Power Rangers Turbo, What Went Wrong

One of the most controversial Power Rangers seasons among the fandom is Turbo. It was PR's third installment and fifth season overall. The first 20 episodes of Turbo are particularly unpopular. So what was it about Turbo that turned it into such a failure? Justin, a twelve year old who was selected to replace Rocky during Turbo, is single-handily blamed by some fans for Turbo's failures. However, when taking a closer look, we can see that Justin wasn't the only mishap during this season. First, lets look at the past seasons leading up to Turbo.

Previous PR Seasons

MMPR S1 and S2 were monster hit seasons that allowed Power Rangers to become the biggest kids show during the mid-90's. It was so popular that after just two seasons, the series got a movie (MMPR The Movie), which received a respectable $66 million in revenue. However, it was after this point that PR's ratings started to decline. MMPR S3's ratings saw a dip that continued into Zeo. Some fans became bored with Power Rangers, particularly the constant cast changes.

Zeo, while a good and generally popular season among PR fans, had some hiccups that did its share to lead to Turbo's failures. The most notable was the Dear John Letter sent to Tommy by Kimberly, and the subsequent relationship between Tommy and Katherine. While some female fans liked this relationship, it was unpopular among male fans (the bulk of the fandom) and was seen as forced. As mentioned above, fans were already getting tired of the continuing cast changes, although Jason's return in Zeo was very well received.

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie

Before analyzing the movie's impact on Turbo, I will say that as a movie, Turbo wasn't a bad movie. Not the greatest, but it is watchable. However, due to being in continuity with the season, there were several mishaps in this movie that started the free fall in PRT's ratings. Saban and the production crew recognized that PR's ratings were gradually declining since MMPR S3. As a result, they tried to revive the series by changing the suits, zords, and villains in Zeo (this also doubled as a cost-cutting measure). However, while Zeo was respectable in the ratings department, it was still lower than MMPR S3.

The next move was to make a second movie, which was the Turbo movie. This movie flopped in the box office, grossing out just $9.6 million in comparison to MMPRTM's $66 million. Furthermore, the movie did a terrible job of transitioning from Zeo to Turbo. There was no good explanation given as to why the Turbo powers were needed and what happened to the Zeo powers and the zords. There's been some speculation that Billy, who departed at the end of Zeo, created the Turbo Powers and that the original script of the movie also involved Divatox destroying the Zeo Zords. However, none of this speculation has ever been verified. There is also the infamous hoax episode Scorpion Rain which was suppose to explain what happened to the Zeo Zords as well as Lord Zedd and Rita, but I won't go into that since it is a hoax.

Behind the Scenes of Zeo and Turbo

Besides the gradual decline of the ratings, the Dear John letter in Zeo, and the Turbo movie failures, there was the behind the scenes drama going on at the end of Zeo and the beginning of Turbo. Starting off with Zeo, David Yost (the actor who played Billy) left the show just before Zeo's ending. It was speculated for years that he left due to either pay reasons or because of his reduced role. However, recently, Yost revealed that he left due to constant homophobic remarks made towards him about his sexuality.

Stephen Cardenas, who played Rocky, also had to leave the show due to being injured while attempting a stunt during Zeo. This would lead to the controversy with him being replace by Justin, which I will discuss in a minute.

Also at the time of Turbo, the producers and writers had planned to bring back Lord Zedd and Rita as the main villains in Turbo, but were unable to because the voice actor of Lord Zedd, Robert Axelrod, was unavailable.

Also at this time, Jason David Frank (Tommy) and Catherine Sutherland (Kat) wanted to leave the show to pursue other career opportunities. They both eventually agreed to stay for 20 episodes to allow the writers to write them off. However, the head writers (Douglass Sloan and Ann Austin) would leave the show as well during the first half of the season.

Handling of the Carranger Footage

One of the major missteps behind the scenes was the handling of the Carranger footage. In Japan, Carranger was a big hit that was seen as the savior of Sentai after the failures of Ohranger, a dark season at the wrong time in the midst of a terrorist attack and a big earthquake in Japan. Carranger was known for its wacky, slapstick humor and ridiculous monster suits. The writers and producers of Turbo were split between making Turbo a dark, apocalyptic season and embracing the slapstick humor of the Carranger footage. What they got was something in between that was horrible, which is putting it lightly.

