Following his work on 1976's  Space Ironman Kyodain , creator Shotaro Ishinomori  expressed an interest in creating his own giant robot show akin to the likes of Tetsujin 28  and Giant Robo  as its successor - an idea that the sponsors were also keen on. Though initially conceived as an animated series, it was eventually decided that a live-action tokusatsu production would be far more impressive - the first Toei would have produced since Giant Robo nearly a decade ago. The result was Daitetsujin 17 (pronounced "One-Seven"), a 35-episode series which ran from March to November 1977. Following this, giant robots would become a staple of Toei's tokusatsu productions - first in Spider-Man  the following year, and from there a core component of the Super Sentai franchise.

When it first started all the way back in 2020 Dogengers could have easily been a "one and done" novelty. But this hilarious look at the lives of Fukuoka's local heroes (and villains) has since endured over multiple series and specials, which just goes to show how beloved these characters are. And arguably one of the most beloved of them all is Ohgaman  - the hero of Ohga Pharmacy created to tackle the "leftover medicine issue" caused by people not taking their medicine. Sandwiched between the release of 2023's Dogengers Metropolis and fifth series Shin Dogengers the following year was one-off special A Day of Ohgaman - taking a special look into the daily life of this very special hero.

Between the likes of Hikonin Sentai Akibaranger , Tokusatsu Gagagaga ,   The High School Heroes  and Wingman , shows that celebrate the medium of tokusatsu and act as a love letter to all things henshin heroes come in many different shapes and sizes. However, rarely to they also celebrate the way in which they are released. To mark the tenth anniversary of the Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club streaming service, Toei  produced Forticus: Stream! The Heirs to Their Favourite Hero  - a one-off hour-long special debuting a brand new hero. Directed by Koichi Sakamoto and written by Junichiro Ashiki (a veteran writer for the Ultraman franchise, most notably working on Trigger , Decker , Omega  and the Ultra Galaxy Fight specials), Forticus pays homage to Toei's decades of tokusatsu production in its own unique way.

Super Sentai ’s 50th anniversary celebrations may have been somewhat marred by the announcement of its indefinite hiatus, but No.1 Sentai Gozyuger still offered plenty of opportunity to see the franchise out (at least for the time being anyway) in style. First there was the series itself, then the Summer movie , and finally the annual crossover movie to round it all off. No.1 Sentai Gozyuger vs Boonboomger is the 31st and potentially final entry in the long-running VS series , pairing the 50th Super Sentai team up with Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger as well as featuring some familiar faces from previous series. The film was written by Tatsuto Higuchi (who previously wrote episodes for both series) and directed by Shojiro Nakazawa , a veteran of the franchise whose credits go all the way back to Mirai Sentai Timeranger .

After Kamen Rider Zeztz  kicked of Toei's plans of global expansion in full force, it's time to enter phase two as the Kamen Rider franchise celebrates its 55th anniversary. Kamen Rider My-Th , the eighth instalment in the current Reiwa era (and 41st main instalment overall), finds a new home on YouTube over at the Toei Tokusatsu World Official   channel, which for the last few years has hosted a selection of Kamen Rider series and movies as well as various other Toei tokusatsu and anime shows. The series is being written by none other than Naruhisa Arakawa , best known for his helping to bring Kamen Rider back to television screens with Kamen Rider Kuuga back in 2026. This first episode, entitled "The Mouse Meister and the Young Lady", was directed by Shojiro Nakazawa .

The Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club has been the home of various pieces of Kamen Rider , Super Sentai  and now Project R.E.D.  spin-off material for many years now, but with most of these taking the form as one-off episodes or limited mini-series few have seemed quite as expansive as Kamen Rider Zeztz: Series of Sister's Substory Agent Minami . Though its episodes may only be two to three minutes long, this companion piece to Kamen Rider Zeztz  ran for a whole 50 episodes - with a new episode releasing each week to accompany the main series. Shifting the focus onto Baku's sister Minami (played by Miki Yagi ), the series was written by Yusuki Naito (under the supervision of Zeztz head writer Yuya Takahashi ) and directed by Tomonobu Koshi .

It’s taken a long time to get here, but on the advent of its 55th anniversary the Kamen Rider franchise finally took its first steps to truly going worldwide. Whilst English-speaking audiences (primarily in the US) have been able to enjoy both streaming and Blu-Ray releases of older series for some time, it wasn’t until Kamen Rider Zeztz – the seventh main instalment in the Reiwa era and 36th overall, that Toei finally opened up a currently airing series to audiences outside of Japan and select Asian regions. The show was licensed by Shout Factory and simulcast with English subtitles via their TokuSHOUTsu YouTube channel in the US, Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand, while TokuSato handled distribution in South America. Though sadly not the full worldwide release fans in other territories deserve, they are nonetheless hopefully the first crucial steps that will lead to something bigger with subsequent series. Yuya Takahashi ( Ex-Aid , Zero-One , Geats , Outsiders ) returns t...

Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity may have been a loving tribute to one of their most iconic tokusatsu superhero series, but for the second instalment in Project R.E.D.   Toei  seem to be trying something new. Channelling the likes of Monster Hunter and Pokémon , Kakuseihunter Omegahorn turns the focus slightly away from transforming superheroes and brings kaiju to the forefront of the series. With characters and elements from Gavan Infinity also carrying over, Atsuhiro Tomioka continues on as head writer for the series - now joined by  Hiroyuki Kato and Jun Watanabe as director and action director respectively.

It wasn't all that long ago tokusatsu fans were bidding a fond farewell to Super Sentai , and now the first instalment of its replacement has drawn to a close. Towards the end of 2025 Toei announced that taking the place of Super Sentai  would be Project R.E.D. (" Records of Extraordinary Dimensions ") - an ambitious new project primarily featuring red-coloured heroes as well as continuity between its instalments (which wouldn't follow a set pattern in the same way Super Sentai  did). Then in February 2026 Project R.E.D. officially launched with the premiere of Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity - a reboot and spiritual successor to Space Sheriff Gavan  (as well as the Space Sheriff trilogy and wider Metal Heroes  franchise), but also explicitly neither a continuation or relaunch of Metal Heroes. Written by Atsuhiro Tomioka ( Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger , as well as numerous anime credits) and directed by Hirofumi Fukuzawa (who has worked as action director on every S...

Space Sheriff Gavan  proved popular enough that not only was a sequel series put into production during its run, Gavan would also lead directly into said series with its protagonist appearing as a guest character beforehand. Thus episode 42 of Gavan introduced the audience to Den Iga , a forest patrolman who was fatally wounded and taken to Planet Bird for recovery. When he returned two episodes later to aid Gavan in his final battle against Makuu, he donned a red combat suit and was revealed as Earth's newest Space Sheriff following his predecessor's promotion. Space Sheriff Sharivan is both the second entry in the Space Sheriff trilogy  and wider Metal Heroes  franchise, running for a total of 51 episodes between 1983 and 1984. With the same creative team of Gavan behind it, Sharivan aimed to both continue and build upon the new style of superhero show its predecessor had created. 

Super Sentai  may be on indefinite hiatus as far as further series are concerned, but that doesn't mean the franchise has completely run out of steam yet. Thanks to platforms like the Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club streaming service that's still plenty of opportunities to tell more stories through the likes of mini-series and one-off specials, with more from No.1 Sentai Gozyuger among the first of its offerings in this "post- Sentai " landscape. No.1 Sentai Gozyuger: Polar Beginning transports us back to the year 2005 and the first Ring Battle, shedding more light on the past of Mashiro Kumade - the first Gozyu Wolf  who would later re-join the battle for the rings as the sixth Gozyuger, Gozyu Polar . Interestingly the one-off special was written by Keiichi Hasagawa ( Ultraman Dyna ,  Ultraman Nexus , Kamen Rider Gotchard ), rather than series head writer Akiko Inoue .

A big anniversary for a long-running franchise is always a good excuse to look back on and celebrate where it all began, but what about going even further back to before the beginning? This is how the GARO franchise decided to celebrate its 20th anniversary, with the release of GARO: Taiga - a brand-new feature film starring a Taiga Saejima , father to Kouga (and grandfather to Raiga) whose time as the titular Golden Knight had previously only been seen through flashbacks. Series creator Keita Amemiya  returned to write the film, as well as co-direct it alongside Masaki Suzumura who handles the action sequences. Shoichiro Kitada takes over as a younger Taiga, with the character having been played by Hiroyuki Watanabe in previous appearances.

As the GARO franchise continues to celebrate its 20th anniversary, fans are lucky enough to have two projects representing its two main continuities. Whilst the Saejima family timeline added a new chapter to its story last year with prequel film GARO: Taiga , 2026's offering instead focuses on  Ryuga Dougai - continuing his story from when we last saw him in 2024's Heir to the Steel Armor . Though at only eight episodes (plus a prologue episode which quickly recaps Ryuga's story from the very beginning) GARO: Sentinel of the East  is one of the shortest entries in the franchise thus far, it does however reunite Ryuga with Rian - the Makai Priestess who first debuted alongside him in The One Who Shines in the Darkness  and continued into  Gold Storm ,   Gold Storm -Sho-   and Fang of God . As with the previous series, The Eastern Sentinel was made available worldwide via the official GARO YouTube channel with multi-language (albeit AI generated) subtitles.

