What do you like about Japaneese superheroes?

[Nanami Tenkawa]

jap superheroes dont say : "ecto phase activate!"

nuff said

and they didn't said "IT'S MORPHIN TIME!" lol

 

[ryuuseipro]

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.

This.

 

[Sage Shinigami]

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.

This. One of the coolest things when I was a kid was the fact that superheroes had a secret identity and they had to "suit up" to go into action. My favorite toys were the ones where you could swap costumes or at the very least equip their costume. ^^ A good henshin scene never gets old, from the drawn out ones to the instant, happens within a second ones.

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.

This too. Every time someone asks for less toys, more realism, I wonder if they shouldn't be watching straight martial arts flicks rather than trying to suck the fun out of Tokusatsu.

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.

Ironically, Toku does a better job of selling the low-budgetness than any other place. You suspend disbelief more for them than you would even a bigger budget production, so the way they go about things seems cooler to me.

4) 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.

I think if Spider-Man had an insignia that popped up behind him as a trend, I wouldn't have minded. But I agree that you're more likely to find classic heroes because Toku isn't afraid to give you pure heroes even if you are getting grey villains.

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.

This isn't always a good thing (I feel like Deka fans could take another season independent of that year's Toku, and Sentai's rigid formula means we're losing out on that), but I feel like there is a benefit from having a set number of episodes to work in.

 

[ComicGuy89]

Glad to see you agree, Sage Shinigami. I just happen to miss the time when shows were fun. This is not to say that modern American superheroes are bad (indeed, the recent movies and animated series are more entertaining, in my opinion, than the comics) but when I just need that spice, I go for Toku.

On another note, I think Shinkenger convinced me that choreography is a major selling point of Toku for me.

 

[bestkept]

what I like about it (Kamen Rider) is the henshin part. it looks so cool that from a civilian look they suddenly turn into a bug eyed armored hero. Plus the rider kick..:thumbs:

the one thing that makes me like a super hero is the reason why they chose to be hero. Like Batman looking to create a world where no 8 year old boy who will lose his parents because of some punk with a gun. Or KR Kabuto's reason to be a rider is to protect the world where his sisters are.

I am just scared that since they come up with new ones every year, they might run out of new ideas and come up with series that is awful to watch.

 

[FreedomR8G6B1]

Sidekicks are useful instead of useless, they might have dumb designs but they try...like Gan Gan G.:buttrock:

Followed by "fire cracker" females who can beat anyone up if motivated.

 

[XenonVincent777]

what I like about Japanese Superheroes....some have giant robots to beat down giant monsters:buttrock:

 

[Japaneseseriesfan]

There's that "Asian drama" moment in all of them. Sometimes it makes you cry too

 

[UkiyaSeed]

Mine would be:

1. The suits, simply because every year even though the show has the same format, they tried their best to make the show fresh and more appealing to the audience.

2. The story, its more closer than life even if it has giant robots.

3. The story has an ENDING.

 

[DigDoug]

I'm always a sucker for the theme songs in Japanese superhero shows. Not just in the realm of toku, but anime as well. Hell, I've been known to work out to older Tatsunoko and Kamen Rider themes from time to time.

Even if the shows and characters in them are already really enjoyable on their own, a really good theme song only helps add to the excitement. For instance, I would still watch shows like Kamen Rider Black and Gatchaman even if they didn't have such great theme songs, but whenever I hear those powerful melodies and lyrics about what it means to be a true hero kick in, I immediately get fired up and just start cheering on the good guys in hopes that they'll once again save the day from whatever evil threat may be afoot.

A really good theme song certainly doesn't make the hero, but it will definitely make you want to see them come out on top in the end, just like the true champions of justice that they are!