Justin and the First Cast Change

Then, there's Justin. Justin, who was played by Blake Foster (who was 11 at the time), replaced Rocky after his actor, Stephen Cardenas, suffered an injury during Zeo. This is perhaps the most unpopular cast change ever in PR's history. Although, Saban wasn't entirely to blame for the cast change. Seeing PR's decline in the ratings, Fox Kids executives demanded Saban to replace Rocky with a child character in an attempt to appeal to younger audiences, which was PR's original fanbase. So basically, this was forced by Fox Kids. What Fox Kids and Saban didn't realize was that PR's fanbase was aging and was older than it was during MMPR S1 and S2. Casting Justin did nothing to appeal to younger audiences and alienated the older audience. Older audiences didn't like how he acted like a little kid (even younger than his actual age) during the first half of the season, and found him annoying.

As well as Rocky being replaced by Justin, two other popular characters, Zordon and Alpha 5, were replaced as well. They were replaced by Dimitria and Alpha 6. This change was equally as unpopular among PR fans who found both of them annoying.

The Villains

As if all the behind the scenes drama, Justin, and the Carranger footage weren't bad enough for PR fans, the villains in Turbo are also unpopular among fans. Both Elgar and Divatox are viewed as some of the worst villains ever in PR's history. Elgar was viewed as pathetic, especially after getting beat by an 11 year old unmorphed Justin, while fans found Divatox to be annoying.

The Second Cast Change and Second Half of Turbo

After the mess that was the first season came the second cast change, as well as a change of writers and producers with Jonathan Tzachor becoming the executive producer and Judd Lynn becoming the executive writer. While some fans didn't like the second cast change (partly because the two part episode Passing The Torch is unpopular and partly because Tommy departed, the ratings went up during this time, and is viewed by some for saving Power Rangers for at least one season. Unlike previous seasons where the writers had failed to develop new cast members early on, the new cast quickly received development. The quality of the writing improved during the second half of the season, while Lynn embraced the Carranger footage, and managed it much better. Still, even with the improvements during the second half of the season, Fox told Saban to make the following season (Power Rangers In Space) its last season. However, In Space was successful where Zeo and Turbo had failed, and restored the ratings that MMPR had, which allowed Power Rangers to continue.

My Picks for Hot Sentai Heroine

Sean made his own post a few days ago for his picks of hot Sentai girls so I decided I'll make my own as well. Here are my picks, enjoy :)

Kaori/Rika Kishida WhiteSwan

Not the hottest, but to me Kaori is still hot and look's a lot better on Jetman than she does here.

Chisato/Eri Tanaka MegaYellow

Like her PR counterpart, I consider Chisato to be very hot.

Nanami/Nao Nagasawa HurricaneBlue

I think Nanami is very hot, way hotter than her PR counterpart, Tori.

Jasmine/Ayumi Kinoshita DekaYellow

Jasmine is by far the hottest Sentai girl, and not just hotter than her PR counterpart (who's also hot) but hotter than any PR girl as well imo.

Marigold DekaGold

I guess people don't count her since she was only in the movie, but I think Marigold is also hot. She would make my top 5 if I was making such a list.

Urara/Asami Kai MagiBlue

Some think that Houka/MagiPink is hot, I think Urara is hotter. Especially in the picture above.

Sakura/Haruka Suenega BoukenPink

Sakura is also really hot. Her actress, Haruka Suenega is more feminine than her character is. Either way she's really hot.

Miu/Yumi Sugimoto Go-On Silver

Miu is another really hot girl, much hotter than Gemma from RPM. It's no wonder why she got into an issue of playboy :P

Mako/Rin Takanashi ShinkenPink

Ok maybe I think Mako is a little overrated on the looks side, but I still think she deserves to be on this list.

