Choujinki Metalder Review.

Our story's true beginnings are in WWII, with Dr. Ryūichirō Koga developing a weapon for Japan; an android modelled after his late son lost in the war, Tatsuo. Koga, a pacifist at heart, never activates the android. With the war coming to a close, Koga flees to the U.S. where he eventually comes to work for NASA.

42 years pass and Koga catches wind of the evil organization Neros, which may have sprung up thanks to his research in robotics. The Doctor returns to Japan finding the secret base still intact and activates both the android and the facility in hopes of combating the organization.

Dr. Kooga dies soon afterwards, leaving his creation a multitude of questions unanswered.

Ryusei Tsurugi/Metalder.

Metalder and his human guise of Ryusei Tsurugi, is unique in that Dr. Kogo designed him to have a moral conscious, to be more than just a machine for fighting. Metalder is a capable and fully willing to show mercy to those deserving, yet fight relentlessly for those he comes to care about.

This makes Metalder both as a character and series very different, he very well may be one of the most compassionate heroes in Toku. This isn't just a one-off either, this happens a lot throughout the show. It's a character trait I feel is very underutilized in other shows, if not media in general. That desire of not wanting to fight, not wanting to kill, but also recognizing that you have to put a stop when they do not yield and you have to take action to protect what you love, get angry even. Yet lament that you do. That is the purest essence of an Ishinomori type character and Metalder fits the bill perfectly.

He admittedly can sometimes appear a bit flat in terms of personality and performance, but that's not a knock against his actor nor the character, he's a robot learning about humanity and the world at large after all. He grows with the show, though always maintains that robotic aspect of being ever so slightly off. If anything his manner of speech is something I find fascinating. Actor Seikō Senō (credited as Akira Senō) has this sort of wonderment to his voice, I'd almost call it childlike, which makes a great deal of sense given that Ryusei is someone who is developing as much as a robot can. Along the way, he gains several friends to help him on his journey.

Springer
A talking robotic dog that served as a test run by Dr. Koga before developing Metalder. Springer helps run the base and can operate the machines to repair Metalder when he's injured. He's a bit plain spoken and loves watching anime, in particular, Chōdenji Robo Combattler V. His nose can also assist with tracking when the need arises.

Mai Ougi
Mai is a photographer for Weekly Up Magazine and becomes the first person to befriend Ryusei. She assists him with learning about the world and uses her journalistic intuition to help give what information she can about Dr. Koga etc. She's got a bit of a tomboy personality and quite frankly has the most agency of any female character in Metal Hero up to that point. Even someone like Diana who transformed mostly just escorted people away and did very little in battle. I only recall Mai ever once being in a situation to help get people away from danger. Other than that, she at least comes off as genuine. I can't say she's super deep or much more than a support character to the titular hero, but she's more than you would expect.

Hakko Kita
Hakko is a motor crosser who appears about halfway into the show and is primarily a comic relief character, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the entire reason of his inclusion; to help lighten up the dark tone. He's fine as is, doesn't distract or detract from anything and if nothing else provides another human for Metalder to befriend.

God Neros.
Our Primary Big bad of the series, Neros is quite possibly the most perfect distillation of a villain. He's constantly running secret operations to create civil wars and destabilization throughout the Middle East and South America, selling arms to death squads, fanning tensions between east and west to bring war and profit from the chaos, even using the very refugees they created as new recruits. All while maintaining the guise of a charitable businessman to the public.

You could not ask for a more 80s villain. Or hell, just a greed driven mad man from any era from when you get down to it. Obsessed with power and money for little reason other than to have it, quite possibly the most classic of villain archetypes- not just in toku but in general. You can go Back to Action Comics #1 and have much of the same.

Metalder does not mess around when it comes to delivering a message, the show was very relevant with real goings on in the world- and is still sadly very relevant today.


Beneath Neros is his Empire and army consisting of four Factions each led by a Saint:

The Armored Army, composed of cyborgs and exo-suit humans in light to medium armor- usually themed around Samurai, Ninjas, Monks, etc.
They are lead by Koolgin, Neros' most trusted commander and second in command.

