Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Japanese superhero teams at home and abroad: super- sentai in Japan and their adaptation in South Korean cinema

2014; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 6; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/17564905.2014.961713

1756-4913

Akiko Sugawa-Shimada,

Japanese History and Culture

In Japanese pop culture, mixed-gender superhero combat teams (super-sentai) have been more popular than loner male superheroes since the 1970s. The first team-superhero drama for children, Himitsu sentai gorenjā/The Secret Combat Team Go-Rangers (1975–77) represents Japanese idealized gender equality and the post-colonial dilemma regarding the United States. However, when adapted in South Korea, the Japanese super-sentai format suggests complex representations of gender and allegorical enemies, articulating tensions between cultures and a re-evaluation of local traditional cultural norms in South Korea. This article explores how Japanese super-sentai dramas and films served to project gender, political and socio-cultural issues in 1970s Japan and how the adaptation of super-sentai in South Korea was used to construct their national and cultural identities.