Tomica Hero Series
Encyclopedia
The is a recent series of 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...

ese 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 ....

 children's television drama
Japanese television drama
, also called , are a staple of Japanese television and are broadcast daily. All major TV networks in Japan produce a variety of drama series including murder romance, comedy, detective stories, horror, and many others...

s. Based on Takara Tomy
Takara Tomy
is a Japanese toy, children's merchandise and entertainment company created from the March 2006 merger of two companies:  Tomy and long-time rival, Takara...

's Tomica
Tomica
Tomica is the line of die-cast toy vehicles and related products produced by Takara Tomy Co. of Japan . This is not the same as Tomica World, which is a line of motorized trains and vehicles and accessories that Tomy Co. of Japan has produced since the late 1990s...

 toy car line, the series air on TV Aichi and TV Tokyo
TV Tokyo
is a television station headquartered in Toranomon, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Also known as , a blend of "terebi" and "Tokyo", it is the key station of TX Network. It is one of the major Tokyo television stations, particularly specializing in anime...

 before being syndicated around Japan. Takara Tomy previously produced Madan Senki Ryukendo
Madan Senki Ryukendo
, is a Japanese tokusatsu television series. It was Takara and We've Inc's first attempt at a Sentai-type show. The program aired at 7:00 JST on TV Aichi from January 8 to December 31, 2006...

, but Ryukendo was not based on a pre-existing set of toys for the company. However, it made reference to the Earth Federation which the USFA is a branch of, its main cast making a cameo in the Rescue Force movie. Although airing on different days, the Tomica Hero Series served as competition to TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....

 and Toei Company
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 Series
Kamen Rider Series
The is a metaseries of manga and tokusatsu television programs and films created by manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori. The various Kamen Rider media generally feature a motorcycle-riding superhero with an insect motif who fights supervillains often referred to as...

 and Tsuburaya Productions
Tsuburaya Productions
is a Japanese special effects studio founded in 1963 by special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya and was run by his family, until October 2007, when the family sold the company to advertising agency TYO Inc. The studio is best known for producing the original Ultraman TV series, as well as the Ultra...

' Ultra Series
Ultra Series
The is the collective name for all the shows produced by Tsuburaya Productions featuring Ultraman, his many brethren, and the myriad Ultra Monsters. The Ultra Series is one of the prominent tokusatsu superhero genre productions from Japan, along with Toei produced series Kamen Rider, Super...

. Only two series were made with the Tomica Hero story, which concluded with a stage show featuring members of the Rescue Force cast.

List of series

: Airing from April 2008 to April 2009, the series featured a team of emergency service
Emergency service
Emergency services are organizations which ensure public safety and health by addressing different emergencies. Some agencies exist solely for addressing certain types of emergencies whilst others deal with ad hoc emergencies as part of their normal responsibilities...

 workers saving Japan from an organization trying to cause mayhem with artificial crises, as well as saving citizens from natural disaster
Natural disaster
A natural disaster is the effect of a natural hazard . It leads to financial, environmental or human losses...

s. Rescue Force also had a film subtitled , which the main cast of Ryukendo made a cameo in. The show's theme deals with "Rescue Soul", a term used in the series to describe what a rescuer stands for.: Airing from April 4, 2009 to March 27, 2010 and a continuation of the first, Rescue Fire focuses on another group of emergency service workers who are solely firefighter
Firefighter
Firefighters are rescuers extensively trained primarily to put out hazardous fires that threaten civilian populations and property, to rescue people from car incidents, collapsed and burning buildings and other such situations...

s, with its theme dealing with the value of life
Intrinsic value (ethics)
Intrinsic value is an ethical and philosophic property. It is the ethical or philosophic value that an object has "in itself" or "for its own sake", as an intrinsic property...

. The series also continues the plot device of the villains acting for the planet's sake. The series' opening theme song
Music in Japanese animation
Music in Japanese animation is often closely tied to the Japanese music industry, but is also a significant industry, and genre in its own right, with genre often referred to as "anison", a portmanteau of "animation" and "song", or "anime song"...

s are performed by anison supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....

 JAM Project
JAM Project
JAM Project is an anime music genre "supergroup" based in Japan, originally founded on July 19, 2000 by famous 1970s theme song artist Ichirou Mizuki...

.

External links

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