The season has continued on pretty medicore, and we finally got the best episode this year I thought -- followed by the worst.
Coming off the hiatus, "MAN AND MACHINE" definitely would've made a better stopping point.
Shadow Serpent put up a good fight against the Rangers which I enjoyed but the timeframe went on too long.
Some of RoboTroy's lines were bad but I'd take that over channeling his inner-Alata. >_>
Vrak working with the mutants and developing his own agenda that
Malkor's not privy to is one thing I'm really liking as well as the fun
moments at the end between the Rangers. But a lot of the dialogue bogged
the episode down, especially with Robo Knight learning the value of
teamwork. And the ADR looks like a mess when you have the Rangers, RK and Gosei all talking during zord summoning. Not to mention
hearing "Vulcan Cannon" again and again.
I'd go with a 3.5/5. Action was good and Vrak's easily one of the most
interesting characters since RPM.
"ULTRA POWER"
The fight with Distractor would've made a lot more sense if it had actually been an illusion, which was never stated. RK's big mode was cool but obviously it'll never been seen again. And it was funny how incompetent the team looked, while RK has to guide them basically (since most of the time Gosei isn't).
The Rangers and Vrak trying to control the Wild Sword was pretty good. And with some decent moments in the Command Center I'd say this did enough for a 4/5.
"LAST LAUGH"
I was glad to have a break from zord/weapon intros and this episode
handled the character focus pretty decent. I thought Noah and the plot
worked with the GoseiBlue/Knight footage pretty well.
Before NoJoke met with Bigs and Bluefur I wondered if he was even a
mutant himself or if we'd only seen with with Vrak. And most of the
jokes were just OK but I did chuckle a few times late in the episode.
I'll never get used to hearing "Ultrazords" in a team powerup.
So Gia morphed inside the pod with all the people? It would've been cool if she had gotten a solo morph afterwards instead.
Bonus points for finally showing that Troy is human and can make faces -- even if he still has horrible line delivery. 4/5
"DREAM SNATCHER" was a very enjoyable episode. Good scenes between the team and pretty decent
extras. Plus I gotta hand it to the effort to match footage.
Dream Snatcher being a latino monster was odd but helped make for a fun
episode. Did anyone else wish he had said "Pasta la pizza, baby!"? And I
loved the disco trick.
Thought it was cool seeing RK and Emma work together and some of his deadpaned responses.
The ending was perfect and I enjoyed the song playing through. Yeah, they really hammered the dreams lesson but the episode otherwise had a lot
going for it. At last, the best one this year and the latest in a season I've ever given a 5/5.
Now "GOSEI ULTIMATE" was a weird episode.
Adapting a plotline from multiple sentai eps into a half-hour is
nothing new but here I felt like it really didn't work. Too much dialogue between the mutants and their going on about the box being powered from the toxic ooze.
Bigs taking over the top of the building was just awkward. I woud've
liked it better if the Rangers had killed him sooner and the fight just
with Bluefur had been longer. Loved that they slipped in the bigfoot
reference.
Also I did like that Tensou had to prepare the Command Center and all we
saw were parts flying everywhere. But aren't civilians going to notice
when the mountain goes into space?! Imagine if Zordon's Command Center
had been a shuttle.
Gosei Ultimate Megazord is a refreshing change not being on any cards
and it's easily the only Megazord name I care for this year.
Gotta say I was never much of a fan of the mutants being created
from the toxic waste and man-made pollution so you could call it poetic
justice that the end of their arc I consider Megaforce's worst episode.
Not to mention the cast was barely in this. 2/5 -- one of the most lopsided excellent-to-terrible episode turnovers I've ever seen.
"RAISING SPIRITS" was a fun episode and better than I expected for a clip show, with more originality working around Goseiger and fewer clips. They could've given Glytcher a special power like ruining machines around the city or creating the crystal ball, and less bouncing around. Decent 3/5, about on par with "PARTY MONSTERS."
