Thoughts on Power Rangers Megaforce

As many of you know, Saban decided to celebrate Power Rangers' 20th anniversary using Goseiger footage.  The series, officially named Power Rangers Megaforce, will also use Gokaiger footage for the series' second season.  Despite using Goseiger footage, Megaforce will not use Goseiger's angel motif.  Instead, it reverts back to MMPR's theme, five teenagers with attitude.

I'm personally mixed on Megaforce.  There's a lot of things I don't like.  To start off, why is Goseiger being used for Power Ranger's anniversary?  Ok sure, the colors are the same as the MMPR colors, but Gokaiger would have been a better series to use for the series' anniversary.  Sure, they're using Gokaiger footage in the second season (I'm imagining we're going to get 20 episodes of Goseiger footage and 20 episodes of Gokaiger footage), but the route they're using disturbs me.  Are they going to have the same characters for both sets of footage?  Are we going to have characters like Emma (to play Megaforce Pink) transform from the airhead that Erin was in Goseiger to the graceful (and also quite competent) princess that Ahim was in Gokaiger?  Or even worst, Troy (Megaforce Red) go from the rather innocent character of Alata to the bold, brave and adventurous alpha male character of Captain Marvelous?

Saban's reasoning for not using Gokaiger as the main series for an anniversary season adaptation also doesn't make a lot of sense.  He fears that the Pirate motif may cater too much to boys, might not work, and may even be too grown-up for a younger audience.  Uh, hello.  Power Rangers is a series aimed at boys already, why not use a theme that will cater to boys?  Furthermore, how could a graceful, kind, princess-like character like Ahim not be liked by girls?  Frankly, has Saban not recognized the success of pirate themed shows in the United States like Pirates of the Caribbean and Captain Hook?  You're going to tell me they don't have followings of a younger audience?  Seriously, I think Saban is starting to get too old to make competent business decisions.  It's already bad enough that Nickelodeon is meddling around by splitting shows like Power Rangers Samurai over two seasons, and now we get this crap.

Also, as regards to the "teenagers with attitude," it's nice to know that Saban does care about the older fans, but repeating MMPR nostalgia is starting to get old and tiring.  I understand it's an anniversary season, but Samurai had tried to reap the benefits of MMPR nostalgia, and failed miserably.  If you want to learn how bad Samurai did with MMPR nostalgia, you check out this post.  Now I could be wrong.  It can work, and Power Rangers has made MMPR nostalgia work well with Dino Thunder.  However, with Tzachor at the helm (and without Judd Lynn) I'm not exactly confident it will work out.



Despite all of the possible negatives I see, there are some things that are encouraging.  One is the cast.  The two female actresses (Ciara Hanna and Christina Masterson) do have previous acting experience.  Hopefully this means Megaforce won't have Samurai's craptastic acting.  I'm also a bit optimistic that Megaforce will be more original and not another copy and paste job from its Sentai counterparts like Samurai was.  When Power Rangers tries to copy and paste its Sentai counterpart, it usually does a terrible job.  Plus it gets boring seeing the same stuff that I already saw in the original Sentai.  It's like there's nothing to new and exciting to look forward to.  With the teenagers with attitude motif, and the fact that they're using two series circled around Power Rangers' anniversary, I have hope that it will force Tzachor and the writers to come up with some original ideas.

Stunt Director Koichi Sakamoto

One of the few people to work extensively both on Power Rangers and Super Sentai is Koichi Sakamoto. Sakamoto is mostly known for stunt and choreography director, but throughout his run in Power Rangers, he's also worked as a writer, main director, producer, and executive producer. Sakamoto hasn't limited himself to just Power Rangers, he's also done stunt directing for Super Sentai and Kamen Rider as well. Sakamoto grew up in Japan as a fan of both Super Sentai and Jackie Chan. The Jackie Chan influence is evident in Sakamoto's wire-fu style. Here's a look at his works.



Sakamoto began his career with Maskman. He worked as a stunt actor for Blue mask at live shows, many of which were taken place at the Tokyo dome.



In 1989, Sakamoto moved to the United States to study English and become a stunt actor. He formed his own stunt team, "Alpha Stunt Productions" and began working as the 2nd unit director for VR Troopers.



