Ryu Tendo, one of the Sky Force officers, is successfully exposed to the Birdonic Waves, making him the first Jetman, the Red Hawk.
Odagiri and Tendo successfully escape and begin searching on Earth for the four remaining Jetmen, training them to aid them in stopping Vyram's plans of conquering their dimension.
Each Jetman is equipped with a wingsuit uniform known as the Birdonic Suits (バードニックスーツ, Bādonikku Sūtsu) whose Jet Wings (ジェットウィング, Jetto Wingu) allow them to glide in the air.
They are also armed with the Wing Gauntlet (ウイングガントレッド, Uingu Gantoreddo), the Bird Blaster (バードブラスター, Bādo Burasutā), and the Bringer Sword (ブリンガーソード, Buringā Sōdo), the latter two of which can combine to form the Jet Hand Cannon (ジェットハンドカノン, Jetto Hando Kanon).
Each Jetman later gains the Beak Smasher (ビークスマッシャー, Bīku Sumasshā) handgun, which can combine with the Bird Blaster to form the Smash Bomber (スマッシュボンバー, Sumasshu Bonbā) rifle.
Ryu Tendo (天堂 竜, Tendō Ryū)/Red Hawk (レッドホーク, Reddo Hōku),[1] born on May 10, 1965, is 25 years old at the beginning of the series, but his 26th birthday occurs in episode 13.
She was once engaged to a wealthy businessman named Soichiro Kitaoji and was close to marrying him, but she quickly ended their relationship when she saw his selfishness in contrast to her team's selfless determination as warriors of justice.
He harbors a crush for Kaori, vowing to be there for her even if he has no chance with her, although eventually, his ultimate subject of affection turns out to be his childhood friend, Satsuki.
She first thought of being a Jetman as just a high-paying job, but her first battle helps her sense of justice take hold and makes her realize that she must use her newfound power to protect Earth.
Three years after Vyram's defeat, while buying a bouquet for Ryu and Kaori's wedding, he intervenes in a robbery and is stabbed in the stomach for the trouble.
He makes it to the church after the wedding and talks to Ryu before he dies of his wound, passing it off as a hangover, satisfied that everyone he cares for has found happiness.
However, he subsequently proves himself to be utterly incompetent in his new capacity when Bio-Dimension Beast Meteor BEM infiltrates and wreaks havoc within Sky Camp, being instantly demoralized at the first sign of Meteor BEM gaining the upper hand, refusing to even defend himself when offered the option to do so, and trapping his own Neo Jetmen team (and Odagiri, who is attempting to aid the Neo Jetmen at the time) with the monster in a futile act of desperation.
J1, J2, J3, J4, and J5 are portrayed by Yūta Mochizuki (望月 祐多, Mochizuki Yūta), who later went on to play Geki/Tyranno Ranger in Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger, Ryuji Kasahara (笠原 竜司, Kasahara Ryuji), Minoru Watanabe (渡辺 実, Watanabe Minoru), Takeshi Miyazaki (宮崎 剛, Miyazaki Takeshi), and Miyuki Nagato (長門 美雪, Nagato Miyuki), who is credited under 長門 美由樹 that shares the same reading, respectively.
Reverse Dimension Count Radiguet (裏次元伯爵ラディゲ, Urajigen Hakushaku Radige): A cold-hearted officer who is the nearest presence to a leader of the Vyram, refusing to acknowledge anyone above and will do anything to accomplish his goals including being the one who kills the Jetmen.
In battle, Radiguet wields the Secret Sword Bloody Gate (秘剣ブラディゲート, Hiken Buradi Gēto) and can transform into his true form, Evil Beast Radigun (凶獣ラディガン, Kyōjū Radigan), when enraged.
When Juuza returned to power, Radiguet attempts to kill her and ends being punished for his treachery by living as a human with no memory of his life in Vyram.
Ultimately, the side effects of his power boost manifest in his newly gained giant form, the armored Raguem (ラゲム, Ragemu).
After the five Jetmen defeat him, Radiguet assumes his Raguem form which not even the Great Icarus is a match for until the Tetraboy punches the weak point Rie made.
With his new-found power and maturity, Tranza (トランザ, Toranza) easily defeats both his comrades and the Jetmen for underestimating him before seizing leadership of Vyram.
In addition to his psychokinetic powers from his gauntlet, and new-found arrogant nature, he can now assume disguises and wields the Boltranza (ボルトランザ, Borutoranza) blade.
Though he survives the attacks, Radiguet tortures Tranza before sparring him to live with a severe brain injury at the Joutou Neurosurgery Hospital.
During the Demons incident, Maria momentarily reverted to Rie until Radiguet forced her back to her Vyram persona with a vendetta against Red Hawk.
As a result, Maria is infected by a cell born from Radiguet's blood that turns her into a vampiric beast as she targets men, though unaware that she would transform into mindless puppet over time.
Developed before the ending of Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman, Toei chose Keita Amemiya to be the series' director and searched for actors who would play the main characters.
The more mature themes such as drama, romantic love triangles and tragedy were in the series' after Takeyuki Suzuki watched Tosho Daimos, and wanted to capture its "high romance".
The novels were written specifically for adult fans of the TV series and included mature content, such as detailed descriptions of sexual intercourse between Ryu and Rie, Gai and Kaori, and Radiguet and Maria.
Empress Jūza, a one-off villain in the series, had an extended role while the Dimensional Beasts and giant robots were eliminated, with the Jetmen fighting humans subjected to the Vyram's experiments instead.
[3][4][5] A manga sequel to Jetman was published in 1996 authored by Akiko Fujii, in cooperation with the series' writing team (still under the Saburo Yatsude pen name).
In this manga series, the Jetmen uniform is slightly different, with the helmets more closely resembling those of Gatchaman (translucent, protruding visors, and uncovered faces).
[citation needed] Despite the series also receiving criticism for adding "romance drama to a children's show", Gai Yuki became an instant hit with Japanese mothers, who sent clemency pleas to TV Asahi so that they did not kill him off.