Hasbro's Power Rangers era and General Tokusatsu discussion

[JD]

Ryuusoulger episode 39.

It's Christmas!

This episode was directed by Koichi Sakamoto. The stunt coordinator for various Power Ranger and sentai series.

We get some nice action scenes and Asuna wears the Christmas miniskirt. We also learn to never mess with her cake.

I've never watch the live action version of Sailor Moon but the guest for this episode use to be in Sailor Moon. There was one or two references to her past role

I noticed that Ui has been absent for two episodes too. I wonder if the actress was busy or got a cold.

Koh senses a disturbance in the force....er darker times are ahead too since we've got about 8 weeks left. Super Sentai and Kamen Rider take New Years off.

I noticed both Zero-One and Ryuusoulger had a death last week. Jin and then Gachillius

So is Christmas usually pretty different in Japan than in the US? I honestly wasn't sure how much people in Asia celebrated Christmas.

 

[Christopher]

Also a creep who likes upskirt shots of the female cast way too much.

There's a lot less of that sort of thing in Sentai today than there used to be, thank goodness, although there's still a way to go. At least we no longer have outright sexual harassment being treated as a joke.

So is Christmas usually pretty different in Japan than in the US? I honestly wasn't sure how much people in Asia celebrated Christmas.

From what I've seen in tokusatsu, they've embraced the American secular conventions of Xmas wholeheartedly -- Christmas trees, Santa, presents, "Jingle Bells" with mostly Japanese lyrics, the works, aside from fried chicken and cake being the traditional foods in place of turkey and pumpkin pie. (Although the chicken is American influence too, the result of an alarmingly successful KFC ad campaign in the 1970s.) Just part of the way the Japanese have assimilated a ton of Western culture ever since the post-WWII occupation, and really even before then, ever since Japan was "opened" to the West in the 1850s.

I suppose Sentai takes on Santa Claus can be a little odd compared to the American version. In Kakuranger's Christmas episode, there was a whole regimented army of Santas of all ages who delivered presents around the world; similarly, Go-Onger's parallel worlds included a Christmas World where everyone was Santa and it was Christmas every day, which actually sounds kind of ghastly. Then there was the Boukenger Christmas episode revolving around a cute, blundering novice female Santa, who was apparently a genuine Santa Claus, although just how was never explained.

 

[Samurai8472]

Im always amazed at the assimilation of KFC into the culture of Japan Christmas

For those that what to know why KFC is now part of the traditional Christmas dinner

https://www.cnn.com/travel/amp/kfc-christmas-tradition-japan/index.html

And yeah after the Christmas episodes we usually get a more traditional Japanese celebration with the New Years

No matter where the characters(Space/another dimension) are from they seem to know the Japanese customs where they dress up in traditional attire

 

[JD]

Thanks for posting the link, I always find that kind of stuff interesting.

 

[Christopher]

No matter where the characters(Space/another dimension) are from they seem to know the Japanese customs where they dress up in traditional attire

Yeah, and aliens and extradimensional beings all speak perfect Japanese and follow all the meticulous Japanese conventions for courtesy and honorifics and bowing and so forth. Some of them even speak historical Japanese dialects. Watching that as an English speaker makes me realize how weird a lot of American sci-fi must look to foreign viewers, with every alien speaking perfect American (or British) English and following our customs.

 

[Samurai8472]

Kamen Rider Zero-One episode 16

I noticed Shining Assault hopper has a funnel attack like in a Gundam Wing series.

They sure wrapped up the MBJ.net arc real fast. I'm wondering if each arc will be about 16 episodes long

Aruto's hair was darker too. Is it a sign we're heading into a new arc? Maybe darker times ahead?

I wonder if they're spreading out the arcs

-16 episodes for MBJ.net
-16 for Zaia
-16 for the final arc

Gai spends his arc thinking Ark works to his favor, but ultimately realizes it's the other way around.

Looks like the next chapter has Yua continue to be conflicted with working with Zaia and Fuwa questioning what he should do next.

You mean Horobi, who sacrificed himself in service of Jin's Singularity.

I accidentally spoiled Jin's death lol

 

[Christopher]

Kamen Rider Zero-One episode 16

I figured we were heading for a ZAIA takeover bid. Amusing that the Japanese have an English acronym for it ("TOB") that I don't think we actually use in English.

The ZAIA boss is definitely a bad guy. Anyone who uses "1000 percent" as his catchphrase is pure evil.

Meanwhile, I realized today that I have an issue with Aruto's catchphrase. He says "I'm the only one who can stop you," but he doesn't really win through any unique skill or cleverness of his own -- he just keeps getting handed more and more powerful gadgets. It's Satellite Zea and Izu who are doing all the work, really. Aruto's uniqueness is in his idealism and affection toward Humagears and his vision of their partnership with humans, but that doesn't really relate to his efficacy as a Kamen Rider.

That could be an advantage of the ZAIA arc, if Aruto is kicked out as president and has to learn to rely more on himself and less on getting a new toy every week. But the whole show is made to sell toys, so I'm skeptical that they'd go that route.

Aruto's hair was darker too. Is it a sign we're heading into a new arc? Maybe darker times ahead?

