Ultimate Muscle
Ultimate Muscle, The Kinnikuman Legacy, Kinnikuman II, 筋肉人II世, 金肉人II世
Ultimate Muscle: The Kinnikuman Legacy, known in Japan as Kinnikuman II (キン肉マンⅡ世, Kinnikuman Nisei, lit. "Muscleman: Second Generation") (also written as 筋肉人II世 or 金肉人II世), is a manga and anime series made by Yoshinori Nakai and Takashi Shimada under the pen name Yudetamago (Japanese for 'Boiled Egg'). It is the sequel to the hit manga Kinnikuman that they started in 1979. The toy line of Kinnikuman was released in North America as M.U.S.C.L.E.. The name of Ultimate Muscle was chosen to connect the Americanized storyline of the M.U.S.C.L.E. toyline of the 1980s into the anime. Bandai also produced intermittently distributed toy tie-ins during the initial run of Ultimate Muscle.
The story is about Mantaro Muscle a.k.a. Kid Muscle (Mantaro Kinniku in the Japanese version), the spoiled son of a superhero wrestler. Mantaro comes from Muscle Planet. His family history is dedicated to wrestling. Mantaro's father, Suguru Muscle (a.k.a. Kinnikuman/King Muscle) , had entered almost every tournament to become a champion. But after 28 years of peace, the Seigi Choujins' (Muscle League) old time enemies regrouped and formed the dMp (Demon Manufacturing Plant, although this is never mentioned in the English dub. There, it is simply referred to as Destruction, Mayhem & Pain) and crashed landed at Mount Fuji. Time and the years without evil to fight have taken their toll on the old Muscle League, who are overwhelmed by these youthful and well-trained fighters. Realizing that they have lost their edge, the Seigi Chojin reopen the Hercules Factory, the training school for superheroes, and begin training a new generation of heroes to take on the dMp. Although unwilling, Mantaro (Kid Muscle) is one of the young heroes who takes part and ultimately defeats his father to prove his worthiness to graduate. He and the other new Seigi Choujin fight and defeat several members of the dMp and meet Kevin Mask, who quits the organization after seeing that they lack honor. They also battle Sunshine and his pupils, who destroy the dMp after developing a rekindled respect for the fighting spirit of the Seigi Choujins.
(Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. "Ultimate Muscle")
