Last weekend (November 21, 2014), Nickelodeon aired the highly-anticipated season finale to Power Rangers Super Megaforce that was advertised to act as reunion of sorts for ALL twenty seasons prior as part of Saban's 20th anniversary for Power Rangers.
This "reunion" finale was done similarly to Toei's own 35th anniversary of Super Sentai during its Gokaiger vs. Goseiger crossover special.
Introduction:
I know that I don't talk Power Rangers/Super Sentai much on here (or EVER until now...), but a good friend of mine inspired me to do so after our rather lengthy discussion about the franchise as a whole over the last few weeks.
I'm not ashamed to admit that I'm a closet mark for the show after all of these years. With the news of this highly-anticipated "reunion" for the 20th anniversary, I was even more excited for this season. I know most people (my close friends included) have fallen out of the loop over the years since they've either "grown up" or lost interest, but screw it - I have more than enough embarrassing things on my nerd resume, so liking Power Rangers/Super Sentai isn't going change most people's opinions of me.
(Laughs) Besides, you're the ones reading this blog so who's the nerd now, hmmm?
Please note, that I'm fully aware that there's an "extended cut" of the Legendary Battle that's supposed to air at a later date, but I'm going by this initial standard release for the sake of this discussion. I heard that they used more footage from the finale of Gokaiger and Hero Great Battle 199 and gave more dialogue and scenes to the veteran Rangers as well. I'll do a follow-up/revision to this article when I get a chance to see that in its entirety.
Production Information:
"Power Rangers Megaforce" was trademarked by Saban Brands in 2011 during the run of Power Rangers Samurai. Casting sides released in April 2012 match with the blue and silver rangers of Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger. On 11th June 2012, it was revealed that the season will be based on Tensou Sentai Goseiger. The official name was then revealed as "Power Rangers Megaforce". The second season, titled Super Megaforce, will incorporate elements from Gokaiger. That makes Megaforce the first hybrid adaptation since Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.On June 17th, 2013 the official press release unveiled the plot of Power Rangers Super Megaforce:
"The upcoming season of Power Rangers Super Megaforce focuses on the Rangers' mission to defeat a massive alien army Armada that was sent to conquer Earth. To face this threat, Gosei, a supernatural guardian who has protected Earth for centuries, gives the Rangers special morphers and keys, which allow them to morph into Super Megaforce Rangers. The Rangers also have an added special ability to morph into any team of Power Rangers from the past. These super-sized adventures can only mean one thing: the all-new Power Rangers Super Megaforce has arrived!"
Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger (translated as Pirate Squadron Gokaiger) is the 35th season of the Super Sentai series and celebrates the 35th Anniversary of the franchise. The season's motif is pirates and follows the story of five young space pirates in search of the "Greatest Treasure in the Universe".
Its footage and anniversary theme is currently being adapted into the second season of the 2013 Power Rangers series, Power Rangers Megaforce, dubbed Power Rangers Super Megaforce.
For the 35th Sentai series, Toei decided to go big with a major series that acknowledged the past while developing a something new and interesting. Following on their success of Kamen Rider which crossed over elements and concepts of the 9 previous Heisei Riders as well as matters throughout franchise history, they devised a series where similar concepts and cameos would emerge, setting up a world where a team of Sentai heroes used the powers of the previous 34 teams, using the idea that they were aliens who had no idea about the Sentai legacy and their powers were "pirated" versions of all the other teams.
The original intent was to have only teams who were going to give a notable power that would help the Gokaiger appear in cameo, most notably the previous four teams and several other notable teams, as well as a film with several others appearing in cameo. However, the tragedy of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake on March 11, 2011 lead to a major outcry to create a series which helped people cope with the tragedies and inspire hope to all people. After one weird fluke, Sentai alumni appeared in many of the episodes in response, unexpectedly leading to changes of story preventing more character development but ultimately letting one actor from all 34 previous series appear throughout the entire series' run.
If you haven't seen Goseiger vs. Gokaiger Hero Great Battle 199, then you're in for a treat. The FULL special length episode can be found below in its entirety with English subtitles.
The Verdict:
Note: Once again, I am fully aware that there's an extended cut of the Legendary Battle for Super Megaforce, but this is going by my personal gripes with the original standard version of that finale to this season.
Much like a lot of other long-time Power Rangers' fans, I found this "reunion" to be VERY underwhelming. The advertised Rangers of the past were brought back in the last 3-5 minutes of the episode and had VERY little involvement in the final battle. In comparison to the reunion in Gokaiger (shown above), this was a rather weak attempt by Saban. I didn't feel as much love and passion go into this reunion as it did in Gokaiger. I really wish Saban would quit cutting corners when it comes to translating/remaking these series for audiences outside of Japan.
The first 3-5 minutes of the Goseiger/Gokaiger team-up blew that ENTIRE episode for Super Megaforce out of the ballpark. That's a damn shame too as you can tell that's where Saban cut select footage from for that finale from. C'mon, if you're going to use the footage, why not use ALL of it?
Where do I think they went wrong?
(Laughs) Where to begin? I'm no "expert" on all things Power Rangers and Super Sentai by any means, despite what most of my close friends may think, but I'm willing to give this a shot.I felt that the cast of Megaforce should NOT have been given both the powers of Gokaiger and Goseiger
If Saban were smart, they would have split Megaforce up into two separate seasons, with two distinct casts. As you can see, Goseiger (Megaforce) were "angelic" Rangers on Earth and Gokaiger's Rangers were pirates from another planet who just happened to acquire the Ranger keys, much like the Silver Ranger's origin in Super Megaforce.
