A media franchise , also known as a multimedia franchise , is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film , a work of literature , a television program , or a video game . Bob Iger , chief executive of the Walt Disney Company , defined the word franchise as "something that creates value across multiple businesses and across multiple territories over a long period of time.”
38-561: The Metal Hero Series ( メタルヒーローシリーズ , Metaru Hīrō Series ) is a metaseries of tokusatsu superhero TV series produced by Toei for Japanese television. The protagonists of the Metal Hero Series are mainly space , military and police -based characters who are typically either androids, cyborgs, or human beings who don "metallic" armored suits. Henceforth, most of the Metal Heroes are also referenced as another example of
76-467: A PlayStation 2 video game titled The Space Sheriff Spirits was released. The game featured Gavan, Sharivan and Shaider all teaming up to battle past enemies from their series. The game was panned by critics, however, for bland graphics and dull gameplay. In early 2008, the trading card company Cardass announced a new, Metal Heroes based expansion to their Rangers Strike card game, entitled Special Metal Edition , featuring characters and vehicles from
114-589: A Japanese tokusatsu television series created by Shotaro Ishinomori and produced by Toei Company . It aired from January 13 until September 28, 1984. It revolves around the adventures of Nick ( Nikku ), a college student from the Ivy planet (located at the Pleiades ) and his arrival on Earth to study the earthlings' behavior. Upon arrival, he is called in for the activities of the evil organization called "Tentacle", whose don , Professor K, wishes to eliminate all children in
152-485: A franchise can even be created, which ultimately leads to the creation of brand worlds. Since the creation of Disneyland in 1955, bringing fictional media franchises to life through the theme parks slowly became increasingly popular as the way to perfectly blend tourism and real-life involvement with media itself. Similar to transmedia, the concept of bringing fictional media into a non-fictional space where fans can immerse themselves in real-life versions of elements from
190-424: A modeling agency, several television shows ( Playboy's Penthouse , in 1959), and even its own television channel . Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio show , direct to video films, music and book publishing (including original works in addition to its anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared in
228-481: A special Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger stage show had a special appearance by Gavan, who assisted Hurricane Red from Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger and Aba Red from Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger in battling various Alienizer monsters from Deka Ranger . In 2005, Toei released some Uchuu Keiji trilogy merchandise. Later that year, Bandai released a "Souchaku Henshin" figure of Gavan, followed by "Souchaku Henshin" figures of Sharivan and Shaider in early 2006. In May 2006,
266-475: A young man named Ken Takase, he meets Maki Hayama, a photographer at Shukan Hit newspaper , and later saves her from a building fall. Maki was taking pictures for a scoop about a building which had been mysteriously demolished. Later, she and Ken find that the evil organization "Tentacle" is behind the demolitions and other evil deeds around the world. Nick then decides to extend his stay on Earth and uses his advanced technology and superior powers to protect Maki and
304-488: Is allergic to children (whenever she is near one, her nose turns red). In the beginning, she calls up various thieves and legendary criminals from around the world, but later robotic drones are assembled to combat Machineman. By the end of the series, the missing Professor K returns, bringing with him the biggest threat the hero had ever faced: Golden Monsu, a fortified version of Tetsujin Monsu. Tentacle ( テンタクル , Tentakuru )
342-479: Is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. The term media mix gained its circulation in late 1980s and is first used to describe adaptations of Sakyo Komatsu 's Japan Sinks , but the origins of the strategy can be traced back to the 1960s with the proliferation of anime , with its interconnection of media and commodity goods. Some of the earlier popular Japanese franchises such as Vampire Hunter D in
380-490: The Metal Hero Series even spawned such sequels which followed the continuity of the previous shows, resulting in the genre developing sub-categories based mainly on space, military and police-related characters. During the 1990s, Saban adapted Metal Hero Series shows for American audiences; stock footage from Metalder , Spielvan and Shaider was used in VR Troopers (1994–1996), and footage from both B-Fighter series
418-483: The fantasy and science fiction genres. Similarly, fantasy, science fiction films and television shows are frequently adapted into animated television series , video games, or both. A media franchise does not have to include the same characters or theme, as the brand identity can be the franchise, like Square Enix 's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series , and can suffer from critical failures even if
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#1732886230375456-564: The "Henshin (transforming) Heroes" genre. Usually, the genre revolves around a technological theme where technology, in the right hands, can be used for the greater good. The shows were produced by Toei from 1982 through 1999 in conjunction with their other Tokusatsu superhero shows, Kamen Rider and Super Sentai . In addition to Japan , they are also popular in France , Brazil , the Philippines , Thailand , Malaysia and Indonesia . Some of
