First and foremost I wanted to set the record straight. The reveal that Kaizouku Sentai Gokaiger footage would be used as second season material of Power Rangers (UNOFFICIALLY CALLED!!!) Super MegaForce (MEANING IT MIGHT NOT BE CALLED SUPER MEGAFORCE!!!) was NOT revealed at the SDCC Power Ranger panel. This information was told directly to myself in a conversation I had with Saban Brans President, Elie Dekel afterwards. There are some media outlets that have reported otherwise, negating that this was actually an HJU Breaking Exclusive and falsely stating that took place during the panel.
Not cool.
Next…. You guys are flipping the FUCK OUT about this announcement and speaking all manner of doom and gloom, but if the record of Power Rangers series holds… this could be a VERY good thing! Here… is why….
We all agree that Power Rangers has had its ups and downs. I myself am not a fan of Power Rangers Samurai, but there are reasons why this might not be the best. This is Saban Brands’ first shot in a looonnng time at producing Power Rangers and they don’t yet have the resources they used to. Kiiiinda like a certain MMPR show that took the planet by storm. And to its credit, Power Rangers Samurai did veeeery well with toy sales. And also to it’s credit, while us older fans might be more critical of what we get out of a Power Ranger show… This show has been badass for children! My friends kids are BLOWN AWAY BY IT! For them, this is their own “Saved By the Bell” only with teenagers slicing monsters with actually bladed swords! So while it’s not yet catering to us currently, it is rocking the minds of the new rising fandom it’s meant for.
But here is why I think this unofficial announcement could be a VERY good thing: Power Rangers is AT ITS BEST when it is forced to be creative and make its own stories. From the height of the shows popularity with MMPR through to Lost Galaxy, those could arguably be called some of the finest Power Ranger seasons we’ve got. Reception on Power Ranger seasons in the Disney era that adhere more to the Super Sentai stories and plots have not really gotten all that much of a positive response from the fandom.
Then we got a little show called Power Rangers RPM that totally jettisoned its Go-Onger storyline and was arguably one of the best seasons PR has produced.
Approaching Mega Force with the intention of a continuing universe is the fun stuff we had when we went from MMPR Power Coins to Zeo Crystals or when we lost the Turbo Morphers to take up Astro Morphers, boarded a spaceship and took the story intergalactic.
“Power Rangers Super MegaForce” IS NOT THE NAME. This was also a problem with other outlets mis-reporting our news. Super MegaForce MIGHT be the name, but it might be called anything at this point. This is an unofficial title used to just… have a name that the producers can use so they don’t have to keep saying to each other, “that show we haven’t officially named yet that will be taking place after MegaForce.” This is also two years out. ANYTHING could happen where maybe.. just maybe things might change.
I think this is a good idea. With Super Sentai… I’ve seen those stories. It’s really hard for me to enjoy those stories again, when it’s just a new cast going over again what’s already been done and just not in that… way only the Japanese culture can truly nail. If MegaForce evolves in to Super MegaForce, this would force Power Ranger to truly need to flex their story telling muscles and go all out to push the universe to reveal a new war none of us have ever seen.
And that sounds like good news to me.
If you have any questions…. you know where to find me. 😉
July 17, 2012 @ 4:35 pm
Wasn’t Ultra Megaforce copyrighted?
July 17, 2012 @ 10:16 pm
Yeah, Saban owns the trademark for that but companies do so in order to make sure nobody snags those titles. It’s the same as what Pokemon Company International has done – Trademarked a whole load of game titles such as “Brown Version” and “Opal Version” (Colours, Metals and Stones), just in case.
July 17, 2012 @ 7:07 pm
Nothing on the internet is exclusive.
July 17, 2012 @ 8:44 pm
I’m not really concerned how Power Rangers interprets Sentai to be honest. I am not a Sentai fan necessarily although I respect it and it’s footage. I appreciate this post because I agree I have seen episodes of Sentai and I don’t want to watch the same story twice like we did with Shinkenger/Samurai. I’m excited about Megaforce, and I think if they interpret Gokaiger eventually in any capacity it will be epic, but for now we should just get through the final stretch of Super Samurai and The first complete season of Megaforce.
July 17, 2012 @ 10:54 pm
I’m just happy I wont have to wait till 2015 for the Gokaiger adaptation. And frankly anything above Samurai acting quality wise will be welcome
July 18, 2012 @ 6:20 am
hey after Wild Force Samurai is a step up *shudders at the memory*
July 18, 2012 @ 4:44 am
Well, people doesn’t seem to understand what’s the meaning of “tentative” or “working title”.
July 18, 2012 @ 6:02 am
You’re also one of the ones who misunderstood this news in the first place. Well, everyone did except Keith. ’bout time he said something.
July 18, 2012 @ 9:10 am
Well, not really. I know that it was the “working title”. We even put “tentatively called” on the post itself. Just readers jumping off the gun after reading the title ONLY.
Anyways, this is a good work for Keith and his team. Thumbs up to you guys!
July 18, 2012 @ 6:19 am
have you watched MMPR recently it was CRAP (though i actually agree with your statement that when they go off the official story the series is better RPM and In Space are perfect examples of that
July 18, 2012 @ 7:19 am
I’m gonna get hate with this but both the original Japanese show and the MMPR were horrible, horrible crap and Samurai by comparison is much better, even if it sucks if you compare to other Sentai shows or even PR seasons,
July 19, 2012 @ 11:21 pm
im sorry, samurai is shit on a stick, in a paper bag, on a car dashboard in the sun on a hot day, with the windows up
shinkenger, on the other hand, much better, samurai just copied it, and failed horribly
July 18, 2012 @ 9:09 am
Totally agree. I love Dino Thunder and MMPR more than Mystic Force and SPD (although I love them too) because they’re not Abaranger and Zyuranger with different actors.
To be fair to both Saban and Disney, however, their main audience probably wouldn’t have a clue if we say ‘Shinkenger’, ‘Go-Onger’, or ‘Megaranger’ and did not see these stories yet. Unfortunately, we’re a peripheral audience. Saban was awesome with the DVDs, but those are old seasons and not their current cash cows. Also have to fit into children’s broadcasting standards that have changed since (and because :D) MMPR. Our best bet is just hope for the best and try to enjoy what comes out. At worst, Goseiger and Gokaiger are still here. Power Rangers haven’t erased Super Sentai in the past 20 years, it’s not going to erase it while celebrating those 20 years. 🙂
July 18, 2012 @ 12:07 pm
I hope they find the cast for Gokaiger.
July 18, 2012 @ 1:24 pm
wouldnt they keep the megaforced cast or would that be too much of a call back to the first seasons of mmpr
July 29, 2012 @ 2:02 am
Its a complete schedule change for a new show, same thing to Kamen Rider Decade when they stopped after 30 episodes
August 2, 2012 @ 5:48 am
Power rangers mega force they are running low on ideas for names aren’t they
August 4, 2012 @ 2:11 pm
I’ve watched all PR incarnations from MMPR to SS, and liked them all except for Turbo. I just don’t like the erratic schedule SS has been following, they show a couple of new episodes then nothing for months.