[Phantom Stranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

The difference?
They don't have a 40 year legacy of expectations to meet.

I'm not saying it's not a viable tactic to try to market to both gender groups, but the primary difference is that, as a franchise, attempting to do so would be a major shift in how it operates.

Here's an example. Look at the full title of the brony documentary.
"Bronies: The Extremely Unexpected Adult Fans of My Little Pony"
It's not quite the same scenario, but it'll suffice for the comparison. MLP holds a stigma of being for adolescent girls, and when the newest series was announced, it still held that stigma. Friendship is Magic was created not to intentionally attract fans of all genders and ages, but merely to appeal to them at some level (Primarily so that fathers watching with their daughters wouldn't want to chew their own faces off).
However, even the most die hard of fans *Cough* can admit that, ultimately, the series still targets the primary audience of adolescent girls, still being a series fueled by toy sales.

My Little Pony and Kamen Rider are both decades old franchises, and they actually do the same thing in aiming at the market that will net the most sales. However, FIM's attraction to alternate audiences wasn't an attempt to draw them in and get their money. It was just a unforeseen incident, and even with that, they still put most of their efforts in the toys that appeal to the younger fans, rather than boys and older collectors.
Kamen Rider intentionally trying to get the little girl market wouldn't necessarily be successful, and would just as well run the risk of alienating their main market, ending in a major collapse. It's just not worth the risk for a small chunk of the market.

The problem therein lies is that scenario doesn't apply to everything. You could literally use the same argument for a number of things, but that doesn't mean they shouldn't take risks without intentionally broadening a brand or reaching out to fans or even creating fans of all sexes, race and age, regardless of how minute people think those sections are. How many black people got into comics because Marvel took a chance with Black Panther? How many girls loved seeing Wonder Woman be as heroic as Superman and Batman? How much did the sales of Batman grow after the introduction of Robin? How many people were fascinated by the drastically different Amazing Spider-Man? And how many people were brought into those growing fandoms because of those gambles, versus how many felt alienated by how different they were from those before? But most importantly, maybe there's a girl that doesn't want to be a Sailor Senshi, or a Precure, but a Kamen Rider. Not a secondary- who's toys, even the child aimed ones, get relegated to web exclusives, -but a title character, someone to look up to, someone to emulate from a franchise she may already love or wants to get into. If Kamen Rider didn't fall because of Shin, Gaim, or a lead Rider that outright forgoes a motorcycle all together, a lead Female rider will not kill the franchise or even cause a collapse despite how stubborn attitudes towards women are in Japan. "Tradition" be damned, that's a pitiful slippery slope excuse to not do it. They can still make a toyline the way they normally would, the can still try to make the show appeal to everyone, just with a female in the lead role. They can take the risk, and I believe it's one worth taking.