Tokkei Winspector Review.

Boy, I sure picked a hell of a time to review a police drama show.

Winspector is a series I had been planning to review as far back as 2016, but never got around to it for one reason or another. Part of the problem was I wasn't sure how to approach it given both it's structure and the nature of my reviews at the time which lacked episode recommendations- which I think is the best way to suggest something to someone, rather than just broad overviews.

But with that said, let's get into the show proper.

Contents.

Story and Characters.

SFX.

Subs.

Music.

Episode recommendations.

Final thoughts.

Story and Characters.

It's 1999 and technology is advancing at a rapid pace. With it, crime has become more advanced and sophisticated, the threats and need to combat them has called forth a new service combing all three first responders as the Metropolitan Police Special Emergency Unit: Winspector.

Ryoma Kagawa/Fire.

Portrayed by: Masaru Yamashita.

Ryoma is the main protagonist of the show and Captain of the Winspector team. He's clearly passionate about his work in helping others and is overall a kind person.

An early episode that shows off this side is ep. 8 in which three civilians start their own very basic version of Winspector. Though they do little more than rescue cats, Ryoma legitimately appreciates and encourages their efforts since it's still helping people.

Shortly there after in ep. 10 we see just how devoted Ryoma is. The suit he wears, the Cross Tector, only lasts for about five minutes. It's not an issue of energy running out like for an Ultra, but the suit puts a massive strain on the user and it becomes mentally and physically unbearable. Something that is exemplified quite well when his removes the helmet and a bucket of sweat falls out.

He desperately wants to cross the five minute limit on the Cross Tector suit, and has been training ridiculously hard to no avail. The suit is simply too harsh, yet Ryoma refuses to give up. Even if it's just a few seconds, its a few more precious seconds to save someone.

Why Ryoma is so passionate about saving people isn't really delved into at all until the last episodes, which is the one caveat it take with him. I wish there was more alluding to the why before the final two, but at the same time Winspector is not a show that focuses too much on the personal lives of its primary cast. It's more about the work with only a handful of exceptions.

Bikel.

Portrayed by: Kaoru Shinoda (Voice)

One of two robots in Winspector, Bikel is the primary source of comic relief in the series. He's a bit of a goofball and very accident prone compared to his more straitlaced brother. Bikel also has a surprising amount of dedicated episodes- more than any other cast member. These episodes tend to focus on his origins, the founding days of Winspector and his on going development as an AI. He also stands out among the other cast due to his distinctive Nagoya accent and dialect.

Walter.

Portrayed by: Seiichi Hirai (Voice)

Walter is pretty much the polar opposite of Bikel. If one zigs, the other zags. Walter is painfully by the books and super professional in every meticulous aspect of his duty. Very monotone and fairly well spoken.

Shunsuke Masaki.

Portrayed by: Hiroshi Miyauchi.

Founder and Commander of Winspector, he was inspired to develop the team six year prior by his close friend and partner, Masanobu Koyama, who was concerned at the increasing dangers of the world.

Koyama would end up sacrificing himself to prevent a bomb from taking out a train, leaving Masaki to carry on his vision.

Masaki by in large stays within headquarters or on the scene without direct involvement beyond giving orders and dispensing wisdom in brief intermittent thoughts, while also keeping everyone in-line and focused. Despite this, he's still fairly relaxed and pleasant.

There are however a few occasions when Masaki has taken it upon himself to get his hands dirty and intervenes in situations that are extremely dangerous or in instances where Ryoma is compromised.

What really makes his character work is Hiroshi Miyauchi, who I have stated is one of my favorite toku actors, as he always brings a great energy to his roles. At the point in time when Winspector was made he was the perfect fit for a mentor or high up leader type role. Masaki is a fairly basic character over all, but because of a few stand out episodes and Miyauchi's charisma, he ends up being a really great one.

Junko Fujino.

Portrayed by: Mami Nakanishi.

Junko is a detective and expert markswoman who handles more down to earth if not necessarily safe situations. Ranging from gathering Intel on a case (sometimes alongside Ryoma) to apprehending dangerous suspects single handedly where the main trio would be over doing it.

Hisako Koyama

Potrayed by: Sachiko Oguri.

Koyama is another member of Winspector in a rather unique position. In her daily life she runs a cafe while taking care of her little brother Ryōta, but occasionally she's called in by Masaki when a situation needs a more delicate touch. Whereas Junko is a bit more hands on, Hisako specializes in undercover work and trailing suspects.

Her connection to Winspector largely came about from her late father, Masanobu.

Demitasse.

Portrayed by: Issei Futamata (Voice)

A piece of equipment that is character in his own right, Demitasse is a smart ass mini robot disguised as a coffee can. He's capable of repairing the two bots in the field and transmitting footage wirelessly and a number of clandestine operations due to his small nature.

I really think people are either going to love or hate this bastard because he's almost always insulting everyone, but I kinda enjoy his banter, especially when taking the piss out of Bikel.

MADDOX

Portrayed by: Kazuhiko Kishino (Voice)

A highly intelligent AI connected to the all criminal databases within Japan and Interpol.

Yuko Kagawa.

Portrayed by: Yura Hoshikawa.

Ryoma's litter sister who lives quite a distance from her brother, mostly spending her time revitalizing the environment of an area affected by a chemical dump. She makes several appearances across the series and usually ends up kidnapped.

Story-wise Winspector is at first glance a bit similar to a Showa era Ultra Series. It's primarily an episodic show with mostly self-contained episodes barring two parters, wherein the focus is team dealing with the issues of the day. There's no overarching villain, no long continuous or reoccurring plot. The closest the series comes to that is Bikel's development and origins. Even the monsters of the week are more often human than a fantasy creature. There's cyborgs and mutants, but it almost always comes back to someone else that isn't as fantastical. I find this one the most appealing aspect which sets Winspector apart from other Toei series in this genre.

The show's brilliance lies is in it's ability to craft a captivating narrative just about every single episode. There's always a new villain or threat ranging from the absurd to the mundane levels of crime, which can be anything from the tragic story of a vigilante going on a rampage against a biker gang, to a killer bird trained to attack people covered in gold dust. About the only thing Winspector tends to avoid is mystical plots, with one episode in particular being the exception. The show skews more towards fringe science and Sci-fi with a lot of police and crime drama elements, which Toei has had decades of experience with.

