Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

[Samurai8472]

I figured the old thread was getting quite large. Seemed like a good time to make a new thread

New year, New era for Power Ranger's and in a few months a new era for Sentai and Kamen Rider. The new era after Heisei doesn't have a name yet

Here's a trailer for "Power Rangers Beast Morphers"

There's rumblings that it could premiere in March(close to the new sentai premiere too)

https://comicbook.com/powerrangers/2019/01/05/power-rangers-beast-morphers-could-premiere-march/

 

[Samurai8472]

Kamen Rider Zi-O episode 17

https://www.mp4upload.com/pumwiy79qa4s

Things have taken a turn. Kamen Rider Shinobi was quite an interesting "What if..." for 2022. The production crew must have had a lot of fun conceptualizing it.
Shinobi’s transformation has references from the Ninja-themed Super Sentai series. Apt that Hideya Tawada (Kinji/Starninger) is playing this guy and the MOTW.

Another Woz who's arrival in 2019 was an obvious homage to "The Terminator". The ability to influence the future is also very intriguing.

Interesting that Another Woz serves Geiz. Geiz Revival must be the eventual power-up for Geiz

So Kamen Rider Woz is based on an Apple Watch. Geiz is digital and Zi-O is analog.

Lupinranger VS Patranger 46

https://www.mp4upload.com/gkeltq5f05no

It's a New years clip show with some story progression. There was some laughs like Tsukasa blushing when she realizes who that little kid she was cuddling a few episodes ago actually was. Noel impersonating Keiichiro was also funny.

Also it's only fair the lupinrangers got their crossdressing moment. Umika will be the only one to not take part in this unofficial sentai tradition.

Lupin collection piece was the timeranger freezing capsule

 

[Christopher]

^There's no LvP link in your post.

 

[Christopher]

Zi-O: I love the idea of introducing a future Rider, and Shinobi has a pretty good design, if a fairly simple concept (how many ninja-themed Sentais have there been by now?). I wouldn't mind if they actually did Kamen Rider Shinobi three years from now. I wonder if Toei plans that far ahead?

Interesting twist for Woz too -- his book of the future is now obsolete and he has a far more powerful double, so what's his place now? But it's weird that the voice of Kamen Rider Woz's henshin belt sounds as shocked by the idea of him as the other characters were.

And it's ironic that apparently Oma Zi-O has now been replaced as future dictator by Geiz, the guy who wanted to stop the future dictator. But then, it's often the case that revolutionaries who overthrow dictators end up becoming just as bad (Castro, Mao, the Iranian theocracy, etc.). Will Geiz want Sougo to kill him now?

So now we have two Kamen Riders whose Rider names are just their given names -- KR Geiz and KR Woz. That's pretty unusual, isn't it? Looking over the Wiki, the only real prior examples have been movie-exclusive -- Shin Kamen Rider and Onizuka Rider in the first '90s movie, Kamen Rider Gaoh in the Den-O movie, KR Nadeshiko in the Fourze movie. There are a couple of close ones with Drive's Chase/Kamen Rider Chaser and Build's Evolto/Kamen Rider Evol, and the Hibiki Riders all have given names resembling their Rider names, but this seems to be the first series with main characters whose given names and Rider names are the same.


LvP: I guess the clip-show setup with the game wasn't too bad -- it was very reminiscent of the holiday clip shows Power Rangers has done these past few years, but more entertaining because the characters and the writing are richer and more fun. And it was juxtaposed with a very important plot development, the Global Police figuring out who the Phantom Thieves are. I guess we're just about to get into the climax within the next few weeks.

 

[Samurai8472]

Zi-O episode 18
https://www.mp4upload.com/lu8t49xrfkh0

The subplot of the Wozes pitting their respective Riders against each other is only starting to ramp up. At least for now Geiz is against it

Its pretty neat that Toei/PLEX can slap together a ride armor for a series that doesn't exist.....yet. We're basically looking at a repaint of Ex-Aid's suit with more kibble.

From what little we saw Kamen Rider Quiz's suit has Ex-Aids suit with Ghosts helmet. I have a feeling this week's episode will have alot of puns to sub with the questions and answers motif.

Kamen Rider Quiz is another Sentai alumnus, Katsuhiro Suzuki/Red Buster from 2012's Go-busters sentai

There'll will also be a Shinobi spin-off from the Toei fan club: https://www.cinematoday.jp/news/N0106136

I like this idea. A chance to see what a hypothetical "show" might be like for these Riders. It might gauge interest on what works and what doesn't


Lupinranger VS Patranger 47

https://www.mp4upload.com/ktnbt4n1w13x

I liked seeing Umika and Sasuka having lunch. It was sort of a look at Japanese courtship

This episode showed once again that both teams can't accomplish their goals if they don't work together. The Lupinrangers can't beat Zamigo alone and the Patranger's can't defeat Gauche alone.

