SPOILERS! Kyuranger December Scans (Just a bit to start)

 

In December, the Kyuranger finally finish gathering all 4 KyuTama needed to break the barrier and confront JarkMatter. However, this will be anything but easy, and new threats show up they must face!

 

 

The Kyuranger will go toe to toe with Don Armage again, but whether or not this is the true Armage is anyone's guess. Professor Anton will bring back the Vice Shoguns, only this time he will fuse them together into this unholy mess known as Akyachuuga. Ugly, but incredibly powerful. It will take all the Voyagers to take this monstrosity down. 

The Kyuranger make it to Planet Southern Cross. To get to the core, they need to get through the "Hell's Gate." There, they fight its guardian, the Southern King. (Southern King is a recolor of the 199 Heroes villain, Black Cross King.) 

Their plan is to set the Black Hole KyuTama into the core to destroy the Jark Matter home base. Along the way something happens to Garu, and a mysterious masked warrior who seems to be related to him appears and fights against Lucky. 

It seems that Don Armage will reveal his true form to Tsurugi, but only Tsurugi. What is this true form?!

Also, the Kyuranger will utilize 5 KyuTama in December:

XMas Kyutama- Gives a Christmas Party

Black Hole KyuTama- A key item for the Kyuranger's battle. Has the powers of a Black Hole.

Ya KyuTama- Gives the team baseball uniforms. (Sagitta is the Arrow constellation, but Yakyuu is baseball. Puns, I love them.)

Kogitsune KyuTama- allows the BattleOrionShip to enter stealth mode.

Fukuchou KyuTama- To be used if stuck in a big pinch.

New Build 2nd Quarter Rumors

Grains of salt please:

-Kamen Rider Claws will receive a power-up around New Years called "Claws Charge."

-In February, KnightRogue will be powered up and turn into "Kamen Rider Rogue."

-The 3rd Faust General is another Kamen Rider, Kamen Rider Grease.

-PhoenixRobot form is actually an OOO/Fourze form. OOO gives the MedalBottle and Fourze gives the YuujouBottle. The Yuujou and Medal Full Bottle Set will be a limited release.

Patoranger/Lupinranger Rumors (9/29/17)

Please take the following with a grain of salt. These come by way of J-Hero; rumors and all that:


-Both Patoranger and Lupinranger will count as the 42nd Sentai.

-The two shows are both separate works, and the same show, with intersecting story lines that take place in the same world. The shows will air alternately from week to week, and when each reaches episode 20, the show will become one solidified story.

-The toy line will essentially be separate until this joining happens, with the 4th quarter toys able to combine and interact. 

-One of the members of Lupinranger is actually an undercover spy for Patoranger. It is likely this cast member will be prominently featured on both shows.



My thoughts, if this is true:

-If the toy lines are effectively separate, there's a good chance both will utilize the same collectible. 

-Even though the shows wouldn't officially join as one till the 40's (20 for each show), it seems like this hints at a lot of crossover. 

-If this is true, the undercover agent is probably Patoranger Red. Like it or not, Red is the figurehead of the show, so having him around in the Lupinranger makes sense. It gives Red another form, but also lets the actor play an entirely different character if they so choose. 

Again, GRAIN OF SALT!

-----Thanks to J-Hero for the info. PLEASE NOTE: The image on J-Hero's facebook post is not part of the rumor, it is an old piece of fan art-------

Kamen Rider Build 2nd Quarter Rumors

Please take the following with a grain of salt; seems to be a list of 2nd quarter toys for build:

Henshin Belt DX FaustDriver & Neo Smash Bottle

Tsunaito Muchi (Sandstring Whip) Steam Whip and Spider Full Bottle

Both these will see street dates at the end of December, appearing in the show after New Years.

The FaustDriver will change members of Faust into Kamen Rider Forms. KnightRogue becomes Kamen Rider Rogue (using the NeoSmash Bottle and Bat Full Bottle.) BloodStark becomes Kamen Rider Stark (using the NeoSmash Bottle and Cobra Full Bottle.) A new faust member will transform directly into his rider form. Using the NeoSmash Bottle and Spider Full Bottle, he we will be known as Kamen Rider Speeder.

2018 Sentai- Patoranger VS Lupinranger?

Today, trademarks went up for 2 Sentai series title, both seemingly from Toei. The first is Keisatsu Sentai Patoranger. (Police Sentai Patoranger.) The 2nd is Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger (Pleasant Thief/Gentleman Thief/Phantom Thief Taskforce Lupinranger.)

