Power Rangers Samurai - He's not heavy metal, he's my brother"

 Mike hears music and it is a boy playing a guitar outside of the Shiba House. Jii, Jayden, Mike and Emily meet Terry, Mia's brother. Kevin and Mia are out getting food. Terry is volunteering at the children's hospital, his parents want him to be a doctor, he was hoping for her to sing. Kevin, Mike, Jayden, Emily and Antonio fight Moogers at a school, Mia comes late and doesn't fight. Emily tells her about Terry. Mia and Terry reunite.

 He wants her to sing in a concert, she says no. She pulls him out, telling him to become a med student, he says she is being like their parents. Terry leaves in a huff. Antonio and Terry become friends and 'jam' together. Bulk and Spike decide to also be in the concert. Bulk and Spike get some bikers to be their security guards. Mia is thinking to herself on a bench, she thinks back to her singing with him back when they were little.

Terry hands a flier to Emily Spike spots Mia as a 'pretty girl' and Bulk encourages him to invite her---he hands her the flier.  She goes to a Nighlok attack, Spike was nervous. Serrator attacks the other five at a warehouse. They fight Moogers. Mia arrives and fights Serrator. She is given the Black Box and goes to Super Samurai mode and does a super airway attack on him.The rangers applaud, Serrator calls for a Papyrox and a bunch of a Moogers that are giant. Mia forms the Samurai Megazord, Jayden pilots the Bullzord and Antonio uses the Clawzord.


Mia goes to Super Mega Mode. The Megazord goes on top of the Bull Zord and destroy Moogers. Jayden makes the Bull Megazord and they destroy the villains. Back at the Shiba House, kevin and Mike are dancing. Emily asks Mia if she is going to concert, she says she is going to turn in. They leave. 

She sees that it is Terry's and is about the Children's Hospital charity and she changes her tune (pun intended). Spike and Bulk rap at the charity event and the bikers are present. Spike is surprised the announce likes them. The bikers kick them out, as they were paid to kick them out. Terry asks for Mia, Anthony says he doesn't see his friends but sure they will come. They perform. The rangers arrive and Mike does some embarrassing cheesey dancing. Then Mia arrives and sings with her brother.

Review:

Terry does have a slight accent but it can be mistaken for an Asian accent as it probably is a mix of Asian with Australian/Kiwi. When I heard about the title, I imagined a wild and crazy brother, big hair, earrings, tattoos and him being more flashy than Antonio. But they went for a more subtle approach which I appreciate. Steven Skyler can sing, he said on Facebook that his album would come out soon but I think that is still wait and see. He was on Glee in one episode in season two before Samurai and a couple episodes this season as part of the Warblers. The crew appropriately use Steven Skyler and Hector David Jr.'s skills in this episode.

Pictures thanks to SamuraiCast.com

Alex Heartman addresses shirtlessness and KCA Tonight

Nickelodeon Kid's Choice awards (KCA) is live tonight and Alex Heartman is nominated for Best Actor, which he will most likely win. In this interview with Theinsider.com, he addresses the top Google search for him is him shirtless. I have noticed Najee, Hector and Steven all have shirtless pics online, except for Alex.

"I'm fully aware that my top [search] on Google is "Alex Heartman Shirtless" – you've gotta know that people are looking for that. I'm not self-conscious about my body [and] had so much fun with the photographer. I'm excited to show the world me!"

http://www.theinsider.com/tv/51066_Alex_Heartman_shirtless_photos/index.html?page=2

 In another interview on a local news show, he explained that his older sisters got him into modeling. He moved to L.A. and studied Brazilian Jitizu and other martial arts.

 

Nice arms, Alex. Good Luck!

Mis-Matching Personalities

Sometimes when morphed, Rangers do things that are un-characteristic. It is because of the original Japanese footage. This happened more during the first Saban era, where they used footage and the characters weren't similar and they would do things out of character.

Billy/Dan

Billy was the genius and Dan was much braver, and not stupid but not exactly the inventor Billy was. Dan acted much braver in footage they used for earlier episodes when Billy was scared. 'Zyu2' footage showed off a smarter Blue Ranger.

Adam, Aisha and Rocky

When the trio joined the team, the stunt actors weren't changed so their heights didn't change even though the two trios had significant height changes (most notable Trini and Aisha). Also they didn't look different in the Zyuranger footage, especially when they called the Thunderzords. Now that is just height, but when they morphed, using old footage, they had the same personalities as their pervious counterparts.

Carter/ Matoi
Carter was a straight-forward goody-good corn-fed white boy leader. Matoi was a bit more lenient and fun-loving, but just as stern leader. In the episode "Up to the Challenge" of Lightspeed Rescue, Red Ranger gives Kelsey a 'noogie' which was originally brotherly love between Matoi and his brother in GoGoV but in Lightspeed, it was out of character. It stood out a lot.

Mack Hartford / Satoru Akashi
Not exactly that obvious but Mack and Akashi were different kinds of leaders. Mack was young and inexperienced and when un-morphed, he didn't read 'lead' the way Akashi would. He seemed more like he knew what he was doing when morphed. Akashi was a stalwart and experienced leader.

Ronny / Natsuki Mamiya 
 In the case of Natsuki and Ronnie, they cut out Natsuki's poses and it was easier with the females, they would cut many episodes so it wasn't so noticeable. Natsuki's origin made her prominent and same in PROO but with no reason. Ronny was kidnapped twice with no other explanation that she was 'powerful' and the villains had more reason to kidnap Natsuki because she was a princess of an ancient civilization and she really did have power.

Gem / Hiroto and Gema / Miu
The two counterparts were completely different, Gem and Gema were happier and Hiroto and Miu were serious but this didn't come out much in footage. All the footage of Go-On Wings rejecting the main team was not used. But I put them here anyway to show significant differences between characters after adaption. And showing how writers can change the characteristics and use the appropriate footage and not let cracks slip by.

I'm sure there are more, but those are the ones I remember.

Surprise! Lionsgate gets DVD rights to Samurai and Super Samurai while the other seasons are at Shout! Factory

According to:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/lionsgate-powers-up-with-distribution-rights-to-sabans-power-rangers-samurai-2012-03-22

Highlights from article:

Lionsgate, a leading diversified global entertainment company, has added some serious muscle - along with high-octane action and martial arts - to its family home entertainment division. In a licensing agreement with Saban Brands, the studio announced today that it has acquired the North American home entertainment distribution rights to the #1 rated kids action series Saban's Power Rangers Samurai. Under the multi-year agreement, Lionsgate obtains all DVD and Blu-ray rights, as well as multiple digital rights for the newly revamped Power Rangers television series, Saban's Power Rangers Samurai and Saban's Power Rangers Super Samurai. 

The studio also acquired the distribution rights to two Power Rangers Christmas and Halloween specials, and a Power Rangers Movie special. The first releases in the deal, Power Rangers Samurai: The Team Unites and Power Rangers Samurai: A New Enemy, arrive on DVD and Digital Download for the first time on June 19th.