Space Sheriff Gavan Lets Watch the Deposition Process Again

The front box art for the DX Chogokin release of Dolgiran, Space Sheriff Gavan's spaceship!

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(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IabKKPf-9w)

Denshi Seiju Dollll!!!! Grand Birrrrrth!!! Vavilooooos!!!

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OhRanger Robo

Next week's review is going to be TwoKaiOh, so it only makes sense I take the bit of time I have before it arrives to talk about the only one of its reference materials I haven't covered (excluding Dolgiran from Space Sheriff Gavan, because that thing is way too expensive). And let me tell you, this was not an easy piece to get a hold of with all its parts. The best one I could find before this popped up in my alerts was a Korean copy with no sword or bull horns. Thankfully, after I couldn't manage to get that one (because you apparently can't buy things off Korean eBay in America), this one happened to catch me, which is complete, but needed a little love.

The Good: I think I once said that LupinKaiser was the most posable Sentai toy ever, and ORR certainly contests that statement. While LK has its head swivel and transformation butterfly joints, ORR has way more articulated arms and elbows. I think someone in the design room saw what joints they needed to get the Sphinx to work, and just gave them their full possible range.

There's also the helmet gimmick, with a different swappable helmet to align with each Zord, giving ORR different abilities and pilots depending on which it dons. While you're probably only going to display him with the red, it's still very cool, and changes up its appearance a lot.

And the transformation is fun. Granted, mine sounds like it's going to explode if I touch it, but I'm always a fan of when Zords expand or contract in the way the hips and legs do in order to take on new shapes.

The Bad: Normally with something like this I talk about how it's way too expensive, but in this particular case it's more about how this was before people really started collecting Sentai toys, and how almost every copy you'll find is missing parts. As I said, I got lucky, but I still had to re-glue down a lot of the old stickers, which were obviously put on by a child given how askew some of them are. The thing that blows my mind though is that there are dedicated mounting points for every helmet in robot mode, so you'd think some kid out there would have kept them all attached:

Apart from that, the only thing I'd warn you about is the sword. The gold chrome on mine shredded itself when I was attaching it, so either be cautious or be content with a hilt-less blade.

Overall, it's fun, but pricey, though the real issue is finding one with all its parts. Don't be tricked by scalper prices, and don't settle for one that's missing pieces you want. Be patient, and you'll eventually stumble on one that has everything you'd like, and hopefully at a price you're willing to pay.

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Sharivan Opinions

I wasn't really sure if I was going to write one of these since I had put off watching the final stretch of episodes since late 2020-ish. So a lot of what happened in this show isn't exactly "fresh" in my mind, but I think I've jogged my memory just enough. Spoilers ahead:

The Good:

I feel a little like a broken record here for how many times I say this, but the music is great. "Tsuyosa wa Ai da" is probably my favorite of the three Space Sheriff ending themes. "Son of Sun" is my favorite insert song in the series, but "Danger Melody" also gets a shoutout.

Reidar (played by Mitsuo Andou of Professor Gill fame no less) really amped up the in-fighting drama in Madoh, which in turn made Gyler and Doctor Polter a bit more interesting. Love me a scheming bastard.

I was actually surprised that the bald guy in the white was in fact an incarnation of Demon King Psycho. Probably helps that I did refuse to read anything about it beforehand. In retrospect, it makes him seem a little more active in the plot than Don Horror was in Gavan, despite both being stationary villains.

Damn that finale was cool as hell.

The Bad:

As much as I tried I couldn't really get into the Planet Iga stuff that drove much of the plot from episode 20 and onwards. I guess I would have just rather Den had been just some Earth guy.

Oh boy did Helen Bell's arc just NOT jive with me. I was hoping she'd be a way cooler character, but it felt more patronising than anything.

Grand Berth's design in Battle Berth Formation just sucks. I don't usually think of myself as picky but it's such a downgrade from Dolgiran that it hurts me.

The Ugly:

front butt. front butt.

Final Verdict:

I didn't enjoy it as much as Gavan, honestly. As of writing this post, it's probably my least favorite of the Metal Hero shows I've seen. Spielvan has it's problems but I do feel that it is the better of the two show starring Hiroshi Watari. Sharivan does have it's merits, but I don't think they're enough to outweigh the stuff I didn't like.

