Single Girl Only Sentais - Problem or No?

[RyuSensei]

I've been living in Japan since 2007 and I've found that the general rule of thumb is that Japan is roughly 30 years behind the US in terms of gender equality.

For example, I remember a few years ago when the government passed a law allowing women to keep their maiden names after marriage if they chose (I found the reaction of "This will DESTROY the institution of marriage!" laughable).

By that metric, how many children's shows from 1983 had what we would consider non-stereotypical female characters? Back then, the very idea of an "Action Girl" like Teela or Cheetara was still a new concept. Girls were dragon-bait and little else.

Personally, I think Sentai has made some good strides in recent years with characters like Luka and Mako from Gokaiger and Shinkenger respectfully.

As for Kyouryuger, this strikes me as a very defensive sentai series. They did a lot of experimenting with the formula last year and it didn't pay off in toy sales OR ratings so this year the theme of the series seems to be, "Do what we know works." Dinosaurs, small collectibles, magic/magi-tek, and apparently taking as few risks as possible. That includes making Pink the only girl.

As difficult as it may be for Americans to wrap their heads around, Japan simply has a different view of women and femininity than we do. It is changing (slowly but surely) in normal society, but such changes are not going to hit TV shows aimed so young any time soon.

 

[live jetabare]

That said, from what has been shown of Amy so far, she seems to be a pretty worthy female warrior; Japanese sexism or not, her strength is shown in a pretty positive way; besides, I remembered the actress saying she wanted to play the character to make it appealing to female (of course, mostly little girls) viewers

 

[lazycoconut]

As for Kyouryuger, this strikes me as a very defensive sentai series. They did a lot of experimenting with the formula last year and it didn't pay off in toy sales OR ratings so this year the theme of the series seems to be, "Do what we know works." Dinosaurs, small collectibles, magic/magi-tek, and apparently taking as few risks as possible. That includes making Pink the only girl.

Isn't that in itself a little different? The last time a team had a lone female Pink was Timeranger (13 years ago), before any of the kids watching at the moment had even been born. I wonder if they had already decided the main mech would be made up of Red-Blue-Girl thus chose Pink rather than Yellow so as to look less like Go-Busters

 

[RyuSensei]

I wonder if they had already decided the main mech would be made up of Red-Blue-Girl thus chose Pink rather than Yellow so as to look less like Go-Busters

That's a very good point.

Actually, my original assumption as to why there was no yellow this year was the costumes. With the yellow "teeth" being the primary feature on the chest, a matching shade of yellow would look horrible and reduce the sash to a jagged black line.

 

[Dr Kain]

Stereotypes aren't prophecies. Though comics are different medium, there's an X-Men #1 hitting soon of a new series starring an all female team with Storm etc. It's being handled seriously.

Also, for the record, you mention fan service over substance, but those two aspects aren't connected. Some things do have fan service and a lack of substance, but you can have both in one piece of entertainment. But that's a whole 'nother topic, sexuality will only make this topic even more complicated. Plus, with how much the guys are pretty boys in these, I'm sure these shows are fan-service for those attracted to them as is too. :coolshades:

Anyways, I'd be very cool with an all female show, but I would wonder why there are no males. It feels more natural with both genders on the team, since you'd figure that'd happen. But sure, 3 girls 2 guys sometime, why not.

I'm not saying it is always that case, just that that is how it is the majority of the time these days. Mai Hime was a great show that had fanservice, but it still had a plot so that is not what it just was. On the other hand, shows like Najica Blitz and High School of the Dead are nothing but fanservice shows.

Anyway, I guess the reason for there being no yellow makes sense. I never thought of how many yellows were female in a row until now. Wow, MagiYellow was the last male yellow ranger. It makes sense, as next year they'll probably bring yellow back as a male again.

 

[Daikamonohashi]

Translation: "Don't talk about this! You might start to think other people deserve consideration!"



(Note: I do not agree with the sentiments expressed in the above image, I'm just presenting an opposing view)

:laugh:

That's wonderful. I've never seen that one.

As difficult as it may be for Americans to wrap their heads around, Japan simply has a different view of women and femininity than we do. It is changing (slowly but surely) in normal society, but such changes are not going to hit TV shows aimed so young any time soon.

I think the main point is there's nothing wrong with acknowledging it as at least a bit (or more) of a problem than simply writing it off as people being too PC. Just because their view is different doesn't mean it can't be offensive at times.

 

[lazycoconut]

:laugh:

That's wonderful. I've never seen that one.

It was (as I understand it ... I swiped it from Tumblr so who even knows) produced by early feminists in response to the anti-women's suffrage arguments of the day

 

[kuroihikari]

That's a very good point.

Actually, my original assumption as to why there was no yellow this year was the costumes. With the yellow "teeth" being the primary feature on the chest, a matching shade of yellow would look horrible and reduce the sash to a jagged black line.

Also, the yellow Gaburevolvers.

 

[Vitor]

I was referring more to the almost century-old image advocating that women in the real world be banned from voting. And it seems to me there are plenty enough people "hurt" by the mere suggestion of more female characters

It's funny how we can sit all day and talk about this when there are still NO strong male lead characters in girl shows like Precure

WHERE'S THE JUSTICE?!!! :shakefist

 

[lazycoconut]

It's funny how we can sit all day and talk about this when there are still NO strong male lead characters in girl shows like Precure

WHERE'S THE JUSTICE?!!! :shakefist

I would be all for male Cures. But if PreCure had one or two guys on the team every season, it's understandable that people would want to see more of them