The story types are what you would typically see around this time. Episodes with environmental themes, weird new age spiritual movements, out of control corporate greed, or science gone wrong somehow.
Winspector started filming in '89 and aired in '90  so a lot of those stories are carry overs from the 80s. If you've seen Kamen Rider Black or Maskman you've probably seen similar elements of how fiction of the time was simultaneously fearful and optimistic of the coming decade and this would repeat again in the lead up to 2000, no doubt as a result of the lost decade.

Winspector was perhaps a bit ahead of it's time being set in 1999, which just drives it further home. You'd see this hope and anxiety crop up again in GoGo-V and Timeranger, if albeit without the new age cult stuff, which was certainly a relic of the 1980s (although is still very much a problem in Japan, even today).

One thing I can say is even for the really out there crazy episodes, Winspector remained fascinating and entertaining no matter what.

While the series is largely devoid of a serialized story, there are still reoccurring thematics and character focused episodes. (though the later tends to be only one or two per character).

Thematically the most obvious is the rather unique perspective of treating most criminals as victims.

I know what you're thinking and no I'm not making the joke.

The human criminals are more often than not, sympathetic to some degree. Some are simply outright monsters, unapologetic or have severe control issues. But many fall into a morale grey area of having understandable motives for why they are pushed into difficult situations, usually via some societal ill.

You get glimpses into these people's lives and are able to understand how this could happen, even if in the end many of their actions are wrong. It's a sharp contrast to most toku shows where the antagonists are typically blown up by the end of the episode in most instances. I suppose that would be out of the question given the majority of them being human, but it also illustrates another point which is Winspector doesn't really ever aim to harm unless absolutely necessary, they are a rescue team first and foremost and that includes rescuing criminals from their own misguided actions, providing them with a chance to change or atone, something that becomes a key plot point by the end of the series.

On that note, they're also pretty damn critical of police brutality. Episode 31 in particular features a sorta riff on American law enforcement (and ironically robocop) as the FBI uses the same tech as Winspector and the result is little more than a psychopathic killing machine. We'll get back to that one in a bit when I talk about specific episodes.

Other episodes are critical of police in general lacking due diligence or acting impulsively rather than correctly or in a timely manner. In a way, Winspector poises the question of why are Police so different from other emergency services when they should be one and the same? Which boy is this topical.

Curiously, the show is largely devoid of anything overly specific to Japan's own police, with only the vague notions here and there.

But perhaps the best way to demonstrate the writing of Winspector is by talking about the writers. The series was written by a multitude of people among them: Noboru Sugimura (head writer), Jun'ichi Miyashita, Susumu Takahisa, Nobuo Ogizawa, Kunio Fujii, Kyōko Sagiyama, Takashi Yamada, Ken'ichi Araki, Yoshichika Shindō, and Takahiko Masuda.

If any of those names sound familiar, it's because most of them went on to worked for Flagship and write for the Biohazard/Resident Evil series starting with 2. So if you've ever wondered why a lot of the batshit crazy plot elements in Resident Evil felt like some Saturday morning kids show stuff, they basically were. And yes, you absolutely see aspects within Winspector that would appear in RE. No opera leeches, though.

SFX

So one of the more off beat aspects of Winspector is it's action scenes. Winspector doesn't normally feature fights and combat the way most other Tokusatsu shows do, as it's very rare for there to ever be a threat large enough to require an actual brawl. Most of the show focuses on chases, hostage situations, tracing calls, detective work and suspense there of.

Perfect for tyrants.

Sure, there will a guy with an M2 flash every now and then to provide explosions, or a super car with guns. But as noted, the humans are too squishy for anyone to actually bother punching.

This might be a bit of a turn off for some- but with so many shows focusing on typical fights anyway, it's refreshing to see one focus on other areas while still providing a lot of the familiar effects. There's still action, shootout, big booms, sparks, lasers, they're just presented differently. When a robot or something does show up that can provide more traditional combat, it's special due to how rare it is.

Aesthetically I think the design of everything looks wonderful. There's a nice balance of uniformity between the main trio while also being just different enough.

The overall appearance of the three mains suits are also very reminiscent of the prior Metal Hero series Jiban, right down to the visor that closes over the eyes.  In fact the series was actually presented as a sequel to Jiban in the Philippines.

Fire's transformation is also unique, requiring use of his personal vehicle to equip the Fire suit, rather than a henshin device we're so accustomed to. The detail showing all the various layers of the suit is also really fascinating to me, particularly the under-suit which is it self similar to of the Space Sheiff's. It's always interesting to me how much the Metal Hero franchise varied wildly in appearance compared to Kamen Rider and Sentai, yet kept similar aesthetic beats in certain ways.

The actual design of Fire's main suit looks to have had a lot of thought put into it's use. His shoulders are more armored than the others and are asymmetrical, the left having a spaulder, while the right is free to fully extend the arm outward in combat. His shoulders have vents cuts in them, a feature Bikel and Walter lack, likely due to the fact Fire is prone to overheating.

Meanwhile Walter and Bikel are perhaps the most similar, yet there's still many differences between the two.

Sure, some are obvious like the helmet visors and torso, but even their shoulders and waists are different from one another. There's little nuances that set each suit apart and I love that attention to detail.

I think they did a wonderful job visually indicating the purpose of these two. Walter has a signal like design as a pseudo belt, beacon and strobe lights upon his helmet, and there's a turbine on his back to further accentuate his flight motif.

You see Bikel's handle bars, the tire and the overall rounded design and you know he's a ground based character. He even has headlights on his helmet.

Some of the design concepts I don't believe were fully thought out. While Walter is able to fly, Bikel was intended to use the tire built into his chest as his primary means of transportation, and they do mange to use it a few times...very awkwardly.

Early on, Walter would end up carrying Bikel almost everywhere, since I suppose it was easier to just do wire work up to a point. But that clearly got in the way of their intent to have a flight based robot and and ground based one, so eventually Bikel just gets a motorcycle to fix the issue.

Bike on Bike action.

Likewise, new gadgets and weapons are introduced over the course of the show, handled rather well by having an R&D department invent the new gear, most of it going to Fire with exception to Bikel's Bike.

Initially the three main heroes each have their own weapons and gear.

Fire the MaxCalibur sword.

Bikel the Bi-spears- which are large batton/handle bar like weapons stored on his back and later used to operate his bike.

Walter has the Di-slider wings which grants him flight and doubles as a shield.

All three have access to a multi-pack, which provides a large array of tools from oxygen tanks to chemical based extinguishers.

