By Mishio Suzuki / Yomiuri Shimbun Senior Specialist 12:00 JST, June 14, 2024 Last month, I organized Rescue Kanshasai II, an event to show gratitude for the Rescue Police series, in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo. The series’ tokusatsu superhero action TV dramas broadcast in the early 1990s. Two actors participated in the event: Masaru Yamashita and Koichi Nakayama, who played the leads in two of the special police dramas.
Yamashita played Ryoma Kagawa aka Fire in “Tokkei Winspector” (Special rescue police Winspector) that aired for roughly one year from 1990. Nakayama played Daiki Nishio, also known as Solbraver in “Tokkyu Shirei Solbrain” (Super rescue Solbrain) that also aired for a year from 1991. Singer Takayuki Miyauchi, who sang the theme songs of both shows, joined the event as a special guest.
“Solbrain” was broadcast after “Winspector” ended, and the two share some setting and characters. Yamashita, who starred in “Winspector,” and Nakayama are on good terms despite appearing in separate dramas, because Yamashita appeared in “Solbrain,” too, as a veteran of the special police squad. His background includes training as an action performer at Kurata Action Club.
“At that time, I was all about action, so I was always clad in a sweatsuit,” Yamashita said. “On the other hand, Nakayama was good at skiing and surfing, and he was always dressed up fashionably. I felt like we were polar opposites of each other.
” Now, 30 years later, the two actors fe.