tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post1730430259932880171..comments2024-03-14T01:44:37.807-05:00Comments on Ranger Retrospective: MMPR Season 3 Episode 21: Changing of the Zords Part 3Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-47431572895462215742019-06-12T22:45:50.122-05:002019-06-12T22:45:50.122-05:00Well, here we are again...it's always such a p...Well, here we are again...it's always such a pleasure...<br /><br />It was kind of satisfying, watching Tommy just take on Zedd and pretty much get his ass kicked. I'll even take the limp ending, if only because I'm a sucker for continuity (as much as I hate snakes). And, screw it, that Bulk and Skull going along with Lt. Stone scene made me smile. If it gets them out of trouble, they're down with it, even if it's dumb.audreysmagichttp://www.twitter.com/audreysmagicnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-70097024803996581802018-11-22T09:20:56.730-06:002018-11-22T09:20:56.730-06:00It always annoyed me that the toys of the shogun z...It always annoyed me that the toys of the shogun zords had a pink zord instead of the white one of the show.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07723898384231589880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-8717372799658909912017-10-09T11:41:30.956-05:002017-10-09T11:41:30.956-05:00I always thought the Ninja Megazord was lame looki...I always thought the Ninja Megazord was lame looking. The Shogun Megazord, however, really did it for me. Big and Bulky and a Flaming Sword finisher... Hell yes!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-40825641218769732152017-07-11T20:20:50.480-05:002017-07-11T20:20:50.480-05:00Okay, crane princess, that's fair; I didn'...Okay, crane princess, that's fair; I didn't know what "tsuru" meant, and I recall she actually transforms from a paper crane in the intro. And I think Sasuke had a line about his family's connection to primates against Sarugami, plus there's an evocative syllable of each beast general's name, but otherwise, yeah, there's no big "ROCKY, YOU ARE THE APE" speech to fill us in.<br /><br />Not only the Ninja Megazord's hands inside the bear or whatever, but also the Shogun Megazord's head, I saw in a video, had to be stored inside the Red Shogunzord in a particular way, and even then it was designed to have the wingtips sticking out of two slots in the back before you could get it closed again.Ryan Ferneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17955330155998980272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-33046314858732277932017-06-25T23:24:39.157-05:002017-06-25T23:24:39.157-05:00I got the e-mail for this comment at work, and I w...I got the e-mail for this comment at work, and I was immediately astonished that someone cultured enough to know this much about opera storylines was reading my dumbass blog where I talk about Bulk eating sandwiches and Tommy being a personified dog.<br /><br />So the answer to your question would be no, I am an uncultured swine. I spent most of my college years trying to convince women that a man who enjoys children's programming would make a desirable partner.Samurai Karasuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01253426764783538428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-78351692398149425472017-06-25T23:22:51.907-05:002017-06-25T23:22:51.907-05:00I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't eve...I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't even realize that was the Shogun Megazord's debut, but that's really awesome. I'll admit that he was usually the point where my adventure stopped as a kid, because I was the dirt worst at any and all fighting games. <br /><br />Don't get me started about Ivan Ooze in that game. What a fuck.Samurai Karasuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01253426764783538428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-59597134930778169312017-06-25T23:21:00.654-05:002017-06-25T23:21:00.654-05:00I think there's something to be said for how m...I think there's something to be said for how much of a brick shithouse this guy really is. We'll see more of it in "Different Shade of Pink Part 2" though. Needless to say, I enjoy the Shogun Megazord far more than its parts.Samurai Karasuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01253426764783538428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-30773187895179801342017-06-25T23:19:50.324-05:002017-06-25T23:19:50.324-05:00I figure that the Kakuranger viewers had some kind...I figure that the Kakuranger viewers had some kind of idea, considering that the Rangers themselves usually had connections to their patron animal depending on which legend they were based on. Tsuruhime being the crane princess, Sasuke's last name being "Saru"tobi, Jiraiya's always represented with toads. Though I'm not entirely sure. My knowledge of Japanese is slim to shit.