This had me thinking about some backlash Super Sentai entries may get from some Power Rangers fans. I felt the hatred for Lucky in Ucchu Sentai Kyuranger is plain unfair. I decided to watch more episodes of Power Rangers in Space and I'd say Lucky, though not the best, was better carried than Andros. Kyuranger is practically its own universe as revealed in the promotion for Dekaranger vs. Gavan episode. Here, Cosmic Fury is really still trying to STICK TO THE PAST as revealed in the cast reveal.
I felt it was stupid that Lord Zedd returned after several decades he was supposed to be gone. Sure, it'd work IF Lord Zedd returned (temporarily) during anniversary seasons. I think having Lord Zedd's and Rita's son appear in Power Rangers Operation Overdrive isn't much of a bad move because it's an ANNIVERSARY SEASON. Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger having multiple alumni revisiting the show isn't bad at all either. It's an ANNIVERSARY SEASON. Though, the big difference is Gokaiger's cast is a fresh new one and Tensou Sentai Goseiger is only referenced during the Hero 199 Movie and a few times within the series.
What's making me go bonkers is the idea of returning characters from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. David Yost and Walter Jones will be back as Billy and Zack. Uh-huh. One can say Seiji Umon returned as Goushi in Gokaiger. However, Goushi's appearance was just a guest appearance. Seiji's guest role in Mashin Sentai Kiramager was a totally different character. I could care less if there'd be alumni visiting during anniversary seasons. However, it just gets bonkers as to why we're still having the Morphine Hype. That Power Rangers (2017) movie was just utterly boring so no surprise IT FLUNKED. It had no idea how to carry out what it wanted to carry out.
The leak really causes me to pre-judge Cosmic Fury before it came out. I'll admit that this time, there's not even a good reason to hang around. After Power Ranger Megaforce, my interest in the franchise just fell into a zone of food items that I'll never order from my favorite restaurant. I'm always aware that Power Rangers is part of Toei Ltd. But like Seiiun Machineman and certain entries of Super Sentai and Kamen Rider - I exercise my right not to like it and to criticize it.
One of the reasons why I got tired of the Zordon arc was the frequent costume change over cast change
It's not like how Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger up to Denji Sentai Megaranger had an annual cast change and made very few throwbacks. Sure, Kenta Date did reappear in a Megaranger tribute episode as a teacher. Still, no other seasons made Kenta some sort of ally figure to prevent linking too much to a singular timeline. When Zyuranger ended - Barza simply leaves this world with his fellow warriors into Heaven. The one thing that disappointed me was Burai wasn't shown to greet them even after he showed up as a ghost in the finale arc. The next series until Megaranger were self-contained. That means Prince Junior isn't Bandora's brother and neither is Daimaou her father. My issue with Mighty Morphin' Season 3 was how we had too many villains that it got OVERCROWDED. Everything just got stale for me. I even felt like Mighty Morphin' should've just ended and Toei Ltd. should've not given into the greed. They could've proceeded making a new season based on Gosei Sentai Dairanger with Saban and sell new toys. I still feel the Zyu2 footage creation was greed-based on both sides of the world.
I could go ahead and rant about how the Dear John letter in Power Rangers Zeo was just plain stupid. Then again, I'd still scathe it even if Amy Jo Johnson didn't leave the set and Katherine Hillard never became part of the crew. Meanwhile, Choriki Sentai Ohranger may have made some throwbacks to the 1980s without otherwise throwing back to the story of the 1980s. The Baranoia Empire could be viewed as the Anti-Bio Faction in Chodenshi Bioman except there's no relation. The Tetrahedron energy has nothing to do with the Bio Particles in Bioman. It was a fresh new start and a fresh new cast. I felt that seeing a new red ranger instead of Tommy kept things fresh. Meanwhile, Shirei Solbrain was a direct sequel to Tokkei Winspector. However, Solbrain provided a new team for Masaki to command and Ryoma Kagawa only returned as an occasional ally. Later, Tokosou Exceedraft did have Masaki guest star towards the end but not to overshadow. Masaki simply appeared as a footnote. Later, Tokosou Robo Janperson was more or less its own continuity. That's why I feel like badmouthing Juuku B-Fighter for linking Janperson back to it. I even feel that B-Fighter Kabuto may not be worth a watch even if it's a new set of heroes unlike what Beetleborgs Metallix did.