Shinkenger Series Review

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger (English translation Samurai Squadron Shinkenger) (2009-10) was the 33rd installment of Super Sentai, and the first Sentai since Jetman that didn't get adapted for Power Rangers. That is, until Saban bought back Power Rangers from Disney and decided to adapt Shinkenger for next year's Power Rangers. Shinkenger was a more serious oriented Sentai, though it still had a fair amount of comedy, especially the V-cinema movie.This series had a samurai motif which many fans had been waiting for and was a season of many firsts. As well as being the first samurai themed Sentai, it was the first Sentai to have a team up with its sister program Kamen Rider (Kamen Rider Decade) and to feature a female red ranger, although she was only present for the last six episodes. It is also arguably the most culturally "Japanese" of all the Sentai, which led to ridiculous speculation that Shinkenger was "too Japanese" to be adapted for Power Rangers. Shinkenger is one of the most popular Sentais, and helped bring a lot of new fans to the Sentai franchise. Fans love the samurai motif, as well as the cast, a very serious red ranger, deep character development, strong villains, and overall strong plot. However, like any show, Shinkenger isn't without critics. Critics of the show complain that the plot focuses too much on Takeru, has a hiccup in the middle of the season, and has mecha overload. Others criticize Kaoru, the female red, for being a spoiled brat, although this criticism mostly comes from Takeru fanboys.

The Good

Among 2000's Sentais, Shinkenger has one of the best casts along with Dekaranger and Boukenger. Character development is strong in this season, not only among the rangers but some of the villains (like Dayuu and Juuzo) are well developed. Even some of the side characters, like Jii, are well developed. The only character that was really under developed was Kaoru. Some of the villains, like Dokouku and Juuzo, are among the most fearsome and evil villains in Sentai. Shinkenger has a very strong plot. While some criticize the plot for being too much Takeru centric and stumbling a bit in the mid season, I disagree. Takeru gets the majority of the focus but the other characters got proper focus as well. As for the mid season stumble, I think it's during this stretch when characters such as Genta and Mako get strong development, and among all the mecha's, the Ushi Origami had the strongest story, which also came during mid season. The theme song is also awesome, which was by Psychic Lover, who I consider to be the Ron Wasserman of Sentai. The two team-ups so far, with KR Decade and Go-Onger are both good team-ups and the second movie, the V-Cinema movie was also pretty good.

The Bad

The season does have a mecha overload problem, with Samuraihaoh looking rather awkward. Also, I didn't like the MOTW's excuse for retreating every battle, running out of water. The monsters basically lack stamina and it happens everytime they're in battle. The outro was rather bland as well.

The Ugly

The first movie, is one of the worst Sentai movies ever. In fact, it's so short that even most Shinkenger episodes are twice as long.

My Rating

9/10 (Grade A-)- Despite some of its flaws, I think Shinkenger is a great season with some really strong character development.

My Favorite Episodes

Episode 6- This episode gives development to both Chiaki and Kotoha, while establishing a bit of an attraction between them.

Episodes 11-12- Establishes the rivalry between Takeru and Juuzo while also establishing that there is something troubling Takeru.

Episodes 17-18- Genta's first appearance, and it's a good one. Gives further development to Takeru since Genta is his childhood best friend.

Episodes 25-26- This two episode long arc establishes many key plot points in the series. It gives strong character development to both Mako and Ryuunosuke, as well as one of the main villains, Dayuu. It also includes an awesome sword fight between Takeru and Juuzo, which ends with Takeru letting Juuzo strike his body so he could strike Juuzo's body.

Episode 27- A funny yet serious episode. Involves a funny moment in which Chiaki draws on Takeru's face while his body is frozen solid. Also gives a few more hints of Kotoha and Chiaki. Sadly, after this episode their relationship went nowhere.

Episodes 32-33- A lot of people don't like the Ushi Origami arc, but I think it has the best story out of all the other mechas during Shinkenger.

Episode 34- Presents some family values concerning Mako, and I felt gave her strong development.

Episode 36- In this episode, we learn that Genta makes really good Curry, but his dream is to open a Sushi shop, not a Curry shop.

Episode 41- Another strong character development episode for Kotoha. This episode involves flashbacks about her sick sister, and also shows Kotoha maturing by the episode's end.

Episodes 44-47- This arc begins by introducing the first female red ranger in Sentai history. It ends with a strong bonding moment between Takeru and the other Shinkengers, while leading into the final battle. It also includes an awesome sword fight between Takeru and Juuzo.

Awesome Sentai Heroine Video

Here's a music video tribute to various Sentai heroine throughout the years. This video is not mine (made by ThornedBlackRose88), but I think it's so awesome that I had to post it on here, especially with the song that matches the video (Heroine by Nami Tamaki). Enjoy :)

Happy Birthday Suzuka Morita.