After one season working as a director for VR Troopers, Sakamoto worked as a Stunt Coordinator and 2nd Unit Director for Power Rangers, starting with MMPR S3. He would keep these roles for the rest of the Saban-era, and was even the co-writer of one of Power Rangers' most popular episodes, Countdown to Destruction.



Sakamoto began work as a producer with Power Rangers Time Force.



Sakamoto was co-executive producer during the entire Disney era of Power Rangers, sharing responsibilities with Douglass Sloan, Bruce Kalish, Eddie Guzelian, and Judd Lynn. At Power Morphicon, Bruce Kalish claimed that during his reign, all the production decisions (including copy & pasting Sentai plots) were made by Sakamoto. However, this seems implausible and more like an excuse for Kalish to avoid the blame for the low quality that Power Rangers suffered during his tenure.




Sakamoto also worked as a stunt coordinator for the opening credits of Magiranger and Gekiranger. Both openings were filmed at New Zealand, which was also where Power Rangers was being filmed at the time.



With Power Rangers coming to an end with RPM, Sakamoto returned to Japan. First he worked as a stunt coordinator and one of the main directors for Kamen Rider W. He was the director of three of the W Movies including Gaia Memory A to Z, Accel, and Eternal.



After W, Sakamoto worked as a director and stunt coordinator for the first 1/3rd of Gokaiger. His wire-fu style is very evident in the early episodes of Gokaiger.



Sakamoto has worked as a director for Kamen Rider Fourze, including its first movie.



In between jobs with Gokaiger and Fourze, Sakamoto has worked part-time as an action director for Power Rangers Samurai. He hasn't been involved in production work like he was during the Disney era.

The Various Running Gags of Bulk and Skull

Here's a look back at all of the running gags given to Bulk and Skull throughout the years.

MMPR S1


In MMPR S1, Bulk and Skull's gag was simplistic. They were the school bullies and bumbling idiots. Often times the humor was over the top but they were still a fun group.

MMPR S2


After being saved by the Power Rangers in the season's first episode, Bulk and Skull spent the rest of season two trying to figure out their true identities. Sometimes they were close (only for Billy to switch the video tape). In the episode When is a Ranger not a Ranger, Bulk and Skull actually do discover the ranger's identity, only to have their memories erased when they tried to save the rangers.

MMPR S3


Season three saw a popular change for Bulk and Skull. They became members of the Angel Grove Jr. Police Department. Most of the time they were nothing more than their stereotypical idiotic selves. In all seriousness, one has to wonder how the heck do these two not end up getting fired after all their constant blundering. However, there was one cool moment in Catch That Cab when they actually did catch a car thief.

Zeo


Along with In Space, Zeo is the season where Bulk and Skull really shined. They had perhaps more development in this season than any other. Initially they were still members of the Jr. Police Department, but quit out of loyalty to Lt. Stone after he got fired. Then they joined Lt. Stone to form their own detective agency. This season, Bulk and Skull had some pretty cool moments, including my all-time favorite Bulk and Skull moment in Instrument of Destruction. There, Skull bravely showed off his musical talents in which Bulk later approved.

Turbo


In Turbo the writers simply ran out of ideas and didn't know what to do with Bulk and Skull. They were initially turned into Chimpanzees because the actors who played them were experimenting with a Bulk and Skull spin-off show. That went nowhere, perhaps due to Turbo's declining ratings. Even in the second half of the season when they were turned back to normal and the writing had improved, it seemed like the writers still didn't know what to do with them. Their running gag for the second half of the season was getting hired and fired from various part time jobs, which became too repetitive.

In Space


Bulk and Skull spent In Space with Professor Phenomenus searching for alien life. Phenomenous added more comedic relief, but Bulk and Skull got a lot less screen time compared to the first five seasons. This is mostly due to the fact that most of In Space's story took place away from earth. However, Bulk and Skull had perhaps their most popular moment during the season's finale, Countdown to Destruction, in which they mimicked the "I am Spartacus" moment.

Lost Galaxy


In Lost Galaxy, Bulk and Professor Phenomenus boarded Terra Venture and accidentally left Skull behind. From what I have heard, this was due to contract issues with Skull's actor. Bulk and Professor Phenomenus ran a coffee shop on Terra Venture called Comet Cafe. However, the two were rarely seen throughout the series.