Grains of salt for now, though it looks like we may have a team of police rangers vs a team of phantom thief rangers.

Super Sentai 2018 Rumors, the "New Car" Sentai?!

Thanks to Oxanium from rangerboard, via J-Hero for this bit of news. Now I had already reported on twitter that the rumor is "cars" for next year's entry into the franchise, and also just recently that the show may have "Shinsha" in the title. ("New Car").

But the rest of this, along with a supposed leak image/artist concept, is new. Please take with a grain of salt!

First, the above picture. While it's probably not real, it's interesting to look at. The mouthpiece is actually the bottom of a giant #1. The visor overlays that and there seems to be something breaking it up, either a picture or a symbol. Definitely a cool design.

As for info:

-Sentai is celebrating a 10-year anniversary next yer. (i.e. Go-Onger)

-The motif is Cars + 3D technology (animals possibly involved again)

-3 Members to start, with 2 additional members already hinted, like Go-Onger

-The weapon seems to be called the "IronFinisher" (translation likely off) and is modeled after a car part

Kyuranger July Scans/Spoilers

Kyuranger Catalog 3 Scans!

In July, a new "Red" appears! His identity is HououSoldier! And in September, ShishiRed will use the powers of the 9 Kyuranger to ascend into his new form, ShishiRedOrion.

HououSoldier's mecha, the HououVoyager. Combined with the HououStation and HououBase, it can transform into GigantHouOh. When GigantHouOh utilizes the other Voyagers' KyuTama and ShishiVoyager as a body, it becomes the mighty KyutamaJin. (Kyutama God)

To transform and fight, HououSoldier utilizes the HououBlade and HououShield to "Come on the Change!!" Like the SeizaBlaster and RyuTsueider it is also used to summon his mecha and combine.

Included in KyuTama Set SP are #14, Tokei (which is dual colored and can be used to alter time), #89 (Argo), and #34 Kaminoke.

In the movie, a Voyager with the power of 3 will appear, the Cerberus Voyager. When combined with 4 other voyagers, it can become  Cerberios.

Utilizing the Saikou KyuTama, Lucky is able to combine the powers of all 9 Kyuranger and ascend into the Orion form.

Power Rangers Premier Countdown: 1st Place goes to...

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Episodes 17-21: Green With Evil


FIRST THINGS FIRST:
 THE MOVIE IS OFFICIALLY OUT TODAY! Thanks for sticking with me for this countdown, it's been a lot of fun reliving some favorite Power Rangers episodes here. Okay, onto the breakdown:

Why are these episodes the best?

Power Rangers was an instant hit when I was a little kid. It took the world by storm. It was not however fully a phenomenon until it reached the 5-part miniseries, Green With Evil. While the show is more often than not formulaic, Green With Evil completely turned everything on its head. The rangers don't have Zordon. They don't have their zords. For a time they don't have Jason. Everything they and we are used to is either mising or unusable. Tommy finally introduced a worthy adversary for the Rangers, and with him, the rest of Rita's gang stepped up their game.

Each episode is a thrilling little adventure that when stacked together gives you something akin to a cinematic feature. At its core, the episode exemplifies "being your own worst enemy" as Tommy is the perfect foil to the goody-good rangers.

Plus, the Dragonzord.

So...these episodes are perfect right?

Far from it. Green With Evil still suffers from all the problems that plagued Mighty Morphin in general; wooden Acting, bad Dubbing, etc. (All of the "good stuff" as it were.) It manages to mitigate a lot of this by being a lot more forward moving with its plot development, and the dramatic irony utilized with the Green Ranger's identity.

There's a lot of Zyuranger footage that was used because it had to be used, and it's really telling. Heck, the entire character of Scorpina isn't exactly that great of an inclusion in the series, let alone this episode. Maybe it's because she's just another general here, as opposed to Goldar's wife like in Japan.

There's also a lot of weirdness with how the script is written. We get a lot of moments of Tommy being threatening, but in hindsight, it would have been even creepier to have him acting normal to try and fool the rangers. The audience knew either way. (Dino Thunder would later do this for Trent/White Drago Ranger, but that created its own issues with the source footage.)

How do these episodes influence the new movie?