Looking forward to the introduction of Prince Veker and the armada coming up, and hopefully a good finale to lead us into Super Megaforce. But I know with this show I can't be too optimistic no matter how good it sounds.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Saturday, July 20, 2013
Week of Ranger Bar Roundup
As July 1 came upon us, I was excited for what was promising to be Ranger Bar's biggest week ever, and coincidentally just over a year after Rangers vs Ninjas (what would be one of the last events at the Ranger Bar Apartment). But with Ranger Bar located at a house currently, thinks were sure to get crazy. And I wondered how closely we'd stick to the schedule and menu for the week that was prepared.
Monday Day 1: I arrived in Federal Way and BatZilla98 (aka Batz) picked me up in the Batzmobile just before 3. First off, we swung by a couple stores for groceries and supplies (including one that felt like we had driven to Mexico). After getting back, hung out and eventually got ready for the nights event: Master Vile's Monsterous Ball. Batz would be Finster, our buddy Tron (who had flown in from New Orleans) as a human version of Eyeguy and myself as the made-up Masked Marauder. The festivities kicked off after 9:30, and for the most part it was just us hanging out with Batz's brother, his girlfriend and a few of her friends late into the night. Of course I'm the lone non-smoker but I never care if others do.
Tuesday Day 2: Once we got going in the afternoon, Batz made breakfast and we soon headed out to look for deals on Power Ranger toys to line the Hall of Legends with. After browsing Lily Pad, Batz's best friend met up with us at Tricky's. Then Tron wanted to see the Bridge of Glass so we went over to the Dale Chihuly Museum for awhile. After we got back I had to leave to go to work Wednesday morning and Batz spent the night playing board games with people, while Tron was passed out.
Wednesday Day 3: The days event was a tribute to Paul Reiser, in the form of watching My Two Dads and The Tower. Batz had also planned on launching Ranger Bar Radio Live, but ran into website trouble. That night the guys had a party, a sort of precursor to things to come.
Thursday the 4th: The big event was a purple ooze party in honor of the 1995 Power Rangers movie. Proving to be no easy task, the guys got underway making the ooze and picked me up about 7:30 on the way to the store to restock the supplies to make it (It consisted mostly of pudding, cake mix, food coloring and dozens and dozens of corn starch).
The party got underway after 10:00 as more and more people started showing up. The drinks were flowing, fireworks booming and snacks going (which ran out hours before the party ended). Batz horsed around with the ooze outside at one point, but not as much of it was used then what was expected. And one mishap occurred with an explosive which resulted in the house filling with smoke for a few minutes. I was perfectly comfortable staying inside the entire time and ended up taking 4 shots with the guys over the night, in addition to enjoying Batz's loaded fruit punch. After midnight Batz's brother eventually tried multiple times to shut down the party to get some sleep but it'd past 4 am by the time we wrapped it up. We settled in Batz's bedroom as he put on some Power Rangers on a small TV.
Friday Day 5: A pretty lazy afternoon hanging out. We put on My Two Dads again and The Tower (which I practically fell asleep to). Later, Batz restocked the fridge and made a couple pizzas, while Tron and I started playing Super Smash Bros Brawl on my Wii. The 3 of us had a long 99-lives challenge and then put on a Dolph Lundgren movie. We also had a ice cream social with all the fixings around 4 am.
Saturday Day 6: Batz and Tron had come up with ideas for our own fanfilm so we started recording a bunch of video for it after we went back to Tacoma. The days event was an old school arcade tour so we headed over to B & I Amusements for awhile and then Dorky's. When we got home most of the time was spent doing fanfilm scenes and Batz fixed us spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread.
Sunday the Finale: No lounging around today - Batz had planned a spray paint challenge at The Garages in Tacoma beginning at 1. Though it was pretty quiet and the contest didn't happen - We instead spent about an hour working on fanfilm scenes. Afterwards we stopped by Jack in the Box and continued to work on scenes when we got back. An evening of watching Saban's Beetleborgs (sister show to Power Rangers) while enjoying baked goods had been planned but was cancelled. Batz then dropped me off to catch the bus at 8:30 and took Tron to the airport.
