Jungle Fury parodied on The Daily Show!

I always mentioned "The Daily Show" on my blog (Spanenegrish Ramblings) but I am proud to mention Jon Stewart parodied Power Rangers Jungle Fury accurately! His son is 4 and must be proud, his dad got the moves correctly and was hilarious of course. Jon would so be the spirit of the Ferret!

Power Rangers: Boy's Club

As we all know, Power Rangers are targeted towards boys, but with the merchandise sometimes they show the whole team, and sometimes just the boys. Also interesting to see which Ranger colors got Halloween costumes and which ones didn't.

Starting with the first series, most of the coloring books, magazines, t-shirts, backpacks and lunch boxes had the five Power Rangers on it. Only very few clothing had three male Rangers. Then came the female line in 1994, so there were pajamas, videos, clothes, and dolls.

The Halloween costumes were unique as when the show came out, there were only Red, Blue and Pink. A three-Ranger stable that will continue occurring through the years. Later in 1994 and 1995 for Seasons 2 and 3, there were the other colors including White, but never Green. Green was only available in sewing patterns.

I'm not only going to do underwear, but here is a unique example of all the genders being used in a product. I had trouble finding anything only with the male rangers. As for the costumes, I recall all six Rangers being available but online, I can only find Red, Pink and Gold.




Turbo, I don't have pics of any other merch. I think this is the first year to only have four Ranger costumes. The unique part of this one is that Phantom Ranger was used twice, I think the first one-year Ranger to be repeated twice.

Power Rangers in Space, was unique as they advertised the Silver Ranger a lot in merchandise and toys and such, but for some reason he got no costume. The only Rangers that got costumes was Red and Pink. That's it. It was the first time the Blue Ranger got shafted. The other costume sold with them was Phantom Ranger, who made cameos in the series. So yeah the girls got no love at all in the series, starting the long trend.

In the toy line, the girls got shafted with the bikes and all the clothes, books and such had just the boys. For example above, temporary tattoos showing off the 'sixth hero' with Magna Defender. As you can see, Magna Defender has a bike, which was only a toy, not in the series.

As for the costumes, as in Power Rangers in Space, there was only two Rangers and this time we got four--Magna Defender.

For Lightspeed, mostly all the Rangers were used in merchandise. As for the costumes, only three were produced. This is the second time the Blue Ranger got no costume. It is the last time to have only 3 Ranger Halloween costumes.

For Time Force, only the males appeared in shirts, clothes, bedding, birthday stuff, etc. except for the video game that had five rangers on the cover. As for costumes, we got four: Red, Blue, Pink and the Quantum Ranger.

Just like Time Force, Wild Force only had the males. Even got lazy--same image for the game as for a calendar! As for costumes, four again: Red, Blue, White (female), and Silver.

Ninja Storm was unique because the first series started with three Rangers, one being female so the female got the coverage. Now, when it came to costumes and other role-playing or glove merch... Yellow got the shaft.

Maybe because this was the first Disney series, most of the Rangers got costumes: Red, Blue, Navy, Crimson and Green. Also introduced to the costumes was the muscle suits, there is the choice between without muscles and with muscles. Yellow Ranger did get a Disney Store exclusive.

Dino Thunder also started with three Rangers with the Black Ranger later. Most early merch has all 3 Rangers, some other had 4 and then later on it only had the males (Red, Blue and Black). The White Ranger that came in later got no love when it came to bedding, stationary, or costumes etc.

For Halloween, there was Red, Blue, Yellow, Black and Triassic. Also unique was Adult costumes for once: Black and Triassic. And even the only PR costume ever for dogs! Of course only in Red. I wish there was Pink cause I have girl dogs.

For Birthday stuff, only Blue and Red got love.

SPD was unique as there was there so many Rangers. 13 in the series and 7 in the toys. As for the merchandise, mostly the three male Rangers were covered.

This is a picture of a towel when Omega Ranger came out. The Shadow Ranger was covered in some merch but not as much as Omega.

The strangest and rarest thing ever.. in this bedding, the pink ranger was included! Not only her but the Omega Ranger. Maybe they felt as they had the female rangers in the bedding in the last two years, they would include her.