I've talked about Rita and the likelihood of her being the previous Green Ranger. If that's the case, there's definitely going to be some similarities between how this movie feels and Green With Evil. (Not the plot or story though.) We don't know if Tommy is in it, but we do know there's a mid-credits scene. If the film gets a sequel, it's going to have to be some kind of an adaption of Green With Evil. What form it will take, we don't know, but we know it's going to shake up the status quo that will be established in this first film.

NOTE: THE MOVIE BEGINS SHOWINGS TODAY (3/23)! IT IS OPEN FOR WIDE RELEASE TOMORROW (3/24)  Enjoy it Ranger fans, this is for us!

Head to Fandango and check for theaters in your area!

Kamen Rider 2017-2018 Rumored Design- A Sushi-based rider?

This was dropped on 2ch a little while ago:

The text reads Kamen Rider 2017 Design, #1 Maguro Form Body (Tuna Form, the edible kind.) You can see the sushi-inspired esign along the shoulder pads and chest, and the white body color does invoke Rice.

Grain of salt please!!

Power Rangers Premier Countdown: 2nd Place goes to...

Power Rangers In Space Episode 31: Rangers Gone Psycho

Why is this episode one of the best?

Kicking off the Psycho Rangers saga of In Space, this episode is the first time we are introduced to a true, evil team of rangers. In the past, we either had good people under spells, or teams of monsters/putties/clones that were defeated in one episode. The Psychos are not that- they're a force designed to directly counter the good guys, and in this episode, they dominate fight completely.

This is one of the only episodes in the show's history where the Rangers don't really win by the end. In fact, they're trounced quite badly by the Pscyhos, and it adds a nice level of drama to an already tense situation.
The Psychos also set up a plot that will continue until just before the finale- the newly turned evil Astronema wants to destroy not only the rangers, but Dark Specter as well.

Why is this episode not number one?

The episode is nearly perfect, but it does have a few little things that bug me. For one, there are a lot of repeated lines in the episode, for the sake of exposition. Watching as a little kid I never noticed, but seeing the episode now, and having watched it so many times, there's lines that really don't need to be said, or that are said repeatedly in different ways by different characters.

Also, when the Psychos first show up and are disguised as the rangers, the "brown squares" bother me. It has always bothered me in fact. Here are these really intelligent villains, but their perfect design is off by one very obvious thing to fix. It's done of course to match the Japanese footage, and also so that the audience will know who is who...but I feel like it's a really weird way to do it.

Plus....there's a lot of bad guest star acting in this one.

How does this episode influence the new movie?

I've posted a lot about the theory that Rita is probably a former ranger turned evil; there's just too many visual clues for this to not be the case. The most threatening thing for a ranger team and the audience watching is for them to fight another ranger team. Even when that team isn't evil, the level of the battle far exceeds the usual monster of the week. You're fighting someone with powers equal to yours, and thinking ability to equal to yours.

Beyond that, the movie ranger suits themselves have an oddly Psycho Ranger look to them. With Kyuranger doing so well, and Bandai Japan/Bandai America collaborating now, this may be the end of the traditional spandex suits as we know them. And really, after 41 years, it was time to evolve.


NOTE: TICKETS ARE OFFICIALLY ON SALE FOR THE POWER RANGERS MOVIE! THE MOVIE OPENS NEXT FRIDAY, MARCH 24th, with THURSDAY SHOWINGS AVAILABLE IN SOME AREAS. 

Head to Fandango and check for theaters in your area!

We are officially in Premier Week! Today, (March 22nd), Bill Hader will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Check your local listings for times! 

Also, IGN will be streaming the Power Rangers Red Carpet tonight at 9 PM Eastern (6 PM Central.) Stars of the movie will be in attendance as well as the original cast of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers!

Power Rangers Premier Countdown: 3rd Place goes to...

Power Rangers Dino Thunder Episode 19: Lost & Found in Translation

Why is this episode one of the best?

Maybe it's my love of Abaranger. Maybe it's my love of the film that the title of this episode is referencing. Maybe I just love when a show can be meta without apologizing for it. Lost & Found in Translation sees the Power Ranger team (Connor/Red, Ethan/Blue and Kira/Yellow) sitting down for a night of hanging out by the TV in their usual hangout/cafe. Eager to finish his report on cultural differences (Connor being a slacker, so it sounds like he waited till the night before to do it) the teens find themselves watching a horribly-dubbed Japanese television based on their lives on the Power Rangers.

