Why toei use silly items as themes for every neo heisei kamen rider series?

Lurker
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
274
I do not believe a rider or sentai's theme can make or break the show. So far, I have seen shows with silly themes do quite well, while shows with what appeared to be "easy" themes not do well. In the end, Bandai/Toie can do what they want (which is what is best for their bottom line), and if it turns out that I enjoy the show, then it's a win for me also. After all, I am not their target demographic.
 
Active Member
Joined
May 6, 2010
Messages
2,574
And no, angels should not be using arcade cards. They're "super beings"

..... Do you really want a Fruit Themed Sentai team......?

Not to single anyone out (because I am taking these quotes out of context, most likely), but at this point, thinking that way is just kind of toxic. It's basically saying "This thing is stupid because it doesn't conform to MY idea of what's acceptable."

As it has been said, it's all about execution. It might be weird, but at least give it a shot. You might be glad you tried something different than what you're use to. Heck, we're the TOKUSATSU fandom, for crying out loud! We're here because we enjoy the idea of transforming super heroes, which breaks the mold of the average western image of a superhero which you see constantly. We should be use to giving weird and different things a chance.

And if you still don't like it after giving it a shot, that's fine, it's not for you. But complaining about how it doesn't conform to your sensibilities won't magically make it disappear.
 
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
1,091
What if the Nolan Batman movies had Lucius Fox invent little toy cars for Bruce to use to unlock abilities in the Batsuit?

I am Glad that didn't happen.


..... Do you really want a Fruit Themed Sentai team......?

That might work but that would be sillier unlike what gaim did.

..... To be serious though, I thought it was to differentiate them much more from Sentai. But a lot of other seasons have themes that aren't "out there" like magic or cards, or technological based Rider.

Good point if toei were to be in charge rather than bandai which focus on toy then they should have chosen serious items to both kamen rider and super sentai such as Magic or technology for example like what they did with black and kuuga and then bandai should do merchandising thing based on the next kamen rider/ sentai toei comes up with.

I do not believe a rider or sentai's theme can make or break the show. So far, I have seen shows with silly themes do quite well, while shows with what appeared to be "easy" themes not do well. In the end, Bandai/Toie can do what they want (which is what is best for their bottom line), and if it turns out that I enjoy the show, then it's a win for me also. After all, I am not their target demographic.

You may have a good point.



Yes. Yes it is. That's your answer.

Bandai clearly believe that the Kamen Rider and Super Sentai brand names help sell the toys (there's lots of studies supposedly indicating that parents are more likely to choose familiar brand names when buying for their kids). So they license the names and "sponsor" the shows - i.e. pay Toei to make them. In return they expect Toei to produce what is basically a half hour commercial aimed at small children. Bandai also buy up the space in the commercial breaks so that they're filled with actual toy ads.

Gen Urobuchi mentioned in an interview that after accepting the job to write a Rider series his first appointment with Toei was a meeting to decide on the series' theme. It turned out this "meeting" was actually a Bandai rep telling them what their theme was, then showing them the concept art for the Rider suits and other toys they would have to turn into a show. All the design work was Bandai-lead, and Toei just wrap it up in something that will keep kids staring at the merchandise longer.

While most of us on here would probably agree that we wish Rider and Sentai were less toy focussed, we also have to remember that this is why they've survived so long. They are regular, reliable sources of money and so Toei have kept at it instead of dropping them like Metal Hero or the Fushigi Comedy series so that they could try something else.


It's not so much that there are a lot of toys. It's that... they've just gotten stupider and stupider, and really inhibit everything else in the shows, such as action, plot, etc. Sometimes you'll have writers who can make it work (Who'd have thought that a fruit Rider would've turned out not half bad?) but the rest of the time, the show becomes dumber because the toys they're plugging are dumb. Actually the toys themselves may not be dumb, but shoehorning them into whatever story the writer may want to tell make it dumber. Not to mention many of them get forgotten soon afterward, perhaps because even the writers don't want to deal with them.

Drive and Goseiger I think are the worst examples of this. Literal toy cars? Who could take that seriously? I've said it before, but you could've had a key gimmick and it would've worked so much better while still going with the car theme. (Plus it'd have been funny after a year of padlocks.) Goseiger: angels who need to use arcade cards to do the simplest tricks? No... that's a horrible idea. Angels and cards don't mix. But because Bandai willed it, Toei is stuck with the material they're given.

