Insects and Themes in Kamen Rider

Originally posted by me, Lavender Ranger, here at HenshinGrid!!!

Even though Kamen Riders have their themes (like cards, barcodes and greek alphabet), some still have an insect theme.

Grasshoppers (11)

Kamen Rider 1, 2, Black, Black RX, Shadow Moon, Shin, ZO, J, and Goldra. Three basic colors (Green, Black and Silver), but different shades of green have been used.


Stag Beetles (3)
Kamen Rider Agito, Garren, and Gattack. Red and Blue have been used.


Rhinoceros Beetles (4)
Kamen Rider Stronger, Blade, Kabuto and Dark Kabuto. Red and Blue have used but of course Stronger had different colors.

Dragonflys (4)
Kamen Rider V3, Drake, and Silvra

Kamen Rider Silvra and Goldra from the upcoming movie Cho Kamen Rider Den-O & Decade NEO Generations: The Onigashima Battleship.


Locusts (4)
Skyrider, Another Agito, Kick Hopper and Punch Hopper. Kick Hopper and Punch Hopper are actually Oriental longheaded locusts.

Caucasus (2)
Kamen Rider Caucasus and Kamen Rider Blade's King Form

Longhorn Bettles (2)
Kamen Rider ZX and Gills

Other Insects
Kamen Rider X - Giant water bug
Kamen Rider Super-1 - Hornet
Kamen Rider Alternate/Alternative Zero - Cricket
Kamen RIder Faiz - Firefly
Kamen Rider Chalice - Elegant Praying Mantis
Chalice's Wild Form - Ghost Mantis
Kamen Rider Leangle - Onigumo Spider
Kamen Rider TheBee - Wasp
Kamen Rider Sasword - Scorpion
ZECT Troopers - Ants
Kamen Rider Hercus - Hercules Beetle
Kamen Rider Ketaros - Centaurus beetle
Kamen Rider Decade - Graphosoma lineatum
Kamen Rider Diend - Zicrona caerulea

Amphibians
Kamen Rider Amazon - Spotted monitor lizard
Kamen Rider Verde - Chameleon

Dragons (4)
Kamen Rider Agito - Chinese Dragon
Kamen Rider Ryuki - Red Dragon
Kamen Rider Ryuga - Black Dragon
Kamen Rider Den-O Gun Mode - Tatsu no Ko Taro/Japanese Dragon

Mammals
Kamen Rider Zolda - Bull
Kamen Rider Gai - Rhino
Kamen Rider Tiger - White Tiger
Kamen Rider Imperer - Antelope
Kamen Rider Touki- Polar Bear
Kamen Rider Nishiki - Tiger
Kamen Rider Den-O Ax Form - Bear

Birds
Kamen Rider Femme - Swan
Kamen Rider Habataki - Hawk
Kamen Rider Garren's Jack Form - Peacock
Kamen Rider Den-O Wing Form - Swan
Kamen Rider Vega Form - Hawk

Other Animals
Kamen Rider Knight - Bat
Kamen Rider Scissors - Crab
Kamen Rider Raia - Manta Ray
Kamen Rider Ohja - King Cobra
Kamen Rider Den-O Rod Form - Sea Turtle
Kamen Rider Zeronos Altair and Zeo form - Bull
Kamen Rider Gaoh - Crocodile
Kamen Rider Abyss - Shark

Mythical Creatures
Kamen Rider Odin - Phoenix
Kamen Rider Glaive, Larc, Lance - Cerberus
Kamen Rider Kirameki - Shachihoko

Series Themes
Kamen Rider - Grasshopper
Kamen Rider V3 - Cyborg/Dragonfly
Kamen Rider X - Robotics/Giant water bug
Kamen Rider Amazon - Incan Science/Spotted monitor lizard
Kamen Rider Stronger - Japanese rhinoceros beetle
"New" Kamen Rider - Locust
Kamen Rider Super-1 - Outerspace/Hornet
Kamen Rider BLACK - Cyborg/Grasshopper
Kamen Rider BLACK RX - Radiation mutation/Grasshopper
Kamen Rider ZO - Science/Grasshopper
Kamen Rider J - Earth Spirits/Grasshopper
Kamen Rider Kuuga - Stag beetle
Kamen Rider Agito - Mystical/Organic/Robotics
Kamen Rider Ryuki - Knights/Animals
Kamen Rider 555 - Greek Alphabet
Kamen Rider Blade - Cards/Beetles
Kamen Rider Hibiki - Oni (Demons)
Kamen Rider Kabuto - Insects
Kamen Rider Den-O - Trains/Demons/Animals
Kamen Rider Kiva - Classic Monsters
Kamen Rider Dec-O - Barcode/Insect

Multiple Themes
This is when one suit has multiple themes that inspire them.

