Toei: How do they do it?

[Reaper G]

[Jinzo Ningen]

[Mac]

[king_ghidorah]

[Dr Kain]

[Reaper G]

Thanks for the answers, it explains a lot, but at some point, don't the Japanese get tired of these programs after a while, or are there more than enough kids discovering KR and the Sentai to keep the franchises going? When, and could, it end?

[kidnicky]

I actually like the form changing,and I don't collect the figures. I just think it looks cool. Everyone likes Spider-Man's black suit,or Wolverine's brown one,how's this any different?

[MekaGojira3k]

[kiryugoji04]

[monster of dark]

In my humble opinion, it's the 'changes'.

The Kamen Rider or Masked Rider are always different in the yearly series, sometimes it's so creative that it breath of freshness, sometimes it's so drastic that it caused some winces. - these reaction are interchangeable and also even overlapped each other.

It's like a new version of the same thing that is not or never quite the same, and this actually help create more viewers and even potential fans, possibly even more than the numbers of the alienated long-time fans. Different concept would likely to cater to different crowd, allowing other people with different interest gateways to enter the franchise and possibly turned into actual fans. - It's like making up a bubble only to burst it yourselves and then remaking it anew... Or something like that.

But, why would such a thing work? Beside the factor of a totally new series every year, the other thing might actually be Casting, Gimmick and Merchandising.

Casting pretty boys or girls might be awkward in the eyes of some, but that idea alone probably helped expanding the usual viewers especially the female crowd (housewives and OL), they might stopped once a series is over but some might instead become closet fans who continue to support the franchise by buying related merchandise like magazine or even OST.

It's pretty much the same when they cast pretty faces from boy-band or idol group, it helped by attracting viewers who are fans, and also opening up chances of grabbing some potential fans. - It's Japan, most of them grew up watching Ultraman or Kamen Rider, they might have dropped the franchise when they grew out of it, but a taste of nostalgia might lured some back.

Anyway, casting famous Voice Actor (VA) for Den-O and Kiva might helped opening a bigger can of tasty ham ( ). the anime crowd is bigger than the usual tokusatsu crowd which included a lot more people who aren't really Otaku at all but the normal crowd who watch a few anime once in a while. - Potential fans, potential customer, every tiny bit of sand in the beaches count.

Gimmick, what to say, kids love them, adult love them too (maybe, especially the creative one), and the adult who are parents are actually the one who will have to spent money on them to satisfy their kids, and what guide them to spent more, new gimmick, every year!! New gimmick is also part of why every Kamen Rider is totally different from each other, you wouldn't want to miss out something new because other people is also watching (POV of a child).

Merchandising, now... Okay, it's a part of the gimmick. But, to be honest despite how greedy Bandai is or maybe (:evil: ), merchandising can actually work magic. - I know since I am knee deep, and yeah because I am pretty active on two or three group (ACG related - mostly Figuarts, Gunpla, Figma, Chogokin, Ultra-act and ect) on Facebook.

I have seen people who weren't into Kamen Rider or Ultraman (or dropped both franchise when they grew up) attracted to the merchandise showcased by other members, a lot actually started to watch Kamen Riders and also Ultraman of course, and some also started to collect the related merchandise. So yeah, merchadise can actually work wonder by attracting new fans who are unfamiliar or once familiar to the show. - Remember, most or all people in Japan and also South East were exposed to these franchise when they were young.

I mean if you look closely to the gimmick the people at Plex(Bandai) put into their design and concept, there are lots of hint or not-so-obvious related to other franchise or other elements. - There are educational elements like learning A to Z(Kamen Rider W), and learning about animals and color pairing (Kamen Rider OOO) and then there is learning about Astronomy (planets\star constellations) plus numbers in Fourze.

And what about the detective theme for W (hardboiled - also mentioned in Gintama), the alchemist for OOO (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was still airing), and the obvious PS buttons designs plus transformers style Power Dizer in Fourze.

These elements may not be as powerful as Hypno Toad, but hey they work. And yeah, again every little thing count.

And yeah, sometimes, the idea for the concept. casting and gimmick might be quite controversial, but controversy is actually the key of interest. People love them.

[ryuuseipro]

People also have to remember that, when it comes to Godzilla, Toho has a different way of doing things than your average Toei Superhero show.

For one thing, TV shows do better than movies. Now, if Toho produced a Godzilla TV series with Bandai sponsorship, things would be very different.

But the sad fact is, Toho refuses to ever do a Godzilla TV series. Because Toho wants people to pay to see Godzilla. They want MONEY! But the Japanese people would rather watch giant monsters on an Ultra Series on TV for free than to go to theaters to pay and see Godzilla. Merchandising money doesn't matter to Toho. Godzilla is purely theirs, and they will not compromise.

On the other hand, compared to Toei, Tsuburaya has the same kind of ownership power when it comes to Ultraman, but they make a killing through merchandising! And now that they won the legal battle against Chaiyo (something that English-speaking news sources never reported on, oddly enough), they can also continue their worldwide marketing of the characters.

It all comes down to Toho's steadfast reluctance to compromise ownership of Godzilla.

[monster of dark]

[kidnicky]

[kiryugoji04]

That's still nothing compared to shows like Kabuto (11 Riders, at least 18 separate forms between them), Den-O (3 Riders, at least 12 forms), or Kiva (6 riders, 10 forms). That's not even getting into the insanity of W and OOO's partial form swtiches.

I mean, seriously, look at this sh*t:



And that's just from Kuuga to Decade! D8

[kidnicky]

That is the most beautiful picture I have ever seen in my life.

[MekaGojira3k]

[monster of dark]