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Saturday, November 15, 2014

Villains Week: Actors that played Good and Bad

I have commented on actors who played different roles but here are villains or lackies that the actors also played good guys, allies or mentors.
 

Dimitria/Divatox
Carol Hoyt portrayed the Turbo Ranger's mentor Dimitria and Divatox for the first half of Turbo. When Hilary Turner returned, she remained as Dimitria for Turbo.


Sensei/Lothor
Grant McFarlane portrayed adult Sensei (as another actor played the twins at a younger age), provided the voice of Sensei as a guinea pig and Lothor.

Marah/Cassidy
Katrine Devine first portrayed Marah in Ninja Storm and then Cassidy in Dino Thunder, she portrayed both in the teamup episodes. 

 Mesogog/Anton Mercer
Latham Gaines portrayed Dr. Anton Mercer and put on the costume for Mesogog. I thought it was a suit actor but word is he did.

 Emperor Grumm/Mentor Jii
Rene Naufahu played Emperor Grumm in SPD (we saw his human form once played by himself) and later on played Mentor Jii in Samurai.

Holly Shanahan
Holly Shanahan played LeeLee in Mystic Force and Camile in Jungle Fury. Even though I consider LeeLee a molly-ambigious character, Camile was a villain and LeeLee did end up being good at the end. So I suppose she counts.



Sailor Moon Crystal - Act 10: Moon - Episode Review

Episode Summary:
Luna tells them to prepare to go to the moon. Ami talks about the Scientifics. Rei wonders how they will get to the moon. Minako says she'll explain it later. Ami is happy Usagi is feeling better. At night, Usagi looks at the moon out the window. Her feelings getting stronger, she wants to know about her previous life and save Mamoru. At her house, Usagi welcomes her dad home. She was about to get a donut but he gives her a gift, the Silver Crystal with a chain. They ask if a special boy gave it to her, she says yes. She then fights over a game with Shingo.
 
Her dad says she is becoming a woman and she will leave them. Her mom doesn't agree. Under Moon Phase 15, the five stand by a fountain. Usagi remembers talking to Mamoru near there. She looks at the broke watch, they promised to trade their handkerchief and watch. Luna's emblem glows and the fountain glows. The five enter the fountain and transform. They hold hands and do the Sailor Teleport (unnamed).
 
They open their eyes and they are in a shield bubble floating over the Earth heading to the Moon. Luna says they are landing on the Sea of Serenity. They surprisingly can breathe on the Moon. They spot the ruins of the Silver Millennium. They spot the Legendary Sword. Jupiter tries pulling it out to no avail. Mars and Mercury try and it budges. Venus says to leave it to her. She tries pulling out and it finally gives. Blue energy comes out. A voice speaks to the four Guardians, that the sword belongs to them. She thanks Luna. She is Queen Serenity. She says even though she perished, her will has remained thanks to the Points System of the Moon Castle.
 
She sent Luna and Artemis through suspended animation to Earth and she was waiting for this moment. She explains Serenity used to go to the Earth for the greens. She found love with Endymion. The Moon Castle appears to them. She would sneak to Earth and the four Guardians would catch her. Venus said it was their happiest days. Their mission was to protect the Silver Crystal. A variant create nvaded Earth, it was pure evil, they wanted the crystal. They brainwashed Earthlings to get the crystal but Endymion kept his sanity and fought against them. He was stabbed in place of Princess Serenity. She committed suicide with a sword, laying on top of Endymion. Queen Serenity sealed Metallia with the crystal, the Silver Millennium turn to Stone. The country on Earth died out and the history started again.
 
The evil has been revived. She tells the Princess is the only one to use the true power. Venus tells the Queen that something was drawn into Endymion's body. Moon shows her the crystal. She says her strong wish to save him caused it to happen. He's alive. Usagi is happy and nods. The power depends on her, be proud of being princess and Sailor Moon. She is a human and the true meaning of their rebirth. The four guardians are to protect Moon. Her transmission fades. Luna says to go back home. Moon wants to know the true reason of their rebirth.  
 
 
Queen Beryl walks down to Metallia, the Shittenou watch. Kunzite has them follow him. They spot their true ruler. They ask about the symbol on her head. Beryl thinks the crystal banished. Metallia wants to get rid of Endymion. Beryl still wants to use Tuxedo Mask. Metallia says they need more energy. Beryl must do it before the Shittenou regain their true memories. As they hear this, crystals glow on their foreheads. Tehy get a flashback of them saying their names and that they are knights of things, that they will protect Endymion, who counted on them. They were born to Earth to find their master. Beryl says they remember it. They ask if they were used. She said yes. Kunzite tries attacking but she electrcotes them, saying she still needs them. Their crystals turn dark and Beryl brainwashes them to get rid of Serenity. Back at Command Center, they find that Dark Kingdom is underground. The computers go nuts. They find Tokyo has turned to ice. The five Senshi face the Shittenou, they are turning Tokyo into the north pole. Kunzite wants the crystal.  
 
