[Tokumonkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KaijuUltraFan

Kamen Rider has historically been aimed at boys as a target market. Just like GI Joe or He-Man or Transformers or whatever else was aimed at a boy market. And that's ok, there's nothing wrong with that. Not everything needs to be feminized 'just because.' I don't understand this victim attitude I see lately that says everything needs to cater to Women.

There is a long, long trend in entertainment that says everything needs to cater to men. Even in stories that theoretically center around women, we very often end up with casting and outfitting meant to appeal to a presumed straight male gaze. Some men tend to take this for granted and assume that this is the way the world should work. A lot of the same men tend to be skeptical when they learn that this is maybe less pleasant for women than it is for men... and yet are also aware on some level that if the scenario were reversed, life would be much less fun for men.

To talk about Kamen Rider being "feminized" like it's a bad thing implies that there's something wrong with femininity. I'm going to assume for purposes of this post that you didn't intend to imply that.

If you don't care if the next lead Rider is female and don't think it's a big deal, that's fine. Maybe it doesn't mean much to you. However, there are people to whom it would mean a lot. Maybe be happy for them if that's what 2019 is bringing us?

It's really easy for those of us who're male toku fans to be oblivious to how female roles in Rider and Sentai are... not generally terrific. They're not always bad - Build is doing a little bit better job with Misora and Sawa than, say, Wizard did with Rinko and Koyomi - but... well, let's took at one of the central tropes of Kamen Rider: character growth is tied to Rider powers. There's a long line of male Riders who either become Riders or gain upgrade forms directly linked to their character development. Kagami finds new resolve? Meet Kamen Rider Gatack. Banjou resolves to fight for other people? Time for Cross-Z Magma.

It's extremely rare that this happens with female characters outside of movies, and it's nearly always undercut in some way. Marika kicked butt, but she's also dressed in pink with vague heart-shapes, and her entire arc is about her devotion to a man. Poppy at least got a Rider form, but once she got control of it, she rarely got to be effective in battle, if she even entered battle at all. Nico's Rider form was, for most of the series, a problem that others tried to save her from. The women of Kiva got to be awesome in their debut episode, and thereafter were usually ineffective fighting Fangires, even though they're both Fangire hunters. And these are the best examples I know of regarding Heisei Rider.

And the fake-outs! It's like a tradition that a female regular tries to use a Driver, and then it fails because reasons. "Because reasons" is usually shorthand for "we're not allowed to have a female Rider." I've lost count of how many Heisei Rider shows have pulled this, including Kiva a couple of times. (On the same show, it's a male co-worker who can successfully use IXA.) Then there's the "transforms and is instantly defeated" trope, a la Dark Ghost P.

On the Sentai side: with some exceptions, it's rare that a female Sentai character gets to be anything other than "bubbly and cheerful" or "caring big sister." They can be the smartest member of the team, but rarely or never the strongest (I haven't yet seen all the series. Maybe one will surprise me.) Of 12 Kyurangers, only two were female, and one of those was a pink robot. That's... weird. Out of all the prior Sentai series, only one had a red hero, and that only lasted for a few episodes.

Not all boys are super-into "boy stuff." Not all girls are super into "girl stuff." A lot of people are into a mixture of stuff, because people's taste in entertainment isn't actually married to their gender. What's better than entertainment "for boys" and "for girls" is entertainment for people.

I don't know whether Zi-Oh will be a female Rider. If that turns out to be the case, I would be shocked if the following Rider series didn't have a male lead, the same way I'll be extremely surprised if the Doctor after Jodie Whittaker isn't male again. What Kamen Rider and Super Sentai have in common is that they put out a completely new series with a new cast every year. They have room to experiment and try something different. Sometime soon, we'll get to find out whether that's what this series will do.

I just hope it's not another Decade. Except for the theme song. That theme song was terrific.

(Oh, hey. New scans just came out. I still have no idea of Zi-O's gender.)