Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

Introducing the 6th member of the Donbrothers. Jiro Momotani.


His gear and style will lean heavily on the "Journey to the west" character Sun WuKong




In ranger form he has two modes

Gold mode is called Don Dragoku. Dragoku’s special powers also grant him access to a silver armored form known as Don Torabolt. It's basically an inverted GokaiSilver

Don Dragoku will transform using the Ryuko Nogeki– a naginana spear

The Don Torabolt form has a unique accessory called the TiGuarDra that can store multiple Gears.

Don Dragoku possesses an ALTER form- resembling a green dragon. In this new form Dragoku can channel the powers of past Super Sentai– demonstrated with the aid of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger Alter!














The Ninninger Alter is a giant drone that can also resemble a throwing star. Don Dragoku can also fly on it to really drive home the Sun WuKong motif (Riding on a cloud)

 

A Sun Wukong/Monkey King theme -- interesting. I guess that means he'll be an unruly trickster figure.

The naginata spear is a bit of a tweak, since Sun's weapon in Journey to the West is an iron staff, not a spear. I wonder if the Japanese version (in which he's known as Son Goku, the basis of the Dragonball character) changes it to a naginata to localize it, like how they changed Sha Wujing, the sand demon, into a kappa (turtle-like river/lake monster).

 

A fun anecdote from Shirakura about the planning for DonBrothers via Toei's page:


-DonBros actually started out as a Journey to the West theme (5 rangers would have been Human, Monkey, Kappa, Pig and either a Horse/or Dragon.) They eventually couldn't get "human" to work there and so used both dragon and horse. They also went with "boar" over "pig" because it didn't seem to fit right. Using Son Gokuu was important because they felt it reflected Dairanger and Kakuranger (who also used the motif) and that it would be successful, but they ended up going with the Momotaro legend instead.

When it came time for a 6th, they decided to go back to Gokuu, but since SaruBrother was already a monkey, they had to change it and went with dragon because it tied back to RyuuseiOh. In essence, Don DoraGokuu was originally the leader of the team in the planning stage, and now is taking up the role in the show of "replacement leader."

 

Interesting. Hmm, Sanzo (Xuanzang, aka Tripitaka) was a Buddhist monk, so maybe an armor based on a Shaolin kung fu theme? (Although Xuanzang was a pacifist, and in the book he was quite a coward.)

Maybe they could've done something where the Sanzo equivalent was the team mentor, or someone they had to protect the way the Monkey King and his allies protected Sanzo. Then you'd only have a four-Ranger team, but it's been done before. Or, heck, have a three-person team (Monkey, Pig, Kappa) and have the dragon-horse be the mecha. After all, the dragon-horse was a minor character in JttW.

Then again, OniSister is based on the villains of the Momotarou legend, so they could've done the same with the JttW theme, basing the fifth Ranger on the main villain, Bull Demon King (who was an old friend of the Monkey King, so maybe it could be one of those redeemed-antagonist deals). Or just on demons in general, which might've ended up with an oni theme anyway.

 

Toei just released a 30 seconds teaser for Kamen Rider Black Sun, confirming that it will be released this autumn on Prime Video




I heard there will be a "Kaijin Lives Matter" plotline in the movie too.

 

DonBrothers continues to be quite good. I really like the look of Don Dragoku (or Doragoku, I'm not sure what the official spelling is honestly) in action. A little surprised they went for the Gold/Black/Red for the second year in a row, but it works. Very Faiz, with the glowing in the dark, which is kind of ironic given the writer.

So if Momotani Jirou is also of the Don Clan, does that make he and Tarou family? Not necessarily brothers, though they could certainly pass for it if the show wants to go that way. But cousins or such, perhaps? I suppose the clan relationship needn't be that direct, but I'm kind of hoping for it. Particularly with a third Don warrior supposedly on the way.

Sonoi finally feels joy, however faintly, and now he needs more. Heel-face turn incoming? Feels like they want to keep him as the rival figure. Though I wonder how his Nuoto allies will handle finding out he's basically betrayed them again to get Tarou back.

I'm also curious if the show will pay off the shipping hints with Tarou and Haruka, or if they'll just keep playing it as heavy subtext. She better not turn out to be a secret sister or something, because they are awfully cute together. Lord help me, I'm invested.

And, finally, how much longer can they drag out not knowing Inuzaka's identity as InuBrother? We have our sixth already, and we don't have an honest to goodness team yet. Not to mention the Natsumi/Miho drama that is still impending. Feels like stuff needs to start really moving on that front soon. Ish.

 

That's the opposite of ironic. Irony is something that conflicts with your expectations.

 

So now, in addition to being a pedantic dick and bully, you can also read minds and judge my expectations.

Wow, you really are something. I award you the internet. Congratulations. You add such sterling material to the discussion.

