*Brushes cobwebs off the site* Has it really been almost a year since I last posted? But come on, I’m too legit to quit!

We’ve got a real treat this time. 1987’s Shoujo Commando IZUMI. During pre-production, it was going to be a fourth installment to Toei’s popular Sukeban Deka series. Potentially due to slacking ratings on Sukeban Deka III, they made a decision to start fresh with an original concept not based on pre-existing material. IZUMI leans heavily into homage territory for a lot of its imagery. It references everything popular in the 80’s, from Commando itself, to Female Convict 701 Scorpion and Stray Cat Rock, to Miami Vice and Riki-Oh, to Bionic Woman and The Terminator. There’s truly nothing like it. The “sukeban action drama” sub-genre was sort of diversifying during this time period. The previous year had Sailor Suit Rebel Alliance, and after IZUMI, Toei would produce Hana no Asuka-gumi. Fun fact about the former, actually. The theme song to that series is used as background music for an action scene in episode 1 of this show! It was performed by 1980’s Japanese rock group A-JARI, who produced all of the background and lyrical music for IZUMI. We’ll discuss them more thoroughly in a future release, as they’ll get a bit more important.

A common theme among sukeban action dramas is the tendency for the producers to push their lead actress as a pop idol, and this one is no different. Izumi herself is played by Izumi Igarashi, who was previously in Toei’s Be-Bop High School films. She sings a few songs for the soundtrack too. She kept a decent acting career going until getting married in 2001 and retiring from the industry.

The other young main cast members don’t have very much to speak of (some of them don’t even have JP Wikipedia pages). That is, aside from Takeyuki Yue, who plays Ken. He’s still acting in dramas today, most recently in Keiji to Kenji this past January.

The adult actors are some real heavy hitters though. Ishizu, the villain, is played by Hiroyuki Watanabe, a major actor who some of you may recognize as Kouga’s dad in GARO and Kamen Rider Gaoh in the Kamen Rider Den-O movie. Detective Fujiwara is played by the late great Takeo Chii, who is significant here, as he’s Orion from Strada 5! This was after he hit it huge with a major role in Taiyo ni Hoero starting at episode 526, after which point he would be typecast in the “ruggedly handsome middle-aged man with a big heart” role. (By the way, go watch a few clips of Chii’s Stroll from the mid-2000’s, where he encourages people to go on walks, it’s absolutely delightful.) Despite being in incredible shape through his 60’s, he still sadly passed away of heart failure in 2012.

Also, keep an eye out for a tokusatsu-centric cameo in episode 2. The sniper is played by Shunsuke Takasugi, Kamen Rider Super-1 himself!

Special thanks to Shourikan, who I’m commissioning to translate the show; GuSTaVauM, for providing raws; and SpaceQueenEmily, who helped me with a few notes on character voice!

Download the episodes at the Releases page!