Should Fans of Also Consider Wuxia Series and Sci-Fi Series as Tokusatsu?

Tokusatsu is defined in the Urban Dictionary as, "literally special effects, a genre of Japanese live action audio-visual entertainment usually but not always involving super heroes/heroines combatting evil monsters whether life sized or gigantic." or shows that use a considerable amount of special effects or "special filming" in Japanese where either science fiction, fantasy or horror are involved in action.

Tokusatsu in particular refers to the sounds, special effects, costumes and props used in creating the adventure of the said heroes." The term was purely Japanese and has been used to categorize the likes of Kamen Rider, Super Sentai and Ultraman but eventually it also might be applied to the likes of Power Rangers which is the ADAPTATION of Super Sentai, the American originals like Tattooed Teenager Alien Fighters and Saban's own original Knights of Tir Na Gog.  But can we consider Wuxia as Tokusatsu? Let's think about it. Even we hear of Korean Tokustasu and Chinese Tokusatsu.  Then again, Godzilla is considered Tokusatsu and so is Janperson which was more of a Japanized Robocop (So should we count Robocop as Tokusatsu?!). And yes, Tokusatsu is not always for kids!


So should Wuxia (martial hero) films or series be considered Tokusatsu? One might want to take at the insane amount of special effects for these types of shows like Love of Condor Heroes, Return of Condor Heroes, Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Demigods and Semi-devils among a few of its remakes I've seen.  So far these shows are all about lots and lots of action, Chinese superheroes that possess powers that no real person can possess and the author Jin Yong would probably be the equivalent to the late Shoutaro Ishinimori for starting a genre. Jin Yong was the writer of several novels that later were either remade into Manhua or adapted into Manga (for Japan). Shows based on his writings were either remade into live shows or adapted as Anime. But yeah, these shows are full of special effects like flying, preposterous martial arts and so on just as Toku is defined.


Sci-fi TV action drama and sci-fi action series may also be considered as Tokusatsu. As said, you don't need to HENSHIN to be Tokusatsu. I mean Japanese heroes like Janperson, Mothra, Kikaider, Robotack and Godzilla DO NOT transform from one state to another but they are certainly involved with a lot of special effects. So if we can call for any Tokusatsu we might actually start having series like Forbidden Love, Black and White, X-Family and IRIS for Korean and Chinese Tokusatsu. These have loads of loads of action, sci-fi and fantasy all in one show, and some of them have horror. I guess I could call the Twins Effect and Huadu Chronicles as Tokusatsu as well.

Pretty much, the term Tokusatsu is really a broad one. =P