Toei's Possible Love Affair With Dinosaurs?

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While Ryusoulger is airing back this Sunday of next week, the summer episodes are coming but I'd like to really express myself concerning possible Toei's love affair with dinosaurs. Now, let's take a bit of the long history Toei had with dinosaurs. 

1992's Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger and 1993's Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers

Toei itself started its affair with dinosaurs right after Jetman saved Super Sentai from what could have been its cancellation. Now, it was a bright new time to innovate and they probably wanted to give dinosaurs a shot -- just a year before Jurassic Park hit the scenes. Jurassic Park's novel was published on November 20, 1990, which was three years before it got adapted for the big screen. Jurassic Park was screened on August 11, 1993 -- which is just a very short time before Mighty Morphin' premiered.

The characters in Zyuranger were dressed up like RPG characters instead of cavemen. The kingdoms in the flashbacks were pretty much like the medieval times. So really, was the stone age THAT glamorous in Zyuranger? If that were so, maybe I won't have any problem exploring their time. It was the first to use dinosaurs although the wooly mammoth and sabertooth tiger are not reptiles but mammals. The enemies themselves were based on medieval legends even if the theme was all about dinosaurs. Also, it was really too focused on children of the week as written by Noboru Sugimura. It seems Zyuranger would forever write this one, "Children do love dinosaurs, don't they?"

So 1993 came and Jurassic Park was still hot. The plan to air Super Sentai (a Japanese show) in the U.S. didn't really work. There are vast cultural differences back then which is unlike today when Shout! Factory can now release licensed Super Sentai DVDs. The solution was to localize the show. Mighty Morphin' was based on Zyuranger. The year couldn't be better as Toei hits the U.S. market with Power Rangers. Saban Entertainment finally got their permission to do so. Strangely, it was just a year when Saban Entertainment got the Marvel license (for the 1990s X-Men cartoon series) and Marvel used to have a contract with Toei. So on August 31, 1999 -- Mighty Morphin' became that sensation. Toei got paid with their royalties and laughed their way to the bank. They got so greedy that they even agreed to make 25 more sets of fight footage for Mighty Morphin' and the show got overextended. Heck, that's one reason that contributes to why I end up disliking Power Rangers!

But that wasn't the end of the love affair with dinosaurs.

Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger (2003)

But that wasn't the end of the affair of Toei with dinosaurs. Ten years after Mighty Morphin' and Jurassic Park -- another dinosaur Super Sentai would be born. I wonder why didn't Toei decide to launch Abaranger in 2002 instead of 2003. 2002 was the tenth anniversary of Zyuranger which would be their very first Super Sentai. I can only imagine them again with their laughing their way to the banks last 1993 or they were celebrating Jurassic Park. Regardless, Abaranger is probably still my favorite dinosaur Super Sentai even when it's already 2019!

Abaranger would be the very first Super Sentai that got Naruhisa Arakawa as its head writer. The setting may have felt too Anime-ish. They decided to do dinosaurs and multiple combinations as the recurring theme of the show. Unlike Zyuranger, the meteorite didn't kill the dinosaurs. Rather, it created an Alternate Earth where people still live with dinosaurs. The people of Dino Earth also felt like warriors of the bronze age -- all the while they ended up having technology that somehow beats our side of the planet!

The series itself launched Arakawa's character as a head writer for Super Sentai. Before that, Arakawa was the head writer of Kamen Rider Kuuga all the while he probably has some Old Shames. Who can remember his infamous Jetman episode with Dryer Jigen? He would go on to become the head writer for next year with Dekaranger. He would also be Gokaiger's and Super Sentai Strongest Battle's head writer too. Though time will tell whether not Arakawa needs a break now.

Zyuden Sentai Abaranger (2013)

Perhaps another show that I didn't really like that much. I even think there are better shows after it such as Kyuranger and Lupinranger vs. Patranger. I remembered how Shogo B'Stard (a guy who admits he's negative about newer Super Sentai) even said that the show makes dinosaurs glad they're gone. This was, however, trying to set up new writers as Riku Sanjo made his debut as a Super Sentai head writer. However, I've been more of a fan of Sanjo with Kamen Rider with shows such as Kamen Rider W and Kamen Rider Drive. 

The show feels like a mix between Battle Fever J (and I don't intend to rewatch it after seeing it) and Abaranger with new color coding. The show has very cheery characters though my issue is Daigo Kiryu tends to get too much focus. Okay, it's not as if I'm innocent of that offense with the way I write my stories either! The show itself has Koichi Sakamoto doing the fantastic action scenes. I feel like the show's action scenes are better than Abaranger's. It can be considered a very action-intense season.

What's more interesting is that the show has a character named Ian Yorkland. Ian is well dressed up like Ian Malcolm in the first Jurassic Park movie. Both characters named Ian are secondary protagonists who come up with viable solutions in tight situations. Jurassic Park had actually turned 20 that year and so did Mighty Morphin'. I even wonder was Amy even intentionally named Amy because of Amy Jo Johnson? Probably but I'd say it's just a coincidence. 

However, it was that time I was really in need of a break from Super Sentai. I decided to give Kyoryuger a rewatch and I think it's fine for what it is. In fact, I feel like I may rewatch it over Battle Fever J. But right now there's still a better series before and after it. I still think that Lone Starr ahem Lucky in Kyuranger has been better handled than Daigo for me. 

Then, we're back to dinosaurs this 2019 and more... 

I do have my kooky theory that the plans of Ryusoulger weren't originally meant to be a dinosaur Super Sentai. The name Kishinryu Sentai Ryusoulger means Dragon Knight Squadron Dragon Soul Ranger. The title isn't Kishinkyoryu Sentai Kyoryusoulger. But why did we hit dinosaurs again? Was it because of the movie "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" which had a much higher gross rating than its budget? Did the people behind Ryusoulger get captivated by it that they decided to make dinosaurs the gimmick instead of having the possibly intended dragons?

Did the lower than expected toy sales from Lupinranger vs. Patranger trigger a knee-jerk reaction to shifting what could have been from dragons to dinosaurs? It really made me wonder if that's really the case with Ryusoulger. Either way, I think dinosaurs have been overused in Super Sentai but I do have other ideas on how to use them.

A dinosaur-themed Kamen Rider can be next. Let dinosaurs take a long break from Super Sentai. Remember when Kamen Rider Amazon was based on a monitor lizard instead of a bug like other Showa-era Kamen Riders? Remember when Kamen Rider Kuuga felt like a weird bug/reptilian hybrid or when Kamen Rider Ryuki was based on a dragon? Well, I don't see any reason why a dinosaur-themed Kamen Rider won't work.