Saturday, December 6, 2014

Sailor Moon Crystal - Act 11 Reunion - Endymion - Episode Review

Episode Summary:
Usagi finds herself in the Moon Kingdom ruins and runs after Tuxedo Mask until she is awaken by Luna at home. Usagi wonders where he is. Luna guesses she doesn't care for her anymore. Usagi picks her up and hugs her. Luna figures Usagi has been through a lot, she tells her that she can talk to her about anything. Usagi bumps into Mamoru and her watch falls, the watch that belonged to Mamoru, it starts working. Usagi says it looks like him but it can't be him. Motoki and a guy named Endo bump into Mamoru. Mamoru hypnotizes Motoki into thinking he is Endo and to forget the other guy. Reiko, Motoki's girlfriend comes and meets "Endo," who Motoki introduces as his best friend. She drops a book about crystals that has the four--Kunzite, Jeadite, Zoisite and Nephrite.
 
The girls head over to Ami's apartment building, which Usagi is impressed with. Minako wonders if she looks suspicious holding the huge honking Legendary Sword. Ami has a big hard diamond and as a test, Minako smashes it with one little tap of the sword. Ami says the holy sword is poisonous, the Moon castle was turned into poisonous stone. Usagi is sleeping, they agree to let her sleep. Usagi awakes and everyone is gone. She said she saw the sunset when she awoke in Mamoru's apartment, she tears up. She spots the four plotting, she writes a note for them, she runs off to the Crown Arcade. She spots Mamoru there. Motoki greets her. She is shocked to find Endo. Endo acts like he doesn't know her. She calls him Mamo-Chan.
 
 
Motoki says he is his best friend Endo, he is  part-timer. Endo says that she has hair like Sailor Moon. He wonders if she will teach him the Sailor V Game. Luna is watching and warns the others. They go there and know he is Mamoru, even though they thought he was in the Dark Kingdom. Rei says it can't be him, his eyes are different, that she has a bad feeling. She wants Usagi to stay away. Usagi is walking alone and Luna tells her that it is not Mamoru. Usagi says Luna always says no. Luna wonders if she is hurting her again. Endo and Usagi hang out and play the Sailor V game. Endo says he has met her too. Usagi says Sailor V is more dependable than she is. Endo asks, "More dependable than Sailor Moon?" Usagi is shocked. Endo wonders where the command center is. Usagi rushes off.
 
 Endo tells her he wants to know more about her. He says his hypnotic suggestion didn't work. She wonders what to do, she runs off. She says Mamo-chan called her Usako. Makoto and Ami watch. They then spot Reiko, who says she belongs to the same club as Motoki but she doesn't know Endo. Reiko says she knows another Endo who was kind of feminine but haven't seen him lately. They never seen Endo before. Ami says Endo looks like someone they know. Endo tries to get in the Command Center, Mako confronts him. His eyes glow. Everyone else run to the command center and ask Mako what happened. Mako tells Usagi to stay away from Endo, he wants the crystal.
 
Usagi shows the crystal, the alarm goes off. Mako tries going for it, Rei stops her. Tuxedo Mask and Motoki appear, they wanted to get into the command center. He hypnotized Mako. Minako transforms first and followed by the others. Venus, Mercury and Mars do speeches. Venus throws her chain at Tuxedo. Motoki tries taking the crystal. Venus does the Venus Love-Me-Chain at Motoki. Venus gets the crystal but Tuxedo attacks her and takes her. Mercury does Aqua Mist but fails. Tuxedo gloats that he has it, Mars tries kicking it out of his hand and is knocked down. Moon wonders why everyone fights Tuxedo Mask. Luna tells her to fight. Sailor Moon can't phantom this. Luna says it is a fake Tuxedo Mask. Tuxedo tells Usagi to go with her. Luna says she let her down but she knows who she truly loves and she is her ally, she jumps on Tuxedo. Tuxedo knocks her down.
 