Nice touch with the colored bands.

They all have a Daytirc M2, a laser pistol with various settings from dealing with fires, welding, and stunning people. Though the welding function is almost never used, ep. 14 being the only time I can recall.

Also seldom seen was the Clapper Unit; a grapnel/canister launcher and the Spin Claw; a claw/drill combo. These are used very sporadically across the series.

And of course, HandWrapper, which are keyless handcuffs that phase around the suspects hands.

Among the first new developments by R&D would be Bikel's previously mentioned motorcycle the WincChaser and Fire's transforming Win/Firesquad car, equipped with a multitude of devices and abilities ranging from laser cannons and a large chemical extinguisher.

I personally love the model built for this thing, it's captivating to watch.

But the crowning achievement of R&D is The Gigastreamer, a modified version of the Spin Claw with a minigun like attachment for firing a laser in bursts. This is pretty much the only major offensive weapon in the show and it's more often used for clearing debris or busting down walls.

There is one more thing about the visuals that does need to be addressed. You may notice upon watching the series that for a good while Masaki's uniform has some...interesting patches.

Speaking of topical.

The production team simply took a uniform from another production that finished up, a military historical drama, but failed to remove the insignia from a German SS uniform. Oops.

They thankfully change the patches in ep. 15 and later give him another uniform of just a black button down shirt with a Winspector patch, alternating between the two.

But boy, I bet it was weird as hell when this series aired dubbed in Germany in '92.

Subs.

For this review I used WeabooShogun/Sailor Otaku's subtitles. It's how I watched the show years ago and how I've re-watched it now and it how I suggest watching it because they're frankly the only subtitles that are good. Having said that, I need to address the elephant that's in the room, which is Winspector being released upon Toei's Tokusatsu youtube channel.  Even though I usually suggest going for a legit release if at all possible (I paid around $120 for V3's DVD set after all) I cannot in good conscious suggest that channel for anything. I might do a smaller post talking about the issues with that entire publicizing method, but primarily one of the biggest issues is with subtitles. Toei's always has just straight up bad quality when they handle these things themselves and their YT channel is no different. That's not even getting into the subs past the first two episodes being community driven and the possibility of the subs being copied from fan groups with no credit. (Just as I'm getting ready to post this, Youtube has announced they're ending community captions, so yeah you don't have a choice now unless you know Japanese.)

Mertopokita.

Primarily what my issue with the Winspector subs from Toei is the lack of a distinctive voice coming through. When we talk about subtitle issues we usually tend to focus on incorrect translations, inconsistencies, misspellings, grammar, those sorts of things because those are the most common. But we normally don't talk about the ability to give a character a notable voice through subtitles, and what I mean by that is the ability to read someone's personality or character traits within the subtitles. What words are used- not just being correct translation wise or localized sensibly. But do the words on screen fit the character's personality, the situation, are they typed in a certain way or exaggerated to give the impression of an accent?

It can be a very tricky thing to accomplish because it requires the person to be familiar with various forms of colloquialism in both languages and in some instances it's just flat out impossible to properly translate. Winspector on the other hand is one of the examples where it's fairly blatant that there's something going on. Bikel has a very thick almost cartoonish Nagoya accent and dialect. It's very obvious his voice and word usage is different from the rest of the cast even if you're not sure why. It's a key part of his character, even being brought up several times within the show. The fansubs interpret Bikel's voice with sort of a New Jersey accent as the Nagoya equivalent.

Toei made zero attempts at any sort of accent within the subs. They are painfully devoid of personality and nuance and not just for Bikel. The word usage overall is very flat and that's really a problem with all of their shows uploaded to YouTube. There is an egregious lack of care from every angle and I cannot suggest watching Winspector any other way than with the WeabooShogun/SailorOtaku subs.
I won't say that they're perfect. What subs are? There's one of two times I felt the choices in terms could be re-worded better for the sake of flow and there are some changes I don't get- like the HandWrapper is simply referred to as a Handcuff, and some... well some are just really poorly dated references.

Okay, this one borders on Amazon's meme subs.

If this was to get a Bluray/DVD release they would require some tweaking, let's put it that way.
Also I really wish the in show songs outside the opening and ending were subbed, but it's not a deal breaker- subbing songs is a pain in the ass, so I don't blame anyone for not taking it on.
But otherwise the fansubs are fully translated, they're timed well, they're not overly literal, hard to translate phrases are interpreted quite well, and they had some love and thought put into it. That's far far more than I can say for what's on youtube.

Music.

Music it where I've very much of two minds on Winspector. But first I want to talk about the positives and go through the main soundtrack.
Winspector's main OST primarily lands in a magical moment where synth, electronic drums, guitars and traditional string instruments were all used in productions. A good chunk of the soundtrack has that quintessential late 80s early 90s vibe that I just absolutely dig. We also have the vocals of Takayuki Miyauchi and Ichirou Mizuki, which is just an insane amount of talent being thrown at this.

The opening is performed by the aforementioned Takayuki Miyauchi. It's an incredibly solid piece that sets the tone for the best parts of the OST. I love Toku shows that have high energy openings and Winspector absolutely delivers on that front while giving a taste of things to come. The first few seconds build with a funky guitar, a piano and double bass, until right at the 11 second mark a bell chimes and the violins, electric drum and vocals kick in. Fantastic way to start things off.

Other tracks  highly suggest seeking out are Fire Hurricane and Yuusha Winspector, both performed by Ichirou Mizuki, and Let's Go! Fire Squad by Takayuki Miyauchi, which is one of my absolute favorites.
I even like the ending track, Kyou no Ore kara Ashita no Kimi e, which is delightfully silly and charming, it's the sorta thing that makes you feel like a kid.

The other tracks I find to just be okay, they have certain segments that I find to be highlights and are often used in the show itself, not to mention some great instrumental versions of the main tracks that sound like a Mega Drive was used to replace the vocals. Weirdly there's not a whole lost of usage of the vocal tracks within the show beyonf one or two times. Hell, I'm honestly not entirely confident that some weren't simply relegated to the album and never used in show, perhaps being a royalty issue.

