Are you worried about Kyoryuger's ratings? Let's discuss!
 

It seems at least so far, Kyoryuger has not been able to combat the ratings slump that has been ongoing for a few years now, and worsening during Go-busters. Honestly, I had thought that Kyoryuger's fresh take on things might have attracted a larger audience.

What does this mean for Super Sentai as a whole? Do you think it's too early and that the viewership might improve in time? Do you think the toy sales might make up for the show, like Ohranger having the worst (before Go-busters) show ratings and the best toy sales? Or do you think this will spell trouble for Super Sentai?

Let's discuss!

I'll say yes, I am worried. But really, it's Toei's fault for not really doing anything with the spy theme during Gobuster's run.

Shinkenger is cool, if a little dry for some people, Goseiger has good things going for it but is harmed by its Green Alsop, Gokaiger has TONS of continuity that most fans won't get without research on the Net and Go-Busters was a misfire worst than anything I have even seen from Super Sentai.

I also feel that Toei is playing it far too safe by using dinosaurs again. Unless they can pull themselves together and come up with a original and cool idea next year I can see Sentai dying off for as least a few years.

TBPH, the break will do us all some good. I know that a Gavan show would be the shit if Toei would take. the. hint. I know I said that alot, mostly due to being burned out by Gobuster's lameness. Branching out into new themes won't kill Toei. If anything it will make them stronger.

Couldn't it be argued that they did try something new with Go-busters? I guess perhaps the execution would be a controversial topic.

I heard Gokaiger was actually quite successful toy-wise. It was successful enough to have its toyline continue during Go-busters, after all, with new Ranger keys.

Besides that, I think Gavan's new movie underperformed at the box office, so I'm not sure if the market's there for a new Gavan TV show. Better-versed people than me could probably elaborate better or correct me.

Not yet. I'll be worried if the ratings stay low or drop further by episode 12.

Word of mouth is a very fickle thing. It takes some time to get people back into watching.

As for Sentai as a whole, it's clear that while the theme for Kyoryu is back to basics, they are subverting a lot of more recent Sentai tropes. King is brash and energetic, but he's not a fireball like Ban or Jan. Hell, Nobu is older than 25, which is something that usually only occurs for members outside the core 6.
While they are playing it safe (I highly doubt we'll see them utilize Nobu's family as a possible plot outside one or two more episodes), it is nice that they're subverting the norm.

As for new themes, I think it's clear with the failure of Gobusters that sometimes they're just not up for the task. They could take theme after theme and make a new Sentai each year, but with the likes of Dinos or cars, we've seen that there's a lot more to offer by revisiting older themes with more potential.

Could be ratings are low because fans of Sentai don't like getting talked down to, and outright insulted, like their mindless morons who don't know just because a character is a certain color that means something about that character. Was Magi Yellow feminine?

Words have consenquences.

Of course! We live in a age that says pink is no longer just for females. Likewise the same is true for other colors traditionally thought of as just for males; EG Red.

An apology isn't gonna hurt Toei. When you insult your fans they WILL turn on you. Just ask Capcom.

I enjoy how everyone doesn't even take into account, just perhaps, they weren't lying.

Is it such a stretch to believe that yellow is now a color exclusively reserved for female character now?
"Oh MagiYellow was male"
And that was 8 years ago. Pink was originally a boys color, now it's treated as feminine and for women. Things change over time.

We're not going to see a female Red lead, nor a male Pink ranger because those two colors are reserved for a specific gender. Why is yellow swapping from a male color to a female color and not wanting to confuse the current generation watching "Insulting?"

I swear. The ONLY thing wrong they said was that more women on a team makes it seem weaker, but everyone is dwelling on the fucking color issue.

Yes, I'm sure that's it. Sentai's ratings have been in a persistent downwards spiral since 2005 because the 2013 show doesn't have a girl in yellow spandex and because the little boys in the still fairly sexist country of Japan are offended that girls aren't considered equally as strong as men. Nail on the fucking head, bro.

Highly, highly unlikely. You overestimate the influence adult fans, even Japanese adult fans, have on Super Sentai. Remember, the primary audience are KIDS who most likely have never read that producer's statements or would find no problem with them had they read them.