Favorite Screencap:

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gavan was... baffling. a baffling television program. maybe it's no use to try and look at it critically but here i go anyhow.

i felt like it was really in this place of "nobody knows what we want this show/franchise to be yet," and it kinda suffered a lot for it. a bunch of its different aspects didn't match at all - it would bounce back and forth from "makuu is a simple crime syndicate out to make money" to "makuu dealing in terrorism with no understandable goal" to "makuu trying to vaporize the entire universe."

all the wild reality-bending stuff, while sometimes fun to look at, never really lined up with the rest of the show either. possibly bc they took it way too far & used it way too much, to the point of it becoming more headache-inducing than interesting. (and don't get me started on the editing, oof.)

gavan had this great arsenal of stuff but most of it seemed to exist just to exist. why have a bike at all if you're only gonna use it in a stock clip for 5 seconds every episode? why break out dragon form dolgiran just to combat a couple boring little ships that clearly can't make a dent?

it also lacked an interesting villain and the absence is super glaring. it seems they maybe realized it and hastily swapped out hunter killer for san dorva halfway through but he was dull as bricks too (and was often presented as a joke), so?? y'alls guess is as good as mine.

it's a little sad/funny that it became a much better show at the very end when they seemed to be copying kamen rider for a few eps. they weren't creative episodes but they were much easier to get through for me at least. overall it's a weird as hell show that idk if i can give a recommendation to but at the very least it looks fucking incredible in bluray quality & that soundtrack is like. peak 80s and perhaps the all time funkiest

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TwoKaiOh

This was one that I was looking forward to, mostly because of how heavily referential it is. While each of the main members of the Zenkaiger cast directly references a single Megazord, TwoKaiOh references seven (and a Space Sheriff mech). There's the very obvious OhRanger Robo and Shinken-Oh that Cuttaner and Riki represent, but CrocoDaiOh pulls from Cube Crocodile and Tousai Jyuoh in appearance, colors, and some aesthetics in TKO Riki (crocodile arm, silver wolf head), as well as Gokai Galleon in purpose and interior, and Gavan's Dolgiran in how it's shot on screen. And the Red/Blue dual robot modes has been used three times previously by TimeRanger Robo, Shurikenjin, and X Emperor. It's really cool just how much this pulls from multiple series, and I hope any other machines we get from this line can do just as good a job.

The Good: One piece at a time, Riki and Cuttaner are both cute, and are as diminutive in size as you'd expect, only coming up to the knees on the rest of the cast. They have the same articulation as a Megazord, but are ball jointed rather than ratcheted, which gives them slightly more range than normal.

CrocoDaiOh and its separate modes are all solid. It has its spaceship mode, which doesn't wobble like you might think based on its proportions, its bike mode can stand on its own solidly, and its ski-doo mode exists. Honestly, it is cool that they added these extra modes, even if they aren't the most overwhelming in execution. The cannon mode is also a nice bonus. There aren't any actual mounting points for Riki and Cuttaner on it, but I think that's a good thing as it's sturdy enough that they don't wobble, and it keeps the sculpt clean.

The transformation gimmick for TwoKaiOh is awesome. It's so snappy and satisfying, and there's a bunch of additional features that exist just for the gimmick, but add to the overall product rather than negatively impacting it. The two versions of TKO feel like brother machines, which is fitting. It's not as drastic a change as the previous multi-mode Megazords, but I think it works thematically. While their posability isn't great, TKO-R can technically look left and right because of how the head works, TKO-C has a ratchet in the sword so you can spin it in any direction for a particular slash effect you may be going for, and they have a waist joint.

The Bad: While there's nothing wrong with Cuttaner, when you attach Riki's Gatling gun he becomes back heavy and doesn't always want to stand up. Also, the sword and Gatling gun don't peg in very snugly, and like to fall out.

I really like TKO Riki aesthetically, but he's not very posable. The non-croc arm only has 4 ratchet points, and the crocodile arm has no articulation in this mode. You can move it up to expose TKO Cuttaner's arm and use that, but the thumb is only sculpted to work with TKO-C. I think it works if you look at it like a cowboy-esque shoulder cape, but it is disappointing that this mode only has one arm.

TKO Cuttaner actually has that other arm, which has quite a few soft ratchet points to it, but it can only move at the elbow. Also, this is just me personally, but I'm not a fan of its face. I know it's trying to emulate Shinken-Oh, but I wish they did something more stylized or something like how Riki has the Anubis face despite OhRanger having a sphinx. I would have liked a Rhino; bring the Tousai Jyuoh reference full circle.

Overall, this is a good, and surprisingly solid toy considering all the weird, oddly proportioned modes it has. The transformation is super fun to mess with, and it has a staggering amount of additonal modes. Riki having balance issues is a bit of a bummer, and it lacks some of the joints you'd expect from most Sentai toys (which is saying something), but I don't think that fact should dissuade you from picking it up.

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Hello again I was wondering what you could tell us about Space Sheriff Gaven ?

Back in the early 1980s, Toei put the Kamen Rider franchise to rest for a little while after the not so fantastic performances of 1979′s Kamen Rider (a.k.a. Skyrider) and 1980′s Kamen Rider Super-1 (both shows I love to be honest). Super Sentai was doing really well for them and they wanted a new franchise to be sort of a companion piece to it.

At the time, science fiction themes especially those involving Outer Space were huge thanks to the box office smash that was Star Wars and its follow-up The Empire Strikes Back. You can see its influence on Super Sentai with the heroes of Denziman getting their powers from space and even moreso in shows from just prior to the early 1980s like Message From Space. Clearly seeking to create a new science fiction hero, Toei merged the concept with law enforcement and created the first of the Metal Hero series, Space Sheriff Gavan.

