Locke the Superman (超人ロック) is a Japanese manga series created by Yuki Hijiri, which was later adapted into a movie and three OVA releases. The movie was given an obscure video release in the United States by Celebrity Home Entertainment as Locke the Superpower, which was rather heavily edited to 92 minutes, removing violence, nudity and any adult bits. Both it and the OVAs were later licensed and released by Central Park Media under the original name. Ten volumes were published in Poland under the title Locke Superczłowiek. In Australia and the UK the movie and the Lord Leon OVAs were licensed by Manga Entertainment for release in 1997, but both were quietly dropped from the release schedule due to financial issues facing the UK branch. As of 2012, Discotek has licensed the original Locke the Superman film from 1984 and it was released on November 6. This is the first ever DVD release in the U.S. It was from the uncut, remastered, anamorphic telecine print used for the Japanese DVD release. Discotek provided both the Japanese audio with English subtitles and the original English dub from the 80s, which was previously released on VHS. In November 2020, the original Locke the Superman film from 1984 was released on Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks.

Plot

The chronicles of the space age written through a certain immortal psionic's activity.

Characters

Main characters

The Christian era

2000s

The Universal era

The first year

The Allies of the solar system age

The Galaxy Federation age

Publication and conception

Yuki Hijiri published this manga series in a dojinshi published by Sakuga Group for the first time in 1967. He went to the commercial magazine, Monthly OUT by Minori Shobō, in 1978. It then appeared in Weekly Shōnen Gahōsha's Shōnen King from 1979 to 1988, when the magazine ceased publication. Thereafter the manga changed magazines many times. Most chapters are equivalent to one or two volumes of the comics. The era of each chapter varies and the events do not occur in chronological order. The series "Detective Hunt and Assistant Locke" was originally a part of the series' main continuity. However, it became gradually inconsistent in a number of places, eventually resulting in being retconned as taking place in a parallel universe.

Media

Manga

The original manga series was released from 1967 to 1971. The Polish manga company Waneko licensed and published the manga series from 1999-2001 by under the title Locke Superczłowiek. Parts 1-8 were published as single volumes, while the last two volumes were published as double volumes. It was one of the first Japanese comics published in Poland.

SG Series

Released by SG Planning.

SG Collection

Released by SG Planning.

Shōnen King series

Released through Shōnen Gahōsha.

Out/Megu series

Released through Media Factory.

Comic Flapper series

Released through Media Factory.

Young King OURs series

Released through Shōnen Gahōsha.

Anime

Film

The first film, Witch Era, was released on March 11, 1984 and shown together with Future Boy Conan: The Big Giant Robot's Resurrection compilation film. The 119-minute film was produced by Nippon Animation, distributed by Shochiku, and directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi. The screenplay was written by Atsushi Yamatoya, the animation director was Susumu Shiraume, and the music was composed by Gorō Awami. The title is also sometimes translated as Millennium of the Witch.

OVAs

Lord Leon

Lord Leon (ロードレオン) was a three-part OAV released from October 25 to December 16, 1989. The animation was produced by Nippon Animation, distributed by Bandai Visual, and directed by Noboru Ishiguro. The script was written by Takeshi Hirota, the animation director was Masahiro Sekino, and the music was composed by Keiju Ishikawa. The opening theme, "Try to Believe", had lyrics by Machiko Ryū (who also wrote the lyrics for the ending theme) and vocals by Toshiya Igarashi. The ending theme, "Distant Aurora" (遠いオーロラ), was composed by Kisaburō Suzuki, arranged by Eiji Kawamura, and performed by Yukiko Nagao and Cotton Time.

New World Command

New World Command (新世界戦隊) was a two-part OAV, with part one released on August 22, 1991 and part two released on October 24, 1991. The animation was produced by Nippon Animation, distributed by Bandai Visual, and directed and written by Takeshi Hirota. The animation director was Atsushi Shigeta, and the music was composed by Tomoki Hasegawa. The theme song, "Elana", had was composed by Tetsuji Hayashi, arranged by Hasegawa, and was performed by Sayuri Saitō.

Mirror Ring

Mirror Ring (ミラーリング) was an OAV released on December 22, 2000. The animation was produced by Sido Limited, distributed by Biblos, and directed by Yūsaku Saotome. The script was written by Katsuhiko Koide, the character designs were by Junichi Hayama, and the animation director was Yūji Moriyama. The theme song, "Lost World", was performed by Chikako Sawada.

Novel and other publications

A novel, Witch Era (魔女の世紀), written by Tomoko Konparu and illustrated by Yuki Hijiri, was released on March 15, 1984 by Shōnen Gahōsha through their SF Romantic Novel imprint. It is a novelization of the film of the same name. A card came was published through Epoch Co. in 1984. A PC cassette game for the MSX/X1/PC-8800 was released by Pony.

Reception

The first film, Witch Era, received mixed reviews. Silver Emulsion called the film "not terrible...or bad" and criticized a "lack of connection" with the main character. New World Command was criticized for being "far less appealing to the average eye than the movie".

Explanatory notes