Toei Metal Heroes: Q & A & Discussion Thread
 

After taking a glance, it was obvious that there was no specific thread for this. With the release of the YouTube channel, Toei Tokusatsu World Official, a release of Metal Heroes has occurred for many on a legitimate level. Juspion was previously released to disc (making the Juspion episodes on the channel unavailable to Western audiences due to that preexisting license), but many other Metal Heroes have received no such release, in much of the West at least, prior to the existence of this YT channel!

Anything regarding the Metal Heroes is possible here, even crossovers with Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. Even the Saban-based adaptations from the '90s are viable.

Do you have a favorite and least favorite series? Favorite and least favorite villain designs? Sad that it didn't continue? Happy that it has been semi-revived over recent years? Share your thoughts here.

http://ukiyaseed.weebly.com/ukiyasee...hat-metal-hero

Viable Metal Heroes Include:

- Uchuu Keiji Gavan

- Uchuu Keiji Sharivan

- Uchuu Keiji Shaider (Used as Source Material in Saban's V. R. Troopers)

- Megabeast Investigator Juspion (Licensed to Disc by Discotek Media)

- Jikuu Senshi Spielban (Used as Source Material in Saban's V. R. Troopers)

- Choujinki Metalder (Used as Source Material in Saban's V. R. Troopers)

- Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya (Protagonist seen in Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel as "Sheriff Skyfire" in an episode of the same name)

- Mobile Cop Jiban

- Special Rescue Police Winspector (First of the so-called "Rescue Heroes")

- Super Rescue Solbrain

- Special Rescue Exceedraft

- Tokusou Robo Janperson (Protagonist seen in Big Bad Beetleborgs as a comic character in the episode "Convention Dimension")

- Blue SWAT

- Juukou B-Fighter (Used as Source Material for Saban's Big Bad Beetleborgs)

- B-Fighter Kabuto (Used as Source Material for Saban's Beetleborgs Metallix)

- B-Robo Kabutack

- Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack

Maybe some of these are unpopular opinions, but I like what I've seen of Shaider,Metalder and B-Fighter. If I had to pick a least favourite then I am less keen on the ones that don't actually involve a transforming hero but the knives are really out for those B-Robo shows, they don't deserve to be called Metal Heroes!

Nice. I'm honestly planning to rewatch Metalder for quite a while and I wanted to check out Spielban, Shaider, and both B-Fighter shows for some time now.

EDIT: Never mind. Metalder and the two B-Fighter show are apparently blocked on their YouTube channel for some reason because of course it is. :mad:

I'm watching Metalder right now; it's early days yet but so far I'm really digging Top Gunder and the overall vibe really reminds me of BLACK of all things.

Probably try B-Fighter next. I've always loved the suit designs as a youngun and it'll be interesting to see a more serious take, given I grew up with Beetleborgs and I doubt I can go back to that as an adult.

On a related note, would y'all consider Cybercop a Metal Heroes show? I remember watching that as a kid, it had a kickass theme song.

Metal Heroes isn't a category, it was a specific franchise - like Ultraman, Kamen Rider, or Super Sentai. It ran alongside Sentai as Toei's other big toku franchise for most of the 80s and 90s. It tended to have pretty inconsistent ratings, though, and it often lacked a franchise-unifying premise, which is a big part of why its been dormant ever since Kamen Rider proved successful back in the early 00s.

Cybercop - which I'd never heard of and had to look up - was made by Toho, not Toei. That alone disqualifies it as a Metal Heroes series.

Ah, mea culpa. I think I knew that somewhere in the back of my mind but I was having a brain fart. Shame that Metal Heroes never lasted into the new millennium, I always thought the designs were super rad.

Metalder does feel like a weird hybrid between 80s-era Sentai and Kamen Rider so far. Is the only unifying trope among the franchise that its heroes are robotics-based? So either cyborgs/androids, or powered armor users etc.

A new space sheriff wouldn't sell well because the kids today want a lot toys to buy.

I think the idea was that the suits had a more metallic finish? But then you have a show like Jiraiya, who's just a ninja dude. It generally feels like the franchise changed direction anytime its ratings went down. Law enforcement tended to be a recurring theme, but not a consistent one.

Either way, Metalder is great. One of my favorite tokusatsus. I love how all the monsters of the week are actually part of a recurring supporting cast before they get their big spotlight episode.

No offense, but Beetleborgs was responsible for metal hero downfall.

