Showing posts with label Feminism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Feminism. Show all posts

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Where's the Red Cosmic Fury Ranger Halloween Costume?

We finally have a female red ranger in merchandise for Cosmic Fury like the morpher and bookbags but where is the Halloween costume? Cosmic Fury has no pink ranger but ironically the only girl Power Rangers Halloween costumes there are in 2023 in stores are Pink Dino Fury. They did make a Zenith Ranger kid costume, but no other colors. I know in the past Halloweens, I have seen pictures of moms posting of their daughters in Red Ranger costumes on social media. 

Here is a mockup, not perfect of a Red Cosmic Fury Ranger costume. 


Sunday, August 3, 2014

Sailor Moon Crystal - Act 3 Rei - Sailor Mars - Episode Review

"Act 3: Rei - Sailor Mars"
The episode opens with Jadeite apologizing to Beryl, Nephrite and Zoisite comes in. Nephrite says Jadeite's monsters failed because they were made of clay, he wants to get the crystal. Zoisite says the Senshi will get in the way.  Beryl says the crystal has immense power, whoever obtains it will rule all. She tells them that their mission is get rid of the Senshi. Rei has a premonition at her temple.  Later Rei says bye to a little girl named Mii. Students at Usagi's school talk about the 'Demon Bus,' people get on and don't get out. Usagi is sleeping, Luna wakes her up in school, telling her they have a meeting at the arcade, which wakes her right up. Ami tells Luna at the Arcade she can't believe she is a Senshi. Luna tells her their mission to protect the Princess and find the Silver Crystal.

 Usagi win two watches. Later, they are on a bus stop. Usagi is upset Ami is going to cram school. AMi tells Usagi she sees a beautiful girl that goes to T.A. Girl's Academy. They see her, Usagi stares at her. Rei gets a glimpse of the Moon Kingdom when looking at Usagi. Rei steps off the bus and Usagi does too. They head into the shrine. Rei feels a demonic atmosphere and sends her crows after Usagi and does her 'Evil Spirit, Taisen' gimminck on Usagi. Later she apologizes and asks if she is okay. Rei says her crows don't attack humans. Usagi thinks she is cool. Rei goes up to Mii's mom, who says Mii is missing. They leave and Usagi if Mii is her friend, Rei says Mii plays at the shrine waiting for the bus. They talk about the Demon Bus. Usagi and Ami put on the matching watches at the school. Luna says Rei has mysterious powers and might be the princess. Usagi says she is beautiful enough to be it. Later Usagi and Luna talk on the bus.
 

Luna tells her that the watch is a communicator. Luna freaks out and they bump into Mamoru again, who says they bump into each other. Turns out Mamoru is in his second year of High School. She asks him if he heard of the Demon Bus, he says yes. He catches her looking at him so she hides her eyes with Luna. Mii's mom wants Rei to use her power to find Mii. Rei says to go to the police. The other women blame Rei. Usagi defends her. Rei tells them to leave. Later, Rei and Usagi tak about how people treated her because of her powers and asks why must she have these powers. Usagi wants to help her to find Mii. She tells her not to be involved with her anymore. Usagi leaves as there is nothing they can do. Meanwhile, Rei stays focus mediating to the fire. She pictures Jaedite grabbing Usagi. She runs to her aid. She bumps into Jeadite running a bus. He makes her faint. They pass Usagi and she sees her in the bus.
 
 The bus goes into a wall/other dimension. Usagi transforms into a flight attendant (to save the passengers) and enters the hole. Tuxedo Mask comes in and saves Luna. Luna runs off and tells Ami. In the other dimension, Nephrite briefly visits Jaedite as he says he is luring the Senshi. There is the victims everywhere sleeping, including Rei. Usagi bumps into a column saying she doesn't have Luna nor Tuxedo Mask to save her. Her watch rings and she screams in it. Ami and Luna track her through a laptop and tell her to transform so they can track her location. Ami finds it and transforms. Ami and Usagi transform at the same time. Jadeite says he is attracted to Rei (referring to their relationship in the past in the manga). Sailor Moon and Mercury present themselves. Ami does her mist and Usagi looks for the victim. Jadeite blasts ice at them. Rei wakes up and recognizes Usagi. Usagi denies it but then tells her she is a superhero. Luna sighs. Rei is surprised she has powers as well. Rei grabs Jadite. He tries freezing her but she says she has powers too and it burns off.

