My Power Rangers Fandom and Why It's Shaking

I was a fan of Power Rangers much before but lately, I've just thought that many factors aside from Super Sentai had caused my fandom to shake as time passed:

Saban era:


First, the Zordon era.  I would say that this one was well, pretty much what I'd call a victim of overuse and overrecyling.  The problem had to do with the fact that MMPR was supposed to end already after 40 episodes but the popularity caused them request for Zyu2 footage from Toei, even Tommy's return.  As a child, it was a pretty exciting idea but eventually season two came and I thought everything was just gone sour.

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Then the second to third season of MMPR got produced.  So yeah, MMPR was long overdue and everything was falling apart.  In season two, I really thought that Lord Zedd while being ferocious and destructive, he wasn't really helping things.  His marriage to Rita was a good romance, made a good villain couple (may have even inspired Bacchus and Hysteria!) but plots were getting more boring.  Season three was also very painful to watch.  Casts were leaving for reasons- and I guess Thuy Trang had enough of payroll issues and quit.  For season three, I can't blame Amy Jo Johnson for leaving the show either.  I just endured it a little more out of my crush for Kimberly and was sad to see her leave. =(

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Zeo was really where I think my headaches even begun.  So there's that really BAD MOVE of a sudden break-up with Tommy, the writers have made Kimberly into a slut of sorts.  WTF?  And yeah, I really hated how it got boring even with the suit change.  This show had one good point- it made me appreciate Ohranger! =P

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Power Rangers Turbo was also horrific for me.  It was for me, not a good season compared to Carranger.  Execution was really badly done and the cast change for me didn't help either.  The kid ranger gimmick they tried didn't work either- hey come on if they were looking at how well-written Kou was, I don't think Justin would be a disaster!  Nothing against Justin though.

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Power Rangers in Space for me was a really messy show but still liked.  Fortunately it ended the Zordon arc for good.  Phew!  But it still did recycling but fortunately for the last time.  It was the end of the Zordon era.  It also introduced the Battlizer for toy sales perhaps?


I do have my problems with Bulk and Skull.  These two just don't contribute to story or plot at all, better off as guest actors!  The made the Zordon era eventually a PAIN to watch when these guys just did too many stuff that never contributed to the heroes at all.

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Lost Galaxy came which was pretty much like in a way paying tribute to some Sentai, Metal Hero and Power Rangers seasons.  The rumor may be a huge lie but still, this was a good season.  I felt like that it pretty much had some elements of Flashman (space), trying to take Power Rangers to a different location, some space sheriff themes (I think Trakeena is a a tribute to Pandora in Spielban) and the first crossover with Power Rangers in Space.  Completely a new route for Power Rangers.

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Lightspeed Rescue kept the rescue theme of Gogo V but not the sibling group.  It also introduced the Titanium Ranger, America's first original ranger but I didn't like him.  Overall it does keep some elements in Gogo V but Bansheera is nowhere near as badass as Grandienne.

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Time Force was a good season on its own, no need to keep comparing it to Timeranger.  But I prefer Timeranger for the love of Yuri.  Stupid huh?  Well Timeranger had the mutant vs. human subplot while Timeranger was different in its own way with the aliens and humans in past era vs. future era in a way.

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Wild Force was a good seasonf or me but the acting wasn't good. But hey, it wasn't horrible either for me.  It was part-Disney and part-Saban.  Not very well-received but I appreciate it as a good season overall but my change of preferences can hit on anytime!

Disney era- proceed at your own risk!

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I wasn't ready to panic with Disney, I grew up with Disney but thinking of the dawn of that witch Hanna Montana, there was a good reason to get scared.  So, I'd say maybe I like Hurricanger better but this was a decent season... my only problems here are Mara and Kapri's whining like toddlers but hey, they're the bad guys!  The acting was good, story was good and it showed how an Asian themed PR should be done.

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Dino Thunder, well Tommy did return but it didn't excite me.  I was a Tommy fan at first but he got so overused, making him a ranger wasn't a good idea.  I would have liked it better IF he were just their mentor considering his age.  Now another, I HATED that STUPID episode called "Lost in Translation" since it really made Super Sentai look bad for me... although I don't think it was intended to do that.  But still, that was one stupid episode.  And I do have to put up with...


Cassidy and Devin are MUCH worse.  I really hate them to the point I want them blasted out.  I just thought Spike was still more tolerable than these two.  I really3x hate them.

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The Kalish era was a list of seasons I could not bear to watch and dropped it, in fact it takes a Tokusatsu critic with a much stronger stomach than mine to stomach these seasons.  Some found SPD okay but I really end up having the bad habit of bashing it because Dekaranger for me had much better characters despite their flaws like Ban may be reckless but he'll definitely do the obstacle course, I don't hear Hoji whining about wanting to be the leader, Umeko doesn't have Syd's brat attitude and Sen doesn't have Bridge's irritating speech patterns.  I'm just being biased here.  For Operation Overdrive, it's definitely the WORST of Kalish in execution the adventure theme while the Corona Aurora could have been worked out well but the season was so horrendous.  Same with Jungle Fury and Mystic Force too.

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Some found RPM a good season but its doomsday plot for me was too hard to swallow for me and I felt like the mood wasn't my type either.  I'd rather watch a messy season like Go-onger over this one that blew up the Earth.  That's just me. =P

Saban's comeback:

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Power Rangers Samurai.  I had HIGH expectations for this but Saban was treating this like his MMPR in some way like Bulk's return was totally useless for plot plus Spike as much as I may tolerate his existence but I'd prefer Genta over him.  It's really a poor imitation of Shinkenger.  Also, come on they are treating their cast members as if they are Japanese.  Why not just try to study how Ninja Storm did its handling of an Asian theme on its casts and put it on your chosen casts?  The Asian red ranger is not an issue at all, it's not even necessary after all but Jayden's treated like he's Asian when he's not which I feel this is all too awkward I'd rather watch Spongebob and I refuse to even use them in any more of my other fics than just being my "alternate versions".  Tzachor what have you done?


For Megaforce, I'm glad it's not a copy/paste of Goseiger with its rangers, I could give it a chance and all but as long as it's done properly.  The first episode for me is okay but maybe not for diehard Sentai fans.  It's too early for me to judge whether this is Megaforce or Megafail so I could still stomach it for silly reasons like why I watched MMPR for Kim because of Gia.  Just being silly.

My overall judgment is that my Power Rangers fandom can drop to neutral or dislike while being careful not to pick on its fans due to all the bad writing it suffers from.

Comments

  1. I agree with most of the things you said. Especially about SPD and Tommy in DT. Though DT, while using a dinosaur theme for the rangers, having a villain not aiming at the American obssession (alien=conquer Earth), it HIGHLY relies on nostalgia. Think about it:
    1) Tommy returns and it's made a ranger again.
    2) Cassidy and Devin acted as Bulk & Skull
    3) Setting was high school
    4) Evil Ranger turned good/Clone Evil Ranger

    Also, I noticed that you didn't say anything about Mystic Force. Is that a good sign?

    Anyways, good post.

    ReplyDelete

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