Power Rangers

Discussion in 'Science Fiction & Fantasy' started by SG-17, Aug 7, 2010.

  1. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 26, 2002
    And you can tell this was designed by some idiot at Bandai without any input from the television people.
     
  2. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Since Bandai co-produces the show, I think that's a false dichotomy. The whole franchise is essentially an ongoing advertisement for Bandai toys. So the toys probably get developed first and everything else follows their lead.
     
  3. Mark_Nguyen

    Mark_Nguyen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2006
    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta
    Besides, even the Bandai toy division would have noticed that if you played with the toy a certain way, you end up with a robot with a GIANT TRAIN PENIS.

    It's analogous to how it works with cartoons here. Someone makes a toy line. The animation people get their hands on it, and are generally given free rein with the stories (within the context of their show) BUT are directed to show off this toy or that, or a gimmick thereof, in at least one episode or for at least so many seconds or minutes. Transformers, My Little Pony, etc. ALL work on that premise.

    Mark
     
  4. Hound of UIster

    Hound of UIster Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 26, 2002
    ^Imo there no input from anyone involved in the actual production of the show. I'm sure the train penis is possibly a means for a latter combination with a yet to be released toy set.

    That is a very Bandai-centric pov. They might be what Bandai wants, but they are not the only interests there. The interests of the broadcasters and production imo have been totally subsumed for Bandai's toy advertising and in turn it's only causing them to focus on a narrow viewership: the kids. It's also where you get these designs that are just terrible and have no input from production like the various large clunky ultrazords you see in recent years and that can't be translated to functional suits without large amounts of expensive CGI.
     
  5. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    The point is that there's no absolute divide between Bandai and "the television people," because Bandai is directly involved with the production of the show itself. So "the television people" include Bandai people among them.
     
  6. Peach Wookiee

    Peach Wookiee Cuddly Mod of Doom Moderator

    Joined:
    May 12, 2001
    Location:
    Peach Wookiee
    Kind of? Brings new meaning to... not sure I can say it here...
     
  7. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2007
    It's not the first time the groin area has been the focus of something

    Take Dairanger episode for example

    [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMS1u5sQ594&feature=player_detailpage#t=835[/YT]
     
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    Ooh, Dairanger looks interesting. I've always loved that Chinese-dragon Zord (or whatever it was called originally). And those motorcycles are neat. Not a lot of characterization in the first episode, though -- we got to know less about the main characters than we learned about the Power Rangers in their first episode, which is not what I would've expected.
     
  9. Takeru

    Takeru Space Police Commodore

    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2007
    Location:
    Germany, EU, Earth
    Super Sentai usually doesn't do much characterization in the first episode, that's used to set the tone of the new series etc., they do character focus episodes after that but Dairanger had even less than usual, everyone except Ryou gets like one line.:rofl:

    One of my favorite moments from Dairanger is still this.

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI0E7SW_Vjk[/yt]

    I love roll calls and seeing the face actors do them instead of the suit actors is awesome.

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9nnTrfC0ec[/yt]

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKA91X5Xs4Y[/yt]

    [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GV0H2HExS3c[/yt]

    I could watch those all day.:bolian:
     
  10. urbandefault

    urbandefault Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Dec 3, 2013
    Location:
    Sickbay, dammit.
  11. DigificWriter

    DigificWriter Vice Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    May 20, 2001
    Location:
    West Haven, UT, USA
    The Japanese are, by and large, significantly less 'uptight'/restrained than 'the West' when it comes to sexual innuendo/references, even in 'children's programming', so the fact that that Mecha ends up with a gigantic phallic symbol protruding from it doesn't surprise me at all.
     
  12. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    ^Right. Historically, the Japanese didn't see sex as something dirty or shameful until Westerners introduced the idea. It was just part of life. And to this day, depictions of sex organs are used as fertility symbols in Japanese (and other Asian) religious observances. So there's an element of the sacred to it, where a Westerner would see the profane.
     
  13. Mark_Nguyen

    Mark_Nguyen Rear Admiral Rear Admiral

    Joined:
    Apr 24, 2006
    Location:
    Calgary, Alberta
    I watched the episode, and the odd (?) thing is that the usage of the train penis was NOT a big deal at all. The mecha was trapped in a giant coffin, and simply burst out of it Hulk-style using the arms and penis. No problem.

    Mark
     
  14. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2007
    The clip


    [YT]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnSqRTZeGg4[/YT]
     
  15. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    So... the Megazord does whatever the Rangers imagine it doing? And the Red Ranger imagined it doing... that. I guess that's not surprising in a boy his age...

    By the way, I've been watching Dairanger, thanks to the link you provided. It's the first Super Sentai show I've watched (unless you count the Japanese Spider-Man as a prototype), and it's interesting how different it is from Power Rangers. Every story is a 2-parter, they only gradually introduce the Zords/mecha, only a few episodes so far have ended with giant-robot battles, etc. There have even been instances of characters not following the expected formulas of the genre -- in only their second opportunity, the Rangers had the good sense to prevent the monster from dropping the bomb that would make it giant, while conversely there was one point where the monsters attacked them in mid-transform and kept them from finishing. It's also a lot darker, yet also a lot more kid-oriented in some ways. (And episode 8 totally rips off the Luke/Vader/Palpatine scenes of Return of the Jedi right down to the force lightning.)
     
  16. Mr. Adventure

    Mr. Adventure Fleet Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 9, 2001
    Location:
    Mr. Adventure
    When I saw someone transform the toy like that, I just thought someone found it funny not to fully transform the figure. It's something else to see them use it on the show.
     
  17. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2001
    I wonder if they'll show that scene in the American version.
     
  18. Agent Richard07

    Agent Richard07 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Jun 20, 2001
    That sounds good. I wish we were getting stuff like that now.
     
  19. Samurai8472

    Samurai8472 Admiral Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2007


    From my understanding, Super Sentai that year with Dairanger was mimicking "Star Wars"

    The year before with Zyuranger was "Wizard of Oz"

    Bandora/Rita- The wicked witch of course
    Griffizor/Goldar- Flying monkey's





    New Super Megaforce episode 4 clip.


    [YT]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Sh5d5wSmsw[/YT]
     
  20. Christopher

    Christopher Writer Admiral

    Joined:
    Mar 15, 2001
    To some extent, yes -- there's also a recurring music cue that's clearly a pastiche of the Imperial March/Vader's theme. But I don't see that much similarity. Dairanger is mainly based in Chinese mythology and chi/ki power, and revolves around a battle of ancient civilizations revived in the present. Although I guess there is a similarity between KiRyoku/YouRyoku and the light and dark sides of the Force.


    Well, this week in Super Megaforce we finally get a focus on a pre-Disney season, specifically Wild Force, as the Rangers travel to Animaria to find the Red Lion Wildzord (why just the one?) and spend a lot of the episode in Wild Force costumes. We also got like a five-second glimpse of the Black Alien Ranger in a brief "Legendary Mode" sequence that didn't really go anywhere. And the streak of featuring SPD in every single episode continues unbroken.

    The continuity with WF wasn't great. The island was called Animaria here, while in WF it was called the Animarium and was the last surviving fragment of the ancient land of Animaria. Also, I have to wonder why Princess Shayla never showed up to meet/assist the Rangers. Not that I was in any hurry to see Anne Marie Crouch and her maudlin overacting again, but it seems Shayla logically should've been there. Also, did the Red Lion's "mane" always flare forward like that when it roared? I don't remember that.

    I liked the use of the costumes with the helmets off in the ship scenes. But I wonder why they kept Troy apart from the rest of the team.