Super Sentai VS. Movies Compared To The Dragon Ball Z Movies

 

As I was doing some nostalgic revisits - I found this article on Dragon Ball Z's movie series which are obviously non-canon. I used to watch the limited amounts of Super Sentai offered (which Toei Ltd. probably also gets the blame for making the royalties too high), Power Rangers (which I just can't like), and a couple of animated series with Toei Animation involved. Hasbro (before getting Power Rangers) also had help from Toei Ltd. with the 1980s cartoons G.I. Joe and The Transformers. Toei Ltd. would later make their own spin-off series based on Hasbro's property. Just think of the Bandai merchandise with Toei Ltd. involved as "one happy family". Even if I dislike Power Rangers, I still think some Super Sentai seasons are bad, and any negative opinion I can have on this and that. This makes me think about my childhood and growing up years.

Remembering the Dragon Ball Z movies

There were a couple of Dragon Ball Z movies shown in the Philippines. Some of them were even merged from two shorts such as how The Greatest Rivals (which I first saw on ABiaS-CBN) was a combination of Cooler's Revenge and Return of Cooler. Another movie was a combination of Broly: Second Coming and Bio-Broly which I saw on RPN-9. However, try to do an analysis and notice that these films are just OUT OF ORDER. They just can't fit in and many of these films just can't fit in.

Later, I grew up and started to look more at the Dragon Ball Z movies. Many events really feel like a series What-if scenarios than ACTUAL CANON. I felt it was a bummer that Goku never went Super Saiyan against some of the movie-only villains such as Dr. Wheelo from The World's Strongest, Turles from Tree of Might, or Lord Slug from Lord Slug. I tried to fit the events of the previous movies I mentioned earlier and they JUST. DON'T FIT. They just can't fit together which I could explain why.

I think my favorite example now has to be Cooler. Cooler is said to be Frieza's older brother. However, the series NEVER mentioned Frieza had an older brother. The continuity errors are glaring such as how Gohan still has his tail after it was cut off. The second movie with Cooler also has Dende as the Guardian of Earth BUT Gohan was unable to go Super Saiyan in the film.

Instead, these movies are pretty much cool What-If scenarios. It's like Cooler is what if Frieza had an older brother or what if there were more Saiyan survivors, more Dr. Gero creations, and anything that was probably made as some kind of distraction. Goku also ended up doing a lot of stuff that wasn't in the actual series. A good example is how Goku never absorbed the Spirit Bomb while in Super Saiyan form within the series.  

How the Super Sentai VS Movies pretty much function the same

The Super Sentai VS Movies can be seen to contain several elements that contradict the series' canon. Okay, one could argue that Goranger and JAKQ pretty much may exist in the same continuity along with Ishinomori's other creations. However, Toei Ltd. may have a habit of rebooting or retconning. Just think of how Ohranger retroactively counted in Goranger and JAKQ as part of the Super Sentai franchise than just calling it "Sentai". The movies themselves would show several elements that just DON'T. MAKE. THEM. CANON.

The first return to the crossover movies is Ohranger vs. Kakuranger. The footage was used in Power Rangers Zeo when Rita Repulsa and Lord Zedd created the Impursonator monster. In Ohranger vs. Kakuranger - many elements just can't work out. First, it doesn't seem anything unusual for Bacchushund and Buldont to argue. However, the next thing that happens is that mecha that shows up when Bacchushund was defeated midseason SHOW UP IN THE FINAL BATTLE. The Kakurangers supposedly sacrificed their powers. Here, the Kakurangers act as if they still have their powers. Like the Dragon Ball Z movies - the crossover couldn't happen. Besides, Ohranger was set in 1999 (which may have been retconned for all we know) while Winspector (while it aired in 1991) and GoGoFive have their plots also set in 1999. These were but the beginning of the string of movies that just usually can't fit into the actual series continuity. 

The movies would introduce the movie-only stuff. Just think of Gohan having Icarus as a friend in the movies but NEVER in the series. Megaranger vs. Carranger also had a plot where the Megarangers get a movie-only power-up. Gaoranger vs. Super Sentai had the Gaorangers perform their own upgraded version of the Gorangers' finishing soccer ball. Hurricanger vs. Gaoranger also had combinations only possible in the movie but not in canon. Shinkenger vs. Go-Onger also presented a mecha technique that would only work in the VS. Movie. 

I think the most common denominator is the string of non-canon characters - including relatives. GoGoFive vs. Gingaman has Darkness King Gill as the eldest Saima child. Hurricanger vs. Gaoranger has Chubozu as the brother of Chuzubo as he works alongside the Duke Orgs. Gokaiger vs. Gavan is a descendant of Don Horror. Gobusters vs. Gokaiger has the nephew of Warz Gill known as Bacchus Gill. However, the way events unfold in the movie or how Victory Mars is operated too easily, how Max Ryuoh appears while Lije is STILL A CHILD, how The Space Sheriff Trilogy should be treated as separate from other shows, or how the Gokaigers still used their powers should tell you that they're basically what-if villains. The existence of Darkness King Gill and Chubozu is pretty much like how Cooler exists only as a what-if brother of Frieza. Notice Darkness King Gill is NEVER mentioned within the GoGoFive canon either.

This is also why I think Dekaranger 10 Years After may not be canon for this reason. True, it was written by Naruhisa Arakawa. What could be seen is that it became a bridge to the obviously non-canon Dekaranger vs. Gavan and that events in Kyuranger vs. Space Squad are best treated as What-If scenarios. After all, they occur within different universes though one can bring Dragon Ball Super into the argument. The movie pretty much felt like a What-If scenario. Until now, I still think Hoji should've hooked up with Jasmine (which is partly because Hoji IS my favorite Dekaranger). 

Pretty much, these movies should be treated as they are. Entertaining non-canon movies. It's pretty much like I'm still entertained by the next two Broly movies. I can still enjoy the intense action that happens every now and then. I keep in mind that it's still possible to enjoy them even if most of these movies are obviously NOT CANON.