Japanese Spider-Man has seen a resurgence in the last few years. The superhero-turned-sentai hero has been teased for the sequel to Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, and he is the subject of an episode of Marvel's 616, a documentary surrounding the Marvel Universe's real-world history. Many who are less familiar with the sentai series might expect this version to simply be a rehashing of Peter Parker's story; however, this isn't the case.

Takuya Yamashiro is Spider-Man, also known as the Emissary of Hell, and he beats his adversaries in a giant transforming robot. He also has ties to alien entities, making him a far cry from Peter Parker.

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Who Is Yamashiro, the Japanese Spider-Man?

Yamashiro is a motorcycle racer who moonlights as Japan's greatest defense against the Iron Cross Army, an alien invasion force who intends to conquer the world and who's left galaxies in ruin behind them. This threat is discovered by Yamashiro's father, an astronomer. Unfortunately, his discovery leads to his death, prompting Yamashiro to swear vengeance against the Iron Cross Army.

Lucky for him, Yamashiro finds Garia, an alien from Planet Spider, hiding out in a cave. Garia's planet was destroyed by the Iron Cross, so the alien decides to help Yamashiro by injecting him with a extract that gifts him the powers and weaknesses of a spider. This includes the ability to crawl on walls and a weakness to extreme cold temperatures.

While his new powers are impressive, Yamashiro is also given equipment by Garia, like his Spider Protector costume, which is stored inside his Spider Bracelets. The bracelets also contain his Spider String and Spider Nets. While he was a great help, Garia dies shortly after injecting Yamashiro with the extract; however, he does leave him one more gift. Along with the equipment and powers, Yamashiro receives a giant, flying spacecraft known as the Marveller, which Spider-Man can transform into a giant robot known as the Leopardon.

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Why This Matches the Tokusatsu Genre

Japanese Spider-Man

A costumed hero who fights alien invaders on foot and in a giant robot might not sound very much like Peter Parker's Spider-Man; however, it sounds perfectly in-tune with the tokusatsu shows of that era, such as Kamen Rider and Super Sentai. Some people even cite Spider-Man as one of the key influences on later Toei tokusatsu series. For instance, the above description might sound familiar to anyone who enjoyed Power Rangers, another popular tokusatsu show.

The Spider-Man series might sound alien to someone familiar with the world of Marvel Comics, especially given Spider-Man's usual down-to-earth, realistic setting. Where Peter Parker is primarily a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man who also deals with mundane personal issues, Yamashiro's obstacles are more cosmic in scale, something Earth-616's Spider-Man also deals with, but far less often.

The level of these threats, as well as Yamashiro's tech, powers and abilities, are key components in the tokusatsu shows that were popular during the '70s. While Japanese Spider-Man might seem bonkers by Marvel Cinematic Universe and Marvel Comics' standards, he is undeniably a product of the environment in which he was created, continuing the trend of other popular tokusatsu shows.

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