<br /><br />And that's something I'd been thinking about for quite some time with regards to Power Rangers and Kakuranger. It seems like more of a Japanese conceit to have the tiny, stealthy creatures portrayed as stronger than the big, bulky, slow machines. And man if you're talking about how the Wolf and Ape covers had to just be tossed to the side when not in use? Goddamn right. What a load of shit. And the Ape Ninjazord's swords collect dust if you want to use the Ninja Megazord as a display piece. Thanks for nothing, Toei.<br /><br />Holy shit, I can't believe you could make those lines out. I had to go back and shove my ear into the speaker to hear it. But I'll be damned, you're right! I love it, and I can all but guarantee that was an ad-lib. That line is amazing. Thank you for bringing it into my life.Samurai Karasuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01253426764783538428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-22981868742227743142017-06-25T22:01:06.302-05:002017-06-25T22:01:06.302-05:00I do wonder when viewers of Kakuranger were suppos...I do wonder when viewers of Kakuranger were supposed to know for sure what all of the patron animals were.<br /><br />I think the order of the Zords was something that was made to work better for whichever show it was in. I see now that it makes more sense for the original ninjas to want to "graduate" to the sleeker, swifter robots, but in Power Rangers it feels more natural to start with the plain animals like the other seasons and be surprised to get five tough-looking "warrior modes" later. (Hey, that's also about how Ohranger did it! Plus apparently Ohranger's robo toys had nicer ways to leave the helmets attached inconspicuously than Kakuranger's awkwardly jamming its cappers inside one random Zord in disassembly.) Not to mention Power Rangers having each fleet of Zords originate from a different team so they didn't appear to be handing out giant robots like candy.<br /><br />This review also reminded me of some hand-wave explanations for how Kimberly's powers will work in the next few episodes where I was confused because I didn't pay attention to those throwaway lines. Instead I was paying attention to the much more fun throwaway lines from Bulk in the background last episode, like "Either dancing cacti or giant pachinko heads... Man, giant pachinko heads..."Ryan Ferneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17955330155998980272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-37408738842982245702017-06-18T02:01:57.445-05:002017-06-18T02:01:57.445-05:00The impression I got was that Kakuranger wasn'...The impression I got was that Kakuranger wasn't interested in writing a lot of Megazord battles, so most episodes treated a combination as an automatic victory. I still believe that Dairen'oh only got a bad reputation via Power Rangers simplistically editing it into additional episodes, whereas with Season 3 skipping more monsters and being split between multiple Megazords, no one Kakuranger mech formation wore out its welcome here.Ryan Ferneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17955330155998980272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-83570427639552340072017-06-17T09:55:23.770-05:002017-06-17T09:55:23.770-05:00Calling them "Ancient Zords" who got Nin...Calling them "Ancient Zords" who got Ninjazord bits glued to them is a good workaround for that. Of course they're huge blocky things with odd heads! They're old and Squatt made the heads! <br /><br />(In-universe this means you could've seen Shogunzords with Thunder or Dino based heads. Imagine how ugly the Dino heads would've been when squished)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-49012423256431437742017-06-16T20:29:42.002-05:002017-06-16T20:29:42.002-05:00Personally, I don't care for the Shogunzords a...Personally, I don't care for the Shogunzords at all, but the Shogun Megazord has always stuck with me as awesome. There's Megazords, there's Ultrazords, and there's this thing, which screams "I am a crossbreed of a tank and a brick shithouse".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-60081054564039921682017-06-16T20:26:17.335-05:002017-06-16T20:26:17.335-05:00Completely agreed on both counts. What makes it am...Completely agreed on both counts. What makes it amazing is that this is at (arguably) the most powerful / plot armor'd Tommy is... and Zedd wipes the floor with him, indisputably.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-69962576328401064552017-06-16T00:53:43.977-05:002017-06-16T00:53:43.977-05:00Hey, there's that sword the Ninja Megazord had...Hey, there's that sword the Ninja Megazord had in the movie! So if "The Good, the Bad, and the Stupid" takes place during this battle, then Bulk and Skull awoke from their nap in the park, ran into a cave where they got trapped and rescued by a team led by Lieutenant Stone after flashing forward to three episodes later, and then the three of them went back to the park and fell asleep again. Or perhaps, as everyone suspected, the non-TV-episodes really don't try to fit in with continuity.