 
Usagi is finally convinced it is not him, by how cold he is to Luna. She transforms into Sailor Moon. Moon cries as she hugs Luna. The crystal glows. She gets the Moon Stick and does the Moon Healing Esclation and heals Mako, Motoki and Luna.  She blasts at Tuxedo and Beryl appears. She now has the crystal. Moon asks how she can do such terrible things. Beryl says she is weak. She introduces herself as Queen Beryl. Beryl says she is no longer the same person. She wants Endymion to kill Usagi. Usagi wonders if he is Mamoru. To Be Continued...
 
Episode Review:
I almost cried at the Luna scene. People are complaining of the animation but I see no problem with it. I did like the inclusion of Reiko. And this is following my favorite story of the Manga, of Endo. It was a great episode, very nicely paced and had the right amount of surprise and suspense. I know I was a naysayer of the series but I now have come to appreciate its nuisances. Next time it looks like Beryl and ENdymion fight Moon and she has no choice. The next ep is called Queen Metaria.


Thursday, December 4, 2014

Poll Results: November 2014


Dino Charge Theme Song: What do you think about it?
Awesome
  102 (67%)
 
Haven't Heard it yet
  17 (11%)
 
Better than PRS and PRM
  86 (56%)
 
Bad
  16 (10%)

   
Dino Charge App: Whatcha think?
 
Epic
  61 (63%)
 
Awesome
  35 (36%)
 
Lacking
  22 (22%)
 
Bad
  11 (11%)

   
Who do you think the mystery guy in Yoshi's pic is? (Dino Charge Cast)
just a friend
  31 (26%)
 
Gold Ranger
  69 (59%)
 
Graphite Ranger
  6 (5%)
 
Aqua Ranger
  6 (5%)
 
Green Ranger
  4 (3%)
 
What did you think of the regular "Legendary Battle" episode?
Epic
  32 (21%)
 
Good
  40 (26%)
 
Lacking
  84 (56%)
 
So-So
  33 (22%)
 
Bad
  38 (25%)

   
 
 
 What do you think about "The Legendary Battle - Extended Edition"?
Epic
  102 (56%)
 
Better
  85 (47%)
 
Worse
  23 (12%)
 
So-So
  28 (15%)
 
 
For some reason, the link is not appearing on the Pages tab, so here is my new Dino Chargers toy list: http://henshingrid.blogspot.com/p/power-rangers-dino-charge-dino-charges.html

Monday, December 1, 2014

2015 SUPER SENTAI: Shuriken Sentai Ninninger

UPDATED 12/5/14 6PM EST
Info from TokuNation, might change and don't take too super seriously:
Ninninger NamesAkaninger
Aoninger
Kininger
Shironinger
Momoninger

Sentai Hero Series
vinyls coming for all 5 Ninjas. 800 yen each in February.
 Ninnin Action Series
 figures coming in February for 1500 yen each. Akaninja, Aoninja, & Kininja.
-Punch Fighter Ninninger, 2400 yen

Role play
Shinobi Shuriken
Swords activated by setting the Shurikens. Voice and Lights in each. Apparently each of the 5 Ninningers Shurikens will be capable of forming the head of their main robot as well.
DX Shinobigatana Best Sword
Sword weapon/changer of the series. This toy includes the Red Shuriken, 4980 yen
DX Gammagamma Gun
Includes Blue Shuriken, 3980 yen.
DX Ninnin Buckle
Includes White Shuriken, 2800 yen.
DX 5 Super Ninja Tonnin shuriken 1800 yen

Main Mecha
DX Shuriken Gattai Shurikenjin
A 5 piece combining robot made up of:
Shinobumaru - a humanoid robot ninja core piece/torso
Dragomaru - Left arm, dragon
Danpumaru - Dump truck, right arm
Wanmaru - Dog, one of the 2 legs
Byunmaru - onomatopoeia sound for something moving fast. Think "pew pew". Also one of the 2 legs.

The Shurikens appear to be able to create new helmets for Shurikenjin as well! Creating Shurikenjin Drago, Shurikenjin Danpu, etc.

