Special Post: A New-Found Appreciation For "King-Ohger" After Rewatching "The Nightingale" Episode Of "Faerie Tale Theatre"

 

The passing away of Shelley Duvall a few days ago made me rewatch one episode of Faerie Tale Theatre. I rewatched the episode "The Nightingale" which had white people play as Chinese characters. The episode was aired on May 10, 1983, and Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger premiered on March 5, 2023. It was Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' 30th anniversary. It was the 25th anniversary of Power Rangers in Space, Man in the Iron Mask, and Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog -- which may explain the show's awkwardness. 

The more I look back at the earlier episodes -- it becomes obvious that Chikyu has some very Western-like civilizations. I could always get over N'Kosopa and Toufu getting played by East Asians. However, it's blatant that Shuggodom (from the Japanese words protect and kingdom), Gokkan (Midwinter), and Ishabana (coming from the words doctor and flower) are based on Western civilizations. We've got a bunch of cosplayers (and the joke was well-carried into the disappointingly short Ohsama Sentai King-Ohger vs. Avatar Sentai Donbrothers) here and there. Part of me wished they made elaborate theatrical sets but Toei decided to do a lot of green screen when there are no out-of-studio locations. I guess they wanted a more video game feel to the series. 

Faerie Tale Theatre's episode "The Nightingale" used whatever it could to "recreate China". I guess it'd be too expensive if they flew to China for real. They had a budget to create a set to portray the emperor's palace. That episode had mostly white people play Chinese characters. Rolling Stones member Mick Jagger portrayed the Chinese Emperor! The late Warner Oland was known for the Charlie Chan series as well as Dr. Fu Manchu. Ben Kingsley portrayed the Mandarin in Iron Man 3 -- another Asian character. I never made that notice since I just enjoyed that episode like any child would. The whole episode can be as awkward as "Wild West Rangers" in Mighty Morphin' Season 2 -- what's a Korean guy doing in the Wild Wild West?

It's already known I love to comment white people should've played the citizens of Shugoddom, Gokkan, and Ishabana. However, given the budget, can Toei really fly to the West and secure all the white people for the sake of "authenticity"? Instead, they decided to make use of what they could use. The Faerie Tale Theatre episode kept the budget in mind when it had white people magically become Chinese characters. Sure, there were two Asians there namely the late Makoto Iwamatsu and the late Keye Luke (Lù Xīqí) play cameo roles. However, the rest of the cast was played by white people. The reverse became true in King-Ohger -- Japanese celebrities played white cast members. The only "white" person was Erica Murakami -- who's half-white and I wonder what her real surname is? Yuzuki Hirakawa had to do as Rita Kaniska since it's doubtful they can get a white woman to play as Gokkan's judge. 

Like Mick acting as the Chinese Emperor when he was white -- more and more Japanese celebrities filled in the role of supposedly Western-based characters. Himeno's parents are played by obviously Japanese people. They all feel like Japanese people performing a Western-based story on a theatrical stage. I feel an expansive year-long theatrical play on TV with what's going on. Using Japanese as the default language reminds me of how school plays are. People aren't speaking the native language of the story they're asked to portray. Students will be speaking the country's default language. Japanese students would be speaking in Japanese while acting out a Western story. The attempt was done in Sekai Ninja Jiraiya where non-Japanese characters were played by Japanese actors. However, most of them remained masked which was rather FUNNY. 

In King-Ohger's case -- the costumes had much effort no matter how awkward the results could get. There was a huge dedication to carry out it out for an entire year. I keep hearing how King-Ohger became a trending topic in Japan. Toei was already evolving something. There are Japanese Anime with a very Western theme. Why not make it live and have Japanese play non-Japanese people? The daring direction is something praiseworthy even if I still like to poke fun at its awkwardness.