Trivia / Kinnikuman

• Ascended Fanon: Many of the characters featured in the series were originally designs submitted by fans. When this is done, the chapter the character is introduced in credits the fan.
• Banned In France: Not so much because the character Brocken Jr. dressed like a Nazi, but because he was also a hero. When the figures were brought to the US as M.U.S.C.L.E., Brockenman's and Brocken Jr.'s were removed from the lineup.
• Bowdlerisation: The violence and Toilet Humor is toned down a bit in the anime. In the anime, instead of breaking Brockenman in half, Ramenman folds him into ramen. And instead of narrowly avoiding the same fate by breaking his bowels, Kinnikuman is turned into ramen but is revived when Ramenman adds garlic, his power-up food.
• Defictionalization:
  • The Kinniku Buster is used as a finishing move by Samoa Joe, although he falls back to make it more like a suplex rather than dropping straight down to avoid breaking his opponent's neck (or worse) in real life.
    • There ARE ones who use the original sit-down version, but they're exceedingly rare due to the stress on both the victim's neck and the attacker's tailbone. Kinnikuman doesn't have this problem because, you know, he's superhuman and he's trying to beat the other guy up.
  • The Robin Special has also been used in real life, but it's not done in the same way as Robin Mask does it and not done often, for obvious reasons.
  • The US arc depicts three separate wrestling territories, namely the World Superman Council (WSC), World Supermen Federation (WSF), and World Supermen Association (WSA) battling for supremacy as the top territory in the States. This was published just as Vince McMahon took control of the then-World Wrestling Federation and started competing with the National Wrestling Alliance and American Wrestling Association. Indeed, the WSC was a New York-based territory, just as the WWF was before the 80s. What's surprising is at that point, the WSC is seen as controlling one-half of the country. By the end of the arc, however, their power is broken... which didn't age well, to say the least.
    • As a bonus, a Dusty Rhodes expy is seen as the WSC's champion. Rhodes joined the WWF from 1989-1991, but never became their champion.
• No Export for You: The anime was never dubbed in America despite Mattel importing the toyline, likely because the Moral Guardians would've hacked it to bits.
  • The only Latin American country that aired the dub was Chile, the same country where it was dubbed. For some unexplained reason, Toei never sold the series to other regional channels.
• Official Fan-Submitted Content: Many characters are submitted by fans.
• The Other Darrin: Ramenman has had seven different voice actors, the most of anyone in the series.
  • For the Throne Arc, everyone had their voice actors replaced, save for Kinnikuman himself.
  • Perfect Origin Arc anime will be full of this, as many of the principal cast of the original anime have either passed away or has long since retired. Notably, Kinnikuman himself will be voiced by Mamoru Miyano, succeeding Akira Kamiya, who will now voice Mayumi Kinniku and Prince Kamehame.
• Overtook the Manga: Two Filler arcs were added after the Dream Chojin Tag arc, which ended up getting the show canceled. The final Survivor Match for the Kinniku Throne arc was finally animated five years later.
• Playing Against Type: Kaneto Shiozawa, known for voicing Hot-Blooded Bishōnen voicing the rather stoic Screw Kid.
• Predecessor Casting Gag: The 2024 anime adaptation of Perfect Origin Arc sees Akira Kamiya, the original voice of Kinnikuman himself, playing not just the character's father Mayumi, but also his mentor Prince Kamehame.
• Referenced by...:
  • As revealed on the back cover, the main character of the series appears alongside the Doraemon and Dr. Slump characters in the 1989 doujinshi novel The Sun Fell in Penguin Village (ペンギン村に陽は落ちて).
  • Starting with Tekken 3, the character King has added the Kinniku Buster to his arsenal of holds. In his Tekken 5 ending, he and Craig Marduk perform the Muscle Docking.
• Sequel Gap: The anime adaptation of Scramble for The Kinniku Throne Arc premiered 6 years after the first anime had concluded. Meanwhile the adaptation of 2011 sequel's Perfect Origin Arc would air in 2024, 32 years after the Throne Arc anime had ended.
• Unfinished Dub: The Latin American dub only lasted 52 episode before being cancelled. Apparently, this was a decission made by Toei, which is surprising because the show got good ratings in Chile, there country where it was aired. To this day, fans are still asking Toei to dub the rest of the series and the sequel series "Scramble For The Throne".
• What Could Have Been: Black Hole was supposed to have been the leader of the Seven Devils.
  • Golemman was supposed to be Sunshine's brother.
  • The American Tour Arc was supposed to be longer, with Kinnikuman taking on various wrestlers around the world, but was changed to just America due to the arc being unpopular.