Special Rescue Police Winspector
Special Rescue Police Winspector is a Japanese tokusatsu TV series, part of the Metal Hero Series franchise and the first piece of the Rescue Police Series trilogy. The series follows the adventures and missions of a special "Rescue Police" team known as Special Police Winspector, as they stop crimes and respond to dangerous events where regular police force is not sufficient. The team is made up of one human and two robotic assistants.
The opening catchphrase of the series is "Special Rescue Police Winspector: with a love of peace and faith in friendship, they face down crime to protect the lives of innocent people, this is the "Metropolitan Police Special Emergency Unit"!".
Story
Special Rescue Police Winspector takes place in a near-future Japan of the year 1999. As the country is facing a great threat from criminals, new methods of protecting people are created. The Winspector squad, consisting of the robot brothers Walter and Bikel, along with Ryouma, defend against super powered threats, ranging from mob attacks to scientific experiments gone terribly wrong.Team
- Ryoma Kagawa/Fire: 23 years old. Ryoma is the leader of the team and the only human member. Like Masaki, he is also a Police Superintendent. Kagawa is an orphan skilled in martial arts and knows five languages. His primary means of transportation is a purpose-built car named Winsquad. When initiating his transformation to Fire he calls out "Suit up!". He is then equipped with an energy sword - his primary all-purpose weapon - and a suit of red armor named the Crush Tector, which enhances his strength and can protect its wearer from poisonous gas, heavy gunfire, and oxygen deprivation, but can only be worn for five minutes at a time due to the stress it puts on his body. There are also other, more specialized weapons and tools available. Ryoma has a sister. He later joined the Solbrain team as Knight Fire.
- Bikel: Walter's "twin brother", Bikel is one of two robots who assist Ryouma. His primary means of transportation is his motorcycle. However he also has a wheel integrated into his chest section which he can use to "land-surf" when no vehicle is available. His weaponry consists of twin lances, which can be combined into a longer staff and can alternatively function as the handles of his motorcycle or coin bombs. Bikel's armor is yellow. Being a master of jokes and sometimes a little inane, he's often subject to Walter's anger. He speaks in a Nagoya dialect.
- Walter: Bikel's "twin brother", Walter is the other of the two robots in the team. Being equipped with wings enables him to fly, thus requiring no special vehicle. His armor is turquoise. Walter loves children and he is generally the type of "person" who enjoys life.
- Shunsuke Masaki: Shunsuke is Winspector's commander and founder. He usually remains in the headquarters of Winspector, but if necessary, for example when a member falls into a pinch, he goes to the site himself and takes command. After the series, he established another rescue team called Solbrain and made a comeback in the last few episodes of Exceedraft.
- Junko Fujino: Junko is an information G-man. She is an expert with handguns.
- Hisako Koyama: Hisako is a secret G-man. She usually works in a coffee shop. Her father, Masanobu Koyama, was a colleague of Masaki until he was killed in action six years ago.
- Shin'ichi Nonoyama: Shin'ichi is Winspector's mechanic. He develops rescue tools and maintains Bikel and Walter. Likes playing chess
- Madocks: Madocks is Winspector's supercomputer. Madocks holds data on every criminal and can analyze it in an instant.
- Demitasse: Demitasse is a small robot. His main work is to repair Bikel and Walter during emergencies, as well as secret investigation activity.
Arsenal
- GigaStreamer: strongest weapon of the team, first used in episode 31 to defeat a robot cop named Brian, who was created by the same system as Biker and Walter, but was reprogrammed to be a killing machine. GigaStreamer has two modes depending on which of two tops is put onto it. Its strongest attack is a plasma minigun blast called Maxime Mode which needs Fire to insert his MaxCalibur to the gun. Later Daiki used it to defeat a chameleon-robot.
- MaxCalibur: a sword-like gauntlet weapon belonging to Fire, it also shoots lasers.
- BiSpear: Bikel's two sticks, which can be combined to form a long rod and are used as the handlebars of WinChaser.
- Dislider: Walter's wings, which can transform into a shield. They let him fly, sometimes while carrying Bikel.
- Multi Pack: A box with water-shooters and first aid equipment. Used by Fire, Bikel and Walter.
- Daytric M2: a laser handgun which can double as a welder. Every member of the team has one and stores it in a holster on the right leg.