In fact, I doubt even many Japanese adult fans will find issue with the producers statements, since they're less culturally offensive there.

So that leaves non-Japanese fans, who have no influence in ratings whatsoever. As I said, highly, highly unlikely.

I love the show, and sure, I don't want anything to happen to hurt Sentai in the long run, but really, what can any of us do? Unless we're in Japan, we can't help raise the ratings. Which sucks, because I'm sure we WOULD watch, if we were there. It's just a bad situation, but I don't think it's too concerning yet.

I got all the anger out of me in my earlier post, so let me come back with an actual thought this time.

I think it's because of Go-Busters. For alot of the series it went absolutely nowhere storywise, it was low on the ratings almost constistantly, and I think even the toy-sales suffered. If I remember right. Gokaiger was wildly popular and coming down off of that they could've went anywhere with that spy-theme.. instead went there. Not they have another Dinosaur show and, I think, what people want is something original.

Don't misunderstand. I love Kyoyuger more than Goseiger, just trying to explain the low ratings in the home market.

Actually, Gokaiger's ratings weren't that strong, either. Shinkenger was the last Sentai series that pulled relatively good numbers, but the franchise has been on a ratings decline since Boukenger.

What are the current ratings for Kyoryuger?

Well yea. Boukenger was awesome.

I think you misunderstood me - Boukenger was the start of the ratings slide.

I can't find the post, but I think the ratings for episodes 1-3 were 4.4-3.9% (I might be so off it hurts, so yeah, don't quote me :lol)

Didn't Go-Busters have strong toy sales? I remember reading that Go-Buster Ace, at least, was insanely popular...

Were they? Then I retract that part of the arguement. Still though.. As much as I adore Kyoryuger, Dinosaurs again just feels safe.

They weren't Hibiki-level bad, but they weren't great. But yeah, apparently Ace was surprisingly popular.

Someone on another board mentioned that Japan's ratings do not account for DVR recordings, so there is a strong possibility that these ratings are not accurate. Hell, I don't know anyone these days that watches a show at the exact time it airs.

Yeah, DVR and anyone who watches post airing do probably factor in for a lot of the viewing base, so the numbers might be skewed by a good portion...

Greetings, my name is MidoGreen, and I watch shows on the exact times they air. Now you know someone :lol.

Personally, I'm always of the opinion to just ignore ratings because they are ultimately meaningless and these days completely obsolete with the various forms of digital media. Also, it's WAY too early to stalk the ratings IMO. Give it about episode 10 before you start looking at that kind of stuff.

But ratings aren't meaningless, not in the slightest.
Ratings dictate whether a show needs to be revamped from it's current direction. Ratings can decide whether or not a show gets that next season (Well, not for Sentai/KR, but for most other shows), whether it should get a movie or not.

Ratings can't be disregarded. I will agree that it's too early to tell, though.

Gokaiger wasn't very strong ratings wise, but their toys sold well. I think the Ranger keys were a genius product, and really carried the entire line.

Ratings information is here; http://risingsuntokusatsu.com/?p=7766

For Go-busters, I also heard Ace was popular, but I heard that the line as a whole was below expectations. Take a look:

http://risingsuntokusatsu.com/?p=7817

For example, Kamen Rider made 31.5 billion yen compared to Super Sentai, which made only 9.5 billion yen. That meant that Kamen Rider, despite Fourze's lower ratings, sold 3 times more than Super Sentai!

Go-Busters didn't have a collectible gimmick did it? That's probably a huge factor in the poor sales. Even if the ratings stay poor the Kyoryuger sales will likely improve because of all the batteries and mecha.

Ah. So the 4.4% that I remembered was for Go-Buster's finale.

Anyway, it seems Ace was the big seller, but the rest of the toyline under performed (Well, to be fair, Ace was pretty boss. Even with my apathy for GB, I still kind of want one :lol)

Anyway, it seems the collectable gimmick is what sells. Ranger Keys, Medals, Switches. At least with Batteries there's something for Kyoryu (Since there's at least 36 not related to the show for the Sentai names in Gabutyra).