Combining Goseiger and Gokaiger into a single entity seemed like a missed opportunity. Now Saban can't do these many team-up specials like the Hero Great Battle 199. After seeing both teams in action, I'm sad that we won't get to see the Gokaiger team in outside of Japan. I don't know any better way to explain it, but that team has so much more swagger (read: stylish) in their mannerisms and fighting styles than Goseiger. From the little I've seen of their individual personalities, I'm sure that I will take the opportunity to watch all of Goseiger and Gokaiger separately just to see how they differ from their English adaptation in Megaforce and Super Megaforce.
The cannon finisher in Hero Great Battle 199 was a missed opportunity as well. Once again, combining both Goseiger and Gokaiger into a single series didn't do Saban any favors. Let's not forget that Robo Knight "died" (despite reappearing during the finale without ANY explanation...) so that's another reason this wasn't possible.
Gokaiger has a team-up "versus" special with Kamen Rider (Masked Rider for those who are as old as me and remember that) and if Saban is serious about trying to renew interest in that series outside of Japan (despite Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight being cancelled during its syndication run in the United States), that would have been another reason to split up Goseiger and Gokaiger as two distinct seasons.
The Legendary Rangers should have had more screen time or contribution to the narrative
The theme of Hero Great Battle 199 is to never lose hope, spanning across generations of people and most importantly the Sentai teams. The Gokaiger and Goseiger teams were ultimately reminded of that in their darkest hour and rewarded for their combined efforts. In this narrative, the Legendary Rangers are used to hit this point home harder periodically throughout the film.The theme of Megaforce that was carried on from start to the finale in Super Megaforce was "never give up." That was highlighted in the finale of Megaforce and throughout the duration of Super Megaforce. I could see that Saban could have written the narrative in the finale to show the Legendary Rangers doing their part to assist in fighting off the invasion across the globe in different locations. Then again, that's more time and production costs and we are painfully aware how cheap Saban is...
Oh wait. Here's an idea. How about instead of bringing back the Legendary Rangers in a traditional team-up and just use the footage from Hero Great Battle 199 where Goseiger and Gokaiger battle the older Sentai teams as a means to see if they are "worthy" and rise to this final challenge? Afterwards, Gosei can be like this unlocks the ability for them to call the other Rangers (despite canon or not) to heed the call to battle by their side?
Sadly, the only thing that gets in the way here is that Goseiger and Gokaiger are two different teams and wouldn't work with Super Megaforce's finale.
The Lack of Nostalgia in the Megazord Battle against the Armada was Disappointing
I don't know about you guys, but I know I can't name EVERY Megazord in that picture. It looks cool as fuck though.
That being said, having the Megaforce Rangers clear through the bulk of the Armada's forces with only their two main Megazords and the auxiliary Zords did nothing but make me even less impressed with the Armada's show of force. The Armada had overwhelming numbers but their forces were more pathetic than Rita Repulsa's Putty Patrol. I'm pretty sure the Machine Empire from Zeo would have given Megaforce a better fight than this.
Once again, Hero Great Battle 199 did it MUCH better.
The Final Confrontation versus Emperor Mavro was EXTREMELY lame...
There's no other words for it. After all of that hype to him taking over the Armada, he went down easier than Vrak, Prince Vekar, AND all of their underlings/generals. Come on, Saban. You guys really have to stop cutting corners on these finales. You delivered big time on Samurai's finale but half-assed this when it's supposed to be the 20th anniversary season?
Once again, let's compare this to Gokaiger's finale versus Mavro's counterpart in that series, Emperor Ackdos Gill:
What the hell, man? This is like day and night in comparison. It took literally a dozen (or more) of the Legendary Ranger powers to damage Gill and even then they had to resort to "powered up" versions of other Rangers' past, along with Gokai Silver's Gold Mode. Even that wasn't enough and the Gokaigers resorted to a kamikaze blow to end Gill for good.
What did we get with Mavro in Super Megaforce's finale? It only took two Rangers (Red & Silver) to defeat Mavro, who barely put up a fight period to begin with and he died when his flagship went down. If they were going to make both Prince Vekar and Emperor Mavro pushovers, then the resurrected Vrak should have been their final opponent. To be honest, Vrak was portrayed as a much stronger opponent than anything else the Armada's forces threw at the Rangers in both seasons of Megaforce and Super Megaforce combined.
Final Thoughts
All I wanted from this 20th anniversary "reunion" and season finale of Super Megaforce was to feel like a kid again. Unfortunately, Saban let me down - big time - in terms of this reunion special. Sure, I got to see some of the older Rangers come back, such as my some personal favorites, Tommy (MMPR Green Ranger), Wes (Time Force Red Ranger), and Karone (Lost Galaxy Pink Ranger), but as a whole, the entire episode didn't live up to the hype. It's a mediocre finale for Megaforce, but also serves as a subpar homage to the 20 years of history of the Power Rangers franchise. I know that I'm not alone in believing that Saban could have done something so much better than this.In comparison, you can tell that Toei (creators of Super Sentai) have a lot of love for their product and brand, especially it's history. You can tell that from everything from start to finish after watching Hero Great Battle 199 special. If Saban took the time and energy to commit to something like that, I believe that this 20th anniversary reunion would have been one to remember.
Despite my disappointments with this 20th anniversary reunion, I'm pretty sure I'm going to check out the next season, DinoCharge, regardless. Saban just really let me down after all of this hype behind this season and the history going into it. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to take the time to revisit more seasons of Super Sentai and see exactly how much better those were than their Saban-made counterparts.
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