Hey Toei, can you hear me? It's time to stop rehashing themes.

[Amon]

Not really, as Boukenger's technically Adventure themed.

I know, but their mecha's were based on vehicles though.

 

[Loghorn]

Go-Buster was also cyberspace themed.

I mean a pure cyberspace theme throughout many episodes.

 

[Toku Prime]

I mean a pure cyberspace theme throughout many episodes.

As a survivor of the mid-nineties "virtual reality" craze, Go-Busters is just as much a show about virtual reality as VR Troopers was. The only difference is that somebody pointed out that the VR craze died out over 15 years ago and so they did a find/replace to change every instance of "cyberspace" in the script into "hyperspace".

Also, your first example was from 6 years ago. The audience that Toei are trying to get to watch Super Sentai hadn't been born when Go-Onger aired. It's the same with the rest of your examples; with the exception of a tiny percentage of die-hard fans who watch into adulthood (and who's impact on toy sales are negligable in the grand scheme of things), Sentai's audience will have completely changed by the time they've started using the theme again. Heck, there's probably a large percentage of ToQger's audience that only know the Gokaigers from their appearances in crossover films released since their series ended. It's the first time those children have seen a Sentai with that theme; it's fresh to them.

The thing is, ultimately this is a business. If a theme is attractive to children (and things like animals, fast cars etc have proven to be evergreen themes for attracting kids' attention and, more importantly, their parents' money) then they'll go for it, even if there's a small secondary fanbase that has seen it before.

 

[lazycoconut]

I agree with several of the points raised by other posters:

- Some motifs are repeated often because kids like them and they sell toys well

- Sentai's target audience is preschool-aged and they watch for about a year or two at the most. Most of Kyoryuger's target audience would not even have seen Gokaiger, let alone been alive when Zyuranger or Abaranger aired

- Knights and cowboys are not part of Japanese culture and would probably be only vaguely familiar to kids through the media, they may not be of much interest (and not on the level of ninja or samurai characters, for example)

- It makes sense to go with a "safe" toy theme if sales were low the previous year rather than try out something new that may not sell

I would be surprised if Toei tried a VR theme in the future. It's rather dated and after Go-Busters, they may well be wary of trying another military or tech theme (which reportedly have not been a hit with Japanese kids for some time and was itself a problem for Go-Busters)

 

[Amon]

- Sentai's target audience is preschool-aged and they watch for about a year or two at the most. Most of Kyoryuger's target audience would not even have seen Gokaiger

Gokaiger came out in 2011, it has not been that long. There's also the Gokaiger vs. Go-Busters movie from last year.
Kids after the age of four still like Pokemon and Pokemon has the same target audience as Sentai. I think most kids grow out of Sentai after 9 or 10. Just like how it is here in the US with Power Rangers.

 

[Black Ranger RX]

There's plenty of ideas that Toei can take risks on, & use, such as

1. Pure Cyberspace themed,

1. 
   
   Maybe...
   
   

   [*]Underwater themed,

   
   Aqua Sentai SnorkRanger?
   
   Also how are the Rangers supposed to fight underwater. Also are they supposed to wear wetsuits instead of spandex?
   
   

   [*]Cowboy/Western themed,

   
   No!! just no!!
   
   

   [*]Medievil themed,

   
   Boring!!
   
   EDIT: OK so some TV shows I watch are medieval themed but for some reason I just don't think it works for Sentai.
   
   Then again, ZyuRanger had these robo dinosaurs but I always found ZyuRanger confusing.
   
   

   [*]Greek Mythology themed,

   
   Also boring!!
   
   

   [*]Monster/Ghost themed,

   
   If it's anything like Super Sentai meets Scooby Doo then no!!
   
   

   [*]Dragon themed,

   
   Like a modern day Japanese version of Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog?]
   
   Maybe interesting.
   
   

   [*]Music themed (Kyoryuger is purely dino themed),

   
   Naaah!! Most recent Sentai music is camp, annoying and boring too. Gokaiger has the most annoying opening intro theme while Kyoryuger's Samba music is especially headache inducing.
   
   

   [*]Circus themed,

   
   No. Absolutely not. Tokkyuger may have been nightmarish but a circus themed Sentai not only takes the piss but also will be absolutely awkward for Saban to adapt into Power Rangers.
   
   Imagine if the Clown Rangers were to summon their Mecha by going "RAN RAN RUUUUUUUU!!!!"
   
   [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lI5YFVagu8M"]Ran Ran Ru - YouTube[/ame]
   
   

   [*]Outer space themed,

It's been done already (Denji Sentai MegaRanger), but still it's cool!!

 

[Amon]

Megaranger had very little to do with Space from what I've been told.

 

[Toku Prime]

Gokaiger came out in 2011, it has not been that long. I would imagine most kids who watch Kyoryuger started when Go-Oranger or Gekiranger aired and will likely stop after the age of 10. It seems like how it's here in the US since kids around my age group who watched MMPR seem to stop watching PR after LSR or Time Force.

Power Rangers is indeed aimed at children closer to that age range. Sentai is not. You are talking 3 to 5 years old. Just look at the kids dancing in Kyoryuger's closing credits - their submissions were chosen because they are meant to be "typical" viewers. For another example of this, Transformers is also regarded as a preschoolers franchise in Japan (to the point where the more serious series run by American staff, like Beast Wars or Prime, usually received gag dubs filled with jokes and puns when they were shown in Japan). In both cases, the expectation is that kids will move onto watching more typical mecha or shounen anime within a year or two.

 

[Scissors]

I find it funny that you are complaining that a franchise called "Super Sentai" is using too many military themes.

The military theme is a trademark for Super Sentai.
The word "sentai" basically means "military group" or "military unit"
It would be the same as complaining that Kamen Riders are always wearing masks.

And if you actually go back and watch every Sentai show from Goranger and onwards, you will see that there are plenty of different themes being used. The military theme will always be the main theme, but then you have all the secondary themes, which are used for the powers themselves.
We have had playing cards, nature, gymnastics, alien technology, mythology, science etc.

 

[lazycoconut]

Power Rangers is indeed aimed at children closer to that age range. Sentai is not. You are talking 3 to 5 years old. Just look at the kids dancing in Kyoryuger's closing credits - their submissions were chosen because they are meant to be "typical" viewers. For another example of this, Transformers is also regarded as a preschoolers franchise in Japan (to the point where the more serious series run by American staff, like Beast Wars or Prime, usually received gag dubs filled with jokes and puns when they were shown in Japan). In both cases, the expectation is that kids will move onto watching more typical mecha or shounen anime within a year or two.

I agree. English-speaking fans talk about Gekiranger like it's this mature, serious show, but its producer explicitly stated that its target audience was 3 to 5-year-old boys. Judging by the Kyoryuger ending credits, I can't see that has changed in subsequent years. Kamen Rider is pitched at a slightly older audience because once kids get to school age they start to move on from Sentai, so Toei/Bandai wants them to keep buying toys for a year or two longer.

Megaranger didn't really have anything to do with space, it was mostly about tech/computers with some cyberspace and VR stuff in there. Wasn't it mentioned at some point that there was a misunderstanding between Toei and Saban so Saban thought the footage would be space-themed and thus we got PRiS?