Let Me Introduce You To Tokusatsu
Mar. 3rd, 2024 04:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
27twinsisterHi! Welcome to the world of tokusatsu. I have picked out 5 things (4 shows and 1 movie) that are beginner-friendly and also I like/would be happy to receive a gift for. The Japanese shows I picked are legally subbed in English, at least in some regions. Shout TV is region-locked to North America, so I'll provide some links to other sites as well.
Content Warnings: Eh, it's from 1966 and was considered family-friendly/for all ages back then. Pluto TV rates it PG. (Note: I know some of these shows are also on Pluto TV but only in the USA so I can't access it.) Baron Spider obviously has a giant (giant!) spider monster. I can't think of any major archive warnings besides like, sometimes near-death or implied death.
You can also find this show on sites like tokuzilla and tokuzl, though this link has the show in colour (this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's still the same show). Tokuzilla isn't working for me right now, but tokuzl is basically the same thing. (psst, this applies to everything. Except Ork, but that doesn't have region locks.)
- Ayasemy beloved has a fictional medical condition that occasionally causes what is canonically stated at one point as arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat). It does come up pretty consistently in his focus episodes. Episodes 39-40 are specifically about the possibility of death.
- Episode 39-40 also has. Uh. Mentions of pandemics and vaccines and the like? Obviously it’s not covid but like. It is definitely about an epidemic.
- TimeFire, the sixth ranger, debuts in episode 27. He is a permanent Major Character Death.
- It doesn’t come up in the first few episodes, but Gien’s backstory. Uh, TV Tropes calls him a "Psychopathic Manchild", I think I’ll just leave it at that. His TV Tropes section has spoilers marked.
Ork (2023)
Note: This is a letter for a gift exchange called "Let Me Introduce You to My Fandom" (![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
let_me_introduce_you) but also these are some good show recs for anyone wanting to get into toku in general! For the shows, 5 episodes are about 2 hours, and for your assignment I just expect you to watch episodes 1-5 (Except SPD- see that fandom section because I'm biased and want to make sure you meet my fave). Ork is a movie that's 45 minutes long. Ultra Q episodes are 25 minutes long and very standalone, I've linked my faves.
Regarding the use of archive warnings, I put Graphic Depictions of Violence on Zero-One because episodes 1 and 6 both have a warning for violence on RiderWiki (along with other episodes, of course). It feels hard to determine what counts as graphic violence in this genre, so I selected choose not to warn. And I put Major Character Death on Ork because the main plot is about deaths and revivals. But all of the shows I’ve listed have at least some amount of death, even if it’s just implied.
let_me_introduce_you) but also these are some good show recs for anyone wanting to get into toku in general! For the shows, 5 episodes are about 2 hours, and for your assignment I just expect you to watch episodes 1-5 (Except SPD- see that fandom section because I'm biased and want to make sure you meet my fave). Ork is a movie that's 45 minutes long. Ultra Q episodes are 25 minutes long and very standalone, I've linked my faves.Regarding the use of archive warnings, I put Graphic Depictions of Violence on Zero-One because episodes 1 and 6 both have a warning for violence on RiderWiki (along with other episodes, of course). It feels hard to determine what counts as graphic violence in this genre, so I selected choose not to warn. And I put Major Character Death on Ork because the main plot is about deaths and revivals. But all of the shows I’ve listed have at least some amount of death, even if it’s just implied.
Ultra Q
Ultra Q is extremely episodic. I have seen the first 14 episodes and will be recommending/linking to my faves, but you can also watch the show in order, or just watch one episode, or whatever. The only ones I’ve seen that have any continuity with each other are episodes 5 and 14. As of April 1 (reveals) I’ll have definitely seen episodes 15-18. Episodes are 25 minutes long. It's also in black and white and full of practical effects because CGI didn't exist yet <3 simpler times.
The Full show is on Shout TV here
My personal favourite episodes (though they're all good) are:
Episode 2 (Goro and Goro),
Episode 6 (Grow Up! Little Turtle)
Episode 7 (S.O.S. Mount Fuji)
Episode 9 (Baron Spider).
You can also find episodes on YouTube, including Episode 1 (Defeat Gomess!), Episode 6 (Grow Up! Little Turtle), a clip of Episode 2 (Goro and Goro), and a clip of Episode 5 (Pegulia is Here!). The YouTube videos have English subtitles on the videos directly, not using the YouTube subtitle feature. (All YouTube links provided are legal uploads).
