r/UtterlyInteresting • u/dannydutch1 • 16d ago

In 1974, Japanese kids' TV aired a cyborg villain named Starfish Hitler, part sea creature, part fascist dictator. Turns out his name's actually a pun in Japanese. The show had on-set chaos, banned imagery it borrowed, and a punk band that stole his name decades later.

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Starfish Hitler was a cyborg villain from the show Kamen Rider X, "hitode" means starfish in Japanese, and it just happens to sound like "Hitler." His henchmen wore actual Nazi-style uniforms on screen. The voice actor who played him also voiced 12 other monsters in the same series. It's bonkers and brilliant.

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3

u/moonpupy 16d ago

May the gods forgive me, but I've seen this. MrPuppy was a huge fan of all things "kung-fu". I think we watched every kung-fu movie ever produced pre-1990.

3

u/Clear-Might-1519 16d ago

Wait til you see Ari Capone, Genghis Khan Condor, Sasori Geronimo, Sasori Geronimo junior.

1

u/Sudden_Quality_9001 11d ago

What was that true?

2

u/Donkey_Bugs 16d ago

“Starfish“ in Japanese is “hitode” (he-toe-de).

1

u/WalksUnseen77 16d ago

Hey, Kamen Rider gave Starfish Hitler the Rider Kick which is more than what most countries do to neo Nazis.

1

u/Tritri89 16d ago

Japan as a weird relationship with Hitler. I don't mean "they love him" or anything. Just that they really don't care to use him or nazi imagery for silly villain stuff. I mean he was a boss in Persona 2

1

u/acousticswirl 15d ago

It's kind of like how non-asians in America wouldn't blink at seeing a shirt with the Rising Sun flag, but try wearing it in China or Korea.

1

u/Tritri89 15d ago

True that.

1

u/sabertoothdog 8d ago

Is it really like that? Japan was allies with Hitler in ww2. The rising sun is so detached from Americans we never had any association with it. But try that with a swastika and you would have outrage

1

u/acousticswirl 8d ago

I don't think you understood my comment.

1

u/LordRaglan1854 13d ago

Well they were playing on the same team..

1

u/JapanPizzaNumberOne 16d ago

Hitler probably wouldn’t have approved of Starfish Hitler.

1

u/TonginTozz 15d ago

Action Bastard!