Power Rangers vs Super Sentai(Mostly Samurai vs Shinkenger)

[Kamen Rider Aru]

I dunno about you guys but Bulk and Spike are funny. I wish Bulk can just recognise the Power Rangers then just standing there shock and awe about it. Which I just got done watching Episode 4 with my girlfriend and I'm like...."Ok samuraizer has no paintbrush mode that's stupid." I looked up the reviews of the Samuraizer and the Samurai Megazoid. Pretty stupid, sadly there isn't any good deals of picking up the Shodophone or shinken-oh.

 

[Raiden]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that finds the PRS a bit flat when compared to Shinkengers.
Another thing nobody mentioned is the music.
PRS use mostly only generic music plus a rehash of the old MMPR theme song; while Shinkengers had an original soundtrack.
The acting is bad and cheesy in both but just the right music can change a scene completely.

But I have to say that the last few episodes (since the Gold Ranger appear) have improved a bit. If they do something about the music the series can still be saved.

 

[Frumix]

I think it's really amazing how you can have shows so different with pretty much the same script and even same camera angles. Really shows Saban crew's talent, eh? :laugh:

The problem with PRS is that they have completely no idea in hell about what they are doing. It doesn't look like a professionally-made show in the slightest. Opening effects are complete crap. Pacing is god awful. Audio editing is so amateurish.

Bulk and Spike are almost as much of a blight of this show as Bulk and Skull of the original MMPR fame. Never liked the stuff, never found jokes of the "two punks make fools of themselves EVERY DAMN EPISODE" particulary creative. And seriously, if of all your cast people remember comedic relief duo... you're doing something wrong. But of course PRS doesn't only add, it also takes away, namely a number of cultural things that make the basis of Shinkenger. The result are five perfectly ordinary teenagers (like hell they are) not acting like ones. Oh yeah, about acting, when people can't act at all, it's usually mostly director's fault.

PRS use mostly only generic music plus a rehash of the old MMPR theme song; while Shinkengers had an original soundtrack.

Nicely noted. This has also been a trait of Power Rangers, using generic bland... rock? I guess; which only strains the ears, while each Super Sentai season uses orchestral music, with certain seasons having very melodic, distinct and recognizeable soundtrack, Shinkenger being one of them.

I mean... yeah? PR is watchable, but why bother? The only good PR was RPM anyway, and the reason for that was that production team actually cared that time around.

 

[MetalSymphony]

Me thinks (and is sort of confirmed is on-the set accounts) that Saban wants to secure the shows core audience of boys 5-12 more than appease long time adult fans, who are likely just viewed as a Periphery Demographic that doesn't affect the numbers much.

And in reality that's all we are. A very vocal but ultimately small part of the franchise who holds less sway than the Parents of the kids who watch the show nowadays.

This is why, again, i think BoA should take a BoJ approach to the merch in that they set up a "Kid's" and "Collectors" division.

The kids division churns the usual figures, role-play and etc for what ever series is running then, the Collectors division only handle's higher end items that are targeted at Adult collectors, stuff like Figart's, Reissues of past Megazords/Morphers or even "Uncheapened" direct-from-Japan imports of that seasons mecha (for example, for a Goseiger based season, the Boy's division would put out a cheapened down version of GoseiGreat for mass retail @ $35 while the collectors division would sell reboxed BoJ GoseiGreat's on their online shop @ $100).

Only the boys stuff would be in stores, collectors stuff would only be sold online.

 

[Painted_Outlaw]

And speaking of copying: Samurai removed the brush mode from the phone..... and yet kept the drawing of characters before the morph. What the hell is that?? Why even bother with the Mojikara stuff?

To the Samurai team, the stuff that makes the kan..er..Samurai power symbols' apparently meant to be "Laser Ink".

 

[Loghorn]

The big difference between Shinkenger and Samurai is that Shinkenger actually has decent actors. Samurai's cast is just god awful. Blue and Yellow are the worst of the bunch easily, with Yellow easily being the worst actress on the show. Green acts like he's on a daytime soap, not a freaking kids tv show. Red...well he's really quite ugly (facially), which is surprising considering how many decent looking no-name actors are in Hollywood/LA hoping for their "big break".

