Metal Hero, Got Canceled, But Somehow Still Remembered By Super Sentai

 

It's no secret that we haven't had a new Metal Hero show since Tetsuwan Tantei Robotack ended in 1999. Sure, Robotack, the titular hero, did eventually make it out alive but the title obviously showed that the Metal Hero franchise was really ending. The 1990s was a rollercoaster of sorts. After Kamen Rider BLACK RX ended in 1989 (which was two-year run for Kotaro Minami, and a total of 98 episodes as the main character just like The First Kamen Rider) - we had no Kamen Rider series. We sure had two short movies and that oddity (which I think was still good) in Kamen Rider Shin back in 1992. I decided to do a bit of a tribute for the 40th anniversary (since Ucchu Keiji Gavan was aired in 1983) after I did a rather hasty review on Metal Hero. Until now, I speculate that the cancellation of Metal Hero had to do with the revival of the Kamen Rider franchise. Kamen Rider really ended up having metallic references such as metallic suits, we had Kamen Rider  Kabuto on the 10th anniversary of B-Fighter Kabuto (and somehow a reference to Kamen Rider Stronger in some way). 

I. The 1990s got focused on some Metal Hero series 

We even had the bizarre start where Chikyu Sentai Fiveman was aired in the same year as Tokkei Winspector. Heck, the 1990s ended with a sibling Super Sentai team in Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive in 1999. 1990-1993 were the years when four shows were aired that had the primetime police drama feel than a kiddie show. Those shows were Winspector, Tokkyu Solbrain, Tokosou Exceedraft, and Tokosou Robo Janperson. Yes, Janperson which really was yet a spin on Robocop. I guess it's not surprising after Kidou Keiji Jiban that we had had Winspector succeed it. Janperson even placed some Jiban references aside from the blatant Robocop references. After Janperson, we had Blue SWAT which were space policemen hunting alien criminals. 

The Metal Hero series was still a dominant thing. We also had Juukou B-Fighter followed by its less successful sequel B-Fighter Kabuto which has a five-year gap. B-Fighter was probably popular perhaps explaining why a direct sequel came in. Fortunately, the formula of Black RX wasn't done. Instead, we had new heroes like how Solbrain was directly linked to Winspector while introducing new characters. Well, Winspector did return Ryoma Kagawa as a sideline character perhaps due to popular demand. After B-Fighter Kabuto - we had B-Robo Kabutack followed by Robotack. After that, Robotack was simply the final episode of the whole franchise. However, a month later showed that Toei somehow still wanted to keep the Metal Hero spirit alive.

II. GoGoFive and Timeranger probably wanted to keep the Metal Hero Spirit alive

GoGoFive is a rescue-themed family season

I guess people in Toei didn't want to quit on Metal Hero concepts entirely. I wouldn't be surprised if GoGoFive's producer Jun Hikasa took ideas from Nagafumi Hori but not entirely. Maybe, they wanted to end the decade by actually doing Fiveman right. But how? I felt that they said, "Let's blend the Rescue Police Trilogy into it!" I'd imagine they started to look into several episodes and decided to create the Tatsumi family fighting the Saima Clan. Meanwhile, have the whole show rescue-themed while cutting down the literal lightspeed rescue that Exceedraft did. I still feel Exceedraft's lightspeed rescue was taken too literally. GoGoFive and Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue keep it symbolic as much as possible. Then again, with giant zords, you'd be able to do a lightspeed rescue! 

GoGoFive made certain references to Fiveman without being a direct sequel to it. The suits are obviously modified from Fiveman. I could remember playing the Lightspeed Rescue game (that was way before I finally decided to admit I don't like Power Rangers) and comparing the suits to Fiveman. No surprise that GoGoFive had siblings. The show had a rescue theme going on. You have a fireman in Matoi, a scientist in Nagare (and he's my favorite), a pilot in Shou, a policeman in Daimon, and a nurse in Matsuri. It was hard not to think of GoGoFive when I was watching Winspector. Well, it was hard not to bring up Lightspeed Rescue (at times) but not Fiveman. Fortunately, Lightspeed Rescue made Captain Mitchell more or less his own person while reminding me of Hiroshi Miyauchi's commander roles.