• Kamen Rider Blade - European Rhinoceros Beetle/Spades; Jack Form - European Rhinoceros Beetle/Spades/Jack/Eagle; King Form - Caucasus Beetle/Spades/King
• Kamen Rider Garren - Stag beetle (Prosopocoilus inclinatus)/Diamonds; Jack Form - Stag beetle (P. inclinatus)/Diamonds/Jack/Peacock
• Kamen Rider Chalice - Elegant praying mantis (Theopropus elegans)/Hearts; Wild Form - Ghost Mantis/King/Wild card/Hearts
• Kamen Rider Leangle - Onigumo Spider (Araneus ventricosus)/Clubs
• Kamen Rider Glaive, Larc, & Lance - Cerberus/Ace
• Kamen Rider Kabuki - Oni/Kabuki
• Kamen Rider Touki- Oni/Polar Bear
• Kamen Rider Kirameki - Oni/Shachihoko
• Kamen Rider Nishiki - Oni/Tiger
• Kamen Rider Habataki - Oni/Hawk
• Kamen Rider Den-O - Bullet train; Sword Form - Momotarō/Oni/Peach; Rod Form - Urashima Tarō/Sea Turtle; Ax Form - Kintarō/Bear; Gun Form - Tatsu no Ko Tarō/Japanese Dragon; Wing Form - Swan Lake/Swan; Climax Form - Sword/Rod/Ax/Gun; Strike Form - Momotarō/Oni/Peach/Bullet train/Train station
• Kamen Rider Zeronos - Locomotive; Altair Form - Altair/Bull/Ushiwakamaru; Vega Form - Deneb/Vega/Hawk/Benkei; Zero Form - Altair/Bull/Ushiwakamaru
• Kamen Rider Nega Den-O - Negative/Momotarō/Oni/Peach
• Kamen Rider Kiva (Kiva Form) - Bat/Vampire; DoGaBaKi Form - Vampire/Werewolf/Gill-man/Frankenstein's monster; Emperor Form - Vampire/Dragon; Flight Style - Vampire/Dragon/Bat; DoGaBaKi Emperor Form - Vampire/Dragon/Werewolf/Gill-man/Frankenstein's monster
• Kamen Rider Ixa - Knight/Christian cross
• Kamen Rider Saga - Chess King/Viper
• Kamen Rider Dark Kiva - Chess King/Vampire
• Kamen Rider Decade - Graphosoma lineatum/Barcode
• Kamen Rider Diend - Zicrona caerulea/Barcode
• Kamen Rider Goldra - Grasshopper/Oni
• Kamen Rider Silvra - Dragonfly/Oni
  

RPM Ranger Yellow - Her Old Self is Dead and Gone

I came up with this idea when watching the two-parter, this song kept popping in my head as I watched it. This fan music video deals with Summer's growth from vapid girl to strong girl, also a little bit of the other RPM Rangers and Dr. K.

I was not allowed to post this... you know where... I just want to say that I do not own the copyright to the clips nor the music, I am not the owner of the clips and I am not the owner of the music. They belong to their rightful owners. This Fan Music Video was made non-profit and merely a fan video to express emotions the show brought in me.

~Gerald C. a.k.a. Lavender Ranger

Power Rangers RPM - Episode 9 - "Ranger Yellow Part 2"

Part 2 Summary:
The boys are fighting the Grinders and they are talking behind Summer's back about the arrangement she made with her parents to marry into a rich family. Ziggy still can't fight and tries his best comically. Ranger Yellow comes in, saying there will be no wedding and fights the Grinders. The 4 boys morph, Blue and Green try to convince her to get married and Black and Red are not for it. Black asks Yellow something that brings her into another flashback, Summer was attacked by a blast and all her dollars fell. Andrews came to the rescue in an ice cream truck. Back in reality, Tenaya gets an upgrade from Venjix.


