This particular subsection of the tokusatsu genre began officially with Space Sheriff Gavan and has continued through many variations and developments. As a sub-genre, the Metal Heroes cover many different themes, but all have one element in common: the heroes wear high-tech powered armor suits. (A few, like Janperson, are solid robots). The Metal Heroes series represent some of the best and most cutting-edge of Japanese television. There have been distinct phases in the series' evolution: The first three series were the Space Sheriffs (Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider). Juspion moved the concept farther out into space and incorporated giant monsters and more of a space-opera feel. Spiruban built upon this with even more melodrama. Metaldar brought the drama back down to Earth and was more serious in tone. Jeriah was even more humanistic, and revolved around high-tech ninja. The Metal Hero's evolved away from monsters and became the Rescue Mission Series (Winspector, Exceedraft, Solbrain) where the heroes performed high-tech rescues. Then came the police! Jiban and Janperson were high-tech police who fought monsters and renegade villains of all types. Blue Swat was probably the biggest deviation, featuring a team of special police who fought aliens. The powered-armor aspect was minimal compared to the predeccesors. The Metal Hero series quoted from much of its original Space Sheriff roots (the uchu keiji), with B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto, where extra-dimensional battles and monsters were paramount. B-Fighter Kabuttack was a severe deviation where cutesy robots morphed into serious fighters, but still connected to the B-Fighter mythos. In the end, the Metal Heroes' series represent a fascinating look at the evolution of Japanese television programs.

Janperson!