"Janperson, Fights for Justice!"
Tokusou Robo Janperson is the twelth entry in the Metal Heroes franchise, airing from 1993-1994
Sometime in the not so distant future, scientists in Tokyo create a robot to bring lethal justice to their lawless streets. However, this robot, MX-A1, goes haywire and turns on its creators. Rather than allow him to be scrapped, his co-creator Kaoru Saegusa rebuilds him into a new robot hero with human emotions. Now Janperson, our hero, patrols the streets of Tokyo to eliminate the threat of its four main crime syndicates. Later, he is joined by fellow robot Gun Gibson, who was originally designed to kill him.
The show is available for streaming on Toei Tokusatsu World Official Youtube Channel here
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Recurring Metal Hero tropes include:
- Big Bad: There are four villain organizations roaming the streets. Ryuzaburou Tatewaki, a.k.a. Bill Goldy, Janperson's Evil Twin, seems to be the most iconic.
- BFG: Janperson has his Jick Cannon (a Robot Buddy that combines with Janperson's Jandetic), but it's not nearly as big as the 1500mm-long Spindle Cannon Gun Gibson uses. (Janperson used said Spindle Cannon on at least one occasion.) Before the Jick Cannon, Janperson had the Jan Vulcan instead.
- BFS: The Jan Blader. Strangely for a Metal Heroes show, it isn't a Laser Blade, nor is it a Vibroweapon, and seems to be a regular metal Blade Below the Shoulder.
- Laser Blade: Averted, oddly — the Jan Blader is a solid metal sword.
- Monster of the Week: Barely any of them show up, since robot technology in this version of Japan has basically advanced to the point that the Mooks are just as dangerous, however the series could be classified as having a Cyborg of the Week, which usually never shows up after the episode in which Janperson defeats them.
Tokusou Robo Janperson provides examples of the following tropes:
- Battle Couple: Gun Gibson and Carol, Neo-Guild assassins, until George Makabe offed her.
- Battle Cry: "Janperson, for Justice!"
- Card-Carrying Villain: Bill Goldy. Literally.
- Carry a Big Stick: Janperson's Jastick.
- Cool Car: Janperson's Dark Jaycar. It's a modified C3 Chevy Corvette that contains a detachable helicopter called Sky Jaycar. The Dark Jaycar and the Sky Jaycar have a maximum speed of respectively 700 kph (434 mph) and 1,800 kph (1118 mph),. Additionally, the car is equipped with a cannon called Land Jaycar that pops out when Sky Jaycar detaches from the car. Other modules, including the Drill Jeycar, can be fitted into the space occupied by the Sky Jaycar if needed.
- Cool Plane: The Jey Gulliver, an oddly-shaped jet that can either carry/deploy modules for the Jaycar, or combine with the Jaycar to form the Grand Jeycar.
- Cop Show: The Toku version, just like its successor.
- Dynamic Entry: Janperson loves these, and usually introduces himself by throwing a JP Card into a wall, or a gun, or a robot... (He doesn't quite fit the Death Dealer trope, as he only uses them to announce his presence.)
- Driving Question: For the first quarter or so of the show, "Who is Janperson and where did he come from?". This gets resolved before long.
- Elaborate Underground Base: Janperson (and later Gun Gibson) come to a remote cave by the seashore for repairs, maintenance and storage of weapons. The location also contains computers for looking up anything associated with villains and their victims.
- Gratuitous English
- The opening credits begin with "Janperson fights for justice!"
- Bill Goldy wields cards that say "Bill Goldy for Evil!". It's also his In the Name of the Moon.
- Also from Bill Goldy: "I'll be back!"
- Gun Gibson likes to end his sentences with "baby".
- The Gunslinger: Gun Gibson loves to twirl his guns, and manages to fit all four types of this trope at one point or another.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Gun Gibson and Carol — they'd enter scenes with her riding on his shoulder.