Summer meets her parents and meets her new groom Chaz and Summer's friend who abandoned her is there too. It just happens to be her rehearsal lunch. Summer catches the ball they were playing. Back at the garage, her parents reveal they are now broke and need the money from Chaz's rich family. They will give her the diamond at the wedding. Her father wants to know what happened. Back to the flashback, Andrews and Summer are on foot because the Ice Cream truck is broken and Summer says she doesn't even know his first name even though he practically raised her through her whole life. She decides to walk instead of laying on his poor old back. Andrews says he is waiting to see who she really is, he says he is happy to wait. The Grinders attack them and Summer fights them the best she can at that time.


She stops them and Andrews can't move, she pleads to him to move. She tells him he still hasn't seen who she is. He says he will be waiting and watching and then dies. She then finally reaches Corinth and reunites with her parents. Back in the present, everyone prepares for the wedding in the garage (Flynn is wearing a KILT! Yay! No, it is not a skirt), especially Tenaya who is disguised---you would think security would be tighter with rich people and the Rangers. After the commercial break, Summer's annoying friend annoys Dr. K and we find out that she was raised in an organization. Dillon is still against the wedding, Scott tells him to back off because it is a family thing, Dillon says he would know about that and they get into each other's faces. Summer tells them to finish the dance at the reception, they stop and look at each other confused. Summer asks Dr. K to pick a gown.


"Summer" comes in with a heavy opaque white veil. The Rangers look unhappy. Her father mentions the 'old summer' and Scott talks about the 'new one.' In a flashback, Summer hears Scott's mayday call and hops on a bike with medic jumpsuit and goes to save Scott. Back in reality, Tenaya gets the diamond and the Grinders attack. Tenaya takes off the veil and it is revealed it is Dr. K. Summer attacks Tenaya, saying no carter would put the cake next to an oil bin. The Rangers fight the Grinders, a new photo robot and Tenaya. The Camera Bot takes the power of the diamond and becomes huge. The Rangers morph as her parents look proud. The two megazords are formed and fight Camera Bot and destroy him.

Tenaya confront Dr. K. Dr. K takes out a violin and blasts Tenaya with a big blast of sound, saying it is the universal language. Back at the garage, Suummer's parents are proud of her and defend her from Chaz's parents. Chaz's mom asks how are they going to survive without money and Summer's mom says it is called having a job. She tosses the bouquet and Summer's annoying ex-friend goes for it and lands on the cake, disappointing poor old Flynn.

"Ranger Yellow Part 1 & 2" Review
So we finally found out that Summer was not military at all nor a medic, she was just some rich girl who finally got her gusto to save people and the first person she ever saved was Scott. Summer being a shallow rich girl first was a bit annoying to me, but I liked the story idea that she had to grow from the bottom to become a better person. I liked the duality of her being rich but lacking as a person to being a full dependent strong person but being 'poor.' It means a lot to me and fans that the lone female gets 2 parts to her flashback story and is about personal growth. Summer's parents are first annoying and snarky but then we grow to love them. Many fans talked about Dillon defending Summer and thought she was going to marry him. I didn't expect Andrews to come back in Part 2 but after he died, it made sense. I expected something different to happen. If I wrote Part 2, Summer would have met a band of thieves and fight them for the diamond and then had trained for months to be a medic to then save Scott, but maybe that would have not made sense with Corinth and stuff.

Where is Part 1?
I had a test that day and decided not to do a summary.
Here is the episode summary on PRC
Also, I am not posting episodes 6-10 anymore, because they are out on DVD--on PRRPM Volume 2 starting September 8 in the U.S. and Canada.

The Eternal Mystery of Zyu 2: The story of extra MMPR footage

Originally posted by me, Lavender Ranger, here at HenshinGrid!!!

In 1994, when Haim Saban was producing the first season of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," he believed he needed more footage than the 50 episodes of Zyuranger. What had happen was that more episodes were ordered after the 40 episode run, because of its unforeseen popularity. 'Doomsday Part 2' was the original final episode, and it was given an new ending. Originally, like Zyuranger, Rita was going to be sealed up. Also in the end, the Rangers were going to be given the option of giving up their powers (this still kind of stayed). Proof of this was seen in a United Kingdom printed episode guide summarizing this ending. So Saban contacted the Toei Company and Rainbow Productions (which produced the monster suits) to produce more 'Zyuranger' footage. The companies agreed to produce 25 'episodes' with new costumes designed and built with new in-suit battles and 'Megazord' fighting scenes, this was filmed in Japan.

