Originally Posted by
Skull
Hmm...I suspect others have explained it better than I can. But as someone who has watched way too much Tokusatsu, I'll give a crack at explaining how I see the difference.
For a "Superhero" ah, I've been playing a lot of that new Spider-Man game that just came out so let's use that as an example. In that game, aside from the story missions where you fight supervillains, you can also solve "street level" crimes that randomly occur such as armed robbery or kidnappings. The game really succeeds at making you feel like a superhero who can arrive at wherever crime is happening in an instant, resolve it and have the crowds cheering you on as you leave. It doesn't matter how mundane the "problem" is or even if it's something that ought to be left to the regular Emergency Services - You even have missions where you hunt down missing pigeons that were displaced from their home and missions where you solve environmental crises such as investigating rising pollution levels and such. It really doesn't matter what it is because you're a superhero who can solve any problem.
On the other hand we have Japanese Tokusatsu, if I had to give the most basic difference it would be that their whole purpose is to "destroy evil" only. You don't typically see a JPN superhero going around and stopping muggings, and if they do they won't transform to do it, that sort of hero work is left to the police. Instead they fight the evil that no regular human can be expected to go against. To give an example I'll use the source of my username - Kamen Rider. Takeshi Hongo was abducted and made into a cyborg by the hands of the shadowy evil organisation "Shocker" that planned to take over the world from the shadows, but for love and for justice Takeshi managed to remember who he was and rebelled against his new masters. And thus the new "Kamen Rider" sought out the members of Shocker and fought them and their evil schemes - straight up killing it's members every time who were also once human, all so that the peace of Japan could be protected. While he did gain a few friends along the way, for the most part Takeshi fought a lonely battle in the shadows without recognition or gratitude from the public. In fact, during the 40th anniversary series there's a character who is a conspiracy theorist and is the one who dubs the hero of that series the name of Kamen Rider based on an urban legend she's been following and shows off a bunch of grainy footage of past seasons on her fan website because the previous heroes and villains have become mythical, never truly understood by the public.
TL;DR
Superheroes protec, JPN heroes attac.
Hmm...I feel like that explanation wasn't as satisfying as it was in my head. :/