Amazing Coincidences Between Yasuko Kobayashi And Judd Lynn?

I thought of a few things that I may have noticed about Judd Lynn and Yasuko Kobayashi all this time and decided to gather possible coincidences between the two writers. It took me some time to think about this one. These two beloved writers from their respective franchises are on burnout and had some things in common aside from their writing styles:

1997 was the year that they both got hugely involved in their respective franchises

Kobayashi entered the arena last 1997 with Megaranger where she wrote 13 episodes as a secondary writer. The Megaranger episodes she wrote usually involved major plots which would train her for next year's task as the head writer of Gingaman. I felt her Megaranger episodes were among the best she contributed for Super Sentai.

Lynn himself was given a task similar to Toshiki Inoue replacing Tyuyoshi Kida as a head writer. He replaced Douglas Sloan midway in Power Rangers Turbo. This would be where Lynn himself would be tasked to become the head writer of Power Rangers in Space. But I felt like the mess Power Rangers Turbo left behind was already so huge it was hard to fix.

1998 was their champion year when they both had their first official head writing jobs

1998 was the year when Power Rangers was saved from cancellation and Kobayashi entered into her first job as head writer. Megaranger brought Super Sentai ratings back as both Ohranger and Carranger were more reliant on toy sales than TV ratings. While I still think Carranger's better than Power Rangers Turbo and Ohranger's better than Zeo (I may write on them soon why I think so but I want to focus on Kyuranger, EX-AID and well future releases of classic Super Sentai and painfully trying to watch more old school Kamen Rider) but I can't deny they weren't all that good. So what series did Lynn and Kobayashi write that brought them to their names?

Lynn was responsible for Power Rangers in Space. Power Rangers was already close to cancellation (and half of me wished it did but Toei and Saban both know that doing so is financially disastrous if they would cancel such a huge hit) but PR in Space saved the series. Megaranger brought ratings up after two consecutive lower ratings from Ohranger and Carranger. Kobayashi was responsible for a huge portion of Megaranger which gave way for her in Gingaman. While I don't want to debate too much on Gingaman vs. Lost Galaxy (it's like arguing whether an apple tastes better than a banana and IMO, Flashman beats both series) but Gingaman is another fan favorite. Both of them made a name for themselves with Power Rangers in Space and Gingaman. Next year, Lynn would be the head writer of Lost Galaxy which was based on Gingaman.

I guess having Gingaman and Power Rangers in Space made writers beloved in both their franchises. Difference is Kobayashi herself had been involved also with Kamen Rider and Anime series. Lynn also served as a producer and not just a writer.

Gingaman and Lost Galaxy are considered fan favorites

After Kobayashi's champion year in 1998, Lynn would have his second time to prove himself on 1999 with Lost Galaxy. I think comparing Gingaman and Lost Galaxy is choosing between apples and oranges. Gingaman was last year's hit with Super Sentai and Lost Galaxy was in 1999, the same year as GoGoFive. Gingaman is pretty much a fan favorite during the late 90s. While it's pretty much too "tree hugger" for some but it's still a fan favorite.

So what's with Lost Galaxy which was based on Gingaman? Lost Galaxy is pretty much another praised series. I personally think Lost Galaxy has its own merits. While I may not like Power Rangers but trying a space theme for the series twice in a row was something. If Super Sentai did it during the 80s why not give Power Rangers a chance? I thought sticking the series on Terra Venture for most of the run wasn't exactly the best way to go. However, Lost Galaxy is still another fan favorite. I think it's best to enjoy Lost Galaxy on its own merits than to compare it to Gingaman.

Both got involved in writing series that promoted safety rules

Kobayashi was a major contributor to GoGoFive for 12 episodes as a secondary writer while Lynn was the head writer of Lightspeed Rescue. Lightspeed Rescue had what I call "super necessary" PSAs for safety rules. Regardless, Kobayashi can't be ignored as a major contributor as much as Lynn is a head writer for their respective rescue-themed seasons. While Kobayashi was just a secondary writer but she was still a major contributor to GoGoFive nonetheless.

Years later, Kobayashi was assigned to be with ToQGer where she sadly burned out. Toei had an award for endorsing safety rules that year but I felt GoGoFive deserved the award better. But again, maybe I missed something and maybe GoGoFive did get an award during its time. ToQGer may not be my cup of tea but I think it still deserved it award for teaching Japanese children the importance of railway seasons. Too bad though Kobayashi didn't get much of a helping hand there. As I love to say it Naruhisa Arakawa should have been its writer instead because of his experience with Akibaranger. Brilliant ideas can go down the drain if you don't have the right people to carry it out.

On the other hand, I'd go for a Winspector and Solbrain marathon over the shows that I just mentioned. Not because they're old school but because they manage to be more "mature" and rescue-focused in some way. Hopefully, another rescue-oriented Super Sentai series or better yet a rescue-oriented Kamen Rider will be carried out. Oh, did you know that Kobayashi also made her first writing contribution for Tokusatsu with Winspector's 24th episode?

