About campiness and sentai

[live jetabare]

In those forums, some people seem to dislike Go-Onger because of its comedic tone and for being over-the -top with its characters and story (I did enjoy Go-onger); more serious sentai like Gekiranger, Timeranger, Dairanger enjoy more respect.
However, Kakuranger and Carranger are much campier (and in my opinion, more funny) and aren't as much despised.
Does campiness really harm a series's quality, or did Go-onger mess up with the comedy and storyline? Can a sentai series be both completely camp AND good? Can campiness even help making a sentai series a classic one?
Your thoughts?
(sorry if my English isn't perfect, it's not my native language)

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

It's not so much that Kakuranger and Carranger are more campy as it is that the comedy in their series is done better than in Go-Onger. I like a good comedy, but it's just that, a good comedy, and I think Carranger definitely falls into that category. So, basically, yeah, a series can be campy and good at the same time.

 

[Beast King]

In those forums, some people seem to dislike Go-Onger because of its comedic tone and for being over-the -top with its characters and story (I did enjoy Go-onger); more serious sentai like Gekiranger, Timeranger, Dairanger enjoy more respect.
However, Kakuranger and Carranger are much campier (and in my opinion, more funny) and aren't as much despised.
Does campiness really harm a series's quality, or did Go-onger mess up with the comedy and storyline? Can a sentai series be both completely camp AND good?

As I've always said there is a difference between good quality comedy (The type that makes you laugh and you feel you can enjoy it) and absolute crap quality (Which is the comedy most fans detest which is not funny, lame and an absolute mockery of itself).

 

[KouAidou]

As I've always said there is a difference between good quality comedy (The type that makes you laugh and you feel you can enjoy it) and absolute crap quality (Which is the comedy most fans detest which is not funny, lame and an absolute mockery of itself).

And yet, some people find Go-Onger funny, so it's clearly not as simple as "good comedy" and "bad comedy."

The thing is, "Funny" is an extremely subjective term, moreso than most things in writing. But it's also really polarizing. People seem to get really angry when a comedy show doesn't appeal to them, much moreso then when a drama doesn't. (When the drama doesn't appeal, people just seem to get bored, which doesn't lend itself to ranting the same way.)

I think that in some ways, giving a show a "serious" tone is playing it safe. At best, people will think it's a marvelous artistic masterpiece, and at worst, they'll just be bored. If you make your series an abject comedy, some people might love it, but the people who don't will have extremely bitter reactions.

You can also disguise comedy and camp with a serious plot -- how the hell else is it possible that Gekiranger, whose protagonist is characterized by constant shouting and wrestling CGI pandas, is considered a "serious series"? When your plot is serious-shaped, it's as if people will ignore the comedic elements they don't like, and in discussion, pretend like they don't exist.

As for Carranger and Kakuranger, I can't say so much since I think the number of people who've seen them is vastly less in comparison the TVN-era series (I've seen Car personally, not Kaku). I do know people who love Carranger's comedy and hate Kakuranger's, though.

 

[Darkster]

If we're going to go into what's subjective and what's not subjective, let's just say all terms are subjective and be done with it.

 

[KouAidou]

If we're going to go into what's subjective and what's not subjective, let's just say all terms are subjective and be done with it.

Except that's exactly what I'm not doing. Maybe I should have said "personal" instead of "subjective"?

 

[Skiks]

If we're going to go into what's subjective and what's not subjective, let's just say all terms are subjective and be done with it.

Here I'll give a perfect example even though it's not Sentai. Akiko. Same idea applies. If she weren't over the top and more "normal" like say...Natsuki people would either like her or not care for her.

 

[Scissors]

When adding Anime slapstick comedy to a live-action series, you are bound to end up with a bad product. Go-Onger falls into this category. There are just some things that can't be transferred from Anime to live-action. It just doesn’t look right.
Imagine adding Hanna Barbera effects into an American sitcom. It simply wouldn't work visually.

If you now look at Carranger, you will see that it as actually real comedy that didn't seem out of place.
This show was meant to be one big parody of Sentai, and it worked really well. It mainly took a piss at the campiness that most Sentai shows have, where many of the older fans could nod and giggle.

Another good example would be Ryukendo. I have never seen a toku show that made me laugh as much as Ryukendo did. Again, it didn't take itself too seriously and seemed more like an overall toku-parody. It had a wonderful mix of clever one-liners, word play and slapstick that was not over the top.

The Japanese have an insane sense of humor, which is actually very funny in itself. Let cartoon humor stay in the cartoons.

 

[Skiks]

Imagine adding Hanna Barbera effects into an American sitcom. It simply wouldn't work visually.

I think show like The Three Stooges, Family Matters, and hell even the Adams Family have this sort of cartoony humor that works in live action.
To be seriously fair Den-O's comedy does appeal to someone considering how popular it is in japan. You just may not like it. And Den-O has the crazy over the top humor Go-onger had.

 

[Darkster]

Except that's exactly what I'm not doing. Maybe I should have said "personal" instead of "subjective"?

Chaning it now won't help since you'll have the same meaning.

Here I'll give a perfect example even though it's not Sentai. Akiko. Same idea applies. If she weren't over the top and more "normal" like say...Natsuki people would either like her or not care for her.

Who's Natsuki?

Anyway, people will either like her, not care for her, or hate her no matter what. It just happens.