Filipinos, Super Sentai and Power Rangers

Honestly speaking, Filipino fans (and I a current resident of the Philippines who is forced to watch non-subbed Sentai) have been having their dilemmas of "missing pieces" of their younger days. I agree. It's frustrating really. Ha ha.

Here are some Sentai shown to Filipinos dubbed in the national language (edited to reduce on-screen violence without changing the story):

Goggle V- Only up to episode 20. Boo hoo. I watched the finale on the Internet and found the final battle with Fuehrer Taboo really lame but it did wrap everything perfectly. However it did wrap up the story well.

Bioman- Finished. It was shown in English. Some rumors say Saban dubbed Bioman. I think so because the pink ranger was named Kimberly.

Maskman- Sadly only up to episode 50. It was a beautiful love story for some. My favorite had to be the not-so-practical Takeru/Red Mask dubbed as Michael Joe.

Turboranger- Sadly only up to episode 31. I liked Turboranger's concept of teenagers and I berated Power Rangers because of this show.

Fiveman- Finished.

Jetman- Finished. Filipinos considered this the best Super Sentai ever. Me too. I watched this show because I had a crush on a girl that looked like Sayuri Uchida who is nicknamed "Nicai-Chan" at the same time, I had a female opponent that looked like Mikiko Miki. Some Filipinos considered this "the original Power Rangers".

After this began the MMPR craze and Filipino fans never realized that Saban paid Toei for footage to produce the show. Also some Filipinos dared to compare it to Turboranger. Ha ha. I thought it was an original script inspired by Toei but I was wrong- it was a matter of creating an American version for Toei and Saban to make a profit in America that had different standards.

But nobody in the Philippines (or so it seemed) was aware of the Zyurangers' existence that time. However some Zyuranger toys made it to the Philippines leaving Filipino children to wonder about Japanese characters on "PR" toys they bought. Now they'll see why. In fact, some hardy Sentai fans complained about MMPR not getting a proper finale like Jetman and Fiveman did which they regarded as "the original". Also it was the time when hardy Filipino Sentai fans had no idea of the franchise agreements until the Internet was more updated.

Nobody realized that Tommy's Zyuranger counterpart died and that the white ranger footage was from Dairanger who was just nine years old badass (and a pervert). Nobody didn't even realize that the Thunderzord footage was from Dairanger too... until later. Lord Zedd was original footage but he was tonned down immensely. Dairanger toys also made it into the Philippines and some wonder why the white ranger got "messed up" with the wrong crowd.

In fact Kakuranger footage was unknown to them too. In fact, there were NO new Sentai shows that were on TV- just more PR which got Super Sentai fans to watch online ignoring they can't watch it in Tagalog or English. This was part of the MMPR saga. When Amy Jo Johnson left, I think some Filipino fans dropped it. I did too. :-P

Power Rangers Zeo made it on-screen. However some Filipino fans began to yawn... really except for those who have the American superiority mentality. Nobody realized it was made from Ohranger and some Ohranger toys began to flood the Philippines too. Some Filipino fans berated this later when they saw Ohranger in some other media despite the fact they can't understand Japanese. Here the non-canon Kakuranger vs. Ohranger movie was inserted as canon.

The last of the Zordon Arc was known as Power Rangers Turbo which ignorant Filipino fans thought it was loosely based and inspired by Turboranger. Only later did they find out that it was based on Carranger a series that was inspired by Turboranger (weird huh?). However I believe this like Turboranger was never finished. Not surprisingly both Divatox and Zonette turned out that the characters were played by actresses who did adult films.

And yep the Zordon rac was OVERDUE. MMPR was a LONG season, longer than Goranger was which was 84 episodes and it got boring fast with the same faces. Eventually and fortunately, PR in Space ended the redundance for GOOD. Whew.

In 2001, news that Thuy Trang died in a car accident reached some MMPR fans in the Philippines. Some were reminded of the tragic death of Mika Koizumi in episode 10 of Bioman. She was given a memorial in the Time Force episode "Circuit Unsure". At least she didn't die the same way Mika Koizumi died. However I can't help but think the show predicted her death.

Filipino fans got Power Rangers that had the "Sentai" feel namely from Lost Galaxy up to Wild Force, Power Rangers seasons that were the Saban-Lynn era yet Filipinos also learned of the Sentai equivalents and wished both would be shown. Saban started to get the "Toei" feel by then so it wasn't very "PR" anymore.

When Disney took over PR, there were many good reasons to dislike it.

We have the yellow ranger actress Chise Nakamura of Boukenger visiting the Philippines. Too bad Filipinos never saw Boukenger in Tagalog. :-( Instead, some Filipinos were forced to watch Boukenger online or by some other means even if they can't understand until TV Nihon was there. ABS-CBN should also get Boukenger, Magiranger and Dekaranger as well for Hero TV and advertise it as "Meet the original Power Rangers also."

As of late, Ace Durano has met the pink ranger actress Rin Takanashi to promote tourism of the Philippines to the Japanese. Hopefully Filipinos will see Shinkenger dubbed in Filipino while removing scenes of excess violence without altering the storyline. Then maybe we can have Boukenger, Dekaranger and maybe even Zyuranger and Dairanger in Tagalog at least Filipinos can see both PR and Sentai and compare.

Anyway Super Sentai somehow entertains even adults like myself due to its better done action and in the case of Maskman, Dairanger and Gekiranger- they have the really exaggerated action from Chinese cinema.

Comments

  1. I don't live in the Philippines, but I'm rooting for you guys to get your sentai back. ;)

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  2. As a Filipino, well at least a part Filipino, I've actually seen quite a lot of Tagalog-dubbed Sentai. It's pretty good, too, but the original is still as always better. lol :D

    But it's unfortunate that the BS called Powa Wanga is still more popular, even all over Asia.

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  3. I like Chise with the Royal Tru-Orange. :)

    -Rhai

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  4. I think Power Rangers is more popular only because they haven't viewed the original stories. However I ended up liking Sentai more because of the deeper plots, dark times and even wackier times.

    I just saw a few episodes of Ohranger even the wacky ones and I say, "It's way more awesome than Power Rangers Zeo."

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  5. Based on how Kamen Rider Ryuki-Hibiki aired here, I think once Super Sentai will return (Possibly to return since I didn' hear Cartoon Network will air RPM but I heard Goonger will air on TV5), it will have less censorship.

    Here's my post about Sentai here in the Philippines: http://orendsrange.blogspot.com/2009/12/nostalgia-trilogy-1-of-3-go-go-power.html

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