When Super Sentai Uses The Cold Opening Or The Teaser Before The Opening Theme

Super Sentai didn't always have The Teaser until Scroll 35 of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger. I can't determine the reason why the format was introduced later on. Before that, we had the introduction of The Teaser in the Kamen Rider franchise during its fateful reboot with Kamen Rider Kuuga. Now, it's time to do a definition of what it means. "The Teaser" or called "The Cold Opening" is defined by TV Tropes as follows:

Also known as a Cold Opening or "Cold Open". A one to five minute mini-act at the beginning of the show, sometimes before the opening credits, that is used to set up the episode and catch the audience's attention.

In a Monster of the Week show such as The X-Files, the teaser usually contains the first Red Shirt of the episode. In a Crime and Punishment Series, it usually contains the first murder or the body of a victim being discovered. It has become something of a fashion, particularly on crime shows, to end the cold open with a Quip to Black.

Though it technically does not really set up the plot, as there is usually no lengthy continuous plot, the first sketch right before the opening credits in sketch comedy shows like Saturday Night Live and MADtv is also called a cold opening. (The show Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip actually had an episode titled "Cold Open" in which the writing of such a sketch is a plot element.) Non-sketch entertainment programming often also uses a comedy sketch as a Cold Open.

The teaser has been used by many series since the 1950s. Today, nearly every American show has a teaser (to get viewers hooked before they can consider changing channels). Many British shows still don't use the technique (what's more, until the 1980s The BBC would actually re-edit most American shows to put the teaser after the opening titles), but it is increasing in prominence.

When US shows are broadcast on British commercial channels the first commercial break is not usually placed after the opening title but about 8-12 minutes in. However, some more recent series like Lost have such long teasers that the commercial does immediately follow the title (or, more rarely, actually precedes it).

Although the term is usually reserved for television, the practice is now prevalent in comic books, having crept into the medium in the mid-80s and grown popular through the 90s. While older comics tend to have the title and credits on the first page, most modern comics now wait until three-to-five pages in, for a suitably dramatic moment. Some comics vary this by introducing the title at the end of this issue (eg. "Shoot", a lost issue of Hellblazer) or sometimes square in the middle.

Subtropes:

  • Action Prologue: also known as a Bond Opening Sequence.
  • Batman Cold Open
  • Danger Room Cold Open
  • Dramatic Chase Opening
  • Prolonged Prologue
  • Teaser-Only Character

If the teaser depicts events that come at the end of the show, it can set up a How We Got Here or Once More, with Clarity!. Not to be confused with The Tease. Contrast The Stinger, which is shown after the show, not before it.

This has been something that Tokusatsu had incorporated to a certain extent. I didn't really pay much attention to it. I think the sub tropes that have been used for Tokusatsu might be a mixture of Action Prologue (and Bond Opening Sequence applies especially with villains having Bond Villain Stupidity), the Danger Room Cold Open  (which took its name from the X-Men series), and the Dramatic Chase Opening. One could think about how these three might be the most applicable devices that Tokusatsu has copied from any inspiration that it could get. It was commonly used in Kamen Rider but somehow was dropped during Kamen Rider Drive's second episode and for almost the rest of the series. The format was continued with Kamen Rider Ghost and Kamen Rider EX-AID. The format was later done to The Teaser before the Opening Theme with Kamen Rider Build for some reason up to the present. 

For some reason, I still prefer NOT having The Teaser before the Opening Theme. That's what I felt was a MINOR COMPLAINT I had with Super Sentai. Yet, the trope might be what's working better for the modern age than what used to be it. Yet, Kamen Rider Drive up to Kamen Rider EX-AID somehow got away with it by not having The Teaser. The trope still spins around. However, it seems the recent audience prefers having The Teaser before the Opening Theme these days huh?

What are your thoughts on this one? 

Comments

  1. Will you do "The very large amount of toys in Kamen Rider are gtting distracting" ?

    ReplyDelete

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