This is Engine Inspection Reflection, Heart and
Soul, a series where I'm exploring one big question.
Can the soul of Tokusatsu survive the toy sales
cycle? I grew up on Power Rangers, fell in love
with Super Sentai, and now with rumors of the
franchise ending after 50 years, I want to look
back at how we got here, what made these shows
powerful, and what might be draining that power
away. I'll be following the history, the heart,
and the sales behind our favorite heroes, one
reflection at a time. Rumors have been going
around lately that Super Sentai is coming to
an end, and the sources are very conflicting.
I don't know what's going on. I don't know who
to trust. And frankly, if Super Sentai comes
to an end, there's 50 years of it that I can
watch and enjoy, and I haven't seen quite enough
of it, so I think I won't take it as hard as
some other people will. And I felt comfortable
with Power Rangers coming to an end. because
well similarly i have the time and energy to
uh get to it when i have a chance and i don't
have to keep up to the treadmill of it so here
we are um but hearing about the coming end of
super sentai uh made me feel i don't know kind
of introspective and nostalgic for it and It
made me think about why it might be ending. And
there have been rumors for years that Super Sentai
was ending. Even with GoBusters, I believe, people
said the toy sales were horrible. And then that
was a long time ago. almost 15 years ago and
then at some point within the last couple years
someone said no the toy sales for go busters
were actually great i think and they had stats
and proof and whatnot and i just don't know i
don't know and i don't know where these people
get these resources i don't know how they have
the time to investigate these things but it's
not something i really concern myself with so
i decided to not look into it and do not deal
with it because well frankly i have other things
to be doing so yeah that's kind of an interesting
an interesting thing The idea that Super Sentai
would end after... First of all, the idea that
Super Sentai would run for 50 years is insane.
What other thing has run for that long? Will
The Simpsons run for 50 years? The Simpsons...
I don't even know how long The Simpsons has been
running, but that's the longest running animated
thing, I think, ongoing. Maybe. There could be
something that Toei's been producing as well
that outshines it or has outlasted it, but I
don't think so. I think before then, I think
like Married With Children, also a Fox show,
ran for like 11 or 12 years, which was really
long at the time. And I don't know, you know,
what else holds records like that. But, you know,
I also really don't care. Like that's not in
and of itself an accomplishment to me. It's remarkable.
It's, you know, worth saying something about.
But I don't really know what it means. It doesn't
really carry much personal meaning to me other
than it's neat that there's been such a long
time that Super Sentai has been on. And like
in the Gokaiger movie, I think the 199 Heroes
movie, which that actually might be the superhero
time movie, not a Gokaiger one specifically.
It might be for both Kamen Rider and Super Sentai.
I don't remember. There is a big deal made about
how there's these 199 Heroes and what that means
and parents passing on Super Sentai to children.
And things like that, because if I'm remembering
from when I saw this, you know, about 15 years
ago, there's, like, kids have Super Sentai robot
toys that end up, like, coming to life or giving
energy or whatever to Super Sentai robots so
they can fight some sort of big threat. And,
you know, that's really cool and touching and
emotional, the idea that these toys, these cherished
memories of childhood that are passed from one
parent to their child, or from a parent to their
child. can like i don't know save the world sort
of um it's it's a very fun very nostalgic idea
it's very sweet but um like personally you know
and personally i like it but you know i can also
share a dvd or a blu -ray or a you know uh digital
version of whatever stories with my kid or i
can just tell them about it too so you know do
i really need it to keep airing in order for
Me to be able to share these things not really
I don't and there's more important things for
me to share with my kids But that's you know,
those are the priorities that I guess that tells
you something about my priorities. So I think
that's interesting And Anyway, this is again
relating to the idea of Super Sentai ending and
you know all the thoughts and feelings that that's
giving me and It also made me think about how
I think there's something natural and good about
Super Sentai coming to an end because nothing
lasts forever, or most things don't last forever.
And I purposely stopped watching Super Sentai
because it wasn't appealing to me anymore. Not
because I don't like Japanese children's media,
because I sure do. But just because it just didn't
feel like something... that i had the time for
and it didn't feel like something that i needed
to do so i didn't do it and that's okay i'm not
celebrating its end but i'm not surprised that
it's ending and i'm shocked that it went on for
so long continuously especially especially when
things that i enjoyed more like common raider
have not gone on continuously there's been breaks
and hiatuses for common raider for years at a
time and it isn't some spiteful vengeful you
know my fandom is better than your fandom kind
of thing that I'm thinking about or feeling.
It's just, I don't know. It's natural. It's something
that's okay to happen. But even the things that
feel natural, they happen for a reason. And that's
what I want to understand. Why did Super Sentai
grow and change the way it did? Why does it matter
enough that I'm even thinking about its end?
I have some guesses about the business side,
the toy sales, all of that. Before I start speculating,
I should probably explain. How I got here in
the first place. Because before I ever knew what
a Super Sentai was, I already cared about it.
Though, or through something a lot of us grew
up with. Power Rangers. So let's rewind a bit
and talk about what it was like when I first
saw those heroes morph for the very first time.
That's where I'll leave it for now. This episode
turned out a lot longer than I had expected.
It actually started as a single 36 minute recording.
But as I listened back... I realized it makes
more sense to split it into parts so each one
can breathe. This first part lays the groundwork
where my connection to Super Sentai began and
why it still matters to me. Next time, I'll dig
deeper into how Power Rangers and Super Sentai
shaped my idea of what a henshin hero even is.
Thanks for listening, and if you're following
along, part two should be up soon. The plan is
to have a weekly release schedule, and they'll
be releasing the same day from... Here on out.
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