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Retired Staff
What IS Tokusatsu?!
Tokusatsu shows are Japanese live action superhero shows that heavily feature practical special effects. The genre inspired many American television shows in the 90s including Big Bad Beetleborgs and Tattooed Teenage Alien Fighters From Beverly Hills and, of course, Power Rangers which was based on Super Sentai.
The genre takes a lot of inspiration from Kabuki Theater whose over-dramatized/exaggerated movements and facial expressions are meant to give every scene and interaction on stage comedic and/or dramatic impact.
Tokusatsu is an umbrella term for all live action television/film that uses a lot of practical effects including monster mashes like Godzilla or mechs and robots but most commonly revolves around superheroes and monsters whose defy explanation
Beside the fact that the Tokusetsu genre is some of the most surreal, inexplicable, straight out of either the worst or best acid trip kind of content out there to consume, it also includes under its umbrella the 1986 show "Photon" starring David Stay playing the now famous (thanks to Metokur) character "Mandarr"
David's website.
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Check out http://davidstay.com! david stay is an actor and paranormal investigator. ghost hunter if you will.
davidstay.com
Noteworthy Series
Super Sentai / Power Rangers is probably the most recognizable series and certainly contains a lot of goofy shit, but there are many series out there that make Power Rangers look like Citizen Kane.Akumaizer 3 (1975)
Theme Song:One of many fantastical death scenes.
Over the course of 38 episodes, the main character Xavitan, a mutant superhero refugee from the "Akuma Clan" (a subterranean race of robot demon monsters who want to take over the surface world) and his two buddies, Iberu (The homosexual in yellow) and Gabra (the fish man guy)
Iberu can apparently shapeshift into a candle
Gabra can transform into a dickheaded ostrich type bird thing
Over the course of the series they fight against other Akuma Clan members who come up onto the surface world in an attempt to conquer it only to be beaten back by Xavitan and the Akumaizer 3 team.
Turning into a snowman and money shotting construction workers is the best way to conquer your enemies.
Episode 21: Snowman episode
Android Kikaider (1972)
Android kikaider ran for 43 episodes from 1972-1973. It was one of the first Tokusatsu shows to run on American TV under the name Kikaida: Android of Justice.
The show follows the main hero Ichiro/Kikaider, an android created to battle the forces of "DARK" (an evil organization who kidnaps scientists, including the inventor of Kikaider to create an army of killbots called Destructoids)
Kikaider has many powers, such as punching robot-alligator heads
He teams up with a lady-android called Mari/Bijender who can hypnotize people with her tits who was originally sent by Biggu Shadou to kill Ichiro but doesn't.
They battle the forces of evil and defeat Destructoid robots to save the world and stuff, including Pinku Armadilloru
and the Carmine Spider
And many more equally goofy monsters
While not battling Destructoids, Ichiro fights with his evil doppelganger "Hakaider"; a gun spinning expert marksman robot
Pewpew
Daitetsujin 17 (1977)
As previously mentioned, not all Tokusetsu shows revolve around a team of heroes, many also feature robots and mechas, and Daitetsujin 17 is one of the most ridiculous among them. The story follows the titular character Daitetsujin 17 (Great Ironman 17), a mech-robot that is piloted by a young boy named Saburo Minami; who is the main protagonist. The evil robot 18 often attempts to beat up 17 while 17 tries to save the world from a robotic version of the loch ness monster by flying it into space for some reason
The series ran for 35 episodes from March - November 1977
In an effort possibly undertaken by the Japanese government to not get nuked again for supporting naughty no-no ideas one of the series main antagonists is Captain Gomez. He appears in 35 episodes and is eventually killed in a giant robot explosion
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