 

Huh? No, I use "your" in the generic sense, as in "a person's." Irony means something that contradicts the observer's expectations, or the literal meaning of a speaker's words, rather than something that aligns with them. People (including Alanis Morissette, notably) tend to use "ironic" in the opposite of its actual sense, to mean something amusingly appropriate, rather than something unexpectedly contradictory.

 

Power rangers has a new showrunner

https://deadline.com/2022/06/jenny-...verall-deal-entertainment-one-1235044903/amp/

She got her start on Supernatural and then worked on Jessica Jones, Cloak and Dagger, and The Witcher, so I'm anticipating edgy young adult vibes for the new show

 

Apparently the working title for the next Power Rangers series has been announced:

https://thepowerscoopblog.wordpress...angers-30th-season-power-rangers-cosmic-fury/

It's Power Rangers Cosmic Fury, though that could be changed. Naturally that suggests they could be adapting Kyuranger, but I thought the plan now was to create all-new series that weren't based on Super Sentai anymore.

 

Executive producer and show runner Simon Bennett said that Kyuranger had too many rangers. With such a short filming schedule I wonder if they'll greatly reduce the Kyuranger footage.

Somethings gotta go.

If they will use only a couple of suits from Kyuranger, then I wont be surprised if they will use Red, Blue, Yellow, Green and Pink as core five rangers and Ryu Commander will become our sixth ranger (at least in Power Rangers!)

 

If they adapt Kyuranger but don't give us an orange ranger, I'll lose my mind. They skipped ToQger, so Kyuranger is the only other option. If they decide to pick and choose rangers, I hope they go for at least one or two more unique colors, like Orange.

Also, I'd think that HouHou Soldier, who Toei seems to consider the 6th Ranger of Kyuranger, would be an obvious choice for inclusion, especially since he has a few unique mecha and its not like Power Rangers hasn't had a red sixth/extra ranger before. Ryu Commander feels more like he'd fit as a Doggie Kruger or Udonna type mentor/extra ranger, which obviously is also something Power Rangers has done before.

 

Legendary tokusatsu & anime composer (who handled the score for Goranger & had just returned for Zenkaiger) has died at 96.

https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/186092
https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2022/06/chumei-watanabe-passed-away/

 

Today is the release date for Tangent Knights 2: Tempest Tossed, the second installment in my trilogy of full-cast audionovels set in an original science fiction universe inspired by the armored superheroes of Japanese tokusatsu TV.

https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-2-tempest-tossed.html


Cover art by Amelia Grace Buff
GraphicAudio’s spectacular original super-heroic series powers on to new heights of action and intrigue, available in no other format!

In a world where communication with parallel Tangent Earths has brought a disruptive influx of new beliefs and scientific innovation, college-student and fangirl Corazon Kagami continues to discover astonishing new facets to the abilities she’s unexpectedly acquired in the accident that transformed her into Tangent Knight Caprice, the foremost of a growing ensemble of armored super-warriors very much like the heroes and villains of her favorite tokusatsu shows.

Earth-shattering revelations about her technology magnate mother Morgan Herrera and her cyborg security team Fireforce have put Cory on the side of Matrix, the interdimensional law enforcement agency tasked with bringing Morgan to justice. Daniel Vajra, the Tangent Knight called Tempest, is increasingly driven by his pursuit of vengeance against those responsible for his sister Meera’s death, and an astonishing confrontation with Fireforce’s powerful new warrior pushes him over the edge. Tempest’s desperate use of dangerous, largely untested cutting-edge tangent tech weaponry in his vengeful quest sends him out of control, a menace to foe and friend alike.

You can hear a sample clip or buy the book at the above link, and an MP-3 CD edition will be available in mid-July. Of course, Book 1: Caprice of Fate is still available too: https://www.graphicaudio.net/tangent-knights-1-caprice-of-fate.html

 

Excerpts from Uchuusen's interview/chat with Shirakura and Inou, via 5ch. This explains several things about how the show turned out the way it has.

Wow. Inoue's going to write the WHOLE season?

"-The Master version of Kaito ended up becoming a "sexy character."

Uh...okay? Not sure I understand that

 

Ii yo. Instead of explaining that, let's talk about this other thing instead.

 

What's this? Could it be? The return of US based sentai DVD's? Returning with "Fiveman"?

https://twitter.com/Spindash54/status/1542923115533160450

 

Hm. I wasn't that fond of Fiveman, but if it leads to more Sentai releases, that's a good thing.

 

The problem that lead to the end of sentai dvds was Hasbro was like "Hey. We're not getting a share of these profits. They're making a profit off a property we own a part of"

Once they bought the Power Ranger franchise they had the entire library I believe from Goranger to any current series for footage to mine/use

I guess they felt like they were owed something. I'm probably not explaining it that well