MrMonk
Member
Pretty much what I was getting at.
Japan Hero Era vs. HJU Era - Are Things Better or Worse?
- Thread starter Keith Justice
- Start date
Pretty much what I was getting at.
Shoichi
Lurker
this is the most likely case!
Igadevil
Mr. Kamen Rider
Since I am older than dirt, I'll weigh in with this bit of prehistoric wisdom.
First of all, nothing against Japan Hero, or HJU, but I don't define eras by them. There were other Tokusatsu sites before either, but even those aren't important. What's important is that there's the Pre-Igadevil Era When Everything Sucked (PIEWES) and then there's The Post-Igadevil Era When Everything Is Awesome (PIEWEIA.)
That said, are things better now than they used to be? By and large, yes.
I can't disagree, with more exposure comes a bigger audience, with a bigger audience comes a lot more dissenting views... on the other hand, it's not like everybody got along 'back then' either. There were people at each others' throats in the fanzine days, and on usenet, and the days when Japan Hero was still Classic Hero and those weird BBS forums were still a viable means of communication (and nobody saw a problem with the acronym BBS.) Egos running rampant and petty arguments over the goofiest little things. Actually, I think we're in much better shape now than when I first started out online.
I remember the Yahoo Kamen Rider Club being a veritable minefield at times, with people complaining about Kuuga having too many bikes (yes, you just read that) and arguments over Riderman's validity as a Rider (I wish I got a dollar every time the "__________" is/isn't a true Rider" thing comes up.) Alas, the original version is lost to the ages, but that's where I read my first-ever review of Agito's premiere- completely ripping it a new one.
But rewind for a minute, to where I mention there was even a Yahoo Kamen Rider Club. For all the posts I see about how nobody cares about Ultraman anymore or whatever it is... these things work in waves. I remember a time when it was hard to find anyone taking Gamera seriously, compared to Godzilla, and even that had already been such a small niche thing at the time. Then the new Gamera movies came along, and suddenly he's on the same level of Godzilla, and both of them are still better than "that superhero crap". Of course Toho being Toho made it harder to be a Godzilla fan (this is before the movies are getting released on DVD in the US by the boatload) and I remember very conscious embracing of Ultraman, the failed "Expressions in Animation" relaunch, and the weird stabs at bringing Ultraman to America via comics (the "Towards the Future" comic being on of the keystones of my childhood, because it was probably the first time I realized that you could **** up even the best of things.)
And all during this, you could have counted the number of Kamen Rider forums on one hand, maybe. It wasn't until Kuuga that people started really talking about it again, and not until Ryuki that the big influx really lifted off, and it just kept growing from there. And if things are pretty Rider and Sentai-centric now, well, that's how it is. It'll change eventually. Ultraman's going to come back on TV. Godzilla will resurface. Maybe some new show will come along and blow us all away. Who knows?
And really, if you look hard enough, you can find someone talking about just about anything on the internet. Maybe not at HJU, but then why not open it up yourself? I posted about the recent passing of Spectreman's actor knowing full well that probably a handful of people here have even heard of the show, let alone seen it. But there were still replies, even from people who haven't seen Spectreman, because you don't always have to have extensive knowledge in something to know when it matters to someone. That's something I love about fans.
Of course, there's a shopping list of shows I'll never get around to watching either. I don't feel I need to, or I just don't have the time with all the other stuff on my plate. But other people still like them, and that's great. Even if people are never going to watch the older Riders, and that's fine, as long as they still understand why they're important, and that I love them, that's enough. A little bit of respect goes a long way.
But moving beyond all that, I think we're in good shape.
Access to stuff has improved significantly. Information's easier to find, be it legit or just flighty rumors. You should have seen the "spoilers" of 2002 and earlier compared to what we get now. Sure, there's still Kamen Rider THE PIXEL, but at least there's actual photos and stuff, not just the secret list of all 13 Riders found by that guy's uncle's friend who works as a janitor at Toei in the dumpster. While I do sort of miss the element of surprise, there's now the heightened anticipation.
You can get whole episode lists online, not to mention staff and actor credits, and more. For a couple years my sole reference point on Kamen Rider's airdates was a fanzine article! Getting toys and merchandise is easier than it used to be, CDs even more so.
As mentioned, whole series can be downloaded! With subtitles, no less. I don't watch subs myself, but I have a lot of respect for the people working to bring them to others. And you can even watch new episodes as they air in Japan. A couple years ago, you still had to wait a couple hours/a day for an episode to turn up online. I remember a time when you had to wait a month for four episodes of a new show. That's an amazing achievement in a relatively short amount of time.