So to summarize- the episode is about a Japanese television show based on American superheroes on an American television show adapted from a Japanese television show about Japanese superheroes. That's a level of meta few shows dare to reach.

Essentially the episode is about cultural differences, and how we're all pretty much the same. It also gets to poke fun at the following things:

-Bad Dubs of Japanese TV (both the way they are dubbed and the localized names)
-Elitist Power Rangers fans VS Elitist Super Sentai fans
-The ridiculous situations and monsters Power Rangers deals with on a weekly basis
-Sensationalism in media + America's image in other countries

So yeah, it's a deep episode, if however goofy. And really, if you play the Abaranger theme song in something, I'm going to like it regardless.

Why is this episode not higher on the list?

While it's pulled off very well, the episode is really just an advanced form of footage burning. They took the most ridiculous episode of Abaranger (a show that often parodies itself and the greater Super Sentai mythos) and used it for that ridiculousness, mostly because there would be no other way to fit it in without re-filming everything.

One other thing that's a sticking point for me is that they tease that the Bakuryuu (the zords) speak in Abaranger, but they never show it past Yukito's DinoBrace. (My two main problems with Dino Thunder as a season are that they dumbed down AbareKiller and that the zords don't speak.) It doesn't feel properly explained, nor do the rangers comment/make a joke about it when it happens.

How does this episode influence the new movie?

One of the selling points of the new film is its incredibly diverse cast. Another is that the movie is not afraid to poke fun at itself. It is Power Rangers after all.


NOTE: TICKETS ARE OFFICIALLY ON SALE FOR THE POWER RANGERS MOVIE! THE MOVIE OPENS NEXT FRIDAY, MARCH 24th, with THURSDAY SHOWINGS AVAILABLE IN SOME AREAS. 

Head to Fandango and check for theaters in your area!

We are officially in Premier Week! Today, (March 21st), Naomi Scott will be on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Check your local listings for times!

Power Rangers Premier Countdown: 4th Place goes to...

Power Rangers RPM Episode 11: Doctor K

Why is this episode one of the best?

RPM is widely regarded as one of the best ranger series. It took risks, developed interesting characters and kept a mostly optimistic tone while taking place in a post-apocalyptic world. The episode Doctor K is a cut above the rest, as it introduces us to Doctor K's ( the character) backstory. The acting, its incredibly dramatic rendering of her kidnapping as a child, to her being raised in Alphabet Soup to work on government programs, to finally being driven to release the Venjix Virus (the season's main baddie) on the world is done with such care for the character that it almost transcends being a Power Rangers episode.

As RPM often does, even though the focus is on K, the other characters are still developed through their relationship with her. This is also the first we see of Gem and Gemma, the eventual 6th and 7th rangers on the team. The episode leads us to believe that they died saving K, unless you happened to watch Go-onger and knew what was coming.

Add to that the violin motif played by K throughout the episode, and that they are able to fit in a new Megazord formation into the story line, and an argument could be made that this is definitely one of the best episodes the series has to offer.

Why is this episode not higher on the list?

This episode is nearly perfect. The only things you can fault it for are your usual Power Rangers issues. Doctor K's plan to duplicate the device using the mirror is a good one, but the mechanics are never properly explained, nor why they can't build another. (Surely they can scrap parts from somewhere.)

It's also kind of hard to buy that Tenaya fit into that Attack Bot, but like I said, Power Rangers issues. (The show has long disregarded physics and spacial relationships.)

There's also a lot left unexplained regarding Alphabet Soup. It's not necessarily the job of the episode to do this, but since we never really hear from the group again, it does leave a bit of a lingering question in the minds of fans. (The main one being- what inspired them to make the ranger suits in the first place.) I would love to see some sort of comic in the future or novel tying up those lingering threads. If it were another series, I'd let it slide, but because RPM irons all of its plot points out, it just feels weird.

How does this episode influence the new movie?

RPM is often regarded as "the darkest season" of Power Rangers. Really though it's just the most grounded. It's about the characters, in spite of the ridiculous stuff happening around them. The movie seems to fall into the same idea- If you develop your characters fully, make them real, the audience is much more willing to suspend their disbelief and go on the ride with them.



NOTE: TICKETS ARE OFFICIALLY ON SALE FOR THE POWER RANGERS MOVIE! THE MOVIE OPENS NEXT FRIDAY, MARCH 24th, with THURSDAY SHOWINGS AVAILABLE IN SOME AREAS. 

