[Suzu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by H3N51N

Sorry if I didn't explain my point better. OOO is a good example. Say that instead of Eiji being OOO it was Hina that was given the power from the first episode & the show follows her story of trying to get her brother back from Ankh. Would boys really be put off by that? Would that make the OOO toys any less fun or marketable? No. It wouldn't. Now the show might be a little slow in bringing in viewers (& therefore potential customers) because of the obvious change from constant male leads but over time the difference wouldn't matter. As the show goes on people would accept her & everything associated with her (like the merch) so she's now not just "the main girl Kamen Rider" but "this year's Kamen Rider". And that would slowly, but surely, open up chances for more diversity in cast members. Again, sorry if I didn't get my views across right. Hope this does better.

Mind you, older fans tend to accept female protagonists more easily no matter the gender. But Kamen Rider is still marketed towards children, that are mostly seeking role models of their own gender. The problem is not the fandom. The problem is the target audience. Little boys would have a much harder time to adjust with Hina as OOO as for example fans in their late teens or early 20's.
If you want to sell merch, you need your target audiencie to identify with the associated character. You know why villain toys have bad sales, despite most villains being fairly popular with the older fans? Because kids usually don't like villains. They don't want to play the villain, they want to play the hero. You know why in Super Sentai, toys of the male characters tend to sell better than those of the female characters? Because most of the kids watching the show are male and want to play the male heroes.
Yes, more female characters could introduce more girls to the franchise... but they also might not, because little girls might still think "that's for boys", because it used to be. And even if you attract a female target audience, the boys might lose interest, because they can't identify with it anymore. That would mean both a loss in views and sales and thus endanger the franchise as a whole. Of course, this is a worst case scenario, but considering how drastically a different approach to just the storytelling changed the ratings when Gaim was on air, it surely is a thing to consider.