Sentai DVD Release Rambling Part 3: Will Ohranger's DVD Release Affect The Super Sentai DVD Releases?

After my second Sentai DVD Release rambling, I never thought I'd touch on the topic of Sentai DVD releases for the American audience as Ohranger just got its release. Some shows didn't always have a good reception at first. I admit I did watch Ohranger some months ago and I think it's watchable, I don't think it's as good as Carranger or the "real savior" Megaranger as a result of rumor mills here and there. But is it really as bad as the rumor mill claims it to be?

Let's take some time to think about what happened during Ohranger's year. Two major incidents namely the sarin gas incident and the earthquake forced major retooling. It had the potential to do a season long Bio vs. Anti-Bio plot with the Pangaea vs. Baranoia plot going on. The plot could have been explored but it wasn't the right time. In the history of innovation, not everything worked the first time and time was seldom your enemy. Not everyone is ready to accept something new and sometimes, what's new may also need improvements or sometimes innovators can run out of ideas so new innovators are needed.

While watching Ohranger, I'm on super bias mode again so be very warned and don't finish reading this if you can't handle it. Okay, I guess a lot of my readers know I really have some very biased and unfair hatred towards Power Rangers Zeo. It's not because it's Power Rangers (as some seasons are pretty good in their own way) but because of that stupid Dear John letter plot. So I just hated Zeo because of that stupid forgery by Douglas Sloan. Now let's move forward shall we? After I officially started watch Ohranger, I have my biases where I couldn't really say anything good about Power Rangers Zeo anymore. I always had it in my mind and in public, "Zeo is garbage! Ohranger is much better! Take that Tommy! Goro Hoshino is SOOOOOOO much better!" I'm probably still annoyed at how Zeo tends to get too much credit or is it all in my mind? This is ironic considering that I think Mighty Morphin' didn't have the problem of the too much focus on the child of the week, Lightspeed Rescue have seasoned rescue workers as rangers or Time Force does manage to come out as a fan favorite that deserves its praise.

I could name some points where Ohranger is better than Zeo but it's pretty much apples and oranges in some areas. I really think Tommy's just an overrated character. Goro Hoshino/Oh Red is a much better fighter than Tommy as evidenced by the first episode. I think Tommy fanboys and fangirls are really that annoying with how they think he's the "greatest character ever" never mind Burai has shown himself a more badass fighter. Then again, the Ohrangers were military officers trained by UAOH while Zeo focused on teenagers so it's an unfair comparison. The show's got Hiroshi Miyauchi as a team mentor and he's got his charm playing several characters across Tokusatsu both as a hero and team mentors. The show has really super cool fight scenes that aren't found in a lot of Super Sentai series after it. Not that we don't see good fight scenes every now and then but not all of them really stood out as much as some 80s to 90s old school Super Sentai series.

So is Ohranger really that horrible as some fans and rumor makers claim it to be? My answer is a big no. Maybe it didn't work that year due to a lot of unfortunate incidents. Even with all the throw in all at once concepts and I think it's really wrapping up Takeyuki Suzuki's era as a head producer, I think it was done to sell more toys due to rating drops that happened. The series may have been saved by toy sales. When I do a comparison of Zeo vs. Ohranger, I think Ohranger's writing has better quality than Zeo ever will. But is Ohranger really a masterpiece like some of its predecessors and successors? My answer is still no. I really couldn't consider Ohranger as a real masterpiece either. It's not solid gold as it had its problems of a lack of consistency due to external events. When it comes to Super Sentai you'll have to expect things may get better, get worse and get better again because some things may fail the first time or fail due to one running out of ideas.

I don't think that Ohranger's DVD release will ever affect the Super Sentai DVD release in the long run. Sometimes, a lot of stuff just get exaggerated like Ohranger nearly cancelled Super Sentai and Carranger saved it. No, Carranger didn't save Super Sentai either. If any Super Sentai "saved" the franchise' ratings it was Megaranger. Ohranger and Carranger had cool toys to offer but lacked the charm that Megaranger offered to audiences. Hmmm... so maybe Megaranger will be more welcome by most Power Rangers fans than my proposal of releasing Changeman instead? But I think Ohranger and Carranger will still be a welcome treat to older Power Rangers fans.

What do you think?