Most important toku?
 

I've posted this before in the Sentai forum regarding sentai specifically, but now I'm wondering: what would you consider to be the most influential and important toku series and movies of all time?

Gojira. It was kind of a big deal.

Well of course. I'm thinking a top...5? Or maybe 10 (because otherwise every list would be the same)

Oh, well then...
Gojira (1954) - It was kind of a big deal...
Ultraman (1966) - I don't know much about toku, so while I'm unsure whether or not Ultraman first brought it to the small screen, I know he popularized it
Kamen Rider (1971) - Didn't Kamen Rider start the Henshin hero and Metal Hero craze?
Spider-Man (Supaidaman) (1978) - It didn't inspire the first Sentai, but it did bring the now staple giant robots, which I feel is important.
Juken Sentai Gekiranger (2007) - It proved that Sentai can be good beyond just Sentai's normal standards.

Here's my list

Gojira: The father of it all
Godzilla Raids Again: Introduced giant monster fights
Ultraman: The first rubber suit hero, and inspired tons of other shows and anime
Ultra Seven: First appearance of a combining robo
Kamen Rider: Popularized the henshin hero craze
Goranger: Introduced the multi-member team aspect
Spiderman: First "Megazord"
Zyuranger: Introduced 6th rangers into Sentai, introduced new themes to Sentai, provided source footage for...
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: brought Sentai and toku to America

I thought about Power Rangers, but then I realized it kind of had an adverse affect, where every transforming hero is a Power Ranger.
Kind of like talking to a friend that isn't into mecha, so every giant robot to them is a Gundam?

Whether it had a positive or negative effect, you can't deny the huge impact it had, which is why I included it.

1. Godzilla
2. Ultra Q / Ultraman
3. Kamen Rider
4. Sentai
5. Supaidaman

Godzilla and the Ultra Series are the obvious (and correct) answers. I'd then say Kamen Rider and Sentai but which is more "important" than the other depends on how you look at it. In terms of history and influence Rider comes out top but then you can't deny what Sentai has done on a worldwide scale through Power Rangers.

1. Gojira. Need I say more?

2. Ultraman for... see EpsilonX's explanation above(exactly what I wanted to say).

3. Zyuranger for being the most successfully localized tokusatsu show overseas

4. Kamen Rider Ryuki for challenging the status quo of the "henshin hero"

5. Garo for basically saying tokusatsu can go HBO if it wanted to

You guys are forgetting these:

King Kong in King Kong Appears in Edo - While Godzilla is the first real toku movie, there was a King Kong movie in the late 1930's. It's lost, but this poster does exist.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...20px-Kkedo.jpg


Gekko Kamen aka Moonlight Mask - Japan's first toku on TV in the late 50's and one of Japan's first TV drama. Moonlight Mask was Japan's answer to both Batman and The Lone Ranger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JyL4IKnzZQ

Super Giant aka Star Man or Giant of Steel - Japan's answer to Superman in the 50's and was Japan's first superhero on film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd4jZoKGK5A

You also have Ogon Bat aka The Golden Bat. He is considered to be the first Japanese superhero ever. Pre-dating both Star Man and Moonlight Mask. This guy is pretty much the granddaddy of toku heroes and famous tropes that you see in anime and manga. He had his own live action film in the 1950's and again in the 1960's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah-Nzt38xa4

I would say that the most important toku overall would be Ogon Bat>King Kong Appears in Edo>Godzilla>Star Man>Moonlight Mask>Ultraman>Gamera>Kamen Rider>Goranger>Japanese Spider-Man>Battle Fever J>Metal Heroes>Zyuranger>MMPR

Why am I not surprised :lol :lol :lol

From what I understand

Gojira(1954)- Was pretty much revolutionary for the time period and the cultural impact in Japan.

Gekko Kamen(1958?)- A serialized hero, similar to the series we had in the US.

Ultraman and Ultraseven(1966-1967)- Took Tokusatsu and made it a staple in Television

Kamen Rider(1971)- Toei's attempt at making a Toku series; Found to be very popular.

Himitsu Sentai Gorenger(1975)- Team based and could appeal to both boys and girls and any age.

Supaidaman(1977)- Introduces the Giant Robo stuff and it's Spiderman

Denshi Sentai Denjiman(1980)- Kinda starts the true core Sentai concepts that are still used today

Choudenshi Bioman(1984)- Started using bigger concepts and ideas and made it more modernized.

Golden Bat, Star Man and Moonlight Mask is pretty much the reason why Ultraman, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai exist today. Without them, they would not exist ;).

See, I don't necessarily agree with this. The question wasn't "what is the first toku?", it was "Most important toku?". While the things you list certainly predate the likes of Godzilla and Ultraman, they aren't things that people remember the medium for.

To put it into a different context:
- Which is the most important character Walt Disney created and in animation in general? Oswald the Lucky Rabbit or Mickey Mouse?

Moonlight Mask certainly has it's place as one of the most important toku characters by virtue of influence, but Eiji Tsuburaya's work on the early Godzilla films and the Ultra Series is what made tokusatsu into the medium that it is (remember, its not just about characters - toku means "special effects filming" after all). Likewise Shotaro Ishinomori's success with Kamen Rider and Super Sentai caused Toei to literally take any concept the series the man came up with and make it a series for a while, which just goes to show how insanely popular they were. To say they were less important when they were fundamental in making toku (using "toku" as a catch all term for shows like this of course, we all know theres more to it than that) what it is today does them a huge disservice.

That's an unfair assessment to make, though. That's akin to saying Batman is the reason Kamen Rider exists.