I might be a little late on this since right now it is September 8th in Japan, but still September 7th here in the states. Anyways, today is Suzuka Morita's 18th birthday (Kotoha from Shinkenger). Welcome to adult hood. Also, I found a video of her as well, that might interest some of you. Enjoy :)

MMPR S2 Review

MMPR S2 (1993-94) continued S1's story and used leftover footage of Zyu2 as well as zord footage from Dairanger. This season introduced a new villain, Lord Zedd, who took over Rita's spot as the main villain. This season also had new zords, as mentioned above from the Dairanger series, known as the Thunder Zords. The season also continued some story arcs from season 1, such as the Green Ranger's limited power supply slowly being drained because of the Green Candle's effects. Interestingly, during the two part episode Green No More, with Tommy's green ranger powers drained, Lord Zedd used its powers to create the dark rangers. Original plans involved the dark rangers wearing the dairanger costumes and supposedly fighting either the rangers or destroying Angel Grove, but this was scratched. After Tommy's Green Ranger powers ran out, he was later recast to play as the White Ranger, which was rumored to be Brad Hawkins (VR Troopers actor) instead. Eventually, Austin St. John, Thuy Trang, and Walter Jones left the set reportedly due to lack of pay, and the series went through a significant cast change. As Jason, Trini, and Zack were written out, new actors, Steven Cardenas, Johny Young Bosch, and Karen Ashley were cast to play as Rocky, Adam, and Aisha who became the replacements. Towards the end of the season, Lord Zedd was toned down significantly due to parental complaints that he was "too scary." Among the fandom, this season has mixed reactions. On one hand, Lord Zedd is highly praised as being one of the best villains ever in the series history, and Tommy's return as the white ranger is also well praised. The music present during this season and the last half of season 1, is also widely praised, as well as the extended version of Go Go Power Rangers that debuted during this season. On the other hand, the season is ridiculed at times for the splicing of footage (particularly in the first half with the Dairanger mecha fighting the Zyu2 monsters), the cast change and lack of development of the new cast, Tommy getting too much focus and too cocky (I agree with the former but disagree with the latter), and the villain decay that Goldar and later Lord Zedd would receive. Though some fans argue that after the villain decay of Lord Zedd, he accomplished more, particularly in season 3.

The Good

The first half of this season is really better than season 1. It was much darker, with a much more fearsome villain, Lord Zedd. The green ranger's powers were being drained to nothing and were planned to be used for the destruction of earth. In the beginning of the season, we see that much of the cast had matured dramatically, in particularly Billy who was initially a big nerd had become a muscular and very capable fighter. Tommy's return as the white ranger was a bit of a surprise and made the show more interesting. The music during this season (some of which was introduced in the later half of season 1) was a big improvement from season 1, and imo still the best ever in the franchise history. But then, came the cast change...

The Bad

This season had so much potential that didn't go anywhere. Seeing the Dark Rangers would have been interesting to see. While Adam was given a couple good character development episodes (particularly Goldar's Vice Versa), Rocky and Aisha lacked development and personality during this season. The writers weren't yet comfortable with the new cast, and ended up giving Tommy a little too much power. Then there's the villain decay that Goldar starts receiving with Green No More when an unmorphed Tommy thoroughly kick's his ass, and later in the season Lord Zedd is toned down.

The Ugly

Many talk about the splicing of the footage being bad during this season, but for me the worst part is the American footage used during this season and season 3. It just couldn't live up to the big explosions or the intense battles of the Sentai footage.

My Rating

7.5/10 (Grade B-)- This season had a good start to it, but the last half of the season didn't do it justice. Still, a descent season.

My Favorite Episodes

Episodes 1-3 (The Mutiny)- This arc introduces Lord Zedd and the Thunder Zords, and it was a very good introduction for Lord Zedd.

Episode 6 (Bloom of Doom)- This episode gave some good depth to the Trini-Kimberly friendship.

Episode 11 (The Song of Guitardo)- This episode helped to strengthen Tommy and Kimberly's relationship, and also the inevitability that Tommy's Green Ranger powers are about to run out.

Episodes 12-13 (Green No More)- The Green Ranger powers finally drain away, which ended some good drama. The best part is that Tommy discovers he doesn't need the powers, just to be himself, and he kicks the crap out of Goldar while he's unmorphed.

Episode 15 (Missing Green)- Gives some character development for Jason, who's down about Tommy losing his green ranger powers.

Episode 16 (Beauty and the Beast)- A filler episode, but a funny one when Goldar tries to turn Kimberly into a replacement for Rita.

