Tokusatsu

Tokusatsu is a Japanese term, which refers to a particular type of storytelling. It relies upon considerable use of special effects and costuming and began gaining popularity in the mid-1950s with the introduction of Godzilla in the 1954 film Gojira. Popular sub-tenants of Tokusatsu include the daikaiju ("giant monster") genre, kyodai ("giant hero"), Mecha and "suitmation" genres. Popular franchises in the Tokusatsu branch of Japanese entertainment include Godzilla, Gamera, Ultraman, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.