I had watched quite a lot of "regular" J-(and K-) dramas before ever dipping my toe into toku waters. What did it? Well, my workplace friend (whom I introduced to Asian dramas through K-dramas) watched Switch Girl via some streaming site and got herself a crush on Kiriyama Renn. So, eager to feed that need, I acquired Kamen Rider W for her. Just out of pure curiosity (as I'd never seen a toku show myself before, not even the Americanized "Power Rangers" versions of sentai shows) I decided to watch the first few episodes of W... then the first 10 episodes... then I couldn't *stop* watching and dammit if Kamen Rider W didn't end up being one of my favorite dramas ever, "kids' show" or not. I've gone on to watch 000 --> Gaim (Drive sorta lost my interest so I'm indefinitely paused atm) and am now starting to randomly explore pre-W series (currently nearing the end of Kiva). And the friend and I, in a weekly viewing group comprised of a few other workplace friends, are currently very near the end of W (which has been a very pleasurable rewatch for me) with plans to continue into OOO... In short, I'm so, SO happy I gave the tokusatsu genre a chance. The fans I've met (on tumblr) have been lovely and funny and welcoming and I'm not sure I've ever had a more pleasant entry into a fandom than this, to be honest.
