Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

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takenoko
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Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

Post by takenoko »

So now that Gaim Gaiden is released (Apologies for the delay on that by the way, it's been a busy few months) I can finally talk about this topic that's been on my mind recently.

There's some quality movie stuff that's coming out of Toei recently. Gaim Gaiden is really, really good. Like it almost feels as good as the main TV series stories, which isn't something you can often say.

Full Throttle was a real fun movie too. Yeah, the Drive stuff is a bit weak, but everything else was really enjoyable. Especially the ending where we get some good interactions between Drive and Gaim.

Finally, Toqger Returns (another direct to video movie) is also really, really good.

In past years, you'll probably have heard me bitch about the movies always being the weakest part of the series. "They're too short. The story has nothing to do with the main plot. There's no story at all and it's just a series of disjointed action/sfx scenes." So, if this is some concerted effort to make the movie side of things better, I'm all for that. With the summer movies and Duke/Knuckles coming up, having some quality movies would be really nice.

That said, it makes me wonder if the TV series suffer for it. I like Drive, but it does feel like the TV stuff might not be as strong this year as in year's past. Not to place a direct causal link between movies and TV series, it's just something I wonder about.
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Re: Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

Post by toni2212 »

The direct to video is probably getting better, but the summer movies is still a disappointment. Kyouryuuger's 100 years After is definitely good, but Gaburincho of Music is not. And this is coming from a fan of Kyouryuuger. Gaim's Soccer movie is terrible, with the whole wasted usage of Lapis hogging the spotlight. Well, let's see if this Gaiden is able to topple 100 Years After (still downloading). And from what I hear
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now Dekaranger is getting it's own Years After
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Re: Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

Post by Go-On Macaroni »

I'm not sure exactly how, but I think it's telling that something like the GoGoV movie (which sadly got stuck on V-cinema) is/was better than a lot of later Sentai summer movies that got pushed into theaters or however it goes.

EdIt: If I misread the topic, I apologize.
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Re: Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

Post by BuraddoRun »

takenoko wrote: Full Throttle was a real fun movie too. Yeah, the Drive stuff is a bit weak, but everything else was really enjoyable. Especially the ending where we get some good interactions between Drive and Gaim.
I haven't watched any of the 3 mentioned so I can't comment on them just yet, but it is nice to hear that the Toei movies are getting better. Such a waste, in my opinion, to use a bigger budget just to make pointless, rushed stories. To me, a movie should be grand.

But have you released Full Throttle yet? I can't find it. If so, can you kindly point me to the link on the tracker please? If not, well, then of course I'll wait. :wink:
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Re: Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

Post by Mandalori »

It hasn't be released yet. Usually, it's already released by now but they say they are busy with the 3 weeklies plus all the others things like movies. I also heard there was some IRL troubles that is the real reason why they're late. I wish I could help.
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Re: Toei focuses on movies/direct to video?

Post by ViRGE »

takenoko wrote:So now that Gaim Gaiden is released (Apologies for the delay on that by the way, it's been a busy few months) I can finally talk about this topic that's been on my mind recently.

There's some quality movie stuff that's coming out of Toei recently. Gaim Gaiden is really, really good. Like it almost feels as good as the main TV series stories, which isn't something you can often say.

Full Throttle was a real fun movie too. Yeah, the Drive stuff is a bit weak, but everything else was really enjoyable. Especially the ending where we get some good interactions between Drive and Gaim.

Finally, Toqger Returns (another direct to video movie) is also really, really good.

In past years, you'll probably have heard me bitch about the movies always being the weakest part of the series. "They're too short. The story has nothing to do with the main plot. There's no story at all and it's just a series of disjointed action/sfx scenes." So, if this is some concerted effort to make the movie side of things better, I'm all for that. With the summer movies and Duke/Knuckles coming up, having some quality movies would be really nice.

That said, it makes me wonder if the TV series suffer for it. I like Drive, but it does feel like the TV stuff might not be as strong this year as in year's past. Not to place a direct causal link between movies and TV series, it's just something I wonder about.
Although I don't hold Gaim Gaiden in quite as high regard as you, I do agree that it's better than the junk that is pretty much every theatrical Toei release.

If you ask me it comes down to budgets and expectations. The theatrical movies are bombastic because explosions put butts in seats, and if you're going to do a theatrical release then you have to aim high. You need explosions to get the audience in, so you set the action budget higher to pay for the explosions, and you create a self perpetuating cycle. The end result is that the writing takes a backseat to action, because by going theatrical you are committing to a high action movie that by necessity leaves little time for plot.

Which is why the DTV releases are so nice in their own way. The expectations are lower and so are the budgets. I would be shocked if Gaim Gaiden cost even as much as two episodes of Gaim (despite being about 30% longer) simply because Toei clearly set a very low budget. You have the money to get the actors in, but you only have a bit of money for your action scenes. This makes the DTV releases plot-heavy by necessity - you don't have the money for a lot of action - and that makes them the inverse of the theatrical releases.

I have always held that the annual Sentai teamups were better as DTV releases for this exact reason. Ever since they went theatrical they've taken a step down in quality.

In any case, even if I'm not particularly impressed with these movies, I am ultimately happy that we're getting releases such as Gaim Gaiden. I don't hold out much hope for the theatrical releases, but if Toei can do a good job of putting out these smarter, more focused DTV releases, then it's a nice bonus on top of the regular series.
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