animationdelhincr

[yoan-le-grall]

[mo-ok]

the goggle V x gavan crossover everyones been asking for

[ksenolog]

195

Happy New Year！ I'm a little late. This is basically a fanart of Super Dimensional Lightspeed Ship Dolgiran. It took more than a month to paint since new job doesn't leave much of energy, nearby future uploads will probably be sketches for a bit.

[ojiprincesnowflake]

Though it's hard not to want to talk about the next detail after seeing some of Makuu's men, including a very important character(!1!) in action. The first debut of Dolgiran!! Gavan's "superdimensional high-speed spaceship" Dolgiran is a beauty of a ship. Already knowing some details about Gavan I can already say how much I do love this ship. The insides can be a bit odd and stereotypical sci-fi white sterile but the outside, and some of the gadgets it has, are a lot more fun and nice. Especially Dol!! But that's later. Right now Gavan has got to use his beautiful wonderful ship, I love you, to help take down some of the Makuu attacking the space colony and Earth, and start his job as part of the Galactic Union Police Force from all the way from Planet Bird.

And did I say the models in the show are amazing? Because honestly so many of the models used for the shots are just so good. There's a few that are weird, like having Gavan posed full up but having his actor be down, but the ships, the fighting, the buildings in Tokyo, a lot of things are just so good and look so fun and vivid. It's just a blast to watch the ships flying around fighting each other and the sets for the cockpits are so good too just??? Love??? Love the whole experience yes!

[blabyblab]

[fabuleusecaverne]

Space Sheriff GAvan SAIBARIAN PC-29 POPY 1982. Le skyroller de X-OR en français dans le texte, mais ici en version japonaise. #gavan #fabuleusecaverne #xor #popy #sentai #tokusatsu #toei #bandai #vintagetoys #80stoys #spacesheriffgavan #morox #dolgiran #sharivan #shaider (à Marseille, France) https://www.instagram.com/p/CMCLyjYgvr7/?igshid=i4265b00z27z

[himitsusentaiblog]

The front box art for the DX Chogokin release of Dolgiran, Space Sheriff Gavan’s spaceship!

[kuroto2000]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IabKKPf-9w)

Denshi Seiju Dollll!!!! Grand Birrrrrth!!! Vavilooooos!!!

[reversemoon255]

OhRanger Robo

Next week’s review is going to be TwoKaiOh, so it only makes sense I take the bit of time I have before it arrives to talk about the only one of its reference materials I haven’t covered (excluding Dolgiran from Space Sheriff Gavan, because that thing is way too expensive). And let me tell you, this was not an easy piece to get a hold of with all its parts. The best one I could find before this popped up in my alerts was a Korean copy with no sword or bull horns. Thankfully, after I couldn’t manage to get that one (because you apparently can’t buy things off Korean eBay in America), this one happened to catch me, which is complete, but needed a little love.

The Good: I think I once said that LupinKaiser was the most posable Sentai toy ever, and ORR certainly contests that statement. While LK has its head swivel and transformation butterfly joints, ORR has way more articulated arms and elbows. I think someone in the design room saw what joints they needed to get the Sphinx to work, and just gave them their full possible range.

There’s also the helmet gimmick, with a different swappable helmet to align with each Zord, giving ORR different abilities and pilots depending on which it dons. While you’re probably only going to display him with the red, it’s still very cool, and changes up its appearance a lot.

And the transformation is fun. Granted, mine sounds like it’s going to explode if I touch it, but I’m always a fan of when Zords expand or contract in the way the hips and legs do in order to take on new shapes.

The Bad: Normally with something like this I talk about how it’s way too expensive, but in this particular case it’s more about how this was before people really started collecting Sentai toys, and how almost every copy you’ll find is missing parts. As I said, I got lucky, but I still had to re-glue down a lot of the old stickers, which were obviously put on by a child given how askew some of them are. The thing that blows my mind though is that there are dedicated mounting points for every helmet in robot mode, so you’d think some kid out there would have kept them all attached:

Apart from that, the only thing I’d warn you about is the sword. The gold chrome on mine shredded itself when I was attaching it, so either be cautious or be content with a hilt-less blade.

