hi you got me interested in tokusatsu and i was wondering what would be a good one to start with?
[insert sickos yes!!!! meme]
right okay so starting off with the big three series
Ultraman R/B: i admittedly have not watched this, but i consulted with my friend henri who has and this was the top recc for ultras. so yknow! reports say theres lesbians in this. in general seasons of ultraman tend to be shorter so its an easier watch
Kamen Rider Fourze: this is genuinely such a good rider which is why my url is based on it. the setting is just, japanese high school based on american high school but specificially the kind you see in movies about being in high school, starring gentaro who is determined to befriend everyone in the universe, and a very cute space theme + the power of friendship. when i was watching it i kept being like "wow gentaro is literally a magical girl protag" bc he has such infectious cheerful energy :)
Gokaiger: I feel like this is THE quintissential anniversary season. funky space pirate polycule accidentally stumbles into the role of protecting earth. There's a lot of features of past sentais as well as tons of actors reprising their roles for this one, so if you spot a different sentai you think you might like this is imo the best showcase of it. ahim is also #mygirlboss
now this next recc is an independently made toku but its really really good and i'd be remiss to not mention it
Dogengers: Local heroes in the Fukuoka prefecture are left scattered to the wind after the villainous Yabai Kamen manages to take over! It's up to a newly recruited hero, "Rookie", to bring them back together. Dogengers also has a second and third season, being Nice Buddy and High School, respectively.
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Okay now this section is like "ones I really enjoyed but I wouldn't really consider them incredibly optimal starting points but i like the them"
Shinkenger: Shinken is a bit more of a serious romp, but its done soooo well it makes me go silly mode every time. Featuring a crew of samurai descended from a long line of warriors, they're all just doing their best to finally defeat the evil spirits that enter the human world. Takeru is such a team lead ever and i like how everyone on the team has a different opinion about their duty. yknow.
Gekiranger: GECK GECK!!!! tldr there are two schools of arts in a power struggle, beast arts and evil beast arts. you will never be able to guess who the antagonists belong to based on these naming conventions. starring the most feral man i have ever seen in my life [bc he was taken from the jungle], jan, who is a naturally talented fighter chosen to help defeat the evil beast arts users for the sake of humanity or something. my personal favorite character is mele who is in fact evil but she was really hot while doing it so she gets a pass. her transformation is a chameleon and her suit is designed so that the eyes of the chameleon are positioned directly where her tits are, which is a detail i cannot ignore
Donbrothers: this one is currently ongoing and frankly i dont know how to explain it. its definitely a departure from traditional sentais, featuring the main team in more of an ensemble arrangement since for the majority of the show they dont all know each others identities. theres a lot of major moving parts and its honestly a really wild ride, but i enjoy seeing how the different story pieces unfold. the main character is haruka kito, the most 17 year old high school girl ever who is a disgraced mangaka. she is stubborn and honestly a spitfire, and there is something wrong with her. at one point she gets kidnapped and goes "wow! this will be a great experience to put into my next manga!" even though there is not a single publishing agency that would touch her stuff with a 10 foot pole. she is an inspiration to me to become less normal. donbrothers is technically a sequel to the series right before it, but i dont think you need to watch it because there is exactly one character carried over and he is nothing like how he was in the previous season.
Den-o: oughhh the . with the scrumbly... den-o is genuinely one of my favorite riders as well. the main character Ryoutarou is one of the most sopping wet pathetic 18 year old guys ever and he is being so brave about it. hes a bit of an airhead and definitely a pushover, but its honestly one of the reasons i love him so much. den-o is about ryoutarou becoming a rider with the help of possession from 4 other imagin, which are beings sprung up from the sands of time which seek out people with strong desires to grant their wishes. once those wishes are fufilled, the imagin can enter the past of a person and wreak havoc. the goal of most normal imagin[read: not the ones that hang out with ryou] is to destroy the future, but Ryoutarou and his gaggle of weirdos ride the Denliner to help protect it. It's soooo good okay. den o was super popular so it has a billion spinoff mini series and cameos in other riders but i think it stands best on its own
Exaid: now i want to be clear here and tell you. exaid is not good. exaid is okay and is good in my mind. but it was my first rider so i am attached. It's a part medical drama part video game full time wild fuckin ride where our main character Emu Hojo becomes an intern at a special hospital unit where the staff is able to transform into riders to help fight against the Bugster virus, a special strain of disease that if left untreated allows bugsters [video game entities] to manifest in the real world, killing the patient in the process. The medical drama part is really just a catalyst to the video game stuff, but seeing Emu have his patience tested by the most insane men in the world is worf. Also the nurse Asuna/Poppy is literally sooooo virusgender and I want to steal her gender so bad. i would talk abt dan kuroto since youve probably seen me post abt him before but i feel hes best experienced than explained. just know hes got autism and issues.
Changerion: prolly the oldest toku ive picked up, this one isnt really comparable to anything. its definitely slower paced than the other series ive reccomended so far, and it can definitely feel unfocused. it also suffers from having a reduced episode count [which was cut due to lack of popularity]. in spite of this, i think it was one of my favorite watches ever. The main character, Akira, is a wildly out of control bisexual man. on adderall. He's a detective without work and the first case he manages to land in a while ends up with him in a car crash that grants him the ability to transform. However, instead of being excited with his new purpose in life, he pretty much just tries to slack off and dodge responsibility as much as possible, much to the chagrin of Hayami [the man originally meant to be the one transforming]. Akira very reluctantly fights against the darkzeid, who feast on humanity for power and can open gateways to whats pretty much just a hell dimension. Kuroiwa is a standout character as well, being an antagonist but just so bizzarely charming he ended up as a favorite. He's a darkzeid who wants to integrate with humanity but instead of finding normal ways to do it, he just tries taking over japan. yknow how it is.
EDIT: chewing on glass how could I forget
The High School Heroes: this is only 8 episodes very short but also the episodes are long so it's longshort. Featuring a tokuota (toku otaku) who's obsessed with gorengers(first ever sentai) bringing together his classmates to form a defense club since students keep mysteriously turning into monsters! Also featuring a transfem character who's arc made me cry and she's also my best friend btw. There's a lot of references to gorengers overall but you don't have to know it to go oh it looks cool
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sorry this is such a long post i wanted to give you a lot of options and also just like. theres a lot of good points to different series and each one offers something different in theme and tone. also i probably couldve recommended more but this is already such a big list. okay glhf
