A dark age for toku.

In 1977, a committee formed by the Japanese PTA began to protest violence and terror in childrens programming such as tokusatsu...This coincided with the slow graduation from Showa to Heisei eras. Shows such as Spiderman were affected in the long run, with the show focusing more on children. Ultraman 80 was one of the first shows to show special touches of this type of mindset: The show had as a central theme resolution of conflict. Sentai faced even more scrutiny, as 1983's Dynaman became the first sentai to tone down the heavy combat action and focus more on kinetics such as explosions. Although this improved the writing of the shows in the long run, the action sequences weren't quite the same. The Space Sheriffs and Kamen Riders weren't as affected, as both are aimed at teens.

Of Kamen Riders and legacies...

Before I start this post, I KNOW I'll get a lot of heat for it. But let me start by saying I love Kamen Rider.

I love Kamen Rider, the original Champions of Justice created by Shotaro Ishinomori, that lasted 30 years (Rider 1- Kuuga).

I have mixed feelings on the ones post-Kuuga from awesome(Agito and W) to mediocre(OOO and Blade) to completely unlikeable(Kabuto, Ryuki) to WHY WON'T IT GO AWAY(Den-O).

A lot of Heisei Kamen Rider fans attacked me last time I presented this opinion over a year ago and I will now attempt to make rebuttals to their attacks.

1) "The Showa Kamen Riders are repetitive."

What series doesn't follow a formula? To me, the Heisei Riders come off as a bunch of abstract ideas for heroes trying to follow a VERY LOOSE formula and putting it under a brand name. This probably isn't the series itself's fault, as Ishinomori is long dead. But to continue his series long after no one knows what it is anymore is just absurd. Thus, formulas are usually necessary for series to be well-loved.

2) "They just like what they like, why are you bashing them for it?"

That goes for anyone who DARES to criticize something. How dare you! This is pathetic, people... see many people bash Ultraman and never get criticized for it so now I must speak up...Bottom line,I have the right to complain.

3) "They're still heroic!"

This all depends on your point of view. For me, most of the "Kamen Riders" Toei have produced throughout the decade have been anti-heroes to me. Either they act more like Hakaider and only want to destroy the main protagonist, or they're incredibly selfish. Both seem more anti-heroic to me. One aspect I like about Den-O, Ryotaro is actually a nice guy, as is Eiji Hino and Shotaro. Furthermore, I feel the modern Kamen Riders have become whiny J-Dramas that are merely a shadow of their former self. I haven't seen enough of Fourze to form a solid opinion...

The Showa Kamen Riders all had varying personalities, but they were all heroic.

1970s: The Golden Era of Tokusatsu

Why do I consider the 1970s the Golden Era of Tokusatsu, as opposed to all the other periods in the history of toku?

1. The amount of programs being put out by different companies is STAGGERING. We have Toei, putting out gems such as the Kamen Rider franchise and Kikaider, Tsuburaya, putting out the excellent Mirrorman and Ultra series of the 70s, we have P Productions, coming up with Spectreman and the various animal based heroes as well as Denjin Zaborga. And there's also Toho, who put out Rainbowman, Zone Fighter, Godman and Red Tiger.

2. The ratings during the 70s were much higher for your average episode of Goranger or Ultraman Taro than most Heisei shows(for instance)...

3. The amount of concepts introduced during this period were numerous. Things that many modern series take for granted, such as muli-form heroes were pioneered with toku such as Rainbowman. Giant Mecha were introduced with Spiderman in 1978.

No other decade in toku had quite the dynamics and events that occured here...

Barom-1

Information on Choujin Baromu-Wan

No. of episodes: 35

Mecha: Machrod(Car)

Enemy Force: AKUMA NO AGENTO(Demon Agents)

CAST:
Shiratori Kentaro: Takano Hiroyuki
Kido Takeshi: Izuka Hiroki
Barom-1(voice): Koichi Ueda
Kido Matsugorou: Keisuke Sumakawa
Kido Rintaro: Kobayashi Kiyoshi
Sugizaki Kume: Saito Hiroko
Doruge: Iizuka Shozo
Mr. Doruge: Murota Hideo

PLOT:
A long time ago, a fight between an evil force known as Kopuu and a power that stood for justice known as Dolge, started somewhere in the universe. Now, many years after it began, Kopuu has arrived to Earth and is planning to take over the planet by using his Doruge Kaijin (Doruge Mutants) and soldier Antmen.

Thankfully, Dolge has found two young earthlings, who register enough power (200 Baroms - power born out of friendship) to successfully form the heroic fighter of justice and the only power strong enough to stop Kopuu’s evil plans, Barom 1. These young men are: Kentaro Shiratori, who excels in academic work & studies, and Takeshi Kido, who does well in sports & other physical activities; together they will form Barom 1 and fight Kopuu’s Doruge Kaijin.

To aid them on their mission Dolge provides our young heroes with the Barom-Bopp, a small device that alerts the youngsters whenever the forces of Kopuu are on the move. The device can also transform into Barom 1's personal vehicle, Mach Road, which he uses to pursue the Doruge Kaijin.

