As I said earlier...

Are you saying that managing 38 teams spread across 39 years with 25 hours of storytelling each year would require the same amount of juggling as 6 single-character franchises spread over less than 10 years with less than 5 hours of storytelling each year?

(Extrapolate infinitely for DC and Marvel comic universes.)

It doesn't necessarily have to be established from the very start but if Gokaiger has taught me anything about Super Sentai, there is more lose ends than one can physically count.

I'm just surprised that their show is actually such a tattered mess, and rather than Gokaiger attempting to perhaps round off or even unify all the bits and pieces it chooses to just smash them all together whether it works or not. It almost feels like a Neo Saban way of approaching an issue, "well we CAN beat it, but who puts in effort?" and like I say, it's especially shocking from a show that is otherwise pretty much perfect.

Thats something that gets only worse and worse in Gokaiger ones you get to the point were they kinda through out 90% of their plans for the story out the window :lol

There is a huge difference between Movies aimed at adults, and a yearly tv show aimed at kids. The Marvel cinematic universe combined has maybe as much screen time as a single Sentai show, if you really stretch and include every last scrap of MCU material. On top of that, the MCU was designed from the ground up to be integrated as one ongoing story. It was written as one story and aimed at the people who would appreciate that.

Any attempt to make the existing Sentai series into one flawless continuty is doomed without major retcons, and the only members of the audience who would appreciate it are a tiny fraction of a percent who are not even in the target audience. There is no possible gain for the writers to do so that would be worth the time and effort it would take.

Yep, this is also true.

But why? And don't say it's because people don't like to read because popular YA books sell a lot better than comics too.

Not really. Remember when a comic could sell millions of units in the 90s? Super hero comics, over the last 10 years, sell significantly less now than they ever have in the history of the medium.

No, that just means that the niche market of people who already read comics prefer to read comics with complex continuities.

Don't you think that part of the reason IDW and Image sell less comics than DC or Marvel because they don't have the financial backing of 2 of the wealthiest media corporations in the world?

Marvel films are actually aimed at families. Although I do find it amusing that sentai is a "kids show" when it suits, but then some kind of "mature, intelligent, masterpiece" whenever Power Rangers is brought up in the same sentence.

But that doesn't change that a show like Gokaiger is the perfect way to wrap up, and perhaps make sense, of a franchise with no regard for continuity. It didn't need to make it under the banner of some master plan, but even as someone who isn't that into sentai, I'm shocked by the general lack of resolution or any real attempt at cohesion when doing the tribute episodes.

How? The plot of Gokaiger stays consistent for the entire show. Everything that starts gets a conclusion by the end.

Because Books are alot more respected than comics are these days.

Yes they did but not because of "continuity" but because of the giant collector craze in the 90s. People bought tons of comics in the 90s with the intent of waiting a few years and then selling them for enormous prices.
Digital comics also helped lowering the sales of print comics in the last five years or so

But since this conversation is as far off topic as we could possibly get with it we should get back on track :lol

Thats not what I was getting at. Maybe that old interview makes sense of what I was trying to say :lol

http://forums.henshinjustice.com/sho...7&postcount=28

The thing that you're surprised by isn't all that surprising to me, having watched a ton of Japanese media.

It seems that the Japanese love to celebrate the imperfections of each popular franchise. It's why the weird-ass jump cuts still exist in Sentai. It's why Ultraman still has the zipper-fin. It's why Godzilla is still clearly a man in a rubber suit.

They incorporate the charmingly flawed elements into the DNA of the show. Even when advancements in technology make those "flaws" avoidable, they still find a way into the show. And when you excise them (as Go-Busters did), Japanese fans react very negatively.

Gokaiger wasn't meant to fix things going forward, it was meant to revel in the past. It's a love letter that celebrates the franchise, warts and all.

Go-Busters was an attempt to usher in that brave new direction you crave, with a brand new continuity and new timeline and everything. I recall reading that it was designed to streamline future shows into one universe (like the neo-Heisei Rider shows). But because it failed so badly on a commercial level, I think Toei apparently abandon that more realism-based, continuity-minded approach.

I thought it failed 'cause there wasn't really a marketable gimmick with the toys?

One last point: Marvel and DC Comics Sales Figures

Yes sir! :D

I don't know, to me that's all nothing but a good thing. Sounds like Gokaiger was originally going to be bare bones like Super Megaforce, doing the bare minimum of tributes they could, but the previous actors of Super Sentai loved the show enough to want to come back and the creators let them and the result was a true celebration of the entire show.

I can't believe that two of my favourite episodes, Carranger and Jetman tributes weren't originally planned! They both turned out fantastic.

It's also the lowest rated Sentai series in history.

It didn't necessarily fail because of the realism/continuity-mindedness. But because that was part of the show, and Toei appears to want to strike it from people's memory, I don't think they're eager to reach back into that bag of tricks.

double post! please delete.

Not anymore now that Kyoryuger has taken that spot from what I heard :lol

Shame though. I'd like it if they can pull off a show that seems at least a little different from a standard again. I mean it's too early to say with ToQger, since it's barely started...but I'd definitely like a show starting with a three ranger team again. Dunno why those appeal to me so much, but they do.

Hopefully Kyoryuger's ratings failure (the toys sold like gangbusters, highest in franchise history I believe) will prove that deviance from the sentai norm wasn't the reason for Go-Buster's ratings failure. And hopefully that means we'll get a heavier, richer show like Go-Busters sooner rather than later.