Movie Godzilla, Television... probably Ultraman. They both set the standard for their respective medium and are remembered fondly to this day even in the west. Not everyone knows Garo, Kamen Rider or Super Sentai and a lot of people just remember Power Rangers as something they watched as a kid, but everyone in the "nerd subculture" knows Godzilla and Ultraman.

Everything is inspire by one thing to another though. Moonlight Mask was Japan's first TV toku hero. I would imagine things today would be different without it. Even Golden Bat in the 30's feature the idea of a superhero fighting other monsters long like decades before Ultraman and Kamen Rider.

For me personally, since I'm all about the mecha, I'd say Supaidaman. That's where all the Super Sentai mecha started...

I think you're sort of missing the point. A show can be inspired by something else while still having more of an impact on the world.

Personally speaking, if I had to pick a top five based on importance:

Godzilla - Because this is more or less where modern tokusatsu begins and where names that are still important today really start taking hold.

Ultraman - Because it was a huge success in its day. On top of its immediate impact, it does inspire dozens of other shows, this is one of those times where a show is hugely successful in its own right while at the same time directly impacting the future landscape. We would have no Kamen Rider if not for Ultraman (remember, Toei hired Tooru Hirayama to make a direct competitor to Ultraman) and no Super Sentai if not for Kamen Rider.

Kamen Rider - This one is a huge series that made its lead actors bonafied stars in Japan and is the first true competitor for Ultraman.

B-Fighter - I put this one here because B-Figher has a story line that, although not entirely serial, shows more of that than a lot of tokusatsu had done to that point in time. This is also were very important figures in the Heisei Rider series got their start. I legitimately think we wouldn't have Kamen Rider in the way we do today if not for this show.

Zyuranger - Twofold effect here, there's the Power Rangers effect which essentially creates generations of tokusatsu fans and then this show serves as the start of a new era for Sentai. New creative forces are brought on that have stronger control than before, new tokusatsu techniques are implemented, the designers allow themselves to be more colorful and fantastic with the robots, and the fighting feels more solidly put together than just about anything we had before.

It actually did neither of these things. I mean, it definitely made them more popular than ever before, but both things had existed in the US before Power Rangers. You had the Dynaman joke dubs in the mainland as well as Goranger and Battle Fever J being aired in Hawaii. Ultraman and Ultra Seven were also widely broadcast throughout the US.

I think Gekko Kamen would be important since he help started it all on TV.

I dunno, I think Moonlight Mask is worth mentioning. It might not have had as pronounced of an impact as Kamen Rider, but it certainly laid the groundwork for toku heroes as we know them.

I do agree. Something may be not be relevant to today's world, but still be important to history and should not be forgotten. If I put up a timeline of important toku, it could be like this.

1954 - Godzilla (May not be the first Toku ever, but it did help create Toku that we know today)
1958 - Gekko Kamen (The first TV superhero in Japan and help create the toku tropes that we know today)
1966 - Ultraman
1971 - Kamen Rider
1975 - Goranger
1992 - Zyuranger
1993 - MMPR
1995 - Juukou B-Fighter (As mention before from someone else)

Not to mention, you had other Toku release in the US. Godzilla movies was big in movie theathers in the 60's-70's. Those movies also found a new audience when they would be on home video and TV in the 80's and 90's. You would also have other giant monster movies and non kajiu Toku that did well in the states too.

MMPR help create a new audience for Toku, but you had fans way before MMPR even existed. Kamen Rider and Sentai had many fan sub tapes in the 80's and 90's that would people would watch.

Obviously it wasn't the first time toku had been seen in the US, but it certainly brought it to people's attention in a big way.

So here's a bit of a question, if you had to put one or more 21st century toku on this list which would you pick?

I’d say the Japanese Spider-man show was pretty important, since that’s the reason Sentai has mecha, and said mecha was part of the reason Sentai got so popular when it was rebranded as “Super Sentai”

Primarily stuff like Godzilla, Ultraman, Kamen Rider, and Goranger. There's also Android Kikaider and Space Sheriff Gavan to somewhat of a lesser extent.

I know this is a old post, but I do feel like the first of it's kind should be label as being important. You could say the same for anime & manga by saying Tetsujin 28 (Gigantor) is not important to Anime & Manga history seeing how other Mecha series like Magaziner Z, Getter Robo and Gundam made it into the medium that it is today. Despite the fact that Tetsujin 28 help inspired those series in the first place (There would be no Mazinger Z and Getter Robo if Tetsujin 28 never existed because Go Nagai grew up with Tetsujin 28 as a young boy).

I do think older toku like Gekko Kamen and Golden Bat do have important history to them on how Toku is today. They should get respect and not be forgotten.

With Toku heroes it's different, though. The idea of costumed men fighting crime was around for ages. Something like Gekko Kamen isn't necessarily special simply because a television show about a costumed hero was, for all intents and purposes, an inevitability.

A show like Star Trek could be considered important, as could something like Doctor Who as well as Tetsujin 28, as they were concepts relatively unexplored in the public eye, only really seen in short stories for a niche audience.
But with the golden age of heroes booming in comic books, a show like Gekko Kamen isn't important besides the fact that it was the first out of the gate.
There was always going to be a toku hero show, even if Gekko Kamen didn't exist.

From what I have seen, a lot of the 50's and 60's Toku have help create the tropes today. So I can see why Gekko Kamen, Golden Bat and Space Giants have important parts of history in Toku. I do agree that it would be ignorant to ignore them. I learn in film school that not to throw away the past.

I feel like MMPR to Toku is like how Toonami was to Anime. It help introduced Toku a new group of people, but you did had a fandom long before 1993. Without MMPR, this website (and other websites) and modern fan subbers would probably not exist. So I'm glad that we have that. However it does bug me a lot that people think of Toku as people in spandex and that's it.