Heisei vs. Showa, Sentai vs. Kamen Rider

[TheFilmTwit]

Hey, just something I've been noticing in my research of the various tokusatsu series... the Showa era Sentai series were much darker and grittier, and the Kamen Rider series (with a few exceptions) were more light hearted and "protecting the smiles of all children" in theme. However, the Heisei versions of each seem to have switched that around, with the Sentai series being lighter and Kamen Rider taking a turn for the dark and serious. What are your thoughts on this?

[Millenia]

The Showa riders are more lighthearted? Does Amazon ring a bell?

[LonelySoldier]

Hell yeah, some of showa riders is MUCH CREEPIER than most of heisei riders. As example:

- In one of Ichi-Nigo's episode, when a group of kids having a (supposed to be cheerful) birthday party, the light suddenly going off, and a kaijin suddenly appears behind one of the curtain
- In many episodes of Stronger, you will see spiders (or something like that) crawling into someone's ear, CLOSED UP

Not to mention that most of the showa kaijin looks damn so creepy...

[Millenia]

Also, Shin's henshin. Nothing must be said.

[Guardian07]

How does losing your dad to the baddies, and then your lover and her sister, who were both Interpol agents, were caught, used to get to you and got killed 'lighthearted'?

[Hikikomori-san]

Kamen Rider Black would like to have a word with you.

EDIT:

...and the Kamen Rider series (with a few exceptions) were more light hearted and "protecting the smiles of all children" in theme...

Woops. My mistake. Carry on.

[Millenia]

Hey, just something I've been noticing in my research of the various tokusatsu series... the Showa era Sentai series were much darker and grittier, and the Kamen Rider series (with a few exceptions) were more light hearted and "protecting the smiles of all children" in theme. However, the Heisei versions of each seem to have switched that around, with the Sentai series being lighter and Kamen Rider taking a turn for the dark and serious. What are your thoughts on this?

I think you should flip Heisei and Showa around. There were more lighthearted riders in the heisei with some exceptions like Kuuga. Showas had the more serious ones with some exceptions, but still.

[That Guy]

Heisei was pretty serious until Den-O came along and became a runaway success. Subsequent shows have catered to a lighter tone, though none have been as successful as Den-O.

[Hikikomori-san]

Kabuto, with the exception of the movie, was pretty light too. Sure there were serious scenes, but 1/2 of the characters are pretty much comic-relief characters.

Oh, and if I recall correctly, ZO and J weren't really child-friendly.

Spoiler

J was pretty freaking creepy.

[kokowaks]

don't blame den-o for what's happening to the riders today... humor has always been on the rider franchise for all of this time but den-o tried to be more original by putting humor up in front than the previous riders, and that contributed to its success along with its colorful characters... even sentai has this kind of series... what i blame however is den-o's successors.. they had actors who tried to act like imagins without the name "den-o"... they all have great premise and potential to be great but they didn't tried to live with its potential... take a look at w.. i can only think of someone who's possessed by an imagin to act like a cat in the streets just to find a cat...

while the showa ones' has children all over it... they had more realistic stories that included those children... they aren't that much focus on being to flashy like sentai...

[Darkster]

I think Kamen Rider gets lighter as it goes on. I mean, Dikeido just made fun of everything Kamen Rider stood for. Black had to fight a nemesis he was close to, Faiz had to take on responsibility that was thrust upon him and he had to protect the world. There are more killings and more brutal ones in the earlier Kamen Rider series.

[Leonite Rider]

But Double is a lot darker than Decade. Decade is probably the exception in this case, not the rule, as I've watched Kiva and it could be dark at times.

[Darkster]

But Double is a lot darker than Decade. Decade is probably the exception in this case, not the rule, as I've watched Kiva and it could be dark at times.

That's true. The least serious of all is definitely Decade. Then the Den-O stuff. But if you look at earlier Heisei, like Ryuki and Faiz, and compare it to later ones, the darker stuff is definitely at the beginning. The Showa stuff's pretty strong too, if you've seen it. It's definitely not for young kids.

[kokowaks]

i actually find decade more darker than w... i mean decade just adjust to the theme of the rider's world... the first episode of decade shows you how much darker it is by showing multiple riders dying than a show with the bad guy doesn't die even if he/she already exploded... though i also like w... but the way the characters tend to over-react on small things tends to be an imagin trait...

[Darkster]

i actually find decade more darker than w... i mean decade just adjust to the theme of the rider's world... the first episode of decade shows you how much darker it is by showing multiple riders dying than a show with the bad guy doesn't die even if he/she already exploded... though i also like w... but the way the characters tend to over-react on small things tends to be an imagin trait...

Do you pay attention to the shows when you watch them? Double doesn't have to kill every guy he sees just because he tries to look like a badass. That would be a total failure. Besides, if you pay attention, Masquerade Dopants die instead of having their Memories ejected. Some are even cut in half before they explode. I don't see how a "my Rider's better than all of yours" series is even remotely darker than Double.