Her symbol glows on her forehead, Luna throws her the pen and she transforms into Sailor Mars. Sailor Moon ties up Jadite with the Tiara Boomerang. Mars does Evil Spirit Taisen and burns Jadite. Later, Mii and Rei reunite around the police near the bus stop. Mii reunites with her mom. Rei smiles and walks to Usagi and Ami. Usagi is happy she joined them. Ami says they were looking for someone like her. Rei smiles. Meanwhile, paparazzi take pictures of a man carrying a case in an airport. Next week has to do with a crystal they think is the Silver one and a Masquerade party which was in the Manga and was repeated in the original Anime and the Live-Action version.
 
Review:
It was a surprise to get Zoisite so soon, it wasn't a surprise to see Nephrite though. I liked that they added the little girl Mii to Rei's story, that it wasn't like the original Anime ep that included Jaedite. I did like that Rei is more receptive of Usagi's friendship than in the past. Even though the Live-Action version is closer to the Manga in respects that Rei wasn't boy-crazy (the original Anime made her boy-crazy), the Live-Action version still had her initially being cold to Usagi and Ami. In this version, she seems to be more cooperative to the idea of teamwork. I also like that Rei was able to tell that Usagi was Sailor Moon. Not sure if Tuxedo Mask really was able to tell if Usagi was Sailor Moon but I guess we'll find out. I also like the sort of 3-D effects of the Henshin sequence. Also, interesting they are adding the past relationship of the Shittenou and Sailor Guardians which is an idea Naoko Takeuchi had but never explored in the Manga. In Act 3 of the manga, Jadeite looked at Rei's unconscious form and mused upon her beauty. This was only an attraction as noted in this episode that he was attracted to her.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Skirts on Ranger Keys

UPDATED 4/21/15 7PM EST
I couldn't start this post until I saw more female keys and thanks to the Toys R Us Exclusives in 2015, we are getting more but not all. Now here is a curious thing, some promo pictures show the keys with skirts and they don't come with them. Some prototypes of Pink Rangers that have skirts don't come with the line. Some pictures are from Ranger Crew Blog, Megaforce Cast and Ranger Crew Facebook, thank you to Fury Diamond.

Wave 2 and 4 Keys
In the promo RPM Yellow and Ninja Storm Blue have skirt lines but the actual keys do not. Yellow Jungle Fury and Zeo Yellow who have skirts in real life do not have them on their keys at all. Top is promotional photos and bottom is the actual keys. The one to the left is from Rangercrew and the ones to the right are mine.


 Super Megaforce and Mighty Morphin
The promo for Super Megaforce Line had the skirt design but the actual key does not. Pink did not have the design on any of her promo pics that I know of. Both Rangers have skirts on the show.
As for MMPR, Pink had a skirt and Yellow originally had no skirt and no skirt is seen on any of her keys. The Mighty Morphin SDCC 2014 exclusive metallic pink ranger key has a skirt (thanks to Fury Diamond for the pic) but in the promo pic she does not. Neither does Mighty Morphin Pink and Yellow keys displayed at the Bandai booth this year. The top photos are the promotional photos and the bottom left is my photo and the bottom right are from Rangercrew.
Above left picture from Megaforcecast/Rangercrew. At the SDCC 2014 and promotional pic, MM Pink has no skirt but in the actual product that comes in the MMPR Set D in late 2014 she has a skirt.


