Tokusatsu filmmaking is about more than monsters the size of cities and heroes rising to face them down – it’s about hopes and dreams, inspiring us to take action and be ready for whatever the future holds.

The history of this new genre, from its inspiration by King Kong, its breakout with Japan’s groundbreaking global hit, Godzilla, and growing influence with the rise of the ULTRAMAN series in the 1960s.

For Yagi, and for generations of children from the 1960s on, childhood meant tokusatsu. What effect did this milieu have on children, and later on creators like Yagi who took up the baton to move tokusatsu forward?

Everyone absorbs the climate of the media they are raised with – for a director, encounters with films often define them in ways perceptible only decades later. Yagi gives a snapshot of his first encounters with film as a student in his university film club.

Growing up with an imagination shaped by science fiction and an education in quantum theory, anyone might wish to travel to other worlds. But when that fails, there’s always Greece… Yagi shares his early encounter with the life that wasn’t – a diverse set of experiences that shaped him as a director.

Yagi’s own life flowed into the heart of tokusatsu history when he began working at Tsuburaya Productions. The legendary studio behind many of Japan’s greatest practical effects productions had a strict training policy – No training. Just filmmaking. Yagi narrates life as a newbie, and shares tips on how to learn as you go.

After a few years in the trenches, Yagi began to progress through Assistant Director (“AD”) roles. At Tsuburaya, as well as in many studios in Japan, the AD position is subdivided into levels and concentrations. Yagi teaches each position, and recounts what it was like to move through them.

After a final push as lead AD, Yagi was invited to try his hand as episode director on Ultraman Gaia – a huge leap, before moving on to the massive role of being a series director and producer. Yagi shares his wisdom for retaining learnings from your mentors, while looking for what you can add to what’s come before.

The tokusatsu world combines respect for tradition with innovation. Hear how Yagi brought that spirit to the Ultra series that he directed and produced, and how that led him to create the team for his latest concept: AKARI, the action scene Yagi will use in Part 2 to teach the techniques of hands-on tokusatsu filmmaking.

Tokusatsu films begin with a scenario, a world, and a team – in this part of the course, Yagi will take you through this process with a concept named AKARI, from first idea to finished film sequence…

Tokusatsu is based on powerful, epic characters. Yagi shows how a tokusatsu director communicates character concepts to designers, then collaborates to make sure the designs fit the vision, the story, and the practical limitations of production.

The adrenaline-rush of awesome fight scenes is the visual centerpiece of any tokusatsu film. Yagi shows how a director collaborates with action directors, fight choreographers, and suit actors to keep fight scenes fresh, while also true to the character concepts and physical limitations of the kigurumi suits.

Once designs are finalized, the costumes and kigurumi –full-body wearable puppets – must be fabricated. Yagi shows how a director works with the arts team to bring the designs to life.

Yagi teaches us how he works with the practical effects team – in many ways, the heart and soul of tokusatsu. This team uses a mix of traditional techniques and innovations to make monsters fly, fight, and whip their tails, blow things up, and make things move on set.

Tokusatsu films are defined by the miniature sets that give the distinctive look to cities in peril of attack from the kaiju. Yagi teaches how sets come together and discusses some of the key features of the AKARI set.

Tokusatsu is a combination of tradition and innovation, and AKARI embodies this nowhere more fully than in the cinematography. Blending classic and cutting-edge techniques, Yagi discusses how the AKARI team crafted its signature look while keeping close to the cinematic grammar that has made tokusatsu a crowd favorite for generations.

For tokusatsu filming, the limits and potential of a studio or shooting location are crucial elements to knowing just what you’re working with – from the perspectives of the sets to the size of the explosions. Yagi teaches how to make the most of the studio space for tokusatsu filmmaking.

How exactly does one direct an actor inside of a suit who cannot see, whose range of motion is limited, and who has few available facial expressions but needs to convey a variety of emotions? Yagi discusses what a director does on set and teaches how to work with actors and film crews.

After the shoot comes the gauntlet of post-production, in which the raw material shot in-studio is transformed into new dreams and thrilling experiences for viewers. Yagi discusses the post-production process for tokusatsu in general, and the main tools applied to AKARI.

A 6-minute version of AKARI is complete – see all the tokusatsu processes Yagi has taught come together in this sequence where Pythagodon’s rampages, and Akari comes to face down this gentle presence now become a giant threat…

Yagi helps us connect the rich scenario to the sequence as it unfolds.

Yagi expands on the concepts and principles at work in the creation of the fictional world of AKARI.

Yagi comments on the music, audio effects, and audio engineering for the AKARI sequence.

Yagi highlights and contextualizes some of the key tactics beyond AKARI’s unique cinematography and practical effects, from camera angles to explosions…