The success of Robocop in America as a movie in 1987 would later create a phenomenon of Robocop influences with Toei. So where do we start?
In 1989, Toei responded to the success of Robocop by creating the monster-exterminating android known as Jiban. Jiban was once a human being named Naoto Tamura but after being killed by the Biorons, he was revived as a cyborg to counter their evil organization. Unlike Robocop, he would beat monsters-of-the-week and he could revert back to his human identity.
By 1994, Toei spawned another Robocop type of character known as Janperson. Compared to its inspiration, Janperson was a purely mechanical character, he was never human. But like Robocop, he would fight against criminal groups that threatened Tokyo. He was also introduced as "the new guy in town"... Robocop style. I felt this was the true Asian Robocop. If America has Robocop in the 80s, Asia has Janperson in the 90s. I personally think Janperson was a more interesting show than the Robocop TV series (which came after Janperson) and kept true to the Robocop spirit of the movie than the Robocop series.
Carranger ended up having its Robocop-type extra hero in Signalman, who by the way has a wife and son (who are also both metallic beings like him, and note Robocop has a wife and a son too). But unlike Janperson or Jiban, he was a comedic parody of Robocop.
Dekaranger's Dekaranger Robo would later become a Robocop reference, even if it was piloted by the five Dekarangers.
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