Wild Force


Bulk and Skull showed up for the 10th Anniversary episode, Forever Red, in Wild Force. Here Bulk had mysteriously gotten back to earth from Mirinoi (bad writing) and ran a juice shop named Bulkmeier. Their appearance was just a little wink to longtime fans of the show.

Samurai


In Samurai, Bulk returned to teach Spike, Skull's son, the way of the samurai. Here the writing just completely fell apart. Bulk and Spike have next to no interaction at all with the Samurai cast, and feel like nothing more than mere add-ons for fanservice.

December Poll Results, January Polls

Among anniversary team-up movies, 79 of 90 voters (87%) voted for Gokaiger, Goseiger, Super Sentai 199 Hero Battle as the best team-up, beating Gaoranger vs Super Sentai (7 votes) and Boukenger vs Super Sentai (4 votes).

Among the viewers that saw Super Sentai 199 Hero Battle, 62 voters (81%) thought it was awesome, 10 voters (13%) thought it was good, 2 voters thought it was ok, and 2 voters thought it was horrible.



Based on the rumors for the next Power Rangers series after Samurai, 46 voters (54%) felt that Goseiger should be adapted in a different way from what is rumored. 17 voters liked the idea of adaptimg Megaranger scripts for Goseiger, 14 voters felt that Power Rangers should skip Goseiger and move onto Gokaiger, and 8 voters felt that Power Rangers should adapt nothing at all.

Power Rangers Turbo Series Review

Unlike some Power Ranger seasons that initially had some good ideas but failed due to poor execution (like most of the Kalish seasons, Samurai), Turbo was a season in which the writers and the producers had no idea what to do. There were several cast and production crew members leaving, either at the beginning or in the middle of the season, and the writers didn’t know what to do with the Carranger footage. The result was a mess, full of unlikable new characters, bad writing, and terrible villains.

Among the first flaws of Turbo are the writing flaws with the movie, particularly the continuity errors with the end of Zeo. Several things are left unexplained, such as why were the Turbo powers needed and what happened to the Zeo powers? While Zordon in the movie explains that the Zeo zords may not be enough to defeat Malagore (whom the new villain, Divatox, was trying to marry), this never explained why the power rangers needed the Turbo powers. The other major writing flaw with the movie is what in the hell happened to Lord Zedd and Rita? The movie shows them seemingly giving up trying to defeat the power rangers, which is inconsistent with the end of Zeo when they claimed “we’re back” after they destroyed the Machine Empire. The departure of Lord Zedd and Rita also led to one of Turbo’s other major flaws, their replacement.



Lord Zedd, Rita, and the gang are replaced by space pirates Divatox, Elgar, and Rygog, whom are all god awful villains. To start off, Divatox is EXTREMELY annoying, which happens to be a common problem with many of the replacements that come in during this season. All she does is whine, cry, and bitch about her plans failing in such a pissy attitude. While Rita did her fair share of whining in Power Rangers, at least Barbara Goodsen’s voice acting made it funny. However, both of Divatox's actresses were bad actresses and she just makes you want to break into the TV screen and slap her across the face. Elgar, on the other hand, is a bumbling idiot, incapable of fighting an 11 year old Justin, unmorphed. Meanwhile Rygog did virtually nothing, and seemed to be there only to fill up Sentai footage. The only real descent villain in this series was General Havoc, who was used during the Phantom Ranger arc.



However, the villains weren’t the only replacement scrappies brung in during Turbo. Along with the villains, the movie and the first three episodes introduced a trio of annoying, unlikable characters: Justin, Dimitria, and Alpha 6. Justin replaced Rocky, while Dimitria and Alpha 6 replaced Zordon and Alpha 5 respectively. To be fair, Rocky wasn’t the most likable character either. He had been pretty bland through the first season and a half, but in Zeo he received a fair amount of good character development that made him tolerable for that season. The problem with Justin isn’t so much that he’s a kid, but that he acted like being a power ranger was like playing a game. Sure, it’s understandable if he gets excited, but it’s rather annoying watching him act like a bratty five year old. Even more annoying than Justin was Alpha 6, who seemed like a pathetic attempt to imitate hip-hop culture. Dimitria on the other hand, I’ll say isn’t quite as bad as she’s made out to be. A lot of fans dislike her for replacing Zordon and for speaking only in questions. Her dialogue of speaking only in questions does get annoying, but I think her methods of letting the rangers figure out problems on their own was better than Zordon just simply giving the answer away.