Episode 17-18 (White Light)- Tommy is given the White Ranger powers, and it was given a little bit of mystery as to who he was early in the episode.

Episodes 22-24 (The Ninja Encounter)- Introduces Rocky, Adam, and Aisha, and gives them a pretty good introduction. However, not much positives would come for these three for the rest of the series.

Episode 29 (Goldar's Vice Versa)- The only time we get to see Scorpina in the entire season. This episode also gave a little bit of development for Adam.

Episode 31 (When is a Ranger Not a Ranger)- This episode actually gave Bulk and Skull some development. It showed that they were more than one dimensional characters, when they saved the rangers.

My Picks for Overrated and Underrated 2000's Sentai Warriors

Since I've already given my picks for overrated and underrated Power Rangers, I'll give my picks for most overrated and underrated Sentai Warriors during the 2000's.

Overrated

Hoji, Dekablue

Admittedly, I'm a big Deka fan, and it also took me a while to warm up to Hoji due to his arrogance during the early parts of Dekaranger. I probably have a habit of underrating Hoji, and now I do think he's an ok character. Still, I didn't like it when I read some message boards where Hoji was used to attack Ban, one of my favorite characters in Deka.

Genta, Shinken Gold

I personally never had a problem with Genta like I did with Hoji. Genta is probably underrated in terms of his use and character focus during the series, but in terms of "6th rangers," there's a lot more Sentai 6th rangers that I like better than Genta.

Mako Shinken Pink

I actually do like Mako quite a bit. She is one of my favorite pink rangers in Sentai. In fact, I really don't think Mako as a character is overrated at all. However, I think her actress, Rin Takenashi, is overrated in the looks department. For me, she wouldn't make my top 5 among hottest Sentai girls, although she would still be in the top 10.

Underrated

Goraijers

When anyone mentions anything about Hurricanger, it is usually about Nanami because of her looks, and if it's not Nanami, it's Shuricanger. These two are among my favorite characters, but I think the Goraijers are often overlook. I think both Ikkou and Isshu are badasses, and they have an interesting story in which they came from a rival ninja school to the Hurricangers and they had a father who didn't give a shit about there lives, as long as "that" was born. It took them a long time to get over it and to warm up to the Hurricangers, but I think both of them, especially Ikkou, are interesting characters.

Umeko, Dekapink

I realize that Umeko is a bit of a "your mileage may vary" type of character. Some criticize her for being under developed or being "meaningless" to the show. While she may be a little bit under developed, I don't think she was meaningless. Personally, I liked her cute, funny, and bubbly personality. In fact, I'm a bit of a sucker for girls with bubbly, girly-girl personalities, which is why the next two characters also make my list. I also liked it every time she was doubted by the other Deka's that she would prove them wrong :P

Natsuki, Bouken Yellow

As mentioned above, I'm a bit of a sucker for girls with cute, bubbly personalities, and Natsuki is one of them. True, she's not really much of a fighter, she's a bonehead, and she's childish, but she's childish in a cute way. I also think she has one of the most interesting background stories out of any Sentai character. She was a princess of the extinct Lemuria civilization, and put to sleep in suspended animation for 100,000 years. She aged 1 year for every 5,000 years she was a sleep. When she woke up, she had amnesia and no memory about her civilization. I also think the two-parter in which her true identity was revealed was epic, among the best episodes during Boukenger.

Saki, Go-On Yellow

Another character with a cute, sweet, bubbly personality I like. Rather it's because people don't like Go-Onger or the people that do like Go-Onger for either the Go-On Wings or for the good comedy, I think Saki gets overlook on both sides. For me, she's one of the main reasons why I like Go-Onger. She's always cheerful, and always has a smile on her face. Interestingly, she has a rather heartwarming story about why she is always smiling and encouraging others to smile.

Kaoru, Shinken Red

I know Kaoru was present in Shinkenger for only 6 episodes and was heavily underdeveloped, but being the first female red ranger in Sentai's history was historic. Some criticize her for being a spoiled brat, which I disagree with. I think a lot of people, mostly Takeru fanboys, get the wrong impression about her when they meet her annoying retainer, Tanba. She is actually quite a descent character and was smart enough to know what to do with the situation she inherited, and tried to lead the Shinkengers and fulfill her duty while recognizing they had a better bond with Takeru.