Janperson's Origins Is Like Reimagining Robocop's Origins!

Janperson as much of a Robocop inspired show it is, really decided to reimagine Robocop's origins perhaps as not to confuse the Japanese audience between the source of inspiration and the inspired hero. So what's up with Robocop's origins?


Unlike Robocop, Janperson was always purely mechanical like let's say Metalder. He was created as a police robot to fight crime by a group of scientists. Dr. Kaoru Saegusa would serve as his technician for the rest of the series. He was once known as MX-A1, perhaps an inspiration of the Robocop project before it had a human soul.


However during MX-A1's test run, he had no compassion whatsoever and he was prone to breaking the Asimov's Three Law of Robotics. Even if he was just hunting down mindless androids, he malfunctioned and they had to get rid of him.


Without a choice, this Japanese Robocop project had to be destroyed. I always thought the group of scientists were highly too ambitious to attempt to create a Robocop without a human donor. I felt like the scientists behind Janperson's creation must have been watching Robocop. So I held on tight expecting some slain officer (similar to how Naoto Tamura was revived into the monster-slaying Robocop known as Jiban) to be fitted into the MX-A1 robot. Instead, we get a much different scene where Kaoru rebuilds and reprograms MX-A1 into the robot we know as Janperson.


Janperson tries to adjust to his new life as a robot who can think and act like human to a certain extent. Instead of having human body parts to create a Robocop, this version of Robocop is indeed purely mechanical. Later in the series, we discover he struggles with his original programming as MX-A1 who has no conscience.

Possible intended origin vs. final outcome:


I always wondered why Toei had a soft spot for Robocop, a character that they didn't create and really thought it'd be nice to have some Robocop references. When I think about it, Kaoru Saegusa is really Japan's own version of Marie Lazarus, one of those who worked on the Robocop program. Note that Robocop 3 screened in Japan on April 18, 1993 and May 31, 1993 was the very episode that Kaoru Saegusa made her appearance. Coincidence?


What was interesting that the main antagonist involved in episodes 17-18 (which tackled Janperson's secret origin after several episodes that left him a mystery) is that we had Janperson's version of Clarence Boddicker, Ryuzaburo Tatewaki working as the main antagonist. Knowing this guy is crazy, crazy and crazy like his American counterpart, I thought he would go as far as to severely mutilate a police officer to death.


We have guest star Ryosuke Sakamoto acting as a thug working for Tatewaki Konzern. So I was thinking maybe, the original script was that sooner or later, Janperson would be exposed to be a slain police officer revived as a cyborg. In my own speculation, what if they planned a scene where Tatewaki sadistically kills that police officer only for that officer to later come back as Janperson?


With the glimpses that Reiko Ayanokouji also made an appearance in that episode, what if they also planned it that she was once part of Tatewaki Konzern but she later stole the assets and formed Super Science Network? Knowing that she wants to get Janperson's technology, what if she was once the Konzern's unscrupulous psychiatrist in the draft? I was already thinking she was already planning something unscrupulous yet again. So what if she was also part of Janperson's history in draft? Well the idea must have been scrapped off with producers saying, "We've had enough Robocop references now let's insert our charm." scenario.

Images taken from: http://episalbum.blogspot.com/

So when I think of it, Janperson really reimagines Robocop's origins as to avoid copying too much. Even if the whole series was Robocop-based and inspired, he was still his own character working a different charm.