Superheroes In Japan

I'm gonna update more this week, even if it's nonsense content.



Superheroes are apparently really popular in Japan. This extends to virtually all aspects of life, including the above ad, which is both horribly funny and a little disturbing.

Of course, the Japanese definition of "superhero" is rather different from the US definition. In Japan, virtually all "superheroes" are people who can very suddenly change from plainclothes to costume, and who have very wackily defined powers based on different traditions from the US's own superhero tradition.

Of course, the Japanese tradition ultimately is closely related to the US tradition, as anyone who knows what Marvel was doing with Toei in 1978 can attest...


Ahem.

Anyway, superheroes are everywhere in Japan. They tell you to recycle, they hold local plays, they advertise for supermarkets...


Japan is stupid awesome that way.

There's some particular convenience store/food place that sponsors some kind of commercial-length tokusatsu thing, but I think that they deserve their own post, because they're just so cracky.