What draws you to Toku?

[Matrix]

Watching Ryo saying " RYURANGER TENKASEI RYO!" or Matoi saying " Moeru Rescue Tamashi ", or Odagiri Joe transforming into the Kuuga. All of it captivates me everytime.

The sheer brilliance of a story like Kuuga, or Ultra Seven and GoGo V captivates me, whether its fighting Grongi or Saima or Seven using his eye-slugger. All of it leaves me gaping for more. The fact that its such a radical departure from Batman or Spider-man captivates me. These shows are as much as part of Japanese history as Batman and Spider-man are a part of America's history.

FOr me, its an outlet to the real world. As we grow up, we deal with bills, family, job, and stuff like that. Toku takes me away from everything. Toku to me is its on universe. Watching it after a bad day at work or school, I alwasy relax. Its like reliving my childhood watching the sentai which turned into power rangers.

 

[The_Emperor]

When I was a kid, I mainly watched PR for monster designs as I found them strangely fascinating. The way I got back into toku was because I was watching for some PR nostalgia... and while doing that, I found other things I liked. Now I like toku for the story, characters, mechas, costumes, monster designs, reliving my childhood, and of course some of the attractive cast. *sigh* Ayumi Kinoshita, Yumi Sugimoto, Rin Takanashi, Yuria Haga, and Kanna Mori to name a few... :wub:

 

[Lynxara]

Personally? Mattcomics.

In general, though, tokusatsu was the first live-action Japanese entertainment I watched (unedited-- like everyone else, I'd seen Power Rangers). I found the force and boldness of the writing captivating. This was not a genre afraid of looking silly or being weird, it simply was what it was and screw you if you didn't like it.

Tokusatsu focused on trying to constantly entertain where similar American media becomes self-conscious and hopelessly metatextual. A good tokusatsu will try to entertain you in every minute of every episode using every trick imaginable-- costumes, fight choreography, music, acting, effects, gimmicks, rituals, setpieces, comedy, melodrama, action.

Enthusiasm is to me what separates vital and living art from the pretentious, sterile world of "high" art. Tokusatsu lives and breathes as few other genres ever have or ever will.

 

[MrMonk]

I don't find it all that different from American comics, unlike Matt.

I enjoy it for the same reason I watch movies, TV shows, read comics, read novels and more. Characters I like doing things I enjoy.

I don't put it above or below any of it. It is what it is.

 

[RiderXero]

A lot of it has to do with my Dad actually. When I was a kid he got me in to watching Ultraman and the Godzilla movies. Then when Power Rangers hit, I was hooked.

I love seeing the costume and monster designs with each series, especially in Kamen Rider. I love the Rider armors in those shows. The special effects are great and continue to improve. Watching people go from being a normal human to a powered up superhero..just so much fun.

Then like someone else said, its an escape for us in a way. There are a lot of things we have to worry about in real life, and even if its just for 30 minutes, toku can help you forget about it and enjoy a fun show.

Oh, and the giant robots/mechas. I mean come on, who doesn't love some giant robot/mecha action.

 

[KAGEKI]

Stories
Memoriable Characters
Fight Scenes
Suit Designs/Monster Designs

 

[Barashin]

When it comes to shows like kamen rider or Garo, or even Kikaider, lots of factors plays a part on why it draws me in, like the characters personality, the chemistry between characters, and most of all story. The design of the suit, good or not is a plus hehe

Majority of what draws me in is the story, but for shows like sentai, most of it, if anything, is the theme of the show! Everything from there falls into place!

 

[Kaiju]

The special effects, and the characters.

Compared to America, the Japanese have more imagination.

Since I was a kid, I loved Godzilla films, kaijuu eiga, and all sorts of Japanese sci-fi.

The special effects were colorful, spectacular, and imaginative. Whether it's giant monsters smashing cities, alien invaders trying to conquer Earth, or superheroes fighting mutants, demons, and mad scientists,

Godzilla, Gamera, King Ghidorah, Gomora and many other monsters all looked and felt real. And they had memorable designs and great personalities. Godzilla turned from a villain, to a reluctant antihero, to an anthropomorphic superhero in the original series of films. Whereas Gamera, despite his initial violent personality, was misunderstood before becoming a childrens' hero. These monsters are gods! How many American monsters can you find like these?

Superhero adventures were everything American movies & TV shows wish they could be. You have colorful superheroes fighting supervillains, monsters, and other threats, just like in a comic-book. In fact, they were live-action comic-books! No matter how "cheesy" the FX were, they always try to visualize something spectacular. If Toei's version of Spider-Man were 100% faithful to the comics, Green Goblin could be flying on his Goblin Glider, via either miniature FX or bluescreen. Something Americans would never have allowed, because they were more concerned with absolute realism (and companies were desperately trying to shy away from the "campiness" of the 60s Batman series, which was true to the comics). Ultraman was a new superhero concept; a mysterious alien creature who comes to Earth to protect it from threats like giant monsters and sinister aliens. (In a way, Ultraman himself was like a giant monster, like the ones he fought; he's giant-sized, rarely speaks, and always says "Shuwatch!") Ultra Seven carried the Ultraman formula further, giving the titular hero more audience empathy, and the series a strong sci-fi drama! And, of course, you have the many memorable giant monsters from the series.

In all cases, there's also the fascination with miniature FX, and miniatures in general. Japanese studios such as Toho, Tsuburaya and others have built beautiful, colorful and detailed miniatures of Tokyo and other Japanese locales. There was so much craftsmanship put into these works, and CGI can never truly replace this effect. If done realistically, these miniature sets work great with the suitmation monster walking through them, or any other sort of disaster (natural, alien, etc.).

And then, you have the mecha fascination. There's plenty of vehicles (like Atragon, the Ultra-Hawk, or Moonlight SY-3), weapons (the Maser Tanks), and even giant robots (Giant Robo, Red Baron, Battle Fever Robo, Dyna Robo, etc.). Japan has had a long-standing fascination with machines, leading to the collecting of toys and model kits. This can apply to anime as well.

And these are among the things that attract me to tokusatsu.

Exactly. Too narrow it down in my own words. The SFX, the kaiju, the creativity and imagination in it all, the craftsmanship. Second to none really. It's all pretty much lost now, do to CGI ugh.

 

[CycloneJoker]

The story, the characters, the action, the costumes, and the overall feel of it.

 

[Jacky392000]

the storyline, the characters (as well as cast members), the action and drama in it.