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[WillyFive]

There has been recent controversy over the reason Kyoryuger has no Yellow.

“This is actually not the first time a team is without a Yellow member, J.A.K.Q, Battle Fever J and Dengeki Sentai Changeman never had a Yellow member. When it was decided that the Kyoryuger’s would be required to defeat a dinosaur in order to be able to transform, we wanted the characters to be absurdly strong. In order to show this, we chose to have more male characters over female characters. Seeing how modern Yellows have been female, we couldn’t have a male Yellow. If the Yellow was a male, the kids would probably think is feminine and we wanted to avoid that.”

So...sexism.

Sentai is really aimed toward males in their early teens, isn't it? I always though that 80's Sentai were more mature. I wonder if it's just Nostalgia talking. I really should look for a Kamen Rider to watch.

Sentai is mostly aimed at kids, with older women and male fans as secondary demographics. Same for Kamen Rider. That's why you get a ton of toys (for kids), collector's merchandise (for fans), and male models/drama (for the women) in the shows.

Here's a good breakdown from Lynxara of Henshin Justice:

Kids

This is Rider’s most important and largest demographic, generally comprised of viewers 12 and under. Generally, a Rider show’s ratings with Kids will be much higher than its standard rating, since most of the audience is children. While the lowest-rated completed Rider series to date has a standard rating of 6.2% (Kiva), the lowest average rating with Kids the Heisei Rider series has ever pulled is 11.6% (during Kiva). That rating indicates that Heisei Rider at its least successful is still being watched regularly by about 1 in 10 Japanese children. An extremely successful Rider show like Faiz can pull a Kids demographic rating as high as 19.5%, effectively drawing in 1 in 5 kids.

M1 and F1

These demographic groups track viewers aged 20 to 35, with M1 indicating men in this age range and F1 indicating women. M1 and F1 together probably constitute Rider’s second-most-important demographic block. F1 viewers will tend to be mothers of young children who watch the shows as part of family time on Sunday mornings. M1 can include fanboy dads, as well as single viewers who are just enthusiastic fans of superheroes. M1 is very likely to buy lots of merchandise and high-end collector toys (like the S.H. FiguArts and S.I.C. lines). M1 is a more fickle group than F1, though, and quickly tunes out of shows it finds uninteresting or too childish. A typical M1 rating for Rider ranges from about 3% to 10%, while a typical F1 rating ranges from 3% to 8%. It’s worth noting that F1 tunes into Rider much more consistently than M1 does. That is, F1 is more likely to watch Rider every year, regardless of changes made to staff, cast, or concept.

M2 and F2

These demographic groups track viewers aged 36 to 49. It has some similarities to M1 and F1, since viewers at the young end of this range may still be parents with young children in the house (or are still single, and can afford to buy lots of collector goods). Overall, viewership in M2 and F2 is lower, since viewers at the high end of the age range tend to be at a point in life where Sunday morning superheroes aren’t especially interesting. Viewership among M2 tends to range from about 0.5% to 8%. As with teens, you typically only see the high end of the range with shows that are big hits. Among F2, the range is about 2% to 7%. For the same reasons that F1 ratings tend to be more consistent than M1, F2 also tends to watch Rider more consistently than M2. F1 and F2 together would constitute the “housewives” demographic that has reportedly influenced Rider’s production for quite some time.

Teens

You might think Teens would also be an important demographic for Rider shows, but this is often not the case. The Teens demographic indicates viewers in the 13 to 19 range: middle school students, high school students, and young adults either beginning their careers or entering college. The early years in this range are a busy and stressful time in a Japanese person’s life, and as a result, younger Teen viewers don’t have a lot of spare time. Viewers in the older end of the range have more spare time, but lots of entertainment competes for their attention. They may tune into Rider and buy merchandise, but aren’t consistent about doing so. A typical Teen rating for a Rider show can range from about .5% to about as high as 8%. You typically only see the higher end of the range with hit shows.

Although 80's Sentai had more graphic stuff in them (more blood and gore), the stories were a lot more like what you saw with Kyoryuger; stuff happening with no explanation and more nonsensical. The idea that Sentai stories should be more realistic and make more sense is a recent trend.

 

[chickdigger802]

kyoryuger henshin reminds me of

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuFKssyYZIQ

 

[drizzle]

Although 80's Sentai had more graphic stuff in them (more blood and gore), the stories were a lot more like what you saw with Kyoryuger; stuff happening with no explanation and more nonsensical. The idea that Sentai stories should be more realistic and make more sense is a recent trend.

