Japanese pop culture, by and large, doesn't do human superheroes. Super-powered robots (Atom Boy, aka Tetsuwan Atom), monsters (Godzilla) and aliens (Ultraman) exist in abundance, but it's harder to find the local equivalents to Spider-Man or Batman, especially on the big screen.
One reason, perhaps, is that in a group-oriented society, human superheroes may seem arrogant — or even offensive. In Hitoshi Matsumoto's 2007 comedy "Dai-Nipponjin" ("Big Man Japan"), the eponymous hero — a sad-sack loner who transforms into an alien-battling giant — is scorned and abused by his neighbors, who consider him a freak. Even normally hero- worshiping kids gaze at his full-blown form with unease, as if he were more monster than man.
In her new film "K-20 — Kaijin Nijumenso-den" ("K-20 — The Fiend with Twenty Faces"), director and scriptwriter Shimako Sato has delivered "Spider-Man"-like excitement and scale, from life-or-death duels at dizzying heights to a fantastically detailed retro-future cityscape. At the same time, she and her collaborators have adapted the superhero genre to local sensibilities, beginning with the title character.