The Full show is on Shout TV here
My personal favourite episodes (though they're all good) are:
Episode 2 (Goro and Goro),
Episode 6 (Grow Up! Little Turtle)
Episode 7 (S.O.S. Mount Fuji)
Episode 9 (Baron Spider).
You can also find episodes on YouTube, including Episode 1 (Defeat Gomess!), Episode 6 (Grow Up! Little Turtle), a clip of Episode 2 (Goro and Goro), and a clip of Episode 5 (Pegulia is Here!). The YouTube videos have English subtitles on the videos directly, not using the YouTube subtitle feature. (All YouTube links provided are legal uploads).
Content Warnings: Eh, it's from 1966 and was considered family-friendly/for all ages back then. Pluto TV rates it PG. (Note: I know some of these shows are also on Pluto TV but only in the USA so I can't access it.) Baron Spider obviously has a giant (giant!) spider monster. I can't think of any major archive warnings besides like, sometimes near-death or implied death.
You can also find this show on sites like tokuzilla and tokuzl, though this link has the show in colour (this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's still the same show). Tokuzilla isn't working for me right now, but tokuzl is basically the same thing. (psst, this applies to everything. Except Ork, but that doesn't have region locks.)
Mirai Sentai Timeranger
This show is available on Shout TV, but I don’t know any legal way to watch it besides that. However, I did say legally…slightly less legally, it's on the Internet Archive here. Don't worry about that link having only 50 episodes (Shout has 51), episode 51 is a clipshow anniversary special. It's a cute special, but not required viewing for this exchange or the show in general.
Content Warnings: Genre-typical violence, (plenty of gun violence), but no major injuries or blood in the first 6 episodes. There is minor character death as a part of Yuuri’s backstory (in episode 5), and Ayase’s medical condition (explained in episode 10) is certainly concerning but I promise he doesn’t die. Content warnings for the rest of the show will be in the letter. There is also a major character death in the show itself, but it's not for a character who debuts early on. I'll put that under the spoiler warning.
Timeranger-specific content warnings (contains spoilers)
- Yuuri’s family, including a little sister, is killed by the main villain, not too graphic but it is onscreen. This is a focus of episode 5 but doesn’t come up too much outside of that.- Ayase
- Episode 39-40 also has. Uh. Mentions of pandemics and vaccines and the like? Obviously it’s not covid but like. It is definitely about an epidemic.
- TimeFire, the sixth ranger, debuts in episode 27. He is a permanent Major Character Death.
- It doesn’t come up in the first few episodes, but Gien’s backstory. Uh, TV Tropes calls him a "Psychopathic Manchild", I think I’ll just leave it at that. His TV Tropes section has spoilers marked.
Power Rangers S.P.D.
This show is officially available for free on YouTube. The first few episodes are spent setting up the world and characters. It’s fun. My fave here is Bridge, his first focus episode is episode 6. Therefore, I’m only assigning you episodes 1, 2, and 6. Feel free to watch the episodes in between, or the entire show if you want, but I’m being biased and making sure that you meet my fave. (And the show is in Episodic Character Study Mode so it’s not like you’re missing anything.)
Content Warnings: Jack and Z are homeless and join SPD because the options are either join SPD or be arrested. Idk I feel like that probably squicks someone out. Besides that, Genre-typical violence (with guns, but they replaced the bullets with lasers so it’s appropriate for kids. No, they actually did that.)
Kamen Rider Zero-One
The full show is legally available and subbed on Shout TV!
The first 2 episodes are also free on YouTube with official subtitles in English on episode 2, but not episode 1 for some reason (but it used to be?). (Not region-locked to my knowledge.)
You can also find it fansubbed on the internet archive here. If you use this playlist, you only need to watch the episodes titled like "Zero-One - 01", not the anime or movies or anything else. You can still watch them, but they're not required. Episode 35.5 is canon. I haven't seen the Others movies (01hers) and don't want the events of them in my gift.
The first 2 episodes are also free on YouTube with official subtitles in English on episode 2, but not episode 1 for some reason (but it used to be?). (Not region-locked to my knowledge.)
You can also find it fansubbed on the internet archive here. If you use this playlist, you only need to watch the episodes titled like "Zero-One - 01", not the anime or movies or anything else. You can still watch them, but they're not required. Episode 35.5 is canon. I haven't seen the Others movies (01hers) and don't want the events of them in my gift.