Overall, it’s fun, but pricey, though the real issue is finding one with all its parts. Don’t be tricked by scalper prices, and don’t settle for one that’s missing pieces you want. Be patient, and you’ll eventually stumble on one that has everything you’d like, and hopefully at a price you’re willing to pay.

[chojin-cu-chulain]

A rough idea of my fanfic version of VR Troopers.

Since I finished watching all of the shows I want to use for it I finally have a rough idea of how my fanfic version of VR Troopers would be like.

I'm still going to go with my idea that Tommy Oliver is the main hero of VR Troopers who's Metalder and Shaider in later seasons after losing his Green Ranger powers while Ryan Steele is the White Rangers.

Season 1 would still be Metalder, and Spielban with Tommy as Metalder, JB as Spielban, and Kaitlin as Diana Lady but I would only use Metalder monsters and have JB, and Kaitlin stick to spaceship and tank battles.

I would have Desponda in the first season and have her be Grimlord's wife, as well as the vixens who would be S and K from Metalder and Riki, Shadow, and Gash Spielban.

The Troopertron would also show up in Season 1.

Defending Dark Heart would be split in half with the first half being the mid season finale so that Dark Heart can be an ally of the Troopers , and the second half would be combined with the first three parts of Quest For Power and that would be the first season finale.

The last two parts of Quest For Power would be the Season 2 premiere where Tommy becomes Shaider, and I would use a Shaider monster, and the vixens would become the girls army from Shaider.

The Valvios would be the Skyfortress and it's robot form would the Trooperbot.

Season 2 would be the half of Shaider, half of Spielban, and half of Juspion with each episode having only one on foot monster but every other episode also having a Juspion monster.

I would combine Rise of The Red Python and Kaitlin through the Looking Glass into a single two parter where the Troopers befriend a guy and a girl but Grimlord turns them into evil Troopers Black Dragon (Mad Gallant), and Red Python (Hellvira) but the Troopers cure them and they become Juspion, and Helen Lady.

The Daileon would be the VR Skystronghold, and it's robot form would the Trooperborg.

The Disk would be a two parter with an alternate ending where Grimlord captures Dr. Jacobson and the mid season finale.

Emperor Guillotine would be adapted and he would be called Baron Nefarion, and he may or not be Nutsy Nichols.

Knighttime would be a woman and she would be Grimlord's sister.

Ikki from Juspion would be called Duke Dread.

Grimlord's dark secret with an alternate ending is the Season 2 finale.

Brother can you spare an arrowhead would be a VR Troopers story, and it would be the Season 3 premiere where David becomes Sharivan, and Jason becomes Gavan.

Dolgiran would be the VR Skybattlement, and the Grand Birth would be the Skycommand while Dol would be the VR Cyber Dragon and the Grand Birth's robot form would be the Trooperdroid.

Season 3 would be Gavan and Sharivan mixed with the other halves of Shaider, Spielban, and Juspion, and this is when the show would have two monsters per episode.

Alternatively have Gavan and Sharivan in Season 2 make someone else Gavan and have that be when the show uses two monsters at a time.

Doom Master would be upgraded into Hunter Killer from Gavan, Depera would be Doctor Polter, and Duke Dread would be General Gyer, also Reidar would be an upgraded Knightime.

Since Orcalon is an artificial intelligence Don Horror and Demon King Psycho are just different bodies he has on different ships.

San Dorva would either be Grimlord's son who would be similar to the Cybertron version of Percy or Grimlord himself while Kiba would be Grimlord's mother.

And finally episodes 43, and 44 from Gavan, 50, and 51 from Sharivan, 48 from Shaider, 45, and 46 from Juspion, and 43, and 44 from Spielban would all be used for the two part series finale.

