Toku's target audience.

[.desk]

I know that the target audience of toku shows nowadays are geared towards younger demographic, with the two biggest shows leading the way being super sentai and kamen rider. if you're an adult and you enjoy watching it too, no harm done.

that being said, do you think the effort to try to aim to such a young audience hinders the potential of these shows? there are many demands from toku fans demanding that these shows take on a more mature/darker theme (myself included), but can it still be done considering the target demographic?

my personal opinion is that it cannot be done, and that it does hinder the overall quality of the show by trying to appease the children that watch it. the writers (or whoever it is that develop the story and plot for the show) need not pay as much attention to detail because afterall, the children aren't sticking around for the story, its the action. older audiences that watch it might grumble and complain, but really nothing is ever going to be done about it. the rumored actors for kiba only reinforces the fact that the trend of actors and actresses that star in recent toku shows only get younger and prettier. they make very few concerned attempts to consider the cohesion of their story, and whatever they cannot finish, they simply tie it all up in one or two episodes into one big mess.

i might have went on a little tangent there, but my main point is, apart from those questions raised to you, is that tokusatsu shows can become so much more than what they are right now, all they have to do is switch the target demographic. before people start barraging me with titles of independent toku shows, i will say that i am biased in what i say because i do not watch any other series apart from kamen rider.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

Depends on what your definition of "mature" is. Frankly, I don't care for dark shows, that's just aesthetics anyway. But shows aimed at kids can definitely have mature substance. Look at Kamen Rider Agito, Jetman, Kamen Rider Hibiki, heck even Den-O has a pretty serious plot going on for all its comedy.

And outside of Sentai and Kamen Rider, there is a plethora of other series that aren't aimed at kids. Ultraman Nexus, Garo, Lion Maru G, Cutie Honey, Ultra Seven X, and that's just in recent years. But since apparently you don't watch those, you're really limiting yourself.

 

[x1xBladex1x]

As stated by Ryoutaro, there are toku shows that are not aimed toward younger audiences. As far as Kamen Rider & Super Sentai, yes it might be more entertaining for us if they made them a little more what you call "mature", but I'd say most adults wouldn't/don't watch Sentai anyways, so there wouldn't be much point in them changing it. Same with Kamen Rider, but I think adults would be more likely to watch Kamen Rider than Sentai. They make those for kids because kids would be more likely to watch them than adults anyhow. They make stuff that is different like Garo for older audiences because that is something that more adults would be more out to watch.
I agree where you said it seems the actors are getting younger, but I don't think they're getting "prettier".

 

[.desk]

sorry for not clarifying my definition of 'mature'. and i might have even used the wrong word. i think a better suited word would be 'grounded'.

it just seems to me that the toku shows never really seem to understand the magnitude of the responsibilities that come with being a superhero, and worse yet, they most often times fail to mention it. how is it possible that they can just easily henshin into their various forms in front of people without garnering any media attention? no public attention? as much as one would want to say that these shows are ficitional, the setting is still planet earth, and those kinda things do happen. where are the police? the fire department? the ambulances? wouldnt the country address this emergence of apparently extraterrestial life forms?

plus the burden of having to save the world is never addressed. at least in kamen rider shows, and super sentai as much as i can recall, being a superhero has never interfered with their normal life. they no longer have to go to school, no job, no livelihood, no parents. theyre just nomads apparently. they dont have to juggle any of the things that happen in their own normal life, if they even have one.

and the villains. theyve gotta be far more sinister than that if they intend to take over the world.

 

[x1xBladex1x]

Not all Tokus are as you named. & Since I know most about this one, I am going to use it as an example. Kamen Rider Blade. The main hero was already out of school, his parents were dead, being a Kamen Rider was his job, & he did talk about saving the world/humanity. He was on a big television thing at some point & everyone knew who he was because he transformed infront of people. The police wouldn't get involved because it's monsters they're fighting, they know they can't do anything. The riders pretty much dedicaded that small time period of their lives to being a hero. Tachibana, true, it never mentioned his parents, his gf died, he was too old to go to school & being a Kamen rider was his job. He didn't transform infront of everyone though, so that's why no one really knew about him. Chalice was an undead, & the few people that did know about him didn't say anything to everyone else. Leangle, we saw where his dad & mom where, but they didn't know about him being a rider, his gf & the other riders knew & that was about it. He went to school until the spider took him over completely & then he obviously didn't go home or to school after that because he was staying at that place where he took Amane when she lost eyesight due to the Joker's power. They pretty much covered the stuff that was talked about there. & In Kamen Rider Kabuto, they pretty much covered the school, job, & livelihood. Being a rider didn't really mess their lives up too much either & as far as Parents, Kagami's dad knew, Kabuto's were dead, Tsurugi's were dead, Daisuke was basically a loner, & it didn't tell about the rest, but they're not really important. Also it was half of them's job.

As far as Super Sentai, I can't say much there.

 

[.desk]

its almost like they purposely have them all removed out of the picture because they dont wanna deal with having to develop the whole story. sounds like laziness to me rather than coincidence.

 

[x1xBladex1x]

I think they try to make the heros have that practically alone with no family or anyone important type to add emotional crap or something. I really don't know there.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

There are a lot of series that deal with side effects of being a hero. Abaranger, Ryouga, Abarered had to deal with more or less being a father to Emi and being a hero. There was one praticular episode late in Dekaranger's run that made it fairly obvious that there was quite a bit of personal struggles these guys have. In Gaoranger, I think it was Gaoblack, that had to give up on his love because he was a ranger.

And the villains? They're not all out to take over the world. Look at the Undead, they were only fighting so they could live.

And the police? Have you not seen Kamen Rider Kuuga or Agito? They played big roles in there. Then you've got Ultraman Nexus where the defense team doesn't even trust him for the longest time and go as far as attacking him and even has a group going around erasing people's memories of Ultraman as to not cause panic.

 

[.desk]

hah touche. cant win you there since im not as diversified in the shows ive watched. i would like to see some consistency though. seems its only in some years we get to see some insight into some of those issues.

 

[x1xBladex1x]

I just noticed that you two both have Hibiki avatars.
XD Random & off topic, but the issue is pretty much settled anyways.