I guess GoGoFive clearly wanted to do what it could to pay respect to a canceled but not forgotten franchise. I felt the show was somehow blatant aside from the profession of the rangers. I think Liner Boy (the fully sentient mecha complete with speech, unlike Tetra Boy) was probably a reference to Sol Dozer in Solbrain. With these in mind - I wish we had Metal Hero alumni returning. I felt it'd be cool if Hiroshi Miyauchi was Commissioner Inui. Heck, even one episode where it seemed to blatantly rip off an episode from Winspector. The only thing I felt held it back was well - we all know how much I really dislike Kaya Hirasawa's performance as much as Jennifer Yen's performance in Lightspeed Rescue!

The finale seemed to be a huge tribute to the Doomsday Finale of Exceedraft. I think it's just plain scary that Grand Bitch Grandienne should be the negative energy of the Universe. That finale was really taking the Doomsday Finale of Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger to a whole new level. 

Timeranger seemed to make a subtle nod to the Rescue Police series

If you think about it - Timeranger is the first true police Super Sentai and NOT Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger. The criminals are the Londarz Family of mostly aliens (though Gien was a human turned cyborg) and some alien prisoners. Don Dolnero was a criminal sentenced to 1,000 years of imprisonment for his brutal acts. Though, Don Dolnero still showed to have positive traits like his growing concern for Gien's brutal breakdown. I still get it some fans think Timeranger got too serious but I'm still a fan of it. I still consider it as Yasuko Kobayashi's Magnum Opus even when others (and I'd say a good amount of Power Rangers fans) think it's either Samurai Sentai Shinkenger or Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters. 

The Timerangers had a lot of weird fixes. The rangers didn't kill the monsters of the week. Instead, the mission was to re-arrest certain criminals who were frozen and compressed (the freeze-compression process) back to their time in 3,000 A.D. Four rangers from the past team up with a man from the present. Yuuri is the actual no-nonsense leader. Tatsuya is a random man in the present they ran into. The mission was to re-capture the criminals and send them back. The monsters of the week were instead the criminal of the week. It's pretty much like the Rescue Police Trilogy.

Some references to Space Sheriff Trilogy were also made. One could think about the two-partner where Tatsuya loses trust in the others. It was that episode when the other rangers were trapped in a pocket dimension. The pocket dimension was frequently used in the Space Sheriff Trilogy and in B-Fighter.

III. Dekaranger somehow NEVER ran out of it for years to come

This is one entry where I feel I'd write not just about 2004 but also past it. I was even amazed that it had a ten years after movie. Personally, I do love nostalgia but I think it can get frustrating if done too much. Right now, I'm getting tired of the reunion movies. I guess it's because I felt certain events in the ten years after movie were just stupid. How in the world did Jasmine Reimon agree to marry the child she met way back in 2004?! Was it a reference to children crying when Ayumi Kinoshita got married?! It seems to be that! Either way, I felt that it was rather very weird! Either way, I feel Ten Years After isn't canon but meant to create a what-if continuity.

Dekaranger was combining elements from The Space Sheriff Trilogy. Having a galactic police was blatant. Many of the officers in the Space Police Dekaranger (SPD) were anthropomorphic animals. Doggie Kruger and Numa-O had animal heads. The Space Sheriff Trilogy had such cameo characters. Now, it was time to let aliens and humans have better opportunities together. The whole organization wasn't just on Earth but throughout the Universe. I even remembered singing the Vavilos song when Dekawing Robo turned into a giant cannon. Heck, the annoying narrator was an obvious throwback! 

The elements of the Rescue Police Trilogy were blatantly there. We never had a real central organization. Instead, we had guest villains (the Alienizers) who were more or less not connected to each other. Most of the Rescue Police Trilogy villains are one-shot villains of the week. The Alienizers tend to be more or less like that. Meanwhile, Agent Abrella was more of a recurring villain who rendered services to anybody who could pay a fee. Solbrain welcomed its greatest villain Takaoka who was an overarching villain. Exceedraft had Iwao Demon (Daimon) who was the head of the Demon Concern. Unlike them, Abrella was perhaps the most active and remains as that vile villain in a lighter and softer show. 