They're really ramping up the mad doctor angle with Gauche. She's made things in past episodse but now she wants to dissect Noel

The Lupin Collection this week is the Chouzetsu Changer from Ninnin and the kiba blade from dairanger

 

[Christopher]

Zi-O: The Timejackers are another case where the heroes never think strategically -- the point when Schwartz was resetting the watch before putting it back into Rentarou would've been the perfect time to shoot it out of his hand, just like the Rangers should really shoot Gauche before she manages to revive a Ganglar. But Rentarou did finally try to do approximately that, to stop Schwartz from resetting the watch.

Calling the alternate Woz "White Woz" is ominous, because in Japan, white is the color of death. (I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the words are similar -- white is shiroi and death is shi.)

I'm glad they're doing at least a fan club special with Shinobi. I kind of want to see that become an actual show in 3 years. (Or sooner -- I suppose the "real" timeline doesn't have to line up with that alternate future, especially since KR continuity is so inconsistent anyway.) But Quiz's costume doesn't look anywhere near as good.


LvP: Haruka Kudo continues to be a very impressive actress, as Umika wrestled with her guilt over lying to Sakuya. Meanwhile, things are ramping up toward the finale, with Zamigo and Gauche coming to the foreground as direct challengers for the Rangers, and easily kicking their tails.

I liked seeing Umika and Sasuka having lunch. It was sort of a look at Japanese courtship

It just seemed like a fairly ordinary lunch to me, at least compared to all the "marriage interview" episodes I've seen in my recent tokusatsu binge.

 

[Samurai8472]

I guess courtship was not the correct term. I guess it was just interesting to see them act normal. No ganglers. No weird spells. No slapstick


Well this is interesting. Seems like power rangers is in a bit of a conundrum with their stunt people doing black face
https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2018/12/17/367608/is-it-ever-okay-to-wear-black-face?amp=1

If you can’t find the talent does it make it okay for another solution like what they’re doing ok?

 

[Christopher]

If you can’t find the talent does it make it okay for another solution like what they’re doing ok?

If they need to do that in the first place, it implies that the industry needs to improve its diversity, and it sounds like they're trying to do that. But as they say, it takes years of training to become a stunt performer, and safety should always be the top priority there.

I imagine a lot of the Power Rangers suit actors are different ethnicities from their characters, since I think they tend to use the same suit actors year after year while the main actors change. But putting someone in blackface is a tricky matter because it has an unfortunate history behind it.

Anyway, it's interesting that they need to double the actors out of Ranger armor. In the early years of Power Rangers, the lead actors generally did their own stunts, at least up to a point. That was one of the cool things about it, that you saw the actors themselves doing fight scenes. Over the years, it seems they came to rely more often on lead actors who weren't able to do their own stunt work.

 

[JD]

Are they limited to just NZ stunt people? I'm pretty sure I've seen a lot of non-white stunt people in US productions.

 

[Christopher]

Are they limited to just NZ stunt people?

Since it's made in NZ and doesn't have a huge budget, I'd expect so. Though I think they've occasionally shared some stunt teams with Super Sentai.

 

[Samurai8472]

The first preview for Super Sentai Great Battle aired tonight.

According to Toei's official page, the girl in blue is named Rita, the mysterious girl who is summoning rangers to planet Nemesis and have them partake in the Super Sentai Strongest Battle. She is played by Nana Asakawa.

 

[Christopher]

Rita? I wonder if that's a Power Rangers nod.

 

[Samurai8472]

https://natalie.mu/eiga/news/316554

Over on Zi-O. Kamen Rider Ryuki's actor will be appearing with Another Ryuga. Interestingly it's not Another Ryuki. Also the actor who played the editor in Ryuki Kanji Tsuda

 

[Christopher]

Well, I guess it sort of makes sense in that Ryuga was the evil counterpart of Ryuki, and the Another Riders are evil versions of the Riders. Though really Ryuga/Dark Shinji should only exist in the alternate timeline of the movie -- but then, the way the series ended would make it impossible for any Ryuki Riders to return later at all.

Anyway, I guess this confirms that they will return to featuring past Riders again. I was wondering if the shift to focusing on newly-invented future Riders would be permanent. After all, the Decade Armor pretty much gives Sougo all of the Phase 1 Rider powers in one go.

Although if they are doing Ryuki, I would've liked to see Geiz meet Ren/Kamen Rider Knight. The two characters are surprisingly similar, both in their respective personalities and story arcs and in the actors' faces and voices.

 

[Samurai8472]

Zi-O 19 AKA “riddle me this”

https://www.mp4upload.com/g03r7s80yzv4

This was an okay episode. I'm excited as to see Red Buster again. And despite being a quick, one-off character, he has an interesting reason for being in the past.

