Forum - View topicRequest for an additional genre type
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AKosygin
 Posts: 15 |
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ANN RFC #1
Request For Comments #1 Request for additional genre type to Encyclopedia. I would like to request that the genre type "Sentai" or "Battle Teams" be added to the encyclopedia. Sentai ("Battle [Hero] Teams") 「戦隊」 - This genre is very prevailant in defining the type of show (and story). One of the most [in]famous example is Power Rangers. While a lot of series *can technically* fall under sentai because it involves multiple people battling, it really is more identified with shows where it meets all or a large majority of the following criterias: -- 3 or more hero characters (this is a REQUIREMENT, otherwise it is not a "team" and two is only partnership of hero and sidekick) -- young kids -- Fighting in a group -- In some type of suit or armor or uniform (or have special powers) -- transforms or pilots a giant mecha (or summon some creature) that they call forth which may or may not combine -- to save the world from some uncertain evil (usually from the below) -- may contain people/aliens from outer space -- "in the name of Justice" and/or Freedom and/or Honor and/or "Love", etc. The plot also generally is very "black and white" in that there is clearly a bad guy and a good guy. And the bad guys does things that are evil just because it is evil and they like to do it. While the good guys always does what they do because it is "right" and it is "good". The plot also usually revolves around the bad guys "taking over the world" or "destroying the world" and the good guys trying to save it. Very rarely does it deviate from those plot elements. Though more recent (or popular) series with the "sentai" element usually has good twists to this general plot or expands beyond it (I.E.: Sakura Taisen) while retaining this plot as its core element. Also very common amongst the "sentai" category is that it is usually a group of 4 to 6 (usually 5) people, whom are distinguished by some uniform color or uniform shape (or power). In addition to the team, "Sentai" shows always has one extra "cool" hero character that appears in critical moments to save the day that is always watching the team from the shadows, background, etc. It is not uncommon for this extra character to be a hero whom changed sides from evil to good. Examples of this are: -- Power Rangers: Green ranger -- Sailor Moon: Tuxedo Mask -- Brave Command Dagwon: Thunder Rai -- Saint Seiya: Pheonix Ikki A lot of magical girls shows may also fall under this category, though it generally is either an overlap or subset of the "sentai" category. Most people seperate magical girls and sentai in that sentai is for shounen, and magical girls is for shoujo. However, this seperation is NOT ALWAYS THE CASE, because "sentai" does not really differetiate between genders of the characters nor does it of the audience; it just has a "trend" towards shounen because most shoujo sentai falls under "magical girls" category also which is more descriptive. Also, it is important to note that not ALL magical girls series fall under sentai either, because it is possible that the magical girls category involve only 1 character, I.E.: Pretty Sami. Just like the "Magical Girl" genre, Sentai has its set of defining elements that makes it what it is. Furthermore, sentai makes no distinction between gender of the characters, and hence it is a more encompassing category that can better define the anime in the type of style and story. Some Anime that fall under this category and provide good examples: -- Gatekeepers -- Brave Command Dagwon -- Saint Seiya -- Sailor Moon -- Sakura Taisen -- Shinesman -- Gatchaman (Thank you dormcat) EDIT: I forgot to mention that there are some series that may SEEM like it is sentai, but it is not. A good example of this is AWOL. Yes, it has a team of people and they are fighting to save the world from uncertain evil, and yes they have uniforms, but the members are fighting for themselves or has an ulterior reason that brings it out of the sentai genre and into the military espionage. Sentai also requires a higher level of the suspension of disbelief than a series like AWOL. It is best to watch the example anime presented above to get a clear picture of what kind of story elements are required. If you are not familiar with the sentai genre, it is possible to mis-classify something in to the sentai genre based on the basic premise. Sakura Taisen is already on the border of the *traditional* sentai genre. Last edited by AKosygin on Tue Nov 30, 2004 8:12 pm; edited 5 times in total |
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dormcat
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 9903 Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan, ROC |
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You...have a record on these? 
By the way, how could you forget Gatchaman? 
In my opinion, Sentai is more like a sub-genre of Shounen, like lone-wolf hero and hero+sidekick, rather than a standalone one. |
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abunai
Old Regular
 Posts: 5463 Location: 露命 |
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Hmm. No, that would seem to be untrue. Granted, there is an overlap, but there are shoujo sentai, too. Most obvious example: Sailor Moon. Another case that demonstrates the close overlap with the mahou shoujo genre is Futari wa Purikyua (or Pretty Cure). Then again, Yumeria exemplifies the overlap between sentai and shounen / harem anime. In any case, if we required genres to be "pure" (that is, without overlap), then we'd lose a number of the genres in our list. I am very much in favour of adding sentai to the list of genres. -abunai |
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Emerje
 Posts: 7548 Location: Maine |
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I'd be reluctant to add sentai to the encyclopedia, the word has proven controversial in the past. Too many peope seem to insist that the word only properly describes any one of the live action Ranger series and I know I've heard from them every time I've used it to describe an animated "task force" style series or a non-Rangers live action series. Funny thing is, from what I understand the word was first coined, or atleast made popular, by Gatchaman. Personally, I feel the word is appropriate for either animation or live action (even for radio or CD dramas if they feature teams), but others don't agree.
Emerje |
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AKosygin
Posts: 15 |
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Oh! Yes! Gatchaman! I did forget.
One of my friends is a BIG fan of Gatchaman. (Pun not intended) But mine is Saint Seiya. ^.^ I wasn't old enough to watch Gatchaman, but old enough to watch Saint Seiya. As for...
Please read my paragraph starting with: "A lot of magical girls shows may also fall under this category, though it generally is either an overlap or subset of the "sentai" category." As for the RFC numbers.... I just made it up, though if there were not any past ones, I will change the number to 1 if you want. |
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