History of Super Sentai

[durendal]

Historical Legend! Nuff said.

[Toku Warrior]

That might be good, D. But maybe we can incorporate the word Toku or Tokusatsu somewhere into that title so that people will know what kind of history review we'll be talking about.

Historical Toku Legends!

Also, I need some idea on the kind of OP sequence we could use. So I need song ideas, series footage...that kind of stuff. It'd be a TV short size song so maybe a song that's a toku series OP theme or something else along those lines. We just got to make sure that it's catchy.

Edited August 20, 2011 by Ryuu-Oh

[*Jess♥]

i'd like to suggest that an OP be kept very short, because a lot of times when i watch these things, I get tired of the op and if my computer loads the vid fast enough, I will skip it.

people have short attention span these days. I would recommend maybe 20 seconds.

music, I would like to suggest JAM project. it is good positive vibe, and did the theme for rescue fire and i am sure many members here like their music, for example, their rendition of okkusenman.

i just went through a couple i have on my computer.

suggestion 1 - 'Peaceful One' OP 1:22-1:42 ED 1:42-1:58

suggestion 2 - 'The Everlasting' OP 1:03-1:23 ED 3:52-4:12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzEPC7kGXIo

why don't we each pick a couple of tracks and then we could take a choice from them?

oh, suggestions for visuals,

it needs to be things that people love about super sentai. it needs to really be what we love about it, since we are producing this.

personally, I love the characters. the suits and fighting come secondary. although the fighting is the hallmark of the genre, I feel that it is the characters behind the fighting that gives it soul. it's why we care about the fights.

personally, I would like to see a montage that fades through each of the characters faces from each of our favourite series. so I would pick hurricanger. and whatever you guys pick, we would show the main characters faces fading into each other.

that's my ideal. maybe that could be for the ED. or maybe for the OP, it could show some pivotal fighting scenes, with lots of explosions?

or maybe some slow shots of the various senshi in their post-henshin poses?

well I have given my favourite idea (faces), so maybe we can compare notes and decide from there?

[Toku Warrior]

Hmm...well, you idea on the visuals is actually very interesting. If anything, it's something that can be altered with each new review episode, using scenes based on the series that we're reviewing at that time. So I could use scene from GekiRanger for the OP visuals.

All-n-all, not a bad idea on how you would have it portrayed, Ryuki.

Now as for choosing the OP theme, I say let's try your suggestion and the 4 of us pick two tracks. If we can find links on youtube then that might be even better to help us in listening to them even more so that we can get a better mental image of the song combined with GekiRanger scenes (and other Tokusatsu scenes as well).

As for me, here are my two. Both are also JAM Project:

Noah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsjHqZttig8

Ryusei Lovers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gGTTWGjRaM

[*Jess♥]

ok, I added videos to my post so you can review.

what part of your songs did you have in mind?

cool, so you would edit a new montage each time. you wouldn't get tired of such a sequence? my thought was that if we had one, that played in front of each video, it give the whole project a sense of wholeness, but i guess the music would do that and also the concept of the merging images would be the same each time.

then again, what about the person who edits that is not yourself, it might be a big ask for them to edit a new one for that series? or do you intend to edit each one?

[Toku Warrior]

You would probably be right about that.

I do plan on doing the main editing for this episode of Toku History and maybe even for the one the first Kamen Rider project. But who knows if someone else will want to do the video edits next time 'round.

I may just end up doing 3 different variants, 1 for Super Sentai, 1 for Kamen Rider and the 3rd for any other toku series we end up doing. Over time. Whether to use the same OP song would be up to question but the same song only with 3 variant sequences depending on the type of toku that we're are focusing on might just actually be best.

I would only change the montage if asked to do so for later episodes.

As for the length of the OP sequence, it might be either 20 or 30 seconds in length as we do have to take into account of the size of the teams for the Sentai senshi and/or the amount of Riders in a series.

As for my song choices, there are many great sections to a song and I was more inclined of either just editing certain parts of the song with other good parts of the song or just choosing a certain length. The end of the sequence would always show the group logo though at the end.

