Super Sentai's Usage Of Tokyo Is The Center Of the Universe Trope

 

I guess a major anniversary for Super Sentai will always get followed by a major anniversary for Mighty Morphin', right? I may prefer Super Sentai and dislike Power Rangers. However, both shows tend to have a lot of stuff that wouldn't make sense in real life. Bleeding sparks? Teleportation? Combining Megazords? A giant monster attacks almost every week? How in the world is the city repaired after a giant robot battle? I'd like to discuss Tokyo Is The Center of the Universe. Yes, I'm talking about that strange oddity that occurs in every Super Sentai series. Almost every single Super Sentai takes place in Modern Japan in one way or another. Yeah, that's probably the biggest reason why some people just want to force all Super Sentai into one timeline.

It's only normal that production teams want to save money right? Power Rangers has clearly followed the trope by replacing Japan with the Greater Los Angeles Area or the fictional Angel Grove. Before Super Sentai - I think a lot of Western superhero shows really put America as the center of the Universe. Move the plot to Japan and Tokyo becomes the center of the Universe. Obviously, Super Sentai has followed a lot of Western superhero concepts. In a Real Life Writes Plot, I guess it's only normal that Super Sentai chooses to film in Japan while Power Rangers either films in America (or New Zealand) for some reason. Filming in Japan would be cheaper than filming in too many locations around the world, right? 

We've got aliens speaking PERFECT JAPANESE...

If one tried reading Marvel Comics and DC Comics - there's the invoked trope of Aliens Speaking English. I could remember an episode in the Fantastic Four segment of The Marvel Action Hour where the late Stan Lee butted in and translated the Skrull language. How did the Skrulls even begin to speak perfect American English? In Super Sentai, the trope is invoked (but replaces English with Japanese) like most Japanese media. Come on, we've already had that trope in several Japanese Manga with aliens speaking Japanese! The Super Robot Anime series such as Combattler V, Voltes V, and Daimos would invoke that trope where aliens are speaking Japanese!

It does get funnier when the aliens all talk in JAPANESE also to each other. I guess writing a different language for them is stressful. I wonder if that episode from The Marvel Action Hour had a bit of a change? Granted, it was Haim Saban's time so probably he didn't like the idea of spending time to write a Skrull language for the adaptation. Meanwhile, Kamen Rider Kuuga tried to pull off the Grongi language. It was to put a sense of mystery. Some dubbers probably just did some wild guesses when they dubbed the Grongi. 

One of my favorite examples of this absurdity is Radiguet's invasion announcement. In American media, the aliens announce their invasion in AMERICAN ENGLISH. Well, not all as Mars Attack needed a translator to understand what the invaders were speaking. Yet, Radiguet speaks in PERFECT JAPANESE and he's supposedly an alien from another dimension. How in the world did the Vyram (or any alien before it) learn to speak in Japanese?

It can get even weirder when the rangers are using alien technology. It's no less weird than Uatu the Watcher talking in American English to the Fantastic Four or Galactus speaking English. The Avengers and the Justice League also have aliens in their team. A few shows used alien technology like Chodenshi Bioman and Choshinsei Flashman. Though, I'd like to share the weirdness with how Flashman has it. 

The plot of Flashman has five children who got lost, grew up in a lost galaxy, and came back to Earth 20 years later. Doesn't Planet Flash or the lost galaxy it's in have another language? The people of Flash, the members of Reconstructive Empire Mess, etc. can easily communicate in Japanese! It's really no less weird than what Marvel and DC invoke a lot. You just need to create a world where Japanese is the Universal language huh? 

Tokyo seems to be their favorite spot for no reason at all... unless there's a reason!

One must even wonder about this stupidity. Super-villains aren't known to be very smart either. If you're watching American shows - their favorite target is America. Since it's a Japanese show then let's make Japan their favorite trouble spot. Why aren't these guys attacking other countries and why focus on Japan? Most of the shows seem to make it, "It'd be expensive to film them attacking the whole world so Japan's the favorite spot!"

It seems that Super Sentai has made Japan the world's most powerful country. If that's the case then destroying Japan BEFORE attacking every other country makes sense. Though, it doesn't seem explained that way all the time. Some Toku shows have Japanese going to America to study. However, with Super Sentai on guard then that makes Japan the most powerful country. America would be the world's most powerful country with the Power Rangers in it. In American superhero media, having the titular superhero team in AMERICA (such as the Avengers or the Justice League) makes America more powerful than any nation on Earth. 

There have been a few explanations such as:

• Taiyo Sentai Sun Vulcan explains it away because Japan has a large cache of geothermal energy. Though this is really forgotten. 
• Some villains are pretty much human in origin. So, certain seasons like Bioman would make it justified to attack Japan first. Later, Denji Sentai Megaranger does have Dr. Hinelar who's also a human Japanese scientist as well. 
• Choriki Sentai Ohranger does justify this because Japan showed the most resistance. Baranoia realizes that they can't invade the Earth IF Japan exists.
• Seijuu Sentai Gingaman also has the Ginga Forest conveniently near Japan. However that doesn't excuse the Space Pirates Balban from not attacking other places where the Gingamen wouldn't reach on time. 
• Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger would justify it since the Jakanja are tightly linked the Ninja Academy. 
• Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters does seem to justify the Vaglass' attacking Japan non-stop. Japan is the first country to use Enetron - the very power source that the Messiah Virus needs. 
• Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger does manage to add a little logic because Torin created the Zyudenryu there. It's pretty much unlike why in the world would Bandora keep attacking Japan in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger when she could attack America or what? Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers didn't bother to explain why Rita Repulsa (and later Lord Zedd) were too focused on Angel Grove. Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger doesn't seem to explain itself too well either.

Meanwhile, Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue did a bit of a rationale. Mariner Bay was, after all, where Bansheera's palace was built. It's pretty much like how Kosoku Sentai Turboranger justifies the Bouma attacking Japan per week because the Great Seal was located in Japan. Meanwhile, Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive doesn't really have an explanation for why the Saima Clan keeps attacking Japan. Then again the GoGoFive would make Japan the most powerful nation in the world. The Saima Clan is probably aware that the Tatsumi siblings would be able to fly to the West faster than a warplane and return to Japan like nothing. Then again I think GoGoFive still fails to explain why the Saima Clan would attack Japan with their idiotic plans first.

Pretty much, Super Sentai would make it this way. Japan is the most powerful country in the world. Yet, with that great power comes great responsibility. Japan has the technology and the superhero team make it the favorite target of the villains. It's pretty much like why villains in American shows attack America. It's to focus on getting rid of the pest.

In the case of Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger - it lacks the trope perhaps entirely. Instead, we've got a very RPG-like setting that's almost akin to Knights of Tir Na Nog or the Dragon Quest games. Fictional kingdoms that just don't exist in real life. Heck, even the world map is pretty much not like in the real world but a map in an RPG game. It's practically a very refreshing idea if you ask me! 

If there was anything that could make Super Sentai nearly as repetitive as any superhero show - it's making the country of origin or the town of origin the center of the Universe. Sure, Super Sentai is mostly self-contained but it can get boring pretty quickly for some. Every year, it's always Tokyo is under attack. Sure, there are many ways to spice it up. However, I think trying to deviate from the trope every now and then can be rather beneficial.