Here's what I would call the Kimbely effect. Kimberly was appreciated for the wrong reasons and on Tokusatsu, you have Sentai girls appreciated for the wrong reasons. Some bloggers may call Kimberly as every 90s boys first love or something like that. Now I just thought that while I watched MMPR enamored with Kimberly even if the actress is way older than me, I wanted a girl who looks like her haha. I was thinking did Amy Jo Johnson's appearance also made Toei decide to try and get as many hot girls in Super Sentai as possible? Maybe not but maybe, they wanted to try and replicate her as well.
Now for the effect:
Chisato might be the first one for the Kimberly effect. Well she's the show babe. Although yes, she is really useful but like Kimberly she can both sing, dress well and she is really, very attractive. Whether or not Chisato was created as a response to Kimberly is just speculative.
Ashley though she is a yellow ranger, she is the second cheerleader straight after Kimberly. Perhaps she was conceived out of Chisato and Kimberly.
Nanami for me felt wasted most of the time as just eye candy. Seldom, I feel like I only enjoy watching Nao Nagasawa in action movies than in Toku shows! To be honest, I feel like she can get pretty useless and just there for the sake of display.
Jasmine is another. In Dekaranger, I wish they tackled more on her ESP but most of the time, I felt like she's just being pretty there. I feel like while she's got character development but come on, please give her more backstory to her ESP! Sheesh, if you're watching Dekaranger just to view her, you're MISSING A LOT! Jasmine is really gorgeous but that should never be a reason to watch Dekaranger!
Sakura is probably what you'd call more fanservice than usefulness. As much as I hate to admit it but Rose in Operation Overdrive had more use than she is. But still, she tends to get appreciated for the wrong reasons. So I know Sakura's hot but the more I think about it, why should she get TOO MUCH credit? Okay she is badass but, most of the time she tends to get wasted.
Mako probably has the biggest impact on the wave. Okay compared to Kimberly, she's had more use and had better character development. She has real plot, which Mako is not just eye candy, she is the team mom who is aware of Takeru's feelings. Other than that, it's highly possible she is the most overrated Sentai girl ever. If Kimberly had her crown, now it's her crown until the next queen comes! I always felt like she was unintentionally another Kimberly or not. Or was it?
Perhaps the greater effect was in PR Megaforce with its two girls Gia and Emma. For one, they are hot yes but they are actually useless in terms of character. As if Troy isn't enough as a just eye candy character, we have Gia and Emma. Emma is an attempted remake of Kimberly while Gia is for me, the hotter girl of the show. Other than that, they aren't really all that interesting compared to Mako.
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