It was definitely a fun week. I kinda wish I hadn't had to miss part of it but it worked out better than if I had taken an entire suitcase (instead of a backpack) and been gone an entire week (whereas with Morphicon I'd be gone about 5 and a half days). And since I don't smoke or drink really, a whole night of partying can start to get boring. I gotta say though, Batz knows how to entertain and fed us well. I probably will stay the week off when we do it again in 2 years and hopefully we'll get another person or so. In the meantime, Ranger Bar's annual trip to the fair and Halloween Haunted House will be coming up and I look forward to playing the morphinominal 20th anniversary monopoly.
Check out my pics here and head over to Ranger Bar for more.
Monday Day 1: I arrived in Federal Way and BatZilla98 (aka Batz) picked me up in the Batzmobile just before 3. First off, we swung by a couple stores for groceries and supplies (including one that felt like we had driven to Mexico). After getting back, hung out and eventually got ready for the nights event: Master Vile's Monsterous Ball. Batz would be Finster, our buddy Tron (who had flown in from New Orleans) as a human version of Eyeguy and myself as the made-up Masked Marauder. The festivities kicked off after 9:30, and for the most part it was just us hanging out with Batz's brother, his girlfriend and a few of her friends late into the night. Of course I'm the lone non-smoker but I never care if others do.
Tuesday Day 2: Once we got going in the afternoon, Batz made breakfast and we soon headed out to look for deals on Power Ranger toys to line the Hall of Legends with. After browsing Lily Pad, Batz's best friend met up with us at Tricky's. Then Tron wanted to see the Bridge of Glass so we went over to the Dale Chihuly Museum for awhile. After we got back I had to leave to go to work Wednesday morning and Batz spent the night playing board games with people, while Tron was passed out.
Wednesday Day 3: The days event was a tribute to Paul Reiser, in the form of watching My Two Dads and The Tower. Batz had also planned on launching Ranger Bar Radio Live, but ran into website trouble. That night the guys had a party, a sort of precursor to things to come.
Thursday the 4th: The big event was a purple ooze party in honor of the 1995 Power Rangers movie. Proving to be no easy task, the guys got underway making the ooze and picked me up about 7:30 on the way to the store to restock the supplies to make it (It consisted mostly of pudding, cake mix, food coloring and dozens and dozens of corn starch).
The party got underway after 10:00 as more and more people started showing up. The drinks were flowing, fireworks booming and snacks going (which ran out hours before the party ended). Batz horsed around with the ooze outside at one point, but not as much of it was used then what was expected. And one mishap occurred with an explosive which resulted in the house filling with smoke for a few minutes. I was perfectly comfortable staying inside the entire time and ended up taking 4 shots with the guys over the night, in addition to enjoying Batz's loaded fruit punch. After midnight Batz's brother eventually tried multiple times to shut down the party to get some sleep but it'd past 4 am by the time we wrapped it up. We settled in Batz's bedroom as he put on some Power Rangers on a small TV.
Friday Day 5: A pretty lazy afternoon hanging out. We put on My Two Dads again and The Tower (which I practically fell asleep to). Later, Batz restocked the fridge and made a couple pizzas, while Tron and I started playing Super Smash Bros Brawl on my Wii. The 3 of us had a long 99-lives challenge and then put on a Dolph Lundgren movie. We also had a ice cream social with all the fixings around 4 am.
Saturday Day 6: Batz and Tron had come up with ideas for our own fanfilm so we started recording a bunch of video for it after we went back to Tacoma. The days event was an old school arcade tour so we headed over to B & I Amusements for awhile and then Dorky's. When we got home most of the time was spent doing fanfilm scenes and Batz fixed us spaghetti, meatballs and garlic bread.