That was weird. First he said they had to go right away to the board meeting, then apparently he took the time to go get his hair dyed (un-dyed?) before the meeting.

Looks like the next chapter has Yua continue to be conflicted with working with Zaia and Fuwa questioning what he should do next.

I really wish Yua would get it together and make a break from ZAIA. It's bound to happen eventually. I hope we get more insight soon on why she's so loyal to this creep.

As for Fuwa, it's harder to see where he goes from here.

 

[Samurai8472]

I figured we were heading for a ZAIA takeover bid. Amusing that the Japanese have an English acronym for it ("TOB") that I don't think we actually use in English.

The ZAIA boss is definitely a bad guy. Anyone who uses "1000 percent" as his catchphrase is pure evil.

TOB?

"Learning complete"

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40804-017-0091-1
https://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=cc1e3ff4-2398-49ca-ad45-ff9ad07fc6e2

Only in recent years have hostile takeovers become more common in Japan. The dissolution of cross-shareholdings among Japanese companies, a significant increase in the percentage of foreign shareholders and the growing importance of the concept of shareholder value have helped lead to an increasing number of attempted hostile bids being made in Japan by both Japanese and international companies. Set out below are some key issues that an offer or should be aware of before contemplating a hostile offer in Japan.

Legislation

Listed companies in Japan are subject to increased regulation in order to protect the interests of investors on the stock market. Offers to acquire a stake of 5% or more in a listed company off market, are governed by the rules of the Japanese Securities and Exchange Law (“SEL”) and its subordinate regulations on public take-over bids (“TOB”).

Very interesting.


What's with "1000 percent" = evil ? Is that a reference to a series?

Also a poster was revealed signifying the beginning of the next arc

 

[Christopher]

What's with "1000 percent" = evil ? Is that a reference to a series?

It's just obnoxious. 100 percent means everything, the maximum amount, so when people try to be cute by substituting even larger numbers, it's annoying to anyone who cares about mathematics. And having it be his actual catchphrase that he uses repeatedly just makes it more annoying. (There are contexts where percentages above 100 can be meaningful, like if an engine is driven beyond 100% of its rated power or an elevator is loaded with more than 100% of its safe weight, but this isn't one of them.)

 

[Samurai8472]

Watchmojo ranks the top ten most villainous generals in Power Ranger history

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Not a fairly accurate list

 

[kirk55555]

I just got and read the Boom Studios Original Graphic Novel Power Rangers: The Psycho Path. It is really great, like most of the Boom Studios stuff. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who likes this kind of thing, especially any fans of Power Rangers In Space. It really expands on the Psycho Rangers and makes them even more interesting (in my opinion), and the focus on Andros and Karone was great.

 

[Samurai8472]

I hope the new movie will borrow some comic storyline. I think Drakkon is prime material for a movie series.

Although the new movie is described as modern power rangers going back to the 90's. That sounds more like a comedy.

How will they call their zords? for example. I take it they'll still have zords of some kind for merchandising purposes.

 

[kirk55555]

That potential new movie doesn't sound great. I mean, the last movie suffered horribly by being outright embarrassed of its source material and being objectively awful at being a "Power Rangers" movie, but the cast was good and if the designs weren't garbage and there were more fight scenes it would have been a pretty good movie (I still kind of like the movie wqe got in 2017, but it is pretty dire as a PR film).

To me, nothing about Power Rangers as a franchise screams 90s. I started watching it it as a kid in the mid to late 90s, but even MMPR doesn't really need that time period, much less all of the other series that didn't even take place in the 90s. Its a series about group of people who fight monsters by transforming into colorfully costumed superheroes. Japan has literally been doing it since 1975, as a concept its really got nothing 90s specific to it.

They just need to make a movie about a group of characters that come together to fight some powerful bad guy, add a bit more drama then the shows can usually do because presumably the movie will be PG/PG-13, upgrade the quality of the designs/fights (without being embarrassed to be colorful and actually have fight scenes), and they'd have a Power Rangers movie. Even if they have to stick with versions of the original MMPR because of nostalgia, they can do a lot of stuff without stupid time travel gimmicks or treating the source material like its something they loathe but have to vaguely allude to.

 

[Samurai8472]

RUMOR. Grains of Salt

https://www.theilluminerdi.com/2020/01/04/ryusoulger-2021-power-rangers/


The current sentai series KishiRyu Sentai Ryuusoulger is rumored to be the next Power Ranger series adapted after "Beast Morphers"

I put rumor/grain of salt since the person that posts. It sounds like the person with this insider info is mixing it with their own speculation to pass off as fact. Especially considering that there's no reason to mention Kyuranger except that fans have been talking about it.

Also the reason for skipping Kyuranger makes no sense. A pointy helmet and too many rangers? Dino Charge was able to balance 10 rangers.

Kajiki Yellow from Kyuranger with his point helmet

On the other hand. Dinosaurs do sell but so does space.



Also the next Hasbro Lightning Collection figure has been revealed and it's Trini!


https://twitter.com/pwrrngrsite/status/1213994460331134976?s=21

 

[1987SpaceGuy]

I'd love to have an Power Rangers adaption of Kyuranger!

the Space themed Kyuranger and the 2017 PR movie (the cast, not the terrible suits/zords) brought me back into Power Rangers.

