I say this all the time to people; sentai isn't meant for American adults, it is for Japanese children and those children enjoy the stories that are being told (enjoy them enough to want to play with the toys while they watch, at least). So why would Toei cater to an audience that complains that the toys are too expensive, when their target audience will go out to the stores on launch day and empty the shelves? Toy dollars drive the toku market, mostly.

True. I guess since kids here grew up on Power Rangers, which in turn introduced them to Sentai, they fell like watching Power Rangers means that they should have a say in what Toei does, without even considering the REAL target audience. IDK. Just a thought.

Oh yeah, some in the toku fandom (in all aspects, not just sentai/power rangers) feel some strange since of entitlement and want to have some sort of pull with the show, but honestly older fans are an after thought with the shows' creators. Some toy companies will cater to adults, but most things are geared towards kids. Like when people complain that a role-play toy is too small and built for a kid...well yeah, that is exactly what it is; built for a kid. These toys are meant for kids, lol.

Everything sentai or pr related I get, I let my kid play with it, if she is going to break it, then I redirect her (cause screw having something imported twice, lol), but usually we play together and watch the shows together. I think if more people in the fandom would do that (interact with kids that also like the shows/introduce the shows to their kids or kids they are related to or family friends with), their since of entitlement will quick start to subside. Mine did.

True. Then again, self entitlement is in EVERY fandom (movies, TV, games, etc.).

Sometimes I get the feeling many people are embarrassed to say that they like kids shows and want everything to be gritty and dark just because it's considered "more mature". And that is an extremely childish mentality to have.
I'd rather have a show that caters to ALL audiences, that doesn't try to be mature, but rather touches everyone in a way. Super Sentai may be somewhat "childish" but I still don't see what's so bad about that. Yes, I roll my eyes at some of the jokes but as long as enjoy the overall story told, my age doesn't matter and neither does the target audience. I'm happy with what I get when I watch Super Sentai. I like that it's not all serious and dark. There are times when I need dark stuff, but then I just go watch something else. And when I feel like something lighter and more fun, I watch Super Sentai. It's easy as that.

You are right, smt1923 and they are usually the most vocal, sadly.

I agree, Suzu, there is a time and place for everything. There should never be a show of any kind that is a one-stop-shop for everything everyone would want it to be. If sentai was gritty, playful, dark, bright, and appealing to all ages, it would be confusing as shit. No one would watch it, because it would not have an identity. Sentai has an identity, KR has an identity, PR has an identity, Sailor Moon has an identity, MLP has an identity, DBZ has an identity, transformers has an identity, and all those are widely enjoyed by varying audiences with a ton of overlap. Sentai doesn't need to be dark, they were once dark and decided to move away from that and I think it was a good move.

I feel like people wanting everything in one show is just a sign of immense laziness, lol.

I was wondering how would be the sentai of the future.

More toys, brighter colors, bigger explosions, more rangers, and more comedic devices being used.

Also can't forget the tropes; got to love the tropes.

But you think the comedic devices will still be popular in future ? What's tropes ?

Comedy will always be popular, as much as you or anyone else might hate it.

Sure, i have to agree with that, it is very unlikely that they would want to move away from what they been doing for a while. But you know what?, if they think that will be just fine, ultimately it will be their doom.
You mentioned something important. If is not broken why fix it?. Well they already did that when Jetman came out in the 90s, after realizing that the series had fell in a long term rut, they took immediate action, replaced a veteran writer which had worked on Sentais since its inception (Gorenger), with a new one (Toshiki Inoue) who refreshed the show, the results were clear, higher ratings and increased revenue from the sales that followed.

As such, like Toei at the time, I'm a firm believer in Marcus Lemonis 3P's (people, process and product), which ultimately is the key to have a sustainability and success on anything either is business or unrelated. I highly doubt that the ideas i mentioned would not do well, and as much as i like Go-Busters, they really tried to move away from being a Sentai (in the traditional sense, hence i dont see them as a classic homage) and by doing that plus other factors that came to play (which are too lengthy to explain on details) became its demise. I commend them to break the mold but the timing was not adequate.

Sure, all kinds of feedback are welcomed. Much like reading yours, its interesting. I kind like the motif that you propose and as well the coins idea is good. But as a suggestion, doing an anniversary edition is more than just bringing up older teams with their costumes to be shown like puppets or replicas, it should be a homage to represent what they fought for and their spirit as a whole passed to the next team, much like what Gokaiger did with the 'Greater power' concept and as an extension to this i think Sevenlima read my mind with "they should bring back the same sense of justice of the 80s and 90s", because that's the key.

Okay, going back to earth-based or tech Sentais. is really magic, nature or supernatural the only things kids in Japan find appealing these days?. i am skeptic as this reason falls in a very subjective aspect, unless there is empirical data to support these claims (but it cant as taste and empathy are unstable depending of human conscience and they cannot be modeled even using the most complex differential equations or Runge-kutta). So to put things in a straight and layman terms, if something is done right there should be no problem with its adaptation.

I think the most proper answer to this is just KR Hibiki.

Quite frankly, more people beyond the age and population you mentioned really want Sentais to return to its roots. Am i American? no, Am i a teenage?, i wish. Am i an adult? yes, and i really enjoyed sentais as a child, i was introduced to them first and i didn't mind if the story was dark or had a serious tone, in fact it was interesting because at the time, they did cared for building up a concept and as such it was easier for the kids to relate with something that could happen (more or less) taking out the fact that it was just fiction, but when Toei began to rely heavily in supernatural plots and out of this world solutions plus emphasizing more animation generated content, it became like something cheap and disposable. In the long term yields predictable scenarios and plots plus Kids now accustom to the idea that a deus ex machina (magic, nature, or whatever) will make things to get solved.

