I just reupped my month but I don’t have an active crunchy sub so I’ll get that nice 60 day trial so alls balanced out(and I’ll wrap up my current watches on funi so I can just setup a to watch sub, dub, mecha, and current season lists to clean things up, without trying to find my place. I’ve only got 6 shows I’m in the middle of outside of current stuff).The Crunchyroll Funimation merge is super exciting! When I finally subscribed to Funimation they literally announced the buy out ten days later lol. So I didn’t get much use out of it, but I’ll be happy to cancel and stick with Crunchyroll which I’ve had for like a decade now?
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We are supposed to have 80% of Funimation’s library up by the end of the month. Today is definitely a slower start than I would have expected. Yu Yu Hakusho and Cowboy Bebop are the two biggest up so far.
Next season is looking pretty good. I’m looking forward to Kaguya Love is War Season 3 (had no idea it was this soon), Love Live Nijigasaki Season 2, and if it comes out Magia Record Season 3 for sure.I just reupped my month but I don’t have an active crunchy sub so I’ll get that nice 60 day trial so alls balanced out(and I’ll wrap up my current watches on funi so I can just setup a to watch sub, dub, mecha, and current season lists to clean things up, without trying to find my place. I’ve only got 6 shows I’m in the middle of outside of current stuff).
Gotta double check my budget but I’ll probably grab the $80 gift card premium sub for after the trial ends.
Least it means I won’t have to choose between the 2 for the shows I want to focus on next season XD between this and Hidive I have access to most of it. Couple I’m looking forward to next season. I know sword reincarnation and Wrong way to use healing magic are coming this year but I don’t know which season
Sentai production staff telling the new cast this might be it for Sentai
source:
I'd believe it. Sentai's profits are a quarter what they were just 5 years ago. Cannot imagine the series is going to continue unless Donbrothers ends up being a runaway success.
Same thing with Jetman, the production crew thought it might be their last season so they went all out. Safe to say it became an instant classic and saved the franchise. How fortuitous that Toshiki Inoue is back for DonBro after already writing Jetman 30 years ago.I think the implication seems more like, we've been going for 46 years and like any long running show, the season could be our last, so its up to us to do the best job possible and continue the legacy thats gone for almost half a century - I'm sure its possible but I dont think they're saying it is immediately on the chopping block. I would have to wonder if changes being made in Power Rangers situation have something to do with it too...
I think the implication seems more like, we've been going for 46 years and like any long running show, the season could be our last, so its up to us to do the best job possible and continue the legacy thats gone for almost half a century - I'm sure its possible but I dont think they're saying it is immediately on the chopping block. I would have to wonder if changes being made in Power Rangers situation have something to do with it too...
The main thing over everything is that Sentai is in the roughest spot it's ever been in. The show has had a precipitous drop in profits over the past few years, and unlike the Timeranger situation which rebounded literally immediately with Gaoranger, Sentai's current drop is less "flash-in-the-pan failure" and more "even a killer show with that anniversary boost like Zenkaiger cannot save this" kinda situation. It is dire.Same thing with Jetman, the production crew thought it might be their last season so they went all out. Safe to say it became an instant classic and saved the franchise. How fortuitous that Toshiki Inoue is back for DonBro after already writing Jetman 30 years ago.
I also think for the last few years Sentai has just had a harder time occupying a niche that makes it stand out from Kamen Rider. Nowadays Rider seasons basically have as many Riders as a Sentai team, but with way more toys, and more complex storytelling that allows it to appeal to older audiences as well, while Sentai is like, almost exclusively for 5-11 year olds nowadays, Rider being more like 8-14. Ironically the recent charts indicate Sentai is currently at a 20 year low for toy sales, which was last occupied by... Timeranger, which was less popular with kids due to its more complex storytelling.
It will be interesting to see if they can truly push the envelope with Sentai going forward. There was a big post earlier from the producer going more into this, about how in an age of big superhero movies and Rider's changes over the last 20 years, Sentai needs to change too.
Also I have no empirical evidence for it but the impression I get in Japan at least is there is a healthily sized young adult/adult audience for Rider, with enough who are willing to shell out big bucks for expensive figures and other merch, similar to shows like Gundam. I don't sense that from Sentai, I think adults are generally nostalgic for whatever Sentai season(s) they grew up on but very few follow modern Sentai in and out like they do Rider, unless they have kids maybe. Frankly PreCure seems to hit most of the notes Toei would want Sentai to hit nowadays.But all of that is to say: it's not hard to think that, like @Mekanos said, Rider is kinda eating Sentai's lunch. It's got more toys, more characters, and often tells "working together" stories that USED to be Sentai's bread & butter better than Sentai can because they're not stuck to the "we are a team of 5 from day one" formulas of Sentai.
