Describing Toku in veiled terms.

[monkeyjb1988]

I've found that this is often the best way to trick a newbie into the world of toku. Appeal to their intellect first, go for the kicks to the face second.

For instance, if I told you we were going to watch a J-drama "that explores humanity and the loss thereof, where every character is hiding a frightening secret," Would you know what it is?

Or what if I said "A modern family discovers that magic is a living force waiting to be channeled through human hands?"

Or my personal favorite "It's the saga of a knight living up to the legacy of hundreds who came before him."

Then once you get them through the first episode, they will be hooked. It's 82.45% guaranteed to work.

Brilliant! That could probably work. They work so well, that...uh...I have no idea what the bold ones are :redface2: (goes to corner of shame). Again, great plan.

Yeah. I might just be trying with the wrong people, but however I try to cajole them 95% percent turn to me as soon as the theme song starts and go "You like Power Rangers?!"

"Power Rangers?"

"Sort of. Same genre but way more awesome."

...it's been easier for me to get girls into tokusatsu.

The guys mostly think it's just Power Rangers, and just as kiddy.

Ah the traditional "Oh it'z Powar Rengars!!!!111"

You know, it's annoyin when people start with the usual "oh its' power rangers"...but it isnt all their fault. It's all they know, in the end. Not everyone is like us -us meanin hardcore fans- that goes on the internet, search info, download **** etc etc. I like to think that if you show what's tokusatsu for real to this "oh it's power rangers" people, a good part of them could end likin it, or at least being able to understand that it's not power rangers, gto see the difference.

Yeah, maybe I put too much trust in human beings...

The one thing all toku fans must deal with, especially the Sentai fans. I can't even begin to tell how many times I've had to defend Super Sentai about being Power Rangers (which I like but, c'mon, they're different).

 

[Black Fang]

Ironically though, a friend of mine who I talked into watching Agito said it reminded him of PR, but in a good way.

 

[DarkWolf]

"Power Rangers?"

"Sort of. Same genre but way more awesome."

Yeah, that's probably the best line you can give them.

I was at a LAN party recently, and a friend of mine that I got into toku was watching Kabuto. It was inevitable for someone to approach him and ask if he's watching Power Rangers. I basically just said something along the lines of "It's kinda similar, but way more awesome" and gave my brief lecture about the differences and he just told me "I'll take your word for it". And he said it in such a way that I couldn't tell if he was actually believing me or just being sarcastic... I hope it's the former.

EDIT: I've also started using "Japanese super heroes" to describe toku... that seems to work well so far.

 

[Algo Fonix]

I've never had to use veiled terms to convince most of my friends. Most of em used to watch Power Rangers, and still have good memories about that. One of my friends actually got into Kamen Rider when I sent him the Den-O theme song.

Maybe I just know odd people? lol?

 

[Wraithstrike]

It's the method I used at college. Of course, sometimes an opening comes to you. Like one night, six guys were watching some classic rangers, and asked me "What's with the rule about not escalating the fight?" In response, I showed them the clip where Natsuke takes Ultimate Daibouken for a spin.

Another means was totally random. Inside the computer lab, I had finished watching the Faiz Blaster in action. Guy sitting next to me asks for the search terms for that video, because I was enjoying it so much.

Strangely enough, I found the most receptive audience for this to be the guys in my AIM gaming group. we're playing Scion, and they're always looking for new ways to be awesome. Clips from GARO, Hibiki and the IXA/Kiva teamup drive them down that path.

Knight IXA got all of my veiled shows right.

 

[ClimaxHeroDen-O]

It's the method I used at college. Of course, sometimes an opening comes to you. Like one night, six guys were watching some classic rangers, and asked me "What's with the rule about not escalating the fight?" In response, I showed them the clip where Natsuke takes Ultimate Daibouken for a spin.

Another means was totally random. Inside the computer lab, I had finished watching the Faiz Blaster in action. Guy sitting next to me asks for the search terms for that video, because I was enjoying it so much.

Strangely enough, I found the most receptive audience for this to be the guys in my AIM gaming group. we're playing Scion, and they're always looking for new ways to be awesome. Clips from GARO, Hibiki and the IXA/Kiva teamup drive them down that path.

Knight IXA got all of my veiled shows right.

well, Magiranger was easy, Garo was kinda easy, but 555 took a good deal of thinking to figure out

 

[The_Next!!!]

My perverted friend loved shaider because of "that chick who kept flashing everyone while fighting" in his words.:laugh::laugh:

 

[Raida|23]

That's so true, if someone gives you a weird look when the first creature/MOTW or sumthing appears, he's probably a lost cause.

 

[DarkWolf]

You're better off never, EVER using a Super Sentai series to convert people. Unless the person is really into Power Rangers or is really open-minded, it's almost guaranteed to turn them off from the weirdness of it. Not that monsters in other toku shows aren't weird in their own way, but Sentai monsters... eep.

 

[PsychoTherapist]

I usually don't bother describing Toku to friends, they're not the kind of people who would appreciate it.

The only use I've found for Toku amongst my friends: when they visit my house and I'm growing rather bored of their company after several hours, previewing my Toku collection usually sends them scurrying off. Works every time, so I get double enjoyment out of it.