Super Rescue Solbrain


Super Rescue Solbrain is a Japanese tokusatsu television series produced by Toei Company. It ran for 53 episodes from January 20, 1991, to January 26, 1992, on TV Asahi. It is part of the Metal Hero Series franchise; a sequel to Special Rescue Police Winspector, it is the second installment in the Rescue Police Series trilogy.
For distribution purposes, Toei refers to this television series as simply Solbrain.

Plot

After the Winspector police team leaves Japan to fight crime in France, Chief Shunsuke Masaki realizes he must create a new police team to defend Tokyo from crime. He creates Solbrain – a high-tech special rescue force, expert in missions requiring rescue and firepower. Its leader is Daiki Nishio, a rookie detective who can use the Plus Up command in his car to transform into SolBraver. Other members are Reiko Higuchi, also able to use the Plus Up command to transform into SolJeanne, SolBraver's female counterpart; and SolDozer, a yellow bulldozer robot. Later in the series, the Winspector team returns to Japan and teams up with Solbrain for a three-part story. From episode 34 on, Ryouma, the protagonist from Winspector, returns as a member of Solbrain, wearing a suit dubbed the Knight Fire.

The team

  • Daiki Nishio / SolBraver: Daiki is Ryoma's successor. He wears blue armor, and his primary vehicle is SolGallop. He only can wear his solid suit, and his transformation call is "Plus Up". He is armed with Cerberus Delta, which can transform into a rod or a sword.
  • Reiko Higuchi / SolJeanne: Reiko is Junko's successor. She wears red armor, a black-and-white flameproof suit and a helmet without a mouthplate. Her primary vehicle is SolDrecker, which also carries Dozer. Her transformation call is also "Plus Up", and her weapon is a small gun.
  • SolDozer: Dozer is Bikel and Walter's successor. He is a yellow heavy-duty robot and can transform into a rescue machine.

    Other members

  • Jun Masuda: A Solbrain member, unlike Daiki and Reiko he does not wear a solid suit; however, he is always in action.
  • Shunsuke Masaki: Chief of Solbrain. Compassionate and dedicated, he usually goes into the battlefield to help his subordinates.
  • Kamekichi Togawa: A machine expert, he is Nonoyama's successor.
  • Takeshi Yazawa: A pilot of the mothership Solid States-I, he leads the mothership's operating team and is senior to Daiki.
  • Midori Aikawa: Solbrain's Operation's team leader, she sees computer literacy as a main duty.
  • Ryoma Kagawa / Fire: Winspector's former leader, he first reappears in episode 21 with the Winspector team chasing an android named Messiah. He later transformed into Fire and helped the team with Bikel and Walter. Later returns in episode 34 as Knight Fire, a new member of Solbrain, armed with Cerberus Delta and Pile Tornado. He is portrayed by Masaru Yamashita, reprising his role from the previous Metal Hero series.
  • Cross 8000: Solbrain's supercomputer, and Madocks' successor.

    Arsenal

  • Solid Suit: Daiki, Reiko and Ryōma's armor.
  • Proto Suit The prototype of SolBraver's Solid Suit, Katsuhito Sasamoto steals the armor to destroy SolBraver, but the armor had a timeout, similar to the Crush Tector's 5 minute time limit. Sasamoto was known as a psychotic person who had no qualifications to become the SolBraver.
  • SolGallop: Daiki's car, based on the Toyota Sera
  • SolDrecker: Reiko's car, sometimes also driven by Jun. Based on the Toyota Previa
  • Knight custom: Ryōma's car, based on the Mazda RX-7 FC
  • Masaki's undercover car: Chief Masaki's car. Initially, a Third-Generation Mazda Luce seen on Winspector, but in mid-series changed to a Mazda Persona.
  • Winsquad Stock-type: In the episode 21, when Ryoma chases an android, he drives this car, a tenth generation Cadillac Eldorado with all the equipment and transformation mechanisms installed inside the car.
  • Solid States I: the mothership. S.S.-I takes off from Solid Hanger in one minute.
  • Cerberus Delta: SolBraver and Knight Fire's weapon. It has two operating modes: Shot Mode and Slash Mode.
  • BosWinder: a tool which shoots a special carbon-fiber rope or a special bullet
  • SolIndicater: Daiki and Reiko's police license
  • O2 Pack: oxygen cylinder
  • Medical Pack: emergency equipment used by SolJeanne
  • Cuffs Lock: handcuffs
  • GigaStreamer: the only weapon Solbrain inherited from Winspector.
  • Pile Tornado: SolBraver and Knight Fire's big gun, with three functions:
  • *Super Discharger: shoots a fire-extinguishing beam
  • *Caulking Puncher: shoots a special gelatinous, gluey, freezing bullet
  • *Tornado Burst: a hail of 40 plasma-energy bullets per second, fired by Cerberus Delta. Its power is two times that of GigaStreamer's maximum mode.