The other major problem is that the writers didn’t know what to do with the Carranger footage or the old cast. As been discussed many times before, the writers were split on what to do with the Carranger footage. The writers were split between adapting Carranger’s slapstick humor, or turning it into a dark, much more serious season. The result was something in between, which led to horrible handling of the footage.

As for the characters, all of them had now graduated from high school, and at least two of the actors (Jason David Frank who played Tommy and Catherine Sutherland who played Kat) had expressed a desire to leave the show after the first 18 episodes. This virtually led to 17 episodes of filler (concluding with an incredibly lame two-parter Honey I Shrunk the Rangers) that gave virtually no character development to the main characters. Instead, we get Tommy driving around a race track and Bulk & Skull turned into Chimpanzees. This was especially disappointing, coming off of Zeo, which had gave these characters much more development than they received through the previous three seasons, and really allowed the new cast members to shine.



This brings the season to the cast change in episodes 18 and 19. In the first 17 episodes, Ashley and Carlos had already been introduced in the series, who were meant to replace Kat and Tommy respectively. When Judd Lynn replaced Doug Sloan as the main writer of the series, he decided to replace the other older cast members as well, Adam and Tanya. Lynn wanted to start fresh with a new cast. Many fans have criticized this move, rather for replacing fan favorites such as Tommy and Adam, or for it coming in midseason instead of at the end of the season. However, I think this move was actually a good idea. It did suck to see Tommy and Adam leave the show, but there was no way they were going to keep Tommy and Kat on the show. This cast change allowed the writers to start from scratch with a new cast, and led to some pretty good character development episodes during the second half of the season. Some of the execution of this cast change was flawed, particularly Carlos’ introduction as a selfish soccer player, but throughout the second half of Turbo all four of the new characters- T.J., Cassie, Ashley, and Carlos- became likable characters. I also felt that all the new cast members were descent actors. This cast change I thought was handled much better than the cast change during MMPR S2.



Following the cast change, Turbo becomes a much better show and becomes watchable. The annoying traits of Justin and Dimitria are toned down, making both characters bearable. Turbo still retains its share of annoying characters (Alpha 6 and the villains), but the writing and the handling of the Carranger footage improves dramatically. I particularly liked the Phantom Ranger arc, which did a good job of establishing a mystery about his character and gave Cassie some good development due to the ship tease. It is disappointing that the Phantom Ranger's identity is never revealed during In Space, but it's understandable since they ran into budget problems. Other than Cassie, Justin gets the most development with his relationship with his dad. The others, T.J., Ashley, and Carlos, are all likable characters but get more satisfying development during in Space. Meanwhile, Bulk and Skull are turned back into human, thankfully, and their running gag for this season is getting fired from every job they work on due to their stupidity. However, it was somewhat funny, much better than them being turned into chimpanzees.

The rest of the season follows the standard MMPR/Zeo format. It's episodic, mostly filler episodes that centered around one of the character's problems in their high school life, with one example being Ashley having trouble with an auto mechanics class. Most of these episodes were just ok, but there were some good episodes such as a two-parter involving the Blue Sentorium being turned evil, and Parts and Parcels (a Bulk and Skull focus episode). The next major story arc in Turbo is Chase into Space, which ends with the Power Chamber being destroyed and the rangers sans Justin leaving into outer space to either find Zordon or stop Divatox before coming back to Earth. This was a pretty chilling episode, and had a heartwarming departure between the rangers and Justin. It also proved to be a good lead-up to in Space.

The main problem with this season was that nothing was really well planned, which lead to a sloppy first half of the season. The suit change was nothing but a gimmick to try to give the producers new Sentai footage to work with, but they had no idea how to use the Sentai footage. It didn't help that the movie gave a very sloppy transition from Zeo to Turbo. The second half of the season was much better, thanks in large part to the new cast, the Phantom Ranger arc, and the ending. As a whole, I give Turbo 6/10. If I'd split up the series into two parts, I give the first 20 episodes and the movie 4.5/10 and the last 25 episodes 7/10.

