Perman
Perman is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by about a clumsy boy, Mitsuo Suwa, who is chosen to become a powerful superhero to save the world along with other superheroes. The manga series was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday in 1967. The first anime series was first produced in black-and-white in 1967. The second anime series was made in color in 1983 with short films releasing in 1983, 2003 and 2004.
The original manga which started serialization in 1966 was a joint work. Perman 2, Kabao, Sabu, and Birdman were drawn by Abiko.
The continuation of the series serialized in 1983, was solely written by Fujimoto.
Plot
Mitsuo Suwa, a normal elementary-aged boy, meets an alien superhero named Birdman, who is part of a super-powered group of individuals called Permans that maintain peace across the universe. Birdman recruits Mitsuo to become a Perman, and he accepts. Mitsuo is given three items:- A helmet that multiplies the wearer's physical strength and intellect, as well as serving as a mask.
- A cape that allows the wearer to fly and run with a top speed of 119 km/h.
- A badge that enables the wearer to communicate with other Permans and generate breathable air underwater and in places that have dangerous air conditions.
Eventually, Birdman picks one of them to go to Bird Planet in order to train them to be his successor, deciding on Mitsuo. He bids farewell to his family and friends in secret and all the other Permans, promising to one day return as the best Perman in the galaxy, with his copy robot taking his place on Earth.
Characters
Main characters
; Mitsuo Suwa / Perman #1; Booby / Perman #2
; Sumire Hoshino / Perman #3 / Perko / Pergirl
; Hōzen Ōyama / Perman #4 / Peryan / Perboy
Supporting characters
; Birdman / Superman; Copy-robots
; Michiko Sawada / Mitsuko
; Kabao
; Sabu
; Haruzō Mie
; Mantarō Suwa
; Mitsuo's Mother
; Ganko Suwa
; Professor Oyama
Other characters
; Sharoku; Yamagishi Yuki
; Ichirō Ejison
; Majime Itsumo
; Kōichi Yamada / Perman #5 / Perbō
; Senmensō / The Man of the Thousand Masks
; Doctor Octo
; Japanese League of Evildoers
Media
Manga
The manga was written by Fujiko Fujio, and published from 1966 to 1968 and 1983 to1986 by Shogakukan, and serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday. It has 7 tankōbon volumes.Anime
Two anime television series based on the manga were produced. The first television series, consisting of 54 two-part episodes, was produced by Tokyo Movie with music composed by Hiroshi Tsutsui. It was broadcast on TBS from April 2, 1967, to April 14, 1968. Certain episodes are lost and some episodes have lost their audio. This version was dubbed into Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish.The second anime television series was produced by Shin-Ei Animation under the direction Hiroshi Sasagawa and Sadayoshi Tominaga with Akihiko Takashima composing the music. The series was first broadcast every Monday through Saturday on TV Asahi from April 4, 1983, to March 30, 1985, for a total of 526 episodes. Starting on April 2, 1985, the series was rebroadcast and concluded on July 2, 1987.