- HandWapper: Cuffs.
- WinBadge/FireBadge: Ryoma's police license. Becomes white, when he wears the Crush Tector.
- WinChaser: A Suzuki TS200 and Bikel's bike, who received it in episode 15.
- WinSquad: Ryoma's car and transformation device. It's a version of a Chevrolet Camaro colored white. Since ep. 15 when Ryoma puts the blue-colored SPCard, the WinSquad transforms to a red FireSquad.
- Masaki's undercover car: Chief Masaki's car in undercover operations. A White Mazda Luce HC.
- Junko's undercover car: Junko's car in undercover operations. A red Mazda RX-7 FC, similar to KnightFire's Knight Custom in the sequel series Tokkyuu Shirei Solbrain.
Episodes
- The Runaway Baby
- Strange R/C
- Cheers to Friendship
- The Life Taking Thief
- Attack! The Giant Bird
- The Couple That Reverted to Children
- The Happy, Praying Holy Girl
- Police Agents in Family
- The Bomb-Setting Dog
- Revenge of the Adults
- Ryōta's First Love Letter
- My Robot Friend
- Ryōma is Dead!?
- The Death-God Moss' Counterattack!!
- Ryōma! Destroy Masaki
- I Love You, Walter
- The Scary Space Creatures
- Super Abilities! The Determined Girl
- The Bridge of Love and Courage
- Burning K.O. Punch!
- Tears And the Fatal Ball
- The Murderer Who Died Twice
- Father's Comic Postcard
- My Piiko-chan
- The Robot Which Cries in the Rain
- The Sad Girl's Journey
- The Star Summoning 100-Year-Old Beauty
- Fly! Yūko Rocket
- The Ghost of the Village
- Mama... Mama, Help Me
- The Pain of the Strongest Robo
- Onslaught Against the Police Station
- Urashima Taro Awakens
- Turnabout Grandma
- Mother and Child's SOS!
- Biker's Father
- Attack of the Amazoness
- The Chosen Man
- The Sad Old Thief
- The Mutant of the Great Seto Bridge - Part 1
- The Mutant of the Great Seto Bridge - Part 2
- The Treasonous Investigator
- The Boy Who Became a Bomb
- One-Day Only Performance
- Love Just Before the Explosion at 0 Seconds
- One-Day Bad Boy
- The Millionaire Apartment's Trap
- Attack the Special Police!
- Fly into the Sky of Hope
Cast
- Ryoma Kagawa - Masaru Yamashita
- Bikel - Kaoru Shinoda
- Walter - Seiichi Hirai
- Junko Fujino - Mami Nakanishi
- Shunsuke Masaki - Hiroshi Miyauchi
- Hisako Koyama - Sachiko Oguri
- Shin'ichi Nonoyama - Masaru Ōbayashi
- Madocks - Kazuhiko Kishino
- Demitasse - Issei Futamata
- Toragorō Rokkaku - Shin'ichi Satō
- Yūko Kagawa - Yura Hoshikawa
- Ryōta Koyama - Ryō Yamamoto
- Narrator - Issei Masamune
Songs
- "Tokkei Winspector"
- *Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa
- *Composition:
- *Artist: Takayuki Miyauchi
- "Kyō no Ore kara Ashita no Kimi e"
- *Lyrics: Keisuke Yamakawa
- *Composition: Kisaburō Suzuki
- *Arrangement: Tatsumi Yano
- *Artist: Takayuki Miyauchi
In other countries
- Special Police Rescue Winspector released in the Philippines Aired on IBC-Channel 13 in the early 1990s as and the sequel of Kidou Keiji Jiban.
- The Series in France on TF1 Its popularity led to airings of subsequent Metal Hero shows such as Space Sheriff Sharivan, Space Sheriff Shaider, and Kidou Keiji Jiban. The opening of the show was sung by Bernard Minet.
- It was also shown in Germany on RTL in 1992-1993.
- It was shown In Italy on :it:Italia 7|Italia 7 in 1992.
- In Spain, the series aired on La 1 around the same time as Jiban.
- Indonesia and Malaysia also Broadcast the series on Indosiar and TV3.
- In Brazil the series was very popular in the 1990s, along with several seasons of the Metal Hero franchise.
- It also aired in Thailand on TV7 in the mid-1990s.