Thread by @vvmmrrcc

With the new image of Zenkaiger,a thread to explain why I think this series is here to save the Super Sentai franchise.I know those rumors have been going on for years. #zenkaizer #zenkaiger #ゼンカイザー #ゼンカイジャー #スーパー戦隊 #特撮 #tokusatsu #supersentai #sentai(1/20)

I’m the first one to have doubts when everybody talks about it every year, but this year, I think it may be true. (2/20)

My argumentation is based on a panel of the Tokyo International Film Festival.
Here’s the link bit.ly/2KD5Nwi
Interestingly, this panel took place at the beginning of November. That means that, during that time, Shirakura knew about the new Sentai. (3/20)

Rumors even say Shirakura will be the main producer of this show (he has been main P for Zyuranger/Dairanger, then all Heisei 1 KR after Kuuga and Zi-ou). (4/20)

If that is true, that means that, like for KR Zi-ou, he will add this workload to his current workload as a director and VP inside Toei.
Anywyas, apart from all the interesting things that we learn on this panel, Shirakura Shinichirô’s interventions are very important. (5/20)

First,he explains how Super Sentai(so from Battle Fever J)replaced the airing slot that was occupied by Robot animes (I don’t know which anime was aired before Battle Fever J, but I know that one year before that, it was Combattler V.) His argument is that Super Sentai is…(6/20)

…first a show to sell robot toys, and that recently, writers tend to treat the robots as a bonus after the human size fights.
This first argument is really interesting when looking at the Zenkaiger designs. (7/20)

You can see that the 4 colored members of the teams are based on previous robots designs. Namely, Daizyujin (Zyuranger) for Red, Daibouken (Boukenger) for Blue, Gaoking (Gaoranger) for Yellow and Magiking (Magiranger) for pink. (8/20)

We don’t know if they have human forms yet (rumors say they don’t) but whatever the case, you can clearly see how the show wants to put the focus back on robots…robots that sell toys…knowing that Bandai Sentai Sales have been going down and down for quite a few years now.(9/20)

The second argument of Shirakura is of course when asked about the crisis of Super Sentai at the end of the 90s. He that Fiveman was indeed a bad period (ratings down, and toys not selling…like now) but thanks to Jetman, the licence was saved.(10/20)

He then explains that there was another crisis around 2000 when Kamen Rider started.
Knowing how Kiramager and the Sentai before performed, it is very interesting that he brings the second crisis, that is less known to everybody. (11/20)

The Fiveman crisis is common knowledge within the fandom,but the KR crisis isn’t. Indeed, you could look at that argument as a warning that crisis can happen regularly. And maybe, we are in the middle of one of them.The third argument is when he talks about Power Rangers. (12/20)

He explains that because of Power Rangers, Toei became a little too soft with Super Sentai. Basically, his argument is that if a show failed in Japan, it always had a second chance in the US and the rest of the world. (13/20)

For him, Toei did lost precious time (15 to 30 years) because of that. (14/20)

He doesn’t explain exactly how, but probably Toei (he doesn’t accuse the creative teams) Knowing now that Hasbro is probably moving away from the Japan influence, and that the unique seller of Sentai Toys is now Bandai Japan, this is very important fact. (15/20)

With this revolutionary approach for Zenkaiger, it looks like Toei is dealing with those two aspects: new ideas for Super Sentai and creating a show that sells toys (for Bandai, which is, let’s not forget, is a main investor every year for Sentai shows). (16/20)

The last argument is when Shirakura answers to the question “what defines Sentai Series”. He explains that, within Toei, a lot of people wants to see Sentai as a unique Series (franchise) but that it should not be considered that way. (17/20)

He then argues that there are common traits between shows, but that each show should be considered a standalone to create a great one.
With this, it’s easy to understand how a different approach could be taken for Super Sentai. (18/20)

For Zenkaiger, we still have a colored team of 5 heroes. They do look quite different from what we are used to, it is definitely a different approach, but I am optimistic when saying that the show won’t be a Kamen Rider. It will just be a new kind of Sentai. (19/20)

We will have to wait next year to see what kind exactly. (20/20)