hi!!!! i'm a ryuseitaiP that would like to get into tokusatsu but don't know how to start.... would you offer any advice?
Hello, sorry that I'm late but thank you for this question! I'd be excited to answer with my thoughts, since I feel a lot of Ryuseitai fans (and Wonderland x Showtime fans) would enjoy tokusatsu. I strongly believe there is a toku show for everyone, so here's my lengthy overview. This applies to anyone who wants to get into the genre but doesn't know where to start.
I'll briefly define things: tokusatsu is a broad genre, meaning special effects, and it's an umbrella term for any special effect superhero show that involves live-action. Therefore, there are different franchises of shows out there that fall under tokusatsu, which include Kamen Rider, Super Sentai (it inspired Power Rangers in America), Ultraman, Godzilla, Metal Hero, Garo, etc. For Ultraman/Godzilla, both mention kaiju, which you probably remember being mentioned in a Ryuseitai story: kaiju refers to an enormous monster, where Ultraman (who combats in a huge, similarly-sized suit) fights these kaiju. Meanwhile, Godzilla is the name of a specific kaiju. Super Sentai focuses on a colored group of rangers fighting together, Kamen Rider shows more individualistic stories of heroes as its title refers to its main character, Garo explores darker themes, etc.
Unfortunately, many of the franchises are not properly serialized outside of Japan, but translators have made these shows more available to an international audience.
One important note: if you looked up, say, Kamen Rider's Wikipedia page, you'll see 36 listed Kamen Riders. They're separated by eras (Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa, time periods based on the reigns of Japanese emperors), where Reiwa is the most recent. You do not need to watch them in order; you can start from any era you want. This applies to all franchises: each season is standalone, and you can start from any. Concepts or ideas might repeat, but you'll grasp them. The anniversary shows reference past shows (e.g., Kamen Rider Decade, Kamen Rider Zi-O), but this is an exception. Personally, I don't recommend starting on an anniversary season, but if you're fine with spoilers and want to see what multiple shows are like, then I've heard of people who started from Decade as an intro to Rider.
Newcomers tend to like watching the newer ones first, before delving into older shows. I have a preference for Heisei/Showa era Kamen Rider seasons and Reiwa era Super Sentai seasons, as those are the two franchises I watch most. Even so, newer shows tend to be more progressive, and the modern setting has brought in fresh concepts that I recommend checking out. I started with Reiwa-era shows before Showa, but you can watch whatever appeals to you first.
To answer the question of where to watch it, I recommend tok/uzilla or tok/ufun (slashing just in case). Some older series are available on the Internet Archive, or you can torrent episodes. (If anyone would like a personal guide on torrenting, you can message me. I follow people back.) For Ultraman, their shows have recently been made more readily available for an international audience -- currently, Ultraman Arc is airing for free on their channel, so I recommend checking it out!
The website collection can seem daunting, so here's a quick summary of Sentai and Kamen Rider and my personal recs. If you want to know more about Ultraman as well, message me, since this post was getting too long.
Super Sentai: Super Sentai first aired in 1975 as Himitsu Sentai Gorenger. Sentai is based on a squadron of rangers in suits who face off an antagonist, while learning how to cooperate, although they're typically very dysfunctional in the process. To summarize Gorenger, a terrorist group called the Black Cross Army serves as the enemy, and EAGLE scientists have sent five soldiers to defeat the Black Cross, giving them powers. There tend to be antagonists that are readily defined in Sentai that heroes work together to defeat, with varying levels of worldbuilding depending on the show. Early shows established common tropes in sentai: most notably, the red ranger is the leader, as Akaranger is in Gorenger, who ends up being a driving force for the others. Others include the black ranger's tendency to be an elusive character with secrets, the pink ranger being the sole girl, the red ranger often clashing with the blue ranger in ideals, the wildcard sixth ranger in a five-ranger team, and other common patterns. However, these tropes experience more subversion over time as newer shows come out, including switching up what colors the rangers are assigned, having more female rangers on the team, changes in how the suits look and making them appear more unique, and exploring subject matters that are historically/politically relevant at the time they were released (which applies to all shows here, not just sentai). Sentai transformation sequences often use a device to transform, which has gotten more creative, and there are combined mechas of the rangers fighting together.
Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger (2023) -> A personal favorite of mine, noted for its inclusion of a gender non-conforming character, Rita (the purple ranger). The viewer is plunged into a fantasy setting of clashing kingdoms and the tyranny of the king of Shugoddam. The main character, Gira (our red ranger), is a boisterous young man who has a large heart and always helps the other kids at the orphanage. He takes up the mantle in challenging the current king due to wanting better for Shugoddam, and inadvertently ends up on a team with the other kings of the other kingdoms after using the Royal Arms. While the rangers don't get along initially, subject to egocentrism surrounding their kingdoms, they come together to fight evil. The characterization and worldbuilding in this show are strong.
