What do you like about Japaneese superheroes?

[Lynxara]

So, in my secret identity, I am a writer or articles and things. One of the joints I write for is Topless Robot, where I have convinced my editor to let me write a list-piece in praise of the Japanese superhero.

Since tokusatsu is where a lot of the best Japanese superhero stuff makes its home, I intend to write about it a fair bit. For some of TR's readers, I bet this list will be the first time they're aware that this stuff exists, so I want to make sure I treat toku right.

So to make sure I'm looking at this from all angles: what do you like about Japanese superheroes? What's one of your favorite Japanese hero moments? What do Japanese heroes have that their American heroes just don't?

Give me things to think about and I shall think upon them. I have my own ideas, but I want to make sure I'm hitting all bases. Feel free to mention great anime superhero moments, too.

 

[Demi-Fiend]

1. At first the suit designs. That's what gets your attention at first right? Then the stories they've been in.

2. My favorite moments from a japanese hero show is probably the climax of Ultraman Mebius Superior Ultra 8 Brothers. When the Ultramen "Remembered" there pasts, what they've done. That's the strength of any hero, not there powers, but what they've survived and persevered through.

3. Japanese heroes are closer to American Superheroes then most would care to admit. The difference is the execution. The background and atmosphere. Technically Goku is a Japanese hero, though he doesn't wear a traditional costume or a mask. With time both heroes went from pure hearted god figures, to more realistic humans who clash with each other as much as with monsters.

A major difference between the two is the villians they fight, in America the majority of villians are humans with plans... this also makes most western heroes hesitent to kill. Japanese heroes tend to fight being formally human or alien or never human at all, and most have no qualms with killing them. A notable exception was once again Goku who absolutely waited to the last possible moment before actually trying to kill Frieza. Riders are different, they killed all the time, very few spared foes. Anyways you're writing the article not me but damn am I jealous, I can go on and on about this ****.

 

[Black Fang]

The three biggest things:

1) Toku heroes place more emphasis on action than do Western heroes. Every episode will have some display of raw martial arts ability, something that is not often seen in a Western hero show or movie.

2) Most toku heroes can transform instantaneously. That is much more appealing and time-saving than having to manually change into your costume, which a lot of Western heroes have to do.

3) Most tokus have their own soundtracks of songs and OSTs made just for the shows.

 

[DeMize]

jap superheroes dont say : "ecto phase activate!"

nuff said

 

[Sage Shinigami]

Interestingly enough, I intended to do a thread just like this, with the intention of asking "Why do you watch Toku?"

What do I like?

1.) Distinctive designs. Japanese heroes use costumes, just like western ones, but theirs are generally distinctively different from Western superheroes. In a way, they get to be more creative by having to restrict their biggest franchises (Sentai, Ultraman, Rider) to looking a certain way each year. You can't create a superhero that looks like Spider-Man, but the design's just a little different without people deriding it for being an SM rip-off. But with all three primary Toku franchises, each year they alter the design with only a few basic characteristics to go by, making them both uniform and completely different at once. (The best example of this would be to pair the Zyuranger and Abaranger, and the Dairanger and Gekiranger--they possess the same themes, dinos and martial arts, but they don't really look alike.)

2.) The cool toys. A lot of us grew up on Adam West's Batman and the Batman with the utility belt that had basically everything inside of it, Green Arrow with the trick arrows, but as superheroes sort of "grew up", pretty much anything that wasn't central to the superhero was tossed out to appear more mature. Sentai and Kamen Rider (not sure about Ultraman) aren't afraid to push their storytelling while simultaneously keeping the fun, so you'll see all sorts of fun gadgets, like Shotaro's camera and phone devices.

3.) Toku also gets a level of respect that even western superheroes still haven't attained with respect to music. Each year they get their own themes, which is done in America rather frequently, but most often they're generic instrumental themes done by bands no one's ever heard of. With the exception of the Superman theme, how many musical themes from superhero television stick? Yet I seem to recall Engine Sentai Go-Onger's either ending or opening theme doing somewhat decently on the charts. The music is just as much a part of the identity of the show as the heroes themselves.

