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A lot of people talk about how the early Heisei Kamen Rider shows (Kuuga to Hibiki) have aged and how it was such a different era for Kamen Rider compared to the stuff now. I know there are some talks about how the early 2000s sentai have aged here and there, but thought I'd make an actual thread for it. I'm particularly referring to the Gaoranger to Magiranger run of shows.
I remember about five years ago when the Carranger to Timeranger run of shows had become the then "new old school" sentai and people were starting to look at them in many different ways due to how they've aged as time went on. It's been a little over seven years since the finale of Magiranger aired, and looking at the stuff from Gao to Magi, many things have changed for the sentai franchise since then. This run of shows seems to have their own styles that made them unique during the time of the early 2000s. This was also the era before sentai started getting into trouble, starting with Boukenger.
We've also got two prominent chief producers (before Toei started changing them around every year like they do now) who succeeded chief producer Shigenori Takatera (Car, Mega, Ginga, Kuuga, first half of Hibiki, Daimajin Kanon). Jun Hikasa (GoGoFive to Abaranger, Kamen Rider Blade, Bouken, Go-on, 2/3 of Gosei, Akiba) and Hideaki Tsukada (Deka, Magi, Geki, W, Fourze). Hikasa worked closely with three primary writers: Junki Takegami (Mega, GoGoFive, Gao, Go-on), Yasuko Kobayashi (Ginga, Time, Ryuki, PGSM, Den-O, Shinken, OOO, Go-Busters), and Junichi Miyashita (Kamen Rider Black with Noboru Sugimura, Exceedraft, Janperson, Blue SWAT, B-Fighter, B-Fighter Kabuto, Hurricaneger).
In Japan, all five of these shows seem to be very fondly remembered.
Gaoranger (Hikasa/Takegami): Seems to be a basic fun sentai show for the Japanese audience to enjoy. Plus, toy collectors really enjoyed the high quality toys of the Power Animals.
Hurricaneger (Hikasa/Miyashita): You know, lately I've started to question if it's Hurricaneger that's really popular, or if it's just Nao Nagasawa herself. Like, Nanami to some extent seems to be treated as the Black Condor of the early 2000s as far as popularity goes.
Abaranger (Hikasa/Arakawa): Seems to be fondly remembered by the Japanese fanbase and did break a lot of ground as far as sentai storytelling goes. Like a story where a hero loses his wife to evil (Asuka and Mahoro). A hero being a father-like character (Ryouga). And the concept of a pure evil ranger (Mikoto). Also the very first sentai written by Naruhisa Arakawa.
Dekaranger (Tsukada/Arakawa): One of the most popular sentai of the early 2000s. Taking the format of a cop show style, Dekaranger like Abaranger also broke a lot of new ground for the franchise. It lifted a lot of Sentai's usual tropes and did a completely new spin on them, creating very unique stories for each episode, while still feeling like a Sentai show.
Magiranger (Tsukada/Maekawa): The last sentai to not be filmed in HD. And also the last sentai before Sentai got into trouble during the whole Bouken-Kyoryu run. Also very popular, riding off of the then massive popularity of fantasy and mystical stuff like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings in Japan. Like many shows of this era (and even the late 90s as well), Magiranger has a lot of focus on plot and world building, especially in comparison to many of the shows that would be coming after. Deka and Magi (and even Geki) also had noticeably much less mecha compared to the next several shows. Magi and Geki are also some of the last couple of shows where we'd have long story arcs and even frequently have a MOTW that could last for more than one episode.
Anybody else have any thoughts about how this era has aged in your eyes?
I remember about five years ago when the Carranger to Timeranger run of shows had become the then "new old school" sentai and people were starting to look at them in many different ways due to how they've aged as time went on. It's been a little over seven years since the finale of Magiranger aired, and looking at the stuff from Gao to Magi, many things have changed for the sentai franchise since then. This run of shows seems to have their own styles that made them unique during the time of the early 2000s. This was also the era before sentai started getting into trouble, starting with Boukenger.
We've also got two prominent chief producers (before Toei started changing them around every year like they do now) who succeeded chief producer Shigenori Takatera (Car, Mega, Ginga, Kuuga, first half of Hibiki, Daimajin Kanon). Jun Hikasa (GoGoFive to Abaranger, Kamen Rider Blade, Bouken, Go-on, 2/3 of Gosei, Akiba) and Hideaki Tsukada (Deka, Magi, Geki, W, Fourze). Hikasa worked closely with three primary writers: Junki Takegami (Mega, GoGoFive, Gao, Go-on), Yasuko Kobayashi (Ginga, Time, Ryuki, PGSM, Den-O, Shinken, OOO, Go-Busters), and Junichi Miyashita (Kamen Rider Black with Noboru Sugimura, Exceedraft, Janperson, Blue SWAT, B-Fighter, B-Fighter Kabuto, Hurricaneger).
In Japan, all five of these shows seem to be very fondly remembered.
Gaoranger (Hikasa/Takegami): Seems to be a basic fun sentai show for the Japanese audience to enjoy. Plus, toy collectors really enjoyed the high quality toys of the Power Animals.
Hurricaneger (Hikasa/Miyashita): You know, lately I've started to question if it's Hurricaneger that's really popular, or if it's just Nao Nagasawa herself. Like, Nanami to some extent seems to be treated as the Black Condor of the early 2000s as far as popularity goes.
Abaranger (Hikasa/Arakawa): Seems to be fondly remembered by the Japanese fanbase and did break a lot of ground as far as sentai storytelling goes. Like a story where a hero loses his wife to evil (Asuka and Mahoro). A hero being a father-like character (Ryouga). And the concept of a pure evil ranger (Mikoto). Also the very first sentai written by Naruhisa Arakawa.
Dekaranger (Tsukada/Arakawa): One of the most popular sentai of the early 2000s. Taking the format of a cop show style, Dekaranger like Abaranger also broke a lot of new ground for the franchise. It lifted a lot of Sentai's usual tropes and did a completely new spin on them, creating very unique stories for each episode, while still feeling like a Sentai show.
Magiranger (Tsukada/Maekawa): The last sentai to not be filmed in HD. And also the last sentai before Sentai got into trouble during the whole Bouken-Kyoryu run. Also very popular, riding off of the then massive popularity of fantasy and mystical stuff like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings in Japan. Like many shows of this era (and even the late 90s as well), Magiranger has a lot of focus on plot and world building, especially in comparison to many of the shows that would be coming after. Deka and Magi (and even Geki) also had noticeably much less mecha compared to the next several shows. Magi and Geki are also some of the last couple of shows where we'd have long story arcs and even frequently have a MOTW that could last for more than one episode.
Anybody else have any thoughts about how this era has aged in your eyes?