[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red5

Assuming that a group of people are going to act racist is pretty racist in itself.

Racism is the belief that one race is better than another. I don't think Epsilon meant to suggest that Americans were any less racist, nor that Japanese racism made the Japanese worse than Westerners.

Even though pointing out a culture's racist tendencies isn't necessarily racism, he probably shouldn't have been joking about it, as it's a sensitive topic.

[Red5]

The definition of racism is belief of one being better than the other, but making assumptions based on stereotypes or misguided thoughts is also racism. I honestly think race stuff is only sensitive because we don't talk about it. And when it is brought up, people want to dance around each other and end up pissing each other off; the only way to progress is to admit there is a divide, talk it out, and come to a conclusion how we can close that divide.

Regardless, I still can't see Toei doing an all-out cowboy theme. The cowboy theme barely held up with Star Ninger (who doesn't really do anything cowboy like other than saying "Yee Haw")

[Matrixbeast]

A cowboy theme would be silly because I don't think Japan really ever cared about cowboys. The wild west thing was always, well, a western fad. I don't think it'd interest Japanese kids.

[Suzu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

A cowboy theme would be silly because I don't think Japan really ever cared about cowboys. The wild west thing was always, well, a western fad. I don't think it'd interest Japanese kids.

^This, pretty much.

[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

A cowboy theme would be silly because I don't think Japan really ever cared about cowboys. The wild west thing was always, well, a western fad. I don't think it'd interest Japanese kids.

Not true at all. Westerns were very popular globally, and were especially popular in Japan. In fact, the symbiotic relationship between samurai cinema and cowboy cinema is one of the most well-documented (and interesting) phenomena in all of international film studies.

A lot of Japan's stereotypes of Americans (i.e., that we're loud, brash, gun toting, ill-tempered, grizzled, Levi-clad individualists) are rooted in the cowboy archetype, as popularized by early John Ford westerns in particular. Do you think it's coincidence that the only American Sentai heroes have had overt cowboy mannerisms/affectations?

Westerns were distinctly not an American fad (look at Spaghetti Westerns, which were written, directed, and produced by Itallians, filmed mostly in Spain, and tuned to European tastes). Even today you see plenty of Japanese takes on the western. Sukiyaki Western Django springs immediately to mind, and I'm certain there are others.

Whether modern Japanese children would be interested in Cowboys is another question. But I suspect there is a market, as proven by this year's 6th ranger-- which is traditionally one of the most important and highest selling Sentai product lines of any given year. Bandai wouldn't have allowed a Cowboy 6th if westerns, or at least the idea of them, weren't still somewhat alluring in Japan.

[Suzu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

Not true at all. Westerns were very popular globally, and were especially popular in Japan at the height of their popularity in the US. The symbiotic relationship between samurai cinema and cowboy cinema is very well documented.

But we are talking about kids here. What might have been popular with the generation that is now grown up is not necessarily with the generation that watches Sentai right now. I haven't seen any cowboy-related toys in stores so far- and trust me, I've been in toy sections of various stores. The only cowboy you might see is Woody from Toy Story and that's because Japenese people (and especially kids) love Disney. I haven't seen kids with cowboy-related merch either. Not even Starninger's arsenal.

[Kamen Rider Lucha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzu

But we are talking about kids here. What might have been popular with the generation that is now grown up is not necessarily with the generation that watches Sentai right now. I haven't seen any cowboy-related toys in stores so far- and trust me, I've been in toy sections of various stores. The only cowboy you might see is Woody from Toy Story and that's because Japenese people (and especially kids) love Disney. I haven't seen kids with cowboy-related merch either. Not even Starninger's arsenal.

Interesting. Do you interact with a lot of kid in Japan? I'd be interested to know what they think of Cowboys, even if they aren't gobbling up cowboy related toys.

[Suzu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

Interesting. Do you interact with a lot of kid in Japan? I'd be interested to know what they think of Cowboys, even if they aren't gobbling up cowboy related toys.

Not that much atm, but we had some shared activities with foreign students and kids from elementary school before. I briefly talked about Kamen Rider with a boy from that group, but we didn't have that much time, so the only information I got from this that he really likes Ghost, but not Spectre.

As from what I've seen when it comes to toys, aside from popular franchises such as Pokémon and Yokai Watch, kids here still really dig cars, or vehicles in general.

[EpsilonX]

All I meant by that was that it seems like every time an American shows up in Sentai, they're a cowboy. They wear cowboy boots and a cowboy hat and say Yee-haw. Just look at Kinji and Jiraiya. Also, Starninger transforms with a hamburger and his super form wears a poncho. It's like how any time an Asian person shows up in an American show or movie that has any level of action, they either pull out a sword or some mad martial arts skills.

I'm not trying to be offensive, but those stereotypes do show up in entertainment. I'd hate to see an entire show based around the theme of it.

Edit: Proof

[Matrixbeast]

But...Richard Brown, and Diane Martin, and Ramirez (...Kinda)...