Metal Heroes

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Metal Heroes is a series of tokusatsu superhero TV shows produced by Toei in Japan. The Metal Heroes are mainly space and police related characters who wears a "metallic" suit or transforms into a metallic warrior, hence, metal heroes are also called "Henshin (transforming) Heroes" Usually, the genre revolves around a technological theme where technology, in the right hands, can be used for the greater good. The shows were produced by Toei between 1982 and 1996 in conjunction with their other Tokusatsu superhero shows, such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. They are popular in Japan, France, Brazil, Philippines and several other countries. Unlike the Super Sentai or Kamen Rider franchises, some of the Metal Heroes series spawned sequels which followed the continuity of the previous show, resulting in the franchise developing its own sub-categories. In the mid 1990s, the tie-in toys, without the support of the TV show, were marketed in the United States as Zap Power Force by Zima Products, Ltd. under license from Takara.

1 Metal Heroes in order
2 Space Sheriffs
3 Space Metal Heroes
4 Robot Metal Heroes
5 Rescue Mission Series (Rescue Heroes)
6 Beetle Fighter
7 Stand Alone Metal Heroes
8 Current status
9 Trivia
10 External links

[edit] Metal Heroes in order

Space Sheriff Gavan (1982)
Space Sheriff Sharivan (1983)
Space Sheriff Shaider (1984)
Megabeast Investigator Juspion (1985)
Spacetime Warrior Spielban (1986)
Super Man-Machine Metalder (1987)
World Ninja War Jiraiya (1988)
Mobile Detective Jiban (1989)
Special Police Winspector (1990)
Special Rescue Command Solbrain (1991)
Special Investigation Exceedraft (1992)
Special Investigations Robo Janperson (1993)
Blue SWAT (1994)
Heavyshell B-Fighter (1995)
B-Fighter Kabuto (1996)
B-Robo Kabutack (1997) (has minor ties to the B-Fighter series due to a crossover, but is part of the official Metal Hero Series)
Ironbark Detective Robotack (has minor ties to Kabutack due to a crossover, but is part of the official Metal Hero Series)

[edit] Space Sheriffs

Uchuu Keiji Gavan (Space Sheriff Gavan) (1982): Also known as X-Or in France, Gavan in the Philippines, and Space Cop Gaban in Malaysia and Indonesia, this show starts the Space Sheriff trilogy featuring a police hero sent to Earth to battle a rampaging force of aliens. Gavan proved popular enought to spawn two direct sequels and introduce a new genre in japanese television. Uchuu Keiiji Gavan was played by Kenji Ohba, who recently had a minor role in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as the Japanese swordsmith.
Uchuu Keiji Sharivan (Space Sheriff Sharivan) (1983): Also popular in France, Indonesia & Brazil, this direct sequel to Uchuu Keiji Gyaban features Gavan's protege taking over the role of Earth's protector when Gavan gets promoted in rank (from sergeant to captain) in the Space Sheriff organization. Sharivan was played by Hiroshi Watari.
Uchuu Keiji Shaider (Space Sheriff Shaider) (1984): The third and last of the Space Sheriff trilogy, with an Earth-born, galactic police force-trained officer taking over Sharivan's job alongside a female deputy. It was Americanized in the second season of Saban's VR Troopers. Uchuu Keiji Shaider was played by the late Hiroshi Tsuburaya, son of Eiji Tsuburaya, the creator of Ultraman.

[edit] Space Metal Heroes

Kyojuu Tokusou Juspion (Megabeast Special Investigator Juspion) (1985): Similar in filming, tone, and style of the Space Sheriff shows, this series features a warrior sent to stop Satan Goss and his diabolical son Madgalant (Magaren in Brazil) from destroying the Earth with giant monsters. Juspion had his own giant robot, Daileon, to combat the evil creatures. The show failed in Japan, but had a tremendous impact in Brazil.
Jikuu Senshi Spielban (Spacetime Warrior Spielban) (1986): Along with his sidekick, Diana, this program dealt with a hero who crosses through dimensions to combat an alien force that took his father's life and corrupted his sister into the evil Hellvira, who later joined her brother as Lady Helen. Americanized in the first season VR Troopers.

[edit] Robot Metal Heroes

Choujinki Metalder (Super Man-Machine Metalder) (1987): Inspired by the classic tokusatsu hero Kikaider, this show dealt with an android given human memories, yet programmed to fight an insidious group that his creator once belonged to. Americanized in the first season of VR Troopers.
Kidou Keiji Jiban (Mobile Detective Jiban) (1989): Based similarly to RoboCop, but also had elements of the 70's series Robotto Keiji. This armored robot hero is a rookie cop gunned down and reborn as a fighting machine against the Criminal Syndicate Bioron, a group of bio-genetic freaks. Jiban is the first Metal Hero to actually bear the emblem of the Japanese National Police, although his "badge" shows a regular American-style sheriff star.
Tokusou Robo Janperson (Special Investigations Robo Janperson) (1993): Another series similar to Robotto Keiji. An abandoned police experiment robot is revived by its creator to combat three different organizations of crime in Japan. With a gruff, rougish, gun-totting robot partner named Gungibson, Janperson patrols the streets of Tokyo alongside his creator in shutting down the hidden crimelords that use super science to subjugate the masses. Choudenshi Bioman actors Ryosuke Sakamoto(Shirou Gou / Red One) and Naoto Tada (Shingo Takasugi / Green Two) guest stared as a mafia-gang member and an incompetent inspector respectively.