I don't know, from what I've read it was Robotack's fault. The show's ratings were really bad and Toei has since tried pretending that it and Kabutack weren't real Metal Heroes shows.

Which is rather surprising, considering Shin is basically what put the nail in the coffin for Kamen Rider, and Toei isn't afraid to showcase him.

Have you seen what Kabutack and Robotack are like?

I've seen images, yeah. Honestly, I think it's pretty damn adorable :lol

Granted, I'm sure for the Metal Heroes line, having a mascot turn into a badass hero probably wasn't the best of ideas.

I have no idea why Toei make such show like Kabutack/Robotack.

Yeah I agree, Cybercop is a standalone show by Toho and NOT a Metal Hero show even if it shares some aesthetical elements with Metal Heroes. And honestly the Metal Hero term is a Toei thing so there's that. But to go back to Cyberop, it was quite experimental with its production looking back. It ditched film stock and went VHS, the narrative also tried to cater to older audiences too emphasizing the relationships amongst the characters more, etc. Oh and basically this seems like it was the show that TAKARA(current TAKARATOMY) made to try recreate the same success formula Bandai had with its tokusatsu heroes. And while we are on the subject, let's cue the music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J79Ql3Mf6Lo

I think could had a third b-fighter back in the day.

Not to go too off-topic since Cybercop technically isn't Metal Heroes, but it did have a kickass theme song indeed. I'd be curious to rewatch it now too, to see if it really was a little more grown-up than the other toku shows of its era.

Anyway, I'm a little upset that the Toei channel has certain Metal Hero shows blocked here in Malaysia. I understand it's for licensing issues (curse you VR Troopers and Beetleborgs!), but I really wish I could finish Metalder (legally) and start B-Fighter as well.

Regardless, I'll probably watch the Metal Hero shows as new episodes are being released, and what better one to start with than Space Sheriff Gavan! I don't know if anyone's interested in joining me and making this a weekly thing (I think that's how the new eps are being put out?), but I just finished the pilot and here are my initial thoughts:

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20141004211023

First off, kinda weird that Toei chose to translate Space Sheriff as Space Cop, which sounds way less cool. Also, I've always appreciated how fansubbers usually translate OPs, with all the lyrics and even cast names, but I guess I'm just being nitpicky with this official release.

Gavan's theme is pretty catchy though, with fairly distinctive opening chords. My first impression is that the Gavan suit looks dope. I love the light-up eyes, the sleek metal shell, and the RX-esque lightsaber. The bike is cool as well, with a very Jetsons touch to it. I am a little confused by "Electronic Starbeast Dol" though. Not sure how a giant blue dragon fits in thematically/aesthetically with Gavan, and it kinda feels like Supaidaman with Leopardon, but maybe this is a trope of Metal Heroes?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/fb/d3...c5288b4c0c.jpg

Which brings me to my next point, in that I don't really have a sense of what the tropes of the Metal Hero franchise are, or if it even has any. It may be just because I didn't grow up with 'em as much as KR or Ultraman, but I don't really have a sense of the franchise's identity. So far, Gavan feels like Kamen Rider in that he's a solo act plus his transformation sequence and bike, but he also reminds me of Sentai with the giant robo-dragon and the evil space empire. It seems like a mishmash of 80s-era Sentai and KR, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does leave me a little puzzled as a viewer.

I will say though that right off the bat, the pilot does do a good job of defining the bad guys. The Space Crime Organization Makuu outright states their goals from the jump. "We wanna colonize Earth and make it a planet of crime, and then use the corrupted souls as a blood sacrifice." I can dig it. I'm not super impressed by their designs (Don Horror, Hunter Killer, the BEM Kaiju, and the Crusher footsoldiers etc. all look kinda cheap, to be honest), but I understand their motives.

Gavan is similarly laid out pretty well. He's a space cop from the Planet Bird who's dispatched to Earth to stop Makuu's plans. So, a Green Lantern, basically. They even establish his upcoming rivalry with Hunter Killer by characterizing the Makuu lieutenant as a former Space Sheriff like him. But best of all, they set up deeper stakes by having Gavan's mother be a human, making his defense of Earth not just his job, but also his own personal mission.

So y'know, we're off to a strong start character-wise. Our hero and our villain(s) are clearly defined, and the plot can start rolling. After a quick space battle between Gavan's ship and some Makuu fighters (which was coo, and reminiscent of an Ultraman attack team scene), we're introduced to Gavan's sidekick, Mimi, the daughter of Gavan's commanding officer who's stowed away on his ship to go to Earth with him. Seemingly for romantic reasons. Oh, and she has a device that lets her look like a bird. I guess that's just a thing on Planet Bird?