Movies are about the only thing that you still need to reeeeeeally wait on if you're outside Japan, but hey- you can go download All Riders for free right now, weeks before most people here will be able to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray. And at least you can read about what happens in the movie, if you so choose, though that's been going on for a while (I remember Jill's Episode Final review, which probably prompted me to start doing my own when I first had the chance.) And there's the magazine scans again- I don't think I saw anything on the 90's Rider movies aside from month-late Terebi Magazines, until seeing the actual movies.
I forgot where I was going with this so I'll end it there. But yeah, it's a good time to be a fan, even for a fossil like me who still thinks the first Kamen Rider is the best and goes on for too long in every post. Because I know at least someone out there still just read all of this!
First of all, nothing against Japan Hero, or HJU, but I don't define eras by them. There were other Tokusatsu sites before either, but even those aren't important. What's important is that there's the Pre-Igadevil Era When Everything Sucked (PIEWES) and then there's The Post-Igadevil Era When Everything Is Awesome (PIEWEIA.)
That said, are things better now than they used to be? By and large, yes.
I can't disagree, with more exposure comes a bigger audience, with a bigger audience comes a lot more dissenting views... on the other hand, it's not like everybody got along 'back then' either. There were people at each others' throats in the fanzine days, and on usenet, and the days when Japan Hero was still Classic Hero and those weird BBS forums were still a viable means of communication (and nobody saw a problem with the acronym BBS.) Egos running rampant and petty arguments over the goofiest little things. Actually, I think we're in much better shape now than when I first started out online.
I remember the Yahoo Kamen Rider Club being a veritable minefield at times, with people complaining about Kuuga having too many bikes (yes, you just read that) and arguments over Riderman's validity as a Rider (I wish I got a dollar every time the "__________" is/isn't a true Rider" thing comes up.) Alas, the original version is lost to the ages, but that's where I read my first-ever review of Agito's premiere- completely ripping it a new one.
But rewind for a minute, to where I mention there was even a Yahoo Kamen Rider Club. For all the posts I see about how nobody cares about Ultraman anymore or whatever it is... these things work in waves. I remember a time when it was hard to find anyone taking Gamera seriously, compared to Godzilla, and even that had already been such a small niche thing at the time. Then the new Gamera movies came along, and suddenly he's on the same level of Godzilla, and both of them are still better than "that superhero crap". Of course Toho being Toho made it harder to be a Godzilla fan (this is before the movies are getting released on DVD in the US by the boatload) and I remember very conscious embracing of Ultraman, the failed "Expressions in Animation" relaunch, and the weird stabs at bringing Ultraman to America via comics (the "Towards the Future" comic being on of the keystones of my childhood, because it was probably the first time I realized that you could **** up even the best of things.)
And all during this, you could have counted the number of Kamen Rider forums on one hand, maybe. It wasn't until Kuuga that people started really talking about it again, and not until Ryuki that the big influx really lifted off, and it just kept growing from there. And if things are pretty Rider and Sentai-centric now, well, that's how it is. It'll change eventually. Ultraman's going to come back on TV. Godzilla will resurface. Maybe some new show will come along and blow us all away. Who knows?
And really, if you look hard enough, you can find someone talking about just about anything on the internet. Maybe not at HJU, but then why not open it up yourself? I posted about the recent passing of Spectreman's actor knowing full well that probably a handful of people here have even heard of the show, let alone seen it. But there were still replies, even from people who haven't seen Spectreman, because you don't always have to have extensive knowledge in something to know when it matters to someone. That's something I love about fans.
Of course, there's a shopping list of shows I'll never get around to watching either. I don't feel I need to, or I just don't have the time with all the other stuff on my plate. But other people still like them, and that's great. Even if people are never going to watch the older Riders, and that's fine, as long as they still understand why they're important, and that I love them, that's enough. A little bit of respect goes a long way.
But moving beyond all that, I think we're in good shape.
Access to stuff has improved significantly. Information's easier to find, be it legit or just flighty rumors. You should have seen the "spoilers" of 2002 and earlier compared to what we get now. Sure, there's still Kamen Rider THE PIXEL, but at least there's actual photos and stuff, not just the secret list of all 13 Riders found by that guy's uncle's friend who works as a janitor at Toei in the dumpster. While I do sort of miss the element of surprise, there's now the heightened anticipation.
You can get whole episode lists online, not to mention staff and actor credits, and more. For a couple years my sole reference point on Kamen Rider's airdates was a fanzine article! Getting toys and merchandise is easier than it used to be, CDs even more so.