[laser-z-beam]

Sharivan Opinions

I wasn’t really sure if I was going to write one of these since I had put off watching the final stretch of episodes since late 2020-ish. So a lot of what happened in this show isn’t exactly “fresh” in my mind, but I think I’ve jogged my memory just enough. Spoilers ahead:

The Good:

I feel a little like a broken record here for how many times I say this, but the music is great. “Tsuyosa wa Ai da” is probably my favorite of the three Space Sheriff ending themes. “Son of Sun” is my favorite insert song in the series, but “Danger Melody” also gets a shoutout.

Reidar (played by Mitsuo Andou of Professor Gill fame no less) really amped up the in-fighting drama in Madoh, which in turn made Gyler and Doctor Polter a bit more interesting. Love me a scheming bastard.

I was actually surprised that the bald guy in the white was in fact an incarnation of Demon King Psycho. Probably helps that I did refuse to read anything about it beforehand. In retrospect, it makes him seem a little more active in the plot than Don Horror was in Gavan, despite both being stationary villains.

Damn that finale was cool as hell.

The Bad:

As much as I tried I couldn’t really get into the Planet Iga stuff that drove much of the plot from episode 20 and onwards. I guess I would have just rather Den had been just some Earth guy.

Oh boy did Helen Bell’s arc just NOT jive with me. I was hoping she’d be a way cooler character, but it felt more patronising than anything.

Grand Berth’s design in Battle Berth Formation just sucks. I don’t usually think of myself as picky but it’s such a downgrade from Dolgiran that it hurts me.

The Ugly:

front butt. front butt.

Final Verdict:

I didn’t enjoy it as much as Gavan, honestly. As of writing this post, it’s probably my least favorite of the Metal Hero shows I’ve seen. Spielvan has it’s problems but I do feel that it is the better of the two show starring Hiroshi Watari. Sharivan does have it’s merits, but I don’t think they’re enough to outweigh the stuff I didn’t like.

Favorite Screencap:

[mo-ok]

I mean you're completely right dolgiran is the best mecha in the genre imo

Everyone should ride on top of their mecha Gavan style

Maybe its time to watch ninninger lmao

[kabutoraiger]

gavan was... baffling. a baffling television program. maybe it’s no use to try and look at it critically but here i go anyhow.

i felt like it was really in this place of “nobody knows what we want this show/franchise to be yet,” and it kinda suffered a lot for it. a bunch of its different aspects didn’t match at all - it would bounce back and forth from “makuu is a simple crime syndicate out to make money” to “makuu dealing in terrorism with no understandable goal” to “makuu trying to vaporize the entire universe.”

all the wild reality-bending stuff, while sometimes fun to look at, never really lined up with the rest of the show either. possibly bc they took it way too far & used it way too much, to the point of it becoming more headache-inducing than interesting. (and don’t get me started on the editing, oof.)

gavan had this great arsenal of stuff but most of it seemed to exist just to exist. why have a bike at all if you’re only gonna use it in a stock clip for 5 seconds every episode? why break out dragon form dolgiran just to combat a couple boring little ships that clearly can’t make a dent?

it also lacked an interesting villain and the absence is super glaring. it seems they maybe realized it and hastily swapped out hunter killer for san dorva halfway through but he was dull as bricks too (and was often presented as a joke), so?? y’alls guess is as good as mine.

it’s a little sad/funny that it became a much better show at the very end when they seemed to be copying kamen rider for a few eps. they weren’t creative episodes but they were much easier to get through for me at least. overall it’s a weird as hell show that idk if i can give a recommendation to but at the very least it looks fucking incredible in bluray quality & that soundtrack is like. peak 80s and perhaps the all time funkiest

[geekbroll]