Favorite Episodes/Story Arcs
Episode 23 "The Phantom Phenomenon"- Introduction of the Phantom Ranger
Episode 26 "The Darkest Day"- Introduction of General Havoc
Episodes 28-29- The conclusion of the Phantom Ranger arc
Episodes 31-32- The Blue Sentorum turned evil, also gave development to Justin.
Episode 38 "Cassie's Best Friend"- An episode featuring Cassie and her dog-turned human.
Episode 43 "Parts and Parcel"- T.J. tries to help prove Bulk and Skull's innocense after they had been accused of theivery.
Episodes 44-45 "Chase into Space"- The conclusion of Turbo.

October Poll Results, New Polls

Which Power Rangers series would you like to see me review next?


Surprisingly, 42% of voters (24 overall) want to see me review Power Rangers Turbo next. I guess viewers want to see me go on a rant. :P 14 viewers (24%) voted for Time Force, 12 viewers (21%) voted for SPD, and 7 viewers (12%) voted for Turbo.

Which Super Sentai series would you like to see me review next?



This one ended in a tie, with 28 voters each choosing Go-Onger and Goseiger. Since it ended in a tie, I'll choose which series I want to review.

Would you like to see my older reviews in my newer format?
21 voters (61%) said yes.
8 voters (23%) said they didn't care.
5 voters (14%) said no.

This month's poll will be asking the viewer's opinion on the Gokaiger vs Gavan movie and what they think about the rumors of Gokaiger possibly having more than 50 episodes.

Power Rangers Goseiger Adaptation to Use Megaranger Scripts?

As many of you may know, Saban has already claimed copyrights to the titles "Power Rangers Megaforce" and "Power Rangers Ultra Megaforce." Both of them are rather, generic and uncreative titles. However, there are rumors going around that the upcoming Goseiger adaptation will be using a video game motif, and specifically Megaranger scripts. These rumors have come from Chris Funaro, a.k.a. Cmdr Crayfish, a long time Power Rangers fan and insider. Generally, Funaro is a reliable source. Here's what he said initially on rangercrew:

"My honest gut-instinct? We're gonna get Goseiger adapted heavily filtered through Megaranger after being told the angel theme was unusable. Recycling Mega scripts instead of Goseiger."

Furthermore, there's been leaked scripts of the main characters being high school students, which would match the Megaranger main cast. The leaked scripts can be downloaded below:

Professor Side
Pink Ranger Sophie

This would make sense of the title having the word "mega," as lame as it is. Discarding the angel motif isn't surprising, but instead of coming up with something original they've decide to disguise it by making a carbon-copy of an older Sentai. If they intended to outright copy Megaranger's scripts Saban would be spending a lot of money to make new footage. In particular with Jaden Sentai Nejiranger, whom were used as the Psycho Rangers during In Space and have absolutely no equivalent in Goseiger. Honestly, a video game themed Power Rangers series would be interesting, but the least they can do is make up their own friggen script.

Power Rangers Samurai/RPM Crossover

For those of you whom haven't heard yet, it appears that Power Rangers Samurai will have a crossover with RPM...

"The Clash of the Red Rangers - a crossover special where the Samurai Rangers team with the mysterious RPM Rangers Red fend off the dual threat from Master Xandred's Mooger army and robotic super-villain from the RPM Ranger's dimension. When something goes awry, the two Red Rangers turn on one another and the fate of the world hangs in the balance."

Apparently Tzachor is going to ignore his own comments when he said that everything from Ninja Storm to RPM was non-canon, or at the least RPM is canon with Samurai. However, to be honest I'm not that excited about it. I do feel that RPM is best being left as non-canon, although having them from a different dimension does make it a little interesting and gives them a way around the post-apocalyptic world of RPM. However, it does sound somewhat disappointing. Some of it sounds like a rip-off of Shinkenger vs Go-Onger, and it sounds like only Scott is returning. Making it disappointing. They could at least get Ari Boyland back to reprise his roll of Flynn, afterall he did voice a MOTW earlier in the season. I wonder if the Samurai writers even noticed that the Venjix virus downloaded itself into Scott's morpher at the end of RPM. Hopefully they do something original, at least.

