Toei Tokusatsu is a mega-franchise composed of Toei Company's tokusatsu TV series and films. Through numerous crossovers, the vast majority are linked as a Shared Universe, the Toei Universe.
List of series:
- Moonlight Mask (1958-59) - The series was produced by Nippon Gendai/Senkosha, while contemporary films were produced by Toei.
- Yusei Oji (1958-59) - The series was produced by Nippon Gendai/Senkosha, while contemporary films were produced by Toei.
- Seven Color Mask (1959)
- Messenger of Allah (1960)
- National Kid (1960-61)
- Uchuu Kaisokusen (1961)
- Golden Bat (1966)
- Kamen No Ninja Akakage (1967-68)
- Captain Ultra (1967)
- Giant Robo (1967-68)
- Kamen Rider (1971-present)
- Suki! Suki!! Majo Sensei (1971)
- Choujin Barom 1 (1972)
- Henshin Ninja Arashi (1972)
- Kikaider (1972-73) / Kikaider 01 (1973-74)
- Mechanical Violator Hakaider (1995)
- Kikaider REBOOT (2014)
- Robot Detective (1973)
- Inazuman (1973-74)
- Seigi No Symbol Condorman (1975)
- Super Sentai (1975-present)
- Akumaizer 3 (1975-76)
- Choujin Bibyun (1976)
- Space Ironmen Kyodain (1976)
- The Kagestar (1976-77)
- Ninja Captor (1976-77)
- Kaiketsu Zubat (1977)
- Daitetsujin 17 (1977)
- Spider-Man (Japan) (1978-79)
- Message from Space (1978)
- Toei Fushigi Comedy Series (1981-93)
- Metal Heroes (1982-1999)
- Seiun Kamen Machineman (1984)
- Kyodai Ken Byclosser (1985)
- Lady Battlecop (1990)
- Choukou Senshi Changerion (1996)
Kamen Rider and Super Sentai are Toei's two most popular and longest-running franchise. To this day, they air together on TV Asahi under the block Super Hero Time.
Tropes
- Beast Man: Accounts for a great many villains and a bunch of heroes as well.
- Calling Your Attacks: A common tokusatsu trope.
- Crossover Punchline: Super Hero Time idents of recent years have Rider and Sentai casts meeting and interacting in their respective hang-outs and Hilarity Ensues.
- Disc-One Final Boss: In some shows, it was common for whatever villain had been set up as the Big Bad to be defeated halfway through, and then for their string-puller/competitor/some new threat from nowhere to emerge as the villain of the second half.
- Fake Crossover
- Over the years, there have been many stage show crossovers with numerous tokusatsu heroes teaming-up to fight baddies. During the televised run of Metal Heroes, every year saw a stage show uniting the current Super Sentai and Metal Heroes.
- Mostly in the '70s and '80s, there were "crossovers" which consisted little more of a photoshot with heroes from two different shows posing for the Rule of Cool.
- Most Super Hero Time idents have the contemporary Riders and Sentai posing side-by-side, while recent years have the casts interacting in their resepective hide-outs, giving the impression that they are all good friends. Of course, this has no canonical bearing on their proper crossovers, if they have them.
- For Great Justice: A good number of early heroes had this as their motivation, fighting to defend people and uphold "justice" or "peace" in the face of whatever force is threatening it that particular day.
- Friend to All Children: Being friendly to children is almost a prerequisite for being a Toku hero, and many Toku shows in the 70s and 80s had heroes who went out of their way to protect children who were in danger.
- Galactic Superpower: The Space Squad Shared Universe home to Super Sentai and Metal Heroes has the Galactic Federationnote , which employs the Space Sheriffs. Both franchises have introduced empires with ambitions of universal domination, most notably the Space Empire Zangyack; opposed by the Galactic Federation Police, they were said to have conquered almost the entire universe before fracturing after a failed invasion of Earth which ended in the death of their Emperor.
- Uchu Sentai Kyuranger, which is set in a Parallel Universe to the prime Super Sentai reality, has the Space Federationnote , an alliance of the 88 constellations founded by human space explorer Tsurugi Ohtori, who became its first President. Then comes the Space Shogunate Jark Matter, led by Don Armage, which conquers pretty much the entire universe (including Earth). Ultimately, after some 300 years, Jark Matter falls once its leader is defeated by the Kyurangers. The Space Federation is restored, led once again by Tsurugi Ohtori, who had been in suspended animation.
- Gratuitous Nazis: A good number of early villain groups often used Nazi iconography, such as a "Sieg Heil!" salute, for seemingly no reason other than to show that they were evil. And then there are the villains who explicitly were Nazis, like Shocker from Kamen Rider and Dr. Satan from The Kagestar.
- Henshin Hero: Most of the heroes start out human before transforming, typically by uttering "Henshin" or some other line. Exceptions include the Akumaizer 3, who stay in their monster forms even when they're among humans, and the Kyodain, who have TV screens inside their heads that display their human faces, but don't actually turn human.
- Humongous Mecha: Most notably in Super Sentai, though they were predated by Daitetsujin 17 and Toei's Spider-Man.
- Long Runner: Toei has been in the business of tokusatsu since Gekko Kamen back in 1958.
- Monster of the Week: The standard in most Toei Tokusatsu shows. Though in some shows, monsters may appear for multiple episodes.
- Nebulous Evil Organization: Most Toku shows, especially ones in the 70s, have one as the villain faction. Typically they come with an Evil Overlord at the top, several colorful executives below him or her, dozens of faceless Mooks clad in full-body suits and monsters to be sent out on a weekly basis.
- Shared Universe: Toei has wobbled on it in the past, but the Space Squad crossover seems to confirm that all the Super Sentai shows up to Zyuohger and all the Metal Heroes series take place in the same universe.
- Before Space Squad, the JAKQ Vs Gorenger crossover (which is canon to both shows) referenced both Kamen Rider and Kikaider as being in the same world. The OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders movie also states that, in addition to Kikaider, Inazuman and Kaiketsu Zubat are allies of the Riders as well.
- Villains Act, Heroes React: Generally, the villains send forth the MOTW with an Evil Plan Once an Episode, with our heroes then arriving on the scene to stop them.
