AKA Locke the Superman: Millennium of the Witch, Locke the Superpower, Star Warriors
Starring Keiichi Nanba, Yoshito Yasuhara, Keiko Han, Toshiko Fujita, Taeko Nakanishi
Directed by Hiroshi Fukutomi
In this adventure, Superman fights Lex Luthor’s evil army of — psych! This isn’t actually a Superman film at all. It just coincidentally has the word “Superman” in the title. I’m not sure what confusions the various translations between English and Japanese created, but that’s the name we got. Being unrelated doesn’t mean they aren’t similar, though. Locke is indeed pretty super. He even grabs a red cape and blue outfit just for kicks at the end of the film.
Also like Superman, the Superman has a vast array of powers that make him damn near unstoppable. All right, I have to start clearing things up before we all go insane, myself especially. Fortunately, Superman, the one with the red cape — oh wait they both have that. The one in tights then. Dang it, they both have tights too! OK, the guy from Krypton. They can’t both be from there, right? Good. That one has a few nicknames, so I’ll be referring to him as the Man of Steel just so we’ll know who I’m talking about.
He’s also a farmer. Or at least a shepherd. Close enough. He spends his days raising sheep and staying out of galactic politics. So when Colonel Ryu Yamaki shows up with a job offer for whatever the galactic government happens to be called, he rejects it at first. But Ryu likes sheep too, so he must be a good guy, and Locke eventually gives in. You see, there’s a crazy evil chick named Lady Kahn making an army of espers to take over the galaxy. They have floating aerobics classes, so they must be evil. Not convinced yet? Well, Kahn also sets up an esper assassin to seduce Ryu and kill Locke.
The film’s problem is more of an emotional disconnect, mostly with Locke himself. He is portrayed as a neutral character that doesn’t pick sides, so it doesn’t make much sense that he joins the humans, especially since he is an esper himself. It clearly sets up discrimination against the espers that seemed very reminiscent of Toward the Terra. The esper’s struggle for rights could easily be seen as noble. Why does Locke side against them then? I know Ryu likes sheep so he must be a good guy, but that’s not a very compelling reason.
It isn’t until the end of the film that Locke expresses any kind of opinion. He’s unhappy with the chosen punishment of one of the villains, but even that potential depth quickly vanishes. What does he do with this righteous indignation? He brings flowers to the woman’s hospital room. Wow, way to save the day, Locke. The one time he genuinely expresses a moral value of some kind, he doesn’t bother acting on it.
Go ahead and watch it if you get the chance, but only diehard ’80s anime fans should bother putting much effort into tracking it down. Locke may be the Superman, but he’s not the Man of Steel.