August Poll Results, September Polls

Polls for August asked "How should Goseiger be adapted for Power Rangers?
The 126 voters, the overwhelming majority (80%) said that Goseiger should be adapted with a completely original storyline. This I agree with but sadley, I don't have much hope of it happening.

13 voters (8%) said all of Goseigers' plots and characters should be copied and pasted for its Power Rangers adaptation.
13 voters (again, 8%) said Saban should skip Goseiger and move onto Gokaiger.
4 voters (2%) said that Goseiger should be adapted as the second season of Power Rangers Samurai.



The other two polls circled around Gokaiger. The first one was "As a Super Sentai fan, do you want to see Gokaiger adapted for Power Rangers?
124 voters (86%) said yes.
20 voters (13%) said no.

The next question was virtually the same, but as a "Power Rangers fan."
117 voters (89%) said yes.
14 voters (10%) said no.

September's polls will ask if you like the newer version of my "series reviews" or the old ones better. Other polls will be asking if you would like to see reviews of other tokusatsu related shows such as Kamen Rider, Shibuya 15, and Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.

Good Acting Seasons in Power Rangers

Most Power Rangers seasons have acting that ranges from average to mediocre, or in Samurai's case, just plain terrible. However, there have been a handful of seasons that have had descent and even good acting. Here are the seasons, in no particular order, that have descent to good acting.

Power Rangers Time Force


Time Force is considered by many to be the most well-acted series ever in Power Rangers, and with good reason. Strong performances were put on by its two leads, Jason Faunt (who played Wes) and Erin Cahill (who played Jen). Also adding to their acting talents were two Hollywood actors Edward Albert (who played the Wes's father) and Vernon Wells (who played the main villain Ransik). I also feel Daniel Southworth, who played Eric Meyers, put on a good performance as well. However, I feel that this series tends to get overrated by many due to lacking in character development for half the cast and copying most of its story from Timeranger.

Power Rangers Ninja Storm


Many power ranger fans tend to credit Ninja Storm for having good acting. I personally think the acting in this season is a bit overrated. Perhaps it's overrated because it's one of the few Disney era seasons where there is very little accent slippage from the New Zealand actors. It's not bad. I did like the performances by Jason Chan (Cam), Sally Martin (Tori), and Grant McFarland (who played both sensei-Watanabe and Lothor). The rest, however, I felt were fairly average.

Power Rangers Dino Thunder


Dino Thunder is another season that tends to get credit for good acting. There were some good actors like James Napier (even though his character, Connor, is a dimwit), Emma Lahana (who can sing as well), and Jeffrey Parazzo(who played Trent).

Power Rangers SPD


SPD is another season that gets a lot of praise for good acting. It was also the last season before Samurai to use mostly North American actors. There were good performances from the entire cast, although personally I don't think they had the same charm as their Dekaranger counterparts. Despite the excellent acting in SPD, the series had some writing problems, particularly with the Omega Ranger scenario and pacing issues with many filler episodes taking place during the middle of the season.

Power Rangers RPM


RPM I think had the best acting of any series. The core 5 members all put on solid performances, as well as some of the supporting characters such as Dr. K (played by Olivia Tennet) and Colonel Trueman (played by James Gaylyn). Personally, I think the best performances were put on by Milo Cawthorne (Ziggy) who was great in a comedic role, and Ari Boyland (Flynn) who showed a very convincing Scottish accent.

My Top 10 Power Rangers Theme Songs

Although not a top 10 list, in the past I shared my favorite Sentai Opening theme songs. I probably need to update that list, but that will come another time. In the mean time, I'll share my top 10 favorite Power Rangers theme songs. Enjoy.

10. Power Rangers RPM

A lot of Power Ranger fans hate this song, but I actually like it. It has a nice heavy metal beat (which is saying something since I'm not a fan of heavy metal). I personally like it better than the song it was picked over, which again is opposite of most Power Ranger fans. The rest of the background music on RPM however, can take a hike.

9. Power Rangers Zeo


The Zeo theme song was a cool song in a line of Zordon Era cool/awesome music. What was really cool about it was having "go go Power Rangers" in the lyrics.

