Member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2013
- Messages
- 31
Now, I'll just start by saying I'm a HUGE Ryuki fan (as you can see by my name). Well on my way to collecting all the figuarts for that series (well, maybe Kabuto too because I love all of the suit designs) and it's the first Kamen Rider series I ever watched, so it has a special place in my heart. And I didn't think Kamen Rider Dragon Knight was 'bad', however, I kinda stopped watching after Drew got vented and never really felt compelled to rewatch the entire series, especially when I found out Ryuki existed.
So scrolling through Youtube and watching clips of it, I kinda realized why. I think possibly the worst offender was the advertising and the merchandise itself. I remember seeing a toy reviewer review a couple of the figures from the American toyline, becoming intrigued because I thought it seemed vaguely Power Rangers-esque and I was down for some more rangers. These toys looked absolutely awful I have to say. Definitely not on par with some of the Power Rangers figures, but Power Rangers had been around for at least a decade and a half at that point so maybe it was excusable. After all, they had more time to realize what sells and what doesn't. However, I can tell you with certainty I would have never discovered Dragon Knight (and by extension, Ryuki as well) if I never saw that video. First off, to my knowledge the only channel it appeared on was CW, which even back then I didn't watch in the first place. And even on that channel, I can't remember it being promoted that much.
I also think the show didn't really develop an audience. They way the show is written, it basically seemed like an alternative to Power Rangers. The problem is, the campiness, the colorful characters and the absolutely absurd plots that made Power Rangers memorable weren't present in this show, so you basically had a watered down PR. On top of that, the plot, while not particularly deep, did require a lot of explaining that kids mostly aren't into. The kid appeal is already lost. On the flip side, the show doesn't necessarily have the writing to pull in adults either. The only ones left are teenagers, but let's be honest, they're not checking for Saturday Morning Cartoons on CW. Maybe they would have liked the show over time, but even then there's not really too many characters that stand out in it, other than Drew for me, personally.
I think the show could basically be summed up as 'not quite enough like Power Rangers to attract children, but too much like Power Rangers, so it alienates adults'.
So scrolling through Youtube and watching clips of it, I kinda realized why. I think possibly the worst offender was the advertising and the merchandise itself. I remember seeing a toy reviewer review a couple of the figures from the American toyline, becoming intrigued because I thought it seemed vaguely Power Rangers-esque and I was down for some more rangers. These toys looked absolutely awful I have to say. Definitely not on par with some of the Power Rangers figures, but Power Rangers had been around for at least a decade and a half at that point so maybe it was excusable. After all, they had more time to realize what sells and what doesn't. However, I can tell you with certainty I would have never discovered Dragon Knight (and by extension, Ryuki as well) if I never saw that video. First off, to my knowledge the only channel it appeared on was CW, which even back then I didn't watch in the first place. And even on that channel, I can't remember it being promoted that much.
I also think the show didn't really develop an audience. They way the show is written, it basically seemed like an alternative to Power Rangers. The problem is, the campiness, the colorful characters and the absolutely absurd plots that made Power Rangers memorable weren't present in this show, so you basically had a watered down PR. On top of that, the plot, while not particularly deep, did require a lot of explaining that kids mostly aren't into. The kid appeal is already lost. On the flip side, the show doesn't necessarily have the writing to pull in adults either. The only ones left are teenagers, but let's be honest, they're not checking for Saturday Morning Cartoons on CW. Maybe they would have liked the show over time, but even then there's not really too many characters that stand out in it, other than Drew for me, personally.
I think the show could basically be summed up as 'not quite enough like Power Rangers to attract children, but too much like Power Rangers, so it alienates adults'.