However, Dekaranger lacked the violence of the series it gave references to. A lot of the DIY stunt scenes are almost close to TV-Y7-FV levels aka Power Rangers levels. Sure, there are a lot of cool fight scenes but they really never came close to the early era. I still felt Hoji Tomasu's boxing scene wasn't as cool as Ken Hoshikawa's suitless marvel in Fiveman. 

Years later, Dekaranger was dragged into the equation when Gavan gets dragged into the Super Sentai franchise. I'd say it's the Super Sentai series that got dragged into Gavan the most. We had the crossover movie with Dekaranger which was nice throwback while having a more mature tone. Before that, we know how Geki Jumonji also had a Gavan team-up in an episode in Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger. The Gavan franchise did have a crossover with Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger andTokumei Sentai Go-Busters (which I think was a mistake and it was used to promote the anniversary movie) as well.

IV. That one episode in Ninninger had a stretch

It's already established that I freaking dislike Shuriken Sentai Ninninger. Heck, I don't even think it'd be vindicated by history if it wasn't for even the SLIGHTLY bigger mess that's Power Rangers Ninja Steel. Take away Victor and Monty and Takaharu Igasaki will get VERY ANNOYING. Victor and Monty's "only job" was to make Takaharu look like a genius. I even feel the only "other edge" that Ninninger has over Ninja Steel is having prettier girls. Power Rangers Megaforce had pretty girls but we know how much the show was badly received! 

The show brought back Ninja Warrior Jiraiya for a crossover. I think it was a meh episode overall. We did have Yoshi Sudarso make a cameo after he visited the Ninninger cast. TBH, I felt Yoshi was wasting his time meeting the Ninninger cast in contrast to meeting Hong Kong action stars. Well, if the Ninninger cast will meet Hong Kong action stars then my opinion of them (not the show) can change drastically. Meanwhile, I felt the episode was still MEH tribute to Metal Hero overall.

V. I think last year's Zenkaiger really was a tribute to Metal Hero

TBH, I started to enter the point (again) when Super Sentai fails to impress me. I guess that's how casual I am as a fan. Meanwhile, I was actually excited about that Kikou Sentai Zenkaiger had to offer with this unorthodox cast. We have Kaito Goshikida as Zenkaiser. Right now, I think Donbrothers!Kaito has to be a totally different Kaito unless Toei Ltd. gives its official word. The cast had one hero and four metallic allies. It almost felt like a whole tribulte to the Metal Hero franchise in some way.

However, my problem was not the lack of the orthodoxy but the implementation. It seems I have a problem with Junko Komura with her anniversaries. I'm a fan of Kaito Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger. I still find myself not a bit rewatching Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger even if Amu's and Sela's human forms are prettier than the Megaforce girls. I also find Zenkaiger to be more or less in the same situation. I think Komura doesn't seem to know what to do with her characters. Other than that, I'm still open to refining the idea of an unorthodox Super Sentai team.

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Older fans may enjoy the throwbacks. Meanwhile, younger fans are introduced to a franchise that Toei Ltd. had long canceled. Is it even possible to bring back Metal Hero than just reference it? I really can't tell. IMHO, it'd be difficult because there's no "one unifying theme". Super Sentai had the unifying theme of heroes in spandex (insert Dr. K jokes). Kamen Rider had the titular hero with a some animal theme (usually an insect). Metal Hero just had a weird zig-zag road. We have the Space Sheriffs then we got into more new stuff. Jiraiya focused on clan battles. Jiban was a Robocop-inspired monster slayer. We had the Rescue Police Trilogy followed up by Janperson. Well, we know the unifying theme doesn't seem so obvious except a metallic hero. However, Kamen Rider ended up taking the cake.

I guess Metal Hero, like the Super Robot anime, will remain as footnotes and inspiration. I guess like the 3.5 floppy disk becomes an icon. The diskette became the icon for saving your document. Yet, nobody uses diskettes these days due to how fragile they are. The typewriter is no longer used. However, the typewriter is often memorialized as what inspired the keyboard. I feel Metal Hero will remain in that status since it's been more than a decade.