Content Warnings: Genre-typical violence (plenty of gun violence and Kamen Riders fighting each other), Temporary Character Death (Can humagears die permanently if they can be replaced with an identical model?), Gai Amatsu canonically emotionally/mentally abuses people, Implied/Referenced Death in backstories…I selected the Graphic Depictions of Violence warning for this show in particular because it has many instances of warnings for graphic violence, gun violence, etc. on RiderWiki, including episodes 1 and 6. (Episode 1 and 6 just say it’s for gun violence, but later episodes have other warnings. Click the arrow)
1: Gun violence
6: Gun violence
11: Gun violence and attempted murder
14: Blood
15: Blood and graphic violence
16: Major Character Death (the Wiki spoils who dies)
22: Body horror and blood
30: Gun violence
37: Violence and nudity
38: Gun violence
39: Blood and bloodshed
40: Blood, bloodshed, and multiple apparent character deaths/murders
43: Major Character Death (again, Wiki spoils who dies)
45 (finale): Bloodshed
Movies
Reiwa The First Generation: Gun violence, blood, and murder
REALxTIME: Blood, gun violence, nudity
Zero-One Others: Metsuboujinrai: Blood, gun violence, and murder
Specials*: President Special, Shooting Special, and Super Work War all feature: Gun violence, graphic violence, and blood
*Zero-One was affected by Covid, causing some recap specials to be hastily made. This also affects the pacing of the final arc, because they lost 5 episodes. They're not required viewing of the show in general except episode 35.5, which doesn't have warnings
RiderWiki is not an official source but these episodes have content warnings on their pages, mostly for gun violence but sometimes for blood or death or other things. You can see these warnings by viewing the wiki on the desktop site.
Episodes1: Gun violence
6: Gun violence
11: Gun violence and attempted murder
14: Blood
15: Blood and graphic violence
16: Major Character Death (the Wiki spoils who dies)
22: Body horror and blood
30: Gun violence
37: Violence and nudity
38: Gun violence
39: Blood and bloodshed
40: Blood, bloodshed, and multiple apparent character deaths/murders
43: Major Character Death (again, Wiki spoils who dies)
45 (finale): Bloodshed
Movies
Reiwa The First Generation: Gun violence, blood, and murder
REALxTIME: Blood, gun violence, nudity
Zero-One Others: Metsuboujinrai: Blood, gun violence, and murder
Specials*: President Special, Shooting Special, and Super Work War all feature: Gun violence, graphic violence, and blood
*Zero-One was affected by Covid, causing some recap specials to be hastily made. This also affects the pacing of the final arc, because they lost 5 episodes. They're not required viewing of the show in general except episode 35.5, which doesn't have warnings
Ork (2023)
This movie is 45 minutes long, and available for free on YouTube with subtitles in multiple languages, including English. It is an indie tokusatsu (as in, not made by Toei or a similar giant company) and was filmed entirely using an iPhone! It's about a high school student named Takumi getting a stone from a character called The Witch. The rock gives him vision of his friend Nozomi dying. Of course Takumi becomes Ork to stop that vision from happening, but their teacher Ryo Domon has a similar stone and wants to revive his wife. The rocks give them the ability to change into frog-like creatures called Ork (yellow) and Gowm (red). Guys fighting in order to save the girls they care about ensues.
Ork is a standalone movie and can be watched on its own. But if you want, there are two videos called 'witch story' that expand the backstory of the Witch (Warning for child abuse). They’re a total of 17:18, but I don’t want to require that you watch them and the movie can still be watched and understood without them. They consist of drawn pictures with voiceover (not animated, exactly- I'm not an artist, I don't know the words) and are less than 10 minutes each. If you're looking at the YouTube channel and are wondering what Ork's Room and Ork's Diary are, I haven't seen them and don't want the events of them in my gift.
Ork is a standalone movie and can be watched on its own. But if you want, there are two videos called 'witch story' that expand the backstory of the Witch (Warning for child abuse). They’re a total of 17:18, but I don’t want to require that you watch them and the movie can still be watched and understood without them. They consist of drawn pictures with voiceover (not animated, exactly- I'm not an artist, I don't know the words) and are less than 10 minutes each. If you're looking at the YouTube channel and are wondering what Ork's Room and Ork's Diary are, I haven't seen them and don't want the events of them in my gift.
Content Warnings: Genre-typical violence, plenty of Death- Temporary, permanent, implied, onscreen, of major characters, of minor characters…also includes a brief suicide attempt of a minor character at the start (about 1:30-2:25, not graphic). Child abuse is also specifically in witch story.
