Taroman (2022)

A tribute to Japanese avant-garde painter, sculptor, and art theorist Taro Okamoto made by the NHK to promote the 2022 Taro Okamoto Exposition in Osaka.   A sun-faced giant, Taroman, comes to Earth to face off against monsters representing societal dilemmas, emotional issues, and artistic struggles. With the power of "Art is explosion!" Taroman, more performance artist than hero of justice, beats up common sense faster than you can say "What is this?" The main part of each episode is a Showa era tokusatsu pastiche featuring character designs based off Taro Okamoto's art and direct quotes from his work. Visual references to popular tokusatsu character types in the 70s are frequently featured, along with a "moral of the day" inspired by Okamoto. The second part of the episode is a brief recap of the episode's theme by Ichiro Yamaguchi of rock band sakanaction. These segments treat Taroman as a show that Yamaguchi was a huge fan of as a kid, talking about his (fictional) memories of the show and showing off merch.