But if I had to choose a certain length then I'd go:

Noah (1:06 - 1:36....maybe do some slight editing to shorten it if I had to)

Ryusei Lover ( 1:11 - 1:29...again, slight editing if need be)

Edited August 21, 2011 by Ryuu-Oh

[durendal]

Here are some more variations on the name that I kept playing with:

Histoku Legends - Amalgamation of History and Toku. It can also be read as 'His' Toku.

Toku Legendary - Since the word legend itself signifies history.

Also a short history you guys might want to consider to include:

Super Sentai is indeed about a group with a giant Robot. Previously, [battle Fiver J] was counted as the first Super Sentai, but in the 10th anniversary of the series, [Goranger] and [Jak Q] was also included, officially making Goranger as the first Super Sentai..

In 1975, Ishinomori Shoutarou authored Goranger with a total of 84 episodes.

In 1977, Jak Q was aired following Goranger. Due to low ratings, was discontinued.

In 1978, the series had a hiatus. during this time, the same staff created a series that is not a sentai, which was Spiderman, with the robot toy Leopoldon gaining success in toy sales.

in 1979 the following year, Battle Fiver J was aired, and hereafter a 1 series per year was observed.

In 1981, Sunbalkan aired. It was during this time that the word "Sentai" was used.

In the early years, children are already familiar with Kamen Rider. They wanted to create a new series that would feature [5 kamen riders appearing together]. But the idea was not initially realized.

During the net change in programming in 1975, when the station was changed from NET Television to TBS, they needed a new series. The idea of the 5 kamen rider was revived, a program that features a team with 5 heroes resulted in Goranger. Aside from the influence of the Kabuki play Shiranami Gonin Otoko which depicts 5 heroes, producers at Toei sees [3 as too little, 4 as a bad omen and 7 as too many]. They suited the actors in colorful suits and became popular with children, thus creating a new genre of [Group Hero].

Goranger was broadcast for 2 years and was a hit. However, the following series [Jak Q] was a failure and was dropped after 9 months. In 1978, Toei collaborated with the Marvel Comics Group to produce [spiderman]. The idea of a life-sized hero controlling a giant robot was popular, and resulted in the giant robot's [Leopoldon] toy industry to flourish.

As a result, [battle Fiver J] which inherits the formula of [Group Hero] + [Giant Robot] was born.

This production was another hit, and since then, the production has been continues without any suspension, using the pace of 1 series a year.

[*Jess♥]

very interesting. I had been led to believe that super sentai came about as a result of working with marvel. not only that, but that marvel was ultimately responsible for the concept of super sentai.

it is very interesting to see that myth being turned on its head now.

what was once believed as fact, is now clearly fiction. super sentai is the end result of a 5 man kamen rider team concept.

so durendal, do you have any thoughts about music?

names, interesting thoughts...

i thought we were settled on the name but i guess we can give more suggestions for ryuu-oh.

how about Toku's Legend? phrased in this way, it suggests the alternate definition of 'legend' meaning 'Guide'.

[Toku Warrior]

Durendal, as always, you never cease to amaze me. Great info as usual. I hope someone, like myself, is saving this info to a word doc or onto notepad.

Ryuki, I think Toku Legends would work fine.

[durendal]

"Toku Legends.... This is Legendary!" -has a nice to ring it right?

I have absolutely no taste in music so take my suggestions with a grain of salt.

I think the OP song should be anything upbeat. Jam Project is a good choice. Maybe you guys can also look into Giuseppe Tartini's Violin Sonata in G minor or more popularly know as The Devils Thrill.

As for the ED song, I think we can use something classical, like Chopin's Nocturne in C sharp Minor or anything slow or mellow. Something like Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata,This is in contrast to the Opening's upbeat song. Or even the song which is played in Castlevania SOTN, the BGM while you are in the Library. Forgot the name of the song.

As a far fetch idea, maybe someone who is very familiar with musical instruments can play Sentai OP of Gekiranger or the featured sentai using customized arrangement. At least this will have a right feel and perfectly fits our intention of featuring Gekiranger. No sense in overshadowing the featured series by having an OP song from another genre that would blow you away. Maybe we can search youtube for cover songs. I can play this with my piano, but unfortunately my piano is out of tune.

