Last time on Growing Up with Spandex!
I didn’t talk about SunVulcan nowhere near as much as I should have, so here’s a picture of Shin Kishida as way of apology:
Where was I? Oh yeah, Super Sentai.
Ejem.
Because of its constant presence in television, Super Sentai often set the pace of what worked and what didn’t within the genre. In a lot of ways, it became the blueprint for making Tokusatsu, even more so than Kamen Rider. But going beyond the scope of pop culture, Super Sentai as a whole does provide an interesting point of reference if you have any interest in studying Japanese culture during the 20th century.
I know it sounds ridiculous to hold a cheap action show made for kids in such regard, but you have to understand that like all forms of entertainment, Super Sentai was not made in a vacuum; the oil bubble, the housing crisis, the discontent with the educational system, all these very real things often feed into the writing of these shows, and Super Sentai in particular acted as a sort of time capsule not just for the anxieties of the country, but popular trends and cultural movements as well.
This became particularly notable during the 90’s, a period that is often thought of as the Golden Era of the franchise; the 90’s was a period of notorious economic hardships for Japan, and that, combined with a few national crises, started to erode the public’s trust on the institutions that were meant to protect them, leading to the creators of these shows to rethink how to approach the Super Hero genre.
That change in perspective put Super Sentai in something of an odd spot; this was still very much a franchise aimed at children, one that had spent 15 years or so refining a formular that wasn’t really cutting it anymore. Unlike similar franchises, Super Sentai couldn’t really afford to change that formula without becoming something else entirely. A change was needed, but it wasn’t until Choujin Sentai Jetman saved the franchise from near cancellation in 1991 that it became clear what that change was.
Tokusatsu is well known for its overreliance on formulas, but what made 90’s Sentai so unique was how it turned that formula into a narrative framework. Now Super Sentai could try and do almost anything, as long as it abided by the Sentai template; Zyuranger introduced Fantasy as a recurring theme for the series, Dairanger invented a whole new paradigm of character writing, Megaranger created high school dramas (citation needed) and Carranger is quite possibly the greatest comedy ever made.
Even before you factor in the huge success of Power Rangers, this was one of the most creatively rich periods not just for Super Sentai, but for Tokusatsu in general. Shows like Changerion and Ultraman Gaia straight up changed how the Super Hero genre was written, and this was the period that launched the career Yasuko Kobayashi, a beloved Sentai writer who went onto write Kamen Rider Ryuki, a show famous for basically terraforming Japanese entertainment during the early 2000’s.
Hey, speaking of the new millennium, have you ever heard of Bandai?
It is no secret that one of the main motivations for producing these shows is money. Specifically, toy money. That is why toy companies have always played an important role on the production of Tokusatsu. Hell, the original Kamen Rider was basically held together by toy sales and spite. But the 2000’s was the period when this probably went over the line; Bandai has long sponsored spandex-based heroes, but after the success of Gaoranger, a show that put its toy line front and center like never before, you could see how Bandai took a more hands-on approach to these productions.
That doesn’t mean that the Sentai series produced during this era were bad, Dekaranger is one of the most beloved seasons ever, and I know at least one person who likes Boukenger, but broadly speaking you could see how the franchise started to take less risks in favor of a strict formula that relied more and more on the use of toys and gimmicks to carry these shows.
By this point in history, the Super Sentai series was over 30 years old, a feat that is both impressive and makes my back hurt. Unfortunately, this was also when the long-standing franchise started to see a noticeable drop in its popularity; the declining birth rate quite literally reducing its core audience and brand exhaustion were certainly factors, but the biggest contributor to this decline was, well, Kamen Rider.
As much as the franchise about Karate Bugmen has always been considered a cultural icon in Japan, his success in TV has always been very spotty, especially compared with Super Sentai. That is until the new millennium rolled around and Kamen Rider saw such a successful revival it dwarfed anything Toei has ever done, leaving the Super Sentai franchise struggling to keep itself relevant as the Juggernaut that was Kamen Rider Den-O literally cannibalized its sales.
After the Hail Mary that was Gokaiger, the greatest Toku anniversary season in a universe where Ultraman Mebius doesn’t exists, Toei tried to reinvigorate the franchise with Tokumei Sentai Go-busters, an almost total reinvention of the Sentai formula that looked suspiciously like Kamen Rider; a main hero who rode a cool bike, a toy line based on high tech gadgets, a darker story line and leather-based suits, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out where the inspiration was coming from, and the end result was… surprisingly good?
Opinions might vary of course (I am right though), but no one can deny that Go-Busters was the kind of bold shot in the arm the franchise direly needed. The Mecha battles, which had become little more than an afterthought, were finally cool again, the idea of a team of spies worked surprisingly well in a modernized context, and returning Sentai alumni Hiroya Matsumoto, who has been trapped in Toei’s parking lot since 2005, is always lovely to watch.
Unfortunately, innovation doesn’t always lead to success, and kids, who are famous for being wrong, didn’t buy into the spy theme nor the toys. Add the huge backslash from older fans who grew up with the classic series and this led to the show being retooled, a strategy that Toei has used many times before in spite of only having really worked once.
Be as it may, the damage was done and with sales and ratings on a tailspin, the higher ups at the Toei/Bandai/Tv Asashi Triumvirate set their sights on a single goal: to manufacture a hit. A real ‘duh’ moment if there’s such a thing, but on a production level that meant that the parent companies had a larger say on what made and didn’t make it into Sentai, and any moderately risky or innovative idea was skewed in favor of themes that were sure to be popular with children, like trains and dinosaurs and trains shaped like dinosaurs.