The BGM on the other hand is where things are more... iffy. Aside from a few pieces, Winspector lacks in the memorability and originality department. The tracks I most often recall hearing are actually from another Metal Hero show (and my personal favorite) Metalder. Specifically the segments "Tatakai" "Shi" "Mai" and "Hangeki" which are used A LOT in the show, and they are great. Metalder has a fantastic score that's rather grandiose for a toku show, especially a Toei production. But it does have an air of... I suppose tackiness to reuse tracks from another production just two years prior. I have a feeling Winspector may have had some problems in the music department overall, be it budgetary, time, or both. Given that this was about a year before the stock market inflated and two before the bubble outright burst, I wouldn't be surprised. Considering they also got both Mizuki and Miyauchi, that's probably where alot of the money went, leading to some corners having to be cut.

Hell, one of the original songs "Winspector Action" doesn't even sound completed. It's got a great vibe to it, but the only lyrics are "Winspector, Fire, Walter, Bikel." yet the song isn't classified as lyrical for Toei, the track was even omitted from the Metal Hero compilation album.

Just to clarify, Winspector does have original BGM, quite a bit in fact, composed by Seiji Yokoyama, who also worked on Metalder. But the work here is extremely atmospheric and short, which makes for some decent chase/trailing music within the show, but it never goes beyond that. The only track that really sticks out is Seika, and that's really only due to the frequency it's used at the end of episodes. Every other background track I listened to that I found memorable came from Metalder. It doesn't help that most of those original tracks tend to blend together, such as Shousou, which sounds very much like Shuugeki from Metalder. And yes, the latter is also used in Winspector. Shousou also has an opening riff that's very similar to another Metalder track, Yokoku Ongaku, which is yet again recycled for Winspector, both being used in the eye catches.

I don't hate this per say and the music at least flows well. Nor is it necessary for BGM of all things to be the sort one would listen to on its own. But I can't overlook it for a review. I didn't even listen to every single track between the two shows, but I can assure you there are more. Chousen and Hangeki two others I recall hearing reused.

Although I can say at the very least Winspector doesn't repeat tracks to a nauseating degree like Spielban, nor does it appear to rip off anything like Thriller or arguably The US Transformers end credits like it's predecessor Jiban did.

Episode recommendations.

Charles Bronson does his best William Dafoe.

ep. 13 Ryouma is Dead!? & 14 Reaper Moss strikes back!!

W: Susumu Takaku.

D: Kaneharu Mitsumura.

This is a solid set of episodes and the first truly excellent of the bunch, it hits all the right notes.
The plot is a little out there, basically a crime boss wants to monopolize a hybrid of a rare vitamin rich plant that has since become extinct in the wild, expecting the hardy plant to become a precious source of nutrients due to famine brought on by Climate change. Kinda feels like I'll be reading about that in the news come tomorrow.

The drama is also really good in this episode. Ryoma barely escapes when his patrol car explodes after a car chase, leaving him in critical condition. Bikel isn't much better off, blaming himself for Ryoma's injuries due to his inability to make sharp turns and keep up during the chase. The episode uses these events to introduce several new pieces of gear for the team: a new specialized vehicle for Ryoma the Winsquad/FireSquad, a proper bike for Bikel (Winchaser) to negate his shortcomings, and finally the introduction of that smart ass Demitasse.

So much happens that it feels like it just breezes by, making Ryoma's sudden off screen recovery at the end is the only iffy aspect in the first part. Well, that and a hilarious model car.

Respect to the set builder, there's a lot of great detail put in here that's easy to miss.

The second part is largely action packed with some more police work, such as tracing a call and trailing a suspect. Bikel ends up torn apart at the Villains HQ but is still functional, allowing Demitasse to repair Bikel and absolutely wreck the criminals hideout from within before the episode ends with a great car chase.

There's even some really good camera shots showing the inside area of the Winsquad in ways we never see.

Ep 16. I love you, Walter.

W:Noboru Sugimura.

D:Michio Konishi.

This is the one and only Walter focused episode and I felt I should include it if only for that reason. It's a charming episode about a little girl named Hiromi who has a crush on Walter. She loses her handmade Walter doll at a meet & greet for the two robots, so Junko suggests Walter return the item as a nice little surprise.

I remember when I first watched this episode I was a bit hesitant on how this episode could play out, thinking it could go very wrong unintentionally.

But it's actually really sweet and avoids any creepy undertones. Walter being the most forward on the show really makes the narrative work, since seeing him all awkward and not really knowing how to deal with the situation of having a fan is both adorable and humorous.

Of course, things eventually things go south and Walter and Hitomi are captured by two goons that try to disassemble Walter to sell on the black market. Walter has a self destruct to prevent anyone from ever using Winspector tech, so it becomes a race for the rest of the team to get him and Hiromi out of harms way.

ep. 23. Dad's comic postcard.

W: Kyoko Sagiyama.

D: Takeshi Ogasawara.

This is probably my favorite Sagiyama episode because it's fairly creepy with plenty of horror elements. There's even some commentary on corporate influence and accountability.

The basic jist is a boy's father (Aikawa) goes missing- or so the boy says. Aikawa's wife says differently, having been informed by her husband's place of employment, Bem Chemical, that he was simply called away on a sudden business trip to Hokkaido. There's quite a bit of investigative work by Ryoma and Junko, following up on the story with Bem Chemical where things just seem a little too convenient. Searching the road where Aikawa was last seen, they find an unsent postcard addressed to his son. Several other incidents occur of people in the mountains being attacked by flesh eating mutated plants, and possible illegal dumping by the corporation being the cause. 
The way Winspector draws out the suspects is also a little twisted and brilliant. They send a fake post card to the boy, making it look like Aikawa sent it and would be returning to the lab at 4PM. When the child brags about the card at the facility, this causes both of the men responsible for Aikawa's disappearance  to head to his location and see how he could have possibly escaped. Winspector trail the two men and catch them red-handed trying to burn the truck Aikawa was being kept in- his life slowly sucked away by the mutated plants he was unknowingly transporting before learning too much.

Again, very twisted episode that reminds me a lot of Resident Evil. I have to wonder if this episode influenced RE, because it feels like a template when the writers went on to work for Flagship. You can definitely see aspects of Umbrella and Plant 42/43 within this episode.

Ep. 24 My Pico.
W: Yasuko Kobayashi
D: Takeshi Ogasawara

When a sniper begins attacking a biker gang, a mysterious girl named Megumi is the only witness the crime, but she refuses to talk. Junko, who is familiar with the girl, attempts to coax it out of her to no avail. But after her parakeet, Pico, is killed by some bikers, a second shooting follows not long after where once again Megumi is present. Things get a lot more suspicious and complicated from then on, with eyes on her friendly but cagey neighbor; Hisao Yuasa, who is found to have connections to several of the bikers shot.