Sunday the Finale: No lounging around today - Batz had planned a spray paint challenge at The Garages in Tacoma beginning at 1. Though it was pretty quiet and the contest didn't happen - We instead spent about an hour working on fanfilm scenes. Afterwards we stopped by Jack in the Box and continued to work on scenes when we got back. An evening of watching Saban's Beetleborgs (sister show to Power Rangers) while enjoying baked goods had been planned but was cancelled. Batz then dropped me off to catch the bus at 8:30 and took Tron to the airport.
It was definitely a fun week. I kinda wish I hadn't had to miss part of it but it worked out better than if I had taken an entire suitcase (instead of a backpack) and been gone an entire week (whereas with Morphicon I'd be gone about 5 and a half days). And since I don't smoke or drink really, a whole night of partying can start to get boring. I gotta say though, Batz knows how to entertain and fed us well. I probably will stay the week off when we do it again in 2 years and hopefully we'll get another person or so. In the meantime, Ranger Bar's annual trip to the fair and Halloween Haunted House will be coming up and I look forward to playing the morphinominal 20th anniversary monopoly.
Check out my pics here and head over to Ranger Bar for more.
Sunday, May 26, 2013
Super Mega Trainwreck and Cameo Surprises
I had high hopes for next year using Gokaiger footage to pay tribute to PR's 20th but that all went downhill with how things have gone. It's quite mind-boggling how poorly the whole invited/uninvited and "budget restrictions" thing has gone when they had so much time to prepare, and were talking to former cast at PMC. Among the names that were rumored then, only JDF is back at this point.
Among the others coming back, I'm glad to see Melody Perkins will be part of it (I'm guessing they'll make her LG Pink) and Danny Slavin is a surprise. Also PJL alongside Selwyn Ward as Space Rangers is pretty sweet. Though I would've guessed Selwyn as Turbo Red, it makes sense that they represent In Space, especially if CKL doesn't return and it doesn't leave Patty as the only one. Turbo and possibly Zeo probably won't have anyone, though Roger Velasco may be there and we could be in for another surprise. It seems they're trying to have a mix of colors among the cameos (in addition to the 4+ Reds) which I like.
Even if we may not see JDF and most of these guys until a huge war in the final episode, I look forward to cast being in-suit, with Tommy leading the charge. Hopefully not just Jason Smith will get screentime in other episodes. The cast on-set does have me excited again, but knowing that some Samurai writers returned is a bit worrisome. Plus the lack of confirmation from just anyone from the Disney Era could mean the season-specific zords may be given to the Megaforce team in a matter close to the mechazords.
Ranger Bar's discussion (news/cameos as of May 17):
Among the others coming back, I'm glad to see Melody Perkins will be part of it (I'm guessing they'll make her LG Pink) and Danny Slavin is a surprise. Also PJL alongside Selwyn Ward as Space Rangers is pretty sweet. Though I would've guessed Selwyn as Turbo Red, it makes sense that they represent In Space, especially if CKL doesn't return and it doesn't leave Patty as the only one. Turbo and possibly Zeo probably won't have anyone, though Roger Velasco may be there and we could be in for another surprise. It seems they're trying to have a mix of colors among the cameos (in addition to the 4+ Reds) which I like.
Even if we may not see JDF and most of these guys until a huge war in the final episode, I look forward to cast being in-suit, with Tommy leading the charge. Hopefully not just Jason Smith will get screentime in other episodes. The cast on-set does have me excited again, but knowing that some Samurai writers returned is a bit worrisome. Plus the lack of confirmation from just anyone from the Disney Era could mean the season-specific zords may be given to the Megaforce team in a matter close to the mechazords.
Ranger Bar's discussion (news/cameos as of May 17):
Thursday, April 11, 2013
PRM #07-#08: "ROBO KNIGHT"/"PRINCE TAKES KNIGHT"
Between the Guardian of the Earth motif and the toxic mutants created from human pollution, they should make a connection to Wild Force. But they won't, even with the anniversary.
Malkor coming upon the mutants felt random. I thought they could've cut down on their scenes with the Rangers and maybe put in Robo Knight "awakening" or a longer scene at the command center. I didn't think his voice fit that well either. And Troy doesn't say anything about his dreams?! Give me a break.
