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[Madeus Prime]

Just finished "Once a Ranger."

Okay, so you've gotten past Tyzonn's introduction and backstory, so that's one interesting point that I remember you've seen. You should be coming up to another interesting point soon.

Well as long as it isn't some massive crazy twist like, I don't know, Mack turns out to be some kind of robot. I don't know that my heart could take such a shocking swerve.

I did mention I had watched History of Power Rangers, you know.

Honestly, I really loved Overdrive as a series. I know some people hate on it, but I really loved the mecha and the variety of villains.

[Shadowman]

So here's a progress report:

Jungle Fury, like Mystic Force before it, surprised me with how good it was. It had some stupid in there but overall it had some really good writing and acting. RJ quickly became one of my favorite mentors, and holy crap Fran was adorable.

RPM I had actually already seen beginning to end...twice. (Once to see it, once to show it all to some friends of mine) So no surprises there, other than having more to compare the actual quality of it to. It's a clear example of just what they're capable of when they think "We're pretty much already cancelled so there's no pressue, screw it, let's go for broke!" (In Space was similarly supposed to be the end of the franchise)

Samurai hoo doggy was an immediate drop-off in quality. Just about the only character I like is Antonio and that's because he's the only one who isn't totally wooden. Bulk feels totally wasted (Is this the same guy who risked his life multiple times to save the Rangers, down to leading the charge against the Quantrons?) and Spike is trying way too hard to emulate Skull. And Dekker being obsessed with sword fights is just a tad uncomfortable considering his actor, although that's not really the show's fault. I actually like Dayu, though, and that you can often hear Rita's theme in the Nighlok's ship.

Clash of the Red Rangers was...okay. It lacked a lot, if not most of what made team-up episodes so great--getting to catch up with the old team and seeing the contrast with the new team. And of the two holiday episodes, I actually skipped the Halloween one once I realized it was just a clip show.

Now I've got Super Samurai to deal with and then...ugh, Megaforce.

[Sabrblade]

And of the two holiday episodes, I actually skipped the Halloween one once I realized it was just a clip show.

Most (but not all) of the holiday episodes in the Neo-Saban Era are clip shows, but ones that they try to weave a new story in around the clips. While the Samurai Halloween episode doesn't really offer much, it does present itself as unique since it's a completely monster-centric story set in an afterlife dimension rather than focusing on the Rangers themselves. The Rangers don't even appear in the episode outside of the clips. It's all interactions between the monsters.

[Sabrblade]

At last! Linkara has finally completed his History of Power Rangers Dino Charge videos.

[Shadowman]

At last! Linkara has finally completed his History of Power Rangers Dino Charge videos.

From the ending it sounds like he's going to do Ninja Steel as well.

[Sabrblade]

At last! Linkara has finally completed his History of Power Rangers Dino Charge videos.

From the ending it sounds like he's going to do Ninja Steel as well.

Well, yes, but not until that show is done and out on DVD in full. Linkara's membership of Power Force requires him to use official sources for his Power Rangers videos. As of this time, he has not yet watched any of Ninja Steel that has thus far aired on TV.

[Shadowman]

So in the episode of Super Samurai where a bunch of people--including most of the rangers--switch bodies with a bunch of random objects, the newspaper Spike is stuck in has a story mentioning a prison break in San Angeles. It's just a tiny little reference but I thought it was a nice touch connecting Samurai better to the rest of the Rangers universe.

[Sabrblade]

So in the episode of Super Samurai where a bunch of people--including most of the rangers--switch bodies with a bunch of random objects, the newspaper Spike is stuck in has a story mentioning a prison break in San Angeles. It's just a tiny little reference but I thought it was a nice touch connecting Samurai better to the rest of the Rangers universe.

Oh snap! That's definitely praiseworthy, especially considering how, at the time Samurai and Super Samurai were being made, Jonathan Tzachor was, IIRC, wanting to retcon the entire Disney Era (Ninja Storm through RPM) out of continuity with the main Power Rangers universe, wanting those seasons to all be part of a separate universe. Thankfully, other than RPM, that never happened.

[Shadowman]

So in the episode of Super Samurai where a bunch of people--including most of the rangers--switch bodies with a bunch of random objects, the newspaper Spike is stuck in has a story mentioning a prison break in San Angeles. It's just a tiny little reference but I thought it was a nice touch connecting Samurai better to the rest of the Rangers universe.

Oh snap! That's definitely praiseworthy, especially considering how, at the time Samurai and Super Samurai were being made, Jonathan Tzachor was, IIRC, wanting to retcon the entire Disney Era (Ninja Storm through RPM) out of continuity with the main Power Rangers universe, wanting those seasons to all be part of a separate universe. Thankfully, other than RPM, that never happened.

