Toku-WHAT-su?

In the beginning there was Ultraman...

Specium Ray

Japan is a place that has fascinated me for a big chunk of my life now. My initial interest came through my study of Isshinryu Karate which began when I was 10. As a teenager I had friends who were really into anime but I was more into American comics at that point. Plus I had seen Ninja Scoll late one night on Teletoon at an age where I probably wasn't ready for it and it kind of turned me off anime for a while. I have been lucky enough to visit Japan twice in my travels. The first time was a 5 day trip to Okinawa which was awesome and probably the initial spark toward today's post. The second time was a bit over a year later as we (me and the at-the-time-soon-to-be Mrs. ISMOTU) left China for the final time we decided to turn our layover in Tokyo into a week-long holiday which probably cemented or at least furthered my fascination.  At the time I had just rediscovered Transformers in the form of Transformers: Prime and that led to spending too much money and suitcase space on fun Asian exclusive toys that I'd never see again.

But that's not what I want to focus on today. Boy do I have rambling, slightly askew openings to these posts. Well if you've read this far, thanks for sticking with me hopefully it'll be worth it.



Tokusatsu is the Japanese term for special effects and is usually used as a descriptor for films and tv shows that make heavy use of special effects (e.g. Godzilla). So I suppose actually my first sentence is inaccurate. In the beginning there was Godzilla, King of the Monsters (1954), but I'm going to talk about the major tokusatsu television franchises so Ultraman is the starting place, plus one man is primarily responsible for both Godzilla and Ultraman so it all works out.

Gojira!

Tsuburaya Eiji was an early special effects producer in Japanese cinema and after gaining international recognition for his work on Godzilla, King of the Monsters he started his own production company and produced a series called Ultra Q (1965) which followed a reporter, photographer, and professor on their investigations of monsters and other weird phenomena, but mostly monsters. Ultra Q was apparently inspired by The Twilight Zone but Tsuburaya added his own flair in the form of the giant monsters known in Japan as kaiju.  In 1966, to follow this groundbreaking series Tsuburaya added a greater science fiction element to the basic format and introduced the world to Ultraman a being from the "Land of Light" located in Nebula M78 who merges his life force with Hayata Shin, stalwart member of the Science Special Search Party (commonly known as the Science Patrol), after Hayata is mortally injured.  The Science Patrol investigates sightings of monsters, more often than not extraterrestrial in origin, monster goes wild, Hayata transforms into Ultraman and puts a beat down on the rubber-suited baddies. Lather, rinse, repeat and you've got the basic formula for all subsequent instalments in the Ultra Series.

Ultraman grappling Telesdon

Ultraman inspired an entire subgenre of superheroes in Japan, the kyodai heroes, humans who transform into giant super beings. For a more detailed looked at the career of the master of monsters I recommend August Ragone's book "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters: Defending the Earth with Ultraman, Godzilla, and Friends in the Golden Age of Japanese Science Fiction Film" available on amazon. It's a fun read and a neat look behind the scenes of childhood fantasy. Ultraman was dubbed in English by the same folks who brought the West Speed Racer and is available on DVD which I purchased at the West Edmonton Mall and jumped down the rabbit hole that is tokusatsu.

The other two major tokusatsu franchises were both created by Ishinomori Shotaro who started out as a manga assistant to the "godfather of manga" Tezuka Osamu (of Astroboy fame). In 1971 Kamen Rider rode onto TV screens ushering in the henshin hero era. Hongo Takeshi is a college student who is captured and transformed into a cyborg by the evil organization "Shocker." The young man escapes and uses his ability to "henshin" (transform) into a grasshopper themed, motorcycle riding, monster kicking hero dedicated to the destruction of the grand conspiracy that birthed him.  

Kamen Rider has since spawned numerous sequels and spin-offs and after fading away in the 1990s returned with a vengeance in the year 2000 with Kamen Rider Kuuga and has remained a staple of tokusatsu TV ever since.  Over the years the details and trappings have changed but at its core the Kamen Rider Series is about heroes who transform into colourful costumes to fight monsters that explode when you kick them hard enough. Usually the hero rides a motorcycle and is insect themed, but not always, and in later years numerous power-up forms and secondary rider characters have been added all TO SELL TOYS but I don't care. It's pure awesome ridiculousness and I'm currently just about finished watching my eighth Kamen Rider show in its entirety.

Gorenger Hurricane Attack!

1975 saw the debut of Himitsu Sentai Gorenger a tokusatsu program about a team of colourfully clad heroes using martial arts and weird exploding soccer balls to fight the evil Black Cross Army. I haven't watched any episodes of this initial show due to lack of availability of English subtitled versions.  Ishinomori was only involved in Gorenger and its replacement J.A.K.Q. but the impact of those shows is still felt today as the Super Sentai Series is getting ready to debut its 40th series. Of the three franchises I've discussed here Super Sentai is the only one that's been on the air every year since its inception. Ultraman and Kamen Rider have both had dry spells where little or no new material has been produced but Super Sentai hasn't missed a marketing opportunity yet. The Super Sentai formula has been established, team of young people gain amazing powers, fight monsters, explode said monsters with teamwork but then the monster grows to giant size and they have to use their awesome combining giant robots to finish the fight. Super Sentai shows are definitely aimed a little younger than the other franchises but I think everyone's inner 8 year old is happy watching just about any tokusatsu show.

Many Riders

One of the keys to the longevity of each of these franchises is their willingness to reinvent themselves. Rather than letting the audience get bored with the show or a set of characters each season represents an entire epic story that ends and the old characters make way for the new. By riffing on the same tropes but using new themes and aesthetics the main tokusatsu shows seem fresh and exciting rather than old and stuffy. I think this is pure genius and my wife and I have often pondered the possibilities that might arise should some similar Western subgenres (like superheroes) take a similar track.  If the current series isn't your cup of tea you can be placated with the knowledge that it will end and something new-but-familiar will take its place. If you do enjoy the current series fear not, for team-up movies, side-stories, and ancillary media will be made to milk that cow a little longer.

So what's tokusatsu? Ultimately tokusatsu is a special effects driven genre of Japanese film and TV that usually revolves around colourful heroes fighting crazy monsters. What's not to love?

-ISMOTU