Anyway the sheer corniness of her bird transformation sequence has me sold on her character. Mimi deadass goes "Laser! Vision!" while doing some hand gestures, and then her necklace sparkles, and after some terribly dated pixelated imagery, she becomes...a yellow bird. And I thought the talking dog in Metalder was a bit much.

https://iv1.lisimg.com/image/1550440...i-gavan%29.jpg

Moving on, our hero and his gal Friday then arrive on Earth and assume local attire. Kenji Ohba in his prime is, by the way, a very attractive and cool dude. Meanwhile, some kids from the local Avalon Riding Club (because it's not toku without some children) follow a trail of clues that leads them to a secret Makuu base! After spotting a Makuu UFO (with some impressive miniatures work), the kids are caught by the evil aliens, but are then saved by our hero's timely arrival.

What follows is pretty much standard toku fare. Gavan beats up a bunch of henchmen as a normie, but when the kaiju of the week shows up (Shako, a trilobite-looking fella who's actually kinda cute?), he transforms into a Metal Hero! I liked the transformation sequence explaining how it actually takes .05 seconds for the combat suit to be transmitted, plus the cry of "Jouchaku" as his henshin was neat, which I gather means "deposition/equip," though the subs have it as "Metamorphosis."

Gavan then beats up more henchmen, and blows up the Makuu UFO with his "Laser Z Beam" (a frankly kinda boring-looking blast from his fingers), and then things get funky. Don Horror, from his Makuu spaceship, uses some device to...manipulate the axis of the Earth? And what this does is create a region of "Makuu Space" like a black hole? I guess it's Gavan's equivalent of "when the villain makes the monster big!" in Sentai?

So when Don Horror does this, Gavan calls his bike Cyberian, and proceeds to Kamen Rider Ryuki his way into the Makuu Space to resume his fight with the kaiju. I don't know how to feel about this gimmick for now. On one hand, I like that it's something different, and I'm always down for 80s toku fights in smoky dimensions. It is very nostalgic. On the other hand, part of the fun of toku is seeing our hero fight the baddie in different environments every week, so I am concerned that the gimmick will feel stale soon. I don't think it was a cost-cutting measure either, because while some portions of the Makuu fight appear shot on a soundstage, others are clearly the standard "toku quarry."

https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lQp5Gr19m...o-nu/Makuu.jpg

In the end, our hero beats Shako, uses Dol to blast away a falling meteor, and then proceeds to duel a Doubleman with his badass Laser Blade. Gavan beats him, returns to regular Earthspace, and then him and Mimi assume civilian identities at the Avalon Riding Club. Gavan becomes Retsu Ichijoji, and our hero's legend begins.

Overall...I dug it? It didn't blow me away quite like the Metalder pilot did, probably due to its similarities to other toku shows, but I still enjoyed myself for the most part. I'd be curious what other folks on here think!

Until the next episode! (Which I should watch shortly...)

Gavan's theme song is one of the all-time greats.

Personally, I just watched the first episode of Jiban last night, which was the Metal Heroes show created by Keita Amemiya, who would later go on to create the Garo franchise. Jiban was... weird. It doesn't start with an origin story, which allows for some cool action, but also makes the character dynamics feel very confusing. The show also had some issues that I've had with other Metal Heroes shows: the pacing is sometimes so fast that it feels like entire segments of the story are missing. That said, there was some good action and practical special effects, including a good car chase and some large-scale monster action. The theme song is absolutely banging, too.

Moving on to episode 2 of Space Sheriff Gavan!

So we start with...a floating oil tanker!

Which immediately brought to mind the classic OG Ultraman episode "The Forbidden Words," where Alien Mephilas made a tanker float with an anti-gravity field...and then Fuji of the Science Patrol became a giant. As you can probably surmise from that sentence, it was one of the greatest Ultraman episodes ever.

But this episode of Gavan decide to go with a far less 70s sci-fi approach, with the revelation that Makuu is essentially taking the tanker hostage, and holding it over Japan like a bomb. As far as villainous plans go, I kinda dug it. It seems exactly the sort of terror plot that a criminal enterprise would dream up.

Under the fake guise of "Alpha" (which was a nice touch, I'd assume evil organizations like to muddy the waters of their identity), Makuu demands a payment in diamonds. Which the authorities acquiesce to by...launching a rocket full of diamonds into space. Amazing.

