SPACE
SHERIFF SHAIDER
a.k.a
Uchuu Keiji Shaidaa
~1984
Toei TV series~
Metal
Heroes is another sub-genre of Tokusatsu that's working
its magic to drill a hole in my heart with its intrinsic
insanity. Starting with Space Sheriff Gavan in 1982
(a series which you'll find yourself much more informed
on upon reading Patrick Macias' column in Animerica
http://www.animerica-mag.com/features/), Toei had
a new hero in the form of steel-clad galactic detectives
that would drop kick their way through multiple spinoff
series through the 80s and some of the 90s. After
Kenji Ohba tore through the the evil Makuu and their
leader Don Horror in Gavan, Space Sheriff Sharivan
took over to dish out justice upon Madou and Demon
King Psycho. The series in question, Space Sheriff
Shaider 'blue-flashed' onto the airwaves the following
year, and upholds the same obligation to be as bizarre
and action-packed as possible.
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Just
like most other Tokusatsu shows, the Space Sheriff
series has an overall successful formula that is slightly
tweaked from series to series if anything. More is
deemed better, as popular mainstays will roll over
to new shows, while more and more insanity is piled
upon what was already established. To give a general
idea, any given series will typically feature the
sheriff, under command of his superiors who have sent
along a hot female to help him out and/or serve to
be captured. All sheriffs have a flying base that
transmits their combat suit from above, and also dispatches
other vehicles such as the requisite bike with sidecar
(ala Syberian in Gavan) or other possible tools like
Drill tanks and such. The antagonist is typically
a diabolically devil organization overflowing with
drug-induced creature creations and run by your everyday
"Demon so big he's immobile" leader.
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Shaider
adheres to many of the 'rules' set by it's predecessors,
but is such an intensely surreal experience it's really
hard to describe a single episode without sounding
like an exasperated preschooler choking on cocoa puffs.
More stuff happens in the first five minutes of this
show than I've seen in whole seasons of others. In
the first episode, Dai is chosen to be the next Space
Sheriff, a true defender of the universe. While he's
not nearly as manly as Kenji Ohba in Gavan, his slick
parted hair is likely a hit with the ladies. He drives
a vehicle almost identical aside from color to Gavan's
classic red Suzuki Samurai. His suit is full of all
the expected bells and whistles, and it looks like
he shines that badboy on a regular basis. Usually
fighting alongside or rescuing his pseudo-sidekick
Annie, Dai takes all enemies out with quick and engaging
fights that are so off the wall you have to give 'em
the respect they deserve.
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The
series really belongs to the demons within, lead by
the Great Emperor Kubilai, who is essentially a giant
face in the wall with three eyes. Served by a bevy
of cantina rejects and a transvestite grandson named
God Officer Poe, Kubilai gives Shaider hell by birthing
aliens and sending them to Earth to wreak havoc. The
most insane moments are when they perform the birthing
ritual. Hypnotic music is cued as the monsters and
servants of the Emperor begin a trancelike dance,
and Kubilai's vagina-like third eye peels open in
a disturbingly sexual sequence that ends with Poe
taking a pulsating orb out of Kubilai's mouth. The
ball falls into a blood-filled birdbath and becomes
a giant egg that houses the Double Monster of the
week. It's hard to believe what your watching 90%
of the time that Shaider is playing.
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Fighting Monsters in Shaider follows the same formula
as previous Sheriff shows. Just when it looks like
the enemy is down and out, Dai and his opponent are
sent by Kubilai to Strange World Fuuma (which is identical
in appearance to Gavan's Makuu Space). The scenery
changes more in this world than I have to change my
pants while watching it. Once the enemy is taken out
by Shaider's 'Blue Flash!!' attack, he ends up fighting
the enemy base itself via his transforming base Babylos.
Babylos triple times as a flying Mothership, an enormous
mech (with a Macross look to it) and a giant gun that
Shaider can magnify his image to hold and blast away
with. The design of everything in the show is unforgettable
and a stretch of the imagination to say the least.
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I really need to catch all of the Space Sheriff shows,
as each one seems to get better and better. While
Kenji Ohba reigns supreme in Gavan, Shaider takes
everything up a level. Hopefully someone will give
these shows a deserving release like the one Kikaida
is currently enjoying. The way that these shows take
their situations so seriously in the face of how ridiculous
everything appears to be is one of the chief attractions,
making every episode fast paced and intense. The madness
continues in following series such as Megabeast Special
Investigation Juspion, Dimensional Warrior Spielban
and Super Man Machine Metalder, many of which were
all chopped together to be imported to the US in the
form of VR Troopers. Later series added more heroes
to the mix, like '95s Heavy Armor B-Fighter, which
partially came to Western shores under the moniker
of Beetleborgs. All we can do right now is hope that
someday we'll get some great subtitled releases of
shows like this so I can stop sounding like I'm out
of breath on the playground flapping my lips about
Saturday morning cartoons (which I may as well be).
More information about these series can be found at
www.japanhero.com and http://www.grnrngr.com/documents/METAL.TXT
(which is a great resource for character and episode
names).
Coming up next time, I'll talk about Megaloman, which
would really be more popular if they advertised the
fact that it's essentially Ultraman with a mullet.
Joseph
Luster
04/12/2004