Additional Mecha
Otomo Shinobu (literally Ninja Clan) DX releases
 Otomo Shinobu Series #1 DX Paonmaru with Paon Shuriken, 2800 yen
 Otomo Shinobu Series #2 DX UFOmaru with UFO Shuriken, 2800 yen
DX 3-Stage Transformtion Shinobumaru Whirlwind
 
Next year's Super Senai is Shuriken Sentai Ninninger, the third time to use the Ninja theme. Not much else is known. My quick assessment on the suits is that they look like Hurricanger with the grey arms but have different colored hands and sash-like design on their chests. I like the helmets remind me of Shurikenger combined with hints of JAKQ and Kakuranger. Looks like their visors are based on ninja star shapes or winged animals. Their swords seem to have their Ranger colors on it. I like it so far, I like the colors. I like to see where they go with this. Last time there was a Red-Blue-Yellow three males on their own was probably Sun Vulcan. There has been Red-Blue-Yellow males like Gaoranger and Timeranger but they had a fourth male in the core five team. Merlin of Rangerboard says: "The logo is the word Shinobi or Nin stylized as a whirlwind, with the shuriken becoming the cross-shaped strokes in the upper center."

Team:
Red - Male, second time to have a team with three males be red, blue and yellow and no other males in the core five team since Sun Vulcan in 1981.
Blue - Male, second male blue in a Ninja Sentai (first being Ninja Blue in Kakuranger), first to be regular blue and not Cyan
Yellow - Male, third male yellow in Ninja Senta (Kakuranger and Hurricanger), first male Yellow since Magiranger (2005
White - Female, second white female in Ninja Sentai (Kakuranger).
Pink - Female, first pink in a Ninja Sentai, first second female in a Ninja Sentai (not counting Pink Ninja Ranger in MMPR) and second pink-white female combo since Changeman in 1985.

Trivia Numbers
- 33 years ago since Sun Vulcan had a core team had three males be Red, Blue and Yellow
- 30 years ago there was a Pink and White female combo
-  21 years ago since the first Ninja Sentai was Kakuranger.
- 13 years ago since Hurricanger, the second Ninja Sentai.
- 10 years since the last male Yellow Ranger in Magiranger.
- 10 years since a female White Ranger (MagiMother).
- 11th White Ranger overall  (Change Mermaid, White Swan, Kibaranger, Ninja White, Gao White, AbareKiller, Deka Break, Deka Swan, MagiMother, and GekiChopper)
- 8 years since a White Ranger (GekiChopper) and was male.
- 7th female White Ranger (Change Mermaid, White Swan, Ninja White, Gao White, MagiMother, DekaSwan)
- 6th White Ranger to be part of the core team (Change Mermaid, White Swan, Ninja White, Gao White, and GekiChopper)
- 3rd Pink Ranger since a series with no Pink Ranger (Go-Busters)
- 2nd Yellow Ranger since a series with no Yellow Ranger (Kyoryuger)

Dukemon22 who is usually up on new Sentai rumors says:
-Rangers will not be classified by colors
-Makimono Changer (Scroll Changer)

-Ninninjin (NinninGod)

-Kitsune (Fox)

Sunday, November 30, 2014

Unanswered Burning Power Rangers Production and Merchandise Questions

UPDATED 12/17/14
  
I AM NOT EXPECTING ANSWERS
There is a ton of questions unanswered in the series of Power Rangers. Fans have asked plenty of them and there is a great record of them. There is a lot of heard-scratchers in production, merchandise and the franchise itself. Fans have asked them too. But I haven't seen a list of it all together. Well, if there is, here is my list, I needed this for myself more than anything. I have faced old Executive Producers, writers, producers and former crew at conventions but my mind goes blank. The only current person involved I've ever met was Elle Dekel and briefly (very briefly) Judd Lynn (sat close to where he was standing at the Super Megaforce panel at PMC 4). 