Most of my Japanese TV Series contact was back when I was a kid, and it was mostly 80's shows (even though I was living in the 90's). I always though that Kamen Rider (Black and Black RX, the crown jewels of the series) were more mature than the Sentai (Changeman and Flashman) and Metal Hero (Jiraiya, Juspion, Jiban) series.

As these series ended, we only had a couple more Metal Hero (Winspector and Cybercops) and, while I believed at the time they were a little less mature than the previous metal hero series, I now see that they were pretty much the same on the same level.

What I meant earlier is that, today, I perceive the "current" batch of Tokusatsu to be more aimed at Kids than the series were in the 80's, but I don't know if that's just Nostalgia speaking. I could cite examples, but my 4-sentai-series-knowledge wouldn't be a big enough sample in the 30 years of Sentai history to be meaningful in any way.

Kamen Rider Faiz, which I saw a couple years ago, seemed much more mature than the small promo for Kamen Rider Wizard (and pretty much every other Kamen Rider series I researched after that) that I saw at the end of the Kyoryuger episode. Along with my earlier Black and Black RX experiences, I though Kamen Rider was aimed at a older age group.

Reading that very interesting text you quoted, I guess I was wrong in my assumption. Oh well.

 

[RoryDropkick]

Most of my Japanese TV Series contact was back when I was a kid, and it was mostly 80's shows (even though I was living in the 90's). I always though that Kamen Rider (Black and Black RX, the crown jewels of the series) were more mature than the Sentai (Changeman and Flashman) and Metal Hero (Jiraiya, Juspion, Jiban) series.

As these series ended, we only had a couple more Metal Hero (Winspector and Cybercops) and, while I believed at the time they were a little less mature than the previous metal hero series, I now see that they were pretty much the same on the same level.

What I meant earlier is that, today, I perceive the "current" batch of Tokusatsu to be more aimed at Kids than the series were in the 80's, but I don't know if that's just Nostalgia speaking. I could cite examples, but my 4-sentai-series-knowledge wouldn't be a big enough sample in the 30 years of Sentai history to be meaningful in any way.

Kamen Rider Faiz, which I saw a couple years ago, seemed much more mature than the small promo for Kamen Rider Wizard (and pretty much every other Kamen Rider series I researched after that) that I saw at the end of the Kyoryuger episode. Along with my earlier Black and Black RX experiences, I though Kamen Rider was aimed at a older age group.

Reading that very interesting text you quoted, I guess I was wrong in my assumption. Oh well.

I dunno, Changeman and Flashman always seemed to be more high level to me. I think it has to do with the fact they released the "Perfect Manuals" in both Kids and Adults versions. Also having Yutaka Izubuchi handling character design for Changeman really made it feel that it was something a bit more than a kids show. I could definitely see shows like Denjiman-early Dynaman going the route of nonsensical though for sentai shows. Metal Hero shows are just batshit insane sometimes though. Watch Speilban, one episode still sorta freaks me out to this day, "Meikyuu no Game Zone" full of creepy jump cuts, those goddamn scary bug eye kid masks, and all sorts of other things.

 

[Boss Doggie]

There's something about Torin's voice that's familiar to me. He and Doggie have the same voice actor or something? Either way, so far, Doggie wins this hands down.

Torin is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa (did Dio in Casshern Sins, Dante in Devil May Cry anime and video games, former Street Fighter's Ryu voice actor, and TEKKAMAN BLADE!). He has a nice voice range.

But yeah he ain't no sexy blue dog.

 

[Edag Plata]

But yeah he ain't no sexy blue dog.

Calm down.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Oh right, Magiranger might have a longer rollcall due to the spin-pose.

Calm down.

I'm just talkin' about the Anubian!

 

[drizzle]

But yeah he ain't no sexy blue dog.

Even if Torin has a secret amazing transformation that saves the entire human race at the end, he can't possibly beat DekaMaster!

This contest is over as far as I know.

 

[Boss Doggie]

I really doubt Torin would transform. We would have known by now.

Then again I don't think Torin was mentioned before in the magazines. Was it the same with Doggie?

 

[A Pretty Panda]

Torin was shown in the magazine stuff. I do hope he is KyoryuGold and there ends up being more than the normal 6 this season.