Head to Fandango and check for theaters in your area!

We are officially in Premier Week! Today, (March 20th), there will be a special episode of Cake Wars featuring the Power Rangers movie on Food Network. Becky G (Trini/Yellow Ranger) will be a guest judge. Check your local listings for times!

Power Rangers Premier Countdown: 5th Place goes to...

Power Rangers Dino Thunder Episode 27: Fighting Spirit

Why is this episode one of the best?

Often times, Power Rangers does not get to be overly cerebral or deep in its storytelling. The series runs the gambit from funny to dramatic, but Power Rangers is usually very on the surface. That isn't the case with Fighting Spirit. The episode starts with Tommy being accidentally put into a coma when the rangers' tech designer, Hayley, tries to make him visible again (it's a whole thing that we won't get into here.) His Dino Gem (this season's ranger power source), is used as the power source for her machine, and when the machine overloads, the gem breaks into three pieces and Tommy is left in an unconcious state.

While the other rangers battle a monster who negates their powers, Tommy is made to battle 3 past versions of himself, taking the form of Zeo Ranger 5, White Ranger and Green Ranger. It is revealed toward the end of the episode that what Tommy has really been battling is his approaching death. His will to live overcame the destruction of his powers, and the gem is returned to him in tact. Receiving a new power-up, he and the other rangers are able to take down the monster.

Besides just being full of Tommy VS Tommy battles, the episode gets to be really deep. As far back as Mighty Morphin we have been told that the ranger powers are actually bonded to the rangers themselves. When Kimberly is without her Power Coin in Season 3, her health actually declines, and it's implied if a ranger is forcibly removed from their powers, they will die, or enter a state close to death. (Kendrix's death and subsequent revival in Lost Galaxy could be attributed to this; Kendrix died, but her Saber was kept in tact and may have actually housed her essence. Weird times.)

When Tommy's gem splits into 3, it actually splinters his being into 3 parts. Only by beating them is he able to restore the gem to its original form, and become whole again. That's some Kingdom Hearts stuff right there.

Why is this episode not higher on the list?

Power Rangers being what it is, this episode is probably not as great as it could have been. For one, there is not as much tension as there should be in the hospital scenes. I don't know if this was a result of Disney, or just the writing in general, but we never really get the feeling that Tommy is in any danger.

I'm a Tommy fan....but even this episode can be too much Tommy at times for me. I think this was a missed opportunity to develop Hayley a bit. We know why Tommy knows how to do ranger stuff; we see him grow with it. We're just told about Hayley's backstory and her friendship with Tommy. (I guess I'll wait for the Boom comic to explain it all to me.)

The villains are barely a factor in this episode, and that's sort of a rarity for Dino Thunder. Their only purpose is to drain the rangers' powers so they can show they're badass enough to fight without them. While that's definitely viable from a plot perspective, Mesogog is sort of left to just be "Big Evil" here, and that is usually not the case. Plus it introduces the idea of their being other power sources comparable to the Dino Gems...but we never hear from that again.

One sticking point for a lot of fans is also the Green Ranger helmet in this episode. I'm unclear as to what the actual story is, but I think they just didn't have the original prop, and the one that they had was painted incorrectly. It's not that big of a deal, especially for the kids who were watching this when it aired- they wouldn't have been born when the Green Ranger was a thing. For older fans like myself though...it's annoying. Power Rangers has a lot of these moments- the production wants to do big things, but they have so much going on they don't pay attention to key details. (Super Megaforce, in a nutshell.)

How does this episode influence the new movie?

Early pictures from filming of the movie show that Rita is playing mind games with the rangers here. She's not just attacking them physically, she's playing on their fears and their weaknesses; probably because she had/has those same issues. Like I said above, Power Rangers is almost always on the surface. That's fine for the TV show, but this movie has to dive just a little bit deeper into each character if it's going to be all that it can be.


NOTE: TICKETS ARE OFFICIALLY ON SALE FOR THE POWER RANGERS MOVIE! THE MOVIE OPENS NEXT FRIDAY, MARCH 24th, with THURSDAY SHOWINGS AVAILABLE IN SOME AREAS. 

Head to Fandango and check for theaters in your area!

On this coming Monday, (March 20th), there will be a special episode of Cake Wars featuring the Power Rangers movie on Food Network. Becky G (Trini/Yellow Ranger) will be a guest judge. Check your local listings for times!