u/HackerEX64

Ever since Gozyuger's ending, it's really gotten me thinking about what it really means to have an anniversary series, at least one that greatly references past series. There's of course the route of saying the past exists like with previous anniversary shows like Gaoranger, Fourze, and the upcoming Ultraman Teo, however ever since Gokaiger, Kamen Rider Decade, and even Ultraman Mebius to an extent (despite coming from Tsubaraya), Toei has been trying to recreate it with it's later series.

• Zi-O is literally a closet sequel to Decade with the concept of being about previous Riders
• Zenkaiger had much of it's suits, zords, and gimmicks be based on past Sentai teams, while it's sequel Donbrothers brought back the ability to change into past teams
• Revice having the main Riders' suits and the gimmicks themselves merge animals with past Riders, being done by a Rider fanboy
• Legend to an extent being a New Generation Decade despite being put into a non-anniversary season (to an extent, since Gotchard was the fifth series in the Reiwa era)
• Gozyuger trying to be a battle royal featuring people using past Red Ranger suits to send the series off before it's hiatus

Each one tries to pull off what Gokaiger did (bringing back past elements as well as previous actors when they can get away with it), and yet each one received either mixed reception (Zenkaiger, Gozyuger), or outright hated (Zi-O, Revice).

• Zi-O: Despite ending up with amazing toy sales, ended up with a middling story and it's legacy content underbaked
• Zenkaiger/Donbrothers: Felt too disjointed in the plot department despite having great legacy content (Zenkai) and great characters (Donbros)
• Revice: Despite it's legacy content not being a priority, it's middling plot writing and inconsistent character focus really hurt it in the end
• Gotchard: Legend and his content felt tacked on mostly to allow Gotchard's "encounter" theme to work, not to mention came off as a bit of a more blatant toy commercial given how little Kaguya and Hundred contributed to Gotchard's overall plot
• Gozyuger: Similar problem with the previous examples (Zi-O's underbaked legacy content, said legacy content feeling tacked on at times just like Donbros and Gotchard, Zenkai and Donbros' inconsistent plot), and the endless controversies this show has faced

It got to the point where literally the best anniversary season that people agree on is good is Ultraman Orb, which naturally isn't a Toei series.

Let's also not forget that the reason why Gokaiger only got all the cameos it did was because of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and past actors flooded in to return in order to calm down the children of the time. Literally only those who had actual Gokai-Oh related toys (aka Magiranger, Dekaranger, Gaoranger, Goranger, Hurricanger, Zyuranger/Timeranger/Abaranger to an extent due to GozyuDril/GozyuRex/Gozyujin). Only exceptions at the time was Gekiranger and Carranger. But once the earthquake and tsunami hit, they were able to get so many more tributes to past series.

It just made me realize that Gokaiger really was a once-in-a-lifetime event that cannot be recreated, no matter how many times Toei tries to redo it. So, if they do need to finally make the next Gokaiger, they need to do these

• Have the legend content matter, but don't make it overpowering that it causes the plot to be middling
• Have the original content be thought out and can stand on it's own alongside the legacy content, but don't overly focus on it and make the legend content feel tacked on
• Avoid having an Inoue as your main writer