REVIEW:
Based on Saito Takao's manga of the same name, Superman BAROM-1 was a very unique and novel toku show even today. It featured what only a couple other toku shows did- two child protagonists who are the central characters of the plot. They often quarelled in the earliest episodes, which had a color timer-esque effect on Barom-1. Barom-1 also had the first multipurpose device in a tokusatsu- Bop, which functioned in several ways, including a car, radar, and even henshin device in the later eps.

Chojin Barom-1 had some of Toei's most well known actors. Debuting as a voiceover artist for the first time in a tokusatsu was Iizuka Shozo, who throughout the 70s and 80s, was Toei's primary voice for much of it's head villains. Also in the same role as him essentially(the human form of Doruge was a wheelchair-bound man) was Hideo Murota, who had played in GIANT ROBO among many things. And playing one of his few non-voiceover roles was Kobayashi Kiyoshi, who played Takeshi's father.

This was one of the first tokusatsu to be affected by real-life circumstances. A child was being teased severely because his family name was Doruge. His parents complained to Toei, who decided to insert a disclaimer in episodes 9-12 stating Doruge was fictional.

The concept of two people transforming into one hero was extremely new at the time. Ultraman Ace had it, but BAROM-1's manga was written 2 years before it. The two children in the main roles would also hand-to-hand fight Doruge's Antmen on occasion, which was a very daring thing to do at the time considering child labor laws.
Barom-1 himself was a completely separate entity from the two boys- he fought independently, with the two boys deciding what to do from inside his eyes. (Barom-1 was human sized.) He was also one of the few henshin heroes to fight with entirely melee based attacks. All of the moves he used were heavily based on grappling arts such as Aikido and Judo.

Barom-1 is well known today still, having been remade into an anime in 2001. It has been referenced in popular media at times and has had an impact on both toku and manga alike.

GIANT ROBO review and cast

''MASHII!"


Information on JAIANTTO ROBO

Episodes: 26

Mecha: GIANT ROBO

Enemy Force: Terror Empire BIG FIRE

CAST:

Kusama Daisaku / U7: KANEKO MITSUNOBU
Minami Juro / U3: ITO AKIO
Unicorn Chief Azuma: DATE SHOZABURO
Nishino Mitsuko: KATAYAMA YUMIKO
Hanamura Mari: KUWABARA TOMOMI
Taitei Guillotine: SATO HIROHIKO
Spider: TAMBA MATASABURO
Black Dia: MURATA HIDEO
Over-Hakasei: MITSUO ANDO
Red Cobra: MIEMACHI KOHJI

PLOT:

The terrorist group Big Fire has invaded Earth, the secret organization UNICORN has been formed to stop it. A young boy named Mitsunobu is taking a cruise on a ship alongside Unicorn Agent U3 Minami Juro, when the ship is captured by Big Fire.

Both of them are taken to an unnamed island controlled by Big Fire, who has also kidnapped a prominent scientist to create a giant, Egyptian-styled humanoid robot to conquer the Earth. The scientist develops a voice-activated control watch that can summon & guide the semi-sentient robot, but only the first voice it hears will be its master.

While attempting to escape, the three are nearly captured again by Big Fire, with the scientist being gunned down. As his final wish, the robot's control watch is given to Mitsunobu, who gives the robot its first command to help him and Juro escape. Now fully in control of Giant Robo, Mitsunobu is inducted into UNICORN as Agent U7, aided by Juro / U3 as his constant bodyguard, mentor, and confidant.

REVIEW:

After AMBASSADOR MAGMA and ULTRAMAN hit the waves, tokusatsu began to bloom. In 1967, Tsuburaya was working on ULTRASEVEN and MIGHTY JACK, but at the same time, Toei Animation wanted to cash in on the giant hero boom. Toei had already established a hand in toku with GEKKO KAMEN and AKAKAGE. They decided the manga GIANT ROBO by Mitsuteru Yokoyama would be perfect to adapt. Produced partially by Toru Hirayama, the tokusatsu brought a number of key performers into it, but is not very fondly remembered today.

Mitsuo Ando, who played Doctor Over, would later go on to be a major contributor to 1970s Toei villainy.

Hideo Murata/Black Dia would go on to find success in Toei's yakuza and samurai films.

Most of the other actors, however, would not appear again. The series contributed several new factors to the world of tokusatsu. It was the first tokusatsu to have an organized group as an opponent. Organized groups would become the primary enemy type until the late 90s. The series had the first giant robo in tokusatsu history. There were giant heroes in the past, but neither of them were purely robotic.

The series was moderately successful, and was later brought to the US as Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot. It was well loved by kids at the time and was surprisingly minimally cut, which was surprising considering the body count racked up by the two youngest protagonists. Later, it was turned into an anime OVA that had little to do with the tokusatsu, only retaining the primary hero and villain organization's names. Everything else was changed. However, the toku and anime both are well loved even today.