Sentais always had an identity, but I disagree that it was a good move to depart from that definition. But only time will say.

If the current trend is maintained, probably something so mainstream and over goofy that even hardcore fans of today will find it hard to digest. Neither to imagine how would the kids of tomorrow be like.

Actually, Hibiki as a show was very popular. The major problem were the toy sales, not the ratings. And that is completely understandeable because as cool as they Hibiki toys look from an adult point of view, I probably wouldn't have liked them either as a kid.
The authors didn't feel the need to change the show so more toys could be sold (because- it wasn't broken, why fix it? The show itself wasn't the problem) and thus Toei changed the staff so they could do something about the toys.


I think this is a somewhat generational problem.
Military Sentai was very popular in a time that was not too long after WWII, with many serious global crises going on (there's still some, but let's say the overall atmosphere was different). For a world in which conflicts felt extremely close and real, people wanted to have heroes that felt real to tackle those problems.
Younger generations grew up in a somewhat more peaceful time. In the Heisei era, more fantastic concepts are popular, we like to keep war where it is- far away from us. That's of course a personal theory, but I think this is where it comes from.

Also, you're heavily overreacting on the magic thing. Sentai with magical themes are not just some godly power solving some problem. Take Magiranger for example. Yes, they use magic. But they create magic by being brave. The more mental power they have, the more magic they can use. It's not about some power from outside helping them out when they're in trouble. It's about growing stronger as a person, being rewarded with a power to solve your problems, presented metaphorically through magic here.
Same with Goseiger. The Goseigers ultimately defeat the main villain not because some greater power helps them out, but because they accept their own inexperience and decide to grow stronger, creating a power to save the world by changing their mental state.


You do realize that 80's and 90's Sentai are also extremely mainstream? Because as you said, the show always had an identity. In the early years, the mainstream for Sentai was dark and military, while newer Sentai have a more fantasy-heavy, light-hearted mainstream.
Don't cry for something being mainstream if you want another time's mainstream back. Please.

Also, 80's Sentai is super goofy as well. I mean, look at this!
http://i59.tinypic.com/2j5bcih.png

Someone mentions Nessie and this is what the Sun Vulcan members do: making goofy poses and chant "Nessie! Nessie! Nessie!". How is that less goofy than today's Sentai?
And not only the heroes where goofy, but also the villains:
http://i61.tinypic.com/2u79ikp.png

Excuse me, but saying today's Sentai was childish and not serious enough doesn't work, when you completely ignore that Sentai was always goofy and for children.
It was a bit grittier back in the day (which is also due to the time when it was broadcast- you can do darker stuff in the evening, when the whole family watches it, than in the morning, when it's mostly just children), but overall, Sentai is still Sentai.

Look at, arguably, the most popular show in Japan right, Yokai Watch, it is fantasy based. The toy sales are killing it and the ratings are high. I believe since the education standards have gotten so strict in Japan, kids enjoy something that is a far escape from reality. That is why we watch tv and movies; to escape. Everyone needs it. The focused shifted from human-based technology and military themes to fantasy based themes because society shifted. Look at Ohranger, the show changed in early episodes because what they were portraying on the screen was too close to what was happening in real life. Toei knew then that their show was meant to provide an escape for their audience, not emphasize in a different way what they could see on the news. Magic, trains driven by imagination, samba fueled dinosaurs, space pirates, card using angels, these are all things that are far from the reality that we are faced with. The start of Ninninger was delayed due to a harsh bit of reality, how do you think it would go if the first episode of the current season featured an assassination rather than a bright colored, quirky, ninja family?

Suzu is right, sentai has always been goofy. Even as early as Sun Vulcan, they would add in a dance at the end to give the kids something to copy at home. Doing and saying silly things, slap-stick humor, and just plain goofy episodes have been common with sentai since it started. No reason to think it is ridiculous now, when it was present in Liveman, Jetman, Maskman, Bioman, and every other season. Kids will always love bright colored super heroes saving the day in areas they walk past all the time (think if you grew up in Tokyo and passed the common shooting places everyday on your way to school...you would be pretty excited; I know I would) and the hardcore fans should realize that Toei appreciates us, but the show, with its current time slot, is made for little kids and produces it as such.

If it went back to an evening time slot, I can guarantee we would see a marked change in how the show is made.

sports theme might work
but i can be selfish and ask for a cops theme

For me Sentai will always be for children at its heart and thats okay when you look at the children dancing at the end of Kyoryuger during the End Credits song and dance deal they are all quite young and it works especially for a show meant to be for the younger japanese audience.

Whereas with Kamen Rider there arent the End theme dances or songs because its geared to the kids that are a bit older which is why you can see things we see in Kamen Rider Wizard toward the end with Koyomi Haruto's relationship there while then next moment we can turn around and see Den-O or Fruit Samurai. Its all about the audience and the people buying the toys.

As for the western theme I love the idea and I think Kids the world over would love the idea hell a big childrens show on the Dicney Junior channel is Sherrif Cally's Wild West about a sherrif cat. and thats fairly popular its self

i like 5 heroes with humaniod robot with no transform like battle fever j
no extra heroes