B-Sides: Godzilla and Jet Jaguar Punch, Punch, Punch

Steve Barton   |  

Jul 13, 2013

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You’re a robot made by humans. But Jet Jaguar, Jet Jaguar, you did it, Jet Jaguar. Go, go to protect the peace. We are all surprised at the courage you show. Godzilla and Jet Jaguar, Punch! Punch! Punch!

Toho Studios held a contest in 1972 asking fans to come up with the idea for a new giant monster wrestling robotic superhero along the lines of the enormously popular Ultraman at the time. The winning submission was a robot named Red Arone that looked like a hybrid of Ultraman and another popular Ultraman wannabe named Spectreman. Toho changed its name to Jet Jaguar with plans to launch the contest winner into superstardom with its own movie: Jet Jaguar vs. Megalon.

Upon quickly realizing that this newbie creation did not have the star power to carry its own movie, Toho brought in their signature star, Godzilla, to give the rub to their fledgling superstar and brought back Godzilla foe Gigan to help the giant undersea super roach Megalon wreak havoc upon the surface world–thus the campy tag team daikaiju cult classic Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Alas, poor Jet Jaguar; even sidekicking it with Godzilla would not make him the breakout superhero Toho was hoping for. A shame, because if he had, we might have gotten to hear even more of the Jet Jaguar fight song that plays during the closing moments of Godzilla vs. Megalon.

Here’s an English subtitled version of the Jet Jaguar theme song as performed by Masato Shimon, the Guinness World Record holder for the best-selling single in Japanese music history. Not for this song, obviously.