4.) Lack of Deus Ex Machina. Generally, in Western superheroes, the heroes almost never win through a dramatic, hard-fought (or even easy-fought) battle. Especially in comics--there's always that one thing in all the galaxy that can stop the cosmic threat no one has a chance against--making you feel like there was no point to the fighting in the first place. Toku manages to tell a decent story while making the fights matter--more often than not, the Deus Ex Machina doesn't work. (See: Sealing Character in Shinkenger.)

5.) Giant Robots. Hey. Chicks dig giant robots. :coolshades:

There you go.

 

[NeonZ]

1- I like the concept of a character who can be both the super powered hero and also an "almost" normal human, the "transformation". Tokusatsu uses that much more often than American super heroes, who usually are fully powered even out of costume.

2- The "heroic" presentation. Yelling attack names, announcing themselves, the costumes... I think this just helps making the hero seem bigger, greater, than just a normal brawler with super powers.

3- The heroes actually defeat the villains. There's a story arc and the situation is resolved. It doesn't end just with a meaningless stalemate. Curiously, I think most conventional storytelling actually IS like that. The North American super hero stories are the odd ones out.

4- The constant creation of new heroes and stories every year, rather than mostly trying to rehash what was there before.

 

[ryuuseipro]

So, in my secret identity, I am a writer or articles and things. One of the joints I write for is Topless Robot, where I have convinced my editor to let me write a list-piece in praise of the Japanese superhero.

Since tokusatsu is where a lot of the best Japanese superhero stuff makes its home, I intend to write about it a fair bit. For some of TR's readers, I bet this list will be the first time they're aware that this stuff exists, so I want to make sure I treat toku right.

So to make sure I'm looking at this from all angles: what do you like about Japanese superheroes? What's one of your favorite Japanese hero moments? What do Japanese heroes have that their American heroes just don't?

Give me things to think about and I shall think upon them. I have my own ideas, but I want to make sure I'm hitting all bases. Feel free to mention great anime superhero moments, too.

For one thing, in terms of live-action, Japanese superheroes have far more imagination. And yes, anime superheroes deserve praise as well!

-I've always been, by default, a kaijuu fan, but Japanese superheroes were always very flashy! Whether they were aliens, robots, cyborgs, mutants and such, they were much cooler than most live-action American superheroes, as they weren't afraid to wear colorful costumes/masks, and fight against equally colorful villains. Some heroes are naked, like the Ultra-beings, Kikaider, Inazuman, etc. They don't wear costumes, because they can't take them off!

-Many adaptations of American comic-book superheroes, live-action and animated (not ALL of them, mind you!) were very patronizing. Example: compare Hanna-Barbera's awful Superfriends cartoons to the 60s Batman or 70s Wonder Woman (both campy, but highly entertaining; Adam West could punch baddies, whereas the HB Batman relied completely on his gadgetry and utility belt). Meanwhile, most Japanese animated and live-action superhero shows took themselves a lot more seriously! Japanese parental groups weren't very uptight, until the 1980s. Meanwhile, American parental groups like the ACT were far more radical.

-Many adaptations of American comic-book superheroes, because of the 60s Batman, were afraid to stay true to the comics, because of fear of being labeled as "campy." That's why many shows, since the 70s, toned down the "comic-book" aspect, to be "respected." Also, there's the excuse of low-budgets. (The live-action Spider-Man series never had, say, the Green Goblin, nor would they have him fly on his glider.) Meanwhile, the Japanese had far more imagination, considering what they had to work with. And there's a lot of depth with that "campy" look. Many Americans dismiss even the best tokusatsu (kaijuu eiga, sci-fi, superhero shows, etc.) as "cheap" and "cheesy."

I'll let actor Shirou Sano say it for me:

Don't laugh. It would have been far easier and cheaper for Tsuburaya to have gone to a construction site and filmed ordinary trucks lugging dirt than to have built a sprawling miniature set like this. Realism is not the point. It's about style; it's about mood. There's integrity in the way Tsuburaya and his people worked.

And tokusatsu is a Japanese tradition that realism-crazy Americans will never really get. It's not simply about looking real, it's about feeling real. And Japanese fantasy characters, especially superheroes, and their surroundings, felt very real to me.

