[EpsilonX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Then the term that should be used here is "target audience." And the answer to that is: 5-10 year olds and their parents who enjoy superhero shows first and foremost, with the toku fans and people who grew up with the show being secondary, just as it's always been.

And guess what? The show has always been both appealing and profitable in that area. Even some of the seasons that fans who are terminally online like to complain about, such as Samurai, were successful in their endeavors. Both via ratings as well as merch sales.

To say that Power Rangers has no target audience or appeals solely because Toku has slowly been growing bigger over the last few years is no different than saying other long-runners like Mazinger Z or Sailor Moon have no place because anime of their kind have become alot more common place/popular over time.

I may not have explained it well, but I'm not saying that niche or target audience are the same thing. What makes this particular product appealing to its target audience vs a different product which appeals to the same target audience.

The point here is that, with the growing acceptance of intercultural content, the need to re-edit shows into a more Americanized version has diminished significantly. So what makes a re-edited show appealing over a straight-dubbed show? What sort of market niche/market segment does that fill? Sailor Moon is actually a great example. The show was censored and Americanized in a lot of ways that are seen as unnecessary and actually undesirable now. If the same thing was tried again, it would probably receive a lot of blowback. I also think of Voltron or Robotech, which are Americanized edits of anime similar to how Power Rangers is re-done, but there's just not a lot of demand for that type of re-edited, Americanized version of an anime when the original versions are almost preferred.

That said, you do bring up a point - PR is targeted at audiences who are likely too young to fully enjoy a subtitled show or know/care if anything was changed or censored. That said, they're maybe too young to also know/care whether it's Japanese actors dubbed or new content filmed with American actors. I guess the best argument in favor of continuing this method for Power Rangers is that suddenly switching it to be a very Japanese show with a dub would be weird, and repurposing the Japanese footage is the most budget-friendly way to go about things.