When your girl is difficult to impress… Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (2012) Toei Geki Jumonji (十文字 撃 Jūmonji Geki): Yuma Ishigaki (石垣 佑磨 Ishigaki Yūma) is a member of the Galactic Union Police (銀河連邦警察 Ginga Renpō Keisatsu) who succeeded its veteran member Retsu Ichijouji as the current Gavan, referred as Space Sheriff Gavan Type-G (宇宙刑事ギャバンタイプG Uchū Keiji Gyaban Taipu Jī), shouting "Jōchaku" (蒸着, "Deposition") whenever he needs the Super Dimensional Highspeed Ship Dolgiran (超次元高速機ドルギラン Chō Jigen Kōsokuki Dorugiran) he is based on to encase him in Granium particles that form into his Gavan Type-G combat suit within .05 of a second (as reinforced in Space Squad). As the new Gavan, Geki battled the revived Space Mafia Makuu and defeated its masked leader Brighton who originally his best friend Toya Okuma. Soon after, Geki is redeployed to Earth to pursue Rhino Doubler, getting the Go-Busters' aid in defeating one of Makuu's remaining agents. Shelly (シェリー Sherī): Suzuka Morita (森田 涼花 Morita Suzuka) is Commander Qom's niece and Geki's assistant from Planet Bird, owning a visual illusion device allows her to use "Laser Vision," transforming into a budgerigar. While separated from Geki, Shelly meets the Go-Busters and becomes friends with Yoko. Space Sheriff Gavan: The Movie (宇宙刑事ギャバン THE MOVIE Uchū Keiji Gyaban Za Mūbī) is a 2012 Japanese tokusatsu superhero film to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Metal Hero Series' first entry, Space Sheriff Gavan, and is a sequel to the Space Sheriff series. Kenji Ohba, Toshiaki Nishizawa, and Shōzō Iizuka reprise their roles from the original television series. #spacesheriffgavan #gobusters #kamenrider #kaiju #supersentai #geki #gekijumonji #shelly #monsters #unimpressed #toku #tokusatsu #superherotime #vcinema #typeg #spacesheriffgavantypeg #cartoons #cartooncharacters #galacticunionpolice #superhero #superheroes #metalhero #ultraman #powerrangers #godzilla (at Portland, Oregon) https://www.instagram.com/p/Btb_CC3gpXR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7mioxughmm2l

[furederiko]

What does a Policeman, Sheriff, and Rebellion have in common? Space. ...Because I'm talking about a Super Sentai multiverse crossover!

