[mdo7]

Here's an unpopular toku opinions. When we think of tokusatsu, we think of Kamen Rider, Super Sentai, Ultraman, Godzilla, Gamera, etc....

But if you look at the definition of tokusatsu. Let me quote Tokupedia's definition:

Quote:

Tokusatsu (特撮) is a Japanese word that literally means "special effects." It is primarily used to refer to live-action Japanese film and television dramas that make use of special effects.

The term "tokusatsu" is a contraction of the Japanese phrase "tokushu satsuei" (特殊撮影), meaning "special photography". In production, the special effects director is given the title of "tokushu gijutsu" (特殊技術), Japanese for "special techniques" or "tokusatsu kantoku" (特撮監督), which is Japanese for "special effects director", the title usually used by English language productions.

Tokusatsu entertainment is often science fiction, fantasy, or horror, but movies and TV shows in other genres can sometimes be classified as tokusatsu as well.

If you looked at the part I bold and underlined. Tokusatsu can mean that non-superheroes and non-daikaiju films and TV shows can be considered in that genre. For example, Here's Japan's Invisible Man (yes, beside King Kong and Spider-man. Japan also did their own take on the Invisible Man):

That film is 1949, and 1957 and you can buy it on blu-ray from Arrow Films. But I want to get more in-depth in the definition of tokusatsu since majority of toku fans don't think hard enough on the definition.

The 1975 Hong Kong film, Super Inframan from Shaw Bros would be considered as a tokusatsu because the hero in that film was heavily influenced by Kamen Rider:





Same can be said about Mighty Peking Man, also from Shaw Bros:



And this is where the definition of tokusatsu get very interesting for non-Japanese stuff. If you were to say these shows from Toei are considered as tokusatsu:

Then should the same rule applied to these wuxia drama, one from Hong Kong, and another from Taiwan:

I say this because the 2 Toei samurai shows are labeled as tokusatsu, but the 2 wuxia show used similar special effect and specialized martial arts found in lots of tokusatsu shows and just like in Toei's samurai shows. BTW, the Hong Kong one is called Zu Mountain Saga (sadly no English sub available). I don't know the name of the Taiwanese wuxia since I can't find the English name/title. So would you considered the Taiwanese show, and Zu Mountain Saga as tokusatsu? It seem to match the definition of tokusatsu.

What about this, another Taiwanese shows from 1990 (again, I don't know the English name of this show), would you considered this as tokusatsu:

It has costumed monster, stylized martial art fighting, and probably campy stuff found in tokusatsu shows in Japan. So is it tokusatsu? the Taiwanese shows fit the definition.

The reason I'm making this opinion because I remember reading a drama fan blogger's blog about certain K-dramas and wuxia C-dramas should be given tokusatsu labels, you can read it here:

Should Fans Also Consider Wuxia Series and Sci-Fi Series as Tokusatsu?

Mind Hurts: Why Do I Even Call Certain Fantasy-Based K-Drama And C-Drama As Toku?!

Having watched tokusatsu, wuxia C-dramas, and K-dramas (including one that is sci-fi and fantasy) for a long time. I would agree with the blogger that wuxia C-dramas and some certain K-dramas would be put under tokusatsu label because they not only fit the definition of tokusatsu. Wuxia show whether they're from Taiwan, Hong Kong, or Mainland China if they're using stylized martial arts and costumed monsters (or CG monster design), then it's no different from Super Sentai or Kamen Rider or GARO.

So that is my unpopular tokusatsu opinion, what is tokusatsu, and what fits the definition of tokusatsu.

I'm surprised that tokusatsu fandom communities has not brought up this debate and using non-Japanese shows as evidence to debate what and how to define tokusatsu.