Power Rangers SHINKENGER!?

[EndFighter]

Hey there guys, noobie here. I've lurked for a while, so I think I can post properly.

Anyway, for those of us who watched and enjoyed Engine Sentai Go-Onger, we now get to see the suits and theme through a western view, as Power Rangers RPM. The suits are the same, and the engines will become 'zords', but the story is nowhere close to the original.

The story we now get (as hinted by working trailers on the internet) is a story that would seem a mixture of the Terminator movies, and the matrix. An evil super computer bids for control of the earth, and who should come to the rescue? The power rangers. Whether you love this idea or hate it, it would seem that this is the newest team of toku crime fighters headed to American shores. I'm kinda looking forward to it myself.


Now the title of this post is more of a question than a statement, but it pertains to the newest series of the Super Sentai t.v show: Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. This show holds deep roots in Japanese culture, hell, the opening even yells 'Nihon no spirit' (spirit of japan), and 'let's bushido' (let's code of the samurai... ok. That's a poor translation, but still). This is the story of a young man trained to be a samurai destined to protect the world of humans, and 4 young adults bound as his vassals (servants).

My question to you, my fellow henshin heroes, is how a show so deep rooted in foreign lore could be brought to America? They could take the 'Ninja storm root', and mention Japan only in passing, but can you really be the 'Nihon no spirit' without it? And a second part, how would YOU bring it to America?

Please discuss...

 

[Duel.]

Sure can do buddy... Happens here...

http://henshinjustice.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32534

 

[EndFighter]

Okay... maybe I haven't lurked enough....

 

[KingRanger]

Sure can do buddy... Happens here...

http://henshinjustice.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32534

No. That is the shinkenger discussion thread. Keep the power rangers stuff out of it. It's bad enough all the people ruining the thread trying to compare it to a non existent power rangers series, but don't send more people to derail a real sentai thread please.

 

[strizzuth]

I was wondering similar things when they adapted Gekiranger since a lot of the show's elements don't translate well. The Rinshis are a perfect example. They're based on Jiang Shis, Chinese zombies that eat the life energy of the living. That peculiar hopping motion they do is very distinct of the Jiang Shi myths and is well known to the Chinese, Japanese and Koreans. Further, the entire series was all about Kung Fu which is something Americans just aren't as culturally well versed in. There are specific stances and hand motions that the Gekirangers do which are distinct Kung Fu motions. These movements are well known by Japanese audiences as being from Kung Fu but it's not as obvious to a mainstream American audience.

If you've watched Power Rangers Zeo you can see this in action. Kat's specific fighting style is never named, but the footage taken from OHranger very clearly shows her using distinct Kung Fu movements. In fact, OHpink's personal pose is a pose common to several styles of Kung Fu. However, this just goes unmentioned because it would be problematic for Kat to suddenly know Kung Fu when she hadn't before. I doubt anyone noticed.

When Jungle Fury was being made I wondered if they'd make any mention of the more Chinese elements of the story at all, but they did. In fact, it was arguably even MORE Chinese than Gekiranger was since Chinese names were used (Pai Zhua, Dai Shi) in place of Japanese names (Juu Ken, Akugata).

So yeah, I think whatever Power Rangers show Shinkenger winds up being used for will have no problem incorporating the Samurai motif. That's not to say they'll get it right. I doubt there'll be the same relationship between the red ranger and the others since that whole emperor/vassal thing doesn't go over well in the US (we don't have much of an appreciation for monarchs...). They probably will explain the kanji on the masks but I bet there's gonna be a new morpher. If nothing else, they'll likely not have the mojikara powers since the kanji on the helmets will be confusing enough (though doable). Origami is already a very well known art in the US so that may or may not survive the transition, but I doubt they'll be called "origami zords". I bet it'll be a lot more like Ninja Storm.