 
  SDCC 2013 Prototypes
I am referring to these as prototypes until further notice. Most of these pics are from TokuNation. Above are Lost Galaxy Pink, Aquitar White, Turbo Pink, RPM Silver, Time Pink, Wild Force White, Space Yellow and Space Pink. All photos from Tokunation. Lost Galaxy, Turbo and Space Pink had skirts on the show, as well as Space Yellow and RPM Silver but these prototypes had no skirts. Wild Force White, Aquitar White and Time Force Pink had skirts and have lines on the keys. All these keys except for Wild Force White and Space Pink appeared at SDCC 2014 and they remained the same. Operation Overdrive Yellow was also there but I forgot to put her on the pic.
SDCC 2014 Prototypes on Display
All above pictures from Megaforce Cast, I put RPM Yellow to show it has no skirt and it is like our keys. Pink Zeo, Yellow OO, Samurai Pink and Mystic White had skirts on the show. Out of all these keys, only Samurai Pink has a skirt. In this picture you can see Zeo Pink, Lost Galaxy Yellow, SPD Pink, Operation Overdrive Yellow, Samurai Pink, Wild Force Yellow, Mystic Force White, and RPM Yellow.
SDCC 2014 Banner Keys
At San Diego Comic Con, Bandai had posters and banners of other keys unreleased and not on display. All these pics form Megaforce Cast, in this picture you can see Mystic Force Blue, Mystic Force Pink, SPD Yellow, Dino Thunder Yellow, Megaforce Yellow and Lauren (Samurai Red). Mystic Force girls, Megaforce Yellow and Lauren have skirts on the show and they have them on these keys. Yellow Dino has a skirt on the show but not on the key on the poster from what I can tell. Lauren has been teased but hasn't been released yet.

Toys R Us 20 Key Set
Yellow Dino Thunder, Pink Turbo and Pink Zeo had no skirts in the promotional image but on the actual keys, they have skirts. Can't find a bigger pic for Yellow Dino (so she's Ant-Man in this scenario). Yellow Dino has a black skirt, Pink Zeo has a gold skirt and Pink Turbo has a white skirt. Pink Turbo also comes in the Turbo Set B and Pink Zeo comes in Zeo Set B.

Wave 6/Wave 1 of 2015
Yellow Lost Galaxy and SPD Pink come with their second packs and have no skirts as their real counterparts don't have. White Aquitar has a skirt (as she had at both SDCC). RPM Silver and Mystic White have skirts in real life but not on the keys. Both RPM Silver and White Mystic Japanese Keys (Go-On Silver and MagiMother) had no skirts.  The Alien Ranger and Lost Galaxy Set B are now available at Toys R Us.

Wave 7/Wave 2 of 2015
Yellow Wild Force come with their second packs and have no skirts as their real counterparts don't have. Yellow OO and In Space Yellow keys have skirts (even though their SDCC keys didn't have skirts). Samurai Pink and Time Force Pink have skirts just like their SDCC counterparts. As of April 2015, Operation Overdrive, Wild Force, Samurai, Space and Time Force have been found in select Toys R Us.
So why is this a big deal?
It's not. It is just interesting to talk about. I always like the difference from prototype to actual product.


Tuesday, July 22, 2014

The Mystery of the (Lauren) Red Samurai Ranger Key

 UPDATED 7/29/14 EST
 Like the Zeo Green Ranger, we have been teased about the female Red Samurai Ranger Key. It appears on the back of boxes of not only the Spring Wave but also Fall Wave. The Zeo Green Ranger Key was replaced by Yellow in the Fall Wave toy box backs, but not the Lauren Key. Now that is revealed at SDCC 2014 that we will be getting more keys, hopefully we will get Lauren!
All the Samurai Multipacks the male Red Samurai Ranger was released, not Lauren.
 
So far it looks like we will not be getting the Lauren key. My theory is that Bandai America didn't have a promotional image of the Jayden key in time for printing and didn't notice it needed changing when re-printing. They probably noticed the Zeo different by color but don't notice a extra stripe of color (not color blind but skirt blind).
 
The promo pic for the Super Mega Cannon had the female Red Ranger key but instead comes with the Red Samurai Ranger Key (Jayden). Many fans have just painted red on the male key.
 
BY THE WAY
Saban Brands will be giving out a translucent Mighty Morphin Green Ranger Key to best cosplays at SDCC. More information at Morphin Legacy. http://www.morphinlegacy.com/2014/07/sabans-sdcc-giveaways-super-mega-video.html#more-27656

Picture from TokuNation:
Power Ranger Cosplayers get a special Translucent Green Ranger Key at SDCC 2014. 

