About

Tokusatsu, also oftentimes shortened as just "Toku”, is a Japanese live-action movie and television media genre that's characterized by over-the-top acting and heavy amounts of practical effects. Tokusatsu is often broken up into three subgenres: Kaiju (centering around giant monsters), Mecha (giant robots), and Henshin Hero (transforming super heroes), but there's often some overlap between the three genres.

Origin

The early 20th century Japanese filmmaker Shōzō Makino is credited as the founder of the Tokusatsu genre, who in the 1910s would direct several period pieces films that featured special effects,^[1] but the true form of Tokusatsu wouldn't truly take off until 1954's Godzilla, the first ever high-budget and commercially successful film in the genre's history. Godzilla would go on to launch a long-running movie series and would greatly help in popularizing Tokusatsu in the 50s and 60s and would define the Kaiju Tokusatsu subgenre. ^[2]

Later history

In the 70s, Tokusatsu would experience a shift from the original giant monsters and miniature sets pieces to a more small ordinarily sized setting with transforming (Henshin in Japanese) heroes. Shotaro Ishinomori’s Kamen Rider would kickstart this new Henshin hero subgenre and would be followed by others like Super Sentai ,another Ishinomori work. 

Exposure outside of Japan

In 1956, Jewell Enterprises would release a localized, heavily reedited version of Godzilla made specifically for American audiences titled Godzilla, King of the Monsters. ^[3] This would be the first exposure of American and western audiences to Tokusatsu. In 1969, the TV series Ultraman would receive an English dub and would air on certain TV channels in the US. In 1993, the American company Saban would go on to create Power Rangers, a TV show using footage from Super Sentai and new original footage with American actors. It would go on to be extremely successful.

Franchises

The biggest Tokusatsu franchises include Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, and Garo.

External References

Wikipedia's article on Tokusatsu ^[1]
Wikipedia's article on Godzilla ^[2]
Wikipedia's article on Godzilla: king of the monsters ^[3]