Tokusatsu Archives » Page 2 of 3

Power Rangers Turbo & Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie change of cast

09/06/201802/04/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Zeo aired with a cliffhanger that Lord Zedd and Rita would be back but instead we got this new take on Power Rangers with the now confirmed yearly themes. For this year we got Turbo and I never liked cars as a kid so this was not something I was excited about when I saw the posters that the new Power Rangers movie had cars. But it was crazy, we were getting a new Power Rangers movie and the show would continue based on it so I wanted to watch it even if I never got the chance as a kid. So let’s take a look back at the movie which is the pilot for the rest of the season and then the actual season of Turbo.

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

It’s bad, Turbo: a power rangers movie is a snoozefest. I first watched it when I got back into Power Rangers and I tried to force myself into liking it but it never worked out. I know in the fandom it’s well liked and preferred by many over MMPR:TM, which to me is nuts. It feels like a really boring 5 part episode, it’s high budget when compared to the TV show since you get jet skis, horses and a ship but when compared to Hollywood movies or even Mighty Morphin Power Rangers The Movie it’s very low budget. With the title “A Power Rangers Movie”, it makes me wonder if they were planning on making these smaller budget movies for every season but once they saw how badly it did they scrapped that idea. Just imagine a world with Space: A Power Rangers movie, but at the very least we did get Kimberly: A Power Rangers Movie unofficially.

Tokusatsu rocks and here’s the Archive to prove it

08/09/201802/03/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Miscrave Media

Tokusatsu is a weird thing, you either know what it is and love it or you don’t know what is and you don’t understand it, there is no middle ground. Luckily for me I’m able to get how awesome Tokusatsu is and why it is. To those that don’t know what Tokusatsu is well imagine silly things being done in a way that is cool if you forget that it’s a silly thing. This doesn’t mean it can’t be well written or dramatic. Tokusatsu means special effects and can mean from anything like Godzilla to Super Sentai which is what Power Rangers is based off. If you’re not familiar then judge not and start learning a bit about Tokusatsu, if you’re familiar then here are some articles that you’ll find interesting. Don’t forget to join us on Thursdays for our seasonal TokuThursdays where we have a new Toku article every Thursday.

Power Rangers Rave Article Archives

05/03/201802/01/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Miscellaneous

I was able to get into the Power Rangers fad as it had just begun since I loved dinosaurs already which lead me to being an early adopter before it hit it huge. I loved them until they stopped airing episodes where I lived. It wasn’t until many years later that I re-discovered them and realized they were still as awesome as they had ever been and I’m still a fan today.

Power Rangers Zeo were the most powerful

03/08/201801/29/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

Last week we finished the last season of Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers which is a direct lead to Power Rangers Zeo. As you know Saban decided to change the format of Power Rangers with the fourth season and decided to follow the yearly sentai theme more closely and not only changing villains and mecha but also the suits. So let’s take a look at everything that the last season built up and if it delivered.

Before Zeo even began they aired some shorts leading up to the premier which is called “the Zeo Serial” which all the short together make another “episode” and it’s cool; This never aired where I lived but it would’ve gotten me super excited in fact as a kid I probably thought Power Rangers was cancelled as it got taken off the air after Season 3. I did find out about the other seasons not long after and even got to see a little of Zeo and Power Rangers Turbo but for the most part the franchise was dead in my area. Dragon Ball and Video Games kept me from being too sad about it though and I moved on. The Zeo serial works fine I don’t know why the fandom mentions that it’s non-canon because of A Zeo beginning, it can still fit, I mean what’s Power Rangers without a few retcons?

Big Bad Beetleborgs Metallix: Ameritoku Metal Heroes

10/12/201701/25/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Miscellaneous

After Power Rangers became a huge hit Saban thought that if anyone was going to be making rip-off shows it might as well be him, and that’s how Ameritoku shows like VR Troopers, Masked Rider and Big Bad Beetleborgs came to be. Based on the Tokusatsu Metal Heroes shows Juukou B-Fighter and B-Fighter Kabuto we got what might’ve been the most creative of the Saban shows in that era.

As a kid the Beetleborgs seemed like an awful show, I detested the idea of kids becoming heroes and saw it as a cheap Power Rangers rip off. It wasn’t until many years later when I became a fan of tokusatsu that I decided to check it out since it seemed to be generally well liked. It took me a bit to get into it but I was totally able to digg it. It’s a cheesier take when compared to Saban’s other shows but it knows this and plays with its silliness and camp.

VR Troopers were the best Power Rangers of Virtual Reality

07/09/201701/19/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

What happens when you take the Power Rangers formula but instead of using one show for footage of monster battles, you take two unrelated shows? What you get is VR Troopers. With all the craze around Virtual Reality now, why not take a look at a show that was inspired by the 90s Virtual Reality craze from that time. This is no Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad when it comes to tech references but here is a review and random observations of VR Troopers.

I never saw really saw VR Troopers as a kid besides an episode or two and with no nostalgia, so it made it kinda hard to watch. I’m not sure if the show does get better or if it somehow grew on me even though it was bad because I don’t think season two is necessarily better; A lot of the Space Sheriff Shaider stuff in season two I did not enjoy. Season 1’s problem is at times the plot was hard to understand, you knew the basic plot but besides that it just seemed like random fight footage was thrown everywhere that made no sense. As a kid I just dismissed it as PR rip off but I can see why some people have fond memories of it now.

Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad is the best Gridman

07/08/201701/19/2021 Luigi Kawasaki

Looking back on..

Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad was an Ameritoku show released to cash-in on the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers craze. It used footage from Denkou Choujin Gridman and just like Power Rangers took out the Japanese actors and replaced them with American ones. But was this rip-off show any good?

The show deals with viruses entering electronic devices and causing trouble because the evil Kilokahn wants to control not only the digital but the real world. He uses a hacker to make virus programs to attack important infrastructure in the real world. To save the world you have the cast of Saved by the Bell, or at least somewhat similar who find a way to get into the digital world and fight these monsters with a program called Gridman that grants Sam superpowers. So you have Saved by the bell style plots with giant monster fights inside electronics along the ride.