-Unlike most American superheroes, Japanese superheroes actually kill baddies! This is something American superheroes could not do until later on, when darker heroes like Wolverine, Punisher, Spawn, Hellboy and others were created to balance out the more conventional superheroes. But they only kill those that are truly evil (as in fighting a real war, not just a game of cops & robbers). Those that are not truly evil, well, that brings me to another point:

-Superhero drama! Even the most colorful superheroes are emotionally challenged, from time to time, with various dilemmas. (Watch Episode 11 of Inazuman, for example, and you'll see what I mean!) Yes, these awesome-looking characters FEEL! And I was raised at a time when American superheroes were not allowed to have emotions in front of children, outside the original comics or live-action movies & TV shows! (Once again, I particularly mean Saturday Morning kiddie stuff after the 60s.) Batman: The Animated Series finally introduced younger audiences to an emotional superhero (one that didn't feel so forced). But the Japanese have done it for a far longer time, when children were treated like intelligent beings.

-Sometimes, humanoids aren't the only superheroes; you had invincible giant monsters like Gamera (the first giant monster with a superheroic streak) and the later Godzilla (who is the greatest superhero ever, IMHO; sort of like the Hulk, who is like Marvel's own Godzilla, as they were both invincible and destructive beings created by bombs). It also brightens my day when a monster and superhero team up against evil, just like Godzilla did with Jet Jaguar and Zone Fighter. Or even like Mazinger Z and the humanoid creature Devilman! Even Ultra Seven had monsters for allies (his Capsule Monsters - Windom, Miclas, Aghira, and Sevenger).

I apologize if I sounded like I was babbling, but this should give you some ideas as to why I love Japanese superheroes. American superheroes have only begun to catch on the same exact way.

 

[ComicGuy89]

For me, I'm a fan of both, but I have only recently come to appreciate Japanese superheroes, despite being a fan when I was but a wee boy (When one grows up in Malaysia, one will be more exposed to Toku than to American superheroes).

What I like in Japanese superheroes that American superheroes cannot provide are a few things:

1) HENSHIN: I just don't understand why, but the very concept of transforming is really awesome! It's over-the-top, bombastic, but really cool. For me, it signifies a point where the heroes change from ordinary civilians to superheroes, where the story shifts to the butt-kicking. In a Pavlovian way, Henshin gets me very, very excited.

Sometimes American heroes use this, such as when Batman in Batman Begins put on his suit for the climax scene with a fantastic score playing in the background. Stuff like this always gets me going, and in Toku, they do it EVERY EPISODE.


2) Dispensing with realism: Being a fan of Batman, I can appreciate a bit of realism. However, sometimes you just want to see something fantastical, unbelievable and even unrealistic. I watch movies to escape from this tired, gritty world, and I sometimes just don't want to be reminded of it.

Through the glaring costumes and freaking-cool-but-would-never-work-in-real-life equipment and machines, Toku heroes show that they aren't afraid to have fun and tell a good story at the same time. I agree with Sage Shinigami in that a long time ago heroes used to be fun with all those impossibly cool toys they had. This extends to outside Toku. For example, Kingdom Hearts' impractical keyblades, Final Fantasy's ridiculous giant swords, Mega Man's numerous armor upgrades, Gundam's humongous mecha, and more.


3) Not needing to look big budget: This is becoming an increasingly annoying problem with American products. When a really awesome movie comes out that doesn't look Oscar-material in terms of visual effects, it's taken for granted. Movies HAVE to look good, they HAVE to use the most convincing CG on the market. Sometimes this causes producers to focus too much on visual effects coming up with poor products. For example, Transformers Animated, with all its choppy animation, had heart and much better character development, in my humble opinion, compared to the live action Transformers.

For Toku, this is not a problem. So what if all the buildings are polystyrene? So what if it's just so obvious that the mecha and monsters are actors in suits? At the end of it all, it's the characters and story that counts, and as mentioned above, the fake look adds to the fun. I was really impressed by how Sentai movies, which had almost the same (admittedly lacking by American standards) level of special effects as the TV shows, were so well received. Even more surprised was I that this was repeated 2-3 times a year in cinemas! The Japanese seem to not need to nitpick at little technical details and to simply want to have fun.


