Super_sentai

<i>Super Sentai</i>

Super Sentai

Japanese entertainment and merchandising franchise


The Super Sentai Series (スーパー戦隊シリーズ, Sūpā Sentai Shirīzu) is a Japanese superhero team metaseries and media franchise consisting of television series and films produced by Toei Company, and Bandai, and aired by TV Asahi ("Sentai" is the Japanese word for "task force" or "fighting squadron").[citation needed] The shows are of the tokusatsu genre, featuring live action characters and colorful special effects, and are aimed at children. Super Sentai airs alongside the Kamen Rider series in the Super Hero Time programming block on Sunday mornings. In North America, the Super Sentai series is best known as the source material for the Power Rangers series.[1]

Quick Facts Super Sentai, Created by ...

Series overview

In every Super Sentai series, the protagonists are a team of people who – using wrist-worn or hand-held devices – transform into superheroes and gain superpowers – color-coded uniforms, signature weapons, sidearms, and fighting skills – to battle a group of otherworldly supervillains that threaten to take over the Earth. In a typical episode, the heroes thwart the enemies' plans and defeat an army of enemy soldiers and the monster of the week before an enlarged version of the monster confronts them, only to be defeated again when the heroes fight it with their mecha. Most Sentai series are set in a shared fictional universe; various TV, video, and film specials feature a team-up among two or more teams.

The first two Super Sentai series were created by Shotaro Ishinomori, then known for the 1971–1973 Kamen Rider TV series and the long-running manga Cyborg 009. He developed Himitsu Sentai Gorenger, which ran from 1975 to 1977, and J.A.K.Q. Dengekitai, released in 1977. Toei Company put the franchise on hiatus in 1978, collaborating with Marvel Comics to produce a live-action Spider-Man series, which added giant robots to the concept of tokusatsu shows. The giant robot concept was carried over to Toei and Marvel's next show, Battle Fever J, released in 1979, and was then used throughout the Super Sentai series. The next two series Denshi Sentai Denjiman and Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan had Marvel Comics copyrights and co-productions, despite no influence. Subsequently, the remainder of the series has been solely produced by Toei Company.

Productions

Main series

The following is a list of the Super Sentai series and their years of broadcast:

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Theatrical releases

V-Cinema releases

Distribution and overseas adaptations

Although the Super Sentai series originated in Japan, various Sentai series have been imported and dubbed in other languages for broadcast in several other countries.

United States

Official Super Sentai logo for the North American DVDs by Shout! Factory

After Honolulu's KIKU-TV had success with Android Kikaider (marketed as Kikaida) and Kamen Rider V3 in the 1970s, multiple Super Sentai series, including Himitsu Sentai Gorenger and Battle Fever J, were brought to the Hawaiian market, broadcast in Japanese with English subtitles by JN Productions.[citation needed] In 1985, Marvel Comics produced a pilot for an American adaptation of Super Sentai, but the show was rejected by the major US TV networks.[4] In 1986, Saban Productions produced a pilot for an American adaptation of Choudenshi Bioman titled Bio Man.[5][6] In 1987, some episodes of Kagaku Sentai Dynaman were dubbed and aired as a parody on the USA Network television show Night Flight.[7]

In 1993, American production company Saban Entertainment adapted 1992's Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers for the Fox Kids programming block, combining the original Japanese action footage with new footage featuring American actors for the story sequences. Since then, nearly every Super Sentai series that followed became a new season of Power Rangers. In 2002, Saban sold the Power Rangers franchise to Disney's Buena Vista division,[8] who owned it until 2010, broadcasting Power Rangers on ABC Kids, ABC Family, Jetix, and Toon Disney.[citation needed] On 12 May 2010, Saban bought the franchise back from Disney, moving the show to the Nickelodeon network for 2011 with Power Rangers Samurai.[9]

On 25 July 2014, Shout! Factory announced that they would release Zyuranger on DVD in the United States.[10] Since then, Shout! has been the official distributor of Super Sentai DVDs in North America, and as of 2019 has released all subsequent series up to Hurricanger, plus Jetman. After Jetman, a release was announced of the series Fiveman, but was put on hiatus due to Hasbro's acquisition of the Power Rangers franchise. In June 2022, it was announced they would resume production/distribution of Super Sentai DVD sets in North America, beginning with Fiveman.

Beginning in 2016, Super Sentai episodes would be available on demand on ShoutFactoryTV.com. These episodes can only be viewed in North America.[11] Super Sentai episodes are also available to watch on the free streaming service, Tubi.