And I like long roll calls >.>

 

[Kurita]

Welp, that was an pretty cool first Kyoryuger episode.
I like the team, they all look cool. Pink is very cute, so that's good.
I thought that the dinosaur fighting also with the team was a neat idea, it adds another "layer" of action.

 

[drizzle]

I thought that the dinosaur fighting also with the team was a neat idea, it adds another "layer" of action.

I forgot to mention it, but I think that part is really cool. I hope the dinosaurs have more character this time around (which is hard to believe, as they usually just show up in the pre-recorded summoning footage in every sentai ever).

 

[WillyFive]

"He gave me that and then vanished."

Yeah, King's dad is going to be important to the story.

Also, the place where Torin was standing when he threw the batteries to King was the same place Barza was standing on when he threw the power coins to the Zyurangers.

 

[Kurita]

I forgot to mention it, but I think that part is really cool. I hope the dinosaurs have more character this time around (which is hard to believe, as they usually just show up in the pre-recorded summoning footage in every sentai ever).

Meh, seeing them destroying shit will be fun enough I guess :lol

 

[Slayven]

Torin was shown in the magazine stuff. I do hope he is KyoryuGold and there ends up being more than the normal 6 this season.

And I like long roll calls >.>

The sixth ranger does look kind of comanderish.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Speaking of Kamen Rider and its target age, I was surprised by an episode of Kiva where they made a pretty dirty sex joke. :0

It's the episode where Otoya, Jiro, and Riki are at a dating party, and Riki follows a girl and then eats her life energy. When he returns to dinner, he announces he ate her, and everyone cheers, and Otoya fist-bumps him. That's not a joke I really expected to hear lol.

Also, I don't really equate more graphic violence with "maturity". The newer shows have decent themes from what I've seen throughout which is what I consider more mature, even if they're delivered often in a slightly childish way with a helping side of merchandising. I thought OOO, out of Wizard and Fourze, was the best in terms of message, with some pretty interesting ideas about desire and such. Like, 80's anime...Fist of the North Star is brutally violent and entertaining, but I'd say it's a pretty immature show that revels in its immaturity.

I missed all this but I will say this in defense of Den O. It may have taken awhile to develop its villain but from almost the beginning its plot is filled with mysteries surrounding Zeronus, his sister, and her missing fiance Sakurai Yuuto as well as the mysterious man he keeps seeing in the past.

There is PLENTY to keep you hooked on its story that builds up from the moment go so dont think too hard about the whole villain. Everything builds up to him so enjoy the ride. Its fun and has a lot to enjoy.

As long as it's entertaining, I don't care too much about plot development because, imo, sometimes plot episodes can be far worse than fun, self-contained episodes. Plus I started with the Neo-Hesei series, so I'm use to the goofier side of Kamen Rider...which I kind of like. Kiva is the most "depressing" Kamen Rider I've watched to this point, but even then there's a decent helping of humor (although I sadly found my dude Sugita to be wasted in this :/), thanks to mainly the 1986 characters, and NAGO.

 

[A Pretty Panda]

Hint received.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Torin was shown in the magazine stuff. I do hope he is KyoryuGold and there ends up being more than the normal 6 this season.

Hmm but what about during Deka's run? Did we know about Dekamaster earlier than usual, as well as Doggie?

Or was the Internet not big back then?

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Hmm but what about during Deka's run? Did we know about Dekamaster earlier than usual, as well as Doggie?

Or was the Internet not big back then?

Doing some research, it appears that the date of Dekamaster's first appearance wasn't known until about two weeks before he showed up. And the first pictures of him didn't appear until the show had already started running. So it does seem that we're finding out about sixths much earlier than we used to.

 

[vareon]

Doing some research, it appears that the date of Dekamaster's first appearance wasn't known until about two weeks before he showed up. And the first pictures of him didn't appear until the show had already started running. So it does seem that we're finding out about sixths much earlier than we used to.

Don't we have a few surprises the last few years, too? I don't remember Basco's monster form and Enter's Red Buster form was teased in magazines.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Yeah, but villains seem to be hidden a lot.

Doing some research, it appears that the date of Dekamaster's first appearance wasn't known until about two weeks before he showed up. And the first pictures of him didn't appear until the show had already started running. So it does seem that we're finding out about sixths much earlier than we used to.

Ahh this is interesting.