- Our episode begins right away with Madako SUCCESSFULLY stealing the Pyxis Kyu Globe! Don't know how this new sultry version was able to do that, it just sort of... happened. Off screen. Oh, in case you forgot why, we get a quick flashback of Scorpio commanding her to obtain the Carina Kyu Globe. How Madako even had the knowledge that Pyxis is the radar to locate the item is beyond me, but the most important thing is... she now accidentally gets sucked into a black hole. Yikes! - Since Pyxis is vital to their mission (though I'd argue they didn't really use it to locate Vela before), Leo Red simply ignores the factual threat of said black hole, and jumps in. Totally dragging his away team along with him. Speaking of team, this current away team consists of Lucky, Garu, Hammy, Naga and Commander Xiao this time. Why this particular combination, one wonders? Well, because aside from Hammy, the others are necessary to service the story. I'll get to this soon. - For some reason, our heroes pop out of the... MOON? Which means, yes, they are returning to Earth. But why does this one look... different? Is this even the same planet? NOPE, because a certain someone who witnesses their entrance kindly explains that arriving through a wormhole means... these illegal trespassers must have arrived from 'ANOTHER UNIVERSE'. Wait, WHAT? And this observer is none other than... Banban 'Ban' Akaza (Ryuji Sainei) of "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger"! - Yeah, this brief moment of clarity firmly establishes that Kyuranger is NOT taking place in the same universe to previous, 40 Sentai seasons. So to those out there hoping for them to bump into everyone's favorite Gokaiger anytime soon (who have been established to be canon with Dekaranger, hence that crossover episode), don't get your hopes up too high. Unless the team stumbles upon another black hole once more. This also clears up the confusion to why no trace of Zyuland can be found on Kyuranger's Earth, meaning there's no continuity issue like I pointed out 17 weeks ago. Wait a sec, then how did they show up in "Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger vs Shuriken Sentai Ninninger" then? Hmmmm... - Oh, and Deka Red isn't alone, because Geki Juumonji (Yuma Ishigaki) a.k.a Space Sheriff Gavan Type-G is present as well. Yep, not the original metal hero series Gavan, but the 2nd generation who debuted in "Uchuu Keiji Gavan: The Movie" a few years back. Is this a coincidence, then? Absolutely NOT. Considering "SPACE SQUAD: Space Sheriff Gavan vs Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger", the crossover movie between Dekaranger and Gavan Type-G is arriving on Japanese theatres tomorrow. Specifically Saturday, June 17th, 2017! Yes folks, that means you're not wrong if you see this as shameless marketing. LOL. - Lucky and Naga are confusedly admiring a Consumarz-free Earth, when they notice Geki is escorting Madako like the dumb-heroic gentleman he's always been. Cue the misunderstanding! Aaaah, Gavan Type-G is so metalic... and SHINY ("PIKA... PIKA...", says Naga), my eyes hurts. Oh, and Ophiucus Silver kindly explains why he's being paired up with Leo Red this time, because obviously Deka Red is going to pair up with Gavan Type-G. Don't sweat it, it's a kids show after all. Just your daily Red and Silver situation! LOL. - Adding further insult to the injury, two more Dekaranger members arrive to... arrest Garu, Hammy, and Xiao. Just as our poor Kyurangers are being dumbfounded to see an Earth with so much PEACE, smiles, and laughters. On what reason? Due to the lack of proper 'interplanetary visa', complete with a nice joke that works as a follow up to last week's ending. Officers in charge are none other than our brainy Senichi 'Sen' Enari (Yousuke Itou), and bathtub-enthusiast Koume 'Umeko' Kodou (Mika Kikuchi). They are Deka Green and Pink respectively, in case you're not familiar with Space Police Dekaranger. For the record, the timeline of this universe chronologically takes place after their "Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger 10 YEARS AFTER" V-Cinema. We're getting some development regarding this pair later in the closing scene, as a prove to that. One that also explains why Umeko still hasn't changed her family name into Enari... (^^) - Hold on, make that THREE members. Considering our 'trespassers' are immediately taken to the Neo Deka Base, where they get to meet... Chief Doggie Kruger (VA: Tetsu Inada). Obviously he's present to become direct comparison to Garu, or vice versa. The wolfman even calls him... "ANIKI!!!". LOL. It works the same with Xiao, because both are non-human anthropomorphic leaders of their respective teams. So yeah, it's one of that small dream-sequence that only Super Sentai fans would understand and appreciate... *grins*. It's genuine hillarious though, and easily my favorite part of the episode. NOTE: Too bad fan favorite Marika 'Jasmine' Reimon (Ayumi Kinoshita) is a no-show. Her actress had recently announced her 2nd pregnancy via her blog. So likely that's the reason behind her absence. - Hot-headed hot-blooded loud-mouthed Gavan and Leo Red are busy fighting, they practically let Madako go unscathed. Ophiucus Silver senses that something feels off, and stops the fight by... getting punched in the face. By BOTH. OOWWWW!! Naga also nails this next joke, thanks to his naive curiosity about 'Policeman'. A term that apparently does NOT exist in their "Star Wars"-inspired Jark Matter-infested universe. But seriously though, it's really these character moments that makes crossover stories so great. Hey, even Sharivan, Shaider, and the original Gavan are making quick flashback-cameo! - The whole comparison between 'Policeman' and 'Universe Saviors' needs to be put on hold though, because Madako is running away using Geki's Dolgiran. She's using the spaceshuttle as her escape route to return home, because as Doggie had stated before, the dimensional rift is closing soon. Thankfully, hitching a ride on Leo Voyager (with siren! LOL), Geki jumps into the ship to regain control. Simply by crashlanding it to the ground. YIKES! Call me weird... but I haven't seen the Gavan series yet, nor any of those Space Sheriff title. But on the other hand, I've always dig the Akira Kushida's theme song. It just sounds so cool, catchy and... addictive to listen to, eventhough it could be regarded as an old tune. Speaking of old, I also just noticed that aside from looking older and darker-skinned than the last I saw him (in that 2013 "Super Hero Taisen Z" movie, assuming my memory is sound), Geki seems to be more buffed than usual as well. In a country whose people are mostly skinny as a stick, that's... NICE! *grins* - Ban arrives on scene and saves the day! I guess Lucky and Geki are too good of a combi (they practically share the exact personality, even their names rhyme! LOL), the equally hyperactive hot-blooded Ban doesn't have a place, eh? Similar to Gavan Type-G, I didn't actually see Dekaranger because of this... thing with police-themed shows. But dang it, the Dekaranger BGM sounds cool as well, particularly that high-spirited theme song by PSYCHIC LOVER. Anyway, Ban's the Fire Squad Captain now? I didn't remember that from the 10 YEARS AFTER movie. Perhaps he has gotten promotion ever since? He explains that the other Kyurangers, as well as Dekarangers (appearing via stock footage only. Old footage is OLD!) are using Ryutei-Oh and Deka Wing to stall the wormhole from shrinking. So it's up to the Red-Silver Team to tidy up their side of the table then. - Deka Red and Leo Red team up to take on Madako (who is equally Red...), while Gavan and Ophiucus Silver deal with the Deathworm she brought. Their joint-finishers are amazing, particularly that last one with the galactic backdrop. Truly fan-service delight, after all... these ARE Space Heroes. I guess Madako is gone for good this time, huh? Rather unceremoniously too. But since every Super Sentai episode needs a giant mecha fight, of course the Deathworm grows large. How to deal with this situation, when the other Kyurangers are busy with the wormhole? Time for Gavan's Electronic Star-Beast Dol (it's the blue lower part of Dolgiran, by the way) to steal the show. But hold that thought, because Draco Voyager comes rushing in for a SWEET double dragon-mecha combi. I have had an inking suspicion that this episode is going to pull this off, ever since I read the headline that Gavan Type-G would be guest starring in Kyuranger. But I sure didn't expect Leo Red to jump towards to Voyager's head, in order to mimic Gavan's movement. Now THAT is what I call pleasant surprise! - Lucky and the others make it back safely to the Orion, where Spada, maid-Raptor and maid-Balance (seriously, he's Sentai official queer character, guys! At least... IMO) greet them with some piping hot Takoyaki. A rather cruel way to celebrate the absence of Madako, huh? Nah... likely because takoyaki are ball-shaped. Pyxis Kyu Globe is back in their possession, so now they can proceed to locate the final piece of Argo Navis. All's well ends well. Or is it? We see Stinger removing his Constellation Blaster and Rebellion jacket, replaces them with his desert cape, and walks away from the Rebellion HQ. This is the appearances of when he debuted in the show, serving as a rogue spy. Does this mean Stinger officially walks out from being a Kyuranger? Hence that solo V-Cinema? We'll see...

