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I am currently in development of a webseries(in the similar vein of the Nostalgia Critic and Linkara) where I review Tokusatsu shows and movies(ranging from Godzilla, Gamera, Ghidorah, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Super Sentai, etc.)...but there's been something I've been worrying about.

Since I'm an American who's been mainly affiliated with Power Rangers his whole life, I'm unsure if I am able to judge a genre from a totally different country that might cloud my usual judgement of movies and television.

So I'm wondering, do you guys have any advice on how to review Tokusatsu? Is there a right way to do it or a wrong way to do it? What are somethings I always should do when reviewing Tokusatsu? Anything?
 
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Don't use subbed clips unless you are also reviewing the sub quality.

Agreed. Additionally, make yourself aware of some of the more common Japanese tropes, idioms, and cultural differences.

I remember someone commenting on a scene in Decade where a character has an object apparently lodged up his anus, talking about how disgusting and violent it was as a scene. But there is a common Japanese comedy element which involves the prodding of the anal cavity...which sounds so much less funny when you type it out than when seeing it performed.

A couple other common ones:

People sneeze when other people talk about them behind their backs.

It is customary to present a business card when introducing oneself (to learn how to spell a person's name)

There are a lot of suffixes which are a large part of the politeness scale and you will often see a character insist they be referred to a certain way. This is a cultural thing.


But really, there's too many to reproduce in one place. Mostly you'll just learn as you watch (and maybe do some research).

TL;DR don't complain too much about things that are just Japanese weirdness.
 
Peek a Boo!
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Guess these tips might help you.

- Check the year a certain show was made. This is helpful if you are doing reviews of Showa era and early Heisei era toku. There are some instances that some plots on some episodes tackle some issues during that era. Knowing the year is also helpful when it comes to judging the special effects and how it holds up to this day.
- Judge the show's SFX based on the year/era when it was made. Already explained on the top.
- Study bits of Japanese culture. Chances are, some shows/movies has bits of it. There is nothing wrong to do a quick research about it.
- Don't over analyze. Most of it are meant for kids and families during that time. Analyzing some of it is good, but don't over analyze. You might end up not understanding the original intention of the creators.
 
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Agreed. Additionally, make yourself aware of some of the more common Japanese tropes, idioms, and cultural differences.

I remember someone commenting on a scene in Decade where a character has an object apparently lodged up his anus, talking about how disgusting and violent it was as a scene. But there is a common Japanese comedy element which involves the prodding of the anal cavity...which sounds so much less funny when you type it out than when seeing it performed.

NARUTO!!!!!!!!!!:castlerock:

I laughed when it happened with Kakashi.
 
I liked him when he wasn't a god
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Although I agree with "don't over-analyse", do try to strike a balance and explain WHY you feel the way you do about something. Avoid the words "bland" and "generic" - they are so overused in this fandom as to be meaningless and they'll just make your writing look run-of-the-mill instead.
 
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- Don't over analyze. Most of it are meant for kids and families during that time. Analyzing some of it is good, but don't over analyze. You might end up not understanding the original intention of the creators.

For a different perspective, I feel like it is often less useful to try and define what the creator intended, but rather, but what a potential viewer might take away from it. If your overall conclusion is "Only kids will find something to enjoy here", then that's fine. But saying something is "okay" because it was made with kids in mind does an injustice to both the material and the kids.

They say context is everything. So I really don't know why more reviewers don't give scores from a variety of reference points. After all, quality is hard to pin down, so why not be as descriptive as possible?
 
The Ends JustiΦ's the Means
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I'd say that a bit of research into the material and the culture of Japan is good, but at the same time, it sort of comes naturally the more you watch Tokusatsu, Anime, J-dramas, variety shows, etc. You'll sort of pick up on it. But, I would say not to stress too much about it if its not essential to the plot or the point you are trying to make.

What I've learned and I'm still learning is that if you're a reviewer, its more about what you think of the material rather than recapping what happened. A brief summary will suffice, but a good portion of it should be your opinion and what you thought worked and what didn't work. It's good to be objective when it comes to facts and digging through some background history always helps to bring more perspective to the review. But, ultimately people will be coming to you for opinions. Just be yourself and project that in your review.
 
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Thanks for the advice so far guys! I really appreciate it! :)

Now, another question I have is, when reviewing each season of the series is it necessary to see every single episode of each Sentai, Kamen Rider, Ultraman, Metal Hero, etc. to get just a general feel of each season or is it okay to just watch a handful of episodes?

Just because, I'm a little unsure if I can find every single episode of each franchise season and take a look over the entire season.
 
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A lot of Japanese shows, KR and Sentai included, don't follow the same kind of "season" structure as US or Canadian shows do. Each "season" is a complete series with a self-contained story, characters, etc.

In other words, no, you CANNOT get a real understanding of the season without watching all, or at the very least most, of the episodes. Preferably in order.
 
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