 
Kunzite attacks, the Senshi protect Moon. Mars fights Jaedite, Mercury fights Zoisite, Jupiter fights Nephrite and Kunzite fights Venus. Venus tries to reason with Kunzite. She tells them tha tthe Shittenou are not their enemies, that they were the brave knights who served Endymion. They get a flashback of standing before the Knights, they followed Serenity to the Earth and fell in love. They remember and refuse to fight, the brainwashed Shittenou attack them and Moon defends them, after Beryl says they are under her control. She does her speech. Kunzite syas he'll kill her first. Moon takes out her Moon Stick and flies out of the area and does the Healing Escalation, all of Tokyo is healed. Venus says they fight for the princess. They all do speeches. They call their powers and do the Sailor Planet Attack on the four Shittenou. Venus calls them to wake up. Kunzite teleports them out. Mercury says they were close. Moon floats down to Earth with the bubble. Meanwhile, Beryl implores Metallia for power to wake up Mamoru. She grabs his face and says he is under her control now. She tells him to kill Usagi and take the crystal. Later at Crown Arcade, he appears with red eyes.
 
 
Episode Review:

 
 a GREAT episode. This answers so many questions that plagued me since the DiC dub. If Earth had a kingdom, where in history did it exist, and this places it before our history, that Metallia's influence, just made the kingdom be forgotten. Also, that the Shittenou remain alive for the Senshi to pin over them and try to heal them. Moon sure shows she is strong. I am not sure how I feel about her having her dad put the crystal with a chain. So now it looks like Mamoru will be Endou. Next weeks episode is called Endymion. I like that we saw the Earth kingdom and different things like that.
 

 

Episode Review: Power Rangers Super Megaforce - The Wrath - Episode Review

Pictures thanks to Megaforcecast.com and Ranger Crew Blog
 Episode Summary:
Ernie bids farewell to Orion, retires his apron and cries. Emma arrives and they walk out. Orion says Earth is a happy place, all he could think was revenge. Emma is sad. Orion says not to be sad he has to say goodbye, be happy they met. They hug. Noah admires the Armada space ship, Orion and Emma arrive, meeting up with the others. Orion says the Armada is decimated so he's going home. Gia has a bag of snacks and mementos from them. Emma gives him pink flowers. Orion says Noah taught him to use his mind, Gia showed him to be tough and caring, Jake can find humor in tough times ("That's why everyone loves me... except for some stubborn people.") and Emma's empathy healed his scars of losing his home. Finally, Troy showed him how to be a Ranger. (Meh) And he gives him his bracelets. (Sixth Rangers keep giving Troy stuff) Emma kisses Orion's cheek.
Orion leaves the planet. Tensou tries to contact Orion but ends up with a transmission from Mavro calling all the ships for a 'real invasion.' The Rangers are called and they rush to the Command Center. The Rangers hear the transmission and Troy recognizes it. Gosei explains he is the dad of Vrak and Vekor and could be hundreds of thousands of ships. Troy says they are over a hundred fighting for Earth (100 vs. 1,000?). Meanwhile, Levira congrats Mavro, one of his cronies says she failed, that she was one of the three bumblers that failed to protect Vekar. Mavro sends her down. The Rangers are on the Sky Ship when Levira arrives in her new Megazord.
They change to the Megazord and fight her. Ninja Zords attack and she blocks them with a shield. They use a Changeman attack (unnamed) against her and destroy the shield. They then call the Fire Smasher and do the Samurai Strike. The Megazord is destroyed and she falls out. They jump out to fight her. Royal Guards arrive. Troy goes to Mighty Morphin Red (replacing Sun Vulcan VulEagle), Jake goes to Blitz Mode Black (Changeman's Change Gryphon), Emma goes to Prism Mode Green (Flashman's Green Flash), Noah goes to Lighting Mode Blue (Maskman's Mask Blue) and Gia goes to Supersonic Mode Yellow (Fiveman's Five Yellow). They call their weapons: Prism Shooter, Blitz Blaster, Supersonic Flute and Lightning Rod and Power Sword.
Red fights Levira. The others fight the Royal Guards. They like the new powers. Jake does a Gryphon Magma Galaxy attack. They take down the guards. They go back to Super Mega Mode and use the Super Mega Cannon and destroy Levira. This was Mavro's plan to eat up time and the Armada arrives and blasts at the Rangers. They de-morph, millions of ships arrive, scaring people out of their houses and schools. Mr. Burley is called out of the school as well. Mavro's lackey laughs. Mavro speaks to the Rangers, saying they can't stand against them. Gosei tells them to stay strong. The Rangers morph and say they won't surrender.
They call the Megazords including Q-Rex and fight the ships. Gia takes out the SPD keys and they call the SPD patrol zord. They call the Wild Force Lion and Ninja Zord. Gia calls the Megaforce Zords (Mecha Zords) and Jake calls the Jungle Fury Animal Spirits. Emma calls the Turbo Falcon that helps. They call forth the Mystic Force Dragon and form the Mystic Force Legendary Megazord. Noah auto-pilots the Q-Rex Megazord to fly with In Space's Mega Winger wings (not named). They destroy many ships. Mystic Dragon joins the fight. Troy does a Fire Sword Strike attack (which I forget which Pre-Zyu series it is). People applaud. Mr. Burley is hiding under his desk.
Mavro says it is impressive. Orion check the comm links and hears about the second wave from Mavro. Orion freaks out. More ships arrive, scaring people again. Mavro laughs and says to attack. Ninja Zord and Mystic Dragon go down. The other zords fall in like. Turbo Falcon goes back to another dimension. The Ranger groan as the Megazord crash lands. The Megazord is blasted at and the Rangers de-morph and land violently on debris in the city. They are all knocked unconscious. Mavro appears in the sky telling people of Earth that they won and that the Power Rangers have been destroyed. They have one last night. Tomorrow at dawn, they will return.
Episode Review:
If Troy recognizes Mavro's voice, why did he even let Orion leave in the first place? They should have been ready for this a little better. It is also sad that Noah didn't get to check Orion's ship like he wanted. Orion of course left so they could just be five. I already expressed my displeasure of the use of the Pre-Zyu suits here: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2014/09/spoilers-vrak-is-back-wrath-and.html Now everyone is complaining. it makes no sense they only reshot Red Mighty Morphin and had the pre-zyu suits in new New Zeland footage. Yes, they had the Five Yellow, Flash Green, Mask Blue and Change Gryphon suits in New Zealand in new footage. Now it makes sense why they only had Flashman, Maskman and Changeman, not Jetman and Turboranger or others. Sorry to spoil but next week the Rangers won't be becoming a lot of the missing Ranger teams they haven't become yet. We do see the real deals but ugh, can't even complete that sentence.
Pictures thanks to:

