Exploring sensation training in toyetic television: Lessons from Kamen Rider Saber

Abstract

This article explores the potential of melodramatic toyetic (merchandise-driven) television for the development of empathy in young audiences, using the 2020–21 programme Kamen Rider Saber (hereafter Saber) as an example text. Filmed and aired during the coronavirus pandemic, Saber offers a poignant case study for the potentially positive role that toyetic television and its tie-in merchandise might play in the full sensory exploration of empathy and emotional connection in a situation in which real-life interactions and sensations were severely limited. Saber is a superhero melodrama fairy tale pastiche. Fairy tales and melodrama alike have been identified as useful for the socio-emotional development of children because they lend themselves to the generalization of emotions and situations that allows these to be applied to the child’s own life, while toys can also stand in for social actors like friends. Toy sales are a key aspect of toyetic television. Yet, we assert that there is undertheorized potential in the combination of drama, music and toy design and the affordances this combination creates for audiences to practise empathy.

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