- It's Personal: George Makabe (the Big Bad of Neo-Guild) personally killed Gun Gibson's partner Carol, and it takes some convincing from Janperson to talk him down from an indiscriminate Roaring Rampage of Revenge to a "Best Served Cold" approach. (There are many civilian robots that use Neo-Guild parts without actually having anything to do with Neo-Guild.)
- Judge, Jury, and Executioner: What Janperson was designed as and in fact still does, albeit mostly with crimes and criminals too far above what the local police can handle. A rather mild version when compared to Jiban.
- Large Ham: Shun Sugata's performance as Tatewaki/Bill Goldy is pure, delicious ham.
- Morality Chain: Mostly averted. Gun Gibson is reasonable enough that Janperson only had to be this in the very beginning of their partnership.
- Oh, Crap!
- The mooks of the week when Janperson starts flexing his might (he can lift cars by the bumpers, one sedan in each hand).
- Janperson himself upon fighting Bill Goldy for the first time.
- One-Man Army
- Janperson has enough built-in weaponry to destroy several criminal organizations, and then has an arsenal of mounted/carried weaponry besides.
- ...And Bill Goldy can apparently use the same, even hijacking Janperson's.
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Gun Gibson is originally a Neo-Guild assassin, and has this attitude towards Janperson. Then they fight crime together.
- Restraining Bolt
- Janperson doesn't appear to have this, nor does he seem to be Three Laws-Compliant — he certainly ignores the second law on a daily basis!
- Gun Gibson even less so, but he'll incapacitate human opponents with slightly-less-than-lethal force and leave them for the actual police.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: Robots superficially resembling humans are somewhat common in the show, and one episode revolves around a human robot hunter trying to find parts for one built in the image of her brother, but overall they tend to be hitmen or assassins. Janperson himself could, with some work, pass as a human in a suit, as his A.I. is sufficiently advanced. To clarify: Janperson's movements tend to be jerky and obviously robotic (he's jumped from a building and landed on two feet), but in at least one case he's donned a robot disguise and acted surprisingly more fluid than usual.
- Shapeshifter Mode Lock: Janperson can remove his face mask and wear clothes when necessary, which also lowers his output significantly. One episode featured him getting locked like this, with an apparently human exterior on top of that (that of a criminal).
- Shoo Out the Clowns: Once Janperson's origins are finally revealed, the supporting cast of snooping reporters and hapless inspectors is written out of the show.
- Shout-Out
- Gun Gibson is named after Mel Gibson, apparently.
- Janperson carries a missile in at least one of his thighs similar to that of 004.
- At one point, Bill Goldy shouts "I'll be back!" in Gratuitous English.
- Janperson's occasional costume change (removing his face guard and putting on clothes) is similar to what K did, but for a slightly different reason — JP mostly does it as a disguise, while K does it to avoid frightening people.
- #16 has the android R3, who suffers a multiple personality disorder with the data of legendary figures in his brain. At one point, he adopts the Ass-Kicking Pose of Space Sheriff Gavan, with context allowing for Gavan to be either a fictional TV character or a real hero in the world of Janperson.
- Something Person: His name comes from him wearing a Jumper. Geddit?
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Spiritual Successor: To Kidou Keiji Jiban, both Metal Hero shows that features The Hero being a robotic warrior who is also affiliated with the police force. - Starter Villain: Ben Fujinami (the leader of Guild), who is introduced and dies within the first two episodes.
- Suspiciously Similar Song: Janperson's theme, "The Arrival of a Mysterious New Hero", sounds very much like the theme from the Superman: The Movie.
- Swiss-Army Appendage: Janperson's right arm can be launched off as a wired Rocket Punch, or detached to make room for a sword, a flamethrower, or an actual Rocket Punch.
- Unexplained Recovery: Gun Gibson is heavily damaged towards the end, but gets repaired in time for the finale.
- Unusually Uninteresting Sight: Robots are quite common in this version of Japan, enough so that Janperson can disguise himself (or at least not draw as much attention) by removing his face mask and donning clothes.