The footage was sent to America and spliced with American footage just like before. Fans have coined the footage as 'Zyu 2,' it is unknown what the Saban company officially called them, if at all they did. The 'Episodes' are not known to have titles but fans have give them titles but they are not the official ones. It was also requested to keep some Ranger personalities like Blue's smarts and the relationship between Pink and Green.

For some unknown reason, Yellow was still not made female and remained male and in the "Bloom of Doom" episode, you can clearly see the stuntMAN's bulge (From the Bloom of Doom episode). Unlike most of the monsters of the Japanese footage, Saban and co. had all the monster costumes in the United States. This is obvious as most of the 'Zyu 2' monsters appeared in later episodes and seasons as background characters. Now, this is where it gets interesting. Saban decided to use the "Dairanger"(1993) footage for the Thunderzords for the second season. The first season had 60 episodes and only 15 out of the 25 'Zyu 2' episode footage had been used.

Using the 'Zyu 2' footage was difficult for the second season, because they couldn't use the footage containing the original Putties due to the change to the 'Z' Putties and the original Megazord footage was exchanged with the Thunder Megazord. So, there was 10 times of monsters awkwardly fighting a megazord since they were never together in the first place. There was not a lot of physical interaction between the two, sometimes you could occasionally see the old Megazord through explosions and smoke. They tried to fix it with some new American footage of the monsters punching the Thunder Megazord, the most obvious use of this was in the episode "The Power Stealer" with the Octophantom. A few years ago, a Japanese book came out with pictures of the monsters and had kanji with names, some were very basic like Parrot Monster, Crayfish Monster, etc.; some had the same name like Soccadillo, Peckster, Pumpkin Rapper, etc.; and some had alternate names like Speed Shark, and Galamander for Saliguana.

Now, there are many many unsolved mysteries with the 'Zyu 2' footage. Some of the monsters had no Megazord footage, making people wonder why. Most of all being Bloom of Doom, there is a rumor Lorkar was used in the battle but this has not been proven. The footage brought great things like in the episode "Oyster Stew," Tommy gave Zack his shield and the Megazord underwater (which never happened in Zyuranger). The above trading card has Zack in a fluffy cotton shield, which is the American shield, while the Japanese shield (which was later used in Dino Thunder) was hard and foam. Zack was never seen in the fluffy shield in that episode, many believe this is just a publicity photo, an re-creation. Or maybe they shot American footage of the scene but it wasn't used. Zack was seen in the hard foam shield thanks to the 'Zyu2' footage.

Toys were made of these monsters, five large 8" figures (Rhino Blaster, Pirantishead, Soccadillo, Goo Fish, Guitardo) and nine 5.5" tall figures (Slippery Shark, Two-Headed Parrot, Grumble Bee, Peckster, Dramole, Invenusable Flytrap, Stag Beetle, Robogoat, and Pythor). Pythor never appeared in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, it is yet another mystery if a suit was made of this monster and if it the footage was filmed. Maybe Pythor is unrelated and had no footage at all and is just a toy. The 'Zyu 2' footage was and has never been seen in Japan in Super Sentai or in any form. I wish this could be answered but I am afraid we may never know any of these answers. Fans will forever be lost in this. Many of the regular public have no idea about this.

UPDATED MAY 1, 2009

Power Rangers RPM - What Time and Where It is Not Broadcasted

Cities at 5 and 5:30AM:
Miami, FL (Ch. 10)
Baltimore, MD
Dallas, TX (Ch. 8)

Cities at 6 and 6:30AM:
Portland, ME (Ch. 8)

Cities at 11 or/and 11:30AM:
San Francisco, CA (Ch. 7)
Sacramento, CA (Ch. 10)
Chicago, IL (Ch. 7)
New Orleans, LA (Ch. 26)

Cities at 12pm or/and 12:30pm:
Los Angeles, CA (Ch. 7)
Tallahassee, FL (Ch. 7)
New York, NY (Ch. 7)
Philly, PA (Ch. 6)

Cities at 1pm and 12:30pm:
Tampa, FL

Power Rangers RPM cannot be seen in the following cities:

1. Birmingham, AL
2. Phoenix, AZ
3. Frenso, CA
4. San Diego, CA
5. Orlando, FL
6. Palm Beach, FL's local channel
   
7. Atlanta, GA
8. Boston, MA
9. Las Vegas, NV
10. Seattle, WA

Please post here if your city is not mentioned and I will add it.

