As someone who’s recently become fascinated by tokusatsu, I’ve been coming across various terms that I was previously unaware of before. One of these terms stood out to me though since it’s actually surprisingly applicable to various forms of entertainment outside of tokusatsu. Therefore, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at Henshin Heroes and their prevalence in Japanese popular culture.
First off, I should explain what a Henshin Hero is. The Japanese word “Henshin” literally translates to transformation or metamorphosis. Thus, when we refer to a Henshin Hero, we are referring to a heroic character who transforms in order to gain access to their powers. I’m sure many of you can already think of various examples when it comes to Japanese media that this term applies to but let’s take a look at a few specific genres and examples.
Let’s start with tokusatsu since that’s how I came across the term and I think it’s widely associated with that genre. While there are an incredible amount of tokusatsu series, I think it’s fair to say that most people think of Ultraman, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai when they think of tokusatsu and each of these series are fine examples of Henshin Heroes. Amusingly, the lead characters in Kamen Rider shout “Henshin!” when they transform and, while not quite as on the nose, the protagonists of Ultraman and Super Sentai similarly transform when they have to fight.
However, Henshin Heroes are not restricted to tokusatsu and anime and manga fans will be plenty familiar with a number of characters who fit this archetype. In particular, I want to bring attention to the magical girl subgenre. While originally starting out as comedic sitcoms, the magical girl subgenre eventually began to shift towards being more combat oriented with the 1973 anime and manga Cutie Honey inspiring Sailor Moon’s style which went on to redefine the genre. These combat oriented magical girl’s are now famous for their long, over the top and elaborate transformations when they enter combat.
Of course, the idea of Henshin Heroes is not restricted to magical girls when it comes to anime and manga. Saint Seiya, a popular shonen manga and anime franchise, also features its characters transforming into their combat form when it’s time for battle by donning armour. Guyver is also another interesting example where character transformations essentially turns them into bizarre monsters.
It’s actually quite surprising how popular the concept of Henshin Heroes is in Japan and it’ll certainly be something I’ll be keeping an eye out for in the future. Let me know your thoughts on Henshin Heroes and their prevalence in Japanese popular culture, what you think of these transformation in general, other examples of non-tokusatsu/magical girl Henshin Heroes you can think of and any additional information you might have on this topic.
Hopefully you have found this article interesting and informative and, if you wish to seek any of the works I mentioned, don’t hesitate to use amazon.co.uk or amazon.com for all of your needs!