Best and Worst of 2013: Power Rangers/Super Sentai

This sounds a little like "Winners and Losers" post but this is different. This will be like "Best Dressed" and stuff like that.

SUPER SENTAI

Best Abs

Of course this will go to Daigo of Kyoryugers who sheds his shirt before becoming Carnival Kyoryu Red.

Best Dressed
Best dressed in purple has to be Yayoi Ulshade.

 Most Rangers Ever
Even though Dekaranger had 10, Kyoryuger has the most at 11 or 12 however you look at it KyoryuBlack, KyoryuCyan, KyoryuBlue, KyoryuSilver, KyoryuGold, KyoryuRed, KyoryuViolet (2 of them), KyoryuPink, KyoryuGrey, KyoryuGreen and Deathryuger (not pictured). Gokaiger had over 200 Rangers but they had 6 in the main team. 

Worst Color Combo
Kyoryu Grey and Kyoryu Silver doesn't help with color blind people. Well it is not the worst but it is not what people would had preferred. With the 11 colors, they avoided yellow and even orange. Grey, Silver, Cyan, Gold, Black, and Navy concrete the idea to me about colors companies think boys like better.

POWER RANGERS

Best Abs

Only shirtless guy on Power Rangers since Mike quickly in Power Rangers Samurai and Scott in RPM. Andrew M Gray above in Power Rangers Megaforce as Troy Burrows.

Best Couple
Move over Gia and Jake, I'm shipping over Metal Alice and Robo Knight, there was some definite sexual tension there.

Best Villain
Sorry Vrak, it had to go to Metal Alice. She is the definite one. She is cunning, cold, intelligent and loyal. Also a killer voice actress.

Worst Villain(s)
Bigs and Bluefur are tied with Malkor as they had no personalities and just got easily deposed of.

 

Worst Gag
Ernie's ice creams, smoothies and sundaes dropping or being dropped on people. I know MMPR did it but there is a limit.

KAMEN RIDER

 Best Makeup
 Oren Pierre Alfonzo (Kamen Rider Bravo) is effeminate and wears makeup and sometimes women's clothing items. He is totally muscular and intimidating though.

Best Ending to incorporate past Characters
Kamen Rider Wizard ends and leaves 2 episodes to have past Riders visit.

 Most Handsome Rider in Kamen Rider Wizard
Kamen Rider Wizard himself Shunya Shiraishi.

 Most Handsome Rider in Kamen Rider Gaim
Yutaka Kobayashi as Kamen Rider Baron. While Gaku Sano is a cutie as Kamen Rider Gaim, Baron has that badass mystery going for him. Coincidentally both Kobayashi and Shiraishi share similar psychical traits.

Worst Outfit
This poor girl was stuck in the same costume all Kamen Rider Wizard.

Winners and Losers of 2013: Power Rangers and Super Sentai



I started a new tradition last year to go over what I think are the winners and losers this year.

 SUPER SENTAI

WINNERS

 4. Dinosaur Sentai fans

The Kyoryuger vs Go-Busters teamup will not only reunite the Go-Busters but also Zyuranger (after 21 years) and Abaranger (after 10 years).

 
 3. Violet Fans
We not only got one Kyoryu Violet but two! Male and Female.

2. Ranger Key fans
Kyoryuger gets Ranger Keys finally but only out of an expensive exclusive.

1. Kyoryuger
Japanese and American fans love it! The suits were great, the mecha were cute, good writing, great cast, fun moments and I think the series is really reminiscent of 90's Sentai.

 SUPER SENTAI

LOSERS

 1. Tokkyuger

Train fans and Super Sentai fans. Fans don't like the suits. Maybe this will change. Just one loser? Good enough.

 POWER RANGERS

WINNERS

3. Robo Knight

Gosei Knight was not that popular in the US (In Japan, he was a moderate success) but Robo Knight got many fans here in the US. Combined with his voice and writing, he won us over. "A Knight to Save the Day" did not become a hit but fans still like it. He won't be in Super Megaforce and it is rumored he will have a cameo or something. Will he be missed?

 2. Legacy Items and Green Ranger Fans
Green Rnager and MMPR fans are getting lots of Legacy items like the Gold Legacy Power Morpher with both Green and White Coins, Legacy Dragonzord and Legacy Dragon Dagger. The boxes even emulate the original look of the MMPR boxes. 