Timeranger and Time Force are their magnum opus seasons for their respective franchises

Timeranger and Time Force are shows I think to get a lot of praise from the fandom. Some may call ihem the Magnum Opus for both writers. Timeranger and Time Force were moments when a writer wanted to step out of the mold and innovate. Timeranger didn't want to be too much of your typical Super Sentai and Time Force didn't want to be so much of your typical Power Rangers. What's funny is that 2001 (the year Gaoranger aired) was the year Super Sentai started to become less violent and more kid friendly.

Both Lynn and Kobayashi wanted to be even more serious. Kobayashi was lucky that Super Sentai that time was a little more lenient with censorship but next year would force writers to be lighter and softer for most of the time. Kobayashi wrote the whole Timeranger series in such a way that it's unique like adding a more depressing atmosphere. Lynn added the serious theme of what goes around comes around with Ransik's unjustifiable bitter hatred towards humanity for shunning him. Both writers didn't want to be too cliche with their respective franchises. They did break some boundaries without otherwise alienating the said audiences. Think what happened with how Inoue's Jetman became a hit classic.

While I don't like Power Rangers but I can give Time Force a few points where it's better. The show doesn't intentionally make douches out of almost everyone. Wesley Collins isn't a jerk compared to Tatsuya Asami, Jen isn't as cold as Yuuri, and Eric Myers isn't much of a jerk as Naoto Takizawa. Other stuff I felt was better are like how Alex didn't allow Ransik to escape for his own selfish reasons as Captain Ryuya who was in fact one step closer to Masato Kusaka from Faiz... both having noble intentions but doing it the wrong way. I still feel that Timeranger had a better impact and consistency with what it wanted the show to convey. I feel like while Time Force's mutant vs. human hatred was a good idea - I'd actually rewatch Saban's X-Men cartoon instead.

Go-Busters and Dino Charge were shown with potential but lost a lot and I mean a lot of charge and energy later on as the seasons run their course

I can't deny I'm a Go-Busters fan but I was hiding about it because of the ratings. But now, I'm not afraid to say it out loud I like Go-Busters. Lynn himself is also a fan of Go-Busters and I don't think it's all that surprising. What can't be denied is how Kobayashi started to lose her edge in that show. The show had potential but she started running out of good ideas. The same happened to Inoue with Kamen Rider Faiz. Go-Busters could have done things better than Power Rangers RPM. I don't deny that the way Go-Busters was wrapped up was better than dropping a building on Venjix but Kobayashi doesn't make spectacular finales either. She and Inoue have the habit of having "That's it, I'm out." in most of the shows that they're involved in.

Lynn's return to Power Rangers didn't do so well during the even dumber Neo-Saban era. Power Rangers Dino Charge managed to be a little more evened out with character development but Lynn was hitting the same road with Inoue and Kobayashi. I admit Dino Charge had some stuff I thought was good. I personally didn't like the chimes or I'm no fan of samba of Kyoryuger. I thought Kyoryuger managed to take a dancing Super Sentai to a whole new level I'm no fan of dancing in general. Neither Battle Fever J nor Kyoryuger actually clicked with me but both had some fun songs to dance to like Battle Fever J's opening theme and Kyoryuger's ending theme. I'd blame Nickelodeon's splitting seasons into two as another really bad idea that slows revenues down for Toei, Bandai, and Saban. Power Rangers already skipped Go-Busters and ToQGer which both have Kobayashi as a writer.

Just expect even the best of writers to eventually burn out and write a lot of stupid stuff undoing what they did for any franchise. You may find someone to write a lot of good stuff and may end up writing a lot of bad stuff. It's the process of wear and tear. Not everyone is destined to do good all the time. Sometimes you just need to take a break from what you love to do and do something else. I guess that's what happened with both writers in the middle of Go-Busters and Dino Charge. They ran out of energy and charge - no pun intended.

Would the next amazing coincidence be with how ToQGer and Ninja Steel had the writers burning out?

As mentioned earlier, ToQGer had its award but it wasn't enough to raise ratings. But as said, TV ratings today may no longer be the best measure of popularity for Super Sentai and maybe ToQGer fans were viewing it online. I can't be too sure but ratings have been at a huge drop since post-Gokaiger and Zyuohger suffered from that effect. I wasn't getting positive on ToQGer because Kobayashi showed signs she was already running out of Enetron in her brain during Go-Busters. Go-Busters might well be called getting Go-Busted by some fans. While I still like the series but I don't deny how it was becoming Go-Busted in the later part of the show. It was fortunate enough though was that Kobayashi herself was able to do well with the more mature Kamen Rider spinoff called Kamen Rider Amazons.

So what's with Ninja Steel that I'm not even interested in? It's got nothing to do with Ninninger (which I also dislike in terms of plot) which I just watched for eye candy. Lynn himself already lost a lot of charge midway with Dino Charge which made it into Dino Losing Charge along the way. The situation is no better than Go-Busters becoming Go-Busted due to the writer burning out. Chances are Ninja Steel is where Lynn's really going to collapse as he's already burnt out. Good start but both writers really lost juice in what they did.

What do you think?