Overall: Naruhisa Arakawa, the same guy who wrote Dekaranger was in charge of this episode. And he's truly the man when it comes to crossovers. As proven by "Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger", Arakawa has a strong sense of what makes each separate series and their characters shine, hence why this episode came equipped with a good amount of fan-service moments for our genuine pleasure. It wasn't perfect, nope, because one mere episode was a bit too short and brief to be considered a full-on crossover. Especially one that involves three different series! Hence why the opening started off rather rough and rushed, and the absence of the remaining Dekarangers/Gavan supporting cast. Which honestly felt a little disappointing somehow. Plus, the non Red-Silver team was easily sidelined, to the point we didn't even see them transform nor fight together on screen. IMHO, this would've been way better as a 2-parter, to allow more character interactions and bonding, which is easily the gem of any crossovers. Minor nitpickings aside, this was obviously still MUCH better than that bland Ex-Aid episode. Thanks to that whole multiverse angle, I'm now crossing my fingers, in the hope that one day the Kyuranger eventually runs into Gokaiger, or other Sentai team that is not Zyuohger (because they WILL have a Versus movie next year). Here's hoping if such wishful thinking comes to life, Arakawa will be given the privilege to write one. At the very least, he needs to do another episode in this show! Next week: Battle for Carina! And forest...Elves? PS: There's no episode on June 18th due to annual Golf championship. Kyuranger will return on June 25th...