<br /><br />You know, maybe they could have used that footage of Blue Logan stomping the yokai's house as, "Oh no, Billy couldn't get the override to work! He's going through with Zedd's orders!"Ryan Ferneauhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17955330155998980272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-35919642418249026762017-06-14T06:35:25.547-05:002017-06-14T06:35:25.547-05:00Shogun megazord is my favorite megazord of all ti...Shogun megazord is my favorite megazord of all time so fuck you lol jk fun review as always but yeah you need to learn to love muteki shogun he is meant to body monsters quick he's the invincible general.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08725210293453654998noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-8078675777224018872017-06-13T23:16:53.890-05:002017-06-13T23:16:53.890-05:00I'm with you on the Shogunzords--they're b...I'm with you on the Shogunzords--they're boring as hell. Also, it's not just the white one that's bad at depicting its animal*; the "frog" & "ape" heads look jack-squat like a frog or an ape. Kakuranger using the Ninjazords as an *upgrade* over the Shogunzords makes a lot of sense.<br /><br />*Though that animal is technically supposed to be the crane, not the falcon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-25427902838776770032017-06-13T21:03:32.626-05:002017-06-13T21:03:32.626-05:00Ever saw or heard of the opera Siegfried? It was t...Ever saw or heard of the opera Siegfried? It was the third of four in Wagner's Ring Cycle, inspired by Nibelungenlied and Norse mythology, for a brief info. In the opera's third act, the title character encounters Wotan (Odin) who stands between him and Brunhilde. The two exchange a few words and then get into a fight with Siegfried using the sword of his father, which Wotan had broken in the prequel, The Valkyrie (where Brunhilde was put to sleep for disobeying her father, Wotan, who encircled the mountain around her with fire). <br /> I mention this because I discovered in college how this part of the season is basically a rewrite of the opera cycle. In this case, Kimberly is Brunhilde while Tommy is Siegfried and Lord Zedd plays Wotan. Eventually, Siegfried beat Wotan by breaking his spear, causing the god to retreat. By the same token, Tommy breaks Zedd's staff and cause the villain to retreat. Brunhilde is awaken afterward, but she can never again be a Valkyrie, just a mortal woman (but that's okay, because she plays a pivot-able role in the finale, Twilight of the Gods). Similarly, reawakened Kimberly goes from Pink Ranger to civilian and departs from the show. <br /> Classical allusions won't end with this episode: later when Master Vile comes, you'll see him create monsters from his mouth, which can remind one of how Satan created Sin through his head in John Milton's Paradise Lost (which in turn came from the birth of Athena).Mata S https://www.blogger.com/profile/05794990717454123330noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-81209808236945539222017-06-13T19:05:07.358-05:002017-06-13T19:05:07.358-05:00US fans of the day wouldn't know how to watch ...US fans of the day wouldn't know how to watch Kakuranger, and leaks weren't common in the day (the White Ranger was known in advance because Saban leaked it on purpose to Disney Adventures or somesuch). The masses would first learn of the Shogun Megazord from the MMPR Fighting Game that Bandai made. The one best known for Ivan Ooze as the ultimate SNK boss. Here's all these familiar monsters and Megazords, and then here's this one you've never seen before.<br /><br />You pick this complete stranger of a Megazord and hope for the best and, holy crap! It stomps onto the screen as tall as your TV, and while it's mobility is super limited it can poke a decent range with this firey sword.<br /><br />Basically, they used the SNES's ability to do large sprites to make the Shogun Megazord appear so humongus and different from anything before it, that anyone who played that game at release would have been at least a little hyped up for these episodes.<br />Pumpkin Rap Godnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5211974119538419891.post-31371468761178146362017-06-13T17:48:35.317-05:002017-06-13T17:48:35.317-05:00Lord Zedd beating the everloving shit out of Tommy...Lord Zedd beating the everloving shit out of Tommy is one of my favourite Power Rangers moments ever.<br /><br />Then it has such a limp dicked conclusion. Argh.SSJ5Gogetenkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05833651903400182325noreply@blogger.com