This time, Cosmic Fury decided to do what Power Rangers in Space did. The finale of Turbo had four out of five rangers GO INTO SPACE to chase after Divatox. Meanwhile, Carranger did everything to wrap it up by defeating Emperor Exhaus (who was no joke of a character) even if it meant doing the absurd like Gynamo throwing expired imo-youkan into the mouth of the gigantic character. A few criticisms I give to the Carranger finale was that the zords were repaired almost too immediately after Exhaus supposedly destroyed them. Chojin Sentai Jetman deserves points for actually showing the destroyed mecha after Radiguet was destroyed. Is Power Rangers Dino Fury going to pull that same stunt? Just because it worked in Space may not mean it would work here.
I just feel it's really that I don't know what to think...
Remembering the times Hasbro jumped the shark in my childhood
There were two cartoon series by Hasbro that many grew up with. As a 1990s child, I did grow up wit the older versions of Transformers and G.I. Joe. Some may have heard of Beast Wars which was still connected to the old Transformers but gave new characters. Beast Wars did succeed in its soft continuity as there was more room for character development. Meanwhile, not every toy or comic character became part of the television series. I felt Hasbro did the right thing to create a new cast of Transformers though it does feel awkward to write a sequel to the American Transformers continuity in the late 1990s. Transformers ended in 1987. Later, Takara had Toei Ltd. make the Japanese exclusive Takara Trilogy which isn't canon to the actual continuity but Hasbro gave its blessings for the spin-off nonetheless.
I think one of the worst things Hasbro did with G.I. Joe was the creation of Serpentor. Cobra Commander was already the established leader (and main antagonist) of G.I. Joe. Instead, Serpentor became the new leader of COBRA created from the DNA of the most evil leaders of history. Yeah, Dr. Mindbender really went bonkers with that plan and created a leader even more obnoxious than Cobra Commander. Why the COBRA high command defected to Serpentor is stupid. I guess suicidal overconfidence is preferred over cowardice huh? Serpentor's a cool concept but creating a new leader (even temporarily) was kind of a bummer. I felt Cobra Commander getting rid of Serpentor in the lackluster DIC seasons was a total relief. Though, everything else during the DIC seasons were just plain stupid.
Maybe, I could talk about Transformers Season 3. The movie was set and it was the great toy massacre. We have the post-movie shows. The Transformers American episodes reached a total of 100 episodes if you count the Rebirth storyline. Later, Rebirth got ignored in Transformer Headmasters which finally gave closure by killing Galvatron midseason and having Fortress Maximus defeat Scorponok. Scorponok did return in the lackluster Transformers Masterforce which I really felt was brilliant in concept but dull in execution. Yeah, Toei Ltd. practically ripped itself off in that regard by putting the Henshin formula into humans becoming Transformers. Later, there was Transformers Victory which had a definite beginning and a definite end. I always felt like Transformers should've ended with Optimus Prime defeating Megatron. Though, we know how Megatron seems to be mandatory to become Galvatron or something like that.
This is quite different from how America linked three unrelated Japanese-only Transformers shows. I guess it becomes obvious that the Unicron Trilogy is anything but linked together on their source materials. It's said that Armada, Energon, and Cybertron were all distinct interpretations of Hasbro's story. Hasbro decided to link it in the dub for well... reasons. I felt that it was better when we had Optimus Prime challenge Galvatron inside Unicron. It was pretty much satisfying to see Deathzaras fight Star Saber to a death duel even if Victory only had 30+ episodes. I felt that kind of writing is another reason why I tend to think Power Rangers' too many throwbacks is a bad thing. It's also a reason why I felt Kamen Rider BLACK RX had some flak when it's a direct sequel to a show that was almost meant to be a reboot, namely Kamen Rider BLACK. The ten Kamen Rider warriors appeared for the finale but weren't well-utilized. If Toei wanted to wrap things up then why not have all 11 Kamen Riders fight Grand Lord Crisis together? Why not have it, "After Grand Lord Crisis was defeated, the Great Leader that menaced the Kamen Riders is no more." Maybe have Grand Lord Crisis say, "Even if I die, as long as thre's evil in the human hearts, all of you are still doomed!" instead of swearing to return. Sigh... I felt Toei Ltd. failed in that regard. I enjoy BLACK RX for laughs but BLACK has still been way better in many ways, RIGHT?
Overall, I wonder if this decision is because of how most American shows are. It doesn't seem to bother Power Rangers fans that much with this and that throwback. Again, maybe not ever since I read Dryed Mangoez more often. Lester Jeff, the author of Dryed Mangoez, actually gave several negative opinions regarding Power Rangers Beast Morphers. I felt that there were too many throwbacks. True, Avatar Sentai Donbrothers may have a Kaito who might be the same Kaito from Kikou Sentai Zenkaiger. However, Donbrothers doesn't do too many throwbacks and Zenkaiger was pretty much last year.
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