Then again Dekamaster first popped out before Dekabreak.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

That...Kiva Ending. 0.o

It was a pretty good show...kind of weird near the end but, hey, that's usually what seems to happen. Now it's on to Den-O.

 

[fmpanda]

Was only a matter of time before Kyoryuger had to Walk the Dinosaur.

I lol'd.

 

[Boss Doggie]

That...Kiva Ending. 0.o

It was a pretty good show...kind of weird near the end but, hey, that's usually what seems to happen. Now it's on to Den-O.

First time seeing a positive Kiva reaction

 

[jwk94]

Speaking of Kamen Rider and its target age, I was surprised by an episode of Kiva where they made a pretty dirty sex joke. :0

It's the episode where Otoya, Jiro, and Riki are at a dating party, and Riki follows a girl and then eats her life energy. When he returns to dinner, he announces he ate her, and everyone cheers, and Otoya fist-bumps him. That's not a joke I really expected to hear lol.

I'm guessing you haven't seen The King of Hell's Castle (or whatever the movie's name was) yet?

And yes, Kiva's ending was pretty good. I didn't like how they re-designed King though. I was also hoping they'd tie Kiva's ending into Decade -_-

 

[Delio]

I loved Kiva ;_;

 

[fmpanda]

I'm guessing you haven't seen The King of Hell's Castle (or whatever the movie's name was) yet?

And yes, Kiva's ending was pretty good. I didn't like how they re-designed King though. I was also hoping they'd tie Kiva's ending into Decade -_-

Only thing I liked about the movie was more of the Den-O folks antics, this time having the VAs play random characters, and of course, Naomi as a cop. Kiva did get outstaged by Den-O a bunch. Climax Deka's another brutal example.

As far as Kiva in Decade, yeah, was not a fan of Short-Fry Wataru. Kinda sucks that they held off on the real thing, although I did like

Spoiler

the return of the OG Blade

.

 

[vareon]

First time seeing a positive Kiva reaction

The 2008-1986 split storytelling was pretty bold, actually.

If only they don't include time travel which kinda breaks the point.

 

[Edag Plata]

Kiva is probably my favorite Rider show. Yeah, it ain't perfect and when Wataru suddenly went back in time for no reason and made things not make sense it was weird, but the show itself, music, characters were fantastic.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I was also hoping they'd tie Kiva's ending into Decade -_-

I thought "Wataru's future son!" was actually the Decade protagonist at first (I haven't seen that series myself), and thought it was the usual "next Rider cameo!", since Decade's dude travels through the worlds. Then I realized it was Otoya's actor simply dressed up. But I kind of liked the tongue-in-cheek ending, and seeing all the Kiva, Ixa, and Arms Monsters Henshin and get ready to fight.

My main problem with Kiva was definitely some of the weird time-travel stuff, although I assume that, from Episode 1, the time travel Nago and Wataru did already happened, and it was that situation in time-travel fics where time travel itself becomes part of the linear time-line, and they didn't change anything, they were playing into fate. I also thought the ending kind of dragged on with the Taiga and Wataru subplot, and basically repeating the ending of the 1986 storyline in 2008. Besides that, it was an interesting ride, and very tonally different than the Neo-Hesei shows I've watched, especially at the beginning where everything seemed played down and oddly quiet.

It also bothered me that 1986 Aozora never actually killed any Fangire they ran into, as they always ended up still alive in 2008. I understand it was for budget reasons, but still, it'd odd the anti-Fangire organization let so many violent monsters live for 22 years.

On a minor note, I didn't like how they basically introduced so many forms and arsenals to Kiva, yet it pretty much became Emperor and Zanbat by the end, with everything else basically going unused. I know it's typical to see them spam the Ultimate Forms, but I recall OOO, W, and Fourze, even once they got PuToTyra, Extreme, and Cosmic, still utilizing their other forms to take down lesser foes instead of always having to go Henshin. It made Kiva seem weaker that he always needed Emperor to even beat the monster-of-the-weeks. Also, I wish their was more...presence when it came to Kivat, Tatsulot, and Sagarc, none of them were really explained or fleshed out, I mean, at least show us how Kivat ended up with Wataru. Even Dark Kivat was kind of...there, as one second he's teaming up with Otoya, and then he's back with King in Castle Doran, and then he's helping Taiga, and then he's good in the ending. :0

 

[Slayven]

has there ever been a rider that has a develop love interest?