[durendal]

Oh, by the way, Marvel was not only involved in Spiderman sentai, but they also collaborated with Toei in Battle Fever J, Denjiman, and Sun Vulcan. A deal marvel made which allowed them the rights to publish Danguard Ace and Combatller V in comics. Oh, now I understand why Marvel has those giant robots comic decades back. You learn something new everyday.

And since the first wave will feature gekiranger, here is an outline lifted from the japanese wiki. Do note that I have never seen Gekiranger so some verification may be needed for the terms:

Similar to the other super sentai series, the program is a group hero with each individual wearing different colored suits fighting against and evil organization. The series' basic episode format follows the appearance of a new monster after one or two chapters, the hero defeats it and the enlarged monster fights with a giant robot.

It is the 11th timeslot being broadcasted every Sunday, and the motif is put on as Chinese Martial Arts and animals. The theme is a fictitious aerial kempo called [Juuken (beast fist)], and breaking away from the past features 2 rival schools, depicting the growth of the fist warriors of both schools. The enemy side is given equal weight as that of the sentai side, with the work aiming to have roman styled drama of story development. At the start the sentai is comprised of 3 members, and additional members are added in the middle of the series completing the 5 man sentai. The sentai members are from the School of Justice [Fierce Beast Fist Beast Arts (Gekijuuken Bisuto Atsu)] belonging to the sports maker [scratch], while the enemy side is the evil school [Front Beast Fist Akugada (Rinjuuken Akugada)] controlled by the evil organization [Rinjuden]. The story is about the Gekirangers, trying to return the beast fist to one school. Concerning the main cast of the 5 man sentai as well as the 3 man enemy, an annual audition for young actors is held to select the 8 characters.

Having a story development that has the feel of [Destiny of the past], this is the first time that they did not adopt the tracksuits belt sentai suit, with Kung Fu influences appearaing every where, with the action scenes using real battles, and giant battles being mainly depicted using melee battle. also during the Giant battles, the appearing cast uses real conditions of professional wrestling like hook-up to produce the scenes.

The main force of the toy development was the animal motif which imitates the form of the beasts, using design from sports equipment. Different from the recent succeeding new forms due to combinations of different units, with the 3 combining units as the basic unit, additional parts make up the 4th unit selecting replacements for [converting parts type] to do battle.

With many young person under the production of chief producer Tsukada Hideaki, he uses the concept of [a Shonen Manga of a Kung Fu Movie], even though they are using various experiments, ratings as well as sales were not as good, especially for Bandai's toy sales which were declining compared to recent years.

[*Jess♥]

but i said toku's legend...

toku legends does not work with hte logic i gave. but as long as you realise that and are ok with it then no probs.

( or where you referring back to your original title that you said up there? in which case, no probs)

[Toku Warrior]

@Durendal - yeah, that's the basic layout of GekiRanger all right.

@Ryuki - Whoops, sorry, I was half asleep when i replied to your post.

Yeah, I think Toku's Legend would work fine. Hey, is it me or did the Ranger's super forms (extra modes for the team) not appear until AbaRanger?

[*Jess♥]

i'm not sure, I don't know if it could be considered extra mode, just part of what they do, like taking out their weapons or whatever.

I mean, i feel like when they increase their guts, it felt like what gaoranger used to do when they 'flashed' their claws.

[durendal]

I have absolutely no idea what you guys are talking about and I have absolutely no idea where this discussion is going.

Just to be clear, is this a review or a history documentary? If this is going to be a history documentary, then don't we need an outline for this as a basis for the script?

So far, these are what was established during the discussions:

Project will feature Gekiranger

Group name will be called Toku's Legend

Short history of Super Sentai in general will be included as an introduction

Script writer, video provider/editor, narrator and researcher has been established.

This project will tie into PTW. Once production begins, wiki of Gekiranger will be started. (actually already started with my previous post, just not on the wiki proper page)

All else is still unclear.

Please do correct me if I misunderstand anything.

[Toku Warrior]

Durendal, Ryuki and I were just going over the power up modes that senshi groups such as AbaRanger, DekaRanger, MagiRanger, GekiRanger ShinkenGer and even Goseiger gain throughout the course of the series production.

