With Shout! Factory announcing plans to release Dairanger -- which I AM excited about -- it got me a-thinkin' about where these releases are headed and I realized...it will be pretty boring, and probably business suicide to proceed in chronological order the Super Sentai shows which became Power Rangers entries.
So, I'd like to suggest -- as a way to keep business flowing and interest sparked -- that after maybe Kakuranger, they begin to jump around with their releases. I mean, imagine this -- next year, Dairanger is released. 2017 would be Kakuranger. 2018 would be Ohranger, which is a god-stinking-awful show and would immediately kill people's interest in buying any more Super Sentai. How bad is Ohranger? Practically everyone who worked on the show, who had been with the franchise for numerous years, walked after that year. How bad is Ohranger? Super Sentai fan and Nerdiest Idol of the Nerds Shoko Nakagawa doesn't like it. How bad is Ohranger? Power Rangers fans consider the Power Rangers season which used Ohranger footage, Power Rangers Zeo, to be superior. Power Rangers Zeo, aka the season where they opt to focus more on Bulk and Skull becoming defective detectives than they do on any Power Rangers action, because that's what little choice Ohranger left them.
My recommendation? Start jumping around and releasing shows that were turned into fan favorite seasons of Power Rangers. Kakuranger is a popular series, everybody likes ninjas and goof-assery and it's also representative of the end of the MMPR era, so that show's release is probably a given. (It also doesn't hurt that it has a recognizable action star in cast member Kane Kosugi.) So, skip Ohranger and release Megaranger next, which is not only a well-liked installment of the Super Sentai franchise, but was turned into Power Rangers In Space, which is probably the most popular season of that franchise. After that, do Timeranger, which became the well-regarded Power Rangers Time Force, both shows being attempts at showing how dramatic the respective franchises can be when they want to. While Power Rangers Ninja Storm is an unpopular season, most Power Rangers fans who have seen its source material, Hurricaneger, tend to like it, and since that show has been left largely untouched by fansubbing communities, there's actually a strong demand for Hurricaneger. Dekaranger and Power Rangers S.P.D. are both popular amongst fans, with a resurgence of interest in Dekaranger thanks to the upcoming reunion movie. And we all know how much Toei loves Shinkenger, so it's only a matter of time before they push for that one to get released...
Now, can we start talking about the idea of releasing Spielban and Metalder to show VR Troopers fans what the originals are all about?
Shougo B'Stard is a lifelong Super Sentai fan who is under no impression that his beloved Super Sentai classics from the '80s will ever see an R1 DVD release. Hawaii could have at least done Battle Fever J, though. Seriously, you released Inazuman, but not Battle Fever?!?!?! Who cares about Inazuman!?!
I agree that it would be wise for them to jump around. Hell, this entire week I half was dreading their announcement since they could've been like "Get your Cross Changers ready! Let's Fly, Jetman!". I'm.....glad they went in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteThere is one factor you left out of the equation--one that will pretty much guarantee that they'll probably release them in order. Reverse Imports. You won't find copies of Zyuranger on most Japanese retail sites, but I'm it's not difficult to import the set into Japan. Even if someone jacks the price up to $100, that's still an amazing value over R2 sets. Sales have to have been pretty good outside of the 'States.
Also, I feel that they are probably at Toei and Saban's whim. Saban made the suggestion to license Zyuranger in the first place. Toei is notoriously fickle with their licenses (Remember a few years ago when they suddenly shut the rest of the world off from Sailor Moon?? That was bananas!). Both of those companies are probably the ones steering the ship with Shout just shelling out the money for the licenses.
This is all speculation ofcourse. :p
Besides...Ohranger would eventually lead to Carranger. Hehe
I like Dairanger, but would probably have still been excited about Jetman. It would have been a little unexpected. Even though it would make having bought the R2s a little useless.
DeleteI don't really know the extent to which the Japanese might buy R1 DVDs. I'm assuming it's a similar situation to those in America who want R2s, just a small niche willing to go for the region free players and whatnot. Toei must not see a problem. The Sentai R2s have been out for a while now, so they've probably moved all they're going to move.
I think Saban and PR is driving the whole thing. I feel like if Toei had their way, we'd definitely have something WTFy like Goranger or Jetman or Shinkenger first. I think even Carranger would be a hard sell, though. More people are getting into that show, but it does represent one of the most hated PR seasons, and a lot of people still don't really get it and think it's goofy for the sake of being goofy. I think there's a real distinctly "Japanese" kind of humor in that show.
I honestly don't expect anything Showa to ever get released. At least not by Shout Factory, who's really depending on the PR nostalgia. I also wonder if Ishimori Pro. could be an obstacle in Goranger or JAKQ ever getting a release. (Which would possibly mean no Gokaiger, for all you Gokaiger haters out there.)
I know you don´t think Go-Busters, but I tkink this series could be a good choice to be released. It´s the only modern sentai not adapted into Power Rangers.
ReplyDeleteI think some might be curious in Go-busters, and it might find an audience since it tries to visually be cool, but I can't imagine them releasing that until way down the line. If they didn't think it would make a good PR and its toys wouldn't sell here, that might say something.
DeleteShogo just wait for my response... I am about to react to this one. Just wait! =)
ReplyDeleteWell Shogo here's my response let the debate begin in my blog:
ReplyDeleteSentai Rambling: Super Sentai DVDs For The United States And... Me Sharing My Opinion About It!
First off I'd like to say how thrilling it is to see sentai DVD releases in America!! With that said, I believe that Shout! Factory is probably starting off with the first 3 seasons of sentai that coincide with the first 3 seasons of power rangers, so I expect Ninja Sentai Kakuranger is the next release.
ReplyDeleteAs for future releases thereafter, I believe like you and Shogo, that they'll do DVD releases of recent sentai of recent power ranger series. For example, recently power rangers had its anniversary season, so Gokaiger could be coming and with the popularity of Dino Charge, I'd expect Kyoryuger to be right after in my opinion
Your idea of maybe doing releases of Metalder, Spielban, and Shaider never crossed my mind!! I'd love to have Spielban on DVD cause there's no subbed episodes anywhere and Shaider is definitely my favorite metal hero series