There's never in the history of tokusatsu that had a premise like Decade. Toss out the comparsions here with PR. There are anniversary series, sure, it's here almost every other year, from 35th year of KR, or 70th birthday of Ishinomori. Decade is built around the idea of old riders, a celebration of ten years of it.
I'd say the Super Sentai film as indeed an apt comparison. If they aren't a celebration of the wide range of Super Sentai, than I don't know what is.
The Kivaara budget cut just tells me that TOEI's been using more money on other stuff, like the guest actors. Notice that Kiva never cut down on Kivat's animation. He was CGI for 95% of the time. It makes me wonder where their budget is going, seeing how they don't actually have a whole lot of new things to make...
I'll tell you probably where it's going. Final Form Rides.
The guest actors don't cost anymore than it does for them to get guests (the persona getting saved from the monster of the week in this week's two parter!) for any previous show. They're one-off nobodies. a decent handful of them will probably never have another named role again.
I never said I wanted "everyone" to come back for the show. And it is stupid to even dream that. But I am talking about just 2-3 characters from the supporting cast/rider could have made this show a lot better.
That's exactly what they are doing now. They brought Kivat back but the Arms Monsters...nah, lets recast them. What's the difference. TOEI doesn't care to hold together continunity and I know that. I just want to see some old faces, it's a simple goal that TOEI can achieve.
Again, getting old faces for the television show probably would've been logistically harder than you think it is. If you would've been fine with just the voices, then sure, much easier for them. But then, you miss the joy of the henshin itself. I'd rather go with what we got, instead of hearing, say Kenzaki, in the suit again.
I can easily rebuttal with a more relevant comparsion like William Shatner, and how he wants to be in that new Star Trek movie.
Sadly, he won't be in it because Abrams decided he wouldn't fit.
All I am saying is that these actors, especially those who are constantly featured in magazines, are fond of their time playing the part. They acknowledge the fact that they did Rider. You don't see Odagiri in recent editions of NEW TYPE LIVE do you? When they are willing to do those magazines, which should I repeat are Tokusatsu related, means much more than just a simple interview. Lots of actors try to hide away from their Tokusatsu start. I remember Tetsuo Kurata tried to move beyond it after RX but seeing how his acting career didn't get far, he returned. And now he's doing more magazine interviews about his time as KR Black/RX. So for Rider actors that don't even bother to show up for interviews in these magazines, there's a hard chance they want to come back. That's my point here.
That really isn't the case with the New Gens since Kabuto. Kamen Rider is seen as the jumpstart for ikemen actors. (That's also why you probably see the young, effeminate guys in the roles - talent agencies offer up who they wish to promote in the future)
I'm positive they probably could've a decent number of them. But then the omissions would've stuck out like sore thumbs.
And this is also assuming they're nice guys instead of assuming they're actors with agents who will try to pump up their appearance fees if they know people need them in a role.
And actors usually befriend the staff and the crew who are still doing the Rider shows. Its these "connections" between cast and crew that make it easier for them to get each other back. Like Yutaka Hirose willing to come back to Toku for 2 episode apperance in Agito, because he did it for Toshiki Inoue, the series writer (I am pretty sure Shougo can confirm that one).
That's a pretty well known one. There are some casts that would probably be easy to get back. The Agito cast for instance. They are still acting, with Agito and Gills having a mid-range of success with G3 being the strongest by far.
But overall, the costs probably would've been prohibitive, and any holes in the would've been worse, so they just said, screw it.
I was speaking of guest actors, I think they all run for the same rate, based on their amount of time they are required to be on set. But cameos are usually cheap, and usually FREE. Some do it as favor. When one decides to go on the show, the other cast members from that series might be willing to do so too, in order to not look like an ass and bail. I doubt these actors are as egotistical and self-centred as Hollywood stars.
I doubt all of them are, but I'm not foolish enough to think none of them are. Again, you're hoping because these guys played heroes.
Hope + Business = Crushed Dreams!
And that's my point. I liked how Kaixa returned. Its better than recasts. I rather see them all in suit, with their original voices than total recasts.
That would've been the most realistic and doable option. I think it would've missed the joy of the henshin, but I think they could've done this with little trouble.
And when they don't pop up in the movie. I will probably here a few whining here and there, and after then, say a few weeks after the idea has sunk it. A bunch of you will defend TOEI and say that Decade was supposed to just be a re-imagining. They don't need to get any of the older actors, they are A-list stars now like Takeru Sato and Hiro Mizushima. They have no time to do a silly kid show, that's obvious.
I'm hoping that they get the originals back, but I'm not holding my breath.
I've spent 8 years dealing with those who produce anime (both Japanese and American) and sometimes it just doesn't work out. I've had those who aren't interested without stipulation. Those who want to, but a prior commitment makes working together unfeasible. Those who are willing to work for next to nothing for the love of the fans and the genre, and those who treat it as a job and won't budge on appearance fees.
Sometimes it's possible, sometimes it's not.
I want them back, but I'm prepared for it not to happen. Much like with the Chou Den-O film. I pretty much expected Sato to not return, as they had New Den-O and mini-Ryo to fill his spot. Sadly, I was correct.
That's all I am saying. I am not in denial here. It is not like I am not acknowledging what they are doing and praying at night that this is not true. I am just saying how I feel about Decade and wondering how some Rider fans can actually accept this show which poorly disguises itself as an anniversary series.
It's fun. That's really all I can say. You can tell they're having tons of fun coming up with these scenarios. The execution is hit or miss (I felt Faiz was rather strong in the story, but very weak in actually showing us Faiz) but they tried.
It's not like you guys don't have hopes or standards for this to actually be a worthy anniversary show. It just that when it turns out horrible, you have to rationalize all its flaws, accept it and defend TOEI's utter defamation of everything Rider. It just puzzles me that I can't criticize anything around here...
It's probably that some of us don't agree with the hyperbole. Just sayin'.