I always had a nagging question as to why Metal Hero has been defunct after January 4, 1999, which is the final episode of any official series. I even hear Robotack is such a bad series it killed Metal Hero. But there seems to be more than meets the eye since the spirit of Metal Hero still managed to live on with Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive (which the series felt like an amalgamation of Tokkei Winspector and Chikyu Sentai Fiveman) and Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger had nods to the Space Sheriff Trilogy. Maybe, we can also say it was also true with Uchu Sentai Kyuranger too. Metal Hero references here and there yet not a new entry of Metal Hero whatsoever!
Understanding Kamen Rider's rocky history and the yearly Metal Hero entries during the Showa era (1975 - 1989)
If you do some research, you may realize that Kamen Rider wasn't always the yearly release it was in the Heisei era. The first Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider V3, Kamen Rider Amazon, Kamen Rider X, and Kamen Rider Stronger were a succession of yearly entries. However, the end of Kamen Rider Stronger didn't bring a new series. Did you know it took four years before the new series which was just called The New Kamen Rider which was later called Skyrider was ever introduced? Kamen Rider Super-1 was introduced but it had a six-year hiatus before Kamen Rider Black (which is probably my only big-time favorite Showa Rider) was introduced as a possible reboot. Black was so successful that Black RX tried to capitalize on it but failed miserably. However, for the blunder that's Black RX -- the series itself has introduced new concepts that would be done better in the Heisei era but it also caused the 11-year hiatus where no new Kamen Rider series would be introduced.
Metal Hero didn't have those hiatuses during the Showa era. The Space Sheriff Trilogy was followed up yearly with Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider. Shaider ended the series. A new reboot called Juspion and another self-contained show named Spielban (also acted by Hiroshi Watari from Sharivan) came after Shaider. The familiar look was discarded when Metalder was going to be a reinvented Kikaider (but darker) but it only lasted for 39 episodes from March 16, 1987 to January 17, 1988. I heard Metalder was loved by older audiences but not the target audiences of 1987. Hmmm did Hikari Sentai Maskman also suffer the same? You can also consider how we had the rather unique Sekai Ninja Sen Jiraiya and Kido Keiji Jiban after Metalder. Then it was that time Kamen Rider was really close to a standstill because Black RX sadly was going to flop even if it did complete a year-run, unlike Decade which only lasted for 31 episodes -- something I love to call as the Decade Meltdown.
The 90s failed attempt to revive Kamen Rider with three movie-only Riders (1990 - 1999)
The 90s allowed Toei to somehow focus on only two types of Toku shows -- Metal Hero and Super Sentai. However, they were still trying to revive Kamen Rider with movies namely Kamen Rider Shin, Kamen Rider ZO, and Kamen Rider J. So why they never became series is probably because there was hardly any interest -- probably the same reason why the movie-only Kamen Rider ZX never became a TV series. I guess the same reason also caused Transformers Zone to never become a proper TV series. Metal Hero did start to take a huge deviation with Tokkei Winspector which was followed by Tokyu Shirei Solbrain, Tokosou Exceedraft, and Tokosou Robo Janperson (which was also inspired from Robocop except he was purely mechanical). Janperson was later followed up by Blue SWAT, B-Fighter, and B-Fighter Kabuto.
An attempt to kiddify Metal Hero with Kabutack and followed up by Robotack just failed miserably. I don't think I may be missing much in not watching Kabutack and Robotack! So why Toei decided to pull the plug for good is something they haven't made so clear. Buit it seems that their actions somehow point to something.
A new millennium, a new Kamen Rider up to the present (2000 - 2019)
The Year 2000 is both a beginning and an end. It would be said that the 1990s ended and 2000 began the 2000s and it ended with December 31, 2019. What was interesting was that Mirai Sentai Timeranger was practically the end of 20th century Super Sentai -- the finale clip show felt like Super Sentai was getting rebooted! However, that year, Kamen Rider Kuuga would be a very ambitious show. It was probably where Toei was probably biting their fingernails. They probably weren't sure if Kamen Rider would be revived for good. The new formula deviated much from the Showa era. You no longer had Shocker-like villains, the TV format was about to fit that of an action TV drama, almost every episode ended in a cliffhanger, and it WORKED. Kamen Rider Kuuga successfully revived the Kamen Rider franchise. Not only that -- he also rocked the new metallic look that seems to follow almost every Kamen Rider. Ever noticed Kamen Riders now look more metallic?
I guess it was pretty much like this. Kamen Rider was a struggling franchise during the Showa era while Metal Hero was a yearly thing. If Toei decides to have Metal Hero (which are mostly solo heroes and sometimes they have sidekicks without giant robots) -- they would be redundant. It seems that Metal Hero may have "died" but the spirit lives within the new era of Kamen Riders. More and more Kamen Riders are looking more like Kamen Rider-Metal Hero hybrids. Who can remember the GX suit in Kamen Rider Agito which was all metallic? Who could notice Kamen Rider Kuuga had a very metallic look? Who noticed that Kamen Rider Drive uses a car that's just similar to Rideron but also to Jiban's car Reson? Who also noticed that maybe Kamen Rider Gaim may actually be a nod to Jiraiya even if the main hero is a samurai and not a ninja? Kamen Rider Kabuto's outfits seem to be a nod to B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto. Maybe, you can notice that Kamen Rider Zero-One has his suit BEAMED DOWN while AIMS may feel like a nod to the Rescue Police series.
It probably felt redundant or an extra load for Toei if they would still do new Metal Hero series since some series still have the Metal Hero references. Extra load? Maybe that's why Shinichiro Shirakura pulled the plug for Super Hero Taisen though his performance with Kamen Rider Zi-O is somewhat questionable. I feel like any new innovation for Metal Hero (if it would still exist) may not work as well anymore. Also, I think innovators at Toei would probably be uninspired if they had to work with three franchises at once for Super Hero Time.
I'd like to say that Metal Hero may no longer have a new series but somehow it lives on in the form of new school Kamen Rider!
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