Ratings, toy sales, and the future

[Jetman Purple]

I'm new-ish to tokusatsu, having discovered Super Sentai late last year, and eventually found myself pulled into Kamen Rider. I love the genre and its tropes, and these series in general.

What information I've been able to find about the shows' ratings seem to indicate that the ratings for both franchises seem to be weak. An article here from a couple of years ago opined, "Now, if the current trend of decline continued over the course of the next three or four years, then it’s possible we could see Sentai in cancellation territory." This was Lynxara in 2012.

I had mixed feelings about the first half of Go-Busters, and Toei apparently retooled it. I loved Kyoryuger, but from what I've read, that love wasn't necessarily shared by Japanese children. Sounds like ToQger isn't doing better, and haven't heard a loud chorus of online toku-fan love for the show. (My own read is that I'm way more interested in the Shadow Line's main villains than in any of the heroes.)

If I understand properly, the toy sales for Go-Busters were weak. In retrospect, this puzzles me: Ace was a genuinely cool-looking Sentai robot that didn't look like a toy chest threw up. The DX mecha seemed to have cool engineering to them. Then again, the show didn't appear to have a line of collectible henshin widgets. Kyoryuger had low ratings but good toy sales? I have little idea how the ToQger toy sales are doing.

I care about the toy sales basically because modern Sentai and Kamen Rider seem to be really, really elaborate toy advertisements that incidentally entertain.

There seems to be little correlation between what I enjoy and what seems to be considered success for Sentai and Kamen Rider. I was floored by how good the writing on Kamen Rider Gaim is, but it sounds like it's not doing all that well...?

I'm fine knowing I'm not the target audience. (Well, and, of course, tastes very.) But I guess it leaves me wondering whether there's cause to be worried, between the iffy ratings and variable toy sales. I jumped on S.H. Figuarts after discovering Sentai, only to discover my timing was poor: I'd started picking them up right as Bandai was redirecting its focus to more popular licenses. I'm hoping that my love of Super-Hero Time isn't similarly well-timed.

Anyone have any insight on where Super Sentai and Kamen Rider stand these days? Other than Saban's fairly dramatic choice not to adapt Go-Busters, I don't feel like I have much of a barometer.

 

[kuroihikari]

Yeah, the way its been explained here, most of the toy sales come from roleplay toys. So changers and other paraphernalia. Having a collectible gimmick also helps as they can sell those things individually easier (Switches, batteries, lockseeds, memories, etc.) Go-Busters didn't have variety in that department.

Gaim/ToQGer and other recent Rider/Sentai have had falling ratings since the late 2000s. As I remember it, Fourze, Wizard and Gaim don't have signficantly different ratings. Frankly, I wouldn't chalk ratings as measure of their quality, as it seems more likely to me that the decreasing trend is the result of other factors (like competing forms of entertainment or changing audience lifestyles.)

 

[Amon]

As long if the toys and other stuff that sells well then we should be fine. Ratings are a afterthought for Toei, they care more about toy sales. Dragon Ball Kai before they brought it back was a good example of it. They ended it at the Cell saga because the show was not selling very well despite the good ratings.

 

[TaintedSeraph]

Most ratings don't factor in PVR recordings, online viewing, etc. which society has been moving towards for the past few years. While it's extremely sad to see such a ratings drop (especially in the past few years) toy sales have been generally good and as long as the toys sell they'll probably continue making the shows.

There might come a time when the ratings are so bad that Toei might think "maybe we can still sell the toys without the show."

 

[Amon]

Ryuki had bad ratings and we still have new shows after 10 years. I doubt the franchise will take another 10+ years rest after Black RX. I hear Black RX bombed which is why the series never had another new show in the 90's (Not counting Masked Rider).

I think the low ratings could be that people don't care about the franchises as much as they used too. Kids will still watch it which is okay for Toei and Bandai. Ultraman is not doing that well neither. Ginga made less then Wizard in 2013.

 

[ferosaki]

then, there's something that buggers me.
how can den-o sells much better after the end of the show ? someone said in another thread that den-o become more popular because of its dvd sales or something, that even TOEI milking it till it doesn't have a leg to stand on lol
how can it sells better AFTER THE END of the series, and then became one of the most fantastic popular highest sales ever in KR ?

is it possible that we will have that two elements that doing better simultaneously ?? despite of ridiculous theme that they will take in later on.

 

[NeonZ]

I was floored by how good the writing on Kamen Rider Gaim is, but it sounds like it's not doing all that well...?