Sentai post-Go-Busters is such a frustratingly interesting period because most shows have something really good about them (yes, even Ninninger), but you can tell most creative decisions were overruled by marketable decisions. This led to productions that were so overmanaged, the franchise was basically suffocating under the weight of trying to be successful.
And that’s without considering the increasing dependence on collectable toy gimmicks, a tactic that had become the lifeline for Rider, but hasn’t found the same success with Sentai. And certainly not for a lack of trying.
Of all the Sentai produced during the 2010’s, none of them is more fascinating to me than Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger. After the two previous seasons attempts to shake up the formula didn’t pan out, Ryusoulger was a textbook example of trying to play it safe, often to its detriment. You had a talented group of actors, directors, stuntmen and writers who really, really wanted to make a good show, but they simply weren’t allowed to.
Production mandates were dragging the show constantly, and while it is a very watchable season with a lot of ambition, the execution left too much to be desired, often to the point of mediocrity. And no amount of Tatsuya Kishida ripping off his shirt could fix that.
As any long-time victim of Toei Co. Ltd. Like myself can tell you, once these shows reach their last cour things can be very hit or miss; with the end on the horizon, budget, staff and other resources are allocated into next year’s show, while the current one has to make do with whatever’s left. Some manage to do just well given the circumstances, others are Kamen Rider Agito, but in Ryusoulger’s case, after spending a whole year shackled on a creative level, the cast and crew suddenly found themselves with the freedom to do whatever the hell they wanted.
With no budget, no time, no production values worth a damn and absolutely nothing to lose, they delivered one of the rawest Super Sentai final arcs ever made.
Rumors of the franchise’s cancellation had been going around for years by now, mostly by fans with nothing better to do, and this situation only added gunpowder to the quarry. Those rumors have rarely held much water mind you, but the situation really was becoming unsustainable, and with the 45th anniversary right around the corner (ouch, my back again), something had to be done.
With no other recourse left and with all traditional venues spent, the longest standing Super Hero franchise was, almost ironically, in dire need of a Hero. As it turns out, fate has a really twisted sense of humor because what it got, was the opposite of that.
Shinichiro Shirakura, the man who was so offended by Kamen Rider Black RX he became a Toei Producer. Easily one of the most experienced people on the business, and way more patient with English Toku fans than he probably should be. He has one of the most extensive and, to be perfectly honest, uneven track records at the company, but I’ll be damned if the man doesn’t know how to make entertaining television.
His tenure at Kamen Rider is as legendary as it is trauma-inducing, and with him at the helm of Toei’s other other Super Hero franchise, all bets were off; Sentai had been stalling for far too long, and if anyone could get the franchise out of that funk, for better or worse, that someone was Shinichiro Shirakura. Not the most encouraging words, but the situation was that desperate.
All joking aside, though that last joke did hurt me a little bit, his unconventional approach may have been exactly what the franchise needed as the first show he produced, The Sexy Dancing Pirate-Man Show, became the surprise hit of the season. Yes, I know that is not its actual name, but why would I call it anything else?
And with that we’ve essentially reached the end of our journey. As I said before, I am not the biggest Super Sentai fan out there, but as a fan of Tokusatsu I’ve always found its production history quite fascinating; throughout the decades, Super Sentai carried the torch of the genre when no one else could, it has seen the birth, death and revival of other franchises, and if nothing else, its place in history almost serves as a chronicle of Television media itself.
Things are still uncertain for Super Sentai for sure, I don’t even know if we’ll reach the 50th anniversary, but if the success of Avataro Sentai Donbrothers, the show that answers the question “what if every member of the cast had a completely different mental illness?”, continues, then Sentai might still have a future.
If I may be so bold, I am going to say the one thing no one here in the year 2022 of our lord wants to hear:
Super Heroes are something you’re supposed to grow out of.
By their very nature, Super heroes are more than entertainment, they are our moral training wheels; when you’re a child you’re supposed to look up to them, learn from them, and then take their teachings with you as you become an adult. There is no point to watching super heroes if they don’t become the foundation for you to become a better person.
That, I think, is part of what makes Super Sentai such a special franchise; Super Sentai is something you grow out of, it is the kind of show kids watch in elementary school and then move on with their lives. But those couple of years they might spend with the franchise mean something to them, and once they become adults, even if they never even glance at it ever again, are something they will carry with them and look back fondly upon.
That, I believe, is the true legacy of the Super Sentai franchise.
It is undeniable that the history of Super Sentai is the history of Tokusatsu, but the impact it had on the industry is not as important as the impact it had on people. Just looking at shows like Tokusatsu Ga Ga Ga, Akibaranger, Dogengers, The High School Heroes and even the PTSD inducing trip that is Voicelugger, you can see how it has become part of people lives, so even if it’s gone, it will never be forgotten.
And make no mistake, Super Sentai WILL be gone one day. Nothing lasts forever, especially not TV shows made for kids, but that’s because they’re not supposed to. I know how cheesy this sounds, but the true success of a TV show is not measured in awards, ratings or profits, though that last one does help, but on the memories of the kids who grow up watching them. And that is something me and many others can relate to because, as embarrassing as it sounds to admit, I grew up with Power Rangers.
Fanboyism Extraordinaire 