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Metal Hero Series

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Metal Hero Series
Created byToei Company
∟ Saburō Yatsude
Susumu Yoshikawa
Original workSpace Sheriff Gavan
Films and television
Film(s)Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie
Space Sheriff Sharivan: Next Generation
Space Sheriff Shaider: Next Generation
Television seriesSee below
Games
TraditionalRangers Strike
Video game(s)The Space Sheriff Spirits
Miscellaneous
Toy(s)Souchaku Henshin Series
S.H. Figuarts

The Metal Hero Series (メタルヒーローシリーズ, Metaru Hīrō Shirīzu) is a metaseries of tokusatsu superhero TV series produced by Toei for Japanese television.

The protagonists of the Metal Hero Series are mainly space, military and police-based characters who are typically either androids, cyborgs, or humans wearing metallic armored suits. Henceforth, most of the Metal Heroes are also referenced as another example of the "Henshin (transforming) Heroes" genre. 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 from 1982 through 1999 in conjunction with their other Tokusatsu superhero shows, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. Initially only the series released between 1985 and 1989 (Juspion, Spielban, Metalder, Jiraiya and Jiban) were considered part of the Metal Hero franchise while Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider were part of the Space Sheriff franchise and Winspector, Solbrain and Exceedraft were part of the Rescue Police franchise. It was only in late-1990s that Toei Company incorporated the Space Sheriff and Rescue Police trilogies as subseries of the Metal Hero. Janperson, Blue SWAT, B-Fighter, B-Fighter Kabuto, Kabutack and Robotack were also incorporated into the franchise afterwards.

In addition to Japan, they are also popular in France, Brazil, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. During the 1990s, Saban Entertainment used some of the shows to produce programs similar to their Power Rangers series. Some of the Metal Hero Series even spawned such sequels which followed the continuity of the previous shows, resulting in the genre developing sub-categories based mainly on space, military and police-related characters.

List of Metal Hero Series

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# Year Title Full title No. of episodes Subseries American counterpart
Japanese International
1 1982 Gavan 宇宙刑事ギャバン
Uchū Keiji Gyaban 		Space Sheriff Gavan 44 Space Sheriffs
2 1983 Sharivan 宇宙刑事シャリバン
Uchū Keiji Shariban 		Space Sheriff Sharivan 51
3 1984 Shaider 宇宙刑事シャイダー
Uchū Keiji Shaidā 		Space Sheriff Shaider 49 VR Troopers (season 2)
4 1985 Juspion 巨獣特捜ジャスピオン
Kyojū Tokusō Jasupion 		Mega-Beast Investigator Juspion 46
5 1986 Spielban 時空戦士スピルバン
Jikū Senshi Supiruban 		Dimensional Warrior Spielban 44 VR Troopers
6 1987 Metalder 超人機メタルダー
Chōjinki Metarudā 		Super Android Metalder 39 VR Troopers (season 1)
7 1988 Jiraiya 世界忍者戦ジライヤ
Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya[a] 		Olympic Ninja Jiraiya 50
8 1989 Jiban 機動刑事ジバン
Kidō Keiji Jiban 		The Mobile Cop Jiban 52
9 1990 Winspector 特警ウインスペクター
Tokkei Uinsupekutā[b] 		Special Rescue Police Winspector 49 Rescue Police
10 1991 Solbrain 特救指令ソルブレイン
Tokkyū Shirei Soruburein[c] 		Super Rescue Solbrain 53
11 1992 Exceedraft 特捜エクシードラフト
Tokusō Ekushīdorafuto[d] 		Special Rescuers Exceedraft 49
12 1993 Janperson 特捜ロボ ジャンパーソン
Tokusō Robo Janpāson 		Robot Investigator Janperson 50
13 1994 Blue SWAT ブルースワット
Burū Suwatto 		Blue SWAT 51
14 1995 B-Fighter 重甲ビーファイター
Jūkō Bī Faitā[e] 		B-Fighter 53 Beetle Fighters Big Bad Beetleborgs
15 1996 B-Fighter Kabuto ビーファイターカブト
Bī Faitā Kabuto 		B-Fighter Kabuto 50 Beetleborgs Metallix
16 1997 Kabutack ビーロボカブタック
Bī Robo Kabutakku 		B-Robo Kabutack 52
17 1998 Robotack テツワン探偵ロボタック
Tetsuwan Tantei Robotakku 		Ironclad Detective Robotack 45