RPM being outside the main continuity was Eddie Guzelian's plan from the beginning, despite what a lot of people think. My headcanon on the subject is that it's an alternate timeline, with the rest of the series having happened (Especially the implications that Operation Overdrive and Jungle Fury happened) up to the point of Venjix copying Skynet's playbook.

[Sabrblade]

Some sad Sentai news to report from Anime News Network:

Gosei Sentai Dairanger Actor Tatsuya Nōmi Passes Away

47-year-old actor played Tengensei Daigo in 1993-1994 series

Kōichi Nōmi, the older brother of Gosei Sentai Dairanger actor Tatsuya Nōmi (real name: Takashi Nōmi), revealed on Saturday that Tatsuya passed away on Thursday. Chōdenshi Bioman actress Michiko Makino also confirmed his death on her blog on Sunday. He was 47.

Nōmi played the role of Tengensei Daigo (Daigo of the Heavenly Illusion Star) / Shishi Ranger in the 1993-1994 Gosei Sentai Dairanger television series and the Gekijōban Gosei Sentai Dairanger film in 1993. The second season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers used footage from the series. He also played minor roles in Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger (2002-2003) and GoGo Sentai Boukenger (2006).

Nōmi was also a stage actor, and was involved with the Chikyū Gorgeous and the Tokyo Vaudville Show theater troupes, among others.

Source: Narinari via Hachima Kikō

[Shadowman]

So in the episode of Super Samurai where a bunch of people--including most of the rangers--switch bodies with a bunch of random objects, the newspaper Spike is stuck in has a story mentioning a prison break in San Angeles. It's just a tiny little reference but I thought it was a nice touch connecting Samurai better to the rest of the Rangers universe.

Oh snap! That's definitely praiseworthy, especially considering how, at the time Samurai and Super Samurai were being made, Jonathan Tzachor was, IIRC, wanting to retcon the entire Disney Era (Ninja Storm through RPM) out of continuity with the main Power Rangers universe, wanting those seasons to all be part of a separate universe. Thankfully, other than RPM, that never happened.

So I read that Tzachor considers every season to be its own separate continuity, aside from team-up episodes. If it's true I have to wonder if there's a specific point where that starts, because In Space is kinda sorta built around the idea of the entire Zordon era (And Lost Galaxy, by extension, seeing as it spends so much time referencing In Space) belonging to one single universe.

Also I finishing suffering through Super Megaforce. Now on to Dino Charge, which is going to be a vacation by comparison.

[Sabrblade]

So I read that Tzachor considers every season to be its own separate continuity, aside from team-up episodes.

Sounds like he's firmly stuck in the Super Sentai mindset.

[Shadowman]

I did it. I finished Dino Charge. I'm done!

Well, sort of. Instead of watching the handful of episodes of Ninja Steel currently out, I'm going to wait for the first season to be put up on Netflix and watch that, then do the same for Ninja Super Steel or whatever they're going to call it. So for now my long journey is finally complete.

[Sabrblade]

I did it. I finished Dino Charge. I'm done!

Well, sort of. Instead of watching the handful of episodes of Ninja Steel currently out, I'm going to wait for the first season to be put up on Netflix and watch that, then do the same for Ninja Super Steel or whatever they're going to call it. So for now my long journey is finally complete.

Did you also watch the holiday episodes for both Dino Charge and Dino Super Charge? Cuz the two Christmas episodes, at least, are part of the series' main story.

[Shadowman]

I did it. I finished Dino Charge. I'm done!

Well, sort of. Instead of watching the handful of episodes of Ninja Steel currently out, I'm going to wait for the first season to be put up on Netflix and watch that, then do the same for Ninja Super Steel or whatever they're going to call it. So for now my long journey is finally complete.

Did you also watch the holiday episodes for both Dino Charge and Dino Super Charge? Cuz the two Christmas episodes, at least, are part of the series' main story.

Yeah, those ones are included in the normal episode list, as opposed to the Megaforce and Samurai holiday specials which are listed as separate shows.

[King Kuuga]

Here's a mix of good and bad news for Japanese toku fans. I discovered that Ultra Q, Ultraman, and Ultraseven have been removed from Shout Factory TV's online streaming service. You can still purchase the DVD sets however. Ultra Q is available for individual episode purchase at $2/ep on Amazon Instant Video, Ultraman is similarly available, or you can purchase the entire season for $63, or it can also be streamed through a CONtv channel subscription on top of an Amazon Prime subscription. (I am not a fan of these extra cost "channels" on Amazon Prime) Ultraseven is also available for individual purchase.
With the DVD box sets of these going for modest rates there's really no reason to buy them episodically unless you just want a taste of what you're getting into or you're already a fan and want to own specific episodes to watch wherever and whenever.