Hisao's story is a tragic one and the episode gets surprisingly dark near the end during a standoff. Hisao is a former gang member and was going after his old crew in revenge for killing Megumi's father in a Hit-and-run. He couldn't bear the guilt and is seeking atonement in his own way.
A nice subtle touch here is when he's confronted, he's more willing to harm himself than anyone else, which meshes with his desire to only take out the guilty party.

Ep. 25 The Robot that Cried in the rain.
W: Nobuo Ogizawa.
D: Kaneharu Mitsumura.

This is the first Bikel focused episode and it's a somber- perhaps even heartbreaking episode.
Essentially, Bikel takes a liking to a woman he meets in the rain one day, giving her an umbrella as a kind gesture. The meeting having a profound effect on him.

Elsewhere, a director of a laboratory, Takayama, is nearly killed when his car explodes. Work proceeds fast on a suspect, as there's traces of a special jet fuel at the scene that was developed by a Mitsou Kirimoto and was recently fired from the lab. It seems the motive was revenge for Takayama publishing Kirimoto's work as his own.

By nightfall Winspector has tracked Kirimoto's whereabouts, but in the ensuing conflict Bikel is heavily injured by an explosive. Although he is repaired, he maintains a strange dreamlike state, hallucinating the woman he met a day prior, but is otherwise perfectly functional.

However, things are no so clean cut and Takayama has yet another attempt on his life that puts him in hospital. Ryoma and Junko investigate Kirimoto possibly having an accomplice and discover he has a little sister, Mayumi, who just so happened to work at a flower shop before suddenly quitting the day prior and is in fact the woman Bikel met in the rain. Fearing that another attempt on Takayama's life may be at hand, Winspector heads to the hospital and thwart the effort, but when Mayumi is on the run it's Bikel that confronts her and he is unable to do anything due to his state of mind, completely freezing.

The resulting aftermath does not go well for Bikel.

Bikel is sent into a depression, torn between the woman and his job, struggling to put her out of his mind and win back the trust of his friends.

He gets his chance when Mayumi take's Takayama's daughter hostage and demands he commit suicide in front of her.

Bikel's confrontation with Mayumi is the highlight of the episode for me, because we learn her motivation, which I think exemplifies the grey area I've talked about for the antagonists.

Takayama not only stole research for a new type of jet fuel, but did so with the intent of selling it in the development of weapons. It raises the question of which is truly worse. It doesn't justify the actions taken by the Kirimoto siblings, especially not Mayumi kidnapping and threatening Takayama's innocent daughter. But Takayama is undeniably- no matter how indirectly, responsible for a number of lives taken due to his greed. It's not the deepest or most complex scenario presented, but it is more than what a lot of child focused shows would portray.

I think what really helps the episode is Bikel himself, if only by virtue of him being a robot. I've seen other shows pull similar plots that simply come off as weird- if not somehow the most unbelievable aspect in a genre that regularly features giant monsters and space wizards. But Bikel not being human allows the audience to more readily believe that he could have fallen in love in a short amount of time and been hurt by this, that this is simply how his mind has developed (Along with the accident). Like the morality questions raised, it's not the most engaging and I'll admit it could use more weight and depth before it's crescendo ending, but it is still good and very well might tug a bit.
Speaking of, I greatly appreciate the downer ending. If this was more modern, they probably would have made a joke and had Bikel being fine at the end "Oh well, plenty of fish in the sea." or some such. But they don't, he's distraught.

And I think that's both good from a story perspective and even as a lesson for those watching. Some days don't end on a happy note.

ep. 26 The Star-crossed Girl's Journey.

W: Takashi Yamada.
D: Kaneharu Mitsumura.

Yeah, four in a freaking row, they were just on the ball with quality writing in the 20s.

This episode is very solid and one of the best if you enjoy plots that focus more on down to earth crime centric teleplays. There's a lot of undercover work in this episode and lots of parties are at play. Hisako goes undercover and investigates a prolific businessman (Shuzo Nagahama) who is suspected of murder and drug trafficking.  There's two hitmen from Hong Kong who want Nagahama dead, the rest of Winspector is running police protection on him because of said hitmen, and Sachi, the daughter of the man Nagahama is suspected of killing, also wants him dead. Even Demitasse provides some help by recording some incriminating conversations of Nagahama being blackmailed.

There is a lot going on and it is very good at playing up tensions regarding Hisako's role in gathering information and Sachi's frustrations over  her father's death officially being ruled as an accidental drowning.

If I do have one complaint it's one that's also a strength of the episode and that is Hisako. Having her be a focus point in an episode about a young girl losing her father in a criminal act is brilliant given her own history. However, she also doesn't really do much and some of the choices with her are a bit weird. Her cover is jinxed about half way after a suspicious Nagahama does some background checks and it cuts short some of the interesting things at play. Plus I really have to wonder how good your ability to be an undercover agent is if you're known to the criminal underworld.  Additionally, in the last quarter of the episode she's outright ineffectual. Hisako just gets pushed around despite the fact that she's supposed to- again, be a highly specialized agent but can't disarm one sloppy coke head with a knife.

Regardless, there's still plenty of really good things that work in this episode beautifully, and it's one of the best for those that like procedural drama. There's even some solid stunt work near the end involving a car chase in which the speed can't drop or else a bomb will go off.

Ep. 30 Mama... Mama, Help Me

W:Ken'ichi Araki

D: Takeshi Ogasawara

 

A toddler, Emi, is left alone just for a sec and and rolls away in her stroller, only to be hit by a car. The driver was a scientist at a biotech research lab currently working on cell manipulation. The man took the severely injured Emi and was able to save her with a new experimental ray designed for the application of rapid  growth in plants, but also had medical applications for repairing damaged cells and those who have suffered physical trauma that would otherwise be unsavable though normal means. However, the ray is flawed, causing the plants to never stop aging unusually fast and eventually rotting. The same also applies for humans. Emi escapes and begins aging at an accelerated rate and goes through several different periods of life in a short amount of time, which also makes it difficult for Winsepctor to track the missing child. There's scenes were Emi is freaking out having to grab larger and larger clothes as they grow out of their current wear- all while still maintaining the mentality of toddler. They play this situation 100% straight which is what makes it so disturbing. Bravo to the actresses in this episode, they sell how horrifying this would actually be, especially when a grown Emiko is confronted by her mother.

