Janperson 11-14

Here are a couple of episodes before we reach the Janperson Origins arc. These contain some teasers of what's to come next. Meanwhile, there are some lighter episodes as well as darker episodes. I still think that Janperson managed to balance itself without becoming as Darker and Edgier as Metalder became. Yeah, Metalder only had 39 episodes and it got so rushed. Thankfully, not for Janperson which also had more than 26 episodes in contrast to Robot Detective K - which some people sya has stronger influence on the show than Robocop did. 

Now for the next set of episodes to do a rundown...

Episode 11

This is one episode where it says, "LEARN TO MOVE ON!" This episode has Misato hunting down one robot after the other. Misato wants to find the best AI chip to bring to life a robot DUPLICATE of her brother who died of disease. This also features guest characters named DennisTakegami and Johnny. Johnny is some assassin robot for the Takegami family.

This is almost like taken from some American films and older Japanese films. I do feel sorry for how Misato has been recking her life over an obsession. Tatewaki shows how much of a manipulative bastard he can get. The Tatewaki Konzern wants to put an end to Janperson by manipulating a woman lost in her past. It's a really dark episode that teaches us to MOVE ON. It's been three freaking years since Misato's brother died. The scientist involved does give her a slap in the end.

I think having those guest factions does add some realism. Sure, we have the three main groups. However, like Boddicker, Tatewaki does seek to eliminate his rivals. Some may say Tatewaki was more of Dick Jones. Nope, Tatewaki is pretty much an ascended version of Boddicker but toned down to a certain extent. However, Tatewaki is still mentally unstable all throughout the series.

Episode 12 

Back then, I never saw Flashman so I never had any idea who Tota Tarumi was. This is a lighthearted episode. Naoyuki Sakai is the writer for this episode though I'm not familiar with the writer. This episode also features Carla Takashima whose actress guest-starred in Kamen Rider Ryuki and Kamen Rider W. I think Takashima does a good job as a veteran actress with her role as the android Carla. Carla is secretly working for the Neo-Guild in this episode.

Okay, I already forgot much of the Tagalog dub. This episode had the SEEPs which probably addresses humans relying on machines too much. Unlike previous episodes, it's kinda comedic (in a way) when a robot named Kevin becomes involved. Spoilers, Kevin even lives to reform and tell the tale about it! I also laughed at how Carla ended up spilling the beans and Makabe did the right thing to dump her. I find it funny Makabe didn't bother to KILL HER INSTEAD.

The episode sort of ends without much being addressed. Kevin ends up getting reformed and living to tell the tale. Though, some Neo-Guild Robots aren't as lucky as he is.

Episode 13

An episode that sort of trolled people. The preview for the next week tried to talk about Janperson's origins. Was he some kind of secret soldier from an ancient civlization? This episode also showed some scenes that would make blaming the Robocop cartoon over the shooting incident stupid. Yup, one of the Super Science Network soldiers even attempted to cut off the finger of a woman (thankfully NEVER HAPPENED) possessed by a high priestess. The high priestess of an ancient civilization. 

The episode was a real troll. In what way? We felt we could get the real origin of Janperson. Reiko was hoping she'd gain control over Janperson. Instead, it turned out that Janperson's origins are barely covered. We thought was the Iron Soldier. Instead, the Iron Soldier was a MAGICAL ENTITY of sorts. Janperson was clearly created in their time. Visually, Janperson is a repainted Robocop. However, the series will continue in the direction showing how it also seeks to avoid copying from the Robocop franchise either. 

This episode would be the last appearance of Yellow Turbo. I wonder what happened to Green Two after that. All that's known is that Yellow Turbo probably got promoted or re-assigned to some position. I guess Yellow Turbo was all good for as a guest character. The same happened to that reporter early on.

Episode 14

Here's a very depressing episode. So, we had one Neo-Guild episode which was rather lighthearted. We're seeing now how Neo-Guild is VERY SERIOUS about punishing traitors. U2, a Neo-Guild robot develops a different personality after suffering from some damage. It's sort of a reverse of what happens in the Megaman X series some Reploids go haywire due to a malfunction. Vile (or VAVA in Japanese) was pretty much an example. Here, U2 is a robot that doesn't make it because of how Neo-Guild can be that cruel. Yeah, I think I'd call Makabe as Bad Boy Makabe due to Kazuoki Takahashi looking like Robin Padilla.

 
Like Jiban, Janperson also has some kids of the week every now and then. A child befriends an amnesiac robot named U2. George Makabe sends Carlos Togo ahem Dollman (acted by Kyoji Kamui) who's practically the "monster of the week" in a way. It's really a dark episode and we have a child of the week. This would probably set the tone for future Neo-Guild episodes. I feel the death of U2 is another tragic thing. The child of the week here seems to be more traumatized than any child of the week in Jiban. 

Pretty much, I felt that Janperson was more drama-heavy than the other Robocop-inspired series Jiban. In the next post, I'll be focused on Janperson's unfolding origin story that totally was either a surprise or no surprise at all. 

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See you again!