MegaBeast Investigator Juspion (巨獣特捜ジャスピオン), also known as Space Wolf Juspion or simply Juspion, is a Japanese tokusatsu television series and part of the Metal Hero Series franchise. Produced by Toei Company, it was originally broadcast from 15 March 1985 to 24 March 1986, running for 46 episodes. For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as Jaspion.

Plot

While reading the Galactic Bible, the space hermit Edjinn learns of a shocking prophecy: When the dark god Satan Goth awakens, the universe will be ravaged by giant monsters filled with rage. After Satan Goth appears and the prophecy is set in motion, Edjinn orders Juspion, who Edjinn has been tutoring, to stop him and combat the corrupted MegaBeasts. Juspion travels with his friends Anri the android and Miya the alien across the galaxy in his battleship Daileon to confront Satan Goth and his army. Eventually, Juspion land on Earth, which, it turns out, is a prolific source of MegaBeasts (it is explained that the dinosaurs were part of that group), and many of them are still asleep in various locations. Amongst Juspion's arsenal, there is his Metal Tech Suit armor, made of a very rare mineral called Edjinium and equipped with a visor called Sensor Eye that can scan the environment with x-ray and night vision, and his Plasma Blazer Sword, which can be contracted for storage and can be infused with the plasma during combat, and his Beam Scanner Gun. His warship Daileon also houses the Super Planetary Combat Tank Garbin, which doubles as the Garbin Jet, and a motorcycle vehicle called Super Planetary Machine Iron Wolf. Daileon itself can transform into a giant robot called Super Planetary Battle Giant Daileon. Daileon is frequently Juspion's final and most devastating tool to be used against MegaBeasts.

Characters

Daileon crew

Based on the silver Super Planetary Battleship Daileon (超惑星戦闘母艦ダイレオン), Juspion travels across worlds to pursue Satan Goth. When facing a rampaging MegaBeast, Juspion converts Daileon into the Super Planetary Combat Giant Daileon (超惑星戦闘巨人ダイレオン) to defeat MegaBeasts with its Cosmic Crash double punches.

Vehicles

Allies

MegaBeast Empire

MegaBeasts

Episodes

On January 6, 1986 (The day that episode 35 aired) the show later aired on Mondays instead of Fridays.

Cast

Songs

International Broadcasts, Home Video & Streaming

Popularity in Brazil

While the series has not been very popular in its home country of Japan, the series has had a huge popularity in Brazil for decades. Toshihiko Egawara (founder of Everest Video, licensed the series for home video at the time) himself bought the series over to the region under the name "O Fantástico Jaspion" (The Fantastic Jaspion) and it premiered on the now-defunct Rede Manchete on February 22, 1988, with all episodes dubbed in Brazilian Portuguese. This was after several television networks had turned down to air the series. It premiered in Brazil on the same day as another Toei Tokusatsu series Dengeki Sentai Changeman which aired as Esquadrão Relâmpago Changeman (Lightning Squadron Changeman) on the same channel. This series was a huge hit and has enjoyed unprecedented success in that country. It was the first Metal Heroes series and the very first Tokusatsu series to be made in the 1980s to ever air in the region at a time when mostly re-runs of 1960s and 1970s tokusatsu programs were airing. Not only did more Metal Heroes series get shown, but also other tokusatsu and even anime television series later eventually aired on TV in Brazil. Everest Video also released the series on VHS and even a full DVD release with all episodes included with both the original Japanese audio with Brazilian Portuguese subtitles and the Brazilian Portuguese dub included. The series' successor Jikuu Senshi Spielban which has no connection to this series, was localized in the region under Jaspion 2: Spielvan. However, the main hero was still called Spielvan in the Brazilian Portuguese dub. In February 2018, it was announced that Juspion would get a remake movie produced by Brazilian company Sato Company, with Toei's endorsement and approval. The movie's cast was expected to be announced in 2019, with the film set initially to be released in the early 2020s. And then in 2020, the Brazilian publisher JBC launched a comic book in manga-style titled O Regresso de Jaspion (The Return of Jaspion), with the approval of Toei. The story follows the end of the TV show. A representative at Toei speculated about the popularity “I think that the Brazilians, who have an easy-going national character, were curious about the clear and futuristic drama and accepted it.”