Related: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2014/06/the-mystery-of-zeo-green-key.html | http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2014/07/which-ranger-keys-will-come-with-super.html |  http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/p/super-megaforce-ranger-keys-list.html |

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Monday, April 14, 2014

Super Megafore Pink Tutu: Step Forward or Step Backward?

So this has appeared online...
Pink Ranger Prestige Tutu

 I've mentioned wanting more girls merchandise for Power Rangers before. In 1993, Saban did some girls stuff like the Power Rangers Girls dolls, girls clothing, jewelry, walk talkies, slippers, plush dolls, and other accessories. When my nephew saw this he said, "Why is she a princess?" It dons on me, Saban Brands is trying to imitate Disney Princess. I thought it looked more like a pirate princess with the collar and short sleeves.

So I'm throwing this out for you all, is this a positive thing or a negative?

Positive: A girl merchandise
Negative: It's a dress, non-Power Rangers thing
Negative: It's a dress, old school for girls
Negative: It's pink, there's no Yellow.


Power Rangers Super Megaforce Children Halloween Costumes

 UPDATED 8/28/14

Regular Red Ranger

Muscle Red Ranger
One version comes with a Ranger Key

Toddler Red Ranger Regular

Red Ranger Toddler Light Up Motion Activated


Infant bib and hat Mighty Morphin Red Ranger


Blue Ranger Regular




Super Megaforce Blue Muscles


 Blue Ranger Toddler


Regular Pink Ranger

Deluxe Pink Ranger (Shiny)

Pink Ranger Prestige Tutu

Infant bib and hat Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger
 http://www.disguise.com/productinfo.asp?item=8170&dc=



 Silver Ranger regular
http://www.disguise.com/productinfo.asp?item=8181&dc=2633
 Muscle Silver Ranger
One version comes with a Ranger Key
http://www.disguise.com/productinfo.asp?item=8182&dc=2633
Toddler Silver Ranger
 
Silver Ranger Gold Muscle Child Halloween Costume
 
 
Gloves for Children and Toddlers
Morpher Accessory (Actually says Power Rangers)

Sword

Blaster

 Soft Sword

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Lavender Ranger's Editioral: Why I think Power Rangers and Super Sentai are Boy's Franchises

UPDATED 9/9/13 7:30 PM EST
The reason I put 'Why I think' when I really believe that both Toei and Saban, even Disney believe this is because fans do not agree with this notion. It is understandable. I used to be bothered by this. The reason it is bothersome is on its surface (two females per most teams and focus on female characters and scattered female empowerment) the show serves both to boys and girls, but there are a lot of facts that show it is the Boy's franchise. Let me clear that what I mean is that the companies consider it a boy's franchise, I am not saying girls and women should not watch the show or enjoy it. What I am basically saying is that Toei, Saban and Disney (at one point) consider boys the target audience.
Age demographic
When I was 11, I didn't like that the show was aimed at kids. Nowadays it seems to be aimed to boys ages 2-11 (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130122006426/en/Saban-Brands-Presents-All-New-Series-Power-Rangers), while the toys say 4 and up and the TV rating is TV-Y7. With Samurai, there is now Halloween costumes for toddlers but still not infants. And being a teacher, I see kids from Pre-Kindergarten to 2nd grade like it, by 3rd grade they start denying they like it. Many kids over 8 say 'it's for little kids' even though parents have protested its 'violence' since the show began.