Whilst one could argue that Kamen Rider Gavv ended on a fairly satisfying note, there were still plenty of plot threads left open to be explored in future instalments. Something that's been mandatory for Kamen Rider for well over a decade now, as there needs to be something to cover in the obligatory V-Cinext epilogue movie. As also tends to be the standard for these films, Kamen Rider Gavv: Guilty Parfait  shines the spotlight on the series' secondary and only (heroic) human Rider - Hanto Karakida , aka Kamen Rider Valen . The one-hour film was written by Gavv 's main writer Junko Komura , and directed by Takayuki Shibasaki .

The age of Super Sentai is over, and so begins the time of Project R.E.D. ! Overall details on Toei 's newest tokusatsu  franchise are still somewhat vague, but what we do currently know about Project R.E.D. (which is an acronym for Records of Extraordinary Dimension s ) is that while it will primarily feature red-coloured heroes (no surprise there), the shows themselves won't necessarily follow a specific pattern. It's first entry, Super Space Sheriff Gavan Infinity , is already a pretty good example of this. As the title suggests the series is a reboot of 1982's Space Sheriff Gavan , however it is not explicitly a continuation of the series (in the same way the 2012 movie was) nor is it a relaunch of the Metal Heroes franchise. So just what is Gavan Infinity , and why has a reboot of the iconic Space Sheriff been chosen to spearhead a whole new franchise? We'll just have to watch on to find out! 

50 years is one hell of a milestone to celebrate anyway, but when it comes to tokusatsu it's a particularly monumental achievement for Super Sentai . Ever since Himitsu Sentai Gorenger first began on April 5th 1975, the franchise has carried on almost non-stop all the way up until now - spawning 49 different mainline series, 50 different teams and hundreds of brightly coloured heroes. But it seems all good things really must come to an end, and after several years of experimentation amidst declining profitability it was decided that the 50th anniversary series would also be its last - at least for the time being anyway. And thus the longest consecutively running tokusatsu franchise bows out with No.1 Sentai Gozyuger , a series which aims to celebrate five decades of Super Sentai spirit in its own unique way. The series written by Akiko Inoue (daughter of tokusatsu legend Toshiki Inoue) in her debut as head writer, with Ryuta Tasaki (a veteran of Super Sentai , but most recently...

While it may not seem like new GARO series come around quite as often as they used to, every time a new one is announced it feels all the more special. With the franchise currently celebrating its 20th anniversary there have been a few new projects celebrating its different timelines. The tail end of 2025 saw the release of prequel film GARO: Taiga , taking place in the Saejima family timeline and focusing on Kouga's father and previous Golden Knight Taiga. Meanwhile 2026 kicks off with a new instalment in the alternate Ryuga Dougai universe, GARO: Sentinel of the East ( Higashi no Kairo ) - the fourth series to feature the character. As with 2024's Heir to Steel Armor , the series will be simulcast worldwide via the official GARO YouTube channel . However like before whilst multi-language subtitles are available, these are machine generated and thus of varying quality.

Over the past couple of years the Girls Remix series of Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club specials hasn't just been a brilliant way to bring back the heroines of the Kamen Rider franchise in one multi-series crossover. It's also been building towards something - particularly in its last two instalments Kamen Rider Majade with Girls Remix  and Girls Remix in Halloween Party . Now the story reaches its climactic conclusion (for the time being at least) in Kamen Rider Eins with Girls Remix , reuniting many of the cast members from across the previous specials once more alongside representatives from Kamen Rider 555  and Kamen Rider Fourze as well as a few other surprises along the way.

As Ultraman  rapidly approaches its 60th anniversary, it's interesting to look back and see just how far the franchise has come in recent years in regards to worldwide availability. Not just in terms of the show being simulcast beyond Asia thanks to the ULTRAMAN OFFICIAL YouTube channel , but also the exposure it has through live shows and convention appearances across the globe. 2025 saw the release of Ultraman Omega , once again available globally with a variety of different language subtitles as well as a full English dub (albeit not released simultaneously this time around). The series compositors were Toshizo Nemoto and Junichiro Ashiki (both of whom have worked across the New Generation era), its main director was  Masayoshi Takasue ( Ultraman R/B , Ultraman Decker ), and chief producer Tsugumi Kitaura .

Despite Ultraman Ace proving to be fairly popular throughout its run, the show was not without its problems behind the scenes - so much so that some at broadcaster TBS even suggested putting the franchise on hiatus for a year following its completion. However producer Yoji Hashimoto was able to convince them otherwise, and work began on the next instalment as Tsuburaya Productions approached their tenth anniversary. The initial pitch was "Ultra Jack" - a space-based "neo fairy tale" series which would introduce the sixth Ultra Brother and build upon ideas from Ace. While many of the ideas presented would remain in the final version, the trouble was coming up with a name. Jack was a common name in Western fairy tales, but it was also felt to be too similar to "hijacking" - something which was a global issue at the time. So director Kazuho Mitsuda suggested a more Japanese name which conveyed the same idea - and thus Ultraman Taro was born. The series premi...