On 1 May 2018, toy company Hasbro announced they had acquired the Power Rangers franchise from Saban Capital Group for $522 million.[12]

South Korea

Super Sentai has been broadcast in South Korea, dubbed in Korean. The first such series was Choushinsei Flashman which aired as Jigu Bangwidae Flash Man (Earth Defence Squadron Flashman), released in video format in 1989 by the Daeyung Panda video company; this was followed by Hikari Sentai Maskman and Chodenshi Bioman. Throughout the 1990s, Dai Sentai Goggle Five, Dengeki Sentai Changeman, Choujyu Sentai Liveman, and Kousoku Sentai Turboranger were also released in video format. In the 2000s and early 2010s, Tooniverse (formerly Orion Cartoon Network), JEI-TV (Jaeneung Television), Champ TV/Anione TV (Daewon Broadcasting), Cartoon Network South Korea, and Nickelodeon South Korea have broadcast Super Sentai series a year following their original Japanese broadcast, but have changed the titles to "Power Rangers".[13][14][15]

Merchandise

As of March 2021, Bandai Namco has sold 30.89 million Super Sentai shape-changing model robots since 1979.[16]

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References

  1. "CSR Report 2009". Bandai Namco Group. Retrieved 9 February 2021.
  2. Bates, James (12 August 1986). "Kidd Stuff : A Crop of New Shows Sprouts From Saban Firm's TV Success". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 4 May 2011. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  3. Bruck, Connie (10 May 2010). "The Influencer – An entertainment mogul sets his sights on foreign policy". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 19 September 2017. Retrieved 23 October 2017.
  4. Kotzer, Zack (25 May 2017). "Life in Anime Hell". NOW. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  5. "News Corp. and Haim Saban Reach Agreement to Sell Fox Family Worldwide to Disney for $5.3 Billion". Saban. 23 July 2001. Archived from the original on 2 February 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  6. Littleton, Cynthia (12 May 2010). "Saban re-acquires rights to 'Rangers'". Variety. Archived from the original on 18 April 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  7. Shout Factory [@ShoutFactory] (26 July 2014). "Last for Brian: And Super Sentai Zyuranger #PowerRangers" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 January 2018 via Twitter.
  8. "Super Sentai On Demand". ShoutFactoryTV. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  9. Hipes, Patrick (1 May 2018). "Hasbro Acquires 'Power Rangers' Brand In $522M Deal". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  10. "파워레인저". 파워레인저. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 16 July 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
  11. "파워레인저 S.P.D." 파워레인저 S.P.D. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 9 August 2007. Retrieved 5 August 2007.
  12. "파워레인저 트레인포스". 파워레인저 트레인포스. Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 8 July 2015. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  13. Fact Book 2021. Bandai Namco Group. 2021. pp. 3–6. Retrieved 2 October 2021.
  14. "Historical currency converter with official exchange rates (103,300 JPY to USD)". fxtop.com. 31 December 2020. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  15. Market Share in Japan. Yano Research Institute. 2005. p. 18. Retrieved 12 February 2021. 9 | Combat Force Series | 240
  16. "Japan's Character Products Market in 2008". Licensing Industry Merchandiser's Association. Character Databank (CharaBiz). 2010. Archived from the original on 8 September 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  17. コンテンツ2次利用市場(ライセンス市場)に係る 競争環境及び海外市場動向実態調査 (PDF) (in Japanese). Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). 2011. pp. 22–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  18. "慶應義塾大学学術情報リポジトリ(KOARA)". KeiO Associated Repository of Academic Resources (in Japanese). Keio University: 8–9. 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  19. CharaBiz DATA 2014(13) (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  20. CharaBiz DATA 2015⑭ (in Japanese). Character Databank, Ltd. 2015. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  21. Kerry, Dollan (26 November 2001). "Beyond Power Rangers". Forbes. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  22. State of the Toy Industry – Annual 2006 Data. The NPD Group. 3 April 2007. pp. 55–8. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  23. "44 entertainment/character properties reach $100 m in sales of licensed merchandise". The Licensing Letter. The Free Library. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  24. "Retail Sales of Licensed Merchandise Based on $100 Million+ Entertainment/Character Properties". The Licensing Letter. November 2017. Archived from the original on 2 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  25. "Retail Sales of Licensed Merchandise Based on $100 Million+ Entertainment/Character Properties". The Licensing Letter. 23 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 May 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2021.
  26. "Retail Sales of Licensed Merchandise Based on $100 Million+ Entertainment/Character Properties". The Licensing Letter. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2021.

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