Tokusou Robo Janperson

Infobox Television
show_name = Tokusou Robo Janperson
format = Metal Hero
Tokusatsu
runtime = 30 minutes (per episode)
country = Japan
network = TV Asahi
imdb_id = 0185078


caption = Tokusou Robo Janperson
num_episodes = 50
creator = Toei
starring = Yuichi Komine
narrated = nihongo|Bomber Morio|ボンバー森尾|Bonbā Morio
first_aired = February 1, 1993
last_aired = January 24, 1994

nihongo|Tokusou Robo Janperson|特捜ロボ ジャンパーソン|Tokusou Robo Janpāson or translated as Special Investigation Robot Janperson was the 1993 installment in Toei Company Limited's "Metal Heroes" franchise. The series revolved around Janperson, a robotic detective who patrolled the streets of Tokyo and fought against 3 different underworld organizations who used super and technology to subjugate the masses. Unlike most metal heroes, a monster-of-the-week was rarely shown and most of the scenes are crime scenes similar to Robocop. The name given to this series by Toei for international distribution is "Jumperson". [cite web|url=http://tvarc.toei.co.jp/tv/library/series-title.html|title=Library -- English Titles -- TOEI TV Website|accessdate=2007-12-28]

Characters

Main

*nihongo|Janperson|ジャンパーソン|Janpāson
A purple, android robot who works as a detective. He was once a killing machine known as the MX-A1, that was deactived but was later rebuilt with human emotions by a young female scientist Kaoru Saegusa. Like Robocop, he upholds the law but he is purely mechanical. He is seen to be the kind who never gives up that easily.

*nihongo|Gun Gibson|ガンギブソン|Gan Gibuson
Janperson's gruff-roughish android partner who appears later in the series, grey, heavily-armed. Originally a renegade android created to serve the Gang Guards, he switched sides to become Janperson's sidekick. Armed with 2 guns - one with aiming bullet and the other the dumb bullet. He later had a powerful bazooka which he used in battle. He had a motorcycle that he use during battles. Although thought to have been destroyed by Bill Goldy in the near finale, he happens to have survived well enough and joined up in the final battle. He had an android-girlfriend named Kai who was also made by the Gang Guards and was killed by the Gang Guards during their first battle with Janperson. Kai was revived by Kaoru at the ending part of the series, only to be killed again.

*nihongo|Kaoru Saegusa|三枝 かおる|Saegusa Kaoru
A young female scientist who is one of the creators of Janperson. She reprogrammed (by placing human emotions) and reactivated Janperson (who is called MX-A1 before) after he was shut down by the government for being unstoppable in killing bad androids. She gets and gives information to Janperson about his nemesis during the series. She somewhat betrayed Janperson at the nearly end of the series by destroying their headquarters and reviving Gibson's android-girlfriend Kai. It was found out that these are only just her undercover strategies to get the confidence of Tatewaki/Bill Goldy and find a way to defeat him by Janperson.

Weapons

* Flash Card
* Flash Gun
* Rocket Punch
* Baton
* Flame Thrower
* Flash Blade
* Flash Laser
* Flash Cannon
* Jan Vulcan

Vehicle

* Dark Jaycar
It contains a detachable helicopter called Sky Jaycar. The Dark Jaycar and the Sky Jaycar have a maximum speed of respectively 700 kilometers per hour and 1,800 kilometers per hour. As for the arsenal, the car is equipped with a cannon called Land Jaycar.

Villains

* Bill Goldy / Ryuzaburou Tatewaki (played by Shun Sugata)
An evil cyborg duplicate of Janperson, originally a human, he is a lunatic and the president of a company known as Consuelon Tatewaki. He is usually seen licking a lollipop while watching Janperson fights his assassins. He later became a cyborg via an operation from the blue prints of how Janperson was made. He usually executes silly plans at first but later on got serious with his schemes. He tried to frame Janperson by impersonating his identity through his alter ego as Bill Goldy and using his name in vain but ingeniously failed. In the end, Janperson and Gun Gibson killed him once and for all as the only means to save the world as he was already far too dangerous. His final words before his destruction were, "See you in hell." Bill Goldy was later revived in the Juukou B-Fighter finale special by Jagul, who used him as a pawn before absorbing him into her body. Enraged for this act, Bill Goldy personally dragged her to Hell with him.
* Jimpak / George Makabe (played by Kazuoki Takahashi)
The head of the renegade robot organization the New Gang Guards. He is actually a human but Janperson thought that he was a cyborg like his elder brother, Ben Fujinami. He vowed to mechanize the world after he and his elder brother Ben lost their first android assistant when they were kids. When Ben (as a cyborg) was killed by Janperson in the early part of the series, he reformed the Gang Guards into a stronger organization vowing to destroy Janperson and rule the planet. Near the end of the series, he was revealed to be just a human with mechanical implants (unlike his elder brother Ben who turned into a full cyborg). Rather than submit to death, he chose to commit suicide.
* Madame Reiko Ayanokouji (acted by Atsuko Takahata)
The diabolical head of Supertech (Super Science Network), a biological underworld organization. She turns out to actually have plans to restore the Earth to beauty, more of a villain with noble intentions. It was a result of her childhood when she saw how beautiful the Earth could be without humanity destroying it. She became a monster near the end of the series and tried to turn all of humanity into fertilizers, hoping to restart the Earth as she saw fit. She eventually died after receiving heavy injury from Janperson's Flash Cannon.

Monsters

pecial

* Tokusou Robo Janperson Movie
*"Juukou B-Fighter" episodes 52-53

US appearance

Janperson and Gun Gibson appear in an episode of Big Bad Beetleborgs, "Convention Dimension". They are referred to as two other comic book heroes known as Karato and Silver Ray, and are summoned to help the Beetleborgs to deal with an army of Magmavores.

Name definition

* Janperson's name derives from the Japanese transliteration of nihongo|"jumper"|ジャンパー|janpā and nihongo|"person"|パーソン|pāson , referring to how Janperson wore a black jumpsuit before battles in early episodes of the show.
* Gun Gibson's name , similarly , is based on that of Mel Gibson , who was popular in Japan at the time.

ongs

;Opening theme
*nihongo|"Tokusou Robo Janperson"|特捜ロボ ジャンパーソン|Tokusō Robo Janpāson
**Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa
**Composition: nihongo|Keisuke Hama|浜 圭介|Hama Keisuke
**Arrangement: nihongo|Kei Wakakusa|若草 恵|Wakakusa Kei
**Artist: nihongo|Susumu Ōya|大矢 晋|Ōya Susumu;Ending theme
*nihongo|"Morning Lullaby"|朝焼けのララバイ|Asayake no Rarabai
**Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa
**Composition: Keisuke Hama
**Arrangement: Kei Wakakusa
**Artist: Susumu Ōya

References

External links

* [http://cdecas.free.fr/robots/tokusatsus/janperson.php Special Investigator Robo JANPERSON ]