4) Amazing music: Sage Shinigami got it right again, with the music. I was amazed at how good Sentai music was, fully orchestrated with violins and trumpets clearly present. It really adds to the enjoyment, and for me, music helps keep the memory of a show in my mind longer than usual. (Such as Star Wars)


5) Heart and heroism: This is purely from my experience from Sentai, but I found that the heroes were really likable. They were heroic people with heart and when they fall, only to rise up again, I would cheer. (This may be due to the music) Such a sentiment was common during the Golden Age of American Superheroes, but nowadays, angst is the way to go, sadly. In fact, many writers attempt to bring back the heroism of the past, as shown in graphic novels such as Kingdom Come, and movies such as Superman Returns. Even this receives backlash. When Spider-man came at the very last moment in Spider-man 3 to save the day, with the crowd cheering him on and the American flag behind him, people blasted him for campyness.

Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that for Japanese heroes, this trait is the norm rather than the exception. Heroes aren't afraid to show that they are strong, even if they need to rollcall and pose almost every episode to prove it.

 

[kibapower]

1; With tokusatsu, the main idea going for it is transforming heroes. This allows such heroes to always be just your average person,which makes them more understandable to me. Hence the exciting feeling whenever I put on a changer and pretend to transform. Most thoughts on western superheroes are those who are already given superhuman abilities or whose chosen abilities came at high costs.


2: It's tokusatsu. It's a medium which Japan used to portray such things the U.S would originally laugh at doing today. Only recently does the technology allow better portrayal of certain superpowers yet Japan was attempting this before needing such technology. All this and still able to tell convincing stories some wouldn't think you can get out of rubber suits and spandex. The same can be said for Japan anime, who's taken different leaps to portray things U.S animation couldn't reach yet. People got into DBZ for this very reason.

That's really it from me, sadly.

 

[Inui Takumi]

1. Design
The main American superheroes that every is aware of have pretty simplistic designs. Superman is just wearing a blue leotard, gloves, boots, and a cape. Over time, they did start to become a bit more detailed, with heroes like the X-men and their many costume changes. But still, my guess is that heroes here are made simplistic to make it easier for kids to identify.

For some reason, Japan doesn't do that, and Im glad they dont. Sure, the first batch of heroes, (Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Goranger), had fairly simplistic designs. But, merely years later we got experimentation after experimentation. Japanese designers seem to bank on the thought that the crazier the design, the cooler they will look. And they are not afraid to use bright colors (a problem many complain about in US game design as well, comparing old school 80s-90s games to games like Gears of War with color palletes). Thats why Power Rangers caught on, and thats why Anime caught on.

2. Pure Action
When it comes to action, Japanese heroes tend to balance the use of supernatural powers with hand-to-hand combat. The main thing I like about Tokusatsu is that even though they have super powers due to their suits or genetic make-up, they realize the value of kicking a bad guys ass with just punches and kicks, and with style. Its mostly because martial arts in general is more standard there for a lot longer than here in the US. But that adds a level of style that not many other heroes can pull off.

3. Effects
Like many said before, Japanese superhero shows can get a way with A LOT more as far as graphics go than American superhero shows/movies. Miniature sets are used to shoot Mech scenes. You can obviously tell that the Mechs and monsters used are guys in suits. But, for some reason, because its Japanese, and because thats how they have always done it, we are okay with it. We sort of turn off that part of our brain that judges how the show looks like in order to fully engulf ourselves in the experience and enjoy the show. It doesnt matter that the guy in the suit looks a lot buffer than he did before he transformed. We accept it for the story they are trying to tell. And that genuineness that comes from the production of these shows rubs off on us as we watch them.

4. They end
Unlike Superman or the X-men or Spiderman that have endless storylines, the stories of Toku heroes have an end, and we expect it. Sure, US comic book hero stories sort of hit the reset button every 10 years or so. But with Toku, every year its a new hero, every year we wait for the next storyline. Its something that US TV hasnt really grasped yet (I noticed this when you compare Japanese Dramas (that end in 10-13eps) as opposed to US dramas like Law and Order (that is still going strong around 20 years later). There is a feeling that with Toku shows, we should savor and enjoy what we're watching now cuz it will eventually end and a new story will begin. That makes it a bit more unique.