Henshin



Henshin (変身) is the Japanese phrase for "transformation". It is also a popular superhero genre prevalent in Japanese media, in both tokusatsu and anime.

"Henshin Heroes", usually produced by Toei Company Ltd., is a superhero genre about a person or persons with certain powers that he/she/they use to fight evil and/or corruption. The standard was set by the Japanese superhero Kamen Rider (AKA: Masked Rider) in 1971. In that show, the hero transforms by striking a specific pose with a specific word (Usually "Henshin", japanese for transform). After the success of Kamen Rider, there were many sequels as well as scores of imitations (which fall into the "Henshin Heroes" category), which had heroes similarly pose to transform (or even perform a high-flying attack). Some of those popular imitations were created by Kamen Rider's creator Shotaro Ishinomori. Some of those imitations include Android Kikaider, Inazuman and even Himitsu Sentai Goranger, the first of the "Sentai" Series. A (Super) Sentai is a fighting team of typically 5 members, mixed gender sometimes. The Super Sentai series was the basis for the American-produced series Power Rangers, which was actually a Japanese creation. (Saban took out the Japanese live action and replaced them with American actors; many of the action scenes one sees are actually Japanese people, so the stories changed much from the original; Kamen Rider Black RX is another example of this.)

However, "henshin" style superheroes are not necessarily produced by Toei, though. There are also some "henshin" style superheroes produced by other companies, including Toho's Rainbowman, Meteor Man Zone and the more recent Sei Shin series.

With a lot of Henshin drama, there is a group/syndicate of villians that create and send out monsters to fight the protagonists. The hidden identity of the villians is sometimes known by the fighters, sometimes they're total strangers, possibly even demons from another plane.

A lot of henshin involves a transformation sequence, and among American otaku the terms are synonymous. This is a very special part that involves the hero striking a series of poses, or saying a transformation word (Masked Rider just says "henshin", and Viewtiful Joe says "Henshin a go-go, baby!" ). This comes about mid episode, and is crucial to the destruction of the monster. A special attack is commonly used.

In anime, henshin are often depicted with lavish (but ultimately money-saving) stock footage and lots of special effects. Usually the sequence is identical and is repeated every episode. Cutey Honey is thought to have established the infamous naked henshin sequence often depicted with magical girls, in particular.

The video game Viewtiful Joe, released by Capcom in 2003, is a tribute to the genre. The game was quite popular in the United States.

Compare to Evolution.