Today I saw Chinese video from a Taiwan Youtuber talk about Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever. So I know
Cutie Gwen
is a huge Kamen rider fan so correct me if I got anything wrong.
The video is in Chinese, so let me explain what the video is all about
The video started out mentioning Avengers Endgame, because not only the film is release recently, it is because he wants to talk about Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever.
You may be asking, what does Endgame have to do with Kamen Rider movie? Well... according to the Youtuber, Kamen Rider and Endgame, if we neglect budget and commercial success among two series and universe (Kamen Movie Line Universe ??? VS Marvel Cinematic Universe), Kamen Rider is way more older than MCU and depening on perspectives, both have equally loyal fanbase and cult following. Both are films that services the fans.
Unfortunately, Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever premiere was canceled in Taiwan, which cause many Kamen Rider fans here disappointed. The Youtuber later talk about why and pointing out some "double standard" when it comes to how people view not just MCU but also American Super Heros as a hero to Kamen Rider and other anime franchises...
He rants how people call people liking American Super Heros is cool, whereas liking Kamen Rider and even anime is childish and stupid....
And he points out how Hollywood films and anime Japanese films are treated unfairly, EVEN in Asian countries like Taiwan where anime is very popular.
Last but not least how many Kamen Rider episodes or even anime got many parts cut or censored, which is indeed true btw. But now they have stop doing it.
Even though it wasn't in the video, he acknowledged that Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever is not really a good film compare to Avengers Endgame, which in my opinion is one of the main reason why people are somewhat being "double standard" (Not really) between the two series.
Now here is my take...
In my opinion, even as a fan of both Super Hero and Anime like me... even though I get what he's trying to say and I definitely agree that anime and super hero should have fair ground among fans. I have to say, this is the reality.
Money talks, MCU and DC Universe are super popular franchise that was for kids long time ago, thanks to directors and Hollywood actors, it made Super Hero movies popular today. Whereas Kamen Rider and many anime series don't have those budget... and they are really just for niche audience (I really dislike this word but still...) and again as a fan of both American Super Hero films and Japanese Super Hero films, that's something we should all accept.
And it isn't like Japanese didn't try, Power Rangers did got a Hollywood film, but it flopped due to it not being good, and like how many said, Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever sure fans love it, but if it doesn't appeal to the movie critics, it won't get equal attention.
But hey, even Japanese Super Heros might never be popular in the Hollywood movies, remember how Internet tends to make Super Smash Bros Avengers trailer? Yeah, from my perspective, I can say Super Smash Bros or Nintendo IPs as a whole are the video game version of MCU... and look how successful Super Smash Bros Ultimate is? It's basically Nintendo's Avengers Infinity War... EVERYONE IS HERE.
This once again proves the point that "Fanservice itself can't sell", if a game/movie only has fanservice... it's not gonna be a huge success. Smash Bros and Avengers did it, hopefully Kamen Rider can be as better as them in the future.
And I have also heard there's a crossover Isekai anime called Isekai Quartet which is the Isekai anime of "Avengers", which it consists of Konosuba, Yojou Senki, Re:Zero, and Overlord characters. I actually think this could work, maybe later season it we will have "Rising of Shield Hero" and "The Time I Incarnated as a Slime" will join the fray too.
