Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

Really like the designs for this new season. I'm sorry, but Japanese stuff like this tends to be so much more creative than it's American counterparts.

 

What kind of counterparts are you talking about? Most American tokusatsu is built around recycled Japanese footage and costumes.

 

I was thinking there had been a few that were purely American, but maybe not.

 

Some things Power Rangers made that is America

Titanium Ranger( well it uses a Turboranger suit) but it's the first American made 6th ranger

Jungle Fury Spirit Masters



Morphin Masters

 

OK, those are actually pretty cool.

 

Before the suits got revealed people who could only describe it and not reveal it said the suits looked like the 1995 Power Ranger movie suits. I agree with this.


Also the 10 piece mecha. Yes I said 10. We're starting with 10. It's also a live action suit. Thank goodness

KingOhger. The individual pieces are referred to as the Shugods.





Look at that big bad beetle....okay i'll stop there

 

The shield is called the "Kings Weapon". It transforms into sword, gun, sickle, bow, and claw modes



KamakiriOhger


-A yellow queen who is always selfish, but puts herself in harms way when it comes to saving lives. She fights with splendid agility.




















KuwagtaOhger

-He fights with a violent burning flame when helping the weak. He claims to be a king, but is he really...?


TonboOhger

-A blue king who is extremely competitive and is very well liked by the people. He has a strong spirit that never gives up in a fight.

HachiOhger

-A black king who is always cheery. He will do whatever it takes to protect his peaceful world. He's unpredictable in fights and toys with his enemies.


PapillonOhger
- A purple king who tries to remain neutral and never loses his cool. He's not quick to forgive.



Their signature lines

-blue
"I'm at my peak! I'm as smart as can be!!"

-yellow
"Be a bit self-centered and go your own way!!"

-purple
"This is where you will be judged!!"

-black
"I've got no choice but to protect my country!!"







"2000 years ago, these swords defeated the evil Bugnarok when wielded by five heroes. They were handed down through the generations in the five kingdoms and can be used to Ougai Busou ("King's Armorment")."

 

The "king" concept is weird for me. Since when do kings fight their own battles? Okay, some kings in mythology have done so, like Arthur or Odysseus, but even then, they're usually leading armies. In Sentai, it's the bad guys who have the armies of footsoldiers while the Sentai is a small team on its own. A fighting force consisting of five royals and no subordinates would be a strangely top-heavy organizational chart.

(Some older Sentai series had the team be an elite squad within a larger organization with more conventional uniformed soldiers, but they were usually just cannon fodder for the bad guys to show how deadly they were, before the Sentai took over and did all the fighting alone.)

Hmm, yes and no. They're similar in using rigid body armor rather than spandex, but the '95 movie's helmets were ugly and graceless in their contours, while these are cool-looking.

Thank goodness indeed.

"Bugnarok" sounds more like a name they'd use in Power Rangers than Super Sentai. (Dino Fury had sibling monsters named Draknarok and Flapnarok.)

 

Well the Donbrothers VS Hurricanger special is over. On to Donbrothers VS Abaranger!

 

Well I think you're going to be disappointed

Rumored info, allegedly from filming:

-KuwagataOhger’s character is a “hot-blooded fool”

-Enemy foot soldiers are “shrimps with orange and black tubing all over their bodies”



This part of filming was public. Citizens are cheering for TonboOhger.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1612781415418204162


KuwagataOhger’s name is “Gira” as in Giraffa.

TonboOhger’s name is “Yanma Gust”, Yanma as in dragonfly, Gust as in wind.

-The extras at the recent filming played citizens of Nkosopa, ruled over by TonboOhger. Nkosopa is the country with the most advanced digital technology. They provide digital services and products to other countries, live paperless, and conduct all transactions via electronic cash. It is a country of “Cyberpunk” and a country dominated by evil. A country that exists to serve the bad.

-The scene filmed involves TonboOhger (Yanma Gust) taking KuwagataOhger (Gira) back to his country to see the lives of his people. Additionally, there was a scene where the minions of the Underground Empire attacks Nkosopa and the citizens had to flee.


