A Hero Show with His 3-Year-Old Daughter

I'm Takahiko Kashima, a member of Dentsu Craft Tokyo.

I work as a producer at Pixs, a video production company. My responsibilities have included commercials, web ads, music videos, and production visuals for live stages and events. Furthermore, I've been involved early on in projects utilizing new expressive technologies like projection mapping, VR, and AR.

As a producer, I try to keep my antennae up for evolving technologies and visual expression techniques, studying them in my own way.
This time, I'd like to write about an unexpected everyday event that sparked something in me.

I have a three-year-old daughter, and her current obsession is a certain tokusatsu hero. Specifically, a legendary figure representing Japan with over 50 years of history... (You know, the one famous for only being able to stay on Earth for three minutes). A new series started airing on TV in July 2019, and she's now so hooked she takes her action figures to the park... (I don't recall teaching her about it, so the origin is a mystery).

So, this summer vacation, I took her to a festival for that hero held at Sunshine City in Ikebukuro.

The venue was packed with huge figures, dioramas recreating battle scenes, photo spots, and tons more. My daughter and I got completely absorbed. Then, the festival's main event, the "Live Stage," started. It's basically a hero show, but it was completely different from the ones I saw as a kid...

Using LED and laser effects, the stage transformed from city streets to outer space!
Hero attacks exploded one after another!!

Not only is the entire background set an LED video display, but the "ray beam" type special moves—which used to be just the performer striking a pose or at best accompanied by sound effects—are now fully rendered and projected in shape via LED, even complete with laser beams being fired. Even the classic kid-participation moment when the hero falls down and yells "Someone help me!" has evolved: it now uses AR to composite CG effects onto a child filmed by a camera.

Honestly, the LED-based visual effects themselves aren't entirely new to me since I use them in my work, but I never imagined they'd be so heavily integrated into a kids' hero show... (Well, maybe I shouldn't even think of it as just for kids? There were plenty of adults attending too).

It was surprising and, at the same time, a bit poignant.
Because my daughter was there when the hero fired that beam. She witnessed the "real" beam with her own eyes.

It's unclear exactly how much a 3-year-old can distinguish between the world of video and reality, but this was her beloved hero. Seeing that beam of light she'd only ever admired on TV screens, right there live before her eyes, seemed to make her completely believe it truly existed. She was absolutely thrilled.

Adults were thrilled too! Singapore's LED and the "Ferris Wheel"

As mentioned earlier, LED displays themselves might not be the latest technology anymore. However, live performances by famous artists from overseas and Japan uploaded to video sites seem to compete in flashiness and novelty. Combining lasers and projectors, using extravagant special effects, and even having the LEDs themselves move – the power of hardware × production techniques continues to evolve daily.

While the boom has calmed down somewhat compared to a few years ago, music festivals centered around EDM still have extraordinary budgets. Just recently, the American Music Awards featured a spectacular stage that was a must-see.

But honestly, the excitement you feel watching it on screen is different from experiencing it live in person. Actually, just a little while before my daughter had that experience, I, an adult, had a similar shock.

It happened during a July trip to Singapore for a new project. I heard rumors about a "new club that's amazing," so I went out of curiosity... and it was truly incredible.

First, I was stunned by the enormous LED screen. It was massive enough to dominate the entire floor, spanning three stories vertically and stretching wide horizontally. Plus, the resolution was insanely high (I suspected it was 8K, and sure enough, it was – 8K has a resolution 16 times that of HD).

What blew my mind even more was the Ferris wheel sitting there, indoors. Eight gondolas spun round and round amidst swirling LED lights and lasers. The sheer scale and quality of the production was simply breathtaking.

You could get right up close to the LED screens (though I wonder what happens if someone spills their drink), and anyone could ride the Ferris wheel (I'd assumed it was VIP-only). This playground for adults was packed with people acting like kids. Myself included, of course (laugh).

Recalling all that, let me get back to the main point. As my daughter grows up, she'll inevitably learn more about reality. I wonder if the day will come when she realizes the beams the heroes fired in that show weren't real, that they were just projections.

While that thought is a bit sad, conversely, as someone involved in visual effects and entertainment, I found myself thinking: I want to keep creating (no, I must keep creating) things that continually deliver surprise and wonder. I need to keep my antennae up and keep learning forever.

By the way, my daughter starts kindergarten next year. Until now, she's had fewer connections to the outside world, so her hobbies have been free and unfettered. There were no barriers when it came to so-called "boy" or "girl" content. But when she enters kindergarten and takes that first step into the outside world, when she grows up and becomes aware of gender differences, I wonder if she might drift away from that hero she loves so much.

As a parent, I just want her to keep loving what she genuinely enjoys forever... But I'm also excited to see what she'll get hooked on next.

Come to think of it, the new series' protagonist is set as the son of a certain Taro who protected Earth over 40 years ago, so it's also a story about parent and child.

If you're interested, please give it a try (laugh).
And if you get the chance, please go see a hero show!