As mentioned, whole series can be downloaded! With subtitles, no less. I don't watch subs myself, but I have a lot of respect for the people working to bring them to others. And you can even watch new episodes as they air in Japan. A couple years ago, you still had to wait a couple hours/a day for an episode to turn up online. I remember a time when you had to wait a month for four episodes of a new show. That's an amazing achievement in a relatively short amount of time.
Movies are about the only thing that you still need to reeeeeeally wait on if you're outside Japan, but hey- you can go download All Riders for free right now, weeks before most people here will be able to buy the DVD/Blu-Ray. And at least you can read about what happens in the movie, if you so choose, though that's been going on for a while (I remember Jill's Episode Final review, which probably prompted me to start doing my own when I first had the chance.) And there's the magazine scans again- I don't think I saw anything on the 90's Rider movies aside from month-late Terebi Magazines, until seeing the actual movies.
I forgot where I was going with this so I'll end it there. But yeah, it's a good time to be a fan, even for a fossil like me who still thinks the first Kamen Rider is the best and goes on for too long in every post. Because I know at least someone out there still just read all of this!
Last edited:
FreedomR8G6B1
New Member
It felt like nothing changed really...sans...everyone doing the podcast thing, which demonstrates how insane some of us are.:sly:
Raida|23
Member
I wasnt a part of the english online fandom until a couple of years ago, I had some (italian) friends that like this stuff and most of them were [still are] offline, so I usually was hangin with them. Suddendly, almost 3 years ago a good 90% of them lost interest/do not have time anymore. So I decided to try the english fandom -here in Italy we're very very few, and not so vocal. I joined a bunch of boards, and so on. In just two years and a half, this place has changed a bit.
It's true that right now you can pretty much found a lot of stuff easily, and before it wasnt, but I'm not so sure this is all good. I mean that sometimes I see people -especially "new" fans- that are demandin stuff, it almost looks it's their right. And if I think that just tenm years ago I had to buy shitty VHS copies of japanese shows/movies from Bahrain [it's happened, I swear- I feel a bit depressed. Granted, I appreciate the fandom has the chance to find info and stuffn more easily, it's the arrogance I dont like.
Anyway, back to the time I first joined a bunch of boards; before joinin, I lurked a bit, just to see what was goin on. I see someone said JH have arrogant people, that thinks they're superior. Well, there are here too. JH forn me is the place where most serious conversations goin on; this do not mean that atHJU there aren't any, it0s just that you to avoid the one liners post [examples:":castlerock:", or "nice scans!!1!!", or "agreed"], basically all this spam. And also, there's often the chance that if you say something you'll be "flamed". If you say you like new stuff, someone will ask you why you dont like old shows, while someone else will jump at your throat yellin that you're not a true fan and that's he's the only one knowin about toku. That's what I "hate" here, it almost looks that someone stays here not for the fun/the shows/the infos, but just to constantly tell others "i've the bigger dick". E-penis, I think it's called.
The much fans thing, finally. Of course it's good, but, there's a but. Much people usually means much more rudeness/less respect. Much people means more dickheads [and i know some of you will tell now "one is talkin now, Raida|23"]. Much people sometimes means less depth discussions [if you look here, 7 out of 10 threads go a bit OT, and the real sense of the conversation get lost]. It's these things that I dont like. of course, I'm happy tokusatsu is more known, I'm happy more people likes it. It's just that...
Sorry for the long post.
It's true that right now you can pretty much found a lot of stuff easily, and before it wasnt, but I'm not so sure this is all good. I mean that sometimes I see people -especially "new" fans- that are demandin stuff, it almost looks it's their right. And if I think that just tenm years ago I had to buy shitty VHS copies of japanese shows/movies from Bahrain [it's happened, I swear- I feel a bit depressed. Granted, I appreciate the fandom has the chance to find info and stuffn more easily, it's the arrogance I dont like.
Anyway, back to the time I first joined a bunch of boards; before joinin, I lurked a bit, just to see what was goin on. I see someone said JH have arrogant people, that thinks they're superior. Well, there are here too. JH forn me is the place where most serious conversations goin on; this do not mean that atHJU there aren't any, it0s just that you to avoid the one liners post [examples:":castlerock:", or "nice scans!!1!!", or "agreed"], basically all this spam. And also, there's often the chance that if you say something you'll be "flamed". If you say you like new stuff, someone will ask you why you dont like old shows, while someone else will jump at your throat yellin that you're not a true fan and that's he's the only one knowin about toku. That's what I "hate" here, it almost looks that someone stays here not for the fun/the shows/the infos, but just to constantly tell others "i've the bigger dick". E-penis, I think it's called.
