Choujinki Metalder
For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as "Metalder". Story. In 1945, Dr. Ryūichirō Koga designed Metalder as a top-secret weapon for the Japanese Imperial Army for use in the Pacific War, modeling it after his late son, Second Sub-lieutenant Tatsuo Koga. However, the pacifistic Dr. Koga put Metalder to sleep in the Silver Caucus base and left for the United States to work for NASA. During the 42 years, Dr. Koga's former colleague Kunio Muraki became evil God Neros, the ruler of the Neros Empire which is notorious as a merchant of  death. God Neros sends out his massive armies to kill Dr. Kōga, who learned of their organization and returned to Japan to activate Metalder. Koga desperately tries to activate his android creation, who he named Ryūsei Tsurugi, but the android is unable to understand what to do. In order to give Ryusei a "purpose", Koga runs out of the Silver Caucus base, allowing Neros' troops to kill him. Suddenly seeing his creator die, Ryūsei becomes shocked, and soon is beaten by Neros' troops. Ryūsei becomes fueled with rage, evoking the conversion to his true form, the android known as Metalder . After a brief battle with Coolgin (which he loses), Ryūsei goes onward, meeting future friend Mai Ougi. Characters. Metalder. is a "Choujinki", a powerful war android built by Dr. Koga at the end of World War II originally as a countermeasure against the Americans. He was hidden in a secret base of the Japanese Imperial Army until Dr. Koga activated him years later to fight the Neros Empire. His human guise, , is directly modeled after that of Dr. Koga's son Tatsuo of whom he lost during the war. Whenever his energies reach a peak from rage, with the cry  , he transforms into his metallic form. Like Tatsuo, he loves music and plays the saxophone from time to time. His Reflection Circuit gave him the same feelings as humans and a sense of right and wrong. Powered by 'super-gravitational energy', his killing techniques include "Laser Arm", "G-Kick", "Metal Tornado" spinning kick, "Head Crash" ram, "Plasma Punch", "Metal Bomber" punching attack from above, and "1000 Hand Punch". At the end of the series he defeats God Neros but in the process, his super-gravitational energy is greatly damaged, as a result whenever he moves longer, he will explode and  the world will be destroyed by its impact. With Kita's help, Metalder is spared from destruction but at the cost of his human form and his ability to fight as a Choujinki. Neros Empire. The is the underbelly of the Corporation. Located at Shinjuku, it covertly controls all activities of the world's criminal organizations, including terrorists and finance. The Neros Empire's goal is world domination with economic and military might. The leaders meet at the Ghost Bank, a ring of gates containing key army officers surrounding God Neros' throne. The area enclosed by the gates and throne  serves as both an arena and as a strategy room. Divided into four Units: Armored, Robotic Warrior, Monster and Armament. Members that are ranked below from "Keitōshi" through "Gekitōshi" are named after the severity levels of earthquakes in Japanese (i.e. "Gekitōshi" is derived from , a severe earthquake). Armored Army. The is a group consisting of cyborgs and humans wearing armor. In the final episode, the helmets of every member (with the exception of Ben K) were revived to prevent Metalder from reaching God Neros. The heads crash into a wall and explode to damage Metalder. Robotic Warrior Army. The consists  of androids that make up the Neros Army. They were developed from the same technology used to create Metalder. Monster Army. The is composed of genetically altered–engineered mutants. After being killed, they tend to melt into a puddle of green slime: Armament Army. The consists of walking arsenal robots. is a humanoid jet plane. He shoots exploding missiles from his wings and is often sent on missions/appears alongside Barbery. In Episode 23, he uses his air superiority to assist Bulchek, Agmis, and Megadron by carrying them across difficult sections of the course. He is destroyed in mid-flight  by Top Gunder in Episode 37. Others. is master of the tachi and the spiked ball. He battles with both of these weapons on a single chain. While engaged in a secret meeting in an active mineshaft, one of the miners accidentally witnesses the event. Hidouman is assigned to silence the miner, so he takes the miner's family hostage, which lures Metalder into battle. Metalder confuses him through duplication techniques inspired by a previous fight with Galador, and then strikes his hand to separate him from his weapon. Metalder then destroys him with his Laser Arm attack, which also  splits him in half. Foot Soldiers. are a group of grunts trained in ninjutsu. Mechanics. Metalder. is Metalder's secret base of operation, hidden within the Wind Caves of Fuji, underneath the ruins of the former Imperial Army's Headquarters. It is the place where Metalder has lain dormant for over 40 years until his activation at the start of the series. The Silver Caucus is usually kept underground until Metalder needs to dispatch a vehicle, when it rises to the surface. Springer remains there for standby in case Metalder needs him, particularly when Metalder needs repair. When the Neros  Empire drew closer to locating the Silver Caucus, Metalder relocates a portion of the base at another cave with Springer. Neros Empire. is the secret lair of the Neros Empire, where the Four Armies gather. It can move anywhere, but its usual location is underneath headquarters building of the Kirihara Konzern. Each member of Neros Army has their own warp gate used to transport themselves to the Ghost Bank. Episodes. On October 4, 1987 (The day that episode 25 aired) the show began airing on Sundays instead of Mondays. Movie. A film version of "Choujinki Metalder", set between episodes 17  & 18 premiered on July 18, 1987 at the "Toei Manga Matsuri" film festival, where it was shown as part of a quadruple feature alongside "", "" and the film version of "Hikari Sentai Maskman".