Yeah I definitely think Hasbro have plans for Power Rangers that don't include Sentai (which we'll probably see as soon as next year and that definitely figures into how Sentai operates if they arent getting a licence fee from America endlessly to pay for their own productions.The main thing over everything is that Sentai is in the roughest spot it's ever been in. The show has had a precipitous drop in profits over the past few years, and unlike the Timeranger situation which rebounded literally immediately with Gaoranger, Sentai's current drop is less "flash-in-the-pan failure" and more "even a killer show with that anniversary boost like Zenkaiger cannot save this" kinda situation. It is dire.
There's no way to know for sure why, but if you ask me, someone who has been reading bandai financial reports for about a decade at this point, I can speculate a few major factors that I think have lead to the current situation
1) Evidence is mounting that Power Rangers is going to be getting away from Sentai footage/material. This is a whole other kettle of fish, but it's pretty clear to me that there's evidence on both the PR end and the Sentai end that the business of adapting Sentai is probably nearing it's end. The short version is this: Hasbro clearly has big plans for some form of PR Cinematic Universe judging by their statements, and let's be real: you don't make a show about Japanese Folklore hero Momotaro with his crimson-assed gorilla friend and long pink bird man and Shadow the Hedgehog if you're even remotely thinking of selling the footage to the West. That simply does not make sense. This is not a Shinkenger situation, where Samurai/Kanji are a maybe more Japan-centric idea that might be a tougher sell, you just would not get away with the SaruBrother gorilla suit on American TV.
In any case, selling that footage was clearly a huge money maker for them, fueled the franchise's production during low points like the aforementioned Timeranger's historic profit dip. Where Timeranger was a lower point, Power Rangers was so big that Disney was about to buy it and then promptly forget about it. A lot of people like to emphasize that PR and Sentai are different shows, and that is usually true, but you'd be mistaken to think there was not money going from one to the other.
2) Japan's birth rate has been declining for decades and that means there are fewer children to watch the show. Sentai (whose official target demo is actually like 3-6 year old boys and I'm not kidding) doesn't have the built-in older audience that Rider has so they don't have as many adults tuning in. I think it's also worth noting that, where Sentai is in the roughest situation it has maybe ever been in, Rider is doing better than it ever has.
Look: Toei does not like to work internationally. Any longtime anime fan could tell you this. Do you know why they've been selling international streaming rights in the last year or two for Rider? Because public companies need to show growth to investors, and Rider has seemingly reached total market saturation in Japan. There simply aren't very many people in Japan who WOULD buy into Rider stuff left to sell Rider to. Their profits have remained strong for years but they aren't moving, upwards OR downwards. Rider is going international out of business necessity.
(You won't catch me complaining, as I just framed and hung my Kamen Rider Zero-One Blu-Ray Pre-Order Bonus Poster in my office literally today)
But all of that is to say: it's not hard to think that, like @Mekanos said, Rider is kinda eating Sentai's lunch. It's got more toys, more characters, and often tells "working together" stories that USED to be Sentai's bread & butter better than Sentai can because they're not stuck to the "we are a team of 5 from day one" formulas of Sentai.
SO all of this is to say: I DO think Sentai is going to go on hiatus for a bit. Maybe not directly after DonBrothers, Shirakura might have a few more ideas up his sleeve to try before that, but I genuinely do not know if it makes it to 50 shows in a row.
THAT SAID
I don't think Sentai is done forever if it DOES go on hiatus. What I think will happen is they put the series on ice for a bit. Maybe whip up some non-franchise one-off toku shows or anime or something to maintain the time slot. While the series is on ice, I think they workshop some ideas and really come back strong with what I'd consider "Sentai's Kuuga moment."
wow I've typed a lot
anyway Sentai is good but I do think a break would be good for them. Zenkaiger has been great (I gotta get back to it) and DonBrothers seems like it's wild (in a maybe good way?) so it's nice to see that, but it's clear they haven't moved the needle financially and that's where it counts the most. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens!
