We Do not Ruin Sentai: a Rebuttal

Just an archiving of something I wrote WAY back last year (~9 months) on Tumblr, it seems to be more and more common an need to do these days due to a LOT of people missing the point of the critique.
This is just a straight copy-paste of that, some minor details are less accurate than Expected, but the spirit of the matter is still the same.
Original post can be found here

pinkrangerwannabe:

blackscarabfilmz:

kevinbolk:

egallardo26:

Shocking I know! But I feel like this still needs to be addressed because a lot of people still say that “Saban ruins Sentai” or “Nick runied Gokaiger.”

What Power Rangers does:- Uses footage from a Sentai series and films new scenes with American actors to create a new story or adapt the Japanese story for Americans.

What Power Rangers does NOT do:

- Uses footage and destroys any and all episodes of the Sentai
- Goes back in time and interrupt the filming/writing of the Sentai.
- Change anything that the original Sentai did, does currently, or will ever do in the future.

Please use common sense people.

I don’t care for Power Rangers at all, but if it means I get repackaged Gokaiger toys for significantly less than their import counterparts, then I’ll keep my mouth shut. :D

Though I get a little grumpy when they do episodes like “Lost and Found in Translation” but I always have Akibaranger Season 2 Episode 5 “Delusional Power” to wash the taste out of my mouth. :D 

Now, I don’t think they ruin it, however I have over the years gotten used to the new season, new sentai footage, and them having two seasons of Samurai was stupid.  We don’t need Super Megaforce, we need whatever they’d call Gokaiger, Pirate Rangers or something. 

The problem is that unlike the old days when Power Rangers had it’s own stories, themes, characters, mythos, etc nowadays Saban just copy/pastes the Sentai and translates it. They might as well just dub the raw footage. 

*Clap Clap Clap Clap*  Congratulations…On missing the point.

We’re not angry that Power rangers is overriding Sentai, or making it appear it never existed, we’re angry about the ruination of the franchise, of the legacy they both have.

Since Saban and Johnathan Tzachor took back the reins of power rangers, there has been a significant and irredeemable drop in quality in storytelling, acting, direction, and writing.  One that, even when making a show on a budget, is not conductive to continued existence of the franchise, nor is it in step with the quality expected from the many, many long years it has had behind it.  More fans have left the series and migrated to the sentai stories in the last few years than ever before, as they are after the same content, but done in a manner that does not insult their intelligence.

However, it has come to a head this year of all years because of what they’ve done.  Megaforce is, quite frankly, an attempt to remake the original years of the series while ripping plot elements and story dynamics of Goseiger and Gokaiger.  They set it back in Angel Grove, revamped the original high school, gave a counterpart to the juice bar, Zordon, and Alpha…Forgetting why those worked in the 90’s and not now.  Power rangers grew beyond those elements, to quality acting, well-choreographed combat, and dialogue that didn’t hurt to hear.  they’re trying to recapture the original without putting the effort in to aquire those feelings of nostalgia.

 

Yes, look at all the effort they put in.

And people are most angry over Gokaiger because Gokaiger is not only among the best of all the sentai Series ever made, but a near-perfect one in it’s 51 episodes and 3 primary movies. (Not Counting Super Hero Taisen nor Gokaiger Vs Gobusters, as it wasn’t so much their story in the first case and the latter was suffering from the flaws of Gobusters.)

It gave great and powerful enemies, a chance for each of the actor’s and characters a moment to shine and develop, told a cohesive, strong story, has masterfully choreographed fights and used special effects in the exact right ways, and respected the Legacy of EVERY series that came before it, good and bad, getting one cast member from each team so as to pass on  a blessing and well-wishes for the continued success of the franchise that has run continuously for longer than any other show in existence without Hiatus.

it’s this one we’re putting our foot down on because half-assing an Anniversary series, especially in adapting THIS anniversary series, where everything was done RIGHT, and being lazy about it; caring not one Fuck about guests or continuity or how to best represent the legacy of what has been laid before it, making stupid decisions with respect to funding, casting MODELS instead of actors and a leading man that has all of one expression in his repertoire, being unable to make them speak like real people, jamming a story told in the sentai into a setting that doesn’t work with it without bothering to rewrite it so it works, hiring writers that aren’t qualified to save money while wasting a budget bigger than any season before it for a total of twenty episodes before even getting the older actors involved, Insulting many of them, and Blacklisting others from the Disney era of the franchise because the Producer views them as not being real members of it.

It’s not just about the Sentai.  It’s about quality, the legacy of a show we grew up with, and how it’s doing everything it can now to wither and die, and being vocal in how much we hate what it’s doing to itself when sentai continues to move forward and prosper.

Recently Akibaranger, a sentai parody series which honor their legacy from a fan’s perspective, did an episode calling out the problems with Power Rangers.  How sentai is their cultural legacy, and the people who adapt it for american and other english-speaking countries don’t care about what they do with the content.

 And Frankly, they’re right.  These days there isn’t care given to how it’s done as long as they make a show.  But what they got wrong is how Power Rangers is OUR legacy too.  IT’s ran so long because people care about it, because it entertained them when they were kids and they can look back on it and still enjoy it, despite how clunky it can be because it had heart, development, and good characters—Even the bad seasons.

But power rangers as it is now?  There is no heart, development and character.  All that there is is just ripped from one source or another.  Nothing original, nothing fitting the strengths of it’s actors, nothing done well or With EFFORT.  That’s why we hate Megaforce, and for that matter Super Megaforce before it’s even aired.  that’s why we hate the current production team in NEW ZEALAND.  That’s why we hate Johnathan Tzachor and his team, Nickelodeon, Saban and Bandai;  Because they’re doing nothing to fix what is wrong, and make a strong, quality series like they used to.

…

Oh, by the way, that comment about the ‘Toys for lower prices because they’re not importing’?  Bandai of Japan assists in the funding for sentai. The Toys are priced so high not just because of that, but because of using quality plastics in the molds, and adding special detailing into each of them and placing as many features as they can into each, to make them just like the show.
 Bandai of America, since Saban took back the show, makes a new mold as they didn’t bother to get the old one (which drives up costs), uses Inferior and more easily broken plastics, then don’t bother to add all the details or features in or so few of them it appears inferior when compared.  So really, you’re paying less for what is effectively an overpriced knock-off that —outside of the rare funding assist—doesn’t add to the show’s budget.
 Bandai of Japan makes less off of their product even though it’s priced higher, but continues to ensure there will be a toy to sell next year.