[Kamen Rider Lucha]

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Originally Posted by ElConvoy

I can see where you might come from but cannot fully agree with the notion that ToQ and Ninnin are attempts at doing a second Carranger. Its true that Sentai likes to reuse elements of Carranger but thats something they are doing since Megaranger. Mega was an attempt at doing Carranger straight.

I think we're more or less on the same page, I just think I'm looking at it from a more zoomed-out perspective. What I guess I'm ultimately commenting on is the profound influence Carranger has had on the franchise and how Toei has been struggling to capture what made Car work, in some way or another, for the last 19 years.

I'm of the mind that Carranger is the first of the "modern" sentai, and every show that's followed has incorporated fundamental elements of it. So when I say ToQ and Ninnin are attempts to replicate the Carranger format, I mean that they're like the 9th or 10th attempts to do it -- not second.

I see Carranger's fingerprints on every single Sentai that's come after it, not just the comedy-focused ones. It's stuff like the character-focus at the expense of overarching plot. These are the kind of similarities I'm talking about, that both ToQ and Ninnin, in particular, share with Car.

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What makes Carranger so unique is how deadpan and dry the humor in that show can be and is much more than just being self aware or making fun of some tropes. And thats something I dont see in either ToQ or Ninnin at all.

Totally agree, and that's why I said Carranger does it better -- that show understands deadpan delivery and the humor is more sophisticated (maybe owing to the fact that it was still being broadcast in prime time, as opposed to the Sunday morning kids block Sentai migrated to during Megaranger). But successful or not, I think there's effort being made to make these shows tonally a lot like Carranger. Which makes a lot of sense to me... As Sentai's ratings have fallen, why not try what worked the last time they plunged like this?