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- Archive-name: tv/sentai/intro-faq
- Alt-tv-sentai-archive-name: intro-faq
- Posting-Frequency: monthly
- Last-modified: Friday, December 23, 1994
- Version: 1.1.2
- FAQ-maintainer: Joe Sewell <jsewell@iu.net>
-
- Q: What is "sentai?"
-
- A: According to Ben Dunn, editor of Antartic Press' magazine,
- "Sentai," Sentai is Japanese for "task force." The formula involves
- an evil group (demons, monsters, "space aliens," or whatever) who
- want to conquer the Earth. A group of teens or young adults, who also
- happen to be skilled in the martial arts, is empowered to stop them.
- They get their clocks cleaned, see their nemesis-of-the-show grow,
- and summon the obligatory giant robot, which destroys the evil
- monster. For example, the Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers is a sentai
- show (obviously).
-
- . Sentai can also be used as a catch-all term to refer to any Asian
- live-action SF/Fantasy show. This is the definition that inspired
- alt.tv.sentai. (Thanks to Ben Dunn, editor of Antarctic Press'
- "Sentai" magazine, for this inspiration.)
-
- Q: What is alt.tv.sentai?
-
- A: alt.tv.sentai is an unmoderated newsgroup created for discussion
- of sentai shows. These shows include originals, such as Ultraman,
- Ultra Seven, Gridman, Metalder, and Zyuranger, plus "modified
- imports," such as TNT's Ultra 7 [based on the original Ultra Seven],
- Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad [Electronic Warrior Gridman], VR
- Troopers [Metalder & Spielban/Spielbal], and Mighty Morphin' Power
- Rangers [Zyuranger/Juranger & some Dairanger]. Related features, such
- as The Ultraman (which was animated) and Ultraman: The Adventure
- Begins (also animated), can be included here as well (note that these
- are "related" in that they are related to live-action shows).
-
- . Animated sentai shows, such as Battle of the Planets [Gatchaman] &
- Voltron [Go Lion & Dairugger XV] are probably also fair game, but you
- may want to post these to alt.tv.sentai and to rec.arts.anime, to get
- the most interest. (Heck, it's unmoderated, so anything goes ... but
- I hope we're all adult enough to leave flames & other junk in Email,
- if we must indulge in them at all.)
-
- Q: Waitaminnit, Ultra 7 is a "modified import?"
-
- A: It's halfway between the Ultraman (the one with Hayata) shows,
- which were relatively direct translations of the original, and
- Syber-Squad, which mixes Japanese footage with American footage.
- Ultra 7 (using the number, as TNT does) replaces a lot of dialog,
- probably so it fits with the mouth movements, rather than the
- original story. A net.friend of mine who has seen the original tells
- me several stories were drastically changed, even ruined, by the
- substitute dialog.
-
- Q: Can we post binaries?
-
- A: NO! Binary postings should be left to the alt.binaries.*
- hierarchy. It may seem a small thing to some folks, but some sites
- just don't have the storage space to handle binary postings; with all
- binary articles in alt.binaries, it's much easier for a site to
- filter out binary postings. If you want to post a picture or a
- sound, put it in one of the existing binary groups, or propose an
- alt.binaries.tv.sentai group in alt.config (but read the FAQ on
- proposing alt groups first ... I did it right, so can everybody
- else).
-
- Q: Can we post items for sale?
-
- A: Absolutely. In fact, I'd encourage folks to cross-post items for
- sale or items wanted. Other groups which may be interested are
- rec.collecting, rec.toys.misc, rec.arts.anime.marketplace, and
- rec.arts.sf.marketplace.
-
- Q: Where are the FAQ files for this group?
-
- A: Right now, this is it, although I'm working on an Ultraman FAQ as
- of this writing. With this version, I'll be following the standard
- guidelines for USENET FAQ's, so it'll be posted to news.answers &
- alt.answers (and alt.tv.sentai, of course), and archived at
- rtfm.mit.edu & the equivalent sites elsewhere.
-
- . This FAQ, and any others that I may submit, will be posted
- automatically by the automated FAQ server maintained by the
- news.answers moderators. Posting will be every 30 days, or roughly
- monthly (though, obviously, it may skip a February once in a while).
- Check the Last-modified and Version lines at the top of this message
- to determine if it's a new version or just a repost.
-
- Q: How can I contribute to the FAQ?
-
- A: Post a message, Email me, or whatever. If you want to start a FAQ
- yourself, let me know. (You can do it yourself, if you wish, by
- following the guidelines published in news.answers.) If you've got
- a FAQ idea that doesn't need to be archived anywhere, post away;
- otherwise, follow the news.answers guidelines, or Email the FAQ to
- me (jsewell@iu.net) and I'll take care of the rest. Some FAQ's may
- be archived elsewhere, for example on the Sentai home page
- (http://www.primenet.com/~gridman/sentai.html); this wouldn't
- necessarily affect posting/archiving via news.answers.
-
- Q: What's the distribution for this group?
-
- A: The default, which is world-wide. The standard bit about limiting
- the distribution of individual messages applies here (for example,
- mentioning a fan club in New Jersey is probably best done with a
- Distribution: line of nj,ny & perhaps other nearby areas). Discussion
- of the "modified imports" may be best distributed to "usa," but
- perhaps not. (It depends.)
-
- . Please note, though, that since this is an alt group, not everybody
- will carry it. Some newsadmin's refuse to carry the alt groups in
- general, while others carry all of them. It depends.
-
- Q: Will there be any "celebrities" here?
-
- A: Hopefully. I have informed Kate McMains of Ultracom about this
- newsgroup. (To paraphrase Lionheart's tag line, Ultracom is
- "Tsuburaya Productions in the USA." Maybe not exactly, but it's
- close. :) ) She's been monitoring this group via CompuServe, but
- hasn't had the opportunity to participate yet.
-
- . I've also informed Ben Dunn of Antarctic Press (editor of Sentai
- magazine) about this group as well; he can pick it up on America
- Online, should he wish to do so.
-
- ===========================================================================
- This FAQ is copyright 1994-1995 by Joe Sewell. This FAQ may be distributed
- freely, provided the entire contents are provided, including this notice
- and all headers. Individual questions & answers may be quoted with
- attribution (e.g. "from the alt.tv.sentai Intro FAQ"); the attribution does
- not need to include the author's name. Distribution via CD-ROM or other
- computer-readable media is permitted, regardless of the sale price of the
- product.
-
- Information provided in this FAQ is not warranted to be at all correct, for
- all legal purposes. The author's best attempts at accuracy were performed
- prior to releasing this FAQ, however inaccuracies may creep in.
-
-
-