We're already toku nuts because this is the stuff we like, so it's easy for US to take it seriously and want a little more out of it. But to the average joe who doesnt know Toku outside of Power Rangers, it's not going to work.
Gee golly willickers, as if Godzilla, Gamera and classic tokusatsu eiga never existed . . .
Anyway, I don't think that PR will ruin Japanese superheroes forever. I still think they need
much more exposure. The American public won't take chances, not just because these shows are
too violent, but they are outrageously racist. They have issues with TV shows with an all-Asian cast (because they want more "political correctness" - They want white, black, hispanic and other races on the show for people to relate to; That's why Super Sentai and other shows have been "Americanized" since 1993). Even if they did bring these shows to the US the way we wanted them, they'd be shown at, like, 6am or some ungodly hour. And remember, Americans still hate Japanese-anything (I guess they can't get over WWII?), especially Japanese sci-fi because they hate Godzilla movies as well ("cheap and cheesy SPFX," "CGI is better," yab-yab-yab). As a lifelong tokusatsu fan (
AND I MEAN NOT JUST SUPERHERO STUFF!!!!!), I detest this kind of view.
Yet anime, or rather,
crap anime (no
good anime) gets brought to the US, and most of them are shown prime-time or late at night. I guess it's because the public can't see "Japs" when they picture "anime." Plus, anime is suffering from the same stigma in the US as animation in general (Anime is looked upon as a genre; In this case, a bubble-gum pop video game genre for teenage girls or older fanboys). It's all a political double-standard.
But you can't try to discourage me from trying. I have
always been fighting this **** for YEARS. I'm quite bitter about it.
And crap like this Americanized Masked Rider series is not helping matters much.