 

[Seraphis Cain]

has there ever been a rider that has a develop love interest?

Well, there was

Spoiler

Ryu x Akiko

in W.

 

[Slayven]

Well, there was

Spoiler

Ryu x Akiko

in W.

Meant main rider.

 

[Parallax]

Meant main rider.

gentarou was swatting chicks away before he met with space blob, but that was movie only, and even then, nothing came of it.

 

[Seraphis Cain]

Meant main rider.

Spoiler

Gentaro x Nadeshiko

, I guess? Closest thing I can think of.

 

[Slayven]

gentarou was swatting chicks away before he met with space blob, but that was movie only, and even then, nothing came of it.

He did get a lot of play. I think he could have had the witch chick, he had the crazy chick for sure, and the girl with the horse teeth.

 

[Parallax]

He did get a lot of play. I think he could have had the witch chick, he had the crazy chick for sure, and the girl with the horse teeth.

and all the girls that wanted to go to the prom with him. he was a stone cold mack.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Spaceblob is canon and seem to be mentioned alot.

 

[WillyFive]

Spaceblob is canon and seem to be mentioned alot.

Spoiler

She's also in Fourze x Wizard.

Gentarou's heart is already taken.

 

[shaowebb]

23 episodes in and not much going for Wizard besides Phoenix and the White Wizard. I really like those two since they hold potential for mysteries and a really well built rival. Honestly at this point I like Phoenix so much I wish he would pull a Vegeta and go good just to get more fights with Wizard to settle things himself. He hates wiseman and medusa enough at least. Kamen Rider Phoenix with Rinko as his Bulma? I wish.

Anyhow as I wait for this series to maybe pull together into something big in its last 20 or 30 episodes (I assume we're at the halfway mark) I cant help but wonder what theme the next Rider will take. Wizard broke the patter of combining forms that W, OOOS, and Fourze had ran with so its sort of a new ballgame again on what could be next. Im betting the next series goes the route of Ryuki or Kabuto and has a ton of Riders running around.

Still holding out hope they do an art theme for a Rider sometime. That and that we get a power wrestler secondary Rider at some point.

 

[A Pretty Panda]

Makes no sense how they killed off Phoenix. Every time he dies he becomes stronger so eventually he should keep dying to a point where the sun is no longer strong enough to kill him aka he's stronger than the sun.

Phoenix could and should still come back.

I watched Gekiranger that's not how you off an immortal villain.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

I always thought a cool idea for a Rider Series would be to have the Rider be an actor. Like, he's the suit actor for the in-universe Kamen Rider, but is also a real Kamen Rider at the same time, with the show-within-a-show and the actual plot paralleling each other.

The in-show would be a football themed Rider, Kamen Rider Grid, while the actual Kamen Rider would be Kamen Rider REAL, movie-themed and with forms based off genres of film, like a gun-slinging Western Form, and a fancy Romance Form armed with a rapier.

 

[Slayven]

I thought Beast was going to eat Phoenix and that would cure his problem. He would have a regenerating source of mana.

 

[chickdigger802]

I thought Beast was going to eat Phoenix and that would cure his problem. He would have a regenerating source of mana.

yeah me too.

Shame how he was set off to be a side character right away.

 

[Edag Plata]

I thought Beast was going to eat Phoenix and that would cure his problem. He would have a regenerating source of mana.

Too soon!! His story gets resolution in between the late 20s and mid 30s, being a second Rider and all.

 

[WillyFive]

Yeah, I also think Phoenix being killed off that way was either a big mistake in part of Haruto or the writers. Hopefully Haruto.

 

[Edag Plata]

Yeah, I also think Phoenix being killed off that way was either a big mistake in part of Haruto or the writers. Hopefully Haruto.

Can you imagine NASA sending a probe to study the sun and they see a little flicker so they go closer and it's Phoenix burning to death and respawning over and over and over for all eternity?

 

[Slayven]

Too soon!! His story gets resolution in between the late 20s and mid 30s, being a second Rider and all.

Bad writing. Par for the course for Wizard

 

[A Pretty Panda]

Maybe Phoenix will be back as a movie villain or the actual final villain.

 

[Slayven]

Maybe Phoenix will be back as a movie villain or the actual final villain.

A good main villain can give the story so much focus. Fourze's when you look at it didn't do all that much. But he was awesome cause he had presence and direction.