Japanese superheroes

[Beorning]

For some reason, I ended up reading on Power Rangers today... and that reminded me that Power Rangers were based on the Japanese show(s) Super Sentai. And *that*, in turn, got me wondering about Japanese superheroes in general - and realizing that I don't know almost nothing about them. So, I thought it was time to educate myself. 

So... could you guys educate me? Here are some questions:

1. Is the superhero genre popular in Japan? If so, what are the popular characters / series? I know of Super Sentai, Ultraman and Sailor Moon. What else is there?

2. What kind of superheroes are there in Japanese fiction? From what I've read, the sentai type (AKA the colour-coded teams) seems to be a recurring theme. Also, all of Japanese superheroes I know of are of the transforming kind. Also, there seems to be a strong connection between superheroes, giant robots / vehicles and giant monsters. Are there other superhero types present in Japanese fiction - for once, are there any masked adventurers in the vein of Batman?

3. Do martial arts feature into Japanese superheroics often? Super Sentai are, in their various incarnations, martial artists. Is this a recurring trope?

4. Japanese superheroes I know of seem to act in quite stylized manner. Super Sentai have their poses and gestures, their elaborate transformations, they loudly pronounce their weapons and attacks... Sailor Moon and Ultraman have the transformation sequences, too. Is this typical? Or are there Japanese superheroes without these kinds of things?

Any help, guys?

[Mathim]

For some reason, I ended up reading on Power Rangers today... and that reminded me that Power Rangers were based on the Japanese show(s) Super Sentai. And *that*, in turn, got me wondering about Japanese superheroes in general - and realizing that I don't know almost nothing about them. So, I thought it was time to educate myself. 

So... could you guys educate me? Here are some questions:

1. Is the superhero genre popular in Japan? If so, what are the popular characters / series? I know of Super Sentai, Ultraman and Sailor Moon. What else is there?

2. What kind of superheroes are there in Japanese fiction? From what I've read, the sentai type (AKA the colour-coded teams) seems to be a recurring theme. Also, all of Japanese superheroes I know of are of the transforming kind. Also, there seems to be a strong connection between superheroes, giant robots / vehicles and giant monsters. Are there other superhero types present in Japanese fiction - for once, are there any masked adventurers in the vein of Batman?

3. Do martial arts feature into Japanese superheroics often? Super Sentai are, in their various incarnations, martial artists. Is this a recurring trope?

4. Japanese superheroes I know of seem to act in quite stylized manner. Super Sentai have their poses and gestures, their elaborate transformations, they loudly pronounce their weapons and attacks... Sailor Moon and Ultraman have the transformation sequences, too. Is this typical? Or are there Japanese superheroes without these kinds of things?

Any help, guys?

You forgot Kamen Rider, aka Masked Rider. Had a short-lived Fox kids series back when I was young. There was also a crossover with the Power Rangers that introduced him before his own show premiered.

[Beorning]

Yup, Masked Rider. I remember it - it wasn't as big as Power Rangers. Meanwhile, the Japanese original, Kamen Rider, seems to be a big franchise.

I also forgot to mention Gatchaman.

[Mathim]

Not familiar with Gatchaman, but I feel like I've only seen it in the anime section of movie stores. Is it a live-action kind of thing too?

And there are veritable assloads of Sailor Moon-esque Mahou Shoujo series. Even actual erotic ones, both animated and live-action. I think it's more about recycling character archetypes than the actual superhero identities with that kind of thing. Even Netflix produced one of its own as part of its original content.

[Oniya]

Not familiar with Gatchaman, but I feel like I've only seen it in the anime section of movie stores. Is it a live-action kind of thing too?

And there are veritable assloads of Sailor Moon-esque Mahou Shoujo series. Even actual erotic ones, both animated and live-action. I think it's more about recycling character archetypes than the actual superhero identities with that kind of thing. Even Netflix produced one of its own as part of its original content.

There actually was a live-action Gatchaman.  (I remember the anime as 'G-Force' when I was growing up.)

Another one that crosses the anime/live-action line is The Guyver (Random kid finds alien tech bio-armor trope.)

[Beorning]

There actually was a live-action Gatchaman.  (I remember the anime as 'G-Force' when I was growing up.)

Gatchaman is also known as Battle of the Planets. Although it's worth noting that the English version of the anime has been retooled significantly.

As for the Gatchaman live-action movie, it was apparently very poorly received...

Another one that crosses the anime/live-action line is The Guyver (Random kid finds alien tech bio-armor trope.)

I've heard the name of this anime thrown around, but I don't know much about it... I'll take a peek.

Any other Japanese superheroes? Not necessarily ones who have / had live-action movies or shows...

[ReijiTabibito]

There's a genre you'll want to look into when it comes to this.  It's what's called tokusatsu, which is what Super Sentai (IE, Power Rangers) and the Ultraman series belong to.  (As well as Kamen Rider.)  A big toku franchise, sometimes considered the counterpart or rival to Super Sentai, is the Metal Heroes franchise - Metal Heroes actually gave us another 90s series, VR Troopers (though it's worth pointing out that the footage from VR Troopers was cut from TWO different series).  A lot of the Japanese series never made it over here, but you can give the genre a good look to see what you can come up with.