 Girls
I have mentioned before on this blog about female empowerment (Lauren in Samurai and Jen in Time Force for example) and fans wanting more female toys. In 1994, Bandai released dolls based on Yellow Ranger and Pink Ranger which only lasted two years and were never done again. Bandai has reported for years before that the girl figures don't sell well. In Japan, some dolls for girls were released through the years but for random teams (Bioman, Changeman, etc.) and there was the short-lived 'Girls in Uniform' collectibles line that ran from 2006-2008 that had heronies and villainesses. But there is no girls costumes or girls clothing anymore. When asked if a female could lead a series, Toei producers said toy stores wouldn't support a boy's line lead with a girl. Probably the reason Ninja Red and Time Red were the lead in promotion in their series that girls lead them. At Wal-Mart in America back in 2006, Bandai wanted to have an exclusive figure for White Mystic Ranger called Winter Ranger but they didn't think it would sell well.
http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/2012/09/can-girls-line-for-power-rangers-work.html 

 In 1993, Neilsen report said that 40% of the audience was girls. "According to Ms. Margaret Loesch, approximately 40 percent of the "Power Rangers" audience is girls as opposed to about 20 percent for other Fox children's programs."
http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1993-12-29/features/1993363111_1_morphin-power-rangers-mighty-morphin-non-fox

This other article about Power Rangers being blamed in the death of a little girl at the hand of three boys also states 40 percent of the audience are girls. 40 percent doesn't sound like a lot but in a boy's franchise it is. I couldn't find an article of what the percentage is now.
http://articles.mcall.com/1994-11-24/features/3004366_1_rita-repulsa-toys-mighty-morphin-power-rangers/2

Greg Aronowitz on his blog stated that Disney said that SPD helped bring up the percentage of female viewership. Thanks to @morphin_k for the article.
http://barnyardfx.blogspot.com/2011/05/power-rangers-spd-in-japan.html
Facts
- Majority of backpacks, lunch boxes and birthday supplies have only the male Rangers present
- Power Rangers clothing (underwear, t-shirts) for children is mostly made for boys these days. Same in Japan.
- At McDonalds, Power Rangers is now exclusively for boys as the meals are split from boys and girls since Dino Thunder (2004).
- In Japan, there are only one figure made per female. There are some chibi figures but majority are male. All the Rangers including female appear in majority of products and merchandise but they are usually smaller than the males.

  The Yellow Issue
  In the early Saban days, if there was one female in Sentai, they would turn Yellow from male to female. In Japan, Yellow Rangers used to be considered males. The first Yellow Ranger Ki Ranger was male. Since 2006 with Boukenger (which became Operation Overdrive) Yellow has been a female color. In fact the Toei now considers Yellow a female color because it has been used so much for females. They didn't want to use Yellow in Kyoryuger because they considered it too feminine, they wanted mostly males because the Kyoryugers needed to be believable (in their eyes) to beat up their dinosaurs to tame them. I suppose Kyoryu Pink and her dino could be excusable in their eyes. American fans were upset that there was only one female Kyoryuger in what seemed to be 10 Kyoryugers. Now we have a female Kyoryu Violet, making 2 females in about 12 Kyoryugers. Some fans even joked that Saban should make their own Yellow Ranger when Kyoryuger is adapted which I doubt them making.

 In the Power Rangers Megabloks nowadays, they make more Yellow products than Pink, seeing Yellow more excusable for boys. With Power Rangers, Yellow Rangers are considered female, even though there has been 3 male Yellow Rangers. My 26 year-old nephew says he still considers Yellow a girl color. My 3 year-old grand nephew liked Yellow last year and when given the option of dressing as a Yellow Ranger for Halloween, my 26 year-old nephew who is my grand nephew's uncle didn't like that option. It is interesting.


Conclusion
I do think it is a boys franchise but even though it is a male franchise, doesn't mean girls can't enjoy it too. Super Sentai tried only once to have the series without women (Sun Vulcan) back in the 80's. I think females do enjoy Power Rangers but probably not at the same frequency as males. As for adults, there are a lot of women's clothing and products now but I think it has to deal with the nostalgia factor. I do still think Saban should try to do more products for girls like back in 1993. Things have changed in the past 20 years what with Powerpuff Girls, Monster High and Sailor Moon. Sailor Moon is also 20 years old and hopefully will return to the US with the new Anime coming soon. I don't think Power Rangers being a boy's franchise is a bad thing. I say embrace it. Maybe it can be seen as just a cover that is it marketed to boys, it can serve for both girls and boys while on its surface being meant for boys.