The much fans thing, finally. Of course it's good, but, there's a but. Much people usually means much more rudeness/less respect. Much people means more dickheads [and i know some of you will tell now "one is talkin now, Raida|23"]. Much people sometimes means less depth discussions [if you look here, 7 out of 10 threads go a bit OT, and the real sense of the conversation get lost]. It's these things that I dont like. of course, I'm happy tokusatsu is more known, I'm happy more people likes it. It's just that...
Sorry for the long post.
urugoji
Member
I think the key to why people usually won't branch off of Kamen Rider and Sentai is because those are sure things. We've been getting nonstop Kamen Rider for 10 years, and nonstop Sentai for 33! I love Ultraman, but the release dates are so sporadic, made harder by the fact they've only done movies for the past few years. Non-franchise stuff has a similar problem. People will follow what is currently making products.
Also, about the old-new argument, I get a kick out of old stuff 'cuz it's so darn goofy, with consistent flashes of awesomeness. But not everyone's into it. And that's fine. They don't have to like everything. It's like saying someone doesn't like chicken wings because they don't like all the sauces at Quaker Steak and Lube (which is an awesome restaurant BTW).
Let's just watch what we like and be happy that today's technology allows us to watch it :thumbs:
Also, about the old-new argument, I get a kick out of old stuff 'cuz it's so darn goofy, with consistent flashes of awesomeness. But not everyone's into it. And that's fine. They don't have to like everything. It's like saying someone doesn't like chicken wings because they don't like all the sauces at Quaker Steak and Lube (which is an awesome restaurant BTW).
Let's just watch what we like and be happy that today's technology allows us to watch it :thumbs:
Undrave
CRETINS! ALL OF THEM!
Wait... what? That happened? Here? :sly: When?! I must be missing some episodes because people keep saying this happens here and I'm not seeing it at all!
S
scikaiju
Guest
used to happen a lot, I've think it's gone down some but it still around
I've been trying to reply to this post for a while, but I kept throwing out my replies. They were too long winded... and this one is too. But I give up on trying to be short and concise.
In the "JH Era", I stayed away from major forums for fear of just being treated like a n00b. Because really? Lot of elitism going on in places. But that didn't mean I didn't lurk or seek out /anything/ tokusatsu-related. I can kind of see where the article is going in that sense - because I personally did try and seek out anything tokusatsu because I was just a crazy kid with all the time in the world. (Plus, that's all I could do. You couldn't easily pick and choose what you wanted to see, I settled for getting /whatever/ I could.)
Now... well. I will admit that I think things are better for fandom. With the increased accessibility and increased number of fans, I doubt I would've been as wary to join in on discussions. People shouldn't be afraid of joining a fandom. Hell, I never even dreamed of a tokusatsu forum being as big (and accepting) as the one here. I never even imagined watching tokusatsu subbed without shelling out for some VCDs. Now it's a piece of cake to get things. This is great for fandom, it makes things accessible to new fans. And really, we should be happy the love is getting spread.
I will admit I've /personally/ had difficulty handling some fans. I've always been a super serious person, and while I've learned to lighten up a bit and just have fun, it gets annoying each year the Sentai and Rider series are thought to be the BEST SERIES EVER.
But really? That's how people are. There are still the fans that are open to both old and new things and interested in the genre itself. They're the ones that will be around forever. Plus, with a more open and accessible fandom, we get the chance to meet some fans that never would've joined us in the past.
In the "JH Era", I stayed away from major forums for fear of just being treated like a n00b. Because really? Lot of elitism going on in places. But that didn't mean I didn't lurk or seek out /anything/ tokusatsu-related. I can kind of see where the article is going in that sense - because I personally did try and seek out anything tokusatsu because I was just a crazy kid with all the time in the world. (Plus, that's all I could do. You couldn't easily pick and choose what you wanted to see, I settled for getting /whatever/ I could.)
Now... well. I will admit that I think things are better for fandom. With the increased accessibility and increased number of fans, I doubt I would've been as wary to join in on discussions. People shouldn't be afraid of joining a fandom. Hell, I never even dreamed of a tokusatsu forum being as big (and accepting) as the one here. I never even imagined watching tokusatsu subbed without shelling out for some VCDs. Now it's a piece of cake to get things. This is great for fandom, it makes things accessible to new fans. And really, we should be happy the love is getting spread.
I will admit I've /personally/ had difficulty handling some fans. I've always been a super serious person, and while I've learned to lighten up a bit and just have fun, it gets annoying each year the Sentai and Rider series are thought to be the BEST SERIES EVER.
But really? That's how people are. There are still the fans that are open to both old and new things and interested in the genre itself. They're the ones that will be around forever. Plus, with a more open and accessible fandom, we get the chance to meet some fans that never would've joined us in the past.
Similar threads
