Ask John: Why is There No Sentai In America?

Question:
What’s the deal with the sentai issue? Why can’t the people who release the Americanized Power Rangers also release the original show itself on VHS and DVD? I would love to own Zyu Ranger through whatever sentai show is present on, on American DVD. Why can’t they release it here?

Answer:
I’m afraid that sentai, tokusatsu and kaiju movies suffer the same stigma in America that still plagues Hong Kong kung fu movies. There are too many people in America that are familiar with only stereotypes and examples from 30 years ago who don’t realize that these types of Asian cinema have evolved. Even now, contemporary Japanese super hero programs can’t match the production values and quality of big budget American sci-fi spectacles, but more mature characterizations and especially extensive use of computer generated and digitally enhanced special effects have made contemporary sentai shows virtually as different from the Ultraman and Kamen Rider of the 1970s as Jurassic Park is from Land of the Lost. Since American exposure to sentai is largely limited to only 20+ year old Dynaman and Ultraman, and the heavily Americanized and “kiddified” Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers, most of America still thinks that sentai shows consist of entirely stilted choreography and amateur quality back-yard special effects. The poor execution and box office receipts of the American Godzilla movie, and the debatable quality of Toho’s Godzilla 2000 have done little to convince Americans that contemporary hero shows and giant monster movies are not the same poor quality campy “cheese-fests” that they were years ago. Unfortunately, recent films that could possibly begin to raise awareness of contemporary live-action Japanese genre cinema in America have all gone straight to American home video where they’re recognized only by a select handful of knowledgeable fans, or these current examples have not been released in America at all.

Although Hong Kong began producing special effects laden, sophisticated kung fu movies in the early 1980s, it wasn’t until two decades later and the success of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that mainstream America was shocked into recognition that kung-fu movies had evolved beyond poorly acted, poorly filmed “chop sockey” movies. Image Entertainment has released two Ultraman movies from 1998 in anamorphic widescreen that defaults to original Japanese language with English subtitles, and the exceptional 1995 Gamera: Guardian of the Universe is available in America with Gamera 2: Advent of Legion and Gamera 3: Incomplete Struggle on the way eventually. Contemporary sentai shows are still not a masterpiece of technical or cinematic achievement, but they’re far better than most people are aware of. But before more of these little gems will make it to America, we’ll have to wait and hope that America sees a “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” caliber sentai release that will suddenly revolutionize American perception of the Japanese super hero genre. America may continue to see occasional genre releases fly in under the radar and appear on American home video, but there won’t be a major influx of sentai, tokusatsu and kaiju movies to America until there’s a substantial demand for them.