 1. American Ranger Keys

The keys are smaller but they are spring loaded. It looks like we will be getting Ninjor and Titanium Ranger. Ninjor's Japanese key showed up not part of Gokaiger but part of Super Hero Taisen 2 exclusive package.

 POWER RANGERS

LOSERS

 3. ACG Fans of "Legends United"
Power Rangers Action Card Game series have appeared in stores every three months but now that Series 4 Legends United was 'released' in November, it has only been available in distribution sites. Most stores around the country has had not them. Only some Wal-Marts like in Texas and other places. Hopefully Series 5 will have reprints of Series 4 cards and will be better distributed.

  2. Our Wallets
  Because of the ACG, Ranger Keys and Legacy Items, our wallets are burning as all this stuff is expensive. We complain about size and paint application, but we then complain about the price. But that is beyond the point. I'm crying all the way to the bank.

  1. American Ranger Keys

Uh, this is hard. I mean, Super Sentai fans that didn't get the Japanese Ranger Keys and were waiting for these keys and they are smaller than the original. Also, there are fans who were expecting them to be bigger than the Japanese keys but oh well. Also they will only 1 per package, coming with the Megazords, zords, cycles, battle gear, multipacks, and blind packs. But the multipacks are only 3 per pack. So we will see if we will be able to get all the teams.

Related: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/12/winners-and-losers-of-2012-power.html

Lavender Ranger Editioral: Pretty Boy Leaders

UPDATED 12/22/13
Warning: The following you might not agree with. I say this because I get lots of comments and e-mails sometimes when I am just expressing an OPINION.

I think one of the reasons that there is such a disconnect with Andrew Gray playing Troy in Megaforce is the same reason movies like John Carter (with lead Taylor Kitsch), Abduction (Taylor Lautner), Beastly (Alex Pettyfer), and I am Number Four (Alex Pettyfer) were not big hits. I think that The Legend of Hercules (Kellan Lutz) will not be a hit as well. This is because I think Andrew Gray looks too 'perfect' or model like. He was indeed a male model, but so was Alex Heartman (Jayden), Michael Copon (Lucas), Chris Violette (Sky), James Mclauren (Mac) and various other Power Rangers. But Andrew looks more 'perfect' or 'flawless.' Fans have been complaining about his personality than his looks, that there seems to be no personality.

Lack of characterization has always been an issue in various Power Rangers series regardless if Saban or Disney. Troy has been accused of the less characterization, we just don't know anything about him. All we know is that he doesn't give up, laughs at fart jokes, was the new kid and practiced martial arts before being a Ranger. Andrew Gray has admitted that fans are not happy that Troy doesn't talk much. I think it had to do with Jason the first Red Ranger, didn't talk much but Jason did passionately take a stand against Goldar and anything Tommy related. Jason was a man of few words but he had a personality. He could get agitated and could show his anger. The above chart I did based on another chart with just the same picture for a bunch of emotions.

Going back to looks, the reason I think those movies failed or will fail is because the main character is plain in the personality department and 'pretty' in the face department. While a lead character in an action film can be young (Star Wars, Back to the Future or Prince of Persia), the actor can be physically fit but when they look 'too perfect' it causes a disconnect with fanboys. Most fanboys want a lead character that is funny, brave and badass. Audiences want a hero that they can relate to, girls (and gay guys) want to be with the guy and guys want to be the guy. People love Han Solo because he wasn't a pretty boy and he was badass. And speaking of Power Rangers, people like Jason, he did look like a typical jock and muscle head but he was endearing and a good person. The actor was young and that showed off in the character.

Oh! I forgot there is an exception to this. Chris Pine as Captain Kirk in the new Star Trek movies. When he was hired, everyone was complaining he was a 'pretty boy.' But he later proved a worthy successor to the Kirk throne.

Spoilers! Super Megaforce Episode Descriptions

UPDATED 4/7/14

New in green.
http://funaroboard.net/index.php?topic=469.0

kyl416 from Fuñaroboard posted 14 15 Episode Descriptions for Power Rangers Super Megaforce. Click on it to check more. It sems they will be not focusing on all the cameo eps of Gokaiger and more character episodes. They will indeed visit Anamarium and Corinth and Silver Ranger's name will be Orion (maybe a nod to the Lights of Orion) and not Zador as previously reported (it turn out to be just a placeholder name). These might not be in order.

Please read the episode summaries from the link above before reading the rest of this post.

Kamen Rider Gaim 10