This episode was otherwise so-so. The big problem is that the show is telegraphing Geiz Revive so hard that there's absolutely no reason to believe we won't see him. Meaning that the 3 future watches will be created, and undermining any suspense.

Lupinranger VS Patranger
https://www.mp4upload.com/1yu2abhdursz

A pretty big one. I really liked the build up to the big unmask with the music. However it felt shoehorned because the lupinranger didn’t really need to reveal themselves

The police run in the front door and are taken out, despite knowing it was a trap they made no preparations or attempted any sort of cunning. Then the Lupins do the exact same thing, but succeed since they're the plot heroes.

I like that they tried to change up the mecha battle with a different perspective. Real city landscape spliced with the mecha suits

 

[Christopher]

Zi-O: Okay episode, but I wasn't fond of the idea of Kamen Rider Quiz. I could see Shinobi working as an actual series, but Quiz's game-show schtick wore out its welcome about halfway through his fight scene.

I think there was a production error in the fight in the parking complex. When Sougo and Geiz started their henshin, Sougo was on Geiz's left (screen right), but once they were transformed, they were standing in the opposite positions.


LvP: Wow, a game-changer. Now all the secrets are out, and I can't wait to see where it goes from here.

A pretty big one. I really liked the build up to the big unmask with the music. However it felt shoehorned because the lupinranger didn’t really need to reveal themselves

For plot purposes, they had to be unmasked publicly so they would need to go on the run. And Dogranio made the demand because he was cruel and was toying with them. They presumably knew he wouldn't really let Noel go, but they had to take the chance.

I like that they tried to change up the mecha battle with a different perspective. Real city landscape spliced with the mecha suits

Yes, visually quite impressive. Too bad it was with a random monster rather than Gauche herself. I've complained before about how often the giant battles in SS are just tacked on after the plot has already reached a resolution, rather than being part of the plot. Action works better when it advances the story and characters. So this would've been more impressive if this had been their ultimate defeat of Gauche.

 

[Samurai8472]

I forgot to mention a highlight. As the series draws close we get special scenes like this

I hope the patrangers get a similar scene or when everyone changes for the last episode

Kamen rider doesn’t do this so much but it would be funny to see since the actual actors aren’t as bulky as the suits they wear

 

[Samurai8472]

I don't really need this since I was able to find the complete first season on dvd at my local hobby shop for 4 dollars(Finally)

There will be a steelbook version of the first season of MMPR. It will contain all 60 episodes

https://news.tokunation.com/2019/01...in-power-rangers-season-1-steelbook-dvd-58219

It was a bit of luck really since the complete season 1 dvd is so hard to find in shops. Ebay seems to have more of the Vol 1 and Vol 2 versions.

 

[Samurai8472]

I’ve got a golden ticket

https://www.toei.co.jp/tv/saikyo-battle/story/1214026_2956.html

Patren Ichigo will make an appearance in the super sentai battle miniseries. There is also several more former sentai cast members confirmed and a good look at a mysterious purple Ryuusouger figure.

 

[Samurai8472]

Zi-O episode 20

https://www.mp4upload.com/wmsxduxbm4n2

I was surprised that the two halves of the Double Armor were treated like Double's own "halves", and seemed to be semi-sentient. I was also surprised to see the Double armor since the U.S audience hasn't seen Heisei Generations Forever

Just when you think that Quiz might get to settle his battles on his own, Woz has to come in and steal his powers anyway. Geiz is on the path to Oma Day.

Nice of White Woz to share out the "immune to Time Hack", though his method of making Geiz Revive is starting to look unhealthy for Geiz. Nice of Geiz to at least try to give Quiz his powers back, plus Quiz getting to henshin alongside Zi-O AND Geiz (on separate occasions) is nice to see... really doesn't happen enough on this show. It made Quiz feel like he's an official rider from 2040.

Lupinranger VS Patranger 49

https://www.mp4upload.com/9z8gdjjhdy2q

Some pretty good scenes between Kairi and Keiichiro throughout the episode. The payoff at the end was good too.

Dogranio unleashed his power and he was just flexing his muscles there.

Nice callback to the frozen man in episode 2 and the disguise in episode 43

Odd that Kairi thinks the Global Police arrested Touma and Umiko when Kogure told him that the police brought them to the hospital. Speaking of that was Kogure just sipping tea while Dogranio obliterated half the city?

Also what happened to Noel after Dogranio attacked? Sakuya just briefly talks about him at the hospital.

There was some oddities like the Patranger's going back to suits at night(basically their other default costume)

Also interesting to imply Kairi and Keiichiro searched for each other all night that the sun moments later pops up.