But when "Alpha" makes a second demand for Mount Flippin' Fuji (demanding that the mountain be SENT INTO SPACE AS WELL), Gavan's Makuu-senses start tingling and he springs into action.

Our hero sets off in his spaceship to stop the Japanese authorities from...handing off Mount Fuji I guess...but he encounters Makuu's fighters! He then deploys in his giant robo-dragon by standing on its head, which is singlehandedly the most metal thing about this show so far. The fact that Gavan could just as easily commandeer Dol from inside the cockpit is what makes this that much more awesome.

((I do wanna add that Dol really reminds me of Ryuuranger's RyuseiOh for obvious reasons but far as I know, Ryuuranger never stood on his dragon's snout mid-battle...))

Anyway after a fairly neat fight scene where Dol shoots lasers out his eyes and blows up the Makuu spaceships, Gavan stumbles on the island where Makuu are keeping the hostage tanker. What follows is a supremely entertaining sequence where Gavan, in his civvies, infiltrates the island. We're treated to some kickass sneaking and knocking out henchmen, plus Gavan dodges some spiked traps and a friggin' rolling boulder like Indiana Jones.

And then our hero comes face to face with the kaiju of the week, Gamara! Who looks kinda dumb, but they can't all be winners I suppose. Anyway Gavan transforms and this time Don Horror doesn't play around, sending our hero and Gamara straight into Makuu Space!

The Makuu Space fight this time is pretty novel. Gavan and Gamara fight in some ancient ruins, before dueling on the ring of a planet. I do appreciate the unabashed fun that the show seems to have, I will say. Anyway, the fight eventually ends up in another region of Makuu Space-that-is-totally-not-a-quarry, at which point our kaiju grows giant Super Sentai-style.

Gavan summons Dol, again choosing to stand on the dragon's face instead of riding inside it like a normal Space Sheriff, and Gamara is defeated. Gavan returns back to the island and then...

An Age of Sail-type ship emerges from the island, floating into the sky, and starts firing cannonballs at Gavan.

Yeah. I don't know what the hell's going on at this point but I dig it. Though I think this new ship is supposed to be the old oil tanker that's been converted?

Gavan then deduces that the floating ship is being controlled by radio, and using his "Electro Sonar" (which looks like a car aerial popping out his helmet), pinpoints a nearby speedboat as the source of the floating ship. He summons Cyberian which flies after the speedboat, and Gavan summarily beats the Doubleman inside it.

Finally, with the help of Dol, Gavan gets the floating ship into space, where it blows up harmlessly.

Overall...I dug this one too. The plot does kinda jump from point to point without really taking a breather, but I was thoroughly entertained, so I'm genuinely not complaining. Can't wait until the next Gavan ep drops!

Does anyone know where I can find a decent quality video of Lady Battle Cop with english subs?

I would love if Toei put some of the movies on their channel too.

I do not, but I am also interested to know if one exists.

Was watching B-Fighter Ep. 1 and the technical data as the protagonists learn of the weapons they have on hand was...a tad unusual.

When Reddle saw the specs for the Input Magnum, the text below "Manual" reads like lyrics to a bad poem or mid-'80s glam rock song! When Blue Beet sees the specs for the Stinger Blade, the text below "Manual" is far more standard and to the point.

What...The...Hell!?

Definitely looks like something a set designer just grabbed from nearby. Probably a CD they had on their desk when making the graphic. Probably never imagined someone would be freeze framing it 20 years later!

I think I found a possible option!

https://krdl.moe/show/tokusatsu-films

I'm in a B-Fighter Kabuto mood right now, but I'm watching it without subs so I'm only partially following the story. In Kabuto 30, there is something Tentou needs to realize in order to use B-Fighter Genji's Bright Pointer, and it seems to do with nature and the human heart, but I'm still unclear as to the particulars. Anyone more familiar with this?

This probably isn't a new question, but a B-Fighter re-watch/catch-up has led me to wonder the obvious: Why did Rei's actor leave the show, necessitating the change to Mai in Ep. 22?

Her prominence prior to the switch is noticeably reduced if you scrutinize the episodes closely.

I have a nagging suspicion that there was more happening behind the scenes than was apparent on-screen.

The actress broke her neck (you can see her wearing a scarf in her last few episodes)

I noticed the scarf.

How did it happen? Was it an on-set injury? She seemed to be moving around some, but did the injury lead to any permanent damage?