Besides the brilliant Spongebob placement, the best part was Gia leading the charge into the command center to get answers. I really don't get why they don't make Gosei more like Zordon and interact with the Rangers more. On one hand they want the MMPR nostalgia but then they basically limit Gosei to weapons and zords.
I'll still give "ROBO KNIGHT" a 3/5 since I wasn't terribly offended and the end was awesome. But it was just OK otherwise.
Now "PRINCE TAKES KNIGHT" was a good episode.
Great to see Troy finally mention the dreams and I liked Jake's response. Emma and Noah, not so much.
Loved the group morph. Kind of an old school vibe. So much nicer without "Go Go Megaforce."
I liked this better without the mutants in it and instead Vrak teaming up with Kelson's Psychotick was pretty cool. With Malkor still in charge I hope we get more original villain scenes but for now Vrak's armor transformation isn't a bad place to start.
Thought it was funny when the Rangers hustled out of the command center to begin looking for Robo Knight, while as we all know, MMPR would've had Zordon and Alpha take care of it.
Unmorphed fighting! Bonus points for Gia leading.
Pretty decent focus for Robo Knight - a solid 4/5. Still waiting to give a 5 this season. Perhaps if we had a Red Ranger who was an actor... >_>
Malkor coming upon the mutants felt random. I thought they could've cut down on their scenes with the Rangers and maybe put in Robo Knight "awakening" or a longer scene at the command center. I didn't think his voice fit that well either. And Troy doesn't say anything about his dreams?! Give me a break.
Besides the brilliant Spongebob placement, the best part was Gia leading the charge into the command center to get answers. I really don't get why they don't make Gosei more like Zordon and interact with the Rangers more. On one hand they want the MMPR nostalgia but then they basically limit Gosei to weapons and zords.
I'll still give "ROBO KNIGHT" a 3/5 since I wasn't terribly offended and the end was awesome. But it was just OK otherwise.
Now "PRINCE TAKES KNIGHT" was a good episode.
Great to see Troy finally mention the dreams and I liked Jake's response. Emma and Noah, not so much.
Loved the group morph. Kind of an old school vibe. So much nicer without "Go Go Megaforce."
I liked this better without the mutants in it and instead Vrak teaming up with Kelson's Psychotick was pretty cool. With Malkor still in charge I hope we get more original villain scenes but for now Vrak's armor transformation isn't a bad place to start.
Thought it was funny when the Rangers hustled out of the command center to begin looking for Robo Knight, while as we all know, MMPR would've had Zordon and Alpha take care of it.
Unmorphed fighting! Bonus points for Gia leading.
Pretty decent focus for Robo Knight - a solid 4/5. Still waiting to give a 5 this season. Perhaps if we had a Red Ranger who was an actor... >_>
Friday, March 29, 2013
Recapping PRM first 7 episodes
When the season started, it felt good to be excited for PR again... to actually WANT to talk about it. Besides RPM (which is pretty much in a league of its own) it was the most decent start to a season since Jungle Fury.
The MMPR references got to be a little much but "MEGA MISSION" was night and day to Samurai. And I enjoy the theme. Yeah, the cut to the Samurai portion in the beginning is bad and the roll call is stupid but I feel like they did enough with the new parts. I like how MEGAFORCE is emphasized throughout and "Go Go Power Rangers" works better being the 20th anniversary. "Rangers Forever, Megaforce Altogether" is an improvement and has more bite than the Samurai Forever tagline. I like the way they incorporated shots of the war & other clips and I can forgive the blandness of the logo for dropping the gold lightning bolt. It still pumps me up for the episode, even now that we're well in the season.
With "HE BLASTED ME WITH SCIENCE" I liked the approach they took with the focus on science and the Insectoids wanting to study the human race. Goseiger footage was utilized pretty well. Enjoyed the return of the sentai cockpit footage. Also this had some great foreshadowing. Finally, the writers seem to know what they're doing and (presumably) where they're going.