Well the only reason I am worried about this ratings thing is if they decide that, if ratings don't improve, they will not have Sentai for a year or so, which might help us American PR fns, since it might help us catch up to the what 3 year gap now? :lol

I am not worry one bit, just give it time.

not really, because if the toy sales are great meaning they love the show because most kids probably have their episodes on dvr because of the timeslot, i mean gobuster sales were bad meaning the kids didnt like gobusters, that's what their thinking is,

but if the ratings get extremely bad like 0.6 then i think toei will change their timeslot for kyoryuger.

I know, I wouldn't mind getting an Ace even now. :)

It's kind of disappointing that collectible gimmicks sell so well because they, well, impose a lot of gimmicks on the show. Not that I mind them that much, but I do like to see a show where the gadgets and mecha were self-reliant instead of needing an external source. It's all Go-onger's fault! :lol

Still, if that's what it takes to sell, then go for it, I say.

Ratings didn't fix Gundam SEED Destiny.

Im on the band wagon of everyone needs to wait awhile before considering ratings accurate because of the slump from the last show(as much as i ADORE Gobusters).

What were the ratings for other sentai shows similar to it, like Gaoranger? Were there any other times in sentai's history where the ratings took a plunge? What show came after it? Study the hard data, but take it with a grain of salt since the kids of yesteryear may not be the same ones as today. This show looks like it could climb the ratings easily, but only time will tell.

All I know for certain is that Sentai has the lowest ratings since Ohranger.
I do remember someone having a handy line chart for Sentai ratings over the past couple years, though. Can anyone dig that up?

Someone dug it up last year in a random Go-Busters thread and posted it. Can't remember which thread though :o

*Rolls up sleeves*
WHELP. TIME TO GET A DIGGIN'

EDIT
Found it.
http://i.imgur.com/zXDDj.png

Oh hell yeah. Gaoranger is up on top for a reason :D

It's a shame Gekiranger received moderate to low ratings. I really want Toei to make more shows in it's vein, putting an emphasis on over arcing stories than the more episodic approach they take nowadays with glimpses of longer story arcs in the background.
I guess it's because an over arcing story means it's harder for new viewers to just hop in at episode 25 or whatever, but it makes the series as a whole so much stronger...

The very first Sentai series to suffer from a ratings plunge was J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai (1978), the second Sentai series and the last one created by Shotaro Ishinomori. While Himitsu Sentai Goranger was known for its lighthearted approach, Ishinomori intended for J.A.K.Q. to have a more serious tone. Unfortunately, the kids didn't like it, and despite bringing in Big One to add some comic relief, J.A.K.Q. was cancelled after 35 episodes. As a result, Toei retooled the Sentai series as Super Sentai, adding giant robots to the franchise starting with Battle Fever J in 1979. Ratings went up over the years until Super Sentai reached its peak with Choushinsei Flashman in 1986.

Another victim of the ratings slump was Kousoku Sentai Turboranger (1989). I don't remember the exact numbers or the cause of the ratings drop (whether or not it was a change in timeslot), but the plunge was pretty bad. Nevertheless, Super Sentai ratings recovered a year later with Chikyuu Sentai Fiveman. Ratings were steady until Ninja Sentai Kakuranger (1994), then Chouriki Sentai Ohranger (1995) recorded the lowest ratings toward the end of the 20th century.

I don't know, Kamen Rider usually had a pretty strong story arc too, and they always score huge ratings compared to Super Sentai. Maybe viewers like it for Kamen Rider but not Super Sentai.

Thanks for the history lesson. :D It seems ratings go up and down throughout the years. If that's the case, we may see a Super Sentai resurgence in the future.

So apparently, the earlier ratings I posted of the first three episodes (4.3%, 4.0%, and 3.2%, respectively) were not accurate. Apparently they came from an unofficial source.

The more accurate number has turned out to be 4.3%, 4.4% and 4.3%. They're still not terrific, but it's a definite improvement over the old numbers, especially for Episode 3.

Source is here, and I originally got wind of this from Henshin Justice.

Hopefully Kyoryuger keeps a strong pace and improves as it goes along. Watch the show, Japanese kids!