Power Rangers

[Unicron]

[Kelthaz]

I still can't believe that Mega Force is being created by the same people who did Samurai. I mean, what happened? How did we go from unwatchable dreck to quality television with the same people behind the wheel? Did Jonathan Tzachor come into contact with one of those Cytherian probes?

Well, whatever the reason, I'm not complaining. This episode was another Mega Win for Mega Force!

... I'll get my coat.

[Christopher]

^So far it doesn't seem that much smarter to me. The writing's got some serious logic and intelligence problems, and the characters actually seem more superficial so far than the ones on Samurai. The main improvement is that the cast is more competent.

Although I haven't actually seen most of this week's episode yet. There were some serious digital glitches in the broadcast that distorted the image and sound, so I gave up after the first act and programmed my DVR to record the rerun on NickToons next Saturday morning. Hopefully that one will come through clearer.

[Christopher]

Okay, I finally saw the rest of last week's episode, and it actually was fairly good. It's the first one in this season I've been impressed by -- partly because there was none of that stupid business about Power Rangers and aliens being unknown to the world. But there was some reasonably solid writing and dialogue. And the Megazord battle was fresh for once -- I don't think we've ever seen one done as a chase sequence before.

This week's episode was more mediocre. It's in the vein of old MMPR stories where the characters never had conflicts unless they were under evil spells. I prefer the later seasons where the Rangers were actually allowed to have natural interpersonal conflict. Not to mention that the depiction of Emma and Gia "hating" each other was nothing more than a little half-hearted squabbling.

Still, it's nice to get an episode focusing on the two of them at last. Even though it's a mediocre story, at least the two lovely ladies got plenty of screen time. I can't complain about that.

[Stephen!]

Kelthaz wrote:

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I still can't believe that Mega Force is being created by the same people who did Samurai. I mean, what happened? How did we go from unwatchable dreck to quality television with the same people behind the wheel?

Probably a combination of Saban having been "out of the game" for several years. Supposedly Samurai had rushed production. Yet now, after two years, they've likely got more of a handle on things, so production flows more smoothly.

[DalekJim]

Christopher wrote:

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^So far it doesn't seem that much smarter to me. The writing's got some serious logic and intelligence problems, and the characters actually seem more superficial so far than the ones on Samurai. The main improvement is that the cast is more competent.

I agree with this. The show is pretty broad, generic and back to basics. It definitely feels more focused than Samurai but I'd have liked something a bit more ambitious.

Still, it's watchable enough. Just wish they'd take a risk like Power Rangers In Space did.

[Agent Richard07]

I finished Super Samurai and jumped right into Megaforce.

Power Rangers Super Samurai

- In the end, it turned out to be a decent show. No, it wasn't RPM, but it had a lot of good hooks and I really came to like the characters. Not sure I liked Antonio though. Seems a bit too sanctimonious.

- Not all of them got to use Shogun mode. I was disappointed.

- I've never seen this many megazord combinations before. Must have been hard work finding so ways to make them all fit together.

- The Gigazord looked odd. It looked like one megazord standing in front of a slightly larger megazord.

- It's a shame that Deker and Dayu didn't get to live happily ever after. I thought the spell would be lifted and they'd get a second chance. It was an unusually dark direction for a kids show. Maybe the Japanese version was so dark that they couldn't salvage it? I don't know.

- I loved the idea of having another red ranger show up, and this new one was pretty easy on the eyes.

- I didn't like the last Christmas special, but it had one redeeming moment… Bulk and Spike got to meet the rangers.

- I watched the Comic Con clip posted up-thread by Samurai. Thanks for that by the way. It was nice to see a cast I've come to like over the last few weeks. I saw that Paul Shrier thought that the show was starting to take itself too seriously during the Disney years and that he was glad to see a return to fun. I definitely don't see eye to eye with him on that one. I preferred the attempt to elevate the franchise and wish it would get back to that.

- Apparently Brittany Anne Pirtle is a trained health and wellness coach and has a holistic blog and a website with lots of great recipes. I've saved a few already.

Power Rangers Megaforce

- I saw the first two episodes. After Samurai, seeing aliens feels like a refreshing change of pace. One thing I didn't like though were all the similarities to Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Who's idea was it to go back there? Ever since Saban took back the franchise, there's been a lack of creativity. I'm surprised that he'd say that Disney wasn't milking it for all it was worth. The show still looks good though. I like the tone and I'm warming up to the characters fairly quickly.

- I didn't like how the kids were just thrown into the action and knew what to do with the morphers and whatnot. Not much of a setup. I know this isn't the kind of show where you think too deeply about this stuff, but still. Perhaps their skills were "programed" into them when they became rangers?

- I don't like that they're reusing the same theme song again, but I love the "Po-wer Ran-gers… Me-gaforce" riff. It would have been nice if they could have built something around that.

- I like the color scheme. Lots of bright blue with some earth tones.

- We've got a pretty good looking cast. More so than usual it seems. Looks like they're all teen models or something.

- Nice to see Jason Biggs on the show.

- Those morphers were huge. Brick phones anyone?

- One of the villains reminds me of Zoltar from Battle of the Planets.

- I don't like that the aliens are called "loogies" either. Gross connotations.