The episode eventually turns into a race against time as not only is Emi's life in danger as she reaches an elderly stage, but the only possible way to save her is with the device that caused this to happen in the first place, which has been stolen by two rouge employees trying to cover up the incident.

Ep. 31 The sorrow of the Strongest Robot.

W: Noboru Sugimura.

D: Kaneharu Mitsumura.

This episode starts off as a strong riff on American police tactics and the tendency to glorify and even prefer excessively violent tactics. Winspector's R&D had designed a third robot, Brian, for use overseas with the FBI. Upon returning for yearly maintenance, they're horrified to see Brian has has many of his components replaced, mostly with heavy armor and weapons. Even his brain has been reworked and his safety systems removed so he can go all out.

Brian isn't really even capable of much more than making Swiss cheese out of humans.

Most concerning is that due to the lack of any restrictions and the addition of upgrades, Brian is a lot stronger than any of the Winspector units. So, you wanna take a guess what happens in this episode?  If you guess hacked and goes apeshit, you get a no prize.

Curiously, while Brian goes on his rampage, he only targets motorbikes. This heads down a darker path in the episode. Although it's only mentioned as happening off screen, one of the civilians attacked by Brian dies from their injuries. This causes Masaki to outright order Brian to be destroyed. Bikel and Walter beg the commander not to go through with the order. After all, Brian is being controlled and he's their brother. Even then, Masaki is hesitant, saying that Police are meant to protect, not kill innocents, and there simply isn't enough time.

However, Brian is so heavily armored that actually taking him down is a problem in itself. They once again use this as a means to introduce a new toy weapon for Fire, the Gigastreamer, which integrates with Fire's MaxCalibur. What's interesting about this is it doesn't actually function properly.  The body for the weapon currently can't withstand the heat and recoil from firing and R&D is still working on a cooling system. Upon an early demonstration, the barrel melts before a shot can even exit.

Although work on the new weapon is slow, head of R&D Prof. Asahina, is able to help on the case in another way, by providing a suspect behind the hacking. His protege, Yuishi Hirosaki, was a brilliant man who worked at an Electrical engineering institute until his young daughter, Yukari, was killed in a hit and run with a motorcycle.

Hirosaki is probably one of the best villains in Winspector. He acts like a man who really has went off the deep end, who has witnessed the horrific event of their child dying in front of them and it utterly broke him. At one point he has Brian kidnap Asahina's daughter Mitsuki so she can "keep Yukari company in heaven" and that's just the tip of the iceberg of his insanity.

Ultimately while they are able to track Hirosaki down, Brian puts up a good fight. The new weapon is completed as the Gigastreamer and is able to incapacitate Brian, if albeit with some dangerous repercussions on Fire as well.

By the way, a detail I love here is that the GigaStreamer was in it's drill/claw configuration when the test occurred. When the finish version is introduced it has a removable multi barrel attachment not unlike a minigun, hence the cooling issue being solved.

But during this issuing confrontation, Hirosaki makes his escape. Brian finally comes to his senses and apologizes for all that's happened before he explodes, ending this episode on a cliffhanger.

Oh and I'm pretty sure Brian's helmet is just Mad Gallant's with some extra stuff glued on, so that's the fate of that prop.

ep. 32 Onslaught Against the Police Station

W: Noboru Sugimura.

D: Kaneharu Mitsumura.

A follow up to the prior episode. Fire is still having trouble with the Gigastreamer, the weapon's recoil is still a lot to handle and it increases with each shot, making it difficult even at short distances. But the biggest concern this episode is the possibility of retaliation from Hirosaki. He's clearly shown himself to be vengeful and he has the means to carry it out. Most worrisome is that Hirosaki was one of the people responsible for the Metropolitan Police's computer and security systems.
Sure enough, he's able to by pass most of their security measures and does so to steal the Winsquad. Although he is caught on camera and Winspector attempts to stop him, only Walter and Bikel are able to keep up with his speed.  GPS on the car is cut, radio communication to Bikel and Walter is cut, and those two are quickly subdued by Hirosaki himself.
Hirosaki's plan in this episode is actually a brilliant one. The theft behind the WinSquad wasn't for it offensive capabilities, or the suit which only Ryoma can wear. It's because it has direct access to MADDOX. MADDOX itself has direct access to all Metropolitan Police computers which in turn have access to computers within the Tokyo Metro, unleashing utter chaos.

The episode continues to escalate when MADDOX is able to pinpoint the hack, but is shutdown before relaying the information. However the information is still logged in MADDOX's data-banks. This leads to one of my favorite scenes where Masaki has to break into MADDOX's data center and manually remove the files while also shutting MADDOX down. The room is heavily secure with multiple turrets set to shoot anyone that doesn't take the proper steps before entering.

Masaki gets all sorts of fucked up and it's one of the bloodier moments of the show. Miyauchi really shines as the commander in this episode, but he's not the only one.

Ryoma gets a fantastic moment confronting Hirosaki , while using the goddamn Gigastreamer without the suit on. Additionally, Hirosoki really ramps up the crazy by revealing he's decided technological advancement itself is the problem, so he wants to destroy all technology and has created a sophisticated AI to do so.

Boomer final form.

The performances in this episode are top notch. It's almost pure action throughout, constantly escalating the danger until it ultimately comes to an end with the dramatic confrontation and an ironic ending where Hirosaki is undone by his own plan. The AI recognizes itself as technology and begins destroying itself along with it's creator, before Fire finishes it off for good.

ep. 36. Bikel's Papa.

W: Kyōko Sagiyama.

D: Takeshi Ogasawara.

Obviously another Bikel focused episode and one that delvs into his creator, giving a look behind the development of the technology used by the team and why Bikel has the personality he does.

Before Winspector was fully established, they had multiple OS' for their robots up for consideration until it came down to just two: One from Dr. Asahina, and another from a Dr. Arai.
Ultimately Misaki's decision was influenced by an engineer building Bikel, Nishida (Actually portrayed by Shinoda Kaoru, Bikel's VA) who felt Arai's "Pure Function" system AI was simply too emotionless and robotic. Sure, emotion can be a hindrance if one is scared. But it also lacked empathy and bravery. An AI that calculates a success rate as low may not necessarily bother putting itself at risk to save others.