Gavan borrowed some concepts from earlier hero shows with the mostly lone hero against an entire evil organization, a henshin sequence and inventive monsters of the week.  Where it diverged was having a hero who came from space (like Ultraman) but who was human seeming to begin with (or half-human in the case of our hero here). He traveled in a spaceship and had a secret identity on Earth which he used to help investigate the doings of the evil Space Crime Organization Makuu, headed by Don Horror.

So the basic recipe was one part Kamen Rider, one part Star Wars and a pinch of The Godfather tossed into a pot and stirred until it got weird. When I say weird, I mean end sequence of 2001: A Space Odyssey weird.  Each week, when Gavan would confront the Makuu monster of the week, Don Horror would order his minions to trap Gavan in Makuu Space, another dimension where the monsters were much stronger.  This called for some trippy visuals.

Now, as I mentioned before, Gavan himself is half human.  His mother was from Earth and his Father was a former Space Sheriff assigned the Earth named Voicer.  Along with trying to defeat the Makuu, he is seeking the fate of his Father who vanished on Earth.  He takes the name Retsu Ichijouji while living on Earth and a job at The Avalon Youth Club as a cover.  He is played by Kenji Ohba who previous portrayed Battle Kenya in 1979′s Battle Fever J and Denzi Blue in 1980′s Denshi Sentai Denziman.

When he needs to transform, he called out the command Jochaku (Deposition) and his ship, the Dolgiran sends down a beam that encases him in armor made from Granium.  This process takes 0.005 seconds, a fact the series reminds us of in almost every episode.  Gavan is armed with a beam weapon that fires from his wrist but his most famous weapon is his Laser Blade, a physical sword that can be encased in deadly light energy.

Gavan grew up on the planet Bird and he meant to travel to Earth alone for his duty but was followed by Mimi, the girl who was in love with him and the daughter of Gavan's superior Commander Qom. She can spy on the Makuu using a pendant that allows her to transform into a parakeet.  She was played by Wakiko Kano.

Gavan's ship, the Dolgiran was also his home base and could split into two to form a flying saucer and a space dragon known as Electronic Starbeast Dol.

Space Sheriff Gavan was a ratings success and spawned two more Space Sheriff series, Sharivan and Shaider.  This also kicked off the entire Metal Hero franchise which would last until the final series ended in 1999. I highly recommend this show to anyone who enjoys tokusatsu, especially space-themed heroes and science fiction!

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favourite vehicle in tokusatsu?

At the moment, I am kind of obsessed with the Star Condor from Choushinsei Flashman.

I just adore how it looks like a supersonic jet attached to a giant cargo carrier and functions as a vehicle transport for the individual components of the team's giant robot.  There's something about it I just really like.

I've also become very partial to the Super Dimensional Highspeed Ship Dolgiran from Space Sheriff Gavan.

I like how it looks like a flying saucer mated to a drive section like some kind of squashed Federation starship.  What really sells it to me though is how the saucer separates (five years before Star Trek: The Next Generation would do something similar) and the bottom section becomes the Electronic Starbeast Dol, a robot space dragon!

Really though, there is no vehicle that can beat the Gokai Galleon from Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger.  It's a space pirate ship with cannons, sails and a giant sword on the front.  Even divorced from the fact that it transforms into the team robot, its an amazing vehicle and the team's headquarters and home.

So, I guess you could say I love space-faring vehicles.  I have a thing for the idea of space travel, especially the more space opera type stories and the impracticality of a sailing ship design in space has appealed to me since Space Battleship Yamato and Space Pirate Captain Harlock's Arcadia.

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I just got done with Space Sheriff Gavan's final episode. I've gotta say, it's been one heck of a ride. Thoughts about the show underneaths the cut. There are spoilers too, of course. :

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The Good:

I like Retsu a lot as a main character. He's the right balance of serious and goofy.

The designs in this show are very solid, IMO.

The fights in the show are fantastic. Tons of flips, sword fighting, and surreal imagery while it goes down.

Speaking of surreal imagery, I love that stuff and it's everywhere in this show.

THE MUSIC. Oh my god. THE MUSIC. It's seriously one of the best soundtracks to a toku ever made in my opinion.

Infiltration scenes are cool.

I swear I didn't cry when Voicer died. I did.

I really like how they led into Sharivan by introducing Den Iga in episodes 42 and 44.

The Bad:

Most of the scenes of Dolgiran, Dol, Cyberian, and later Gavion is the same footage used over and over again. This is probably my one major gripe about the show.

The Ugly:

Gavan's action suit (the more matte looking one) really suffers some wear and tear.

VERDICT:

Gavan is really good. It's not as keen on advancing it's plot like Juspion, but I think it works for this show.

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there's a dolgiran theme song too!! and like every other song in this show it's a banger but i can't find it on youtube... this is biphobic

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Source: https://www.tumgir.com/tag/Dolgiran

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