For the Guyver, you're better off sticking to the animated adaptations, as the live-action ones are...well, let's just say from personal experience that they get some stuff right, but butcher a lot of it.

There are superhero things out there - if you want a more X-Men approach to things, there's My Hero Academia, which is about kids studying to be superheroes...though, really, it comes down to what sort of hero are you looking for?

[Beorning]

There's a genre you'll want to look into when it comes to this.  It's what's called tokusatsu, which is what Super Sentai (IE, Power Rangers) and the Ultraman series belong to.  (As well as Kamen Rider.)  A big toku franchise, sometimes considered the counterpart or rival to Super Sentai, is the Metal Heroes franchise - Metal Heroes actually gave us another 90s series, VR Troopers (though it's worth pointing out that the footage from VR Troopers was cut from TWO different series).  A lot of the Japanese series never made it over here, but you can give the genre a good look to see what you can come up with.

Ah, yes, I do remember VR Troopers - and I've read that it was made from Metal Heroes, too. I'll have to look into it.

As for the tokusatsu genre, I've read that it's a really broad term and it covers everything that uses a lot of special effects? So, in Japan, Star Wars would be considered a tokusatsu franchise, too. Is that correct?

There are superhero things out there - if you want a more X-Men approach to things, there's My Hero Academia, which is about kids studying to be superheroes...though, really, it comes down to what sort of hero are you looking for?

I want all of them  Basically, I'm doing research here. So far, Japanese superheroes I manage to find are either of the sentai type (various Super Sentai incarnations, Tomica Hero Rescue Force, Metal Heroes etc.), lone heroes with sentai-like weapons and vehicles (Kamen Rider), magical girls (Sailor Moon) or super-robots. So I'm wondering whether I'm missing something, or the Western-style heroes aren't popular in Japan?

[Mathim]

There's a number of Harry Potter (kids with various magical talents in a school) style stories too. Negima, Psychic Academy, a few others. So there's that too, gifted children training in an organized environment whether or not there's something sinister within it or without.

And speaking of the Guyver, they did a kid-friendly rip-off called Star Kid back in the 90's. Basically it's like having the Venom symbiote except it's also mechanical. Like if Venom boned Iron Man or something.

What about the Kaiju thing too? Godzilla/Gojira and the other giant monsters and whatnot. There's this size-changing robot within that mythos called Jet Jaguar that looks very similar to Ultraman and it can grow up to the size of Godzilla and tear it up with the other giant monsters. That's probably the closest thing to a superhero within the Kaiju genre. Although, in Godzilla Final Wars, there were psychics and mutants with incredible abilities so the humans weren't just superfluous. But they're basically turning it up to 11 on that and that's no bad thing.

[Oniya]

If you're extending into anime, you've also got things like the Dragonball franchise (some transformations, but essentially 'defenders of Earth' that can fly around and beat up anything that's a threat.)  The closest I've seen to Western heroes is a 'blink-and-you-miss-it' nod at the end of Project A-ko.

And speaking of the Guyver, they did a kid-friendly rip-off called Star Kid back in the 90's. Basically it's like having the Venom symbiote except it's also mechanical. Like if Venom boned Iron Man or something.

The cat is now looking at me strangely, because I laughed so hard.

[Avalon29]

If anime is alright. There's Tiger and Bunny which stared more western style superheroes. There's been collaborations with Marvel as well with Iron man, Wolverine, and an X-men anime series. There's also Heroman which Stan Lee collaborated on and I beleive he's working with another anime company at the moment to do a series called The Reflection which appears to have a superhero theme as well.

[Beorning]

There's a number of Harry Potter (kids with various magical talents in a school) style stories too. Negima, Psychic Academy, a few others. So there's that too, gifted children training in an organized environment whether or not there's something sinister within it or without.

I wouldn't really count that as superheroes... Got to draw the line somewhere :) But thanks.

What about the Kaiju thing too? Godzilla/Gojira and the other giant monsters and whatnot. There's this size-changing robot within that mythos called Jet Jaguar that looks very similar to Ultraman and it can grow up to the size of Godzilla and tear it up with the other giant monsters. That's probably the closest thing to a superhero within the Kaiju genre. Although, in Godzilla Final Wars, there were psychics and mutants with incredible abilities so the humans weren't just superfluous. But they're basically turning it up to 11 on that and that's no bad thing.

I think that Jet Jaguar was a failed attempt by Toho to create an Ultraman rip-off. This character wasn't too good - if anything, it looked very creepy... But speaking of kaijus, I'd risk saying that in Godzilla is a giant-sized superhero himself in some installments (especially the ones from the 1970s). The same could be said of Mothra...

If you're extending into anime, you've also got things like the Dragonball franchise (some transformations, but essentially 'defenders of Earth' that can fly around and beat up anything that's a threat.)

Good point. So... martial arts again return as a theme, it seems.