Theatrical releases

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V-Cinema releases

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Televi Magazine Super Video/Special DVD
  • Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters vs. Beet Buster vs. J
  • Space Sheriff Gavan Special DVD

International adaptations

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United States

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During the 1990s, Saban adapted Metal Hero Series shows for American audiences; stock footage from Metalder, Spielvan and Shaider was used in VR Troopers (1994–1996), and footage from both B-Fighter series was later used in Big Bad Beetleborgs. Both shows ran for two seasons. As of 2018, Discotek Media has licensed Juspion for release marking the first release of the Metal Heroes in the US. Both Jiraiya and Gavan were used for the Power Rangers franchise with Jiraiya as Sheriff Skyfire in Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel and Gavan as Captain Chaku in Power Rangers Beast Morphers.

Philippines

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Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan was greenlighted by Toei as a sequel to Shaider, with characters who are descendants of those in the original series.[1] Toei later halted production, instead authorizing a spin-off series set 20 years after the end of Shaider.[2]

Current status

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Other similar heroes, such as Nebula Mask Machine Man, Kyodai Ken Byclosser, Lady Battle Cop, and Choukou Senshi Changéríon, were also produced during the time that the Metal Hero Series were on the air, but are not included as part of the Metal Hero Series for various reasons. Machine Man and Bicrosser were created by Shotaro Ishinomori, while Changéríon's armor is not metallic and aired on TV Tokyo. It is unknown if Lady Battle Cop is part of Toei's shared universe.

Currently, the Metal Hero Series is one of Toei's defunct properties, as the company rather favors the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider Series of shows, allegedly due to the passing of Shotaro Ishinomori. However, many of the traits of the series have been adopted into the newer installations of the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider shows. Today, the present versions of this type of heroes are also merged in with the Henshin Heroes description.

Some Metal Heroes have also made cameo appearances. In 2004, a special Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger stage show had a special appearance by Gavan, who assisted Hurricane Red from Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger and Aba Red from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger in battling various Alienizer monsters from Deka Ranger.

In 2005, Toei released some Uchuu Keiji trilogy merchandise. Later that year, Bandai released a "Souchaku Henshin" figure of Gavan, followed by "Souchaku Henshin" figures of Sharivan and Shaider in early 2006. In May 2006, a PlayStation 2 video game titled The Space Sheriff Spirits was released. The game featured Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider all teaming up to battle past enemies from their series. In early 2008, the trading card company Cardass announced a new, Metal Heroes based expansion to their Rangers Strike card game, entitled Special Metal Edition, featuring characters and vehicles from the various Metal Hero Series for use within the game.

Despite no more television series having been made, the Space Sheriff Series re-emerged in the 2010s with feature films, including new actors portraying successors to Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider. Some of them are stand alone entries, while others feature crossovers with other Super Sentai and Kamen Rider characters.

Notes

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  1. ^ Lit. trans. "Jiraiya of the World Ninja War"
  2. ^ Lit. trans. "Special Police Winspector"
  3. ^ Lit. trans. "Special Rescue Command Solbrain"
  4. ^ Lit. trans. "Special Investigation Unit Exceedraft"
  5. ^ Lit. trans. "Heavyshell B-Fighter"

References

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  1. ^ "GMA-7 acquires exclusive rights to "Shaider"". pep.ph. Archived from the original on August 27, 2007. Retrieved September 20, 2007.
  2. ^ "Rights for Shaider Remake Revoked from GMA-7". Gameops.net, n.d. Retrieved October 27, 2007.
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