This series was huge hit in France in the early 80s as "San Ku Kaï". The concept was quite new for the audience at the time. Great series
5 Reviews
Hit series
TonyDiMarzioXXXX8 July 2019
Fun Japanese live-action Sci-Fi
machf9 April 2006
This series was shown across Latin American countries in the early 80s, with the title "San Kuo Kai". Most characters kept their original names (something usually done with Japanese live-action series, not so much with animation). The audio was dubbed, the opening credits were translated, and the theme song was translated too. It seems that, from the total of 27 episodes, only 25 were ever dubbed and shown in Latin America, and they are currently available in a 6-DVD pack edition in very good quality.
I used to watch it as a kid and it was fun. There were several toys being sold at the time too. Don't expect hi-tech special effects, though.
I used to watch it as a kid and it was fun. There were several toys being sold at the time too. Don't expect hi-tech special effects, though.
sankuokai
weichapangui19 September 2007
This TV series was exhibited in early 80 in Chile. In this country the series has a lot success. A whole generation we grew viewing Sankuokai as the series was known in this part of the world. The story is simple, and retrospectively sometimes even seem some foolish, and the special effects very poor. However, it must be seen with some historical perspective. In spite of, Sankuokai, have a great meaning to whoever saw it. n September of 2005 the Chilean companies CIVITEL S.A y PROYECTA LTDA, released a DVD pack with the same dubbing that we saw when we was children. This pack is available to buy, obviously in Spanish, without subtitles.
Fantastic, marvelous.
dasa10830 November 2022
I was eleven years old when I saw Sankuokai for the first time and was impressed with it. Her story, characters, mysticism, and moral message (the good always win, the bad guys always explode) managed to impact generations of children throughout South America. In Uruguay it was a singular, unique phenomenon; we all played as the characters in the series and made our homemade shuriken to show that we were ninjas. It is obviously an expansion of the creative work of George Lucas but it has a charm that only the Japanese can achieve. It's so good that I ordered the entire series and keep it in my house like a treasure. For those of us who saw it, it is an extraordinary memory.
mediocre Japanese star wars clone
r-c-s10 April 2007
Warning: Spoilers
preceded by the movie http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078435/, according to some sources. Well, the series gets 5/10 (while the movie got 2/10 ) because it is all around better done, IN SPITE of huge shortcomings: * very low budget * scenes are mostly shot in caves, dumps, boiler rooms and absconded places. In one episode, you can clearly see 1970s Japanese homes and life going on in the background. * no more than 20-30 people altogether; they had no budget to hire extras and it shows. * SFX are laughable: laser rifles are 5yo kids' fire cracking rifles; apemen mostly look like idiots poorly wearing third hand carnival masks. Locations appear cartonboxed. * clicheed plots * mediocre acting and negligible character development.
Asians have colonized space, but alien invaders want to conquer the 15th solar system. A mysterious woman riding a spaceship shaped as a XVI century ship donates a space vehicle to three young pilots (Ayato joined later by Ryu and Siman ). The vehicle can turn into 3 separate ships. So they fight the invaders and their mysterious emperor Golem XIII, who is no other than the pretty Eolya's ( the mysterious woman in the French version ) twin sister. In the end Golem XIII is defeated using 3 powerful gems and Eolya's ultimate sacrifice is also required. Plot hole: they say Golem XIII had previously been defeated 500 years earlier, but then, how would she be back again, if she claims to be a renegade fleeing from her planet where her older sister Eolya was queen? During the fight, the two pilots turn into two masked heroes, Staros & Phantome ( very poor costumes...a camel rider's head scarf, a motorcyclist's glasses, tights... ) and fight mysterious space creatures (= a Japanese stand-in wearing poor costumes ).
Between the 2, i think Ryu was played much better than Ayato.
Asians have colonized space, but alien invaders want to conquer the 15th solar system. A mysterious woman riding a spaceship shaped as a XVI century ship donates a space vehicle to three young pilots (Ayato joined later by Ryu and Siman ). The vehicle can turn into 3 separate ships. So they fight the invaders and their mysterious emperor Golem XIII, who is no other than the pretty Eolya's ( the mysterious woman in the French version ) twin sister. In the end Golem XIII is defeated using 3 powerful gems and Eolya's ultimate sacrifice is also required. Plot hole: they say Golem XIII had previously been defeated 500 years earlier, but then, how would she be back again, if she claims to be a renegade fleeing from her planet where her older sister Eolya was queen? During the fight, the two pilots turn into two masked heroes, Staros & Phantome ( very poor costumes...a camel rider's head scarf, a motorcyclist's glasses, tights... ) and fight mysterious space creatures (= a Japanese stand-in wearing poor costumes ).
Between the 2, i think Ryu was played much better than Ayato.
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