Unsurprisingly, Dr. Arai serves as the antagonist of this episode. Enraged that his system was rejected, he finally has the means to hack into Bikel and causes him to rob a bank, threatening Winspector that it will happen again unless his system is implemented. Attempts to block the signal and contain Bikel are pointless because he was already pre-set to escape, all while Arai is on the run.
Nishida meanwhile hears about the incident on the news and comes out of retirement with all the necessary tools to counteract Arai's signal.

This is an overall nice episode for Bikel, and the background information is good. But I will admit there is one frustrating scence near the end. Arai and Nishida essentially keep overriding each other's signal on Bikel, and as enjoyable as the concept of him being pulled between the two can be... it ultimately comes down to two guys with remote controls pointing intensely while Masaki, Junko, Walter and Ryoma are in fact present, just standing around doing nothing but watch the scene unfold.

Any one ugh wanna do anything here? Maybe the sharp shooter woman who always shoots things out of people's hands could do that now?

Ep. 38 The Chosen Man.

W: Nobuwo Oogizawa

D: Kaneharu Mitsumura

After a body with micro film is discovered, a mystery unravels of people being targeted by a shadowy almost cult like group bent on carrying out a mass murder on citizens they find undesirable, people they feel clog up the gene pool and waste Japan's resources.
Hisako plays a big role in this episode, as she serves as undercover protection for a former classmate, Matsushita, who is being targeted by the group. This is, like many of Hisako's roles, a mixed bag of enjoyable tense drama at the cost of making her appear ill-fit for her job. But the rest of the episode makes up for it which some surprisingly disturbing implications.

As the plot unfolds, a twisted conspiracy of former politicians, high ranking officials, and overall elite people ordering the genocidal attacks is revealed to make up the cult. The mastermind behind this group is Toyo Aoki, an elderly man with nothing solid known about him. Rumors suggest he played a major role shaping politics and business in post war Japan behind the scenes, and that he is an incredibly deranged nationalist.
The ending sequence of this episode is short but sweet, with good action, a wonderful backing track, and one of the few times Fire is shown to be truly angry at the people he's taking down.
 

For such a simple episode it's surprisingly heavy with it's message. It might not come close to the same political bite something like Return of Ultraman's 33rd episode has, but it definitely has it's heart in the right place and remains one of my favorite episodes of the series.

ep. 40 & 41 Phantom of the Great Seto Bridge  pt. 1&2.
W: Noboru Sugimura.

D: Michio Konishi.

If you liked ep. 23 written by Sagiyama, you'll probably really enjoy these by Sugimura. Much like that episode, this pair carries a strong Resident Evil aura in the plot, with the addition of having many procedural elements.

It starts with Winspector being called in by the director of a chemical company after an unknown assailant threatens the company with extortion and the reprecution of mass chaos. The mystery man has somehow gotten their hands on an incredibly dangerous chemical that combusts when it comes into contact with fibers. A sample sent by the perpetrator and several prior incidents of people bursting into flames confirming this claim.

Attempts to trace the caller fail and an exchange of diamonds is agreed upon by the two groups as Winspector lies in wait, however it's clear there's far more going on when the suspect is mildly injured and melts into a puddle a goo. The story takes a turn into horror and a conspiracy develops involving the company director having knowledge of the suspect and the bizarre incidents, deepening the mystery of what is really going on. Further answers only lead to more questions involving an injured company researcher, a missing boy, stolen documents and a strange cloning accident during a break-in.

Ultimately what matters is a thief, Murata, got a heaping dose of an experimental liquid intended for cloning during the break-in, and he sought revenge for the trauma it has caused.  There's some pretty damn creepy scenes where we see Murata undergo the cloning process as another one of him emerges from his body, only to stumble around in a zombie like state, as the original gets more an more weak with each clone birthed.

It also looks like something else is going on.

Near the end of the story, the Clones begin performing suicide attacks by pulling the pins of grenades and simply grabbing ahold of Fire. It all leads to a confrontation with a desperate and dying Murata and an intense knife fight to cap off an amazing two parter.
Really the one and only complaint I have about these episodes is that at one point Junko is kidnapped and while she is shown to be very resourceful in escaping, she at one point falls right the hell off of Takamatsu Castle (the one in Shikoku) and they never actually explain how she's alive or even have her injured. She just kinda shows up at the end of the episode.
But that is a minor complaint in this phenomenal set of episodes. The mystery, horror and action elements are incredible and these would definitely rank top in a list just for how solid most everything is executed.

ep. 42. Turn Coat Investigator.

W:Susumu Takaku.

D:Takeshi Ogasawara.

A former police investigator turned terrorist, Kagesawa, has returned to Japan with plans for a miniature Nuke. However a rift within his cell has caused several other members to take his family hostage in an attempt to obtain the plans solely for their selves.

This episode does a lot with very little and keeps things relatively simple yet fascinating in doing so. About eighty percent of this episode takes place in a single location; Kagesawa's house, with his son, wife and eventually Ryoma when he gets caught up during the investigation. It is tense and has fantastic pacing and escalation.

The only faults I can find in this episode is a twist with Kagesawa you can see a mile away, and a weird aside where Ryoma tries to infiltrate the house as a civilian- handing over his badge, gun, and handwrapper to Junko (Never mind his leather jacket has a HUGE Winspector patch) It really feels like a pointless scene because within a minute he's knocked out, wakes up and admits to being part of Winspector. It's such a small and quick part of the episode that it almost has no barring good or bad apart from just how incredibly bizarre it is.

Of all the episodes I've touched upon involving crime show elements, this is perhaps the most relatively grounded episode of the series with only ep. 26 coming close. Aside from Bikel, Walter and Dematasse being present and a very, very short segment of Ryoma suiting up, there's not a lot of fantastical elements like cloning or cyborgs. It's almost a straight up thriller relying entirely on it's claustrophobic setting.

ep. 48 & 49 Fall of the Rescue Police! & Fly Forth into the Sky of Hope.

W:Noboru Sugimura.

D:Takeshi Ogasawara.

The last two episodes of the show and a two part at that.

The first part focuses primarily on two aspects: One, Winspector is separating from the Toyko Metropolitan Police department and joining a more global effort in France as a new division of INTERPOL, handling everything from unique international crimes to natural disasters. That is of course with exception to Commander Masaki, who is to remain behind and handle a domestic replacement for Winspector.
The second is that Ryoma begins having headaches and panic attacks for seemingly unknown reasons, which leads into us finally get backstory on Ryoma and why he joined Winspector in the first place.
During a visit to his sister Yuko- who's flower garden has finally started to bloom, they visit the family grave where we learn the two lost their parents at a young age in a house fire. Their father managed to get Yuko outside to Ryoma, but returned back for their mother only to die in the inferno. For most of their lives, they're the only family one another has had, and Ryoma relocating to France means she'll be all alone, which weighs heavily on him.