The Robotic Warrior Army, made up of androids like Metalder who are more speciality oriented, using tricks or raw robotic power. An eclectic mix of Assasins and hi-tech artillery. Lead by Balsky, he is one of the more caring of the leaders, taking great pride and care of his troops.

The Monster Army, primarily mutants and genetic abominations, obviously the most monstrous of the armies, ranging from giant lizards, bugs and werewolf-like creatures. They are lead by Geldring, the most conniving and dirty of all the leaders, often sabotaging the other's plans.

Finally, the Armament Army, all heavily armored and weaponized robots, from traditional Tanks, Jets and even torpedos. Their leader is Dranger.

The Neros' empire functions on a hierarchy and each soldier wishes to climb higher by performing outstanding tasks.

This, in turn, leads to many of the soldiers- particularly from other factions- constantly coming into conflict and outright undermining one another, be it in retaliation to past events or to gain favor. Some even undergo self-reflection and escape from Neros, becoming allies to Metalder and appearing several times later on. The most notable of these is TopGunder, who is easily summed up as Golgo 13, they even straight up refer to him as such in show.

The master class assassin starts off wanting to kill Metalder simply out of a challenge but finds himself disobeying orders from Neros due to his own sense of honor- refusing to use trickery or work with anyone else. This results in him being ostracized from the empire and hunted as a traitor, only to be rescued by Metalder. Gunder then goes on his own, deciding that he wants to live his life the way he wants to.
While he is hardly the only reoccurring villain turned ally, he is the one with the most appearances and impact. Those appearances are very spread out, but unlike say Boomerang in Juspion, Topgunder makes a damn good impression and is an effective ally, becoming one of the best supporting characters in the show.

As a series, Metalder has a good balance of Serialization and episodic content. The serialized episodes focus on Metalder unravelling the mystery surrounding his creator, self-discovery and are primarily about the identity of the series' villains, specifically how Neros is connected to the Doctor. While episodic content is utilized in the way it should be; for expanded character development while doing smaller stories. Usually with focusing on a particular aspect of humanity and sometimes that subject being reflected within the monsters of the day- at times with a twist or warped way.

The stories are able to put in a surprising amount of content in a single episode, making them dense but never crowded.
Likewise, most if not all of the villains have a degree of character development, giving a backstory for their actions and motivation. Some are honorable, some have experienced trauma, some are simply trying to get ahead and are desperate. Often times it can be a combination of things, but while situations can be similar, they're still all different for each individual.

It's not uncommon for an episode to foreshadow events, such as in episode 8 where a secondary monster, Hedogross, is arm wrestling for money and the following episode gives him a starring role in which we learn the money is so he can live happily with his love.
His eventual tragic defeat sets up a future episode later on down the road, which is even more tragic and so forth. Many episodes follow this format of set up and later pay-off.

Tragedy and victims of circumstance is also a running theme in Metalder. Much like in Ishinomori's work, there is no celebration in victory, only sorrow.
Even villains that aren't offered much backstory still have more going on than your average monster, even something as simple as personal gain- thanks to God Neros operating on that hierarchy everyone wishes to climb.

I was not prepared for the level of quality Metalder brings to the table. The complexity and variety of enemies, the character development- to add even the slightest bit depth is surprising. Metalder goes above and beyond when it comes to its villains. Do you think Whale Mutant in Kamen Rider Black was one of the best parts of the show? That's every other episode in Metalder and it never wears thin in its entire 39 episode run.


I'm going to go ahead and spoil the final thoughts and say on story quality alone- Metalder has to rank in the top 5 best series I've seen. This absolutely needs to be on your watch list for Toku, I cannot do justice to how good this show's writing is.
I hope to hell that Dicoteck can pick this up after Juspion because this needs to be released on DVD over here.

Visuals/SFX

Oh boy, what a fascinating divergence Metalder is aesthetically. No visor, no helmet design, a sentai-esq mouth, an 80s contemporary update to Kikaider overall.

The amount of detail put into the suit is impeccable. Every circuit board, every light, the occasional look at the internal workings. It's a beautiful design.

You may also notice that- once again we have some Ishinomori influence with tear designs worked into the mask and scars on the face during transformation.