The following questions are directed to Executive Producers or higher ups, producers, writers and crew. Since most have been answered with 'the EP should know' so it should go to Johnathan Tzachor but I see that getting answered as unlikely. For example James Bates (writer for Megaforce) was asked about some things, he said he wasn't involved in those decisions, most likely JT.  I don't think I will ever get any or all of these questions answered. By the way, I am NOT looking for answers from fans. BUT If you have a solid answer, please attach the link of the video or website, it can not be just heresay, it has to be from the producer or a crew member. 



SUPER MEGAFORCE PRODUCTION
  1. How come there was no Halloween and Christmas specials for Super Megaforce if Samurai, Super Samurai and Megaforce had them?
  2. If for Samurai, Saban bought the Shinkenger specials: Shinkenger movie, Shinkenger vs. Go-Onger and the After special, so why was no specials bought for Megaforce? For example if 199 Heroes was used, there would be more Legendary Battle footage.
  3. How come only the pre-Zyuranger Sentai Flashman, Maskman, Changeman, Fiveman and post-Zyuranger Dairanger were used?
  4. Why was the episode with Ninjor skipped?
  5. Why new Ranger Keys like Titanium Ranger and Spirit Ranger were created? Titanium Ranger suit was used for the Legendary Battle, why not the rest of the season?
  6. Why the Rangers transforming as Extra Heroes (Shadow Ranger, Kat Ranger, White Mystic Ranger, Blue Senturion, Dai Shi, etc.) was skipped? I know things were changed and cut out but it looks deliberately skipping in "All Hail Prince Vekar" and "Legendary Battle."
  7. Was there not enough extras or money for extras for the "Legendary Battle" scene? There is clearly many Rangers missing like Yellow and Blue Lost Galaxy, Yellow, Green and Blue Lightspeed Rescue, the other Mighty Morphin, various Sixth Rangers, etc.?
  8. Megaforce: Why wasn't original English Power Cards made?
  9. Megaforce: Why wasn't computer graphics recreated for Megaforce? 
 SUPER MEGAFORCE/LEGACY MERCHANDISE
  1. Why were the actor faces not used in merchandise like in Samurai?
  2. Why are Super Megaforce DVDs taking so long to be released? Are sales low?
  3. Why were there no Super Megaforce Scholastic books? Are sales low?
  4.  Why the Legacy MMPR figures 5 inches and not 8 inches like the originals?
  5. Why wasn't it 5 Ranger Keys per pack, it could had been so much better? And why not release the full teams? Prototypes for upcoming or the final Ranger Keys doesn't even let you complete teams of six. I understand the sexism of Bandai and greediness but this was your/our last chance to get all the keys... 
  6. What happened to the 30 inch Mighty Morphin Red Ranger from Jakks Pacific? It would've sold more.

The following are old questions I've had for years that have yet to be answered.
MIGHTY MORPHIN PRODUCTION (1993-1995)
  1. Zyu 2: Why some Zyu 2 footage was chosen fought against Thunder Megazord and other not?
  2. Zyu 2: Did they know they were going to splice the Thunder Megazord footage? Why not leave the Dinozords for a while?
  3.  Brad Hawkins was originally hired to be the White Ranger, was there a character name and character profile thought of before hand or was he just hired? (Of course Tommy was chosen to return and Brad Hawkins went on to play Ryan Steele in VR Troopers)
  4.  Why wasn't Zach's cousin Curtis and Trini's crush Richie chosen to be Rangers instead of Rocky and Adam? Was it their acting skills or they want to change the ethnicity of Black and Yellow Rangers?
  5. Who was in charge of picking what episodes of Sentai would be used and what was the process?
  6.  Why some monsters were chosen and some that weren't? Obviously Monsters who had costumes in the US took priority and also monsters with useable footage without any super violent, sexual or objectionable material. But some monsters had no costumes to shoot new footage, so what was the process then?
  7. Why did the Green Ranger have a floppy shield and never got replaced?
MIGHTY MORPHIN MERCHANDISE (1993-1995)
  1. Pythor was just a toy creation or was supposed to be on the show?
  2. Why were the Power Coins put on the Ranger's chests in merchandise and toys?
  3. Why did Green Ranger's symbol looked more like Titanus?
  4. Why the Thunder Slingers (weapons used against Super Putties) was never released?
  5. Why the Green Ranger's Power Morpher never release?
  6. Why was the White Ranger's Thunder Cycle released in a small form by another company and not by Bandai?