In Halloween, everyone got included... except for the yellow ranger, she didn't even get a Disney Store exclusive. Red Ranger and Blue Ranger got regular, muscle suit and deluxe 'Swat Mode.' Pink Ranger got regular and Swat. Omega got a muscle suit, Shadow got a regular suit, and Green got regular as well. Six is the most ranger costumes we have gotten lately.

By Mystic Force, all was 'right' with just three male Rangers. Like Ninja Storm, Yellow male Ranger got the shaft. In most two-ranger merch like walk-talkies and role-play items, only Green and Red. In costumes, Red, Green, Pink and the Solaris Knight.
The female Blue Ranger at least got a Disney Store exclusive.

For PROO, only the male rangers got love and in the costumes, there was 5 costumes but no Yellow. Black, in a loooong time got a costume.

Jungle Fury is a unique creature on its own. Because like Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder, the series started with three rangers (a female yellow ranger), so since there would be no new Rangers until July or so, they made Elephant, Bat, and Shark Rangers. Elephant Ranger was along with Red and Blue in the first line of toys, while Bat Ranger (whose color is black) got the majority of the merch, all the merch to be exact. I personally think they picked black because last year was red, blue and black. Of course they couldn't use the Shark Ranger because he is a degree of blue.

The Red and Blue Ranger illustrations do appear on the toy boxes but no Yellow nor Bat. Now that the Wolf and Rhino Rangers premiered, so far they have not appeared in the clothing, hat, backpacks and I doubt they ever will. The Rhino Ranger is getting a Halloween costume.

As for Power Rangers 2009, which has no confirmed name yet, everyone is calling Power Rangers R.P.M. There is four male Rangers: Red, Blue Black, and Green, since they always stick to 3 for merchandise, I wonder if Green or Black will be the third member. I think they might alternate them, most likely Black will get the most exposure because he is the 'leader' of him and Green and number 4--not the last one like Green.

Updated September 21, 2008:
And when it comes to the Halloween costumes, for SPD, we got all the male rangers and for Ninja Storm and Jungle Fury, one was skipped. So RPM, we might not get one of the male rangers, for sure Red, Blue, and Gold, but either Black or Green is the question. As for female RPM costumes, of course Yellow and since most second fiddle females are skipped, I doubt we will be getting Silver. We could get Silver in the Disney Store like we got Blue for Mystic Force, but since she is a seventh ranger, I doubt it.

:::Note: All above was written in 2008 before RPM came out:::

Otaku Hero

My website partner Mike has a brand new website, much in the vain of the new-defunct Japan Hero website, covering Anime, Manga, Tokusatsu, Kaiju, Robots, and much more. Pretty much inspired by Japan Hero as a jumping off point. Otaku is a Japanese term for any obsession with mostly things like Anime and Manga. It is still a work process but enjoy what is there now, more changes will come soon.

OtakuHero

Dreams Come True

Ever since I became a fan of Power Rangers, I have dreamt of a purple ranger. Many fans have agreed with me, spawning fanfics for years. When I discovered Super Sentai, I was excited to find out where were female blue rangers in the past (Liveman and Jetman), because in that time (before Ninja Storm), there were no female Blue Rangers in Power Rangers as of yet. And now by 2008, we have four female blue rangers in sentai history and two in PR history. What I like about Super Sentai is that they play with the formula. The team leader are not always red rangers.

After years of wanting a purple ranger, I thought it would never happen and I gave up on it. I had a rare poster of Time Force with the five rangers on Vector Cycles and the helmet of the Quantum Ranger in the background in purple. And superimposed above them it said "It's About Time!" I found the poster ironic. Who would know that after 31 years, we would finally get the first purple ranger... Geki Violet. But, in Power Rangers, his name is Wolf Ranger and his color has never have been referenced.

Other than the purple ranger, there have been hopes of a female sixth ranger or even a female red ranger leader. Well, maybe people want those two last things more than anything. In Dekaranger, we got our first female 'extra' rangers such as Deka Swan (orange/white), Deka Bright (silver/navy), and Deka Gold. It continued with MagiMother and of course this translated to Power Rangers. But, all those rangers I just mentioned were just 'guest' rangers, appearing once, twice or a couple of times. Go-On Silver was introduced a few months ago and she is the closest thing we have gotten of a sixth ranger, technically she is number 7. But it does show that the Sentai producers want to progress.

