Kamen Rider has intermittent bouts of WiR syndrome going all the way back to Tackle's death (which I feel is a classic fridging). I don't think influence from American comics has anything to do with it.
I think in any action subgenre where creators feel they're writing to an overwhelmingly male audience, they're likely to decide that the death of a female character will have more impact than the death of a comparable male character. Men in most cultures seem comfortable with the idea that other men will die in battle, but a woman's violent death is likely to elicit more sympathy and perhaps a deeper sense of catharsis.
I actually find the fridging is mostly due to the fact that writers have a tendency to hurt, maim, or off supporting cast members in order to heighten tension. Primarily the love interest is the largest target, as they create the biggest emotional hit. As most heroes are heterosexual males, those love interests tend to be female most of the time. Looks towards the recent and horrible JLA: Cry For Justice, which killed off one gay lover, a black hero, and a child.
The far more real and disturbing trend in American comics is the idea that all female heroes have some sort of sexual attack in their past.
Modern Kamen Rider's courting of the housewife demographic has segmented the audience, such that writers need to presume an audience that may be as much as 50% female and probably older than the male audience that's tuning in. So if anything modern KR stuff is far less likely to fridge female characters, since the female segment of the audience tends to find such deaths upsetting.
So Modern KR is in this weird place where the stories largely stress the bonds of friendship and rivalry between male characters. Female characters largely fade into the background, assuming simple and largely unobjectionable parental, sibling, or spousal roles that the little boys in the audience can understand. Wakana's status as a female quasi-villain is a huge reversal of this tendency, so it's hard to guess where the writing is going to go with her based on Rider tropes.
I honestly think the problem is they write in the female just to have the female. Usually it's Rider, also-ran friend, female, supporting cast. Usually, they'll outright forget characters exist unless those character become heroes themselves (like Kagami in Kabuto, or Kengo for a short time). Blade's Kotaro & Hirose, Kabuto's Hiyori being examples of also-ran friend and the female being forgotten in the shuffle. At some point the focus is on the Riders vs villains, as opposed to their 'real life' friendships (unless you meld them both together...like Faiz).
Personally I am against death in superhero stories in general. In regard to heroic or even supporting characters it robs the story of a potential asset that could be used later to deepen the narrative. As for villains it great lessens the anxiety felt by both the characters and the audience, not knowing if a defeated foe could resurface helps reinforce the both danger the hero faces along with showing his resolve in the face of the unknown. I can excuse a death that contributes the development of either the overall story or a specif character. But modern writer's overuse of death as a source of cheap drama is rather vexing. Which is why fridging is just so troubling, instead of just being attacked which is horrific enough a writer chooses to the extreme end of the spectrum for no sensible reason. Just having your loved ones attack isn't a traumatic enough anymore they have to maimed and killed.
Moving on, I have to say female representation could be worse than what we have now. Akiko plays a decent part in the story even though more often then not she plays a comic relief role. Also there is a lot of signs that Saeko could end up being the "final boss", if nothing else than it would give the series a certain symmetry. My fear about Wakana stems from the fact that most her development is due to interaction with Philip and the male Sonozaki members which in my view puts her danger because she seems defined by the interactions more than anything else.
It's a bit off-topic, but there's an issue of The Boys that skewers this trend in an incredibly satisfying fashion. The satire ends with one of the most empowering things I've ever seen a female superhero do in a comic book. People don't give Ennis enough credit for hating the machine, not the product.
Regarding your other point, I generally agree... with the caveat that since female characters rarely appear in these sorts of stories save as love interests, the result is that the trope can easily come off as, "These women are dying because they are women."
Just as it tends to come off that gay characters die because they're gay or black characters because they're black. The underlying root of the trope is that the gay person or the black person is probably not being permitted to be a protagonist.
I honestly think the problem is they write in the female just to have the female.
They do, and it's a pretty tricky position Toei's gotten itself into. If Toei was honest and tried to do a series with no token female characters at all, not even a non-entity like Hiyori, I'm sure there would be complaints on both sides of the Pacific.
Openly admitting that modern Rider is homosocial would make certain segments of the audience very uncomfortable, I think. The presence of any female characters helps ground the story in conventional reality, which grows less homosocial with every passing year.
I get the feeling that even the Japanese audience is ready and eager to see more active female roles in the Kamen Rider shows. Female villains are embraced with open arms, and every new female lead is one people hope will get to do stuff.
I think the difficulty of reconciling female Riders with boy-oriented toy sale logistics is the only thing that keeps female secondary Riders from being a regularly-occurring reality.
They do, and it's a pretty tricky position Toei's gotten itself into. If Toei was honest and tried to do a series with no token female characters at all, not even a non-entity like Hiyori, I'm sure there would be complaints on both sides of the Pacific.
