Friday, November 18, 2011

The possibility of female lone Sixth Rangers


I might have touched this topic on before, but I can't really pinpoint which posts were more specific to this. This has sprouted out from a conversation about Gobusters in Rangerboard about a female sixth ranger. I will say this multiple times in this blog, that the topic of a female Sixth Ranger goes hand-in-hand with a female Red Ranger being the protagonist and the lead in Super Sentai or Power Rangers. 

Closest to Sixth Ranger
Go-On Silver is part of 15 warriors that Gokai Silver uses for his armor Gold Mode, all those 15 warriors are Sixth Rangers. She was part of Go-On Wings and she shared the same arsenal as Go-On Gold and her zord--was male and came with Triptor, Go-On Gold was advertised the most and was the main focus. I think the only way to have a female sixth ranger, they had to have a male one with her.

The first female Extra Hero
It can be argued that White Racer from Carranger or Demon Hunter Jeanne were the first female Extra Heroes, but I consider them prototypes and since Deka Swan was counted in Gokaiger means she is more official and significant. I think Deka Swan is also a prototype for a female Sixth, while MagiMother or Go-On Silver might take that mantle more significantly. Deka Gold did appear first, but she only appeared for a few seconds. Deka Swan only appeared in 2 episodes, in 199 heroes and so far 2 episodes of Gokaiger, she had no figure and may or may not have a Gasphon Ranger Key.

Toy Store Owners
Many Super Sentai and Power Ranger fans might forget this but both series are mostly propelled by toy sales for boys (saving the argument that it is a series just to sell toys because I believe it is one factor, but one of many). When a Sentai producer was asked about a female Red Ranger back in 2007, he said it could happen but it depended on the toy stores. That toy store owners believe boys won't buy action figures of girls, or toys of a series lead by a girl. So toy shop owners won't hold products like that in their stores. We got our first female Red Ranger in Shinkenger, but Hime Shinken Red has the same uniform and arsenal as her counterpart and the only toys she got was after the series ended---Figuart and Gokaiger Ranger Key. I believe Sixth Rangers are made to sell in mid-way of the series and same reason they are all male, to attract boys. It unlikely boys would buy a robo for a lone female sixth ranger, hence what they did for Go-On Wings. Rumors is that Bandai America wanted to release the White Mystic Ranger in Wal-Mart, which was the number one toy seller at the time for PR and Wal-Mart refused, thinking boys didn't want it. That also goes with how there is very little female figures.

The Future
I believe Toei do want change and female Sixth Rangers and such, because then we wouldn't have White Racer, Demon Hunter Jeanne, Deka Bright, Deka Swan, Magi Mother, etc. but with all I said, there is little wiggle room. I think that is why we have had so many gender changes in Gokaiger (above with Mega Silver), because they can get away with it on the show. But notice, none of them have been made into figures. So what do I think of the future? Maybe far from now, we might get a female Sixth Ranger. But soon, I think the closest thing we might get is something like something like Magi Mother, but that appears in more episodes, a female sixth ranger that might not get a lot of toy stuff but is like a extra hero and stuff. But who knows? When MMPR started in 1993, I wanted a purple ranger and we didn't get one until 2007. Fans wanted a female Red ranger for years, SPD had one in 2005 but we got an official one in Sentai in 2009. So this stuff takes time, even if 14 or 4 years.


Hero Action Figure Ranger Key Toy Ranger Key Episodes American Figure
DekaSwan No ?? Yes 2 No
Deka Bright No No No 1 No
Deka Gold No No No Movie No
MagiMother Yes Yes Yes Various No
Mele No Yes Yes All Episodes Yes
Go-On Silver Yes Yes Yes Various Yes
Hime Shinken Red Yes Yes Yes 4 to 5 ??
DH Jenne No No No Movie No
White Racer No No No 2 No
White Rose Mask Yes (GIU) No No A few No

2 comments:

J.D. Sadler said...

Acualy, DekaSwan DOES Have a ranger key

Lavender Ranger said...

I meant the toy.