[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Would you consider Gundam to be under this category?

I would absolutely not say Gundam is inspired by tokusatsu to any massive degree, but it's worth noting how many superficial similarities exist due to them both pulling from the same broader mold of merchandise-centric Japanese hero shows for kids. The tradition of the protagonist getting a second, cooler Gundam to pilot midway through the show is basically the tokusatsu Final Form trope, for example. Rivals, evil counterparts, and even the occasional series with a big ensemble of heroes from the outset that sell themselves on the appeal of getting to choose your favorite of the bunch too – I could easily be talking about Gundam or Kamen Rider there.

It's really broad strokes stuff, but, especially when it comes to the parts Bandai has a direct hand in, there's a lot of shared language there nonetheless. Despite how I started this post, there probably are plenty of specific instances of direct inspiration being taken from toku. I mean, the Impulse Gundam even had straight up Ultraman Tiga style color swap form changing; I'd be more surprised to find out that didn't have anything to do with shows like Kuuga being such huge successes!