A robot learns to cry while punching fascists in the face. Peak '80s tokusatsu.
Season 1 • Episode 39
LatestMetalder confronts God Neros in a final showdown to bring an end to the evil overlord that may ultimately bring an end to the existence of the heroic superhuman machine.
Choujinki Metalder is the sixth and shortest entry of the Metal Hero Series, running from March 16, 1987, to January 17, 1988, for only 39 episodes. It was the first series to air on Sundays instead of Mondays. Metalder bears many similarities to Toei's earlier program Android Kikaider, particularly in its themes, characters, and the hero's costume design. The action footage of Metalder was adaptated for the first two seasons of VR Troopers. On February 21, 2007, Toei released the complete Metalder TV series and film on a seven-disc DVD set. For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as Metalder.
Practical Effects
Suit actors suffering for our entertainment in 40°C heat.
Writing
Villain backstories hit harder than they have any right to.
Score
That theme song lives rent-free in my brain since '87.
Seiko Seno
Ryusei Tsurugi, Tatsuo Koga
Hiroko Aota
Mai Ougi
Takahashi Kazuoki
Hakko Kita
Michirō Iida
Metalder (voice)
Genpei Hayashiya
Springer (voice)
Tsushima Seiji
Mukimukiman
Yuko Mitsui
Beautiful Secretary K
Emiko Yamamoto
Beautiful Secretary S
Shinji Tôdô
Gozo Kirihara / Kunio Muraki
Takeshi Watabe
God Neros (voice)
Issei Masamune
Narrator
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Metalder suit was so painfully hot that suit actor Junichi Haruta passed out twice during filming. They kept shooting.
This was Toei's deliberate darker pivot after Spielban underperformed — they killed Metalder onscreen MULTIPLE times to prove they meant it. The kids were not okay.
JP