As to what the project is, is a mixture of both a review and a history lesson. It is primarily a review of one Sentai series in general per episode but it will also have the basic generic history of Super Sentai given in the beginning of certain episodes such as our 1st episode. Then over the course of other episodes pertaining to Super Sentai when a certain subject seen a newer series is brought up we can bring up a bit more history pertaining to those scenes and/or subjects that may have been started in older series.

For example, if we were doing an episode on Boukenger and then we got to the part where BoukenSilver enters the series we could then make the quick reference on how it follows the style set by ZyuRanger as it was the series that made the 6th additional member a permanent constant in future Sentai series. That kind of thing.

In short, it's a series based on reviewing a single Sentai series in general at a time while also going over some of the basic history of the franchise as it pops up throughout said series. The 1st episode of the project will have most of the basic info brought up as an introduction to the project to give the viewers some insight into the franchise.

[durendal]

Ok then.

I've already overhauled the gekiranger wiki placing the outline I just posted over to the wiki. Hopefully I retain enough enthusiasm to finish this through.

On a quick glance, it seems that Gekiranger didn't quite do well compared to the other previous super sentai shows. Gekiranger is the only show that did not break the 10 billion yen barrier with only 7.7 million yen in merchandise sales. Could this be the "hibiki" of of the Super Sentai?

[odin]

sorry for the delay, a hurricane passed last week and was without electricity until this day, got it back just now, anyways, finished watching Gekiranger, going to start writing what i can on the script, also..if we are going to make this happen we need a logo to identify it the series of videos, i could myself do the logo, just need Ideas/ recommendations on what the logo should look like or have and i'll work on it ASAP.

[*Jess♥]

this is interesting because 3 of us is a skilled artist but i think each of us has different strengths. (durendal I don't know if I've seen any of your design work, I don't recall)

I am sure we can collaborate on one design?

what do you think of that?

Odin, you have a fine strength of creating nice detailed polished final pieces. I feel my strength is in the creative, balancing and colour balance. Toku warrior strength is good at bringing in lots of different influences from many different places and original ideas and good sketch work.

so I think it might be nice if toku warrior comes up with an initial idea, I can refine that and then odin can finalise it?

just a suggestion of course.

[odin]

sounds good to me, it would be my first collab ever so i would be honored to do something with you guys. I was thinking something that would have different aspects of the most know Toku genres example for kamen rider would either be a Bike or the red Scarf, not very knowledgeable about the common traits on super sentai and Ultraman tho, that's my 2 scents for the logo.

[durendal]

I'm afraid I'll have to pass on that logo thingy. As they say, too many cooks spoil the broth. I think I'm fine by criticizing your works.

Sentai is known for their colorful uniform, and the most prominent color is red. Perhaps a logo that has five circle or objects with different colors depicting the individual colors of the prominent members? Like red, blue, green, yellow and I don't know, black or white.

[Toku Warrior]

Sounds interesting. I do have an idea of sorts though. The main prominent color pattern more most series is either:

Red, Blue, Pink, Yellow and Green

or

Red, Blue, Pink, Yellow and Black

I could create a circular emblem that has five solid figures, each one just a single color, standing as a group within the circle.

So I would just do the outline of the initial logo and then I can upload the PS document to media fire and send it to Ryuki for him to do his coloring and creative magic to it to bring it to life and then he can send it to Odin who would do the final touches on the design, adding what he would think would be appropriate for the loge.

If you guys think this is good let me know and I'll start on it Monday once I get my day off from work that day.

Odin, once you finish the rough transcript make sure to send copies of it to Durendal, Ryuki and myself so we can go over it. Then we can edit it some and then, once we decide on the final version, I can take the episodes I have on disc and copy them to one of my external hard drives and use that as a base load for the video so that I can start the video editing.

Sad thing will only be is that all the videos are subtitled but I'm sure we can work around that.

Once I finish the rough video (meaning no effects added yet), I'll upload it and send you all a copy and then we can go from there.

[odin]

alright, sounds good, I'm looking forward to it.

[*Jess♥]

yeah i like the sound of that. good ideas durendal, ryuu-oh

[durendal]

Sorry, I mistakenly posted in the wrong forum ;

But yeah, sounds good.

Edited August 27, 2011 by durendal