Gaim's toys are doing well, significantly better than Wizard at least. It's the tv ratings that are low. However, it's low because it already started with a very low number. It has managed to keep most of its audience though (well, there's a one point drop or so from the premiere, but even W had that), unlike shows like OOO and Wizard which just lost numbers throughout most of their runs.

If I understand properly, the toy sales for Go-Busters were weak. In retrospect, this puzzles me: Ace was a genuinely cool-looking Sentai robot that didn't look like a toy chest threw up. The DX mecha seemed to have cool engineering to them.

The main issue there, at least regarding Ace's sales by themselves (which were lower than other main robots too, it's not only the lack of collectibles) might have been how, while for most Sentai series one could buy the main mecha and all main components at once, getting a combining robot and the smaller pieces, with Go-Busters, Ace and its components were sold separately. It seems like Ace's transformation gimmicks didn't make up for losing the combinable robot out of box feature.

Ryuki had bad ratings and we still have new shows after 10 years. I doubt the franchise will take another 10+ years rest after Black RX. I hear Black RX bombed which is why the series never had another new show in the 90's (Not counting Masked Rider)

Ryuki's ratings were quite a bit worse than Agito's, but they were only about 0,3% lower than Kuuga's, and Ryuki also had the biggest toy sales ever for Rider until Decade.

Regarding no sequel after Black RX, the only known reason is lack of interest of the Rider producer at the time (who disliked Ishinomori approving the Kamen Norida parody).

Ginga made less then Wizard in 2013.

Rider is Bandai's number 2 franchise ever since Decade and W, obviously Ultraman wouldn't match it, even with Wizard's lower numbers.

how can den-o sells much better after the end of the show ? someone said in another thread that den-o become more popular because of its dvd sales or something, that even TOEI milking it till it doesn't have a leg to stand on lol
how can it sells better AFTER THE END of the series, and then became one of the most fantastic popular highest sales ever in KR ?

Den-O didn't sell more merchandising after the show than during the show (Den-O's year did better than Kiva's, in spite of Den-O's merchandising line continuing there), it's just that it still sold well enough that, alongside with its high disc sales, made post-series movies an attractive proposition. It also helps that, although Den-O's sales weren't record breaking they came after quite a few years of low sales (Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto)

 

[Araki]

I have little idea how the ToQger toy sales are doing.
Anyone have any insight on where Super Sentai and Kamen Rider stand these days?

Kyoryuger had the best sales since Gaoranger. ToQGer's sales and ratings are lower but the sales are still seen as good

Gaim/ToQGer and other recent Rider/Sentai have had falling ratings since the late 2000s. As I remember it, Fourze, Wizard and Gaim don't have signficantly different ratings. Frankly, I wouldn't chalk ratings as measure of their quality, as it seems more likely to me that the decreasing trend is the result of other factors (like competing forms of entertainment or changing audience lifestyles.)

Fourze & Wizard - 5.9
Gaim - 5.4

this is not the end, just a new standard we have to get used to. people have other means to watch their shows.

 

[Undrave]

Most ratings don't factor in PVR recordings, online viewing, etc. which society has been moving towards for the past few years. While it's extremely sad to see such a ratings drop (especially in the past few years) toy sales have been generally good and as long as the toys sell they'll probably continue making the shows.

There might come a time when the ratings are so bad that Toei might think "maybe we can still sell the toys without the show."

There's also the negative demographic curve in Japan. Every year there's less kids entering the target demographic than there are outgrowing it.

 

[Scissors]

then, there's something that buggers me.
how can den-o sells much better after the end of the show ? someone said in another thread that den-o become more popular because of its dvd sales or something, that even TOEI milking it till it doesn't have a leg to stand on lol
how can it sells better AFTER THE END of the series, and then became one of the most fantastic popular highest sales ever in KR ?

Den-O had a much larger fanbase than other KR shows. The Taros were voiced by some of the most popular voice actors in Japan, such as Seki, who is pretty much a legend, and Yusa who at the time was in almost every popular Anime.
Combined with the fact that Den-O introduced the Anime-style comedy that we see in most KR shows today, it helped attract the Anime fanbase, which are usually not that much into Tokusatsu.

And of course, we should not forget that Den-O also had a HUGE female fanbase. This was of course due to the lead actor Takeru Satoh.
Try watching the Den-O talk-show. Most of the crowd were girls from the age 16 and up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QjOXJllaa4