Why Super Sentai VS. Movies Are MEANT To Be NON-CANON

 

As I'm currently enjoying No. 1 Sentai Gozyuger (but again, don't expect me to make episode reviews any longer) -- I thought about the Megazord Graveyard at the beginning. The first Super Sentai series that gathered all the previous Super Sentai together was Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. Gokaiger probably started the whole debate about whether or not the Super Sentai entries belong to a timeline or not. In my case, it's more of a GUILTY PLEASURE even when I realize that, unlike Power Rangers -- there's NO SUPER SENTAI TIMELINE! 

Events in Super Sentai would dictate that most Super Sentai series are self-contained. Kikou Sentai Zenkaiger was the one that specified that MOST SUPER SENTAI SERIES WERE SELF-CONTAINED! It might be because I used to like Power Rangers -- until I realized that it's not my cup of tea. One thing I realized was that I'm such a nitpicker. I had the bad habit of nitpicking Dragon Ball Z films. What I never thought of before was that Super Sentai VS. Movies actually served the same TYPE OF NARRATIVE as the Dragon Ball Z feature films. These films were always meant to be self-contained WHAT IF STORIES -- pretty much like the Marvel What If comic book series!

What's the logic with Super Sentai VS. Movies being their own continuity?

The first theatrical short was Dengekitai JAKQ vs. Himitsu Sentai Goranger. What would be interesting is a direct-to-video VHS release called Choriki Sentai Ohranger vs. Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, which was released in 1996. Footage of Ohranger vs. Kakuranger was included in Power Rangers Zeo as a two-parter. I saw the Zeo episodes ,unaware that Power Rangers was an adaptation by Saban from Toei. I don't like Power Ranger,s but calling it BOOTLEG is misleading. Call it what it is -- an American ADAPTATION or better said LOCALIZATION -- by INTERNATIONAL MARKETING TERMS. 

A critical analysis would show that Super Sentai VS. Movies are bound to have contradictions against the TV series proper. One might think that it gets obvious that MOST SUPER SENTAI SERIES ARE SELF-CONTAINED. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that events like some great power awakening happen when the Earth is in danger (ex. the Bio Robo waking up in Chodenshi Bioman) or how dinosaurs died per series GREATLY CONTRADICT EACH OTHER IN A TIMELINE. Yes, these events are going to clash with each other more than the Z-Wave in Power Rangers in Space. It's because Super Sentai having had a longer history means there's MUCH WORK to try and get everything in a singular timeline together!

Now, let's analyze the logic of the VS. Movies such as JAKQ vs. Goranger. The movie has a scenario of:

• What if Iron Claw survived from JAKQ?
• What if Boss Iron Claw hired the Big Four?

These were the very events that kickstarted the short film, which was just like one episode! However, we realize that the Big Four are SO POWERFUL. The natural solution is that the Gorangers (although only Peggy was unmorphed) showed up to help the JAKQ. The Big Four ARE HORRIFYINGLY POWERFUL THAT ONE SUPER SENTAI TEAM CAN'T DEAL WITH IT. 

The concept was returned when Ohranger vs. Kakuranger was released. The film was pretty much:

• What if the Ohblocker Robo and the Tackle Boy were there, and Emperor Bacchushund WASN'T DESTROYED?
• What if the Ohrangers had to face a supernatural enemy, a Youkai remnan,t and they needed the Kakurangers to defeat it? 
• What if Bacchushund and his son Buldont (who's still a child here) decided to have a match?

Obviously, the events of the film couldn't fit on either side. Why should the writers attempt to fix those details? It's not a mistake. It's a conscious decision to add in stuff that would communicate that, "Hey it's just a VS. Film." The same can be true when Dragon Ball Z films are released. The events that go against the Dragon Ball Z canon in the name of forming a WHAT IF STORY.

Arguably, there are just some Super Sentai VS. Movies-only villains that could TIP THE SCALE or the narrative

I remember seeing Dragon Ball Z: The Greatest Rivals as a child. It was released in the Philippine theaters and it's actually a combination of two Dragon Ball Z movies namely Cooler's Revenge and Return of Cooler. I realized that the movie was made from two Dragon Ball Z films. The two movies introduced Cooler as Frieza's brother. However, there was no way to fit Cooler into canon. It was like, "What if Frieza had an older brother?" The Dragon Ball Z series had Frieza and his father King Cold. Adding Cooler into the CANON mix can be. The Super Sentai VS. Movies followed the same lead by sometimes introducing a NON-CANON RELATIVE.

Kyukyu Sentai GoGoFive presented a movie-only villain in Darkness King Gill. The movie itself had a frightening moment that was NEVER MEANT to be put in Power Rangers Lightspeed Rescue. Yes, that scene where people's blood was drained so Gill could unleash it. Gill was pretty much what if the Saima Clan siblings HAD A TRUE FIRSTBORN TO GRANDIENNE. Grandienne NEVER MENTIONED HIM in the TV series. Zylpheeza was established as the TRUE FIRSTBORN. The events of the film bring back some old villains for the heck of it. Zylpheeza was the TRUE FIRSTBORN. The whole movie was pretty much a WHAT-IF SCENARIO.

One can argue that Gill is an example of someone "too evil for the TV series". It doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you have to have TWO SUPER SENTAI TEAMS to defeat a villain -- that villain is TOO POWERFUL OR TOO EVIL FOR REGULAR USE! If some Dragon Ball Z villains had been easily fried by Super Saiyan Goku (ex., Turles, Lord Slug) then some villains GOT TOO POWERFUL. Cooler was supposedly more powerful than Frieza. However, if Goku went Super Saiyan at will in Cooler's Revenge -- the short film would've ended. Gill's plan to release the Infernal Dark Hell Beast is another. The Infernal Dark Hell Beast is just TOO POWERFUL that it requires two teams.

The trend of Super Sentai villains that got too powerful was often added. Hyajakuu Sentai Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai created Lost Highness Rakusha, who is SO POWERFUL that he requires the power of EVERY RED RANGER to defeat him. However, Gaoranger's narrative was different from Power Rangers Wild Force. Gaoranger was meant to be self-contained! The crossover was released on August 10, 2001. However, the movie was never meant to be cano,n BUT A NOD to the fact Gaoranger is actually the 25th entry of the franchise!

The same logic applies to any massive crossover series

The Super Hero Taisen series was MEANT to be only CROSSOVER MOVIES. The events are SUPER DIFFICULT to reconcile. The events were always meant to have their self-contained moments. The first Super Hero Taisen movie (which started to make me rethink how I write) was pure fan service. The movies themselves were meant to be non-canon THANKFULLY. 

The Super Sentai VS. Films were never meant to have canon. The Samurai Sentai Shinkenger arc in Kamen Rider Decade was a TV episode. Thankfully, Ressha Sentai ToQGer vs. Kamen Rider Gaim and Shuriken Sentai Ninninger vs.Kamen Rider Drive were just meant to be TV MOVIES. I still find ToQger vs. Gaim to be messy. Meanwhile, Ninninger vs. Drive was actually entertaining in its own way. Keeping them away from the ACTUAL CANON was like AVOID RAPING THE CANON IN THE PROCESS. 

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It's all because oft hese stuff that I have the JOY OF NITPICKING or FORCING THE TIMELIE NARRATIVE.Hehe!