Power Ranger Animal ID Changes

UPDATED 7/10/23
The change of one animal to another from the original Super Sentai to Power Rangers may not be a big deal to some people and to others it is an outrage. I think it is interesting to look at these changes and why they could have occurred.

While they are not exactly animals, these were the first 'creature' name changes. For the Thunderzords of the second season of "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers," three of the zords were given names that were not of their original intention. Called a Griffin, the Yellow Ranger's Thunderzord was actually a Kirin in Dairanger, a mythical creature best known in Japan and to Americans, it is the name of a beer. It is understandably the change was made because most Americans, especially children are unfamiliar with this creature. The Blue Ranger's Unicorn was actually a Pegasus, perhaps this change was made because the Saban company thought a Pegasus was too feminine or maybe they wanted a horned-creature to go alongside the Blue Ranger's previous zord, the Triceratops. And the strangest change was the Pink Ranger's Firebird, which was a Phoenix. Wouldn't we know what that was? Anyhoo, in Mystic Force, Phoenix was used.

Speaking about Mairanger, MagiFairy was changed to a sprite, which was mentioned just once in the series. Garuda and Phoenix stayed, but many suppose 'Fairy' was not used to be compared with Disney's own 'Fairies' or maybe be construed with the negative gay slang term.In Gekiranger, the Gazelle became the Antelope, which in the Spanish dub of Jungle Fury, it was called a Gazelle.

Disney's people probably didn't do their research or have a zoologist. Gazelle to left and Antelope to right.

Now, this is the reason I started this post. The most controversial being the change of Go-Onger's Birca, an Orca to a shark for RPM. It hasn't been called a shark on the show as of yet but the zord and Ranger have been called a shark on the toys. The major difference is the shape of the tail. It runs horizontal in an orca and vertical in a shark. They probably substituted "shark" for "orca" because it's more recognizable and because it's easy to pass off one for the other.

Go-Onger's Carrigator, based on an Alligator, has become Croczord or Croc Carrier. Crocodiles have longer snouts than Alligators, Alligators have flatter ones too. The zord has a flat snout like an Alligator but I suppose it is long enough to be mistaken for a Crocodile. I guess Bandai or Disney didn't really researched and called it whatever they wanted. Doesn't matter, just interesting to mention.

Whole Chart:

• Mammoth (Zyuranger) = Mastodon (MMPR)
• Kirin (Dairanger) = Griffin Thunderzord
• Pegasus (Dairanger) = Unicorn Thunderzord
• Phoenix (Dairanger) = Firebird Thunderzord
• Dragon as Gingalcon (Gingaman) = Condor (Lost Galaxy)
• Kabuto as Gorai Beetle (Hurricanger) = Crimson Insectizord (Ninja Storm)
• Kuwagata as Gorai Stag (Hurricanger) = Navy Beetlezord (Ninja Storm)
• Condor as Tri Condor (Hurricanger) = Ninja Firebird (Ninja Storm)
• Tupuxuara as Top Galer (Abaranger) = Dragon as Dragozord (Dino Thunder)
• Magi Fairy = Mystic Sprite
• Geki Gazelle = Antelope (Jungle Fury)
• Condor as Speedor (Go-Onger) = Eagle as Eagle Racer (RPM)
• German Shepard as Gunpherd = Wolf as Wolf Cruiser
• Orca as Birca = Shark
• Aligator as Carrigator = Crocodile as Croc Carrier
• Young Rooster as Toripter = Falcon (toy) and mentioned as a 'flying Chicken' and as 'Chicken Zord' in a call sheet but no official name.
• Monkey = Ape Folding Zord
• Kabuto Origami = Bettlezord
• Squid Ebi origami = Octozord
• scarlet Sauropoda Kyoryumaru = Sharkzord
• Kabuto Header = Beetle Zord (Land Brothers)
• Tyranno Header = Dino Zord
• OtomoNin Magoimaru (carp) = Piranha Zord (Ninja Steel)
• Rhino Beetle = Mantis (Beast Morphers)
• Stag beetle = Scarab 
• Miragaia = Stegozord (Dino Fury)
• Swordfish = Shark (Cosmic Fury)