Why is Saban 'not legally allowed' to skip a Sentai series?

[Black Ranger RX]

So like.... Why?

Korea skipped Shinkenger (because Samurai themes didn't meet to Korean TV standards) and TVB Hong Kong skipped Goseiger, I think Taiwan also skipped Goseiger too..

So if Korea and TVB are allowed to skip a series, why isn't Saban? Sure TVB aren't Saban and what they're doing is translating the language of the original show into Cantonese while Saban are doing an English language adaptation of the show where they change the Japanese cast with American ones... but even so why, and what's legal got to do with it?

 

[Shynilyte]

I remember this was brought up in another thread, and somebody posted a link to Saban's contract. Although that was apparently the original contract from the 90s.

 

[Mirage_Frost]

yeah, aren't they skipping GoBusters this time around?

 

[Undrave]

I'm pretty sure Korrea and company simply purchase series year by year. Saban on the other hand has a more complex contract going on where they get every series in exchange for a piece of the Power Pie of Profit.

I think the reason why TOEI put that clause in the contract is pretty simple: it means that every sentai serie they shoot gets paid twice. Every time they shoot a single scene of action it get used in two different series and they essentially get two checks out of one scene ya know? By making sure Saban can't skip of their own volition they just ensure this stable income for all series.

In the case of Go-buster it's TOEI and Bandai who decided it would be best to go for the show with a collectible toy and dinosaur theme instead of the one that did poorly in the Japanese market.

I think it's a bit stupid because I bet Go-busters would have done great in North-America.

 

[TaintedSeraph]

In the case of Go-buster it's TOEI and Bandai who decided it would be best to go for the show with a collectible toy and dinosaur theme instead of the one that did poorly in the Japanese market.

I think it's a bit stupid because I bet Go-busters would have done great in North-America.

I agree. I think the toy line would've done a lot better in North America than it did in Japan because of cultural differences and such. Saban probably didn't try to fight for Go-Busters because of how much more expensive it would've been to adapt. A lot of the footage from Go-Busters - mostly centring around Enter and Escape's scenes and any fights that included them - wouldn't have been usable so they would've needed a larger budget for original footage.

Of course, the larger production costs could've been justified if Bandai had higher sales from Japan and higher hopes for sales in the US/Canada (and wherever else they sell their toys) but they didn't.

 

[Toku Prime]

So if Korea and TVB are allowed to skip a series, why isn't Saban? Sure TVB aren't Saban and what they're doing is translating the language of the original show into Cantonese while Saban are doing an English language adaptation of the show where they change the Japanese cast with American ones... but even so why, and what's legal got to do with it?

I think you're comparing apples with oranges there really. Saban's contract with Toei from the 90s can be found easily enough by Googling for it. The main details are:

1. Saban pays a fixed price for each series that is specified in the contract (I can't recall what it was off the top of my head).
2. Saban has to confirm with Toei that they want to purchase the footage for a given Sentai within 2 years of that series finishing it's initial run on Japanese TV.
3. Saban must purchase consecutive series i.e. they cannot skip a series. If they haven't confirmed their intent to buy footage for a series within two years, the entire contract expires.
4. There is no specific end date to the contract, so as long as they keep confirming within two years the contract stays active.

The first point is the actually the key one. The price Saban has to pay for each series was fixed in the 90s. There's been 20 years of inflation and rising costs since then, so that once-competitive price is now dirt cheap. That's one of Power Rangers' strengths - it's cheap to make because all the action and zord footage is being bought at much less than it would cost to film from scratch. That was thought to be the main reason Saban (and Disney) would never ask Toei if they wanted to renegotiate - in case Toei wanted the price to be raised to something much closer to the market rate. Presumably though things have changed in order for Go-Busters to be jumped.

In the case of the South Korean version, the contracts will be rather different, mainly because they are just dubbing the original actors rather than replacing them as Saban does. Japanese acting contracts apparently have standard clauses stating that they get an additional performance fee if the work is shown in another country. Dubbing doesn't invalidate that, because the actors are still on screen. So the Koreans have different (probably more expensive) contracts that will cover the amount that Toei will have to pass onto the actors starring in each season.

 

[chronoxiong]

Goseiger got skipped in Hong Kong and in Taiwan? Oh man, that is depressing to hear. And US audiences have to deal with those suits for 2 years. Haha...

 

[Bigdog]

I'm pretty sure Korrea and company simply purchase series year by year. Saban on the other hand has a more complex contract going on where they get every series in exchange for a piece of the Power Pie of Profit.

I think the reason why TOEI put that clause in the contract is pretty simple: it means that every sentai serie they shoot gets paid twice. Every time they shoot a single scene of action it get used in two different series and they essentially get two checks out of one scene ya know? By making sure Saban can't skip of their own volition they just ensure this stable income for all series.

In the case of Go-buster it's TOEI and Bandai who decided it would be best to go for the show with a collectible toy and dinosaur theme instead of the one that did poorly in the Japanese market.

I think it's a bit stupid because I bet Go-busters would have done great in North-America.

Basically it amounts to Japanese execs' ignorance of the foreign markets they serve. Look at how a Square Enix person said about believing that JRPGs are not popular outside Japan. If JRPGs were not popular, they would have bombed and remained a regional speciality.

I believe opting Dino Charge before Gobusters because of the theme/tone in one way is overtly ignorant even because the reason it floundered was because it devolved from a spy series to a typical show, while having a toy-line that didn't know what it wanted to be. The mech toys wanted to be Changeman mixed with Go-Onger, but the other toys wanted to be either in the spy if not in a generic sentai genre. If they release Gobusters here they need to strongly focus the series.

On the other end, Dino Charge could be a precursor and they could be planning to use the series as an upgrade to the Tokkyuger if not as its prequel or side show. Despite the series' quality, the toys are still valuable enough to be used, so I can see them using the show. Kyoryuger,despite how it is, can be adapted like Dino Thunder or RPM. In the case of Busters, this could likely be the first time they adapt a series out of the yearly order it was initially released in.

 

[Demi-Fiend]

Before they skipped Takumi Gobusters, they skipped Gosei Sentai Dairanger, but not completely they used the zords and the kibaranger suit.

 

[Ivanhobe]

I always though that this was mostly an issue with sales.

From Toei/Bandai´s perspective, the deal they made with Saban is quite convenient since it essentially allows them to sell merchandise for a show twice, so its not like Saban could not skip a series, but rather Toei/Bandai prefers for them to do that since it brings them a larger profit.

From that perspective, it is obvious why they skipped Go-Busters; even if i loved this show, the backslash and drop in sales was so dramatic that Toei/Bandai decided that there was no real profit in continuing merchandising this show, especially considering how well Kyoryuger was selling at the time. My guess is that Saban agreed to this mostly because a new Dinosaour Power Rangers Season at the twilight of the 20th anniversary of the franchise was just perfect and the toys are awesome.

So basically, its just business, as usual.