"GOING VIRAL" further continued to make the Rangers look like real high school teenagers and had one of my absolute favorite moments ever, when Emma asked Gia about Jake's crush. I thought Jake with the axe at school felt very PR-ish to me and there were some great lines, especially at the end. Also I liked the original footage and the matching.
It was kinda weird when Noah tore down the cement block and the civilians just casually walked away. And a quick line from Gosei about how they'll earn new zords would've been nice.
4/5 for all 3 episodes. It seemed like we were on a roll, until things started to take a turn in "STRANGER RANGER" with fight scenes than began to get closer to Goseiger.
Troy vs Creepox was good but I couldn't get past how watered down this was from Alata's training and pushing himself to master the bars. I did like that Troy got the group training going, however learning to use their senses was just OK. I felt like they kinda pushed it when the Rangers could tell Jordan was approaching and they had time to morph. And with Jordan acting like he was a Ranger, you'd think someone would've asked to see his morpher. Also I liked we still got some Gia/Jake in the episode to setup the Land Bros intro.
"UNITED WE STAND" got weird in parts between Beezara making the guys her slaves and some odd Goseiger moments, otherwise it was a decent episode for the girls. And the Sky Brothers got the best intro so far.
I looked forward to "HARMONY AND DIZCHORD" to see how they'd recreate the plot from Goseiger but I wouldn't have expected it'd become Samurai-level translating. I liked Emma's song and it was an improvement over Eri's I thought. Having Troy and Emma have a stronger reaction than the others made no sense since they haven't really touched on the Rangers elements.
Things got better in "WHO'S CRYING NOW?" which had some pretty awesome fight scenes with Creepox. Troy facing the bullies should've happened sooner but it was still a decent plot to go with the action. The morphing got excessive and they could've cut back on the action a bit, and done more with bullies. Why were Troy, Emma and Jake so late to the fight?
3/5 for the next couple episodes (which kinda hurts) and 4/5 for "WHO'S CRYING NOW?". I wanted to be generous but there is a decline in episode quality. Plus there have been no command center scenes since the premiere, Troy is pretty emotionless and Emma looks like is taking after Emily in Samurai. Ciara Hanna is easily the best actor since RPM and the Gia/Jake plotline is a saving grace.
Check me out on Ranger Bar Radio for more in-depth discussion on all things Megaforce.
The MMPR references got to be a little much but "MEGA MISSION" was night and day to Samurai. And I enjoy the theme. Yeah, the cut to the Samurai portion in the beginning is bad and the roll call is stupid but I feel like they did enough with the new parts. I like how MEGAFORCE is emphasized throughout and "Go Go Power Rangers" works better being the 20th anniversary. "Rangers Forever, Megaforce Altogether" is an improvement and has more bite than the Samurai Forever tagline. I like the way they incorporated shots of the war & other clips and I can forgive the blandness of the logo for dropping the gold lightning bolt. It still pumps me up for the episode, even now that we're well in the season.
With "HE BLASTED ME WITH SCIENCE" I liked the approach they took with the focus on science and the Insectoids wanting to study the human race. Goseiger footage was utilized pretty well. Enjoyed the return of the sentai cockpit footage. Also this had some great foreshadowing. Finally, the writers seem to know what they're doing and (presumably) where they're going.
"GOING VIRAL" further continued to make the Rangers look like real high school teenagers and had one of my absolute favorite moments ever, when Emma asked Gia about Jake's crush. I thought Jake with the axe at school felt very PR-ish to me and there were some great lines, especially at the end. Also I liked the original footage and the matching.
It was kinda weird when Noah tore down the cement block and the civilians just casually walked away. And a quick line from Gosei about how they'll earn new zords would've been nice.
4/5 for all 3 episodes. It seemed like we were on a roll, until things started to take a turn in "STRANGER RANGER" with fight scenes than began to get closer to Goseiger.