At first I found it interesting to see how Samurai would adapt Shinkenger stories, but after only a few episodes iI'm already bored with it. It just feels like a poor attempt at rehashing Shinkenger. I still turn the show on on Sunday mornings...but rarely watch much of it.

I guess my biggest gripe is this. California is home to hundreds of thousands of wanta-be actors and actresses, and yet this is who we end up with? MMPR with all it's cheese still had better acting than Samurai.

All I can say is, is that watching PR: Samurai (or just about every PR Adaption in general) is like, playing a downgraded console version of a game from the Arcade version (Arcade version being the original Sentai series).

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

I mean... yeah? PR is watchable, but why bother? The only good PR was RPM anyway, and the reason for that was that production team actually cared that time around.

...now that's just silly. The production teams for Power Rangers have a very long history of caring about the shows they do and delivering decent shows most of the time. RPM is great, yeah, but it's not the only good show. I personally loathed Hurricanger and loved Ninja Storm. I'm also not a big fan of GoGoV, but Lightspeed Rescue is my favorite season of Power Rangers. Yes, there are a lot of bad seasons, but blanket comments like this just seem to ignore so much of the work that goes into the franchise as a whole.

With a franchise like this, making blanket statements gets you nowhere, it's not as if every season has the same producer and writing staff. You have to look at things on a case-by-case basis and I try to judge shows based on their own merits and not what they did or didn't adapt... admittedly, it can be difficult, but it's a decent way of not letting a personal bias over a season cloud one's judgement. No production team ever tries to make a bad show, that's utterly ridiculous, some shows just don't turn out to be as good as they could have been.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm no lover of Shinkenger, so anything that I thin improves on a cool idea that was wasted is good in my book and I think Power Rangers Samurai is on the road to do that. Yes, the first half of the first season was pretty terrible, but I genuinely believe they're finding their footing now and giving us tiny little tidbits foreshadowing how the story might play out differently in the second half of the series. I personally hope that the Akumaro counterpart's grand scheme makes a bit more sense than it did in Shinkenger. (and I think it was Kou or Lynxara that made a pretty awesome post detailing how it was flawed right from the get-go)

 

[DeluxeRobots]

And speaking of copying: Samurai removed the brush mode from the phone..... and yet kept the drawing of characters before the morph. What the hell is that?? Why even bother with the Mojikara stuff?

The shodophone was a crappy design for a changer I'm glad they changed it, even though waving a cellphone around drawing Kanji isn't any much better.

 

[areaseven]

My problem with Power Rangers Samurai is that several aspects of Samurai Sentai Shinkenger are culturally impossible to adapt to a western environment. First off, why are these gaikokujin Samurai in the first place? For one to give up their everyday lives to serve a dono is a tradition in Japan, but in America, it doesn't make sense. In addition, Antonio being a fish vendor has no meaning compared to Genta running a sushi cart. At least we know first-hand that Genta has a purpose in life outside of being a Shinkenger.

BTW, DeluxeRobots obviously doesn't understand Japanese calligraphy, based on his comment above.

 

[Frumix]

Me thinks (and is sort of confirmed is on-the set accounts) that Saban wants to secure the shows core audience of boys 5-12 more than appease long time adult fans, who are likely just viewed as a Periphery Demographic that doesn't affect the numbers much.

Isn't this just a "It's a kids show!" argument? It doesn't mean it has to be low quality if it is for kids.

Aoi Kurenai, you disliked Shinkenger, Hurricaneger AND GoGoV? But liked Ninja Storm and are willing to give PRS another chance? I believe we have a mighty case of different taste because you just blew my mind. Yeah, there are decent Power Rangers seasons, sometimes producers genuinely care, sometimes they add some good design ideas (mooks in Sentai in 90s were ridiculous, for example) but these are exceptions, you know?

No production team ever tries to make a bad show, that's utterly ridiculous, some shows just don't turn out to be as good as they could have been.

What if they don't make a show? What if they just make a 23-minute toy ad and thus don't particulary care about quality? What if they want to make a good show but simply can't? Pfft. Shows don't just randomly turn out badly. There is no excuse for amateurish editing in Samurai for example, that's technical side.