[Librarian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Fang

Is this the state of Toei tokusatus now that a gimmick is considered an irremovable staple of their shows even by fans?

The shows have been gimmick based since the 80s. More dominantly in the 90s, to then now. It's rather true for nearly all children's toku since the 80s. Even Metal Heroes or other franchises from other companies. To the point it saved Ultraman. Same is true for Kamen Rider as a trend that started as of Black/Black RX. Heck, it's literally what brought Kamen Rider back in 2000. Back then the market wasn't as strong on roleplay, but that gradually increased series to series. Comparing Kuuga to Agito, then the shift in Ryuki for wider Roleplay and wider figures, then the shift in Faiz for wider roleplay lower figures, to blade with a mix of both, to Kabuto on forward that had stronger pushes on role play over figures, but still a decent figure line to go with it.

It's part of the marketing system which is what Tokusatsu that's aimed to move merchandise is built on. If you're talking about something like Amazons or Garo, that's a little different since those aren't built on moving merchandise in large quantities. But we're talking about stuff that's supposed to move merchandise as the sole reason why it exists. So yeah, a gimmick is typically required. We're talking about selling toys. Which best sales results come from that "gotta buy it all!" mentality a gimmick factor tends to evoke.

That kind of Tokusatsu(moving merchandise kind) is the same as Cartoons in the states that solely exist as commercials to sell product. Same as anime that's like that. The product line is integrated into the show itself by demographic with the intent of moving merchandise so it uses those marketing standards for best practices to do so.

Speaking of though. That's something they should look more into. A sentai figure line is something that's not that common outside of minipla, with most of the emphasis going to the mecha. Which while that's great, the mecha needs some tweaks to have more wow factor and a figure line couldn't hurt.

That one's a tough call though. While I love minipla's articulation, there is something that's really satisfying about Magiking and other DX mecha over the years too. But the up in articulation is what made GekiRanger really get a strong notice too. So that might be something to revisit in design practices. And it does seem there's a push for that internally with how Lupin/PatKaiser had elbows.

Tough call overall. But I do expect there'll be an upswing in sales numbers with later series. Numbers vary series to series. One of the perks to how they do this yearly. If one's a miss, the next one can make up for it.