Troy vs Creepox was good but I couldn't get past how watered down this was from Alata's training and pushing himself to master the bars. I did like that Troy got the group training going, however learning to use their senses was just OK. I felt like they kinda pushed it when the Rangers could tell Jordan was approaching and they had time to morph. And with Jordan acting like he was a Ranger, you'd think someone would've asked to see his morpher. Also I liked we still got some Gia/Jake in the episode to setup the Land Bros intro.
"UNITED WE STAND" got weird in parts between Beezara making the guys her slaves and some odd Goseiger moments, otherwise it was a decent episode for the girls. And the Sky Brothers got the best intro so far.
I looked forward to "HARMONY AND DIZCHORD" to see how they'd recreate the plot from Goseiger but I wouldn't have expected it'd become Samurai-level translating. I liked Emma's song and it was an improvement over Eri's I thought. Having Troy and Emma have a stronger reaction than the others made no sense since they haven't really touched on the Rangers elements.
Things got better in "WHO'S CRYING NOW?" which had some pretty awesome fight scenes with Creepox. Troy facing the bullies should've happened sooner but it was still a decent plot to go with the action. The morphing got excessive and they could've cut back on the action a bit, and done more with bullies. Why were Troy, Emma and Jake so late to the fight?
3/5 for the next couple episodes (which kinda hurts) and 4/5 for "WHO'S CRYING NOW?". I wanted to be generous but there is a decline in episode quality. Plus there have been no command center scenes since the premiere, Troy is pretty emotionless and Emma looks like is taking after Emily in Samurai. Ciara Hanna is easily the best actor since RPM and the Gia/Jake plotline is a saving grace.
Check me out on Ranger Bar Radio for more in-depth discussion on all things Megaforce.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Putting Samurai to Bed and Powering Up For Megaforce
Now that I've thought back on 2 years of Samurai, it's definitely the worst ever from Power Rangers. At first it was alright and picked up somewhat when Antonio joined. Then Super Mode was stalled and it only got worse as the show dragged
on and on with Super Samurai in mostly translated episodes. It started to get frustrating as a fan and rock bottom for the entire legacy was reached with "TRICKSTER TREAT." There was some good though... "HE AIN'T HEAVY METAL, HE'S MY BROTHER" and "THE STRANGE CASE OF THE MUNCHIES" were the biggest and only real creative gems, while "TEST OF THE LEADER," "THE TENGEN GATE" and "THE SEALING SYMBOL" were also really good I thought. There were enough decent plots for several 4/5s I gave out. But for over 40 episodes, it was a fairly small amount, compared to other seasons.
In that regard, I'd put Turbo just above Samurai, which I've always considered the low point that also only had a few episodes I thought were really good (and "CHASE INTO SPACE") out of 45. It got to the point I stopped caring for awhile and missed a bunch of fillers in a second half (something I wouldn't do now unless I stopped watching completely).
Another difference is that it's not fun to hate the show anymore - unlike say, during Mystic Force and Overdrive when Rangercast would go on about how bad the episodes were and bitching about the show was sort of new territory for the fandom (though both seasons did have some really good 2 parters and fillers within the shorter seasons).
Even Disney's worst never had some of the problems Samurai had. Often times the Rangers talked down to the audience and nearly every episode had a flashback from the season. It seemed like the writers never communicated with eachother, the cast was never told how to act properly and so on. Plus all the pre-season hype 2 years ago from the trailer was lost when the third episode aired first and the actual premiere (a direct translation of Shinkenger #1) came later. And Bulk and Spike were utilized badly, especially after the Pink Ranger crush was dropped and they disappeared. I'm glad they at least got to finally meet the Rangers at the end of it all though.
After suffering through all that, I'm optimistic that things can only get better with Megaforce. It won't be as close to the sentai as we've had but a lot of improvement has to be made if this year is gonna be much better. Looking forward to how the villains play out, going back to a high school setting and how exactly burning through the entire Goseiger this year ends up. Hopefully the MMPR nostalgia doesn't get too out of hand and it'd be nice if we find out how Skull became rich and Bulk with practically nothing. I'd say it'll really get interesting when we get to the legend war (maybe as another Nick movie special) and then all the anniversary stuff and cameos in 2014.
