2000 A.D. - A Champion Year For Toei Ltd.'s Tokusatsu That Started A New Trend
So, let's get started with why I think celebrating the 20-year mark should be very important as a new decade begins...
How Kuuga ended up reimagining the Kamen Rider franchise
Checking the long history of the Kamen Rider series should be something. You can consider how the Showa era Kamen Riders weren't really a yearly thing. Just check out the history of the 70s to 80s. Just consider that Kamen Rider Stronger and Kamen Rider Skyrider had a four-year gap. Kamen Rider Super-1 and Kamen Rider Black had a six-year gap. Kamen Rider Black was followed by what's considered as its inferior direct sequel Kamen Rider Black RX (though Saban's Mashed Rider has to be WAY WORSE) and the Rider franchise didn't have a new series until 2000. Then consider that Kamen Rider attempted to do something with three movies (Kamen Rider Shin, Kamen Rider ZO, and Kamen Rider J) but they all suffered the fate of Kamen Rider ZX as movie-only riders. Worse, Shotaro Ishinomori died in 1998 at only 60 years old.
Two years later, a new Kamen Rider was born namely Kamen Rider Kuuga. Kuuga would be that hugely ambitious reboot for the franchise. Personally, I think the site Classic Henshin is pretty wrong in saying that "Kamen Rider feels dead." because it was the Heisei era that gave me Kamen Rider seasons that were more entertaining and "mature". I heard some people involved with Black RX were eventually put in the set. Was it true that Shigenori Takatera was also involved with Black RX? Probably, because Kuuga became the next Kamen Rider with multiple forms. The difference is while Black RX becomes too godlike - Kuuga is very much human. Kuuga had to learn how to use his forms while being the only Kamen Rider to rely on external objects. Kuuga's humanity seems to be the focus of the whole series. Kuuga is at the risk of becoming a mindless weapon yet the hero Yuusuke Godai risks everything for the sake of others. It's the very factor that keeps him from doing so.
The series itself is what I'd call taking stuff that actually did work with Black RX but making them better. Black RX's multiple forms and the second half had his friends actually helping him. However, I always felt that Joe No Haze was way more random than Inspector Ichijou. The Crisis Empire was laughable due to poor implementation. However, the Grongi tribe members aren't laughable with their nightmarish hunting games. Inspector Ichijou is introduced as Yuusuke's best friend and he literally has a lot of people backing him. I always found Sawatari's involvement more welcome than Reiko in Black RX - it made me also wish that she and Joe were actually a couple! Just thinking about it - Black RX should be looked at as a failed experiment that had a lot of important lessons that made Kuuga great.
Maybe, one can credit how Kuuga may have also continued the Metal Hero spirit. I'd say Metal Hero isn't completely dead - it simply continued on with the new breed of Kamen Riders since Kuuga. Notice how the newer Kamen Riders are more metallic-looking than the Showa era Riders. So while Metal Hero title may have deemed redundant (and it died with Robotack) but the spirit lives on with Kamen Rider.
Timeranger may have been too ambitious for its own good
Timeranger is probably one series that's too ambitious for its own good. In fact, a lot of stuff were atypical for Super Sentai. I'd even dare call the series as a complicated battle with fate itself. A lot of the series' events try to defy destiny or fate as the ultimate villain of the show. Some would say this is Yasuko Kobayashi's Magnum Opus though others have different choices by saying it's either Gingaman, Shinkenger, or ToQGer depending on preferences. For me, it's still Timeranger and I probably want to screw over those who say otherwise - that's especially those who say Shinkenger is Kobayashi's Magnum Opus.
Timeranger itself happens to be in a very unique setting. It would be Goranger's 25th anniversary yet it was the 24th Super Sentai series. Its unique setting may be the reason why a special episode that reviewed all 23 Super Sentai before introducing Gaoranger was set. Was this series even meant to be a finale and introduce Gaoranger as a new reboot? Perhaps, perhaps not. It was probably also mean to celebrate as the final 20th-century Heisei era Super Sentai while it would be the first Super Sentai in the 2000s.
The writing involved tried to deviate from a lot of its predecessors. The recurring villains, the Londarz, were more focused on gathering wealth than world domination. The criminals were usually re-arrested probably because the Timerangers' era no longer has the death penalty. There's also the rangers who are more concerned about building a better tomorrow than saving the world. Tatsuya is more focused on defying fate than crushing the Londarz. Everything seems to be too focused on changing your destiny and fighting fate more than the Londarz villains. A lot of events always focus on destiny and can you even fight it? Those plots alone made it fun for me to watch.
I heard Timeranger clicked more with grownups than younger children. Was it that the plot was too serious? Does Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive even overshadow it? Well, I can't blame people who still think GoGoFive is better than Timeranger in many ways. The opening theme song is pretty hard to follow mind you in contrast to a lot of other theme songs. Somehow, fandom was quite divided with it. Older fans may have enjoyed it but children may have not. It's almost like that apparently Zyuranger worked well with the Japanese children but not with older fans. Personally, I think Timeranger's heavy drama has made it interesting to watch. Fortunately, it didn't crash down like the overly ambitious Chojinki Metalder did and turn it into a "cult hit". Metalder ended up crashing to only 39 episodes - forcing writers to wrap things up ASAP. Changerion also did have the same problem with a lack of ratings that led to it getting rushed. I wonder did Power Rangers Time Force (as well as Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue) end up with only 40 episodes because of that? Fortunately, Timeranger didn't suffer that fate in spite of the alleged lower popularity among children.
The birth of Super Hero Time two years later
Pretty much, Timeranger and Kuuga did leave an impact in some way. Timeranger may have been succeeded with more lighter and softer Super Sentai (starting with Gaoranger and I tend to complain as to why Toei shifted towards lighter and softer) while I think Kobayashi did the performance that landed her on more writing jobs. Kobayashi may have started with Gingaman but it seems that Timeranger is where she got more important. Though it seems that years later - more people would probably remember her for Shinkenger, Go-Busters, and maybe even ToQGer, than Timeranger. Kuuga would eventually be responsible as to why Kamen Rider becomes a yearly thing in contrast to the Showa era. After Kuuga, we've had a Kamen Rider release every year (though two were released in 2009 because Kamen Rider Decade got canceled at only 31 episodes) as a result.
The results were different. Back in the 70s to 80s - you may consider that there were years when Super Sentai had no Kamen Rider accompanying it. Battle Fever J (the first reboot for the franchise) was aired in the same year as Skyrider. Denziman aired in the same year as Kamen Rider Super-1. However, Super-1 had no successor of a show until 1987 gave another Kamen Rider (intended) reboot in Kamen Rider Black. Black aired with Maskman and Metalder in 1987 where all three franchises stood together.
The following year gave us Kamen Rider Agito and Gaoranger. Surprisingly, Agito would be the 30th anniversary of the first Kamen Rider (1971) - which explains why Hiroshi Fujioka made a cameo in the Agito movie! Though the term and catchphrase "Super Hero Time!" (or I'd rather call it Kiddie Show Sunday) was coined only in 2003 when Abaranger and Kamen Rider Faiz were the tandem for the year. Why they had to wait for a bit before the catchphrase was created is still boggling for me.
Regardless, the two shows started a trend for both Super Sentai and Kamen Rider that lasted for two decades, right?
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