494-423: The 1980s and Pokémon in the late 1990s, acted as benchmarks in the country's transmedia dominance. The latter in particular began as a video game available on Nintendo 's Game Boy , and crossed through the media of television, film, news, and other non-media related realms, such trading cards, merchandise, and more. A number of Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity, and are among
532-433: The children of Earth under the alter-ego of Machineman, a red- and yellow-suited superhero. Armed with an advanced technology weapons, he begins fighting Tentacle's cyborgs and protect humankind. A few episodes later, Machineman succeeds in dismantling Tentacle; however, Professor K flees to Spain and his niece, Lady M, appears. With her aide Tonchinkan, they establish a new organization called "Octopus". Like her uncle, she
570-602: The company rather favors the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider Series of shows, allegedly due to the passing of Shotaro Ishinomori. However, many of the traits of the series have been adopted into the newer installations of the Super Sentai and Kamen Rider shows. Today, the present versions of this type of heroes are also merged in with the Henshin Heroes description. Some Metal Heroes have also made cameo appearances. In 2004,
608-617: The country. Until 2016, most of the series that were released in Brazilian television in 80's and 90's are going to Netflix , Amazon Prime Video and Playplus in Brazil. The distribution company Sato Company acquired many of those series and negotiated with Netflix . Also, some new products like Garo series are in these negotiations too. Other similar heroes, such as Nebula Mask Machine Man , Kyodai Ken Byclosser , Lady Battle Cop , and Choukou Senshi Changéríon , were also produced during
646-400: The day-in-the-life episodes of the many different Real Housewives series. Documentaries and docuseries are other highlights of the non-fiction branch of media franchises, such as the popular Planet Earth series, which serves as both a film and television transmedia franchise. Nebula Mask Machine Man Nebula Mask Machineman ( 星雲仮面マシンマン , Seiun Kamen Mashinman ) is
684-725: The fictional worlds they love, adds to the overall narrative the franchise creates through its other media. Marvel's Avenger's Campus park is one of the many franchise-based theme parks created in recent times, following the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure and Star Wars' Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney World . Media franchises tend to cross over from their original media to other forms. Literary franchises are often transported to film, such as Nancy Drew , Miss Marple , and other popular detectives , as well as popular comic book superheroes . Television and film franchises are often expanded upon in novels , particularly those in
722-466: The film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix were produced at the same time, using the same actors on the same sets, and released on the same day. Transmedia franchises occasionally release content through certain media that is not canon to the main or greater story that the franchise is built around, meaning that the elements of said content do not truly exist in the main timeline of
760-467: The financial logic of cost-recovery for expensive productions by identifying that a single medium launch is a lost opportunity, the timeliness of the production and release is more important than its integrity, the releases should raise brand awareness and the cross-ability of the work is critical for its success. American Idol was a transmedia franchise from its beginnings, with the first season winner Kelly Clarkson signing with RCA Records and having
798-603: The focus on the content of the commodity to "overlapping the commodity image with the character image". The book Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, by Marc Steinberg, details the evolution of the media mix in Japan. Long-running franchises were common in the early studio era, when Hollywood studios had actors and directors under long-term contract. In such cases, even lead actors are often replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed. Spin-offs and adaptations of popular pieces of media within
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#1732886230375836-433: The franchise's characters and settings. As one author explains, "For the studios, a home-run is a film from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious imperative to develop such products." The trend later developed wherein franchises would be launched in multiple forms of media simultaneously; for instance,
874-415: The franchise. Canon content often times breaks continuity, leading fans to speculate or seek to confirm which media are canon and which are not, which can get confusing if the franchise does not provide an answer themselves since entire media can be non-canon to the greater story, with a popular example occurring. On the other hand, specific episodes, volumes or parts of a series can be canon while others in
912-473: The magazine), footwear, clothing of every kind, jewelry, housewares (lamps, clocks, bedding, glassware), guitars and gambling, playing cards, pinball machines and pet accessories, billiard balls, bedroom appurtenances, enhancements, plus countless other items of merchandise. Non-fiction media franchises also exist in the television and film media, with reality TV being one of the most well-known examples; ranging from competition shows like The Amazing Race to
950-400: The media fictional material is unrelated. Non-fiction literary franchises include the ...For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to... reference books . An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy Enterprises , which began expanding well beyond its successful magazine, Playboy , within a few years after its first publication, into such enterprises as