- I've read some of your posts about Troy's visions. I didn't know what to make of them and they were so brief that I didn't think much about them anyway. Is there supposed to be some ranger war or something? I've never heard about anything like that.

Christopher wrote:

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As for the Goseiger footage, those disembodied heads docking with existing vehicles and taking form from them was bizarre -- the pilots and drivers of those vehicles must've been totally freaked out.

Yeah, no kidding. And what about the passengers?

I do love the zords though. It's the best synthesis of vehicle and animal I've seen to date. The megazord reminds me of the lion voltron though. Some of the design elements look similar.

Christopher wrote:

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And given Jake's attempts to woo Gia, I had to laugh when their Mechazords merged by the tail of Jake's snake Zord sliding into an orifice at the rear of Gia's Zord. That's probably as close as he's ever going to come to getting lucky with her.

I noticed that too.

[Christopher]

Agent Richard07 wrote:

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- The Gigazord looked odd. It looked like one megazord standing in front of a slightly larger megazord.

There have been a lot of bad Zord/Megazord designs in recent years. There were some cool ones in the past, but lately the Super Sentai art department doesn't seem to be as talented. Or maybe they've just run out of ideas.

- I didn't like how the kids were just thrown into the action and knew what to do with the morphers and whatnot. Not much of a setup. I know this isn't the kind of show where you think too deeply about this stuff, but still. Perhaps their skills were "programed" into them when they became rangers?

That's been par for the course throughout the entire franchise. The Rangers usually seem to gain knowledge of fighting skills and the use of their weapons and equipment as soon as they first morph. Which kind of belies what Troy said in this week's episode about the Rangers being skilled because of their training. (At least in some seasons, they use the excuse that the Rangers are martial artists or athletes already before their recruitment. Here that works for Troy, Gia, and Jake, but not Emma and Noah.)

Is there supposed to be some ranger war or something? I've never heard about anything like that.

It's a storyline from the 35th-anniversary Super Sentai series Gokaiger which aired in 2011. Megaforce's two seasons are going to be based on two consecutive Sentai seasons; the current one is Goseiger (the 2010 series) and the second will be Gokaiger (though they'll keep the current costumes, the way MMPR seasons 2 & 3 did). Gokaiger involves a "Legend War" involving all 35 Super Sentai teams, and a Ranger team with the power to summon the abilities (i.e. costumes and gadgets) of previous Rangers. Megaforce will be doing its own version of the Legend War at the end of the current season, and the Sentai producers shot special action footage for it featuring only the Ranger teams from the past couple of decades since Power Rangers started.

[Agent Richard07]

^ Sounds big. I like this kind of foreshadowing. Is it going to be like the RPM crossover with Samurai, or will old cast members actually be returning? What they did on Samurai was pretty lame.

[Christopher]

I haven't heard anything about cast members returning.

And the bit about new footage being filmed without the pre-Zyuranger teams may have been just a rumor. Apparently the footage we've seen in Troy's visions does depict Rangers that have never been seen in Power Rangers before.

[Samurai8472]

Agent Richard07 wrote:

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^ Sounds big. I like this kind of foreshadowing. Is it going to be like the RPM crossover with Samurai, or will old cast members actually be returning? What they did on Samurai was pretty lame.

It was big. All the sentai ranger's up to that point sacrificed their powers to suppress the enemy forces

This is from the Gokaiger VS Goseiger movie



Sorry for no English subtitles.

The scope of the project was very exciting. There were at least 200 stunt actors and people called in for the day to take part.

[Agent Richard07]

^ I thought I saw Jarrod in his Lion/Dai Shi garb.

Anyway, that does look pretty big. I've never seen anything on that scale in the American version. Looks like they spend a lot more money and have a more mature approach to the drama and action. There's quite a variety of ranger designs too. Something tells me that when this comes around on Megaforce, it won't be as grand and we'll see past rangers in costume only. I hope I'm wrong though.

[Stephen!]

Christopher wrote:

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but lately the Super Sentai art department doesn't seem to be as talented.

Toei seems to outsource a lot of the design work to a company called PLEX, which also created stuff for Saban/Disney - Titanium Ranger, Jungle Fury Spirit Rangers and Samurai's Mega Mode.

http://powerrangers.wikia.com/wiki/PLEX

[Agent Richard07]

I saw Gokaiger Goseiger Super Sentai 199 Hero Great Battle last night. It's the Super Sentai movie that commemorates the 35th anniversary of Power Rangers and has the Rangers war that was foreshadowed in Megaforce. It looked like a real game changer for the franchise. At least it started off that way. It didn't go in the direction I had hoped it would after that great set-up, but it was still pretty good. Even if the American version waters it down a little, it'll still be quite the event, one worthy of a 20th season celebration. As for appearances by past actors, there's room for that. I hope it happens, but if it doesn't we still have an event.

Now I have a question for those in the know… Is the current cast signed on for two seasons or just one? The movie I saw was a transition piece. If Megaforce follows the Japanese version, that means we'll get a new cast with Pirate Rangers in 2014. There was a post about that here but I can't find it right now.

[Christopher]

^I read an item saying that the current costumes will be kept for the second Super Megaforce season. Presumably that means the current cast will stick around as well.