Power Rangers Samurai: The Premiere

So is this the first episode or not? It sure doesn't feel like one since it is adapted from Shinkenger Act 3. Plus, Nick is known for airing shows out of episode order, so this is really confusing.



"THE TEAM UNITES"

First things first, Power Rangers in High Definition (HD)! AWESOMEZ! It's about time that America catch up with Japan and Super Sentai!

Saban is really pushing aggressively through every media channel in order to make the series successful again. I like the spirit! Hopefully, it will be a success.

Main Theme

Essentially, a remix of the original MMPR theme that older fans are very familiar with. Not too fond of the name calling at the beginning, it sounds dumb and kinda ruin the song. Otherwise, an updated classic.

Story

There is no establishment to the show's Samurai premise and we all see the rangers already gotten their powers and training. The focus is entirely on the Green Ranger, Mike who has a hard time fitting in. They are probably going to cover the origins at a later episode.

Having seen Shinkenger, there's no element of surprise at all since the whole show is exactly a carbon copy. They really went all the way out to copy and reshoot every plot detail! I went back to rewatch some parts of Shinkenger and noticed that some dialogues were copied as well.

The only random part was Bulk and Spike. Oh yes, the good old Bulk is reunited with the show but this time with Skull's son! I wasn't a fan of the slap stick comedy but Spike's high pitch laughter was rather funny.

Acting

I was really impressed with RPM's acting so Samurai was lacking in this aspect. The wooden acting was very obvious in some delivery of lines especially Mike and Jayden since they have the most lines in the episode... Not complaining since it's just a kids show and not some Oscar film. Haha.

Production

The HD cameras alone make up more than enough of the production value. The set was nicely done as well, and I welcome the return of rock music absent in Disney's seasons.

So far, Saban has not disappoint in the aspect of naming. There's proper names for weapons, attacks and Zords which Disney was quite lazy and inconsistent with. I totally hate the generic "fire!" and "full power!" that plagued Disney's season. Also glad that Zords once again have their unique identities as "Folding Zords" this season instead of the generic "insert name Zord".

Interestingly, they also kept quite a number of names from Shinkenger as well, e.g. the Sanzu River and Dayu.

The Mega-Mode Powers

Of course, the highlight of the episode was the summoning of the Zords and the Mega-Mode Powers which are American creations. Quite the MMPR Movie feel there with the modified design and I think the Mega Blade looks cool as well.

The new American cockpit was more modern and sleek looking so it would relate to kids better in the department of cool factors.

Go Go Samurai!

Chance to Get Engine-Oh G12 Cheap!

A fellow forum member has sighted some stuff out of the usual at the Jurong East MRT Popular Store which would be moving out soon mid-February. It is currently holding a clearance sale on book items and stationery.

Quite unusual to see Go-Onger DX Mecha in Popular right? I personally went down to take a look and confirmed that they are all Bandai Asia (H.K.) Re-Issues (2010 Made In Thailand). Apparently, Sheng Tai Toys was hoping to clear some stock because the clearance sale would draw in some crowd.

The Price List is as follows:

DX Engine-Oh S$79.95
DX Birca, DX Gunpherd S$24.95 each
DX Carrygator S$44.95
DX Toripter, Jetras S$24.95 each
DX JumboWhale S$59.95
DX Kyouretsu-Oh S$89.95

This brings the total for Engine-Oh G-12 to be S$374.60 (20% cheaper than the Japanese Version).

If anyone's interested, there's also the GoRaoder GT at S$49.95. And the new total would be S$424.55.

DX JumboWhale and Kyouretsu-Oh would be the most worth-it of the lot as the Japanese Versions were around S$90 and S$150 respectively. See the huge savings?

I would say that it is still worth it to collect since they are Made in Thailand (which is the same as the Japanese Versions) instead of China quality-wise. Last 2 years were Made in China for Boukenger and Gekiranger so the quality suffered a little.

S.H. Figuarts Shinkenger

When the Shinkenger team was announced for the S.H. Figuarts, it really got alot of fans excited! Japan was finally going to have awesome poseable figures rather than the unexciting vinyl ones.

Sometime back, ShinkenRed and ShinkenGold first went online as pre-order items on Bandai's webstore with Kurokos as first-press bonuses. They are also slated for regular release in late Feb and Mar this year.

As cool as it sounds, the price for getting the whole team was also astronomical for a bunch of action figures! Based on CSC's import prices, one S.H. Figuarts is approximately S$45 which makes the whole team of 6 at S$270?!

NOW THE DREAM OF OWNING THE WHOLE TEAM HAS BEEN MADE CLOSE TO IMPOSSIBLE...



