The Significant Difference Between Super Sentai And Power Rangers In Terms Of Innovative Thinking From 2011-2017

It's no secret that Power Rangers is already facing deep doo doo due to a lot of poor decision making. One of the worst things to happen is that the Power Rangers movie is really a downer at best (and it only serves as a good sleeping pill for me, nothing more) and Power Rangers Megafail. Super Sentai may be facing some issues right now but it's nowhere near as bad as what's happening to Power Rangers. Let's take time to think how both franchises handle innovative thinking.

Super Sentai seeking to go beyond even if it means facing momentary problems in order to reach success in the long run

I could talk about Super Sentai from 2011 to 2017. I don't deny that there's been a decline in TV ratings for some after Gokaiger but Toei just keeps having lots of money to produce new seasons. There's some problems during that time and I think it has to do with Internet TV. Cable TV in general is already declining thanks to Internet TV which may have affected Super Sentai like every other show. I can't be too certain at the rise and fall of Super Sentai because there will always be times any franchise will face difficulties.

Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger was a challenge and the people of Toei managed to succeed. You want something new yet you want to throw back the old. It was trying to fix some ideas that didn't work so well. They ended up creating the big Super Sentai celebration. They may have not gotten all the Super Sentai alumni to show up, not everything can be done in one season but the series was seeking to celebrate the franchise as hugely as possible. Though I may not call it the best Super Sentai season ever made but it's still one of the best one ever made. It's a successful voyage in its own right. The whole series even made a huge guest return five years after it ended.

The big hit Gokaiger ended and there's the challenge of what to do. "What are we going to do to keep business afloat after Gokaiger?" might be the question. Toei may have been thinking of newer stuff or older stuff or whatever. They came up with some seasons such as Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters, Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger, Ressha Sentai ToQGer, Shuriken Sentai Ninninger and Doubotsu Sentai Zyuohger. While I do have some personal issues to why we ended up having a third dinosaur season or a third ninja season but I decided to find out the positives. If you didn't need to watch all the old school to understand Gokaiger's plot then you didn't need to watch Zyuranger, Kakuranger, Hurricanger and Abaranger to understand Kyoryuger and Ninninger. ToQGer may have had Yasuko Kobayashi where some may consider her burnout but it ended up winning an award on Railroad Day. Those are but some areas where there are victories between struggles.

I think Kyuranger is pretty much innovative in so many ways. It may give references to some old school movies like Space Balls, Star Wars and maybe Star Trek while it's completely new school. The story itself goes to take itself into a very far future. It even revealed the whole truth that most Super Sentai series are self-contained. It's also all about giving more fresh space for ideas because Super Sentai uses the multiverse format. Also, it reimagined how Super Sentai would be written. It's pretty much a what if scenario that the villains not only have the Earth but the whole Universe in their grasp. I'm really enjoying it so far from all the post-Gokaiger seasons.

Power Rangers is trying to reclaim its past successes with the Mighty Morphin' hype is just stupid

Power Rangers came back to the hands of Haim Saban and at first, some fans felt it was good news but they got the opposite. Instead, Power Rangers has been getting worse and worse no thanks to a lot of factors. One good reason why it's not getting any better is because of the Krusty Krab Mindset where you become so traditional you can't accept new roads to progress. So what's the difference then? This is where I would like to point out some mistakes of the Neo Saban Era which is even worse than the already bad Disney era. Worse, you've got the LONG summer break which is killing potential revenues from the Power Rangers franchise. Going from regular to super with the hiatus is not super cool - it's super dumb! That two season split also contribute to why I ended up thinking Power Rangers Dino Charge lost its potential.

So what happened? You could talk about the problem of the Mighty Morphin' hype. Trying to recapture the glory of the hit Mighty Morphin' isn't going to work anymore. The times have changed so why is Saban Brands trying to reassemble Zordon's already broken glass tube? I thought Andros already punctured it during the finale of Power Rangers in Space? Lost Galaxy was already trying to be its own show though I think it should have tried to look more self-contained. All they thought about is how to innovate the Mighty Morphin' hype rather than thinking of how to innovate outside the Mighty Morphin' hype.

Power Rangers Samurai is just the start of the problem. No, don't believe that stupid rumor that PR Samurai did better than Shinkenger in Japan. The series should have just tried to compose a new theme song, try to be a new start than ride on the Mighty Morphin' hype. Worse, you've got Power Rangers Megaforce ahem Megafail which was trying to be Mighty Morphin' 2.0 but ended up as the worst anniversary season ever. Megafail was plagued with a lot of bad writing, a cast that feels like they really hated their jobs and cramming Goseiger and Gokaiger together is like trying to mix oil and water. Ninja Steel is also trying to back to Mighty Morphin' AGAIN. Yes, while I could sit through Ninninger, get a pause and then FINISH IT from start to end - I couldn't sit through even one episode of Ninja Steel. You've got Victor and Monty who remind me of another reason why I dislike Power Rangers on its own merit. It's all because of the tendency to put comic relief that do almost nothing to forward the plot.

The question is how old are the people who used to watch Mighty Morphin'? You may end up thinking that it's 24 freaking years since Mighty Morphin' aired. In short, these are 90s children who are most likely in their 30s or late 20s. For the older audience, the Mighty Morphin' hype will bore them up and it will estrange them sooner or later. I guess that also explains that why the Power Rangers (2017) movie didn't have so much support either. The Mighty Morphin' hype is no longer feasible and it has to end already.

Conclusion

Both franchises have their own set of problems but the issue is how they are approaching the need to innovate. Super Sentai is constantly seeking to innovate and try new ideas and learn from its mistakes. Power Rangers under the Neo-Saban era is only seeking to ride at the Mighty Morphin' hype instead of focusing on making sustainable changes. Change is risky but not embracing it 100x way riskier. This creates a drawing line to help defend my stand why I prefer Super Sentai over Power Rangers.

Comments

  1. Wow this is really interesting man! Keep it up!

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    1. I wrote this out of frustration. Personally, I don't like Power Rangers and I wrote this post as one of the MANY reasons why I can't like that franchise. I hope that this would be an eye opener. Anyway, I'm just glad that Super Sentai is trying to get out of the slump they got themselves in to. Product decline is not a joke and when it happens you need to find alternatives to survive.

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