Also in the realm of Ultra Series licensing, the Toku channel is avaialable on some premium cable and satellite packages, and has apparently been airing Ultraman Neos, Nexus, Max, and Ultraseven X, with plans to air Ultraman Cosmos and the Ultraman Anime soon. They also have an Amazon Channel you can subscribe to where some of those shows that have aired on their TV channel will be uploaded starting sometime this month.

This is on top of all the shows currently available for streaming on Crunchyroll: Ultraman Leo, 80, Gaia, Nexus, Max, Mebius (strongly recommended just FYI), Ginga, Ultraman X, and Ultraman Orb. They haven't made a formal announcement yet but I'm willing to bet that they will have the streaming rights to Ultraman Xead (or Geed, however it's supposed to be spelled) when that premieres on July 8th. We'll see.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!
Shout Factory TV is now streaming Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger, Gosei Sentai Dairanger, and Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, AKA the shows that were adapted into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers and Alien Rangers. There is no information on how long these shows will be available for streaming, I'd estimate a year or two before they're cycled out for newer content. Chouriki Sentai Ohranger and Gekisou Sentai Carranger are now available on DVD, with Denji Sentai Megaranger announced. The releases show no sign of stopping, although we are leaving the realm of seasons that are nostalgic to older Power Rangers fans and Megaranger will be the last series that was adapted into a Zordon Era season of Power Rangers, so we'll see how Gingaman and beyond fare. I'm optimistic, these releases didn't get by on PR hype alone.

One last bit of streaming news before I move on:
Garo is now airing on HiDive! Maybe you're familiar with the anime of the same name about golden wolf knights, now you can watch the first series of the live-action show that (eventually) kicked off a successful franchise. One caveat, it's only releasing at one episode per week, every Friday at 1 PM. At this time the first 5 episodes are viewable and the season will conclude on November 17. It is also getting an official Blu Ray release (unsure about DVD) with the first volume releasing on October 17.
WARNING: unlike the other shows discussed so far, Garo is not suitable for children. It is for teenagers and adults. It is a mature series featuring horror elements, dark and violent themes, graphic monster designs, and some nudity and sexuality.



In less substantial news, we know now that the next Kamen Rider series will be called Kamen Rider Build. There is some very preliminary information available right now, basically a few silhouettes that have people speculating away. You can find that on your own. But this new show comes with a shift in broadcast time for the first time since Kamen Rider Kuuga revived the franchise in 2000. Formerly the Sunday morning kids' block was comprised of an anime for young children at 7 AM, then Sentai at 7:30, Kamen Rider at 8, and an anime for young girls at 8:30, which has been the Precure series since 2004. Starting in October and presumably coinciding with the conclusion of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid and the current 7 AM show Heybot!, a news talk show will come on at 5:50 AM and run until 8:30 AM. The new kids' block schedule will now start with Precure at 8:30, then Kamen Rider at 9, Super Sentai at 9:30, and at 10 AM the block will conclude and a concert show will air. In summary, the block is being reduced by 30 minutes as one currently airing series ends and is not replaced, Precure will continue at its usual time, then Kamen Rider will air before Sentai, being shifted an hour and two hours respectively from their previous timeslots. No formal explanation for this change has been given that I can see, but my personal speculation is that it is an attempt to recover from the block's viewership decline over the last few years. Year over year, fewer people have been tuning in each week, even with some surges from show popularity and new premieres. Perhaps they want to delay the block until more children and families are awake. This may be useless information because I think I'm the only one here who watches the shows live each week, but I thought I'd put it out there anyway.

Additionally, it was announced this week that 2009/2010's Kamen Rider W is getting a manga sequel.

Finally, at Anime Expo on Sunday, Studio Trigger held a panel where they made some special announcements. Trigger is the company responsible for the anime Kill la Kill, Little Witch Academia, and Space Patrol Luluco, and their chief creative staff worked on Gurren Lagann and Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt under GAINAX before splitting off. They announced three new projects and a sequel at their panel, with the relevant project for this thread being SSSS Gridman. Denkou Choujin Gridman was a 1993 toku series by Tsuburaya, the company that makes Ultraman, which combined elements of Ultraman and Super Sentai-esque giant robot elements. It was adapted into 1994's Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, which is presumably what the "SSSS" in this new series stands for or alludes to. Trigger previously animated a Gridman short in 2014. This series will hopefully begin airing next year.

And that's a wrap!

[Emerje]

I could have sworn there was a non-Transformers haul thread here, but I can't find it anywhere.

Anyway, I got this for a "steel" at the local salvage store:

Not a huge fan of the design, but $10.49 I really can't complain too much. They made the mistake of listing the original price as $17.48 which meant a huge discount. Their loss is my gain. Megazord is OK, but I might just keep it in dragon mode, even if it can't hold a candle to the Mystic Force dragon mode.