A filming pic popped up from Super Arena showing the made-up language for King-Oh:

 

Well, that's one less show to watch per week I guess. I should have expected it though, getting two sentai I like in a row was always unlikely.

At least Kamen Rider Geats will still be around, and Donbrothers proved that, even in a real low period for the franchise, Sentai can still produce a good show, so its always worth trying what comes after a bad show.

 

DonBrothers is *this* close to going tdown as my favorite Sentai ever. The craziness just continues week after week. Please stick the landing, please stick the landing, please stick the landing.

Spoiler for next week's episode:

Spoiler

Guest appearance from KingOhger, the robo for next year.

 

Entertainment Weekly has news about the upcoming anniversary special and a poster revealing the Cosmic Fury costumes, which retain the Ryusoulger/Dino Fury helmet style but are otherwise new:

https://ew.com/tv/original-power-rangers-netflix-reunion-special-first-look-exclusive-video-photos/

(Sorry, I'm not sure how to post the image here.)

Zayto is now the Cosmic Fury Zenith Ranger, apparently, and the Wiki counts him as a White Ranger even though his costume is mostly a sort of pale bronze color I don't think we've ever seen on a Ranger or Sentai Warrior before. Amelia will now be the Cosmic Fury Red Ranger, making her the first permanent female Red in PR or Sentai history, as well as the first person to have been both Pink and Red as their own color (as opposed to temporarily donning another Ranger's costume). The others retain their Dino Fury colors, so this is also the first Ranger or Sentai team in which both the Red and Green members are women.

The "Once & Always" anniversary special brings back MMPR cast members Walter Jones, David Yost, Steven Cardenas, Karan Ashley, Johnny Yong Bosch, and Catherine Sutherland, as well as voice actors Barbara Goodson as Rita and Richard Horvitz as Alpha 5.

 

They've also released a behind the scenes video for Once & Always.

 

30th anniversary picture

Spoiler

Billy and Zack with Trini's daughter in front of a graveyard. Speculation is that Trini has also passed away to reflect Thuy Trang's death.

Cosmic Fury cast behind the scenes video showcasing off the new suits

 

Okay, maybe it's just the non-optimized lighting, but Aiyon's costume is too garish, and Zayto's new color -- that I can't even think of a name for -- is just weird. It's somewhere between tan and cream.

Hunter Deno looks good in red, though.

 

Thoughts/observations on the new Cosmic Fury suits and some other things:
1) On a phone camera (which is how Hunter shot the reveal), Zayto's suit reads as silver with a white cape; under HD lighting and higher resolution cameras, it might read as all-white

2) With his return in Cosmic Fury, Zedd has been/will have been the primary antagonist for more individual seasons and series (5 seasons and 3 separate series) than any other villain in the franchise

3) Amelia shifting to Red means that she's the fourth extraterrestrial Red Ranger in franchise history (she was also the second extraterrestrial Pink Ranger in franchise history) and first extraterrestrial female Ranger to wear a color other than Pink or Yellow

4) Her Ankylo Hammer weapon makes her the third Ranger in franchise history to have a hammer as a weapon and both the first Red Ranger and first female Ranger of any color to have a hammer as a weapon

 

Well, it turns out the reason Amy Jo Johnson isn't returning for "Once & Always" is that Hasbro wouldn't pay what she's worth.

https://twitter.com/_amyjojohnson/status/1615727965756596227

A shame. I've been watching Power Rangers for 30 years and have yet to see a more gifted and charismatic cast member than Amy Jo Johnson (or a more beautiful one). Heck, she was the main reason I watched the pretty dire early seasons.

 

It reminds me of a similar situation where David Yost turned down returning for Megaforce. The letter the past actors got was very impersonal.

https://twitter.com/david_yost/status/333254823459819521






Also


Interview: Stuntman and Actor Tom Constantine(who's current role is one of Neon's bodyguard on Kamen Rider Geats)

https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2023/01/interview-stuntman-and-actor-tom-constantine/

 

That's a shame, you'd think for a big event like that they'd have been willing to dig a little deeper into their pockets to bring back such an important cast member.