A man punching kaijus straight in the face, gone DARK.
Summary:
Tokusatsu is not a genre — it refers to heavy use of practical special effects.
Kaiju movies like Godzilla are tokusatsu. So are superhero shows like Kamen Rider.
Ultraman is a Kyodai Hero (Giant Hero) tokusatsu series. Guess why.
Ultraman: DARKNESS HEELS will be about villains of the series, turned “Dark Heroes”.
Ultraman fans might not be eating as well as fans of other tokusatsu shows, but there is still some amazing news on the horizon. Especially for the fans of the darker parts of Ultraman universe, due to the DARKNESS HEELS anime announcement.
Tokusatsu?
Tokusatsu (short for Tokushu Satsuei Gijutsu, or “special effects technology”) is a subtype of live action movies and series that heavily use practical special effects, be it for sci-fi, fantasy, horror or war stories. And while yes, this means Star Wars, Star Trek and Doctor Who are all technically tokusatsu series, the term is usually applied to a type of Japanese live action productions dealing in specific topics and genres, just like the term “anime” is usually applied to animation made in, or heavily inspired by animation made in Japan.
The one genre heavily using tokusatsu that we are most familiar with in the West is kaiju — stories about giant, city-wrecking monsters like Godzilla and Gamora. The Japanese superhero genre also uses this same technology in shows like Kamen Rider and Power Rangers (Super Sentai) — and if you combine the two, you get the Kyodai Hero (Giant Hero) genre, where our main character magically (or scientifically) grows to match the kaijus’ size to punch them right in the face.
Here in the West, we are mostly familiar with the Gridman franchise (thanks to the recent SSSS.Gridman anime by Studio Trigger). Though if you were to look for the most successful Kyodai Hero franchise overall, it would be Ultraman.
Ultraman
The eponymous hero is a solar-powered human-alien fusion on a mission to protect Earth from kaiju, aliens and other threats. He possesses enough abilities to rival Superman (DC Comics): invulnerability, telekinesis, teleportation, flight, energy transfer and, of course, becoming literally the size of a barge.
This is not Ultraman’s first anime adaptation — he had 4 big installments through the years, with the latest being Ultraman (2019). Still, Ultraman: DARKNESS HEELS is kind of a milestone for the franchise, as it focuses not on the giant hero himself, but on the villains of the series, reimagined as “Dark Heroes”, including Ultraman Belial, Evil Tiga, Dark Zagi, Camearra and Jugglus Juggler.
This project is a part of the DARKNESS HEELS multimedia project that includes DARKNESS HEELS ―Lili― manga and multiple stage plays. There is no official information on the release date of the anime yet, but the teasers look… Yeah, they look ULTRA DARK, man.
A man punching kaijus straight in the face, gone DARK.
Summary:
Tokusatsu is not a genre — it refers to heavy use of practical special effects.
Kaiju movies like Godzilla are tokusatsu. So are superhero shows like Kamen Rider.
Ultraman is a Kyodai Hero (Giant Hero) tokusatsu series. Guess why.
Ultraman: DARKNESS HEELS will be about villains of the series, turned “Dark Heroes”.
Ultraman fans might not be eating as well as fans of other tokusatsu shows, but there is still some amazing news on the horizon. Especially for the fans of the darker parts of Ultraman universe, due to the DARKNESS HEELS anime announcement.
Tokusatsu?
Tokusatsu (short for Tokushu Satsuei Gijutsu, or “special effects technology”) is a subtype of live action movies and series that heavily use practical special effects, be it for sci-fi, fantasy, horror or war stories. And while yes, this means Star Wars, Star Trek and Doctor Who are all technically tokusatsu series, the term is usually applied to a type of Japanese live action productions dealing in specific topics and genres, just like the term “anime” is usually applied to animation made in, or heavily inspired by animation made in Japan.
The one genre heavily using tokusatsu that we are most familiar with in the West is kaiju — stories about giant, city-wrecking monsters like Godzilla and Gamora. The Japanese superhero genre also uses this same technology in shows like Kamen Rider and Power Rangers (Super Sentai) — and if you combine the two, you get the Kyodai Hero (Giant Hero) genre, where our main character magically (or scientifically) grows to match the kaijus’ size to punch them right in the face.
Here in the West, we are mostly familiar with the Gridman franchise (thanks to the recent SSSS.Gridman anime by Studio Trigger). Though if you were to look for the most successful Kyodai Hero franchise overall, it would be Ultraman.
Ultraman
The eponymous hero is a solar-powered human-alien fusion on a mission to protect Earth from kaiju, aliens and other threats. He possesses enough abilities to rival Superman (DC Comics): invulnerability, telekinesis, teleportation, flight, energy transfer and, of course, becoming literally the size of a barge.
This is not Ultraman’s first anime adaptation — he had 4 big installments through the years, with the latest being Ultraman (2019). Still, Ultraman: DARKNESS HEELS is kind of a milestone for the franchise, as it focuses not on the giant hero himself, but on the villains of the series, reimagined as “Dark Heroes”, including Ultraman Belial, Evil Tiga, Dark Zagi, Camearra and Jugglus Juggler.
This project is a part of the DARKNESS HEELS multimedia project that includes DARKNESS HEELS ―Lili― manga and multiple stage plays. There is no official information on the release date of the anime yet, but the teasers look… Yeah, they look ULTRA DARK, man.
