Why do sentai villains suck now?

[takenoko]

Basically we just have Garuza for Kiramager. And while he's good, it's not interesting to have just one villain.

Kurantula isn't a character. He makes the monsters and he gives Garuza someone to talk to when he's not talking to himself. Which is sad since he has a mouth.

Yodom-sama isn't a character that the villains meaningfully interact with, even though he's mentioned by name.

So yeah, that's pretty much it.

Ryusoul at least had slime guy interacting with whatever jobber commander he was hanging out with for the week.

Would it kill Toei to hire a porn star lady to make things interesting??? What happened to you, Sentai? You've changed

[Catastrophe]

Sentai is at its best when the villains are just as interesting as the heroes.

I really despise the Nininger/Ryusoul formula of drip feeding the commanders one at a time. They work better when they can play off each other. Even for as dull as Zyuogher was, at least the two main commanders had unique back stories and were competing the whole time.

I'd argue that the Shadow Line was what really made ToQ good, and I absolutely love the Deboss Legion.

[KRDangerousZombie]

As i'm re-watching Toqger right now, yeah, The villains are head and shoulders above the villains for most of the recent seasons. In one episode there was a 5-way Brawl between 4 different villains (and right) all with their own believable motivations and it was fucking awesome. That straight up could not happen in any season since, even the good ones.

Ryusoul at least had slime guy interacting with whatever jobber commander he was hanging out with for the week.

I actually liked slimebro. Reminded me of Luckyuro except slightly less likable. I don't know if you should want the only "villain" who was in the show from the start till the end to faceturn and survive though. It's fine when there's like 4 other villains to blow up but when they're the only one?

Would it kill Toei to hire a porn star lady to make things interesting??? What happened to you, Sentai? You've changed

It HAS been a long while since they hired an ex-JAV star to play a villain huh? or had literally any villain that wasn't a suit for that matter.

[Catastrophe]

Slimebro was a disappointment because they hype him up for 'something' but nothing ever amounts from it.

How many times do they bring Gachireus back from supposedly being defeated? What's the point.

[ViRGE]

Ahh, the poor state of villains in Super Sentai. There's a subject that gets me fired up, and I could probably write a small large paper on it, if given the chance. But I'll try to keep this condensed.

In my mind, at least, there are two issues going on. The first is that Toei just doesn't care to write interesting villains anymore. The second is that by relying exclusively on suited characters, they're hamstringing themselves by not having any villains who can properly emote.

As far as just not writing interesting villains go, I could speculate all day. But only Toei really knows the rationale there. I suspect that part of it is branding opposite Kamen Rider, and that they want to devote most of the screentime to the heroes (kids love the heroes). The villains don't need to be complex, because they're simply a prop to use in justifying why the heroes are together and on screen. But I will also readily admit that writing a good villain can't be easy, especially in a series already stuffed full of characters like Super Sentai.

Meanwhile, although it would be very easy to write face villains just as poorly as suited villains, I'd like to submit that suited villains are inheriently weaker characters due to the lack of emoting, and thus the ability to connect with the audience. I've long held that while rubber suit monsters are a critical part of Sentai, it's detrimental to the series if it relies on them exclusively. As fearsome as a guy with slime dripping down his foot-long tooth looks, there is a certain degree of emotional connection that is simply not possible with suited characters. The ability to have explicit facial expressions and matching body language adds immensely to a character's presence. And although the suit actors go to great lengths to make up for this (seriously, getting even a half-way decent performance out of a suit character is legitimately impressive), it's always going to pale in comparison to what a face character can do.

Judging from the past several years, Sentai has all but given up on face villains. ToQger was the last series with a face villain as a regular, and Go-Busters was the last time one was the primary antagonist from start to end. Instead the trend has been for suited monsters to have a human appearance we see a couple of times a season, such as with Lupin vs. Pat's ice guy (whose name I cannot remember). So while Sentai still technically has face villains, they really aren't much more than a cameo to be pulled out every now and then.

As to why Sentai would drop face villains so completely, this again is something only Toei really knows the truth behind. But I've long suspected a confluence of factors.

