After some bumps along the way, I was able to organize the Tokuuta Matsuri, an acoustic concert of songs from tokusatsu sci-fi action superhero dramas and films. The event, originally scheduled for March, was postponed, then canceled, then resurrected online in early August. The artists who appeared were the vocal-guitar duo Psychic Lover, who also served as the hosts, soloists Akira Kushida and Salia, and percussionist Minoru Uchida.
Because many live events were canceled, it was the first time in a long while for all of them to perform live. They did so with the same passion they would have shown for a live audience.
One song that Kushida chose for the concert was "Hello Shaider" from the tokusatsu show "Uchu Keiji Shaider" (Space Sheriff Shaider), which he had few opportunities to sing in the past. He was joined by Salia, who provided chorus. The song from 1984 surprised me for having a modern sound. Kushida and then Yoffy of Psychic Lover each sang a tune from the tokusatsu drama "Mashin Sentai Kiramager." Had the concert taken place as scheduled in March, it would have been before the song was put on sale and we wouldn't have been able to hear it. Maybe the postponement wasn't such a bad thing after all. Salia's rendition of "Healin' You," the ending theme song from "Hyakuju Sentai Gao Ranger," was totally soothing.
Toward the end, Kushida sang "Tsuyosa wa Ai da" (Strength is love), the ending theme song from "Uchu Keiji Sharivan" (Space Sheriff Sharivan). The lyrics, which encourage people not to give up, reminded me of what's going on in the world today. I'm sure that the powerful song, which encourages us to overcome painful experiences, touched the hearts of the online audience.
Amid the pandemic and because of it, songs from the tokusatsu shows spur us to have positive feelings, which I would like to inspire us again in these times. Surely, I was not the only one that day who thought that way.
Suzuki is a Yomiuri Shimbun senior specialist and an expert on tokusatsu superhero films and dramas.
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