 

[Samurai8472]

Kamen Rider Zero-One episode 17

Back from the holiday break! Izu has some amazing moments here.

I think I got the gist of Izu's pun. Basically she said "I'm sure we can arrange something with Satellite there"

"Arrange" = Ikebana = Flower Arrangement

I loved Aruto calling out Gai on his BS "1000%" catchphrase at the beginning

I'm wondering how long they'll make Gai and insufferable jerk. The five stages of taunting Rider generally go Dominant A-Hole, then Pitiable Jerk, then Humbled Dog, then Repentant Reinforcement, and finally Familial Dunce.

There was Kamen Rider builds Gentoku not too long ago.

It's quite alarming that now the ARK can take over humagear at any moment the humagear starts feeling sentience .

I wonder if the mysterious hooded figure is another model of Izu although we just had White/Black Woz.

I wonder if it will lead anywhere.

Supposedly the director is the one who decides what the "feel" of the series is going to be and the overall plot while the writer just creates a narrative that fits the vision.

Detail of Heroes Uchusen 167.

Some really nice suits this year

 

[Christopher]

Kamen Rider Zero-One episode 17

Pretty good one. Now that we know Gai was the protege of Aruto's grandfather, I get the sense that Grandpa gave Aruto the company specifically to keep it out of Gai's hands. He's clearly unstable and egomaniacal. (I love how even the Rider attack announcements and onscreen graphics are branded "Copyright ZAIA Corporation.")

Back from the holiday break! Izu has some amazing moments here.

Izu is getting funnier than Aruto now. Her delivery is certainly better.

I think I got the gist of Izu's pun. Basically she said "I'm sure we can arrange something with Satellite there"

"Arrange" = Ikebana = Flower Arrangement

That could work if you wanted to substitute a pun that played in English. But literally, it's just a homophone pun of the kind Aruto usually makes, playing on the sound rather than the meaning. After listening a few times, I'm certain Izu is saying "Eisei Zea ni ikeba, na?" which literally means "If you go to Satellite Zea (There), right?" Ikeba is a conditional ("if") form of iku, "to go," and na is an inquisitive or softening particle at the end of a sentence, sort of like "right?" or "y'know?"

I loved Aruto calling out Gai on his BS "1000%" catchphrase at the beginning

That was the one time he's actually been funny, and he wasn't even trying.

Gai's use of "a thousand percent" still annoys me. There are some cases where he uses it in a way that makes sense -- for instance, "improve human performance 1000 percent" or "increase my profits 1000 percent" or "1000 percent as strong as Zero-One," all of which just mean "10 times as much." But there are other times that he uses it nonsensically, like "You'll be 1000 percent satisfied," and that failure to differentiate between valid and invalid uses just makes it more annoying.

It's quite alarming that now the ARK can take over humagear at any moment the humagear starts feeling sentience .

Specifically, it seems to be avenging human cruelty against Humagears.

Supposedly the director is the one who decides what the "feel" of the series is going to be and the overall plot while the writer just creates a narrative that fits the vision.

So who's the head director here? It does seem to have a lot in common with head writer Yuya Takahashi's previous series Ex-Aid, with its focus on AI sentience and corporate villains.

 

[Mr. Adventure]

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[Xerxes82]

It's quite alarming that now the ARK can take over humagear at any moment the humagear starts feeling sentience .

I wonder if the mysterious hooded figure is another model of Izu although we just had White/Black Woz.

On the hooded figure, there should be at least one more member of MetsubouJinrai out there. Might be interesting if that turned out to be another Izu (not to be confused with Zi-O's Another Riders).

The humagear hacking is pretty frightening. But I'm actually more worried about the ZAIA Spec. Tell me I'm not the only one that saw that commercial and asked themselves how long before the Ark can influence a human through it? Probably not outright "hack," as that would make very little sense. But certainly manipulate. Which, combined with the hooded figure and a stolen progrise key makes me wonder if our new monster type coming in the preview might actually be the flower arranging HUMAN.

 

[Christopher]

On the hooded figure, there should be at least one more member of MetsubouJinrai out there.

Oh, that's right. We've seen the characters corresponding to the kanji for metsu (Horobi), jin (Jin), and rai (Raiden), but we have yet to see bou -- which means "death," ominously enough.

But I'm actually more worried about the ZAIA Spec. Tell me I'm not the only one that saw that commercial and asked themselves how long before the Ark can influence a human through it? Probably not outright "hack," as that would make very little sense. But certainly manipulate.

Good point. We've seen how easily voters' opinions and beliefs can be manipulated through social media with bots, disinformation, etc. If ZAIA Spec is feeding people data and doing computations to "enhance" their decision-making, it could certainly feed them false data to influence their decisions a certain way.

Which, combined with the hooded figure and a stolen progrise key makes me wonder if our new monster type coming in the preview might actually be the flower arranging HUMAN.

How demonic! Then ikebana would be akuma, na? Gotta have Aruto!

...

Are those crickets?