Single Girl Only Sentais - Problem or No?

[lazycoconut]

There's another quote linked in the News/Rumors thread for Kyoryuger in which the producer says the yellow accents were added to the suit design to compensate for the absence of a yellow suit, so looks like they decided first that there would be only one girl/no Yellow and then thought about the design

Another thing is when a team has two women, the show can develop their friendship - and I think that's an important, positive message to send to both boys and girls watching the show, that female friendships can be as nurturing and meaningful as male friendships. Think about it, how many of the famous duos and friendships in media are both women? How often do you see women saying they don't have any female friends because "women are all catty bitches" - and how rarely do you hear the reverse from men? There's a reason the Bechdel Test exists. I really love seeing friendships like Umeko and Jasmine's and Mako and Kotoha's in my Sentai, I think it's great for kids to see stuff like that.

That's why it makes me uncomfortable when a Sentai with one girl pits her against the main villainess - because it reinforces the idea that women are perpetual rivals always at war with each other. Whereas if there's another girl on the team or female supporting character that the heroine is close to, it doesn't give the impression that women are always at each other's throats

 

[Black Fang]

Female idols in Japan tend to start out earlier because they know that when they get married/have kids they'll be under pressure to give up their careers. If they stay in showbiz, after 30 or so they're liable to get stuck in dull "middle aged mother" roles (obviously there are exceptions.)

A bit of an aside, but I thought Japanese marriage rates (even libidos for both sexes) in general were going down.

 

[lazycoconut]

A bit of an aside, but I thought Japanese marriage rates (even libidos for both sexes) in general were going down.

As far as I know they are? Things are changing, but attitudes can still take time to catch up ...

 

[MattComix]

Maybe if it's a case where a writer is objective enough about their own work and knows he's not great at writing female characters so he focuses on trying to make one really good one rather than two that are not so much.

Passed that I see nothing to be gained by having less of a female presence.

 

[live jetabare]

Honestly I think two girls is superior to one for several reasons. Other posters have already mentioned the danger of a lone heroine being made into "the girl" and not getting much development beyond that, and though I don't think that necessarily will happen if there's only one girl on the team, there's a much stronger possibility. Another thing is when a team has two women, the show can develop their friendship - and I think that's an important, positive message to send to both boys and girls watching the show, that female friendships can be as nurturing and meaningful as male friendships. Think about it, how many of the famous duos and friendships in media are both women? How often do you see women saying they don't have any female friends because "women are all catty bitches" - and how rarely do you hear the reverse from men? There's a reason the Bechdel Test exists. I really love seeing friendships like Umeko and Jasmine's and Mako and Kotoha's in my Sentai, I think it's great for kids to see stuff like that.

Having said all that, it's not a total disaster if there's only one heroine on the team. It's still possible for her to be a well-rounded, likeable and identifiable character. I'd rather have one well developed heroine than two shallow heroines.

Indeed; besides, several "one heroine" series have some nice female supporting characters that can have a friendly relationship with either the female ranger , or all the team; like the female spies in Goranger (who even sometimes could become Momoranger); or Kyoko in GogoV, Emiri and later Mahoro in Abaranger; or when you have a mentor figure who is a woman, like Tetomu in Gaoranger, Oboro in Hurricanger and Miki in Gekiranger.
In a lot of cases, I feel that those female characters can make up for the lack of a second female ranger.

 

[lazycoconut]

Indeed; besides, several "one heroine" series have some nice female supporting characters that can have a friendly relationship with either the female ranger , or all the team; like the female spies in Goranger (who even sometimes could become Momoranger); or Kyoko in GogoV, Emiri and later Mahoro in Abaranger; or when you have a mentor figure who is a woman, like Tetomu in Gaoranger, Oboro in Hurricanger and Miki in Gekiranger.
In a lot of cases, I feel that those female characters can make up for the lack of a second female ranger.

I don't know where to stand on this. On one hand, female supporting characters can reinforce the "men = heroes, women = sidelines" meme. On the other, a good female supporting character is probably better than an apathetically-written heroine. I suppose that as with most things it depends on the show/writing

 

[live jetabare]

I don't know where to stand on this. On one hand, female supporting characters can reinforce the "men = heroes, women = sidelines" meme. On the other, a good female supporting character is probably better than an apathetically-written heroine. I suppose that as with most things it depends on the show/writing

the "men = heroes, Women = sidelines" is true if you had no female heroine (like in Sun Vulcan); as long as you have at least one heroine, it's not really true.

 

[PsychoGokaiger]

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.

Two women on the team hasn't been considered a risk in the past, so I don't think the gender topic ties into the "back to basics approach" topic.

It seems to be a separate whim of the producers/suits, since many of the popular successful sentai shows have had two females.

 

[RyuSensei]

A bit of an aside, but I thought Japanese marriage rates (even libidos for both sexes) in general were going down.

Yes, this is both true and absolutely a problem. In fact, in the last few years, Japan has had negative population growth (More deaths than births in a given year). It's so bad that they are predicting that the population of Tokyo will be down 50% by 2070 (I think that was the year, been a while since I read the article).

I've even noticed it in my daily life. Many of the schools I've worked at have classrooms standing empty/converted to storage because there are fewer and fewer children to fill them.

Nobody is quite sure what the cause of this is, but the general belief is that people are delaying or giving up on having families because it's just too difficult and expensive to have kids. Women are still expected to give up their jobs for their children. Daycare is all but impossible to find (and damned expensive if you do). And most young families can not take care of both young children and aging parents (Another social expectation) at the same time on a single person's income.

Japan is going have more and more problems with this as the years go on.

 

[RyuSensei]

Two women on the team hasn't been considered a risk in the past, so I don't think the gender topic ties into the "back to basics approach" topic.

It seems to be a separate whim of the producers/suits, since many of the popular successful sentai shows have had two females.

You're probably right, I was just extrapolating an explanation from the (I still think ligit) pattern I see in the show.

In other words, I was guessing.