Episode 18 Score: 8 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: June 11th, 2017 - Version 2.04. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[himitsusentaiblog]

Hello again I was wondering what you could tell us about Space Sheriff Gaven ?

Back in the early 1980s, Toei put the Kamen Rider franchise to rest for a little while after the not so fantastic performances of 1979′s Kamen Rider (a.k.a. Skyrider) and 1980′s Kamen Rider Super-1 (both shows I love to be honest). Super Sentai was doing really well for them and they wanted a new franchise to be sort of a companion piece to it. 

At the time, science fiction themes especially those involving Outer Space were huge thanks to the box office smash that was Star Wars and its follow-up The Empire Strikes Back. You can see its influence on Super Sentai with the heroes of Denziman getting their powers from space and even moreso in shows from just prior to the early 1980s like Message From Space. Clearly seeking to create a new science fiction hero, Toei merged the concept with law enforcement and created the first of the Metal Hero series, Space Sheriff Gavan.

Gavan borrowed some concepts from earlier hero shows with the mostly lone hero against an entire evil organization, a henshin sequence and inventive monsters of the week.  Where it diverged was having a hero who came from space (like Ultraman) but who was human seeming to begin with (or half-human in the case of our hero here). He traveled in a spaceship and had a secret identity on Earth which he used to help investigate the doings of the evil Space Crime Organization Makuu, headed by Don Horror. 

So the basic recipe was one part Kamen Rider, one part Star Wars and a pinch of The Godfather tossed into a pot and stirred until it got weird. When I say weird, I mean end sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey weird.  Each week, when Gavan would confront the Makuu monster of the week, Don Horror would order his minions to trap Gavan in Makuu Space, another dimension where the monsters were much stronger.  This called for some trippy visuals.

Now, as I mentioned before, Gavan himself is half human.  His mother was from Earth and his Father was a former Space Sheriff assigned the Earth named Voicer.  Along with trying to defeat the Makuu, he is seeking the fate of his Father who vanished on Earth.  He takes the name Retsu Ichijouji while living on Earth and a job at The Avalon Youth Club as a cover.  He is played by Kenji Ohba who previous portrayed Battle Kenya in 1979′s Battle Fever J and Denzi Blue in 1980′s Denshi Sentai Denziman.

When he needs to transform, he called out the command Jochaku (Deposition) and his ship, the Dolgiran sends down a beam that encases him in armor made from Granium.  This process takes 0.005 seconds, a fact the series reminds us of in almost every episode.  Gavan is armed with a beam weapon that fires from his wrist but his most famous weapon is his Laser Blade, a physical sword that can be encased in deadly light energy.

Gavan grew up on the planet Bird and he meant to travel to Earth alone for his duty but was followed by Mimi, the girl who was in love with him and the daughter of Gavan’s superior Commander Qom. She can spy on the Makuu using a pendant that allows her to transform into a parakeet.  She was played by Wakiko Kano.

Gavan’s ship, the Dolgiran was also his home base and could split into two to form a flying saucer and a space dragon known as Electronic Starbeast Dol.

Space Sheriff Gavan was a ratings success and spawned two more Space Sheriff series, Sharivan and Shaider.  This also kicked off the entire Metal Hero franchise which would last until the final series ended in 1999. I highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys tokusatsu, especially space-themed heroes and science fiction!