• Suited villains are easier. There's no actors to dress up, and you can change their dialog on the fly
• Suited villains are cheaper. Actors are expensive, and Super Sentai already has 6-8 most seasons with the Rangers and mentor.
• Suited villains are desired by Hasbro. Face villains are unusable for Power Rangers, which means any footage with face villains, no matter how cool, has to be discarded. But footage with suited villains and the suited rangers can easily be adopted for PR.
• Face villains vs. suited villains has become a primary differentiator between Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. Sentai's villains are all suits, meanwhile KR's are all face villains, only transforming for fights for the obvious production reasons. This helps to better define the two series. Super Sentai is the show with spandex-clad multi-colored heroes who fight hideous monsters with their giant robot. Kamen Rider is the show about armor-clad heroes with cool transformation trinkets who will inevitably fight among themselves as much as they fight the also-transforming villains.

Though at the end of the day, none of this excuses the fact that Sentai villains have become boring. Toei is plenty capable of doing better, and that is perhaps the most painful part of this all: series that aren't living up to their potential.

I want more Enter! I want more Escape! I want more proper, fleshed out villains who can be the evil counterparts to the heroes that the series needs to flourish.

Would it kill Toei to hire a porn star lady to make things interesting??? What happened to you, Sentai? You've changed

On the matter of eye candy, I feel like the series is catering to the mamas these days a lot more than to the papas. SS was of course originally an evening show, only to be moved to Sunday mornings in the 90s. As a result, it's gone from being a family action/sci-fi show to very much being a kids' show. So I suspect if anyone is watching SS with the kids now, it's mom instead of dad.

Which means that instead of former porn stars with ample cleavage, you get shirtless Bamba.

I really despise the Nininger/Ryusoul formula of drip feeding the commanders one at a time. They work better when they can play off each other. Even for as dull as Zyuogher was, at least the two main commanders had unique back stories and were competing the whole time.

I don't disagree. But in fairness to the writers, it's very hard to come up with a half-decent reason for why a general can fail 40+ times and not get sacked. Lupin vs. Pat was kind of brilliant in this respect, as the villains had essentially already won.

[Lunagel]

Would it kill Toei to hire a porn star lady to make things interesting??? What happened to you, Sentai? You've changed

On the matter of eye candy, I feel like the series is catering to the mamas these days a lot more than to the papas. SS was of course originally an evening show, only to be moved to Sunday mornings in the 90s. As a result, it's gone from being a family action/sci-fi show to very much being a kids' show. So I suspect if anyone is watching SS with the kids now, it's mom instead of dad.

Which means that instead of former porn stars with ample cleavage, you get shirtless Bamba.

hmm, good sentai villains or shirtless Bamba. Tough call

[ViRGE]

I rest my case.

[hiro9796]

As to why Sentai would drop face villains so completely, this again is something only Toei really knows the truth behind. But I've long suspected a confluence of factors.

• Suited villains are easier. There's no actors to dress up, and you can change their dialog on the fly
• Suited villains are cheaper. Actors are expensive, and Super Sentai already has 6-8 most seasons with the Rangers and mentor.
• Suited villains are desired by Hasbro. Face villains are unusable for Power Rangers, which means any footage with face villains, no matter how cool, has to be discarded. But footage with suited villains and the suited rangers can easily be adopted for PR.
• Face villains vs. suited villains has become a primary differentiator between Super Sentai and Kamen Rider. Sentai's villains are all suits, meanwhile KR's are all face villains, only transforming for fights for the obvious production reasons. This helps to better define the two series. Super Sentai is the show with spandex-clad multi-colored heroes who fight hideous monsters with their giant robot. Kamen Rider is the show about armor-clad heroes with cool transformation trinkets who will inevitably fight among themselves as much as they fight the also-transforming villains.

Though at the end of the day, none of this excuses the fact that Sentai villains have become boring. Toei is plenty capable of doing better, and that is perhaps the most painful part of this all: series that aren't living up to their potential.

Nice points there. This is a bit off from talking about the quality of Sentai villains but again, when it comes to adopt these into Power Rangers, it never really matter much because faced villains don't have much battle scenes as themselves more than their suit version.

The base of operation were never copied anymore as they made their own for both heroes and villains, literally. The Sentai stock footages that were confirmed used for power rangers adaptation are fighting scenes and robot combinations. The transformation sequence were pretty much original and displays individual by individual for first time transformation. Sentai pretty much start off being cheap by putting group transformation right from the first episode for everyone other than red. Plus, I think Toei just literally lend Saban the suits so not that it matters whether you have face villains or not. At the end of the day, it does not matter. Saban has to adapt with it and create new footage.

In the first place, Toei/Bandai Japan owns Sentai and were free to decide the theme and gimmick for Sentai, not Saban/Hasbro. They are not obliged to follow what the adaptors wanted for theme and gimmick to sell their own version of toys globally. If Toei/Bandai had to follow such obligation, then ToqGer and Zyuohger wouldn't be approved. A big no to just an entire robot toyline containing merely trains and stacking block of cubes. Weapon toys on the other hand shouldn't be a problem if it the theme were trains or cubes since that is not what comprised the majority of the toyline.