8. Power Rangers Turbo


While Turbo sucks as a show (mostly the first 20 or so episodes and the movie), the theme song was pretty cool. It has a nice rock beat, and I like the lyrics.

7. Power Rangers Lost Galaxy


Another theme song that not too many Power Ranger fans like, but I find really cool. Again, it has a nice rock beat and the lyrics tell a bit of a story.

6. Power Rangers Samurai


Like Turbo, Samurai fits the label of cool theme song, bad show. Truthfully, I hate Samurai more than any other Power Rangers show, but the one thing Samurai does do right is its theme song. The theme song is a remix of the original "Go Go Power Rangers" theme song, with a rock/techno beat that you usually hear in video games. This makes the song awesome.

5. Power Rangers Dino Thunder


The Dino Thunder theme song is another awesome theme song that I love. Some Power Ranger fans don't like it because it was the first theme song not to have the word "go" in it, but as I see it, it doesn't need to. The rock beat is strong and the lyrics are catchy. It has me singing "dino rangers roar, Power Rangers score" all day long.

4. Power Rangers SPD


Just like its Sentai counterpart, Dekaranger, SPD has an awesome theme song to go along with the show. SPD's theme song is fast pace, catchy, and has a good rock beat. Making it even more awesome is it's composed by Ron Wasserman, who's made many awesome Power Rangers theme songs and insert songs.

3. Power Rangers Wild Force


The Wild Force theme song is another awesome creation. While the show's quality is debatable, the song has an awesome fast pace rock beat. It's perhaps the only song to beat Ron Wasserman's music.

2. Power Rangers In Space


The In Space theme song is yet another awesome creation by Ron Wasserman. A catchy theme song to go along with an awesome show. One of the many reasons why Power Rangers In Space is my favorite Power Rangers series.

1. Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, a.k.a. Go Go Power Rangers


I think everyone knows this song would be on the top of my list. Again, another creation by Ron Wasserman. Strong rock beat, simple yet very catchy lyrics. Even better is its extended version, also by Ron Wasserman, which is really rocking.

Is Darker and Edgier Overrated?

Many fan favorite series among both Super Sentai and Power Rangers are series that can clearly be defined as darker and edgier. This includes Sentai's such as Liveman, Jetman, Dairanger, and Timeranger. On the Power Rangers side, Lost Galaxy, Time Force, Wild Force, and RPM are seen as the darker seasons. Sometimes, however, I think both fan bases tend to give too much praise to the darker series. Don't get me wrong I tend to like many of the darker series as well, but I think the lighthearted seasons are often just as good.

Power Rangers RPM is clearly the darkest power rangers season to date with the post-apocalyptic storyline. No doubt, RPM is one of the best seasons of power rangers ever made. In contrast to Super Sentai, I think Power Rangers is much better when it is darker, edgier, and more serious. This is mostly due to much of Power Ranger's comedic style which tends to fall flat. However, besides clearly being the darkest season of Power Rangers, RPM was also one of the funniest. RPM had funny characters like Ziggy and General Crunch, as well as a healthy dose of well used lampshades. It was this combination of being dark and gritty combined with its comedic aspects that makes RPM one of the best seasons.

Like RPM is popular with the Power Rangers fanbase, Jetman is a darker, grittier, and very popular series among Sentai fans. Like RPM, Jetman has some good and I might add very underrated comedic aspects. Jetman rarely attempted humor, but when it did it was quite funny. However, Jetman is one of the darker seasons that I think is also a bit overrated. There's some scenes in Jetman that are a bit disturbing, like daimond-like objects growing out of human skin and a later episode when Maria was transforming into a monster. Jetman also had some writing issues, particularly at the end of the series. For example, the end result of the Gai/Kaori/Ryuu love triangle was a bit rushed and the ending with Gai's death was so random that it was unnecessary and didn't really add anything at all to the series.

Then there are series like Dekaranger, Hurricanger, and Shinkenger. All of these seasons I think have a healthy balance of dark themes and light themes. They tend to switch between the two, but aren't overly dark or overly silly. The humor in all of them is pretty funny if you ask me, and proves that not everything has to be dark and gritty. Just like the darker seasons like Jetman and Timeranger are great series, I think these seasons have their own charm as well and work perfectly fine as well.