The rest of 48 is mostly a clip show with original scenes interspersed between them, usually with supporting cast characters that haven't been seen in a long time just so there's one final send off.

I know a lot of people don't like clipshows and neither do I for the most part, but I do think this is one of the better ones. There's enough original content here to make it worthwhile, plus doing a clip show this late into a series allows for a sweeter look back. You tend to appreciate how far you've come at nearly 50 episodes.

In the final stretch of the episode, a fire breaks out at a film studio and Winspector is called in. Ryoma suffers a mental break while trying to rescue a child- the stress of the suit and his own anxiety causing a hallucination before passing out, ending the episode.

Episode 49 picks up with Ryoma in hospital. He's fine considering he spent a whopping 20 minutes in the suit. But it will be a week before he's discharged and he can't suit up anytime soon, less he risk more permanent or even fatal injury.

However, Ryoma begins questioning the stress and his mysterious headaches, as these issues began before learning about the transfer. Upon request, Masaki and Junko check Ryoma's apartment, discovering a small transmitter. Further investigation leads down a rabbit hole of a research institute where the device was intended to treat mental disorders, only for the research to stop due to the device being too easy to exploit with side effects ranging from hallucinations, going berserk, and even death. The device was originally brought in by a Dr. Onikitchi Kuroda, the very first antagonist Winspector dealt with in the first episode.

Kuroda has has been behind all the current events. He has since escaped from prison, kidnapped Yuko, and plans to create as much chaos as possible to utterly destroy Winspector in revenge.

His usage in this episode is to be the antithesis of everything Winspector is meant to represent. There's implications that he's a man broken by the cruelty of the world, that bloodshed is the natural state of things.

The crowning moment of the finale is the confrontation between Masaki and Kuroda, in which Masaki has a crisis of faith during the stand off. One violent man can ruin countless lives, and does such a person deserve to be protected? Should he just pull the trigger and end it?
In the end, the decision isn't necessary, Kuroda doing himself in. But while Masaki doesn't regret coming close to firing, he views Kuroda as a failure of Winspector. They never saved him, only preserved his life up until that point. They never reformed him, and that impacts Masaki greatly for his future plans.

Final thoughts.

Firstly, I do want to address the negatives. As much as I do enjoy Winspector, it's not without it's flaws. Fact of the matter is, some of the more batshit crazy episodes won't be as enjoyable to some people and just annoying, particularly the episodes written by Kyoko Sagiyama, who has a habbit of writting weird stories. I imagine most of her credits will be the most polarizing- although I do enjoy a number of her episodes as noted, she has quite a number of simply bizarre outings, such as episode 27 which straight up has a witch in it. Susumu Takaku also has a number of truly strange stories, perhaps most infamously episode 5 which has a hilarious looking condor puppet.

There's also the matter of some of the earlier episodes suffering from very awkward exposition heavy dialogue. It only happens in about three episodes, but they are at the start of the series and can be a massive turn off. Characters will literally sometimes walk up to another and just info dump a backstory unprompted.

W: Thundercracker.

There's other minor things as well, grievances most Toei shows suffer from, such as reuse of stock footage throughout the show- outside of transformations I mean. If you watch multiple episodes in any short amount of time it's going to be noticeable regardless of any binging. But again, not a particularly big issue, most of these are things that are easily forgiven or can overlooked.

This re-watch did  however highlight just how bad of a character Hisako is, and that's a damn shame. She's one of the more fascinating aspects of Winspector being an undercover agent and who's role is less public because of it. But she's also really terrible at this job.
As you saw in the episode recommendations, just about every episode that features Hisako in a major role ends up with her botching something, and it's not as if the episodes ever acknowledge this. I don't even think it was intentional, just a poorly thought out instances of the episodes needing x so y can happen. Mild plot contrivance is a reoccurring if not overly egregious issue with the series writing overall, but in this case it's always at the cost of a character.

Even though I still largely enjoy the episodes featuring her- hell they're some of my favorites, there's no getting around how dirty her character was done. She isn't much of a combatant, she's incapable of keeping her cool when someone's life is in danger, her identity is known to certain underground criminals. Hisako isn't cut out for more than a desk job. She could have absolutely been a fun side character that was sparingly utilized, but instead she's just wasted potential in a series that really could've done with another female character at least on par with Junko. At the same time her limited role is what also keeps this from being a bigger stain upon the series.

But that does lead me to my next criticism: There's not really a prominent female role on par with Fire, Bikel and Walter. Sure Juko is great, she is a staring character, she's in the intro and doesn't get done dirty like Hisako. But she's not an equal to the main three and she doesn't get to suit up. She also gets coffee for everyone... a lot, so that's kinda weird.
I think production was aware of this which is why the following series, Solbrain, sought to rectify that with a woman in a more prominent role. It's again not a terrible tragedy, just a shame when the series does so well in other aspects.

With that said, taking yet another look at Winspector was still a wonderful experience. I was shocked at just how much I remembered once I really got into it.  While there are shows with higher highs such as Ultra Seven and Metalder that I would suggest over Winspector, there are very few with the level of consistency and unique qualities that Winspector has and that is something I cannot overstate. I recommended a whopping 17 episodes (Including two parters as individual episodes) That's more than any other show I've reviewed.
Despite some flaws I have noticed over time, Winspector remains an incredibly enjoyable series that helped introduce me to a wider range of other Metal Hero shows, as well as showing off how you can still make an exciting and engaging series without adhering closely to the normal weekly monster formula typically seen within this genre. I truly believe this was a lightning in a bottle show that simply could not be repeated, frankly it's sequel series Solbrain proves that, but that perhaps is for another time.

For further reading I highly suggest Sailor Otaku/WeeabooShogun's Blog which is a fantastic resource for information on the show, translation decisions, and synopses on all the episodes. ... although it's now been deleted, which is a shame.

Thankfully, you can still access it through the Waybackmachine, which is how I was able to still have a reference point halfway through writing this. Thank you Archive.org.

All that said, this review was a long time coming and I don't want to waste any time to start on the next series. I'm going to be heading back into the Ultra franchise- but while I do have Ace sitting on the shelf over there, I'm going to be going back before forward.