The latest announcement from Bandai Japan has confirmed that ShinkenBlue and ShinkenGreen would be online exclusives only.

This means that those who wish to get them have to go through middleman services. Damn! Now, I'm debating whether to get or not.

The Debate Has Ended...

Real Suits or CGI/Photoshopped? In the latest Power Rangers Samurai Promo for the Blue Ranger, we now have confirmation that the "Mega Rangers" (first released as toys) are indeed in the show and not just some stupid Bandai America toy designs.



Apparently, Saban has decided to replace the Megazord Cockpit with its original American Creation along with the "Mega Ranger" suits. At this point, we can only assume that the Samurai Rangers have to power up to the "Mega Mode" to summon the Zords and combine into the Megazord. The idea just sounds dumb to me, but Saban can eliminate the problem of the Japanese Mojikara footage completely.

Opinion time: I am not fond of the designs for the "Mega Rangers" at all. Don't you think they looked very bulky and ugly? And they don't seem to serve any real purpose unless they serve as a mid-show team upgrade? American kids would probably find them cool compared to the regular spandex.

While I am still on the topic, the negative reactions by the fandom when the toy images first surfaced seem to have dissipated more or less. Kinda like an ironic situation, American fans who hated the designs now adore them once they learnt that they will appear on the show.

Power Rangers Samurai premieres Feb 7th, 2011 (Monday) on Nick!

The Anniversary Season

So the season number for Power Rangers Samurai sparked countless debates which the impact is anticipated to be a little more reaching...

Among the confusion on whether Power Rangers Samurai is one season for two years or two seasons for two years, it will most likely affect the next coming anniversary season to follow: which may either be Goseiger or Gokaiger.

Scenario 1:

Supposed that Samurai is the 19th season, Goseiger gets adapted as the 20th season in 2013 which Power Rangers will celebrate the 20th Anniversary. The only significance lies in the fact that the team color is the same as the iconic MMPR.

However, Goseiger has been receiving alot of hatred so a number of people are ranting to skip it. Well, I think these people are too full of themselves because it does not mean that other people wouldn't like it. Sure, Goseiger isn't as fantastic as Shinkenger or Gekiranger but I certainly feel that it is not the worst Sentai Series in recent years. I don't hate the Headder Gimmick but I admit that it really didn't do much for the series. In contrast, Go-Onger's story is much more boring saved for the talking Engines which actually captivated the kids alot.

Scenario 2:

Instead of the season number, Power Rangers can celebrate with the Gokaiger adaptation as "20 years of Power Rangers" despite it being the 21st season. Plus, people are dying for Gokaiger to be the anniversary season as it certainly makes more sense with what Japan is doing - Epic Story that covers the 199 heroes from the past.

At the very least, Power Rangers did celebrate its past anniversary years with Wild Force (10th) and Operation Overdrive (15th), which coincides with both Gaoranger (25th) and Boukenger (30th) from Super Sentai so this is highly plausible.

Till then.

Samurai: The 18th or 19th Season?

Like it or not, the Official Press Release for Power Rangers Samurai has stated that it is the 19th season in the franchise.



As much as I (and alot of people) want Saban to recognize Samurai as the 18th season instead of the "Reversioned Mighty Morphin Power Rangers", it is pretty much a fact from a television production perspective - like the new opening, edits and effects as well as a new ending credits.

Sure, there's a lot of arguments against the stupid lame rerun and a million reasons why Power Rangers Samurai should be the official 18th season, but nobody at the corporate side is going to care for some numbering issue anyway.

Nope, there's more... Since Samurai is going to run for two years, does that make it 2 seasons or still one? Only Saban knows the answer now.

S.H. Figuarts Machine Decader

The Kamen Rider franchise has been a gold mine for Bandai Japan especially with the introduction of the S.H. Figuarts toyline. And to top that, there have been numerous exclusive limited releases as well.

Just so happened that this time round, it's one of the 2 Kamen Rider series that I collect: the Bike for Kamen Rider Decade - Machine Decader.



Out of so many bikes, why does it have to be this one? Hahah. Probably because Decade is the anniversary series. Sigh.

Was at CSC today but I totally didn't expect the price tag to be that high. I briefly recalled that a normal bike (e.g the Kamen Rider W Bike) would go for around S$65, so I was thinking around S$85-90 despite whether I was considering buying.



In the end, this one ended up with the price tag of S$125.00 in Ng's Collections. Just one and only one bike. Hahah, that is way out of my budget. So I can only whine about the lack of a bike for my Kamen Rider Figuarts. LoL.