The suit isn't the only diversion from the other Metal Heroes. We have drastically different vehicles from the giant machines of the past Metal Heroes. Only the bike has any sort of common ground and the car is incredibly different.

Speaking of, the Metal Charger is quite possibly one of the strangest vehicles for a superhero if only because it's so normal looking. I'm guessing that perhaps they wanted to go for more of a Back to the Future DeLorean than Batmobile. Although the weirdest aspect is that it's a fifth generation Mazda Familia that was built in the 40s.

When it comes to the monster designs, I mean damn. There's nothing here I feel is super iconic, but the ones that need to be the most distinctive are and the rest are well enough. But it is mind-blowing just the sheer volume. We're not talking just some unique masks with jumpsuits or spandex outfits, we've got full suited monsters for a majority of the cast. It gives the series this massive feel that's visually stimulating from the first episode. Quantity can be a quality of its own and Metalder gets it right.

Look at this, this is pretty much the entire series' MOW on screen at once. That's insane.
Even regular spandex foot soldiers don't become a thing until halfway through the show, which by that point makes it feel like Metalder has wiped out so many monsters that the empire is struggling to have any soldiers.

The only "weakness" to all this is that a lot of monsters are re-used, being either revived, repaired, or even modified. But when they're given personality, can that even be considered a problem? I never once took issues with a defeated or escaped monster coming back because I enjoyed each and every single one in some fashion, and no matter how common the occurrence is, it's always a nice surprise to see who returns many episodes later down the road. I should also note that those that do die tragic or heroic death never get revived. So kudos for never cheapening their demise.


But suits and sheer volume aside does Metalder have anything in the Special effects and visual area that's noteworthy? Well... Kinda. There isn't one particular umbrella or aspect I can point to in the same way as Gavan's stunts or Juspion's Suitmation with Daileon. A large number of monsters on screen at once is the only thing comparable. But there are multiple smaller bits spread out that act as highlights. Such as the horrifying transformation of God Neros:

I bet this gave kids nightmares.

An amazing bit where Juspion cuts off his own freaking arm and hurls it at an enemy that's about to explode, that's easily one of my favorite fights.

And there are some shots that are simply beautiful or uneasy.

I want to point out the one scene above with the camera moving through the crowd, that's ambitious for a production like this and really nice looking.

Everything else is par for the course. The action scenes are mostly what you'd expect with the occasional highlight as previously mentioned. Probably the most shocking is how violent some fights are. It's not super common, but when it happens you're thrown for a loop.

Music.

This is the one area I have somewhat mixed feelings on. But before getting into that, I want to say that the music is overall fantastic and grandiose in the case of the BGM. The series' main composer was Seiji Yokoyama, best known for his work on Captain Harlock and Saint Seiya, but has also contributed to a few Tokusatsu such as Kyōryū Sentai Koseidon and later Ohranger.

I highly suggest giving the Symphonic Suite a listen because it's truly gorgeous.


No, the problem isn't the music itself, it's that certain tracks are sometimes inappropriate for the scenes they've chosen to use them for. Action scenes and moments with dark sinister undertones will inexplicably use a piece with an upbeat tone, which doesn't fit at all. What's weird is they have tracks that do work, 2/3 of the section "A Flame" is very action-oriented, but they'll sometimes use the latter part which is very peppy.
Episode 18 has a great example of misusage; the MOW is having a bomb implanted and lines like thing are being said:

But the music used is the sort of thing you should hear when Metalder is trailing a car. They should have used the first part from "A Celebration Day" which despite the name starts off very ominous with harsh strings and a dreadful droning sound. The kicker? They use that exact track after the fact while Metalder is searching. Much of the same occurs in episode 33. This is really the only issue I have with Metalder that I find incredibly distracting.


With that said, Metalder does gain some insert songs to help brighten up the action bits, but they do come surprisingly late in the series, around ep. 21 is when they finally start using insert songs semi-regularly. Speaking of, let's go through them along with the op. and ed. real quick like I did for Juspion.