Openly admitting that modern Rider is homosocial would make certain segments of the audience very uncomfortable, I think. The presence of any female characters helps ground the story in conventional reality, which grows less homosocial with every passing year.
I get the feeling that even the Japanese audience is ready and eager to see more active female roles in the Kamen Rider shows. Female villains are embraced with open arms, and every new female lead is one people hope will get to do stuff.
I think the difficulty of reconciling female Riders with boy-oriented toy sale logistics is the only thing that keeps female secondary Riders from being a regularly-occurring reality.
I think the first step to getting a female Rider will probably be to have a female end up as the primary user of a non-gender specific round robin belt. As if IXA had stopped with Megumi's use, or Delta with Saya.
Of course there's hope that they release a Kivaara figure to good sales. I'm actually surprised they haven't twigged to the idea that otaku might follow a female Rider with even the wrong kind of interest.
I have long wondered if fear of otaku following a female Rider with the wrong kind of interest contributes to Toei's non-action. Kamen Rider is a relatively prestigious old franchise at this point and draws a very mainstream audience. Toei could be concerned-- perhaps legitimately-- that even a secondary female Rider's presence could attract otaku interest that would drive away the nice normal little kids and their moms.
Apparently Toei hasn't thought of the otaku... yet.
^ Precisely - they don't want to ruin it for their "kids and mothers" demographic. That's still why there's a lot of merchandise driven stuff and Estrogen Brigade Bait.
Personally I am against death in superhero stories in general. In regard to heroic or even supporting characters it robs the story of a potential asset that could be used later to deepen the narrative. As for villains it great lessens the anxiety felt by both the characters and the audience, not knowing if a defeated foe could resurface helps reinforce the both danger the hero faces along with showing his resolve in the face of the unknown. I can excuse a death that contributes the development of either the overall story or a specif character. But modern writer's overuse of death as a source of cheap drama is rather vexing. Which is why fridging is just so troubling, instead of just being attacked which is horrific enough a writer chooses to the extreme end of the spectrum for no sensible reason. Just having your loved ones attack isn't a traumatic enough anymore they have to maimed and killed.
Hmmm... A very weird point of view since death has more often been intertwined with heroism, because in the darkest hour, the person's true self comes out. IMHO, your suggestion of "being attacked which is horrific enough" doesn't often elicit too much emotion and drama other than revenge, because there is still something for the hero to come back to. They kill-off characters to push the hero to the edge, having lost everything which will make him realize how important some things are the moment they are gone. It is then you would generally see the true persona of a hero, whether he kills the perpetrator for revenge, or just brings him/her to justice.
Yes it has been used very so often, but that can't be helped since that's one of the few ways to give the hero so much driving force to make it convincing that what he's doing, he's doing for a reason. IMHO, they should do more early-episode deaths just like what happened with Blade, because the initial state was "order", then the deaths brought upon "disorder", hence the hero pushing until the "disorder" is brought back to "order".
A perfect example was that of the movie Eagle Eye...
Jerry Shaw found himself in a situation where he needed to divert everyone's attention because a few seconds from then, the bomb will explode, killing everybody. Being chased by the guards and being in the center of the audience, he made the ultimate sacrifice by firing in the air to shock everybody and stop the trumpet from being blown which is supposed to trigger the bomb. He was shot by the guards... But to everyone's disappointment, Jerry Shaw lived.
Yeah it was a good story to have the him survive the predicament, but it just ruins the ultimate sacrifice he was willing to pay for a lot of people.
Call me grim, but that's how death is, it elicits intense drama which you can only feel at that moment, the ultimate sacrifice, not letting the death be in vain, vengeance which can be turned to justice, and realizing the worth of something the moment it's gone. It's human nature to feel these emotions upon death, so it's pretty much well justified.
Toei could be concerned-- perhaps legitimately-- that even a secondary female Rider's presence could attract otaku interest that would drive away the nice normal little kids and their moms.
Pretty Cure receives that kind of attention from the otaku, although they're clearly not the (main) intended audience, and it's shown right after Kamen Rider. I don't think they're actively trying to avoid that interest, they just don't care about it.
I'm actually really happy with Akiko's "comic relief" role. How often does a girl in a superhero show just get to be the really nutty, silly one? That's usually a role reserved for the male best friend. Because heavy physical comedy isn't pretty, and there is a pervasive feeling in our society that it is most important for women to be pretty at all times. That makes Akiko herself pretty groundbreaking, IMO.
^ Same for me, Akiko as annoying as she was in the beginning, earned my respect after the Sweets Dopant arc and the comic relief like throwing a bucket of water to Shotaro when things were getting serious, when she hit Double with the slipper when he caught her on her butt, hitting Okappiki Shotaro with the tatami sandals, and of course Akiko as Double!
:buttrock:
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
