Power Rangers/Super Sentai (US: Ninja Steel, JAP: Weird Shit Again) - Page 10

**Kalyx triaD** · 03-15-2009, 12:02 AM

Now before I relay the info, just know that I stopped watching PR regularly around the Turbo era - a long time ago. And since then I've kept up with what themes the seasons would employ as well as who the teams are as the years went on. I've caught episodes on and off but I couldn't follow a season (with me not really watching TV as I used to). So don't come in here with attacks about me killing myself over the cancellation of one of my favorite shows. Me and Noid established that PR definitely isn't what we grew up with. However, I must post this as it is/was still a major television convention (17 years ain't nothing to scoff at), and was an important part of my old viewing habits.

Link.

Power Rangers, which started out as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, is essentially a Westernization of the Japanese Super Sentai series. We got wind of the long running series (ran since the 70's) and adapted it for American television in late '92 (though you can say '93, who cares). It wasn't a hard rule adaptation as we avoided changing the teams due to the original cast's popularity. Ironically, when the cast tried to pull rank on their popularity and demand fair wages for what they helped to produce (then the top kid's program), the studio suddenly had no problem changing cast members. And so we ended up with the Japanese system of yearly team changes anyway.

(Note that the during the Morphin' days when the Rangers received new Zords, that was when we imported the new Sentai team's weapons, just without their suits. In essence we flirted with rotating teams before the public knew it. The first major cast change with the Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers also revealed that kids would definitely get over it if the actors got out of line.)

Now I'd like to say Disney is at fault for letting it fall. I mean, the toys sell like hotcakes and the show still pulls average numbers (maybe not iCarly numbers). But since the studio was at the mercy of switching around what the Japanese were creating, there was always chance for issues to arise. For a time the Japanese studio would suit certain themes that did appeal to us (DinoThunder seemed like a remix of America's first PR show), but they didn't really have to. And it was only a matter of time before average ratings and Japanese alienation would team up against PR production.

This year's team, RPM, is a localization mess. The suits are butt ugly and the story is bad even for cheesy PR standards. This year's Sentai team has even worse appearance and totally unattractive features. I believe these factors made it much easier to call it quits.

Because of various legal gayness Power Rangers may never get proper DVD collections (these reasons are similar to why the Fox Kid's X-Men and Spider-Man are still wishlist fodder). So it's a bit sad to know that a series that had such a strong legacy would end on such a whimper.

I imagine this news won't affect many of us here, and I may get ribbed a bit, but I felt like sharing my thoughts on the matter. I really looked forward to the day I'd watch PR with my kid solely to troll him/her on how badass my era of Rangers were. Ah well. I imagine a return of some sort will occur down the line (Hollywood never deletes, they repackage), but for now it's the end of a near 20 year television mainstay.

03-15-2009, 12:02 AM	#1
Kalyx triaD Raw Video Footage Posts: 45,950	Power Rangers/Super Sentai (US: Ninja Steel, JAP: Weird Shit Again) Now before I relay the info, just know that I stopped watching PR regularly around the Turbo era - a long time ago. And since then I've kept up with what themes the seasons would employ as well as who the teams are as the years went on. I've caught episodes on and off but I couldn't follow a season (with me not really watching TV as I used to). So don't come in here with attacks about me killing myself over the cancellation of one of my favorite shows. Me and Noid established that PR definitely isn't what we grew up with. However, I must post this as it is/was still a major television convention (17 years ain't nothing to scoff at), and was an important part of my old viewing habits. Link. Power Rangers, which started out as Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, is essentially a Westernization of the Japanese Super Sentai series. We got wind of the long running series (ran since the 70's) and adapted it for American television in late '92 (though you can say '93, who cares). It wasn't a hard rule adaptation as we avoided changing the teams due to the original cast's popularity. Ironically, when the cast tried to pull rank on their popularity and demand fair wages for what they helped to produce (then the top kid's program), the studio suddenly had no problem changing cast members. And so we ended up with the Japanese system of yearly team changes anyway. (Note that the during the Morphin' days when the Rangers received new Zords, that was when we imported the new Sentai team's weapons, just without their suits. In essence we flirted with rotating teams before the public knew it. The first major cast change with the Red, Yellow, and Black Rangers also revealed that kids would definitely get over it if the actors got out of line.) Now I'd like to say Disney is at fault for letting it fall. I mean, the toys sell like hotcakes and the show still pulls average numbers (maybe not iCarly numbers). But since the studio was at the mercy of switching around what the Japanese were creating, there was always chance for issues to arise. For a time the Japanese studio would suit certain themes that did appeal to us (DinoThunder seemed like a remix of America's first PR show), but they didn't really have to. And it was only a matter of time before average ratings and Japanese alienation would team up against PR production. This year's team, RPM, is a localization mess. The suits are butt ugly and the story is bad even for cheesy PR standards. This year's Sentai team has even worse appearance and totally unattractive features. I believe these factors made it much easier to call it quits. Because of various legal gayness Power Rangers may never get proper DVD collections (these reasons are similar to why the Fox Kid's X-Men and Spider-Man are still wishlist fodder). So it's a bit sad to know that a series that had such a strong legacy would end on such a whimper. I imagine this news won't affect many of us here, and I may get ribbed a bit, but I felt like sharing my thoughts on the matter. I really looked forward to the day I'd watch PR with my kid solely to troll him/her on how badass my era of Rangers were. Ah well. I imagine a return of some sort will occur down the line (Hollywood never deletes, they repackage), but for now it's the end of a near 20 year television mainstay.