When someone who's never been exposed to shows targeted at Japanese children sees a sentai or tokusatsu program for the first time he/she will typically react in one of two ways: "this is so cheesy/cheap" and/or "I can't believe a show for children would be so violent". This is certainly understandable given the nature of these programs and most people will not go past this first perception. However those brave individuals who venture beyond their first reactions and the cultural barriers involved will find something very special and magical underneath, something that will elicit that sense of awe that we tend to lose when we grow up.

Here in the Western world super heroes are typically motivated by the loss of a loved one and/or revenge and they operate in worlds that have been jaded by crime, polllution, discrimination, politics and science gone mad. Their gritty worlds are realistically depicted and their actions driven by well scripted stories that advance the development of the character. These are conventions that help in creating a realistic hero, one that is grounded in reality and therefore limited by the rules of our world, but what would happen if you took away the rules that make their world real? What if they operated in a setting that was colorful, hopeful and not limited by what we perceive as the real world? This is the key difference between Japanese and American heroes.

Watching the members of a sentai team jumping around all over the place and announcing themselves with a cool pose before doing battle with their enemies is terribly unrealistic, but it suceeds in bringing about a nostalgic sense of simple heroics that has been lost to us for a very long time. When you watch a sentai or tokusatsu show you can't help but watch in awe as the characters jump around all over the place while calling out the names of their weapons, special moves and giant robots! You are brought back to that time in your life when you weren't jaded by the world around you, a time that was simpler and full of hope for the future.

It is this sense of awe that I wish to share with others through this website.

Jeffrey Couto (Founder & Webmaster)

jeff@japanhero.com