So I think if we keep hoping and praying, we could get a red ranger leader and our own solo female sixth ranger. Now, other wishes I think may not come soon: Brown Ranger?? Who knows. But there are other mixes we have gotten but not completely. Such as a female Green Ranger. We got Mele of Gekiranger, who got a zord and was pretty much treated as a Ranger. She even has an action figure here in America. But many fans take it as a experiment. For example, the purple ranger was 'experimented' with Wolzard/Koragg in 2005-2006. And Go-On Silver's progression was experimented with DekaBright, etc. So what could this spell for later on? And in what order? Will the female Red Ranger come first or will the male Pink Ranger? The female Red Ranger actually happened in PR before it has in Super Sentai. The above picture is of the SPD A-Squad Red Ranger. A female Red Ranger has now happened in Super Sentai, but who knows? My own personal guess we will probably get a 'extra' red female warrior first, much like Time Fire/Quantum Ranger and Kabutoraijer/Crimson Ranger.

Related Topic: It's a Girl! The REAL Shinken Red

UPDATED DECEMBER 17, 2009

Jungle Fury: Phatom Beasts (2)

So they are using all the Phantom Beasts.

Scorch = Ron
Snapper = Sojo
Whiger = Suugu

Sonimax = Gouyu
Dynamir = Shiyuu
Runner = Dorou
Verarat = Sojo
Grinder = Shuen
Osiris = Kou
Unidoom = Haku
Lepus = Hiso

Female Kamen Riders

UPDATED DECEMBER 31, 2008
I am most obsessed with heroines and since Kamen Rider is mostly a 'boys only' club, I decided to cover the quite few female Kamen Riders that have graced the screens.

Kamen Rider Femme (2002)
She is the first official female Kamen Rider. There was debate if the character, Tackle, from Kamen Rider Stronger was a Rider, but it was agreed she was more of a sidekick rather than a legitimate Rider. Femme's true identity is Miho Kirishima, and was portrayed by Natsuki Kato. She was only in the movie Kamen Rider Ryuki Episode: Final and in the costume a cameo in Kamen Rider Ryuki: 13 Riders. Her power was of the Swan. As for action figures, there is a articulated Sôchaku-Henshin figure, a vinyl figure, and a small bust (which I own). She will appear in the upcoming American Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight as Kamen Rider Siren and I am told she will appear for quite a few episodes.

In Kamen Rider 555 (2003), many people who transform into the same armor or 'gear.' Where many men would wear one gear, one female would. One girl (Rina) wore the Delta armor but was kicked out of it a few seconds later. Both Yuri and Megumi become different versions of Kamen Rider Ixa in the Kamen Rider Kiva movie (2008).

Kamen Rider Alpha (2003)
Even though not official (stage show Riders aren't consider canon), the Alpha suit was used by a female in the Kamen Rider 555 stage show. Pictures avaliable here in this Japanese site.

Kamen Rider L-arc (2004)
Her true identity is Miwa Natsumi and she was portrayed by Yoko Mitsuya in the movie Kamen Rider Blade: Missing Ace. She is sometimes called Kamen Rider Lark or Kamen Rider L'arc. Her rider name, "Larc", is French for "Archer." Miwa Natsumi originally applied as an office worker, but was berated by the boss. As a result, she knocked him out after having enough of his words. She was handpicked, along with two others to become the New Generation Riders for BOARD to capture the Undead released by the Albino Joker. As for toys, she has one vinyl figure.

Kamen Rider Shuki (2005)
In the series Kamen Rider Hibiki, she appears in one episode. All the warriors had motifs of instruments, hers was a harp. Although she is in her 80's, Shuki used her power to assume a form that resemble herself in her early 30's. When she was young, her entire family was murdered by the villains. She used this as a reason to become an Oni. She used personal grudge and not the desire to uphold justice and protect the weak as a reason to fight. Unlike the others, the demon face took over her helmet. She ended up killing herself to get her revenge. To me, her outfit was tacky. She is the only Kamen Rider to ever have a skirt. She is the first female to actually be in the TV series, not a movie. She only got a small gasphon figure.

A second (fourth overall) female Rider for Kamen Rider Hibiki by the name of Mishiki went as far as having a DX Otoukenban marketed and a prop suit made for her before she was dropped.--This has been repeated in almost every Wiki-like page or blog, but no picture or backup. Since 2005, there has been no more female Riders, I can't wait to see what comes next.

UPDATED DECEMBER 31, 2008