The , translated as Ultra Star God or Super Star God Series, is the name of a tokusatsu

Tokusatsu

is a Japanese term that applies to any live-action film or television drama that usually features superheroes and makes considerable use of special effects ....

 superhero

Superhero

A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...

 TV franchise

Media franchise

A media franchise is an intellectual property involving the characters, setting and trademarks of an original work of media , such as a film, a work of literature, a television program or a video game. Generally, a whole series is made in a particular medium, along with merchandising and endorsements...

 which debuted in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 from 2003 through 2006. The Chouseishin Series were produced by Toho Company, Ltd.

Toho

is a Japanese film, theater production, and distribution company. It is headquartered in Yūrakuchō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group...

, in association with Konami

Konami

is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...

, in attempt to emulate and rival the success of Toei

Toei Company

is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...

's Super Sentai

Super Sentai

The is the name given to the long-running Japanese superhero team genre of shows produced by Toei Co., Ltd., Toei Agency and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi...

and Kamen Rider

Kamen Rider

, is a weekly science fiction story created by Japanese manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. It debuted as a tokusatsu television series on April 3, 1971 and ran until February 10, 1973, airing on the Mainichi Broadcasting System and NET TV . A manga adaptation was also featured in Shōnen Magazine...

genre. Unsuccessfully, it all failed in 2007.

The Chouseishin Series

- 2003/2004: The first of the ChouSeiShin series, the GranSazers involves a group of 12 ordinary people who have the power to transform and don the GranSazers battle suits, that were created by an ancient race of humans, before an alien

Extraterrestrial life

Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...

 alliance wiped them out millions of years ago for being a threat to the universe. The GranSazers are divided into four tribes: flame

Flame

A flame is the visible , gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic reaction taking place in a thin zone...

, wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

, earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

, and water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

. Each tribe has a mechanoid called a ChouSeiShin, which they can summon only when the three GranSazers of each tribe join together and use their Knuckle Risers. With their ChouSeiShin, the Cloud Dragon, and Guntras, the GranSazers combat alien threats from the alliance that intend to finish what they started. However, near the series finale, the GranSazers learn the truth of what occurred in the past and try to clear humanity of the charges placed against it by a devious member of the alliance.
- 2004/2005: The second of the ChouSeiShin series, the JustiRisers involves a group of three people who were given the power to transform and don the JustiRisers battle suits, powered by the JustiCrystal which is sought by the forces of the Hadess Army under Kaizer Hadess. Eventually joined by their former enemy Demon Knight, the bearer of the Riser Stone, the JustiRisers contend with Hadess older brother Majin Daruga who seeks both powers for his own use.
- 2005/2006: The last of the ChouSeiShin series, it opens to Earth in the year 2500 when it taken over by a group of space pirates known as Neo-Descal. The remaining members of the human resistance send their trump card weapons, the three RyuuSeiShin warships to the past to try and change the future by defeating Neo-Descal's ancestors, the Descal fleet, when they invade Earth in 2005. Along with the RyuuSeiShin comes Ad, captain of the Adle-Eagle squad and his right hand man, Gordo, Kane, captain of the Beet-Vizor squad, and the twin Sazers Ein and Zwein, and Remy, who pilots Great Lio. Ad and Kane are joined by Takuto Andou, whose grandfather met Captain Shark, leader of the resistance, as a young man and was left with a Knuckle Cross to allow his grandson in 2005 to become the third member of the team known as Sazer X.

Specials

• Chouseishin Gransazer: Super Battle Memory - 2005
• Genseishin Justirisers: Super Battle Memory - 2005

Trademark Themes

• "Souchaku" (meaning "Equip") is the series' trademark henshin
  Henshin
  is the Japanese word for "transformation," literally meaning, "to change or transform the body." This word is primarily used in manga, anime, and tokusatsu dramas for when a character transforms into a superhero. usually have a "henshin call", a catchphrase which they recite when they transform...
  
   call, yet in the Philippine and English dubs of Gransazers, they replaced it with "Transform" In Justirisers, Filipino dubbers from Hero Channel used "Transform" while those from GMA
  GMA Network
  GMA Network is a major commercial television & radio network in the Philippines. GMA Network is owned by GMA Network, Inc. a publicly listed company...
  
   had used both "Transform" and "Equip" for the whole series. Meanwhile, in Sazer X, Filipino dubbers discontinued the use of "Transform" and replaced it with "Equip" while the dubbers in Cartoon Network Philippines
  Cartoon Network Philippines
  Cartoon Network is a cable and satellite television channel created by Turner Broadcasting, a unit of Time Warner which primarily shows animated programming. The Philippine version is a branch of Cartoon Network Asia, broadcasting exclusively in the Philippines....
  
   used "Power UP".
• "Dive In" is the series' trademark command for entering inside a particular Star God.
• In Justirisers, The Filipino dubbers of both Hero Channel and GMA used "Justiriser" instead of "Riser" to prefix the heroes' names so that Riser Glen was known as Justiriser Glen, and so on, although they also used the prefix "Riser" in some episodes.

Other media

• Riser Glen and Lio-Sazer featured in a professional wrestling
  Professional wrestling
  Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
  
   match for HUSTLE with Kenzo Suzuki
  Kenzo Suzuki
  Kenzo Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler. He is perhaps best known for his appearances with New Japan Pro Wrestling and in the United States with World Wrestling Entertainment...
  
   and Hiroko Suzuki
  Hiroko Suzuki
  Hiroko Niizuma Suzuki is a Japanese professional wrestler, valet and promoter best known in the United States for her work for World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown! brand under the ring name Hiroko...
  
  , which they won.