I was watching it last night. Definitely glad to see Lupin part 1 get a may date and also nice to see Prison of the Past get an announcement. Beyond that i'm interested in the Case Closed movie, A-ko 2, Astro Boy. Not a bad stream at all.Today’s Discotek stream is ongoing, but I’m excited we already got a Symphogear GX bluray announcement! I also hope we eventually get the next two seasons, but season 3 is essential and cemented my love for the show. I checked out Symphogear to begin with after seeing the extended opening scene where Hibiki punches through the mountain.
Still praying we also get more Hajime No Ippo.
Edit: Stream is over, no Ippo update. Hope we get the other two series in the future.
LOOK AT THIS GOOD SHIT
I mean the next thing that David productions is adapting is more hype, they’re doing a 4 cour of the best of Urusei Yatsura(Lum’s show; also translated as Obnoxious People) mangaIs 2022 the year I find out what a JoJo is? Should it be?
Yes it is. Plenty of episodes already released and more on the way.Is 2022 the year I find out what a JoJo is? Should it be?
Yes, it's a great series and the anime adaptation is very good, improves on a lot of the issues in the manga IMO (which is also great in its own way). If you like convoluted superpowers, a strong sense of continuity, and a good mix of camp, humor and hardcore violence, then you can't go wrong with JoJo.Is 2022 the year I find out what a JoJo is? Should it be?
As someone who is not particularly fond of anime, JJBA is heads and shoulders above the medium as an exceptionally well crafted piece of media. Though not to sound like a complete and total piece of pretentious trash: I do prefer to read it as a comic/manga than to watch it. It's a well made tv show, don't get me wrong (you'd be hard pressed to find a bad piece of media that has passed through Yasuko Kobayashi's hands) but me personally, I prefer the pacing/structure of the printed work just a lil bit more.Is 2022 the year I find out what a JoJo is? Should it be?
toqger(you'd be hard pressed to find a bad piece of media that has passed through Yasuko Kobayashi's hands)
me? watch tokusatsu? absolutely nottoqger
okay but on a more positive note are you watching revice because holy hell this show is so good
I think Revice will definitely be a great binge watch. The way the plot ramps up with each episode is done really well, basically no screentime is wasted and the demon gimmick is a lot of fun. Plus it has by far the best female Rider in the franchise (which is damning with faint praise but seriously, Sakura is great).me? watch tokusatsu? absolutely not
I've heard good things, but no, I'm not watching it at the moment. I'll watch it about 2 years late and say "wow y'all see this? it's good"
I'm about to go watch the movie in theaters actually. I haven't seen Demon Slayer (most people I know say similar things about the characters/story) but JJK is solid for sure. The way it explores life and death is pretty cool too, for a shonen series.i'm watching jujutsu kaisen now.
i'm absolutely loving it, 10 episodes in. this is way better than demon slayer imo. while that was pretty to look at, the story and characters were honestly too dumb at points, probably aimed at a much younger audience. while jjk is also goofy, it's way more interesting to follow the story and i'm more invested in it.
I got Hidive half off back at Christmas so doesn’t bug me much. And yeah that’s one more off the funimation finish list. Think I’m down to Starblazers, Deadman wonderland(dub) and Yatterman nightI finished watching Odd Taxi last night, it was awesome! Definitely deserves all the praise it got last year. I really like tight 13 episodes shows and this was definitely that. Good mysteries in each episode and I liked a lot of the characters. Largely satisfied how it wrapped up though I don’t think it needed the everyone wasn’t animals twist even if it worked out well.
Wanted to share too icymi, a ton of Sentai / HiDive shows are leaving Crunchyroll by the end of the month. Wish they announced it sooner, nowhere near enough time to get marathons going.
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In better Crunchyroll news, the Funimation transfer slowly continues and we got Nichijou back this week!
Another consequence of Sony purchasing them I was a free member for a few years until I finally subscribed. It was such a good entry point for people who can’t afford anime and got more people on board with both Crunchyroll and anime in general. Very shortsighted.
I guess they're assuming the gain in subscribers will be worth the people they lose to other streaming services (or most likely piracy), but I agree this feels like a bad idea in the long run because of how much more accessible it made anime. This does at least only apply to new/continuing shows, so there's still a lot of old content people will be able to watch for free, but it still sucks regardless.Another consequence of Sony purchasing them I was a free member for a few years until I finally subscribed. It was such a good entry point for people who can’t afford anime and got more people on board with both Crunchyroll and anime in general. Very shortsighted.
Ken Akamatsu (author of multiple long running manga such as Love Hina and Negima) is apparently running for office (for LDP) and this is his public office