Avataro Sentai Donbrothers (2022) -> This show takes place in a modern setting, following the life of 17-year-old mangaka Haruka Kitou after she is accused of plagiarism and is forced to transform into the yellow ranger. She is thrust into a world of fighting off Hitotsuki, monsters who are born from strong human desires that end up overtaking these humans if they become too strong (kind of like Miraculous Ladybug. Sorry.) This group of rangers don't get along, and Haruka takes a while to even find out who the red ranger, a mailman named Tarou Momoi, even is. The family themes and humorous concepts make this a fun show to watch.
Ressha Sentai ToQger (2014) -> Its strong focus on the rangers all being childhood friends makes it stand out, with the team attempting to recover their lost memories together after they were stolen by the "Shadow Line," a railway that seeks to consume all of the light in the world. The show emphasizes the importance of Imagination, which is needed in order to see the Rainbow Line, which first recruits the five ToQgers. It has a simpler yet unified theme, centered on the uncovering of their past bonds.
Kamen Rider: The original Kamen Rider aired in 1971, telling the story of Takeshi Hongo, a young man who was experimented on by Shocker and was partially transformed into a grasshopper. He ends up using his superhuman powers for good in order to defeat Shocker. While sentai literally means fighting squadron, kamen rider is otherwise known as masked rider, referencing the fact that the original Kamen Rider was a lone hero who rode around on a motorcycle to defeat evil, all while being a supposed "part monster" themself who might even be feared by others. Note that this series does not accentuate a team like Super Sentai does, and a lot of the older Kamen Rider seasons only had one single masked rider who was focused on, while it is more common for there to be established primary, secondary, tertiary, etc. riders in newer shows. While both sentai and rider have transformations, rider has more individual rider forms (where there are often "upgraded" and "final" forms as the heroes become more powerful throughout the show). The transformation occurs with a belt, where the hero also says henshin (transform). Shows with multiple Kamen Riders are more likely to clash, where Kamen Rider Ryuki is probably the greatest epitome of this concept. Overall, Rider is more individual-based than Sentai. This isn't to say one is necessarily more "deep" than the other, and sentai also often features characters not getting along, but they just have different structures.
Kamen Rider Recommendations
Kamen Rider W (2009) -> A Kamen Rider with the unique theme of having two characters, Shotaro and Philip, transform together to become Kamen Rider W. Shotaro is a detective who is working with Philip to investigate strange crimes that have been occurring as of late in Fuuto. It has a heavy mystery and story-based element, and is a well-balanced show to start with.
Kamen Rider OOO (2010) -> I unfortunately don't know a lot about this show versus the others, but friends have said good things about it, and it serves well as a starter. It is focused on themes of greed, where the main antagonists are literally referred to as "Greeed." It centers on Eiji, who is consistently traveling to escape past tragedy, and he is first given a belt by Ankh, a Greeed himself, to transform into a Kamen Rider. A lot of the story and intentions of the characters unfold over time, and the dynamics are very well-written.
Kamen Rider Revice (2021) -> A very family-based Rider that centers around the Igarashi family, where all three of the Igarashi siblings each become Riders while the family overcomes their personal turmoil together in the process. It is centered around the concept of "inner demons" and overcoming them, except in the literal sense where the main character, Ikki Igarashi, literally has a contract with his inner demon in order to fight evil. The "Revice Driver" is a device that resembles the original Rider belt that is used to oppose Deadmans. This also occurs in a more modern setting.
Shin Kamen Rider -> This is not actually a seasonal Kamen Rider, but a movie. It's a modernized take on the story of the original Kamen Rider from 1971. While these movies were created to commemorate the show, Shin Kamen Rider serves as a good introduction to the series. I feel like it's best to go blind, so I won't say too much, but the special effects are genuinely amazing here, and it delves into darker territory while showing the raw emotions of the characters.
Kamen Rider Build and Ryuki are also some of my top favorites. I didn't include them in the bigger list, but feel free to check them out too (I like too many riders). I mostly didn't include Build because it's very plot-heavy to the point that I somewhat like it better as a second Rider to watch than a first, but I still highly recommend it because its storywriting is genuinely amazing, with themes surrounding the use of science for good vs. evil and even commentary on war. While I haven't finished Ryuki, I also recommend it for its concept of Kamen Riders battling one another, the mystery elements, and the character dynamics, especially between Shinji, Ren, and Yui.
Don't feel limited by my suggestions: I recommend looking at the Wikipedia pages of the franchises, reading the summaries for different seasons, and picking which one you'd like to check out. Browse the websites and try multiple things! I hope this was able to help with starting out.