I think you'll find that I never refer to sentai as a 'mature, intelligent masterpiece'. I have no delusions about Sentai ( Or Rider) being anything than half hour toy commercials aimed at kids ages 3 and up. I do think than Sentai puts in more effort and is less plauged by attempts to avoid offending 'moral guardians' then North American produced shows such as Power Rangers, but it is by no means high art.

And I agree that Gokaiger could have been used to try and create a logical combined universe, but chances are no one on the production team wanted to do that. Like I said, it's not worth the time and effort for the show's staff.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'resolution', though. The past Sentais got their resolution in their own series. The tribute episodes are a combined 'where are they now?' and giving the new guys a helping hand/teaching them a lesson. They were never supposed to be a signifigant plot add-on to the series they are tributing.

The problem with Gobus is beneath the pretence it's a deeply flawed show anyway, and the majority of its flaws have nothing to do with aesthetic or style choices. But I will still admit, unlike Japan, I don't plan to live the rest of my life fifty years in the past.

Because so far, in the last three tributes, the answer to "where are they now?" is "just chillin'", which creates so many problems when you think of all these active Rangers, still with their powers and their zords, twiddling their thumbs as the world burns.

That is an ongoing problem with the show. I had to force myself to ignore that question every time it reared its ugly head.

Well said, sir.

the mechs were essentially transformers that could combine, what isn't marketable exactly?

THEN you have to wrap your head around the idea that magic, giant robotic animals and spiritual kung fu all rub shoulder to shoulder in the same universe despite each one defying one another, and the very laws of nature itself.

Well, they can still tell a good story and be intelligent. As much as saying they're 'dark intellectual thrillers' is over-hyping them, saying 'oh they're just toy commercials for three year olds' are selling it a little short. I mean most Rider shows would at least be rated Y7 over here, haha.

Which is exactly why I'd prefer all of these stories take place in separate universes. And why trying to have installed a sense of ongoing continuity may have been impossible.

But for Gokaiger, because in my head it takes place in this weird Versus universe where everything is a bit askew, I find the weird incongruities appealing. Makes my brain work hard to figure out explanations. (I believe that is known as a fanwank. :lol)

They don't have their powers in Gokaiger. That's a major thing in the show. The Legend War at the beginning left every single past Sentai powerless, and those powers now reside only in the Ranger keys. The past Rangers could maybe help the Gokaigers fight off a few mooks, but otherwise they can't offer much more help than unlocking the full power of they keys.

The Gokaigers could repower all the teams by giving they keys back, but that would mean giving up the greatest treasure in the universe.

Characters like GekiRed, who fights with mystic martial arts or characters like MagiRed who fights with fire magic, there is no excuse for them to not be helping. Ranger costumes or not.

They don't have their powers anymore, though. Kai specifically said he had lost his magic and later Ryo can't use Qi-Power anymore either.

As for the mecha, this is actually apparently explained in the 199 Heroes companion book. Apparently most of the mecha were destroyed by the Zangyack during the Legend War, although in the movie proper we only see a destroyed Gosei Great. Apparently the book also explains how the dead Rangers were alive for the War, but I can't find it translated anywhere.

But at the end of the episode with Kai, that fire spirit thing appears which explains how he created that fire trap. It doesn't explain why they aren't fighting, though.

Gokaiger 10. I didn't know they did a Yu-Gi-Oh tribute episode.

I like how there were nods to Luka's and Joe's characters here, without ever needing to specifically spell it out. This show doesn't hold hands, or give out freebies to people who haven't been faithful all the way through and I dig that. Follow us, and you'll be rewarded, but don't expect to be rewarded if you aren't faithful.

I do have a question though, why does no one recognise Joe? He was obviously pretty important in the Empire, and he has more than enough memories of them, but they don't of him? I'm starting to just believe the entire Empire is just useless. They were pretty imposing and brutal at the start, but with every episode they seem even more of a joke. They're bordering on pathetic already and we've only just hit double digits here.

I actually really like the JAKQ suits, but the set up for that Bomber move was ridiculously elaborate for a team attack which was ultimately kinda pathetic. Luka's swordsmanship is beautiful though, which is ironic as I thought Joe was meant to be this teams swordsman.

Joe's history with the Zangyack is detailed a lot more in like the next episode, but it makes sense that only the higher ups actually bother to know who he is. He was only a rookie when he defected.

Second. Kyoryuger's ratings were marginally worse.

This is news to me. When was it announced that Kyoryu had worse ratings? I thought the show was a success?

The toyline was a success. The best sales since Gaoranger or something? The show though... nahh.

Earlier this month: http://www.tvnihon.com/node/2030

Not a huge drop-off, but still lower than Go-Busters.

Didn't Ace sell like hotcakes? The only reason Gobus toy sales failed is the lack of a tangible collectable gimmick that EVERY SHOW MUST HAVE these days. If it had that, I think Gobus would have satisfied the criteria of success in this franchise just fine. Pleather suits and more realistic storytelling I really don't think had anything to do with anything.

Oh it's definitely the lack of a gimmick that really hurt Go-Busters. Which is a shame because now it's like Toei just wants to sweep them under the rug and forget about them :(

Though Kyoryuger had worse ratings, it had far better toy sales. And at the end of the day the toy sales are what matter to BOJ/Toei. If they can make money the ratings don't mean shit. Take Gaim for isntance, it has moderate to average ratings as far as I've seen, but they saw a nearly 400% increase in rider toys sales.

Now are their ratings including those who record it and watch it on DVR later and watch it online?

I very much doubt that. There isn't even a way to track such a thing. But even if there were, that makes up an incredibly small percentage of viewership when compared to domestic television viewers in Japan.