Idle Ramblings on Color Distribution

Cause there's like a lot of other Sentai too
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Idle Ramblings on Color Distribution

Post by TheLastTatlFan »

So I recently watched Boukenger Vs. Super Sentai, and it got me thinking about who I would pick for my own Sentai dream-team.
Then I wondered who I'd pick for an all-female Ranger Sentai dream-team, just because.
Which is when I realized: there's very little variety in the colors female Rangers get. If you go by the rules of "six members, no two can be from the same team and no repeating colors," then you can just barely make one team, with I think two spots only having one option.

In thirty-odd straight years on the air, Super Sentai has had...
-So many Pinks
-Half as many Yellows
-Five Whites (Changeman, Jetman, Kakuranger, Gaoranger and Magiranger)
-Four Blues, (Liveman, Jetman, Hurricanger and Magiranger.)
-One Red (The second ShinkenRed, only showed up in the last, like, five episodes and she's officially counted as an Extra Hero by Toei.)
-And one Silver (Go-On Silver)

I don't really have a point here, like the title says, I'm just rambling idly, but still, it'd be nice to have a series with a full-time female Red, or maybe a few more as Sixth Rangers.
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Re: Idle Ramblings on Color Distribution

Post by takenoko »

I wouldn't mind a female red or more female sixth ranger. Or even a lead female Kamen Rider. I sort of think it's about time for that.
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Re: Idle Ramblings on Color Distribution

Post by Lunagel »

The problem is that the main target demographic is young boys around 3-7. They'll tolerate girls, but for the most part they'd rather see a guy as the main protagonist. You only have to look as far as US tv shows to see the same thing happening. Girls are in the show, yes, but hardly the focus.

I kinda feel like Toei's been a bit better about more girl interaction recently, with the female ShinkenRed and GekiYellow holding the actual title of 'leader' in Gekiranger. Go-Buster is dropping the ball on that end though, with only the two females and they hardly talk to each other. Quite a few of the episodes fail the Bechdel Test.
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Re: Idle Ramblings on Color Distribution

Post by takenoko »

Well, I'd hate to start a debate on feminism and stuff in toku, but I guess we're there.

I honestly don't think that boys will hold it against a female lead. As long as the story and action is good, why not, right?

I'm more thinking that the staff who work on toku probably just don't know how to write stories about girls. It reminds me of the Nostalgia Chick's recent videos about the lack of superheroine movies and her review of Supergirl. Given that most the characters in toku are walk stereotypes anyway, it should be no surprise that writing a compelling female lead is difficult.

That said, hasn't director Tasaki Ryuuta done a bunch of stuff with girls? He did PGSM, I think he helped with Cutie Honey, and then there was Salvage Mice. Plus two of the three leaders in AkibaRanger were females and they had stories of their own that didn't involve Nobuo as a direct catalyst.
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Re: Idle Ramblings on Color Distribution

Post by TheLastTatlFan »

I'm not sure if Ran technically being the leader of the Gekirangers counts as progressive, since where I am in the series, it seems like Jan's the only Ranger who matters to the plot (It's always the damn Reds who are the prodigies in series' centered around supernatural abilities... But that's a rant for another day.)

For me, a better example would be the contrast between Luka and Don from Gokaiger. A different series would have had the Yellow girl be all timid and unsure of herself while the manly Green would be too confident to give a crap, but Gokaiger not only did it the other way around but made them the subject of the body switching episode to highlight it.

I also like that Ryuji's the one who Escape sees as a worthy opponent for her, rather than just going after Yoko so they can have their girlfight between girls as is traditional between female Rangers and commanders in Sentai.

Remember how, in the early episodes of Goseiger, Moune was as much a prideful warrior who thought with her biceps as Agri? Probably not after that cheerleading episode cemented her status as a responsible foil to Eri, but I'd like to see a female Black with that kind of personality.
She'd probably end up the subject of some cringe-worthy "character development" where she learns to be more feminine, or get tangled up in a love triangle, but hey, at least there'd be more variety in the colors girls can wear.
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