Who wouldn't want to be a superhero? The hero of Takashi Miike's 2004 action comedy "Zebraman" certainly would. Ichikawa (Sho Aikawa) is a nerdy teacher whose life is one big zero — until he dresses up like a 1970s superhero and takes to the streets of Yokohama at night, looking for citizens in distress.
Then he discovers that, for-real, space aliens have landed in his neighborhood and are insinuating their slimy green selves into human bodies. Though terrified, he goes on the attack as Zebraman — and discovers powers he never dreamed he had. But what if those powers, including the ability to fly, desert him at a crucial moment?
The joke of a cosplay (costume play) superhero living out his fantasies, while being scared out of his wits, was clever and Sho Aikawa — who had played dozens of tough gangsters and cops — was perfectly cast against type as Zebraman. The film was hardly Miike at his most extreme — the bad boy of Japanese films toned down his shock schtick out of consideration for the kiddies — but it was a hit, Miike's then biggest ever.