Metal Hero Series

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Metal Hero Series
Created byToei Company
∟ Saburō Yatsude
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 Series) 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 human beings who don "metallic"[clarification needed] 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

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

Theatrical releases

V-Cinema releases

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

International adaptations

United States

During the 1990s,

Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel and Gavan as Captain Chaku in Power Rangers Beast Morphers
.

Philippines

In 1987, Space Sheriff Shaider was the first Metal Hero series aired in the Philippines on GMA Network.

In 1997, GMA aired

Saban Entertainment and adopted from both Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto, pitting up against the Power Rangers series on its rival network ABS-CBN in which Saban also produced from the Super Sentai
with Toei as well.

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]

Brazil

The Metal Hero series were successful in Brazil. In 1988, Juspion (as Jaspion) was broadcast by

Rede Globo and TV Gazeta
) airing Sheider and Gavan (renamed Gyaban) in 1991. Jaspion, Jiraiya and Jiban were later released on DVD in the country.

Until 2016, most of the series that were released in Brazilian television in 80's and 90's are going to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Playplus in Brazil. The distribution company Sato Company acquired many of those series and negotiated with Netflix. Also, some new products like Garo series are in these negotiations too.[3]

Current status

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's unknown if Lady Battle Cop is part of Toei's shared universe.

Currently, the Metal Hero Series were one of Toei's defunct genres as the company rather favors more of the

Kamen Rider Series of shows and allegedly the passing of Shotaro Ishinomori. Although, many of the Metal Hero traits have been adopted into the new generation of 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

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. The game was panned by critics, however, for bland graphics and dull gameplay.[original research?] 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.

References

  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.
  3. ^ "Exclusivo: Séries Tokusatsu na Netflix". May 25, 2015.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Metal_Hero_Series&oldid=1219466144"