988-433: The overarching story and narrative of the franchise itself. A connection between the characters, settings, and other elements of the media franchise do still exist within the different media, regardless of the fact that they are being presented in sometimes completely different ways, such as the shared, interweaving storylines and elements of Spider-Man films, television shows, comics and video games. Espen Aarseth describes
1026-490: The owners, the goal of increasing profit through diversity can extend the commercial profitability of the franchise and create strong feelings of identity and ownership in its consumers. Those large groups of dedicated consumers create the franchise's fandom , which is the community of fans that indulge in many of its media and are committed to interacting with and keeping up with other consumers. Large franchise-based fandoms have grown to be even more popular in recent years with
1064-484: The popular Twilight book series that was adapted into the five films of The Twilight Saga . Other neologisms exist to describe various franchise types including metaseries , which can be used to describe works such as Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series . Multimedia franchises usually develop through a character or fictional world becoming popular in one medium, and then expanding to others through licensing agreements , with respect to intellectual property in
1102-415: The release of A Moment Like This becoming a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100. The success resulted in a nationwide concert tour, an American Idol book that made the bestseller list and the film From Justin to Kelly . A transmedia franchise however is often referred to by the simpler term "media franchise". The term media franchise is often used to describe the popular adaptation of a work into films, like
1140-409: The rise of social media platforms, as many fans seek to interact with one another for discussion, debate and even to create their own fan-made pieces of media revolving around the franchise, on websites like tumblr , Reddit and Fandom . In the case of successful transmedia franchises, each different medium should expand the target demographic and fandom, build the interest of the consumers and add to
1178-516: The same medium are not, such as the fact that only some of the Battlestar Galactica comics are canon, with a large amount of them breaking the continuity of the main story. In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix ( wasei-eigo : メディアミックス , mediamikkusu ) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media , gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks , and other methods. It
Metal Hero Series - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-410: The time that the Metal Hero Series were on the air, but are not included as part of the Metal Hero Series for various reasons. Machine Man and Bicrosser were created by Shotaro Ishinomori , while Changéríon's armor is not metallic and aired on TV Tokyo . It is unknown if Lady Battle Cop is part of Toei's shared universe. Currently, the Metal Hero Series is one of Toei's defunct properties, as
1254-550: The various Metal Hero Series for use within the game. Despite no more television series having been made, the Space Sheriff Series re-emerged in the 2010s with feature films, including new actors portraying successors to Gavan, Sharivan, and Shaider. Some of them are stand alone entries, while others feature crossovers with other Super Sentai and Kamen Rider characters. Metaseries A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across more than one medium. For
1292-472: The world's highest-grossing media franchises . For example, Pokémon 's penetration into the American market of the franchise along with others of Japanese origin, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! , gave rise to the recognition of what is variously called transmedia storytelling , crossmedia, transmediation , media synergy, etc. Researchers argue that the 1963 Tetsuwan Atomu marked a shift in Japanese marketing from
1330-472: The world. The series is rumored to have been inspired by the American DC Comics superhero , Superman , although this was never confirmed by either Ishinomori or Toei. Traveling in the spaceship "Space Colony", Nick, with the help of his ball -shaped robot "Ball Boy", arrive on Earth to study the behavior and manners of human beings for his doctoral degree thesis. Under the human identity of
1368-765: Was greenlighted by Toei as a sequel to Shaider , with characters who are descendants of those in the original series. Toei later halted production, instead authorizing a spin-off series set 20 years after the end of Shaider . The Metal Hero series were successful in Brazil. In 1988, Juspion (as Jaspion ) was broadcast by TV Manchete . Manchete followed with Jiraiya in 1989, Jiban in 1990, Spielvan (renamed Jaspion 2 ) in 1991, Winspector in 1994 and Solbrain in 1995. Other networks also bought shows, with TV Bandeirantes broadcasting Metalder and Sharivan in 1990 and two networks ( Rede Globo and TV Gazeta ) airing Sheider and Gavan (renamed Gyaban ) in 1991. Jaspion , Jiraiya and Jiban were later released on DVD in
1406-786: Was later used in Big Bad Beetleborgs . Both shows ran for two seasons. As of 2018, Discotek Media has licensed Juspion for release marking the first release of the Metal Heroes in the US. Both Jiraiya and Gavan were used for the Power Rangers franchise with Jiraiya as Sheriff Skyfire in Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel and Gavan as Captain Chaku in Power Rangers Beast Morphers . In 1988, Space Sheriff Shaider
1444-529: Was the first Metal Hero series aired in the Philippines on ABS-CBN . In 1999, GMA aired Beetleborgs , produced by the American Saban Entertainment and adopted from both Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto , pitting up against the Power Rangers series on its rival network ABS-CBN in which Saban also produced from the Super Sentai with Toei as well. Zaido: Pulis Pangkalawakan
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