What's sad is, I used to like the talking belts in Rider. Why? Because they sounded cool; they only said one or two words at a time in a "machine-like" voice. It arguably started with Den-O, but with OOO the belts officially became so obnoxious and blatant in their toyishness. Instead of single words, they now have to do a whole song-and-dance number or repeat words twice for no reason (like in W and Fourze). It really takes away from dramatic moments when they do this. Though granted, the shows do seem to be trying to tone that down toward the middle of the run.

You know what i think, After reading both of your comments I think Toei should focus on the stories for the next super sentai and kamen rider series rather than the silly things bandai comes up with like 'fashion' for example and let them make the story revolving around it ,It didn't happen to ultraman and the first kamen rider and super sentai series during the 70's including Black,Kuuga and Garo (though the latter one becomes a cash cow franchise but at least the company cares about the story rather than what toei did with super sentai and kamen rider ) .

I mean if Bandai and toei care about making a merchandising driven tokusatsu franchise how about they make a original tokusatsu franchise revolving around their toy with the help of toei rather than messing kamen rider and super sentai with their choice of silly items i mean this process is similar to what Takara Tomy' did with their product line Tomica toy cars with their tokusatsu series franchise called Tomica Hero Series including americans when Mattel did with He-man with the filmation cartoon,Hasbro did with My little pony,G.I joe and Transformers and one more thing the merchandising driven thing happen to teenage mutant ninja turtles with playmates but it didn't affect it because it was originated from a comic book series by Kevin eastman and peter laird in the 80s which spawn a popular animated series.

Kamen rider and super sentai are just tv shows not as 'toy commercials' especially the power rangers! Also if they did then both franchise will end up defunct like Metal hero and Fushigi Comedy series and maybe focus on Bandai's original tokusatsu series revolving around their toys to fill in Superhero time's time slot (the ones which have kamen rider and super sentai in it)
 
Last edited:
Harumph.
Joined
Aug 15, 2007
Messages
807
It is what it is.

Ideally, I'd like for the writers to be able to choose their own themes for that year. But we're long past the days when toy companies would approach people to make toys based on their show.
 
New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2013
Messages
408
It is what it is.

Ideally, I'd like for the writers to be able to choose their own themes for that year. But we're long past the days when toy companies would approach people to make toys based on their show.


It's all about the moolah now...
 
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
1,091
It is what it is.

Ideally, I'd like for the writers to be able to choose their own themes for that year. But we're long past the days when toy companies would approach people to make toys based on their show.

Yeah i wish it will happen for a future super sentai and kamen rider series because i hope in the future if toei decided to make a next theme for kamen rider and super sentai series they must hire a writer first to decide what theme and story will beused for both shows and then let bandai do the merchandising all over it rather than have band dai choose a theme to both shows and let them and the writer do a story revolving around it.

You know if i were born and lived in japan i would go to toei and bandai and ask and plead them to stop treating kamen rider and super sentai series as toy commercials and let the art of story making take over rather than being treated as merchandise commercials or as i will say to them in the words of Howard Beale from the movie network (1976) I'm as mad as h****, and I'm not going to take this anymore! in japanese words 私は、地*** のように怒り狂って、もうこれ以上我慢するつもりはない!

It's all about the moolah now...

Yeah no wonder some of us common people and satirists hates those corporate greedy people.
 
Last edited:
New Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2013
Messages
408
You know, after the 20th heisei anniversary, do you think this whole collectible gimmicks are still going to be in? I can see that things are getting more compact and mobile. Perhaps toys will be streamline or something.
 
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
1,091
You know, after the 20th heisei anniversary, do you think this whole collectible gimmicks are still going to be in? I can see that things are getting more compact and mobile. Perhaps toys will be streamline or something.

Yeah i think so they are toys they can evolve like other things including gimmicks
 
Joined
Nov 3, 2010
Messages
1,091
And i forgot one thing i understand why Joe odagiri won't reprise his role as kuuga because the toei's tokusatsu franchise is acting like a toy commercials nowadays unlike the productions days of kuuga.
 
Top