly one of the most memorable and enjoyable parts of the series and it plays a big role in the action- adventure elements working so well. The score is fun and important to the production. Miyauchi did a great job with the music. The opening and ending themes are excellent, too.

Written by a staff including Masaaki Hokuta, Masaaki Wakuda, Toyohiro Andō, and Yoshio Tamado, Chargeman Ken! is a classic adventure series. The scripts explore a number of different scenarios involving the alien invaders and their plans to destroy society. The short-form scenarios explore numerous forms of alien invasion hijinks and the actions by the heroes to stop them. The writing certainly finds a balance between action and comedy and that is one of the things that works well for the series.

Directed by Noboru Miura, Chargeman Ken! is a fun classic with a sense of action-packed adventure that is brought to the table through the series filmmaking. Director Miura does well utilizing the storyboards by Fumio Ikeno, Hisashi Sakaguchi, Shin'ichi Fujii, and Yoshikata Nitta. The director brought the series excitement and energy with these mini adventures. Chargeman Ken! is zany fun and fans of classic anime should consider it well worth checking out.

After all, who doesn’t love watching some zany old-school anime adventures? There is something remarkably charming about the type of low-fi adventures a classic series such as Chargeman Ken! provides and the distraction it offers from reality – however beak life may sometimes seem one can pop on an episode of an old-school anime and be swept away from one’s reality.

Chargeman Ken!: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Chargeman Ken! is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original 1.33:1 full frame aspect ratio. In 2020, the original production company worked on a restoration initiative on the program and film elements which were originally considered at-risk and which had deteriorated due to poor handling and storage of the film elements. The series was restored from the original elements.

The first international Blu-ray set was issued in 2021, a few years following the original North America DVD release issued by Discotek Media in 2017. Now the restored high-definition version is provided by Discotek Media and the release looks generally great, which is another great showcase for the boutique anime label. The presentation has good colors and detail. The transfer looks generally crisp, engaging, and impressive line art and background animation. The transfer still has examples of some print wear, including some slight imperfections to the image. Nonetheless, a solid high- definition presentation by Discotek Media. It is nice to see Discotek continue their preservation efforts by releasing this title in high-definition. The Blu- ray format continues to be the best way to experience anime with superior bit-rates and encoding compared to streaming video services (which offer anime series with a lower video bit-rate compared to physical media).

Chargeman Ken!: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 mono soundtrack (with English subtitles). The lossless audio encoding on the release is quite good and gives some nice depth to the soundstage – a good reproduction for the score and the theme music. The dynamics are somewhat soft and more limited given the age of the source elements but the encoding quality is nice and the audio still is reasonably impressive on this release. Even with the source having some limitations, the lossless encoding is an obvious advantage. Streaming video services only provide lossly (non- lossless) audio encoding, providing a more compressed audio presentation to streamers. Physical media remains a significantly better alternative. A good effort by Discotek Media.

Chargeman Ken!: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release includes a nice o-card slipcover featuring unique key art different from the key art underneath the slipcover.

Liner Notes & Translation Notes provides 13 slides of additional information about the series and episodes.

Art Gallery includes 30 click-through slides of art work.

The one area of the release that could have been improved more is the supplemental package. The release would have been even better with some more in-depth making-of documentaries, audio commentaries, and additional video featurettes exploring the production. The release does include some supplements. However, it isn't as jam-packed a release as some releases by Discotek Media. A more feature-packed set would have yielded even more incentive for current DVD owners to consider upgrading.

Chargeman Ken!: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Chargeman Ken! is an entertaining and action-packed adventure anime. The classic anime series has been beautifully restored in high-definition. The series features the fun adventures of Ken, Caron, and robot Barican as Chargeman Ken fights evil alien invaders. The series has a lot of great old-school charm and fans of classic adventure series who want to kick back and unwind with some action heroes fighting alien invaders will find something worthwhile with this zany classic.

All 65 short episodes are included on the box-set. The release features a nice high-definition presentation. The box-set also includes a nice o-card slipcover. The Blu-ray release also includes some liner notes and an art gallery. Fans of classic hand-drawn Japanese animation should consider checking out the series. Recommended.