Also, maybe I add some of my opinion. Toei just invest too much in Kamen Rider human casts as villains of the week more than Sentai. What I meant specifically is like this. Kuuga, Agito, Blade and Hibiki mostly had suited villains that are mindlessly attacking people with no personality and don't speak. Just grunts for the most case. But Double, Fourze, Wizard, Drive, Ex-Aid, Build, Zi-O and Zero One specifically had those some of the characters of the week become villains instead of just suited villains with grunts. They can converse, think what they want to do and why they become evil. I guess this is what differs Showa, early heisei than current series. The villains had to talk, have human form with brief background and their personal reason to be evil. Sentai monsters of the week just follow orders from commanders to attack people and just had their own method to achieve it. They often are without human disguise.

[Catastrophe]

It's probably something that they'll never recover from. It's just been so long since we've had a memorable gang of antagonists I don't see them coming back from this.

[midorininger]

maybe its just the generation of writers? or the Producers?

[Catastrophe]

It's definitely both.

I guess the issue is that when you've been tapped to write a series as a newbie, do you not go do your research? Surely you've watched it at some point and want to channel some of your favourite villains?

If you've got a franchise with a 40+ year history and can't learn anything from that, it's a bit embarrassing. And it just seems to be a sentai thing. Rider hasn't had this problem.

[KRDangerousZombie]

On the matter of eye candy, I feel like the series is catering to the mamas these days a lot more than to the papas. SS was of course originally an evening show, only to be moved to Sunday mornings in the 90s. As a result, it's gone from being a family action/sci-fi show to very much being a kids' show. So I suspect if anyone is watching SS with the kids now, it's mom instead of dad.

Which means that instead of former porn stars with ample cleavage, you get shirtless Bamba.

hmm, good sentai villains or shirtless Bamba. Tough call

I don't really understand when it became THAT difficult to have at least decent villains AND shirtless Bamba/JAV Ladies in the same show. As fun as it is to blame that dumpster fire Ninninger for everything bad in sentai, they were already moving away from having any face villains before that right? Kyouryuuger didn't have any to my recollection either.

Nice points there. This is a bit off from talking about the quality of Sentai villains but again, when it comes to adopt these into Power Rangers, it never really matter much. In the first place, Toei/Bandai Japan owns Sentai and were free to decide the theme and gimmick for Sentai, not Saban/Hasbro. They are not obliged to follow what the adaptors wanted for theme and gimmick to sell their own version of toys globally. If Toei/Bandai had to follow such obligation, then ToqGer and Zyuohger wouldn't be approved. A big no to just merely trains things and chunks of stacking cubes.

Notice how both seasons you've mentioned still don't have a Power Rangers equivalent and aren't likely to get one for a long time, if ever. Also there's a big difference between Saban/Hasbro having any input and Toei being courteous to their business partners.

It's probably something that they'll never recover from. It's just been so long since we've had a memorable gang of antagonists I don't see them coming back from this.

I also disagree with this, part of the positive of every year being a new setting with new characters is that any year everything can change for the better. Sentai had Ninninger, Jyuohger & Kyuuranger in a row being at best "okay" then we got Lupin vs Pat. which had it's problems but overall was a great show. Kiramager has started slow and has a bit of a bump in the road cause of things outside it's control, but it could still shape up to be a good show. at the halfway mark, the main villain dude could faceturn and become the 7th ranger and we could get a full squad of new villains come in. We don't know yet. Hope springs eternal in the world of metallic karate bugmen and multicoloured spandex suits.

[Farr]

Well I can't say much for most of the recent Sentai, cause I either dropped or didn't start them, last two were ToQ/Lupin, and Lupin didn't really Focus too much on them iirc, which was alright since the Show was more about Thiefs vs Cops anyways, and ToQ is already too long ago, to really remember.

But yes just having two Generals, while the Main Evil is not even present, and one of them just being the Gizmo to watch the Darkness-Meter to send the MotW and Giant MotW in, is quite blank.
And Garuzo isn't that particuliar interesting either, especially since his behaviour, foremost regarding his Mech and how it gets used, doesn't make a lot of sense. And neither of them appears to be a real fighting Type.

Really makes you wonder how Deka was as good as it is, with just one Villain who wasn't even that present to begin with...