Do you want Sentai team with one or two girls?

[lazycoconut]

While I can see your point in theory, I'm not sure it applies in practice. I tend to think that when there is two girls on the team, you can fall into the trap of having one of them be the over-the-top girly one (with the other girl bringing balance), whereas when you have only one girl, she has to be a balanced character on her own.
I mean, one of the weakest Pink in Sentai history (apart from Diane Martin, but she doesn't count) was Pink Five from Bioman, that is to say from the very first Sentai to have two female members. Now compare her to Dynapink, which was a much better balanced character.
If you want a more recent example, compare Ranru (balanced character and only girl in the team) to Umeko (girly half of a girl duo).

If there's only one girl on a team, often the show will still do the "tomboy/girly girl" dynamic, but with a supporting character to balance the Ranger. E.g. girly Nanami vs tough Oboro, girly Emiri vs tough Ranru.

When there's only one girl, the writers will usually feel the need to "remind" the audience that she's female, as if it's the most important thing about her character. Thus the character will be taken over by a romance plot, often in a way that feels tacked on (Heart Queen, TimePink, GingaPink) or she'll just be sidelined so that the Red can shine (Ninja White, GekiYellow.) That's less likely to happen in a team with two female Rangers

Goseiger was the only recent series where both actresses were above 20 when they were casted and then we started getting younger girls all over again. then again, Toei hates casting anybody in their late 20s and Baba Ryoma, like Sato Rika, said he didn't have confidence in passing the audition because of his age.

There was a leaked Go-Busters casting directive that asked for guys 16-25 and girls 14-23. So Baba was already outside of their ideal age range. I think he got the role because the character is supposed to be a "big brother" type, like Go-on Gold - hence they are both older than most of the recent cast members.

Toei seems to think that women magically turn into shrivelled old hags at the age of 21 and they won't sell to fanboys. Which is just sad. Who among the Henshin Hottie regulars would say no to Nagasawa Nao, Kinoshita Ayumi or Namai Ami (all late 20s to early 30s)? :disappoin

One.

If we get two it usually a really girly one, and a serious one. Sakura & Natsuki, Jasmine & Umeko, Haruka & Momoko, Luka & Ahim.

The greatest female characters in super sentai ( Tsurihime, Yuri, Maria Nagisa, Nanami,) have been the only female on their team.

What about Yellow Four II or the Jetman and Flashman girls? All were strong heroines on a team of two. I think it really depends how the female characters are written, not how many of them there are.

I'd go so far as to say that Sun Vulcan, which has no female Rangers but made up for them with villainesses, had a better handle on female characters than some series with multiple women on the team.

 

[masorick]

If there's only one girl on a team, often the show will still do the "tomboy/girly girl" dynamic, but with a supporting character to balance the Ranger. E.g. girly Nanami vs tough Oboro, girly Emiri vs tough Ranru.

Not necessarily, but fair enough.

When there's only one girl, the writers will usually feel the need to "remind" the audience that she's female, as if it's the most important thing about her character. Thus the character will be taken over by a romance plot, often in a way that feels tacked on (Heart Queen, TimePink, GingaPink) or she'll just be sidelined so that the Red can shine (Ninja White, GekiYellow.) That's less likely to happen in a team with two female Rangers

Okay, two things:
1. About the romance plot: two of those you mentioned were written by Yasuko Kobayashi. Given the amount of shipping that went on in Shinkenger, I think it has more to do with Kobayashi enjoying writing romance than anything. Besides, a romance plot was pretty much at the heart of Jetman, which had two female members.
2. About getting sidelined: I disagree on both examples you mentioned.
— In Kakuranger, Ninja White was very much at the centre of everything, and she was NEVER sidelined. The whole father plot—who made up the last arc—was about her, and she led her teammates in battle pretty much everytime. The only thing that Sasuke got was a new sword, and that's it.
— In Geki, every character that wasn't Jan was neglected. It was also a rare occurence: the only show I can think of who went to that extent was Mystic Force.

What about Yellow Four II or the Jetman and Flashman girls? All were strong heroines on a team of two. I think it really depends how the female characters are written, not how many of them there are.

Exactly.
I just think the writers are more careful not to **** up the female character when one is all they get, whereas they tend to make careless mistakes when there is a "spare girl" around.

 

[lazycoconut]

Okay, two things:
1. About the romance plot: two of those you mentioned were written by Yasuko Kobayashi. Given the amount of shipping that went on in Shinkenger, I think it has more to do with Kobayashi enjoying writing romance than anything. Besides, a romance plot was pretty much at the heart of Jetman, which had two female members.
2. About getting sidelined: I disagree on both examples you mentioned.
— In Kakuranger, Ninja White was very much at the centre of everything, and she was NEVER sidelined. The whole father plot—who made up the last arc—was about her, and she led her teammates in battle pretty much everytime. The only thing that Sasuke got was a new sword, and that's it.
— In Geki, every character that wasn't Jan was neglected. It was also a rare occurence: the only show I can think of who went to that extent was Mystic Force.

OK, I can see where you're coming from with both of those

Exactly.
I just think the writers are more careful not to **** up the female character when one is all they get, whereas they tend to make careless mistake when there is a "spare girl" around.

I'd also bear in mind that a lot of the best lone female Rangers were written at a time when Sentai had an older target audience and generally better writing/story than it has now. Since about 2000, lone girls on a team have ranged from very good (Yuuri, Ranru) to OK-ish (Sae, Nanami) to pretty flat (Ran, Saki before the Wings arrived)

 

[Sentaifan'07 Xman]

I really don't care much for gender. As long as the characters are well-written that's all that matters.

 

[Black Ranger RX]

I'd like an ALL female team!! :169:

All Rangers be females, 6th Ranger be female, the only male on the team would be the weird Alpha-5-alike.

 

[Painted_Outlaw]

— In Kakuranger, Ninja White was very much at the centre of everything, and she was NEVER sidelined. The whole father plot—who made up the last arc—was about her, and she led her teammates in battle pretty much everytime. The only thing that Sasuke got was a new sword, and that's it.

Hey, some of the guys got cool scenes too. Jiraiya had the deal with Gali and Sasuke had the rescue in episode 16, his Chounin beast episode and the Daradara arc rescue scene(s).

 

[masorick]

I know.

The thing is, when the issue of non-leading Reds comes up, people like to point out that Red is still the hero, that he still gets to be the center of attention, and that he still gets to lead the team in battle most of the time.
While it may be true in some series, it's clearly not the case in Kakuranger: Sasuke is the POV character, sure, but Tsuruhime gets the plot and leads the team.

 

[Go-Onger]

^Like Timeranger. People say Yuri is leader, yet Tatsuya is always the one making calls on the ground battles, mech, and the plot is mainly focused around him.

Besides the first two episodes and Yuri character ep, I dont see any reason why she people think she is the leader.

At least in Kaku, they made it clear that while Sasuke is the POV, Tsurihime is the boss. She is the first ranger, the one who helps all the others get their powers, most of the plot was revolved around her... their really is no arguing that.

 

[Black Fang]

I'd like an ALL female team!! :169:

 

[rangergod]

One.

If we get two it usually a really girly one, and a serious one. Sakura & Natsuki, Jasmine & Umeko, Haruka & Momoko, Luka & Ahim.

The greatest female characters in super sentai ( Tsurihime, Yuri, Maria Nagisa, Nanami,) have been the only female on their team.

But dosent make team a huge sausage fest? Is it better to have more female members for the female members for female fans.