The Zyu2 Footage And Messy Transition Towards Dairanger Footage Use (And It Still Kept The Show Going)

It's already known one of the reasons why I don't like Power Rangers is how Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers got overextended. Unlike a certain group, I understand Toei's ultimately to blame (and Saban is practically Luigi to Toei's Mario) since they were the ones who created the Zyu2 footage. They did the same thing when Lion Voltron became a hit in America by creating exclusive footage for American use - footage NEVER used in the original Golion. Both shows were part of my childhood BUT I don't bother rewatching them for personal reasons. I'd like to examine this messy transition. Toei Ltd. and Saban Entertainment may have had what I'd call that POSSIBLE OVERSIGHT.

It's known that Mighty Morphin' was supposed to end in 40 episodes. Reading this essay on Zyu2 might help me understand the MARKETING side of things. I believe Toei made that OVERSIGHT when they produced additional footage for Saban's use. Toei could've said, "Well Saban, we better think of something else! Maybe, create something to override it and present a new season like we do in Japan." Instead, Toei and Saban got into the GREEED like Kougami does in Kamen Rider OOO. I even think Toei created Kougami as a tribute to their longtime friend. They could've just ended everything, and gotten a NEW CAST, but we know how American TV works. A show gets overextended due to popularity and Toei knew that! Toei was also working with Hasbro as the animation studio so they'd know that too! 

One needs to take a look at how the Japanese-exclusive Takara Transformers vs. the original Hasbro canon works. Toei was involved in animating both sides. I even feel rewatching the original 1980s Transformers cartoon can be a chore. Just imagine if I had to rewatch every episode and the movie in between. Eventually, we had 100 episodes of the said cartoon. Fortunately, Transformers Headmasters, as atrocious as it is, DECIDED to wrap up a conclusion. Transformers Masterforce was pretty much meh but I'd give it credit for actually giving us a final battle against Black Zarak. Transformers Victory gave a final climatic battle that Optimus Prime and Megatron never had. Starsaber finally wrapping things up with Deszaras was just a breath of fresh air. I kinda dislike how Transformers' three-part rebirth arc left us with a very hanging ending.

The Japanese standard and the American standard can work differently. Toei earned big bucks from Saban's royalty. Now, for this insight on BRIDGING THE GAP: 

Saban Entertainment was certainly not a dumb company. Having chosen to continue to use the familiar Zyuranger hero costumes (and, accordingly, sell toys based on them), they still had 10 additional monsters with footage that they could utilize at the beginning of season two. The inclusion of Rita-style Putty Patrollers and the first season Dinozords, though, would present a problem. This led to some of the most ingenious and/or most horrible editing jobs in all of Power Rangers history.

Making sure not to show any shots of monster-zord contact, the producers spliced together Zyu2 footage of the monsters with footage of the Thunder Megazord from Dairanger footage, with lots of shots of sparks and explosions to bridge the gaps in between. There are many times where the editing was not quite perfect, and an attentive viewer can see a monster’s attack land on the original Megazord for a frame or two, before cutting to the Thunder Megazord reacting to an attack.

Season 2, as well as many later seasons, loved to bring back old monsters. While some monsters came back because they were favorites and their suits held up remarkably well (i.e. Eye Guy), in MANY cases, these monsters were monsters from Zyu2. Sure, the footage may have been exhausted, but these costumes were on hand, owned out-right by Saban Entertainment, and ready to fight one more time. So, for example, when Lord Zedd and Rita Repulsa got married, most of the guests at the wedding were Zyu2 monsters.

What I remembered was the messy transition. The Zyu2 footage meant that Rita Repulsa owned the monsters. However, a lot of things were shaken up, especially with the transition to the use of Dairanger footage...

I even wonder why Lord Zedd was NEVER introduced immediately after "Doomsday". That would be the most appropriate time to berate Rita's failures - not just some regular day of scheming! It could've worked IF Rita Repulsa's retreat was soon met with Lord Zedd's disapproval after episode 40. Instead, fans had to wait for a couple more episodes before a more menacing villain claiming to be Eviler Than Thou entered. However, Lord Zedd only got more dangerous AFTER he married Rita. Fans had to wait for 20 more episodes. I wonder if it was an unfortunate oversight on Saban's part? Lord Zedd could've been introduced almost immediately. Maybe, even have Turban Shell destroy the Dinozords for good and the Green Ranger powers drained completely. Zordon can slowly introduce the Thunderzords. I guess Toei and Saban didn't think things through huh? 

Lord Zedd showed up and the Green Ranger was STILL the Green Ranger. It's because any monsters Lord Zedd created using the Zyu2 footage were mostly and originally destroyed by the Dino Ultrazord. The Thunder Megazord footage was from Dairanger. A good example is how Pirantahistead was supposed to be crushed by the Dino Ultrazord. However, Thunder Megazord footage was spliced and the editing was WAY TOO OBVIOUS. Rewatching them makes me laugh at the shoddy editing that still got cash-ins for both Toei and Saban. Saban paid Toei for the royalties. Toei didn't mind as long as they got paid. Eventually, all the Zyu2 footage ran dry and Dairanger monsters were soon introduced. That was until Dairanger footage finally ran out. 

This may be the case where Toei and Saban got intoxicated by unexpected success. Toei probably gave Saban more freedom in the Terms and Conditions. I don't think Toei does a hands-on approach with Power Rangers. That's probably why Toei allowed Saban to work with the former's shows in the 1980s. There's Big Bad Beetleborgs based on the B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto. There's Saban's Masked Rider which was based on Kamen Rider BLACK RX - a show that didn't do well and only got vindicated because the localization was SO MUCH WORSE. There's VR Troopers which came hanging after two seasons. I use these shows to justify disliking most American localization of Japanese shows. 

I feel that success here is like a lottery win. This also created Power Rangers' timeline which contains a lot of contradictions. The transition is anything but smooth BUT it still kept the show going. I guess American children didn't care back then how messy transitions can be. All they cared about was the show went on and on. Toei understood that and wanted to strike while the iron was still hot. Power Rangers was still making them plenty of money. The money was raining when they forgot they'd exhaust themselves. The Zyu2 footage ran out and it was time to bring in Dairanger footage to introduce new toys. People will get bored so easily and there are better ways to go than selling the same merchandise.  

That's why I believe Saban Entertainment did Marvel-based cartoons better than Power Rangers. Saban Entertainment had to work with creating all the footage from scratch. What still ticked me off though was that X-Men: The Animated Series didn't end with the "Beyond Good and Evil" arc and that Spider-Man: The Animated Series finale had Spider-Man and Madame Webb looking for Mary Jane Watson, instead of reuniting the hero and his love interest. However, I'd say that Saban still did a better job with the Spider-Man name than Toei could dream of. That's why I'm surprised the late Stan Lee actually praised the Spider-Man Japanese remake. I prefer to watch Saban's Spider-Man any day over what Toei's odd remake. I prefer Toei making heroes based on American superheroes (ex. Janperson is partly based on Robocop) rather than Toei having temporary rights over them.