In that regard, I'd put Turbo just above Samurai, which I've always considered the low point that also only had a few episodes I thought were really good (and "CHASE INTO SPACE") out of 45. It got to the point I stopped caring for awhile and missed a bunch of fillers in a second half (something I wouldn't do now unless I stopped watching completely).
Another difference is that it's not fun to hate the show anymore - unlike say, during Mystic Force and Overdrive when Rangercast would go on about how bad the episodes were and bitching about the show was sort of new territory for the fandom (though both seasons did have some really good 2 parters and fillers within the shorter seasons).
Even Disney's worst never had some of the problems Samurai had. Often times the Rangers talked down to the audience and nearly every episode had a flashback from the season. It seemed like the writers never communicated with eachother, the cast was never told how to act properly and so on. Plus all the pre-season hype 2 years ago from the trailer was lost when the third episode aired first and the actual premiere (a direct translation of Shinkenger #1) came later. And Bulk and Spike were utilized badly, especially after the Pink Ranger crush was dropped and they disappeared. I'm glad they at least got to finally meet the Rangers at the end of it all though.
After suffering through all that, I'm optimistic that things can only get better with Megaforce. It won't be as close to the sentai as we've had but a lot of improvement has to be made if this year is gonna be much better. Looking forward to how the villains play out, going back to a high school setting and how exactly burning through the entire Goseiger this year ends up. Hopefully the MMPR nostalgia doesn't get too out of hand and it'd be nice if we find out how Skull became rich and Bulk with practically nothing. I'd say it'll really get interesting when we get to the legend war (maybe as another Nick movie special) and then all the anniversary stuff and cameos in 2014.
Friday, January 4, 2013
2012 Wrap-Up: Reality Check
Once that nostalgic timewarp of 2011 fell apart, it was pretty much back to reality in 2012 - one in which several things ended or got cancelled - many of them around the end of the year. And it didn't help the awesome Thundercats update was among the casualties.
I gotta say, one of the worst downward spirals I've ever seen on TV has been the end of G4. I used to like watching Attack of the Show sometimes and they're E3 coverage was great. But then the channel was dropped from DirecTV just over 2 years ago and that was the beginning of the end. Now the network is shutting down and becoming the Esquire Channel. Meanwhile, Gossip Girl ended it's 6 year run and the final season of Merlin is starting on Syfy. December also marked the end of the long-running Nintendo Power magazine, which I'll get to later.
2013 will have more nostalgic fun, as I'll begin watching the MMPR DVDs and The Secret World of Alex Mack season 1 DVD (followed by encodes I'm obtaining). And with the Wii U buzz going on, it's probably going to be the first Nintendo console I won't own, partly because I plan on soon starting the GameCube version of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. But I'll definitely get on the bandwagon for Nintendo's next-gen system in 5 years or so (and maybe by then be caught up on games I intend to buy)...
I gotta say, one of the worst downward spirals I've ever seen on TV has been the end of G4. I used to like watching Attack of the Show sometimes and they're E3 coverage was great. But then the channel was dropped from DirecTV just over 2 years ago and that was the beginning of the end. Now the network is shutting down and becoming the Esquire Channel. Meanwhile, Gossip Girl ended it's 6 year run and the final season of Merlin is starting on Syfy. December also marked the end of the long-running Nintendo Power magazine, which I'll get to later.
2013 will have more nostalgic fun, as I'll begin watching the MMPR DVDs and The Secret World of Alex Mack season 1 DVD (followed by encodes I'm obtaining). And with the Wii U buzz going on, it's probably going to be the first Nintendo console I won't own, partly because I plan on soon starting the GameCube version of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. But I'll definitely get on the bandwagon for Nintendo's next-gen system in 5 years or so (and maybe by then be caught up on games I intend to buy)...
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