    Episodes

  1. Tokyo Skies' SOS: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Masao Minowa
  2. The Explosive Extrasensory perception: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Masao Minowa
  3. Is Father an Angel or a Devil?: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  4. The Game-Software of Dreams: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  5. The Mutant's Courage: written by Takahiko Masuda, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  6. The Storyteller and the Bomb: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  7. The Reincarnated Human Machine: written by Kyoko Sagiyama, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  8. The Vanishing Power-Suit: written by Takashi Yamada, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  9. Father and Daughter's Red Bond: written by Junichi Miyashita, directed by Michio Konishi
  10. The Naive Arson Team: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Michio Konishi
  11. The Elegy of Love and Revenge: written by Takahiko Masuda, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  12. Birth! The New Dozer: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  13. Murder Playback: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kiyoshi Arai
  14. The Love-Calling Bullet: written by Takashi Yamada, directed by Kiyoshi Arai
  15. The Dove Doll: written by Susumu Takaku, directed by Michio Konishi
  16. The Disappearance of Mothership S.S.-I: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  17. Escape in Handcuffs: written by Junichi Miyashita, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  18. Bicycling for Tomorrow: written by Kyoko Sagiyama, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  19. Kame-chan and the Detective Girl: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Hidenori Ishida
  20. Shoot the Handcuffs of Tears: written by Takashi Yamada, directed by Hidenori Ishida
  21. The Returned Winspector : written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  22. Heartless Fire : written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  23. From Ryōma to Daiki : written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  24. Rescue the Goshawk: written by Susumu Takaku, directed by Michio Konishi
  25. The Gigantic Mothership Response: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  26. The Trap-Setting Detective: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Michio Konishi
  27. The Story Plant's Secret: written by Kyoko Sagiyama, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  28. Hurry! Mothership of Life: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  29. The Revolt of the Children's Empire: written by Takashi Yamada, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  30. God is Painful!: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Michio Konishi
  31. She is a Dream Future Car: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Michio Konishi
  32. Pursue the Murderer Policeman: written by Susumu Takaku, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  33. When the Hero Cries: written by Junichi Miyashita, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  34. New Hero to Kyushu! : written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  35. New Hero to Kyushu! : written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  36. The Kidnapper is the Commanding Officer!: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  37. The Sad Hitman: written by Junichi Miyashita, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  38. The Devil Whispers Death: written by Susumu Takaku, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  39. The Space Alien who Delivered the Dream: written by Kyoko Sagiyama, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  40. Trap the Hero: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  41. Clash! High Speed Machines: written by Takahiko Masuda, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  42. Oath of Revenge in Hand: written by Junichi Miyashita and Yasuyuki Suzuki, directed by Michio Konishi
  43. The Woman with Two Faces: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  44. The Thief and the Old Doctor: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  45. The Target is the Small Witness: written by Junichi Miyashita and Yasuyuki Suzuki, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  46. The Ingenious Time Machine: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  47. Digression! The Divine Investigation Team: written by Nobuo Ogizawa, directed by Kaneharu Mitsumura
  48. Today Without Papa Again: written by Kyoko Sagiyama, directed by Michio Konishi
  49. Love Her! The Bad Child: written by Noboru Sugimura and Akiko Asatsuke, directed by Michio Konishi
  50. The Devil-Dog's Birth of Hope: written by Mayumi Ishiyama and Junichi Miyashita, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  51. Special Rescue: Breakup Order: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Takeshi Ogasawara
  52. Special Rescue: Explosion Order: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi
  53. Until We Meet Again: written by Noboru Sugimura, directed by Michio Konishi

    Cast

;Opening theme
;Closing theme
  • "Ai ni Dakarete"
  • *Lyrics: Akira Ōtsu
  • *Composition: Kisaburō Suzuki
  • *Arrangement: Tatsumi Yano
  • *Artist: Takayuki Miyauchi
  • *Chorus: Morinoki Jidō Gasshōdan

    Video game

A video game for Tokkyū Shirei Solbrain was released in 1991 for the Famicom, published by Angel and developed by Natsume Co., Ltd. It was localized into Shatterhand, which was published by Jaleco for the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe shortly after the Japanese release. The differences are mainly cosmetic but there were also several substantial changes, such as which boss appeared in which area. In addition, the theme-park stage from the Famicom version was replaced with a nuclear-submarine stage in the NES version.

Philippine English voice cast

All 53 episodes were covered and were visually aired uncut. However, some of the characters had their first names changed to be more anglicized, while their surnames were kept. However, several characters have kept their Japanese full names completely intact. For example, Daiki Nishio, Reiko Higuchi and Jun Masuda were renamed to Corey Nishio, Rachel Higuchi and John Masuda respectively.
  • Daiki Nishino/Corey Nishio/SolBraver - Earl Palma
  • Reiko Higuchi/Rachel Higuchi/SolJeanne - Unknown
  • Jun Masuda/John Masuda - Earl Palma
  • Shunsuke Masaki - Earl Palma

    International broadcasts and home video

  • The series aired in Indonesia on Indosiar with an Indonesian dub in the mid-1990s produced by Erfas Studio. It also aired again in 2001.
  • It also aired in Thailand on Channel 3 with a Thai dub.
  • In Brazil, the series aired as Super Equipe de Resgate Solbrain on the now-defunct Rede Manchete in 1995 with a Brazilian Portuguese dub. This was the final Metal Heroes series to be released in the region with a dub.
  • The series received a Latin Spanish dub dubbed in Mexico with its dub produced by Comarex dubbed by Larsa Studios, recorded and released in 1996. It aired as Super Rescate Solbrain.
  • This series aired in the Philippines with all 53 episodes dubbed into English by Telesuccess Productions, Toei's Filipino branch. This is the first and only entry in the Metal Hero series to ever receive an English dub. It first began airing on IBC 13 in 1997 with all 53 episodes dubbed in English and later Tagalog, both versions being fully uncut. However, most characters in the English dub had their first names changed, but several characters had their names either slightly modified or fully kept intact. It also aired again on ABC 5 in 1999. The English dub was also released on DVD in 2004 and is reported to be the only Metal Heroes series to ever be released with an English dub. Later on, the series was bought back on the air in 2006 on GMA Network with a newly produced Tagalog dub of the series.