Kimi no Seishun wa Kagayaiteiru ka. (Does your youth Shine? Opening) Performed by Isao Sasaki.
Sasaki is probably familiar to just about anyone that's watched anime or toku from the 70s, his voice was all over the place from Battleship Yamato to Gatchaman and of course Gorenger [sic]. It lends itself well to this opening which feels very much like a throwback to early 70s openings, but at a much higher budget. Personally, I prefer an opening to charge you for excitement and the endings to be calmer. But this is still a good opening, and a great one if you listen to the full version which I highly suggest. the Orchestra in this is just as lovely as the BGM.

Fighting Shoot da! Metalder. Performed by Kōji Kaya.
Kaya is hard to dig up anything on. He did a number of tracks for Metalder, Liveman and contributed at least one song to Transformers Victory. But I've not been able to find much else, which is a shame because he does have a pretty good voice for this sort of thing.
In any case, the track here is fair enough. I enjoy it and it's used effectively within the show, though it isn't my favorite either. I will make special mention of the synth strings about 1:35 into the song, they're so good.

Hoshi Kara no Tegami. Performed by Da Carpo.
So ugh, yeah I couldn't find out a single thing about this and the track itself is not really my cup of tea. More specifically it's like a floofy romantic track. Picture everything slightly blurry, everyone in white and a flower field. That's this song. It's for a very specific purpose and nothing else.

Isshun no Chance. Performed by Ichiro Mizuki.
Yes, Mr. Mazinger himself is part of the soundtrack and now brings the number of people who were involved with Space Battleship Yamato to 3. I don't have a lot to say about this track, it's good and Mizuki absolutely sells the song with his powerful voice.

Neros Gundan 4 Gundan. Performed Koorongi '73.
There's actually not a lot of information online about Koorongi '73 but essentially they provided back up vocals for a lot of Toei's shows up until 1990. Just to give you an idea they've done work on Gavan contributing to Super Hero Bokura no Gavan, Kamen Rider Super 1, Heart wa Hibana sa, Flashman. You get the idea.
Now the track... It's a little weird. It's very out of place compared to everything else, it would fit it a lot better with the prior series, Spielvan, but not so much here. It's very similar to the Waller no Theme.

Voltage Up! Performed by Kōji Kaya.
Oh. Oh yes. This is some good shit right here. This is one of my favorite tracks, it's so high energy and that guitar is sweet. It is criminally underused, but then again I would probably overuse the hell out of it if I was in charge.

Never Give-Up. Performed by Kōji Kaya.
Quite frankly I can't even remember this track being used, which means it was probably not that often. It's a nice enough track, slow, little jazzy.

Shunten! Yume no Senshi. Performed by Ichiro Mizuki.
Really great track, always great to hear during action scenes and hell, Mizuki is so on point there's almost no reason to point out that it's good.

Dash! Side Phantom. Performed by Kōji Kaya.
What a fantastic track, I put this up there right with Voltage up. Music has got a fantastic beat, the synth is right up my alley and you can tell Kaya is trying his damndest to belt out the lyrics. It's not smooth, about 2:32 in you can almost hear a pain as he strains before settling back down. Yet for some reason I find that incredibly charming, he's so into it, giving it his all and I appreciate that enthusiasm.



Oddly enough Metalder even has more music not on the OST because they use some licensed music such as Yuji Toriyama's City Scream and a number of T-square tracks including It's Magic and I'll never forget you. Which hey, I dig the tracks.

Final thoughts.

I already spoiled this so you know what to expect. Metalder is quite possibly one of the best-written toku shows I've ever seen. The only reason I think it's not more popular is that it's Metal Heroes. If this was Kamen Rider it would probably rival Black in popularity.
I hope that one day we can learn more about this show, I've heard so many stories regarding the show intending to run longer with Neros just being a pawn, to Topgunder having to be mercy killed by Metalder. I want to know if there's any truth to those and I want to know a lot more about the production. Get August Ragone on this.


I also want to note that while the show is dark, it still has humour, so it's not a complete downer in tone. Gotta have its silly fun stuff, after all.

But... it is still dark and mature with its themes so keep that in mind.

I want to thank Metallic fansubs for subbing this series, it's become a favorite and I simply cannot thank them enough. It's one person doing everything and bravo to them putting in all this hard work.