Shougo B'Stard
Would like to change his avatar
To me, the anime takeover of Sentai began with probably Gaoranger, and with Rider it got really bad with Den-O.
I think there's a variety of factors. I think one is just laziness -- the whole "lul, kidz show = cartoon, let's just make it all a cartoon."
I think one reason is how gimmicky the modern shows have become being a result of the Pokemon craze -- it was a bad sign when tokusatsu started incorporating monster pals and cards and stuff like that, merging something that was popular from anime with live-action.
I think one reason is that, when you compare old toku to new toku, a lot of the staff -- directors and writers -- of, say, '70s and '80s shows had backgrounds in live-action drama shows as well as anime. (Most had cop shows on their resume, which I think contributed to the kind of procedural feel a lot of those early shows have.) All of the writers nowadays come from a strictly anime background, and I think a lot of them have trouble adapting to live-action stuff, so they just treat it like an anime.
Another thing that's not helping is that a lot of the actors who are working in toku now were raised on anime, so that will affect how they act. There was a time where you'd read an interview with a toku actor and they'd inevitably be asked what their favorite hero show was and they'd mention a toku. Now they'll mention an anime. I mean, I think you can tell that if you look at the actors for Go-on Red or Kyoryu Red -- they're trying their hardest to act like cartoons come to life.
Also -- CGI. The lazy reliance of CGI -- which turns ANYTHING into basically Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- has given the shows a real cartoon-likeness to them. CGI has killed any creativity that goes into Sentai or Rider finisher attacks -- they'll all just be that blurry anime battle background, and that just sucks. I mean, think of the swordplay or martial-arts finishers of old compared to the lame-o blurry-lined, characters in a static pose Saint Seiya **** they always do now. It's something you really notice if you were a fan of the action-oriented shows of old; I've always been into the action of these shows -- I love the Japan Action Club. But they don't really get to do much of anything now, just wave a toy and let CGI and greenscreen do the rest.
I mean, toku would often have some over-the-top slapstick, some cartoony gag -- think of somebody being in an explosion and they blow a puff of cigarette smoke -- but definitely not to the extent that the millennium shows have taken it with the humor and fight scenes. There's SO many toku shows now that I can watch and picture as an anime, and that's just wrong.
I think there's a variety of factors. I think one is just laziness -- the whole "lul, kidz show = cartoon, let's just make it all a cartoon."
I think one reason is how gimmicky the modern shows have become being a result of the Pokemon craze -- it was a bad sign when tokusatsu started incorporating monster pals and cards and stuff like that, merging something that was popular from anime with live-action.
I think one reason is that, when you compare old toku to new toku, a lot of the staff -- directors and writers -- of, say, '70s and '80s shows had backgrounds in live-action drama shows as well as anime. (Most had cop shows on their resume, which I think contributed to the kind of procedural feel a lot of those early shows have.) All of the writers nowadays come from a strictly anime background, and I think a lot of them have trouble adapting to live-action stuff, so they just treat it like an anime.
Another thing that's not helping is that a lot of the actors who are working in toku now were raised on anime, so that will affect how they act. There was a time where you'd read an interview with a toku actor and they'd inevitably be asked what their favorite hero show was and they'd mention a toku. Now they'll mention an anime. I mean, I think you can tell that if you look at the actors for Go-on Red or Kyoryu Red -- they're trying their hardest to act like cartoons come to life.
Also -- CGI. The lazy reliance of CGI -- which turns ANYTHING into basically Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- has given the shows a real cartoon-likeness to them. CGI has killed any creativity that goes into Sentai or Rider finisher attacks -- they'll all just be that blurry anime battle background, and that just sucks. I mean, think of the swordplay or martial-arts finishers of old compared to the lame-o blurry-lined, characters in a static pose Saint Seiya **** they always do now. It's something you really notice if you were a fan of the action-oriented shows of old; I've always been into the action of these shows -- I love the Japan Action Club. But they don't really get to do much of anything now, just wave a toy and let CGI and greenscreen do the rest.
I mean, toku would often have some over-the-top slapstick, some cartoony gag -- think of somebody being in an explosion and they blow a puff of cigarette smoke -- but definitely not to the extent that the millennium shows have taken it with the humor and fight scenes. There's SO many toku shows now that I can watch and picture as an anime, and that's just wrong.