Dino Charge Toys charging into stores

Thanks to Eric/TrekkieB47 for spotting some at Toys R Us:

 
GoseiWonder of TokuNation found the Dino Cycles, apparently there will be Red, Black and Blue:

The Black Ranger's cycle is Red and Silver, Red's Yellow and Black and Blue's Silver and Black.

 
Fury Diamond of the RangerCrew blog has promotional pictures:




 


Friday, November 14, 2014

Villains Week: Lothor and his Actor

Grant McFarland not only portrayed Lothor but also the Sensei in Power Rangers Ninja Storm. He is from New Zealand. On PMC 4, Doug Sloan said that Grant McFarland was devastated that fans didn't like his character of Lothor, that fans found him too goofy. So when he returned for "Thunder Storm" in "Dino Thunder," he decided to portray the character darker. Doug Sloan did not think it was necessary. Some fans did notice and liked the darker tone. I think it would make sense since he was in the Abyss of Evil.

Villains Week: Villain Vehicles in Power Rangers


 
Rita's Bicycle 
Bandora in Zyuranger had a bike and it was carried on to Power Rangers but only in the first season. Baboo rode it once because of the footage. After they exhausted Zyuranger footage, Rita no longer rode it.

 
Lord Zedd's Serpentera (MMPR
In Dairanger, it was a god angry at the Dairanger and Gorma that they were causing such a racket so it intervened. In Power Rangers, it became Zedd's zord that would use a lot of energy source. It was later used to transport Zedd and his gang. Ultimately he remained buried on the Moon until it was destroyed by a small heavenly flying motorcycle.

 
Vypra's Vyprari (Lightspeed)
Modeled after the Silver Space Ranger's Galactic Rover, Vypra got this vehicle mostly to introduce the Lightspeed cycles and was used sparingly later on.


Emperor Grumm's Bike (SPD)
Grumm's bike was remolded from one of the Tsnuami Cycles of Ninja Storm.

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Villains Week: VR Troopers Villain Figures Show Accurate?

I always wonder why Bandai didn't do VR Troopers as they did Metalder and Speilban. At PMC 4, I found out that Bandai thought there was no point to make toys for an old series. Probably they already lost the patterns and models for the toys from the 80's. Kenner (now owned by Hasbro) opted to make the toys. So here I compare the action figures of the villains with how they look on the show.. if it was show accurate.

 Decimator
He was just a monster of the day, his face became black, he remained with silver, red and black and his cape but slight differences. He was from the Metalder footage.
General Ivar
General Ivar kept his cape and most of his details in tact. The silver triangles on his lapel did move up though and some of the buttons on his chest changed.He was one of two figures to be from the Speilban footage.

Dark Heart
The robot that turned out to be Ryan's father, the yellow lining became white, the red remained, some black parts became grey. He was the second from the Metalder footage.

Tankotron
While the color seems to be off, it is actually a lighter version, while the show version wasn't a dark green, it was much in the spirit. The figure doesn't look as bulky as the real one though. He was the 3rd from the Metalder footage.

Air Striker
It was hard to tell by the show but I think he was more black and red than purple and gold but other than the colors, I think he is more or less show accurate. He was the 4th from the Metalder footage.

Skugs
They were show accurate. They are the second villain figures to be from the Speilban footage. That I know of, there was no villain figures that were made that came from the Shaider footage (season two VR Ryan).