What's wrong with the FUNi grunting?

Onikage725 · Post by **Onikage725** » Mon Nov 12, 2007 12:05 am

Super Sonic wrote:
Also don't think the market for Sentai released over here is that big, particularly like its American adaptations it's aimed at 10 year-olds.

My point is that certain companies negatively impact those potential markets by bastardizing the original product.

For example, Super Sentai. Why wouldnt there be a market here, even if a niche one? We get other tokusatsu stuff. We get Ultraman. We're getting what seems to be a decent adaptation of a Kamen Rider series soon. We've gotten at least the anime form of Kikaider. The main appeal for the various Saban adaptations (and I know PR is now Disney) was always the tokusatsu footage- and that footage is generally heavily censored. Since when is a chance to use the word "uncut" ever considered a bad thing for a DVD sales? Anyone who watched Big Bad Beetleborgs would find B Fighters a VAST improvement.

There are also numerous anime done in similar style to various tokusatsu programs. Ronin Warriors/Samurai Troopers comes off like a cross between Metal Hero and Super Sentai in my opinion. Guyver is obviously Kamen Rider inspired. Tekkaman Blade has a Metal Hero vibe. The whole "Magical Girl," which is like the "for girls" corner of the market, was popularized in the States by Sailor Moon. Though this was itself heavily edited, it has since seen unedited releases, as has Samurai Troopers and Tekkaman.

Even Dragon Ball and Yu Yu Hakusho gives us the common element of a team with special abilities defending the planet from aliens and monsters (and of course demons, especially in the latter series). DBZ even has direct tokusatsu parodies in the form of the Ginyu and Great Saiyaman.

The video game Viewtiful Joe was a love letter to tokusatsu fans, and it was very well received.

So it isn't that a market wouldn't exist for sentai in the states. It is just that stuff like Power Rangers has grown so huge, and (like Harmony Gold with Macross before) they don't want to risk competing with themselves by putting out something less kid friendly.

But it would stand to reason that if Guyver, St. Seiya, Tekkaman, Ultraman, and the Kikaider anime sell, stuff like J.A.K.Q., Dairanger, Kamen Rider, B-Fighter, and live-action Kikaider should too. Ironically enough, we sort of got live-action Kikaider in the form of heavily edited footage from Metalder used to partially create VR Troopers.

It might also be interesting to note that a number of Harmony Gold staff members were at one point recruited to bolster the ranks of Saban. It certainly explains a bit.

Mystic Jack · Post by **Mystic Jack** » Sat Nov 24, 2007 7:00 pm

I think it's because it's NOT just when they power up that they grunt like pigs. It's in a lot of scenes in nearly every episode... so that's what peeves me off.

Onikage725 · Post by **Onikage725** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:53 am

EDIT: What in the hell...

Super Sonic · Post by **Super Sonic** » Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:28 pm

Onikage, why did you quote yourself?

Onikage725 · Post by **Onikage725** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 11:19 am

Super Sonic wrote:Onikage, why did you quote yourself?

Um... I dont know. That's fricken weird. I must have done something... I edited my earlier post above, maybe I had another window open at the same time or something and sent it as a new post by accident. I dunno.