Why are Sentai and Kamen Rider seen as such by non Toku/PR fans ?

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It's been bothering me for a while, and I have to ask this.

I don't have any raw data to prove what I'm saying but it's just a vibe I get from what I see on several forums on the internet, youtube videos, etc.

I just feel that people who were not PR fans at first but want to give a chance to Tokusatsu just turn naturally to Kamen Rider, because there is this zeitgeist that Kamen Rider is more adult and mature, and edgy and dark.

I just can't agree on that because we know there are a lot of interesting things to analyze in Sentai. It's just that the production style is different.
The reason Sentai exists is partly to have another look at what heroes are by creating a team of super heroes, compared to single heroes who were the majority in 70s Toku shows. It has nothing to do with the target audience.

I agree the target audience is different if you consider early heisei riders (up until Hibiki?), but after on, the shows, though dark, were totally watchable by young kids, with all the gimmicks and colorful characters appearing on screen.

But if you take Toqger for example, the themes are actually really dark (won't spoil anything but if you watched it so far and think about the plot twist, that was heavily foreseen, about the heroes, it is really depressing)

Look at Abaranger and Abarekiller's story, and many things I can't list here without spoiling.

So if you watch Sentai, yeah, you have to put with some silly elements, but those are heavily used also in Kamen Rider nowadays.

So, my questions are:
1. for old time watchers what do you think about it?
2. for PR and Sentai fans who then started watching Kamen Rider, what do you think?
3. for new Kamen Rider watchers, who just don't care about Sentai, what's your opinion?
4. for new watchers who gave a chance to both franchise, what do you think?

I know this post is heavily Toei focused. Ultraman for me is a Tokusatsu on a totally different planet. I love what I've seen, but it's not as important in my life as Sentai and KR.
Shows like Garos are definitely aimed at teens/young adults, so they don't really matter here.

Waiting for your opinion.
 
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Any toku is seen by "laymen" as "teh Power Rangers lol!" Sentai, for obvious reasons. They probably think all Sentai is just Japanese MMPR, nothing to take seriously like Batman or Ironman.

Rider, especially early Heisei (the early 2000s), admittedly has more appeal as far as "seriousness" goes. Even for me, back when I first discovered Sentai via shows like Abaranger, Dekaranger and Magiranger. Even with Neo Heisei, though, I tend to get more people into toku via Rider than anything else. I only know of two people in my circle who regularly watch Sentai, and one of them prefers Rider.
 
Heroes are forever
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We need clips of Kabutack and Robotack, if anyone thinks Rider/Sentai/Ultra/etc. are too childish, show them that.

I agree the target audience is different if you consider early heisei riders (up until Hibiki?), but after on, the shows, though dark, were totally watchable by young kids, with all the gimmicks and colorful characters appearing on screen.
It has always been for children.
 
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Why are Sentai and Kamen Rider seen as such

Yeah, it's true that kabutack and robotack are really childish. But I love watching them at 2 in the morning with friends after a party. You can have the best laugh with them.



Well, even the producers told in many interviews you can find in several sentai or kr books that the early heisei wasn't meant for 3 to 6 years old but for 7 to 15 years old.



Can we just stop telling mantras and be smart-ass about that. . I'm the first one to know that I'm watching kids shows, but it doesn't change the fact that Kamen Rider agito with people being eaten by monsters with really gruesome sounds is not aimed at kids.







Sent from my Nexus 5 using Forum Fiend v1.2.11.
 
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Why is every good TV show Cancelled
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Honestly, I gave both of them a shot. It was mainly because Rider was generally better written and had stronger character development. It's not saying much, but it bothers me that every sentai I've tried doesn't really have that, so I kind of gave up on it at some point and focused more on Rider.

And then there's the fact that a lot of the older ones, while probably better written still, just look like crap & I have a hard time keeping focus when my mind is absolutely convinced there's going to be nothing of entertainment value in the show/ film, so a lot of them are things that are on my radar, but I'm never in the mood to try them out.
 
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