Emerje

[King Kuuga]

Heads up, today at 10 AM Pacific time (1 PM eastern), Shout Factory TV is going to do a Megaranger Livestream Marathon in advance of the DVD set releasing on Tuesday. Check it out!
http://www.shoutfactorytvlive.com/sf_event/megaranger/
If that link doesn't work, try this one:
http://www.shoutfactorytvlive.com/sf_ev ... v-channel/

[Kurona]

My headcanon on the subject is that it's an alternate timeline, with the rest of the series having happened (Especially the implications that Operation Overdrive and Jungle Fury happened) up to the point of Venjix copying Skynet's playbook.

I personally believe that RPM, the current Boom comics, the 90s MMPR movie and that one Ninja Storm episode where Lori went to what is basically a Shattered Glass equivalent all took place in the same universe.

[Jelze Bunnycat]

*BUMP*

Hasbro has gotten the Power Rangers toy license (it's true! read up on the Toy Fair Coverage!), the next series has been announced: Power Rangers Beast Morphers. Uhm, no, it's not an adaptation of Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger, but rather it's a series that's initially been skipped:

Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters!!!

Here's the press release:

Set in the future, a secret agency combines a newly discovered substance called “Morph-X” with animal DNA to create the Power Rangers Beast Morphers team. The Rangers must fight off an evil sentient computer virus bent on taking over the source of all Ranger power, the Morphing Grid itself. Featuring never-before-seen leather suits and an all-new beast-themed arsenal (including dynamic new Zords), fans should get ready for a season full of secret ops and morphinominal fun.

Quite the surprise...

Power Rangers Beast Morphers Coming 2019 - Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters adaptation

About Go-Busters, that series aired between Gokaiger (the source for Super Megaforce) and Kyoryuger (Dino Charge) in 2012, with roughly that plot. It sounding similar to RPM may seem odd, but Go-Busters already had some references to Power Rangers in general, the least of which is that the mechs of either side were called MegaZords, and the morpher's call was "It's Morphin' Time!" No kidding!

[Sabrblade]

Yeah, I for one am genuinely shocked by all these new developments.

I mean, Bandai of America losing the license to Power Rangers, Hasbro being the new company to pick it up, and the next season after Super Ninja Steel to not be adapted from Kyuranger (which was practically tailor made for Western adaptability and appeal) but instead be adapted from not just a previous Sentai series but the first one that was deliberately skipped due to how hard it flopped in Japan and proved too difficult to adapt with not enough morphed suit footage to use?

It all almost sounds like an April Fools Day hoax.

[King Kuuga]

The writing was on the wall, Bandai's work on the Power Rangers toyline went downhill FAST after Dino Supercharge ended. Legacy toys nobody wanted, making the alternative cockpit zords into full megazord sets and using the previously established zord price point for junk, awful unpainted figures.... reportedly there was a change in staff and the new leadership caused a lot of people to leave. When the Imaginext toys are the best Power Rangers toys coming out, you know there's a problem. So I hope Hasbro can at least do right by the fans. I don't expect a massive boost in quality like some people elsewhere are saying, but I think they can handle this.

As for Beast Morphers, this news combined with the three year contract extension on Nickelodeon has me suspecting that it will be a single year series like in the old days, and then the 2020-2021 Power Rangers series will be adapted from Kyuranger as predicted. This seems like a way to stall for time, let Bandai close out the series before Hasbro steps in big time.

[ZeroWolf]

I picked up a few ninja steel toys for my oldest and I was very dissatisfied with what Bandai America had put out, especially when I then checked out what Japan had got. My son now wants the red lion fortress megazord but even at a reduced price of £39.99 it still seems a rip off (considering how daft it looks in ultrazord mode with that large gap where the megazords feet are supposed to be.)

Why was kyuranger so hotily tipped? I looked into their toys and was unimpressed by what I saw

[Jelze Bunnycat]

I picked up a few ninja steel toys for my oldest and I was very dissatisfied with what Bandai America had put out, especially when I then checked out what Japan had got. My son now wants the red lion fortress megazord but even at a reduced price of £39.99 it still seems a rip off (considering how daft it looks in ultrazord mode with that large gap where the megazords feet are supposed to be.)

The Lion Fire Fortress is hugely oversized for the sake of it becoming a play set (and providing an incentive). Look up Lion Ha-Oh.

Why was kyuranger so hotily tipped? I looked into their toys and was unimpressed by what I saw

Probably because by comparison Zyuohger has pixelated building blocks for Zords. Think Minecraft I will give credit for what PLEX managed to do, bet it wasn't easy turning a cube into 8 different mech designs.
Kyuranger would also be the easier of the two series to adapt without that many drastic, but necessary, changes, plus it has over 88 Collectibles (one for each modern Constellation) making it more appealing in the merchandising department.

[Sabrblade]