The Japanese version of Spider-Man was created in 1978, and unlike the Marvel comics’ original version, it was presented as a live-action television series called “Supaidaman”. While both Japanese and Western models of Spider-Man share similar appearances, the alter ego of Supaidaman is not Peter Parker but Takuya Yamashiro, a motorcycle racer who obtains his superpower from an alien that came from the Planet Spider. In the original Spider-Man movie, Peter Parker gets bitten by a radioactive spider, whereas Takuya uses a bracelet that allows him to perform spider-like abilities such as superstrength and sticking to a wall. Unlike Spider-Man, Takuya’s story and his power resembles a conventional superhero that can ony exist within a person’s imagination, which was an interesting feature to differentiate. But overall, the two heroes held the same core responsiblities of fighting for justice, and protecting the innocent from an evil force.
I found Supaidaman’s character generally unique and funny throughout, mostly because of how well he presented the 1900’s style of acting in his scenes. An example of this shows when Takuya’s mom and his brother came in his room to find that Takuya was missing, but realistically, he was right above their eye level. These types of acting are commonly practiced in a lot of asian action movies (especially old movies), and its main purpose focuses on adding a dramatic effect through exaggerated acting, intense facial expressions, and overly notable gestures.
Even though I really enjoyed watching the beginning of the Supaidaman series, I would be more considerate when choosing to recommend the show because the Western-style of Spider-Man has gained quite a bit of popularity over the past years, and I don’t want to cause any controversy between the two fanbase, especially if it includes myself. I do wish that Supaidaman could have more acknowledgement for its unqiue story.
