What makes a Toku too Toyetic

[Burkion]

It's only a fact if we're talking about really recent stuff, though. Prior to that, the toys only came first if a show was otherwise in trouble (i.e., Ohranger). The fact that toy sales count so much toward a show's success now could be viewed as a sign that the genre's in trouble, if you really wanted to play the cynic.

Ditto this a million times.

Kamen Rider Kuuga didn't have a billion forms simply to sell toys, he had them first and foremost because of the story. Most older heroes were made with the story in mind first and foremost, toys second.

Not all, of course, but most. I hope one day we can escape this era. Or at least do better with it.

 

[Lynxara]

im not even sure toyetic is even a word!

If Freakazoid says it's a word, then it's a word.

Kamen Rider Kuuga didn't have a billion forms simply to sell toys, he had them first and foremost because of the story.

I'd say Kuuga probably had multiple forms to compete with the Heisei Ultra shows, which popularized the concept. But there was clearly a big emphasis on making sure the form changes would work as a story element, and preserve narrative aspects of the visual (like the character's overall silhouette). The toys certainly followed in the wake of that, and that's probably why Bandai is still flogging Kuuga merchandise to this day.

 

[Burkion]

Completely, yeah. W is the closest we've come, I think, to getting a good reason for each form beyond TOYS, and it still doesn't quite compare to the attention Kuuga gave.

I have to ask, was there a reason for RX's multiple forms beyond toys? Because while they certainly got an entrance, they...did not add a whole lot.

Beyond plot devices.

 

[lazycoconut]

Ditto this a million times.

Kamen Rider Kuuga didn't have a billion forms simply to sell toys, he had them first and foremost because of the story. Most older heroes were made with the story in mind first and foremost, toys second.

Not all, of course, but most. I hope one day we can escape this era. Or at least do better with it.

How likely is that, though? Toei and Bandai now make so much from toy sales that I can't see why they would ever throw that away (especially when ratings are at an all time low.) Even a show like Gaim that has a creative focus strongly laid out and is an obvious attempt to improve viewing figures, is dominated by the fruit theme at Bandai's command.

People praise W for being a good example of how a show can make the toyline feel more like part of the story and less like blatant merchandising. While I agree that was one of its strengths, it still had fewer form changes and gadgets than any other post-Decade Rider series. It would have struggled under the weight of a toyline like Fourze's or Wizard's

 

[Undrave]

Ironically I would say a show feels too toyetic when the gimmick is underused. Like whenever Sakamoto was doing action for Fourze he would make a point of using old switches in the action scene, which made for some really dynamic and exciting action scenes. Other directors would just ignore them entirely, aside form the form switch ones, and I felt that ignoring them only made them stick out worse. If the arsenal is used whenever needed (like whenever W would go HeatMetal to counter a heavily armored opponent) and logically, then I don't mind if there's a lot of it.

Showcasing a Switch, a Ring or something else for only one episode and forgetting about it makes it too obviously a toy commercial.

 

[Burkion]

How likely is that, though? Toei and Bandai now make so much from toy sales that I can't see why they would ever throw that away (especially when ratings are at an all time low.) Even a show like Gaim that has a creative focus strongly laid out and is an obvious attempt to improve viewing figures, is dominated by the fruit theme at Bandai's command.

People praise W for being a good example of how a show can make the toyline feel more like part of the story and less like blatant merchandising. While I agree that was one of its strengths, it still had fewer form changes and gadgets than any other post-Decade Rider series. It would have struggled under the weight of a toyline like Fourze's or Wizard's

Honestly?

Should the toy sales bottom out and they put the show away for awhile, I expect to see it return with a focus on the older viewers as well as the newer ones, where we get more story focused stuff again.

Until then it'll likely just continue like Sentai has, largely stagnant with bursts of creativity and emotion before going back to the slog.

In my opinion, at least.

 

[Glamador]

For me it's when the toys are just there and serve no purpose other than being shown and just feels out of place.

I think it really is as simple as this. If the gimmick serves no narrative purpose then it's a commercial and an interruption.

But there are some subtleties to that. For instance, what about extra long camera shots of the Item of the Week? That hardly has much to do with narrative and yet it can still be annoying. But it can be argued that by wasting time (even just a few seconds) focusing on it, they waste precious seconds that could be used more artistically.

Yet then again, there are those popular multiple-shots-from-multiple-angles scenes when they introduce a new form or character that, very often, serve as an "Oooo, aaaaa" moment and can feel very satisfying for the viewer. That's especially true if there has been significant narrative buildup beforehand.

So it really does come back to its place in the narrative. Does it *matter* that this thing exists? Is there *cause* to be ogling it?

 

[hmf_master]

We all know Toku is mostly a 30-minute toy commercial which is fine for most of us. However, when does the toyeticism go overboard enough for you to dislike or drop a toku?

For me as long as the series is good then it really doesn't matter to me at all because the production of the series cost a lot of money so if there is Toyeticism it makes sense to me

 

[BoukenSilver83]

i think with kyoryured cardinal snapping changes, i think that was overdone because if you are just changing arm weapons just to do the finishing attack with the blaster, then i would think it's a pointless gimmick.

with fourze, they spammed so much switches in one fight it's like what's fun in it if you have to keep taking switches out every 5 seconds? sticking with one form is fun enough, sometimes spamming too much gimmicks isnt really fun.

i guess wizard is another show that they spam so much.

 

[rising7]

The overuse of Hyper Kabuto's perfect zecter finishers always struck me as overly toyetic. Part of this comes from a few strange moments like when on different occasions Drake and Sasword are robbed of their zecters in the midst of battle so that Kabuto can use it.