It's no doubt that this year is the 25th anniversary of Power Rangers. For me, not's not so exciting anymore considering that I no longer like Power Rangers and I enjoy Super Sentai more. On the other hand, I still acknowledge the contracts between Toei and Saban to have the show produced and how cultural differences play a part in the existence of Power Rangers. But I'd like to actually write something about one show that played a part in my childhood -- yet it no longer appeals to me as a good memory as an adult. No, I'm not going even to accuse MMPR of racism because of Trini and Zack -- they weren't negatively portrayed either!
I would say that I started liking Power Rangers because well -- it was a child's show! I remembered how Mighty Morphin' aired side to side with X-Men in ABS-CBN (though there was also Batman: The Animated Series). Speaking of which, the 90s X-Men cartoon was also produced by the same company that produced Mighty Morphin' -- Saban Entertainment. Saban had a contract with Marvel Comics for X-Men (and Toei once had a contract with said company) and with Toei -- though I still appreciate the X-Men cartoon more for producing ALL their footage unlike Mighty Morphin' where it comes out awkward. Yet I liked both shows -- though I ended up preferring Saban's X-Men cartoon better than Mighty Morphin'.
I could remember how I watched this show because it was well -- a kiddie show! It was weird how I enjoyed Super Sentai seasons (though I have no intention of watching all those badly voiced and highly inaccurate dubs anymore) just for that reason. I heard about the craze it had where a lot of children lined up to get the toys and how it became a huge sensation. Toei was raking in lots of cash with their deal with Saban because of the royalty fees associated with said show. I mean, credits do include Toei as part of the whole production team and not just Saban. Hmmm... Saban did have a history with Japanese companies. Take note that he was also among the people who made the Super Mario Bros. Super Show (though DiC was also involved).
But what really started to make me go "HUH?" was the naming. I could remember how the awful English Bioman dub by Telesuccess Productions named Hikaru as Kimberly. I only knew the original names of the Super Sentai cast when I started discovering Google at age 16 -- which I really figured out that the dub name changes were somehow necessary back then! What I thought about it was that it made me go WTF to why there's another Kimberly. To say Kimberly was every 90s first crush is an overstatement -- mine was Hikaru from Bioman! Yet, I developed some kind of weird obsession with Kimberly because she was so hot -- at least for my taste. I just watched Mighty Morphin' more for her than then plot itself. It's something I tend to do though Megafail's hot girls will never stop me from further bashing it as the worst season ever written! I admit, I really got so mad when Amy Jo Johnson decided to leave the show -- that was until I realized that the show was holding her back and it's better for her to leave it during the third season!
Back then, I just didn't know about the whole existence of Super Sentai because it wasn't the digital age yet. Internet was not so readily available. I remembered going to a toy store with my relatives and I saw some Zyuranger toys and stickers -- I just didn't mind too much. After all, wasn't Mighty Morphin' based on a Japanese show? I didn't realize that what I thought were Mighty Morphin' toys (and later, I'd be confused about Dairanger toys because of the white ranger being with them) were actually toys where Mighty Morphin' was based form. Heck, I even thought Power Rangers was an illegal reproduction until I saw through the fact that Toei and Saban were involved or why it existed in the first place. Then I just simply thought about it that Toei allowed Saban to do so and it's all about hitting the international market -- MONEY!
I remembered how I was actually afraid that Doomsday would end Mighty Morphin'. Back then, I was actually GLAD about the overextension but that changed when I grew up. Is it me or do children and adults have different reactions or does passing through life change one's perception? As an adult, I actually wished that Mighty Morphin' just ENDED as planned instead of overextending to two more seasons -- where Dairanger and Kakuranger footage were used and it just feels awkward. It wasn't the case because Toei wanted to milk in the cash and produced 25 more episodes. Quite interestingly, they also did the same with Voltron by producing extra episodes that introduced Voltron-only characters that weren't in Golion such as Cossack and Merla. They wanted more cash so they mutually agreed to produce extra episodes to keep a show going. Sigh... I still wish Mighty Morphin' ended as planned because the overextension and cast recycling for some time is just meh. For that, I still have more reasons why I personally dislike Power Rangers -- all the while I acknowledge that Toei is also behind its existence.
Years later, my views towards Power Rangers in general would further change when I started seeing more of the Japanese deal (which felt more real to me while the other just felt meh IMHO) with Zyuranger, Dairanger and Kakuranger. No, don't believe the lie that Mighty Morphin' became more popular in Japan or the reverse rumor (where they say Americans prefer Zyuranger and Japanese prefer Mighty Morphin'). I thought about how Zyuranger that it may not really be perfect but at least it had clearer plot and ending. Also, it felt better to treat Zyuranger, Dairanger and Kakuranger as three different continuities than letting duplicate footage be used by a bunch of dinosaur-themed spandex wearing heroes. It's still feels so awkward after I've seen more Super Sentai series up to this day if you ask me!
Comments
Post a Comment