I was looking at the Donbrothers "finale". It was a pretty weird episode where it began watching an episode of Kamen Rider Revice. Right now, I can't decide which is weirder between Donbrothers!Kaito watching the finale of Revice or Nadira watching an episode of Saban's Masked Rider. At this point, I feel Donbrothers!Haruka has become the "show savior" in some way. This screenshot where she holds the stuffed toy and says, "No fair! Woof!" makes me think of thing I ranted - JAPANESE ENTERTAINMENT EXCLUSIVISM. I check out Toei's official Youtube channel and most of the episodes HAVE NO FREAKING SUBS. Really? Just learn Japanese? It's easier said than done! I guess some snobs may have told that to the Westerners. I even feel that some people are willing to read subs but not learn the language unless it's required.
An article concerning the K-Pop vs. J-Pop culture wars makes me think why I feel mad at Japanese exclusivism. I'm not really Japanese at all and it's too obvious this is JUST A PSEUDONYM. Now, I want to think of this thing pointed about Japanese stuff:
Reason 1: These days, Japan makes stuff mostly for Japan.
Japanese pop culture, like the Japanese archipelago itself, is too isolated from the rest of the world to have remained a sustainable global influence. This is evidenced by the neologism “Japan Galapagos Syndrome,” which compares Japan to the South American island that has its own species and ecology. In 2010, Japanese electronics company Sharp launched a tablet in Japan that was initially sold nowhere else in the world, appropriately called the Galapagos tablet. Similarly, many of Japan’s videogames are for the Japanese market only.
Some say the problem is Japan’s reluctance to learn English and its negative population growth. Others point out that Japan, whose population is 127.8 million, is a huge enough consumer market as it is, and Japanese retailers don’t feel the need to take the huge risk of launching an overseas marketing campaign. (South Korea’s population is less than half that, at 49.8 million).
It had me thinking of a couple of games I wanted to play BUT there's FREAKING NO ENGLISH. I remembered having a PS1 AND I played the Kamen Rider video games. Sheesh, I couldn't even understand a thing! I remembered how I was glad that the Dragon Ball Z games for the PS2 and the next generation systems had ENGLISH translations. Yet, Super Robot Wars, a potentially GOOD GAME, was all in PLAIN JAPANESE. I even had to get a translator from SLOW INTERNET just to try and get past it. Ugh, I really admit the disgust grew especially after getting fan subs.
Okay, I could understand that Toei Ltd. signed that deal with Saban Entertainment. I may dislike Power Rangers (for rather PERSONAL reasons) but I refuse to call it bootleg due to the usage of the word. Bootleg has always been used as a term for illegal reproduction. Calling it bootleg and you know it's licensed is STUPID. Soon, some Power Rangers fans get curious about the source material. I still wonder if the letter written to TV-Nihon was legit or not. That was a source where some Power Rangers fans got a hang of the shows during the 2000s. There was Tokosou Sentai Dekaranger - something that Power Rangers fans may be more interested in on an official DVD. There was also Samurai Sentai Shinkenger which I'm afraid gets too much appreciation. I'm afraid Mirai Sentai Timeranger tends to be bashed. Some people who may prefer Power Rangers Time Force over Timeranger may actually even think that Shinkenger or Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters is Yasuko Kobayashi's Magnum Opus.
What was confirmed is that Toshihide Wakamatsu, Ryota Ozawa, and Georgette Inaba (Mrs. Red Mask) went to Power Morphicon 2022. I actually wished Kazunori Inaba went there as well. It's stupid to REALLY assume that Power Rangers fans will never get interested in the Japanese source material. Right now, I feel that Super Sentai royalties might be too high (which is why Kamen Rider is preferred over it in the Philippines). Let's face it Power Rangers fans will have access to the Internet, translators, and the like. I wouldn't be surprised if some fansubbers are actually fans of Power Rangers themselves who know how to speak Japanese!
Trying to get exclusive can be a problem. True, there are J-Drama aired around Asia and aren't exclusive. Yet, one must wonder why GMA-7 aired Mischievous Kiss but not Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. There's still some J-Drama over Netflix. Heck, Netflix has some Japanese productions as well. Though, some stuff end up being made "just for Japan" is stupid. The whole global arena is there. You can have a JO1 vs. BTS friendly showdown. You can have Japanese bands go around the world and compete with Korean bands. I freaking want to see more friendly competition between the two cultures. I freaking want to have sushi and kimbap!
I think Japanese companies that try to become more exclusive (I think Toei Ltd. has fallen into it) is a real problem. It's just not fair! I think Donbrothers!Haruka's annoyed expression really helps communicate it. I really want an end to Japanese entertainment exclusivism FOR GOOD. Let the world taste more of what Japan has to offer!
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