SAMURAI PRODUCTION/MERCHANDISE
  1.  Why was Shogun Mode of Green and Yellow Rangers never used as we saw them in a flash when any Ranger transformed? We also saw Yellow in a promo shot.
  2. Why was Green, Yellow and Pink Rangers given Shogun Mode on the show if they didn't have toys?
  3. Why was Lauren never seen in Shogun Mode? Was this a time issue?
  4. Was there just the Red Shogun suit and it was recolored in post-production? There is a pic of Red suit with Pink helmet.

MMPR THE MOVIE (1995)
    1. Will there be a DVD including the deleted scenes of: Mariska Hargitay as Dulcea, Snoogle, the Dulcea compound, the animals visiting the Rangers at their sleeping mats, the Ninja Rangers training, the Rangers fight Rats at night (instead of Oozeman), Rangers without visors and mouthpieces?
    2. Why didn't the Black Ranger have a special power or was it the protruding item on his helmet seen for a split second? Was it the Audio Enhancer from the script?
    3. Why was Squatt, Baboo and Finster replaced by Morton? Was he supposed to be Goldar's cousin and why was he a pig?
    4. Why was Snoogle removed from the movie? Was there two different versions of the character? There has been pictures of him as a puppet and a man in a suit.
    5. Why was there a Fox Century copyright problem with the name of the Tengu? They had to be changed into Tenga in the third season of Power Rangers.
    6. Why did the Ninja Megazord have the Shogun Megazord's sword in the movie?
    7. Why the Ninja Megazord didn't use a finisher to destroy the monster?
     

If you want to add questions, just put on the comments. Any season.

Poll Results: Last round of Ranger Keys



Samurai Set B: Which you think Red is?
Translucent Jayden
  61 (56%)
 
Lauren
  47 (43%)

Dino Thunder: What you think of Red-Black-White?
What else expect?
  59 (49%)
 
Will Buy
  57 (47%)
 
Won't Buy
  24 (20%)
 
Unfair
  29 (24%)


Time Force: What you think of Red-Green-Pink?
Not Fair
  29 (29%)
 
Should've had Yellow
  61 (61%)
 
Not Buy
  19 (19%)
 
Will Buy
  23 (23%)
 
Cool
  18 (18%)
 
At Least Quantum in 20 Key Set
  32 (32%)

In Space Red and Blue instead of Pink and Silver: What you think?
Cool
  29 (32%)
 
Mad
  40 (44%)
 
At least Silver in 20 set
  40 (44%)
 
Don't Buy
  23 (25%)


Green LG instead of Pink LG: What you think?
Mad
  48 (42%)
 
Won't Buy
  32 (28%)
 
Will Buy
  45 (40%)
 
Cool
  24 (21%)

Which Ranger Key Selection you are most upset about?
In Space
  61 (59%)
 
Lost Galaxy
  42 (41%)
 
Time Force
  32 (31%)
 
Wild Force
  31 (30%)
 
OO
  31 (30%)
 
Dino Thunder
  33 (32%)
 
Samurai
  36 (35%)


Which Ranger Key pack are you most excited about?
Alien
  63 (56%)
 
Zeo
  56 (50%)
 
Turbo
  49 (43%)
 
Jungle Fury
  49 (43%)
 
Ninja Storm
  26 (23%)
 
SPD
  28 (25%)
 
Mystic Force
  31 (27%)
 
Samurai
  40 (35%)
 
Lost Galaxy
  43 (38%)

What do you think about extended Legendary Battle airing on Nicktoons on Monday?
Great
  97 (65%)
 
I don't have Nicktoons
  32 (21%)
 
Why Nicktoons?
  46 (31%)
 
Don't like Monday
  32 (21%)
 
Bad
  20 (13%)