Besides having many issues with the casting of several unpopular characters during Turbo, the other major problem was how Turbo handled the Carranger footage. Carranger was a parody of all previous Sentais and was known more for its silly slapstick comedy. Carranger ended up being a major hit in Japan. However, the writers of Power Rangers Turbo wanted to make it a dark, apocalyptic season. The first half of the season, however, failed miserably because of the terrible handling of the Carranger footage. Some PR fans, most notably Linkara, have questioned rather Power Rangers should have even adapted Carranger.
I've also read some comments that Power Rangers should have adapted Jetman instead of Carranger, which was originally planned for MMPR. Admittedly, Jetman could have suited the writers nicely because Jetman was definitely a dark season, which was what the writers wanted. But there are still some issues with adapting Jetman. First, during the beginning of Turbo, Douglass Sloan was still the head writer. While I think Sloan's work as a writer for PR is a bit underrated, he certainly wasn't as willing to adapt darker, more edgier scenes that involved death and violence like Judd Lynn was. This could have watered down the source material tremendously. The other big issue is the casting choices made during the first half of Turbo, particularly with the casting of Justin to replace Rocky, as well as Alpha 6 and Dimitria to replace Alpha 5 and Zordon. Also, Jetman was an older Sentai than Carranger, albiet only 5 years older. Masked Rider didn't exactly do well when adapting much older, Kamen Rider Black RX footage.
Even then, if done properly, Carranger still could have been adapted into a much darker, more serious Power Ranger season. One example of this is RPM, which adapted Go-Onger. Like Carranger, Go-Onger was a lighthearted, comedy oriented season. RPM, however, successfully adapted Go-Onger's source footage for a very dark, post-apocalyptic season. RPM often did not use Go-Onger footage, but when it did, it tented the footage to make it look like it was a post-apocalyptic world. Especially involving fights outside the dome.
I don't think Jetman looks THAT much older than Carranger. Plus, many fans felt perfectly fine when Shaider got adapted into the second season of VR Troopers, which by then was a good 11 years after Shaider had ended. Though imo, VR Troopers was still terrible. xD I think Jetman would've been a better choice to be adapted than Carranger. I don't think it would've really mattered to most people if the Jetman footage got watered down. Since that had already happened with Zyuranger, Dairanger, Kakuranger, and Ohranger. But then again, that RPM example is also a good one.
ReplyDeleteHmmm with the Turbo, is it possible that Saban wanted Turboranger?
ReplyDeleteNo I think Saban thought turbo sounded cool.
DeleteI think Jetman would have worked, mainly because the production values of the season were much higher than those of many following seasons, such as ''Zyuranger''.
ReplyDeleteKamen Rider Dragon Knight Successfully adapted Kamen Rider Ryuki which aired 7 years previously. By successful I mean it was well received by critics. From what I've heard The dark subject mater was The downfall of Dragon Knight and not any ratings.
ReplyDeleteUnrelated Note the red on black text doesn't stand out Try using a white text.
I don't think the fact that it was older footage was ever an issue. They kept using American and Japanese footage for Mighty Morphin which both looked completely different depending on the viewer. I've seen 16 episodes of Jetman thus far. Perhaps the most important season of the Super Sentai series to date. It could one of three or even up to 3 reasons. 1. The character of Gai Yuki. His rebellious nature that could easily be compared to the likes of an Anti-Hero like Lobo or Deadpool. He's only on the team because he likes the White Swan. He's also so violent that even as Black Condor it would be hard to adapt for kids to watch. He makes DragonRanger's rampage look like Bowser from Super Mario. 2. Too many face characters. After Dairanger, most Sentai series uses costumed Villains. Rita and Scorpina (Bandora, Lamie) were the only ones in Zyuranger. Although it's not entirely difficult since they spliced Zyuranger, Dairanger, and Kakuranger stuff together. 3. The Zords. Since Zyuranger, most seasons of Power Rangers & Super Sentai have designated Zord colors. Jetman aren't as distinctive towards that. If it was used as the first season, MAYBE. Also one last reason: Jetman is a good stand alone series. The one Sentai series that didn't get adapted but doesn't need to be. It's the most important Sentai because it's the last Sentai series not to be adapted. It's a good series in it's own right. It could even have been good as an english dubbed show.
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