The Iron Cross Army led by Professor Monster (Mitsuo Ando) wants to
take over the world with their monsters called Machine Bem that can grow
or shrink to any size - which is why they have to assassinate professor
Yamashiro, one of the few men who are able to defeat them. The
assassination is a success, plus the professor's son Takuya (Shinji
Toudou) seems to perish falling into a bottomless pit ... however, the pit
actually has a bottom, where Takuya meets Garia, who turns him into the
superhero Spider-Man, a man with spider senses and all kinds of fancy
gadgets. And to help Spider-Man protect the earth from the Iron Cross
Army, a giant robot called Marveller returns to earth after 400 years of
absence, and Marveller can turn into a, well, giant robot called Leopardon
- if that means anything to your.
From now on it's Spidey against the footsoldiers of the Iron Cross Army
in man on man battles and against the giant Machine Bem in his
Marveller/Leopardon robot - and of course he wins in the end.
Please note, despite the many deviations from the original American Spider-Man
this was a licensed adaptation of the Marvel Comics character in an
attempt of the company to get a foothold in Japan, a large comic market
that's almost entirely self-sufficient though - that's why Spider-Man
is given the typical Japanese treatment in a story full of giant monsters
and giant transforming robots ... and actually this series will appeal
more to Japanese sci-fi fans than to Spider-Man adepts.
Actually, it's pretty safe to say, if you like Japanese giant (rubber)
monsters and robot, you will find this one at least amusing, if you like Spider-Man
you might still like it, and if you find all of this just stupid, you
probably shouldn't watch it in the first place.
I'm rather fond of the series, actually.
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