If anime is alright. There's Tiger and Bunny which stared more western style superheroes. There's been collaborations with Marvel as well with Iron man, Wolverine, and an X-men anime series. There's also Heroman which Stan Lee collaborated on and I beleive he's working with another anime company at the moment to do a series called The Reflection which appears to have a superhero theme as well.

I just checked Tiger and Bunny - there are some clips on Youtube. Heh

[ReijiTabibito]

Ah, yes, I do remember VR Troopers - and I've read that it was made from Metal Heroes, too. I'll have to look into it.

As for the tokusatsu genre, I've read that it's a really broad term and it covers everything that uses a lot of special effects? So, in Japan, Star Wars would be considered a tokusatsu franchise, too. Is that correct?

You'll have to dig deep, the last major Metal Heroes series was made around the turn of 2000, and while they are staging a revival through various movies, the more beloved of the Metal Hero series are back in the 80s and 90s.

Quite correct.   Technically speaking, Godzilla was the progenitor of tokusatsu, so it is a very broad term within Japanese media.  So you will have a lot to sift through, but there's good stuff in there.

I want all of them  Basically, I'm doing research here. So far, Japanese superheroes I manage to find are either of the sentai type (various Super Sentai incarnations, Tomica Hero Rescue Force, Metal Heroes etc.), lone heroes with sentai-like weapons and vehicles (Kamen Rider), magical girls (Sailor Moon) or super-robots. So I'm wondering whether I'm missing something, or the Western-style heroes aren't popular in Japan?

You've probably accurately summed up about 95% of Japanese heroes with those archetypes.  It's not that Western-style heroes aren't popular - GONZO made adaptations of 4 Marvel heroes (including Blade, a lesser known one compared to the other 3 - Iron Man, Wolverine, & the X-Men) - but that, like throughout history, heroes are a reflection of the culture and the values that were venerated at the time.   Generally speaking.

[Beorning]

You've probably accurately summed up about 95% of Japanese heroes with those archetypes.  It's not that Western-style heroes aren't popular - GONZO made adaptations of 4 Marvel heroes (including Blade, a lesser known one compared to the other 3 - Iron Man, Wolverine, & the X-Men) - but that, like throughout history, heroes are a reflection of the culture and the values that were venerated at the time.   Generally speaking.

Hm. So here's a question: if these archetypes sum up most of Japanese superheroes, then does that mean that Japanese superheroes are less diverse than, say, American ones? Or is it that I'm simply not seeing the diversity, not being familiar with Japanese comics and anime (alternatively, am I too ingrained with American comics to be able to see that American heroes could be summed up with just a few archetypes, too)?

[Oniya]

Hm. So here's a question: if these archetypes sum up most of Japanese superheroes, then does that mean that Japanese superheroes are less diverse than, say, American ones? Or is it that I'm simply not seeing the diversity, not being familiar with Japanese comics and anime (alternatively, am I too ingrained with American comics to be able to see that American heroes could be summed up with just a few archetypes, too)?

Well, someone has at least given that a try:  http://comicvine.gamespot.com/profile/drpsyphi/lists/the-8-major-superhero-archetypes/55859/

[Avalon29]

I think part of the reason that the variety in the Japanese superhero genre might not see as diverse to you  is that many of the people with special powers stories that are in manga and anime don't fit squarely in our western idea of superheroes. I mainly mention this since that article mentions Korra who I don't feel fits squarely in the idea of superhero either but does fit in the people with special powers type of story.

[Wajin]

Hm. So here's a question: if these archetypes sum up most of Japanese superheroes, then does that mean that Japanese superheroes are less diverse than, say, American ones? Or is it that I'm simply not seeing the diversity, not being familiar with Japanese comics and anime (alternatively, am I too ingrained with American comics to be able to see that American heroes could be summed up with just a few archetypes, too)?

A lot of it would depend on your definition of a Superhero. Because many protagonists of Manga are not super heroes in the classical sense. Shaman King is a good example of this. The premise of the manga is basically that there are spirits in the world, these spirits can be harnessed by Shamans of differing types to produce a myriad of different effects. The protagonist competes in a tournament that decides basically who gets to be god. Yoh, the main character doesn't really do stereotypical super hero stuff, saying the common man, correcting injustices etc. No, he fights in the tournament to become the next Shaman King, and that's it.

I've talked to a few of my japanese relatives about this, especially some of my cousins who read a lot of manga, and I asked them why it seems that the more western style of super hero is missing, with the exception of X-Men and the other mentioned who got anime adaptations. They brought up superman as an example. The classic representation of superman, is boring inherently, due to the gimmicks of his weaknesses. He's unbelievable, when I countered with the fact that Saitama from One-Punch man is basically Superman, they countered with "Yeah, but Saitama is bald, plays video games, is annoyed he's so strong he can't get challenged. Basically, he's a caricature of beings like superman, while his Manga pokes fun at Shounen battle manga in general" They feel that Batman, Superman, to a lesser degree wonder woman and Aquaman are all super un-relatable, compared with the heroes that do find an audience over there. The X-Men, Spider-man, Ironman.

But then again that is just their view, I don't know if it's indicative of the general feeling of the Japanese