[edit] Rescue Mission Series (Rescue Heroes)

Tokkei Winspector (Special Police Winspector) (1990): The first of the Rescue Police trilogy, this team of two robots and their human armored field commander dealt with real-life crime, mad scientists, rogue cyborgs, and dangerous rescue situations. The mix of fantasy and realistic action proved to be immensely popular with viewers, spawning two sequels.
Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain (Special Rescue Command Solbrain) (1991): A direct sequel to Tokkei Winspector, the former base captain of Winspector opens an additional police branch, this time with two humans(a male and a female) and a construction-vehicle styled transforming robot to continue the fight against everyday villains, gangsters with high-tech weapons of destruction, and the occasional robot gone mad. A Solbrain video game was released for the Nintendo Famicom game console, which was also released for the NES as Shatterhand. A Japanese version also exists, with the hero already as a cyborg - he becomes a more powerful cyborg by collecting power symbols that also grant him a variable-type floating sentry unit.
Tokusou Exceedraft (Special Investigation Exceedraft) (1992): The last of the Rescue Police series, this program featured a trio of human armored police officers, all male doing what the previous two teams were doing, without the help of any super-powered robots. By this time, the series had stepped away from realistic villains and swerved back towards the more sci-fi oriented opponents.

[edit] Beetle Fighter

Juukou B-Fighter (Heavyshell B-Fighter) (1995): An alien attack is repelled by the combination of true heroism, super techonology and insect magic housed within three suits of armor. Americanized as Saban's Big Bad Beetleborgs.
B-Fighter Kabuto (1996): A direct sequel to Juukou B-Fighter, this program features 7 new heroes who utilize the previous tech and insect magic to fend off a horde of monsters from under the Earth. Americanized as Beetleborgs Metallix.

[edit] Stand Alone Metal Heroes

Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya (World Ninja War Jiraiya) (1988): This program features an actual ninja master from a historically known ninja clan preparing his son, daughter, and youngest child, along with a family relative and a police officer with ninja roots to combat the re-emergence of a centuries-old demon samurai, his evil offspring, and a host of international ninja warriors from around the world hoping to tip the scales of justice. Jiraiya, the son of the ninja master, is destined to wield an enormous power that Dokusai, the demon samurai, hopes to seize. Jiraiya had tremendous success in Brazil. Ironically, the series failed to achieve near the same hype in Japan.
Blue SWAT (1994): Hidden to the general public, a police organization has been combatting alien menaces for years until a sneak attack destroys all but three officers, who alongside some civilian helpers who are aware of the alien infestation, must continue the fight. Despite the alien theme, was one of the most "realistic" Metal Hero shows.

[edit] Current status

Other similar heroes, such as Nebula Mask Machine Man, Fist of the Brothers Byclosser, Super Shining Warrior Changerion, and Seven Star Fighting God Guyferd alsoappeaed during the Metal Heroes era, but are not included as part of the Metal Heroes franchise for various reasons. Machine Man and Byclosser were created by the late Shotaro Ishinomori, while Changerion's armor is not metallic, and Guyferd was produced by Toho.

Currently, Metal Heroes is a defunct genre in place of Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider itself has adopted many of the Metal Hero franchise's traits. Today, the present versions of these type of heroes are merged in with the Henshin Heroes description.

Around mid-2005, however, a sudden return in merchandise for the Uchuu Keiji trilogy. In late 2005, a "Souchaku Henshin" (A toy line made by Bandai which features highly poseable action figure "bodies" which come with die-cast and plastic armor parts which can be attached to the main figure) figure of Gavan was released, followed by "Souchaku Henshin" figures of Sharivan and Shaider in early 2006. Also, in May 2006 a Playstation 2 video game called Uchuu Keiji Damashii, or The Space Sheriff Spirits, as it is written in English on the box, was released. The game featured Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider all teaming up to battle past enemies from all three series. The game was panned by critics, however, for bland graphics and dull gameplay.

Furthermore, in 2004, a special Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger stage show had a special appearance by Gavan, who assisted the Hurricane Red Ranger in Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger and the Abared in Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger in battling various Alienizer monsters from Dekaranger.

[edit] Trivia

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There was a third tokusatsu series that involved B-Fighter, called B-Robo Kabutack , which was supposed to be used as the third season of Beetleborgs. Unlike its predecessors, this series was more classified as a Kiddy Hero, a category that included shows like Booska and Robocon, despite the group teaming up with the B-Fighters. Kabutack was succeeded by Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack (Detective Work Robotack), which, along with Kabutack, is part of the official Metal Heroes line. Moero! Robocon ("Burn! Robocon"), which succeeded Robotack, is considered by some to be a Metal Hero Series but is actually an updated version of the original "Robocon" children's series by the late Shotaro Ishinomori, creator of the famous Kamen Rider franchise.

The Space Sheriff Series (more specifically Gavan) was directly responsible for a US creation in the 1980s, Robocop (unless it is Eightman). In return, Robocop was responsible for introducing the Cyber Metal Hero series.

During Beetleborg's first season run; in the episode "Convention Dimension", the Metal Heroes, Janperson and Gun Gibson (from Tokusou Robo Janperson) were comic book heroes known as Karato and Silver Ray whom the kids were fans of. They were featured on Beetleborgs as released by Flabber from the comic book universe because the footage for that particular episode was taken from the original Metal Hero Team Up special, in Jyuukou B-Fighter.